Since the war ended in 1975, the economics development of Vietnam has increased without tending to stop. Unfortunately, the more the economy expands, the more environmental problems appear. They are air pollution, water pollution, etc. In this essay, I want to describe the most serious problem, air pollution, and suggest some possible engineering solutions for such a problem.
The air pollution is the gravest problem that Vietnamese government faced for over 20 years. This problem is mainly caused by a rapid rise in Vietnam's population. Undoubtedly, the fast increase in population leads to the unimaginable rise in means of transportation as well as industrial zones, which are two core factors causing air pollution.
Firstly, one case of air pollution is motor vehicles One example of the huge number of vehicles is, Mr. Hiep (1996), an environmental researcher, stated that , "Ho Chi Minh, the biggest city of Vietnam, had more than 1.1 million of which motor cycles was more than 1 million". Each month, there are more than 1,000 added to the city traffic, which means that there should be over 1.3 million means of transportation since 1996 up to now. Moreover, according to Hoang Hai Van, a managing editor of the The Youth newspaper, (n.d), the fuel mainly used in vehicles of Vietnam is not refined fuel, which is the heart of air pollution problem. As a result, it is easy to understand when most of the people travelling by motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh city have to wear specialized comforter in order to protect themselves from dangerous smoke discarded from nearby vehicles.
Another cause of air pollution is the quick development in industrial zones. Even Camau, a small southern province, which has 3 more industrial Zones (VNA,March, 2008), is an instance of the quick development of industrial zones. The growth in the number of industrial zones corelates to the growth in the number of factories, which means that there are more risks in air pollution. Mr. Hiep argued again that "the total emission of pollutants to the air-shed due to fuel consumption of all industries each year is 30,000 tons of SO2, 5,750 tons of NO2 and 1,650 tons of particulates. In addition, a total of metallurgy industries produce between 2,840 to 4,260 tons of particulates and between 994 to 1,420 tons of CO per year. Obviously, SO2,NO2 and CO are toxic gases, which are very harmful for the air-shed as well as people's health". Research about the health effects of air pollution is that a person living in polluted cities such as Ho Chi Minh city may have lung cancer at 56% a higher rate than normal one (Mr. Sang, February 2007). Clearly, to live in a polluted city like Ho Chi Minh is obviously dangerous.
As an engineer in the future, I think that there are three possible engineering solutions for air pollution. First of all, this is the method of producing filters for elimination pipes of factories and means of transport. As a consequence, most discarded dangerous smoke would be well treated, with the purpose not affecting the pollution, before going to the air. Secondly, the replacement of not refined fuel by refined one is considerable. A last but not least possible solution is the replacement of fuel-transports by electrical means, which nearly do not affect the air-shed.
To conclude, the air pollution is certainly the most dangerous problem, which not only Vietnam but also many developing countries all over the world will be facing . Actually, there are two main causes: the fast increase in transports as well as industrial zones, of air pollution. The filters produce for elimination pipes, replacement of low-quality and fuel-transports by high-quality and electrical means, respectively, are three possible engineering solutions for such problem.
References :
Hiep.N.D. (1996, December). Seminar on Environment and Development in Vietnam. Some Aspects of Air Quality in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam(n.d.), from
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/env_dev/papers/pap06.htmlFuller.T. (n.d.).
International Herald Tribune : Air pollution fast becoming an issue in booming Vietnam. Retrieved from July 6, 2007, from
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/06/sports/pollute.php?page=1
International. (n.d.). Three New Industrial Zones to Open in Vietnam's Ca Mau. Retrieved March 11, 2008, from
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/080311/16/4f5lc.html
Sang.N.D (2007, February 20). Enviromental problems. Air pollution, p.6
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