Pollution is shortening the lives of Indians and it's also damaging the country's rich cultural heritage. The NY Times recently reported on mosquito-like insects that flourish in the polluted Yamuna River and are discoloring the fabled Taj Mahal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/world/asia/india-taj-mahal-pollution-yamuna-river.html
The article includes links to reports on the pollution, the health consequences, and the threat to the Taj Mahal. The overall threat from pollution is neither new nor recently understood. Here's a report from 1993, which notes worries in the 1970s.
http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/content/5833/doomed-tomb/
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bugs, pollution and the taj mahal
06/23/2017 04:49 AM
#1
bugs, pollution and the taj mahal
Wow! It is so sad to see the high price that India has to pay for its development. Pollution has not respect for anything and destroys everything on its way, even this beautiful wonder of the world. I only hope that the government creates laws to diminish the toxic wastes that are creating this irreversible damage to such historic monument.
edited by edelafuente on 5/22/2016
It is really disheartening to see how pollution is affecting many countries around the world. The following is a link to a documentary of the pollution that has occurred as a result of fuel emissions and factories. The creator of this documentary is Chai Jing, an investigative reporter and anchor at state broadcaster China Central Television. She quit her job last year to take care of her daughter, who was successfully treated for a benign tumor. It is saddening to see the documentary and how it is affecting the lives of many people in China. Our consumption of Chinese goods is a on of many factors as to why this pollution continues to manifest. The rapid industrialization of China has caused such pollution and has caused many harmful health affects to its citizens. If we do not find a solution to this problem, more and more people will dies from pollution and soon it will spread around and have detrimental effects.
http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/03/04/390689033/the-anti-pollution-documentary-thats-taken-china-by-storm
" There is no agreement among officials on when pollutants become dangerous. " ?? When the contaminants are causing the deterioration of marble and granite the situation is beyond dangerous.
I love how this brings together enviornmental science, life science, and social science. Thank you for sharing these resources! I can use this as a real life implication of the affect humans are having on our planet.