KHAIRPUR: India, Pakistan, China and Iran are the world’s most polluted countries while Karachi is the most environmentally degraded city of Pakistan.

This was stated by Prof Mohammad Sharif Shaikh, chairman of the geography department of Shah Abdul Latif University (Salu) Khairpur, while quoting the World Health Organization’s (WHO) reports for years 2008-13 at an extension lecture on environmental degradation.

The event was held to mark the World Environmental Day, according to a Salu press release issued on Tuesday.

He said that from acid rain to global warming, heart diseases, acute respiratory problems and toxic pollution had devastating impact on human health as well as on the environment. The professor said that more than 200 million people worldwide were affected by air pollution. According to an estimate, air pollution caused 3.7 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012. Asian countries were leading in air pollution, he added.

He suggested that civic bodies, NGOs and individuals put their efforts for plantation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must play its due role in eradication of environmental degradation.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2015

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