A STUDY OF TRANSBOUNDARY AIR POLLUTION FOCUSED ON DESERTIFICATION & YELLOW DUST PHENOMENON IN SOUTH KOREA

Abstract

Transboundary pollution refers to the situation where air or water pollution in one country affects the environment of another country across borders. The long-range transboundary air pollution that transcends the border is an important matter spanning economic, social and diplomatic factors. One of the major types of transboundary pollution are dust storms. In Northeast Asia, yellow dust phenomenon is increasing due to desertification in China and Mongolia. South Korea, North Korea, and Japan, the other countries that are affected by yellow dust as a result, suffer not only health issues (respiratory diseases, eye diseases), but also economic damages (precision equipment failure, flight disruptions, costs due to health damage etc.). The yearly damage in South Korea is estimated at about USD 4.7 billion by the National Institute of Environmental Research. This is around 0.305% of South Korea’s GDP at year 2017 GDP levels .

Yellow dust phenomenon, and desertification, are not only confined to Northeast Asia, but are international problems, affecting countries globally, with major issues in African nations due to large area of deserts and arid land, and the need of rapid industrialization.

The study focuses on the impact on Northeast Asian nations, especially China and South Korea. The occurrence of Yellow Dust Phenomenon has been increasing in South Korea, from an average of 2.8 days in the decade ending 1970, to an average of 12.2 days in the decade of 2000s. The phenomenon is not only restricted to spring season, but has increased in occurrence during the winter season as well (refer to Chapter 4, Section 4.3.1). Major international bodies have been formed to tackle the problem, such as United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and tripartite environment ministers meeting among the South Korea, China and Japan (TEMM). The study finds that although the area of land under desertification has been controlled to some extent in China, and more collaborative work is being done between nations that are affected, the occurrence of this problem has not slowed down.

The objective of this study is to provide information to students and practitioners of environmental field on the seriousness of yellow dust and desertification, the causes of it, the various measures that are being taken, and key recommendations that need to be pursued going forward. The study analyses past and ongoing projects, and suggests recommendations that can be incorporated to solve this problem, i.e. awareness and focus on the ground level, in-depth and holistic study of mitigation projects, and standardization of economic impact calculations.