Air Pollution
Firstly, South Africa uses a lot of coal and fossil fuel in industries and households. Many industries in South Africa make use of burning of coal in power stations to produce energy for the country and many of the citizens use coal and wood for household purposes such as fires as these materials are cheap and affordable and can serve quite a few purposes. However, usage of coal and fossil fuels, causes huge emissions of sulphur, nitrogen and lots of greenhouses gases. In fact, household fires have been identified as one of the most significant sources of atmospheric emissions. (Liebenberg-Enslin)These emissions affect the citizens' health and well-being. But, due to their lack of education, they are not aware of this harmful effects and they continue using these fossil fuels and coals as their source of energy and this results in a dangerous level of air pollution. The greenhouse gases also increases the effects of global warming.
Additionally, their lack of knowledge also means that these citizens are unaware of the new technology which are more environmental friendly such as renewable energy. This results in them not being able to make use of these methods to obtain energy and thus, air pollution is continuously produced and the overuse of fossil fuels and coals might result in these resources being depleted. Therefore causing a risk in the sustainability of South Africa environment.
Secondly, in urban areas of South Africa, there is a constant ageing of the national vehicle fleet. It is probably due to the poverty in South Africa that not a lot of citizens are able to afford new technology or that these citizens are actually not aware of these effects of an aging car and thus this ropes in the low literacy rate in South Africa. As a result, these old vehicles are still in use and they emit a lot of pollution, worsening the air quality. Not only, due to the lack of sufficient knowledge, the government was unable to plan the infrastructure and public transport properly. This leads to an increasing congestion on the roads, resulting in idling and stop-start activities of the vehicles. (Liebenberg-Enslin) These actions emit more carbon emissions than when driving at a fast speed, thus causing a high level of pollution, risking the sustainability of South Africa.
Additionally, their lack of knowledge also means that these citizens are unaware of the new technology which are more environmental friendly such as renewable energy. This results in them not being able to make use of these methods to obtain energy and thus, air pollution is continuously produced and the overuse of fossil fuels and coals might result in these resources being depleted. Therefore causing a risk in the sustainability of South Africa environment.
Secondly, in urban areas of South Africa, there is a constant ageing of the national vehicle fleet. It is probably due to the poverty in South Africa that not a lot of citizens are able to afford new technology or that these citizens are actually not aware of these effects of an aging car and thus this ropes in the low literacy rate in South Africa. As a result, these old vehicles are still in use and they emit a lot of pollution, worsening the air quality. Not only, due to the lack of sufficient knowledge, the government was unable to plan the infrastructure and public transport properly. This leads to an increasing congestion on the roads, resulting in idling and stop-start activities of the vehicles. (Liebenberg-Enslin) These actions emit more carbon emissions than when driving at a fast speed, thus causing a high level of pollution, risking the sustainability of South Africa.