Environmental Overexploitation Research Articles

Analysis of environmental problems for the Barada River basin in Syria and recommended water protection measures

Barada Basin, where the capital of Syria, Damascus, is located, and hence where most of the human activities are concentrated, suffers from serious environmental problems due to the migration from rural areas, illegal settlements, industrialization, urbanization, and overexploitation of environment. Huge amounts of wastewater (domestic, industrial, and agricultural) are discharged every day to the landscape as well as into Barada and Awaj Rivers without sufficient treatment. This paper is devoted to the water pollution issues in Barada Basin. River water quality has been analyzed, some studies on the assessment of pollution in the Barada River are presented, environmental protection measures and restoration of the river ecosystem are recommended.

Oil production, environmental pressures and other sources of violent conflict in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Globally, environmental overexploitation and degradation constitute both threats to human development and sources of tension and conflicts. In Nigeria, the degradation of the Niger Delta environment by oil production has exacerbated long-standing grievances among communities competing for scarce resources. This article seeks to examine the theoretical and existential explanations for the mobilisation by groups from Nigeria’s oil-producing communities to pursue armed struggle in engaging with the Nigerian state and multinational oil companies. Using 10 focus groups with 85 participants, the author tests the argument that violent conflicts in the Niger Delta are related to the negative pressures placed on the environment and communities by pollution of land and water resources by oil production. These pressures expose the population of the area to poverty, hunger, malnutrition, anxiety, distrust and violence. The ensuing widening inequalities have spawned simmering grievances, a survivalist culture and a politics of ethnic mobilisation.

Canadian Oil Sand Extraction: The Nexus between Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability

This paper investigates the relationship between environmental degradation, income and regulation for the Alberta province of Canada. This issue assumes a value added since Alberta is the third-largest oil reserve in the world after Saudi-Arabia and Venezuela. The province is interested by large extractions of unconventional oil from bituminous sands, which produces high greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O and HFC). Our attention is focused on the environmental overexploitation, specifically air quality depletion, related to the oil sands extraction processes first and then on the level of GHG of the province. The paper has the following results: i) We provide a first assessment of the levels and the growth rates for GHG specifically generated by Alberta oil sands extraction, while distinguishing between in situ and mining extraction method. ii) We find a positive and strong relationship between economic growth and air degradation for the Alberta region during the last decade, discussing the issue in light of EKC literature. In this context we are not aware of other contribution addressing this question. iii) Our analysis highlights that the average energy intensity indicator of Alberta is higher by 11% then overall Canada, which is among countries with highest energy intensity. iv) The paper, next, propose an original indicator where we frame the relationship between GDP and GHG in a global view. We construct the Sustainable Income Index for Alberta and some selected countries relevant for our investigation. v) Eventually the paper discusses results in light of the possible regulation issues in the framework of International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines and Kyoto Protocol.

‘Tragedy of the Commons’ in the Tourism Accommodation Industry

This paper models the interaction between the tourism accommodation industry and environmental quality – herein considered as a composite common pool resource. Results from the study show that open access generally leads to both economic and environmental overexploitation, that is ‘the tragedy of the commons’. This also affects the overall tourism industry since tourism accommodation and environmental quality perform central roles. This ultimately leads to mass tourism characterized by tourists with low willingness to pay. The results show that, apart from situations where positive externalities on other activities are very significant, or that open access faces binding restrictions (such as land availability), a firm's entry should be limited, based on both efficiency and sustainability.