Environmental issues in Turkey
The main environmental issues in Turkey are the conservation of biodiversity, water pollution from the dumping of chemicals and detergents, air pollution, greenhouse gases and land degradation
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Issues[edit]
Conservation of Biodiversity[edit]
"Turkey has a remarkable diversity of wildlife, due to its wide variety of habitats and unique position between three continents and three seas. Ill-considered development projects are threatening biodiversity, but a new wildlife corridor offers hope for further conservation progress." [1]
Air Pollution[edit]
Air pollution is particularly significant in urban areas;[2] Air pollution has accelerated since rapid economic growth began in the mid-1990s. The problem is especially acute in Istanbul,[3] Ankara, Erzurum, and Bursa, where the combustion of heating fuels increases particulate density in winter. Especially in Istanbul, increased car ownership and the slow development of public transportation cause frequent urban smog conditions. Industrial air pollution comes mainly from power plants and the metallurgy, cement, sugar, and fertilizer industries, a large percentage of which lack filtration equipment.
Climate Change[edit]
Proposed new coal fired power plants would increase Turkey's CO2 emmisions.[4]
Water Pollution[edit]
Turkey's most pressing needs are for water treatment plants, wastewater treatment facilities and solid waste management. The release of pollutants by neighboring countries has critically contaminated the Black Sea, and multinational cooperation has not adequately addressed the problem. There is a potential for spills from the 5,000 oil- and gas-carrying ships that pass through the Bosporus annually.
Land degradation[edit]
Land degradation is a critical agricultural problem, caused by inappropriate use of agricultural land, overgrazing, over-fertilization,[5] and deforestation. Serious soil erosion has occurred in 69% of Turkey’s land surface. According to one estimate, Turkey loses 1 billion tons of topsoil annually.
Politics[edit]
The establishment of the Ministry of Environment in 1991 accelerated progress on some environmental problems such as urban air pollution.[6]
In the early 2000s, prospective membership in the European Union (EU) spurred the updating of some environmental legislation. However, in 2003 the merger of the Ministry of Environment with the Ministry of Forestry reduced the influence of environmental officials in policy making, and enforcement procedures (such as those regulating traffic through the Bosporus) were considered weak. In general, private firms have responded more fully to environmental regulation than state owned enterprises, which still constitute a large percentage of Turkey’s economy.
See also[edit]
- Water supply and sanitation in Turkey
- Polluting Paradise, a 2012 documentary film about the village of Çamburnu, which has been turned into a rubbish dump by the government
- 2013 protests in Turkey, which were sparked by a proposed replacement of Taksim Gezi Park
- TEMA_Foundation, an environmental organisation
External links[edit]
- Biodiversity in Turkey
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- "Çevre Kuruluşları Dayanışma Derneği" environmental organization
References[edit]
- ^ "Current Biology - Turkey's biodiversity at the crossroads". Cell.com. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
- ^ "GREEN - Air pollution ‘gravest environmental issue’". Hurriyetdailynews.com. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
- ^ "Elemental characterization of PM2.5 and PM1 in dense traffic area in Istanbul, Turkey".
- ^ "E.On looks to build new brown coal in Turkey".
- ^ "Assesment of Irrigation Wa ter Quality of Some Provinces of Turkey".
- ^ "Turkish PM Erdoğan issues green warning at UN forest meet".
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Library of Congress Country Studies.
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