Air Quality and Pollution

Bahrain's National Action Charter, the Bahrain Economic Vision 2030, and the National Strategic Master Plan 2030 all promote sustainable economic development. A number of formal governmental and private sector organizations help to inform actual strategies for improving Bahrain's environmental assessments. The key issues the Kingdom of Bahrain faces in the early 21st century include water access, air pollution, urban development, rising sea levels, the pollution of the ocean by the petrochemical industries, and ineffective waste management. Water Until 1925, Bahrain relied on freshwater springs.

By the 1980s, almost all of those freshwater sources had ceased flowing, and now the Kingdom relies on "non-conventional sources of water," namely desalination (Bahrain Economic Development Board, 2017). Bahrain has four desalination plants. Still, Bahrain has a terrible water consumption ratio and is ranked as the second most wasteful water user in the world, measured in water per square centimeter of land (Bahrain Economic Development Board, 2017). To address problems with water scarcity and water management, the government of Bahrain has established the Water Resources Council.

(Image of Bahrain desalination plant from Google Images) Air Quality Bahrain's air quality is moderate in most areas. Its capital and largest city Manama has a rating of 87 on the air quality index, which is at the upper level of moderate ("Air Pollution in Bahrain: Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map," n.d.).

However, IAMAT (2016) points out that the North Sitra Industrial Area, Hamad Town, Hidd, Ma'ameer, Nabih Saleh and Nabih Saleh have poor air quality due to excessively high levels of particulate matter due to desalination plants and petrochemical industries. Bahrain is in the top ten worst countries for air pollution, according to one measure (Pantsios, 2014). Urbanization Bahrain has rapidly urbanized, with a recent annual rate of change at 1.71% and a total urban population of 88.8% (CIA World Factbook). In other words, the vast majority of residents in Bahrain live in urban centers.

Since 1987, urbanization has caused "substantial environmental change. including shifting vegetation patterns," due to a rapid doubling of urban space development (Schafer, 2014). Urbanization has several possible environmental outcomes including issues related to land use/habitat destruction, and increases in pollution due directly to urbanization and real estate development. Sea Level Rise Bahrain is an island nation susceptible to sea level rises. Between 1987 and 2013, Bahrain's land mass actually increased by over 12% due to land reclamation projects and the filling in of strategic coastal areas (Schafer, 2014).

A one meter sea level rise would flood almost all of the reclaimed coastal land -- about ten percent of Bahrain's coastal areas ("Sea-level Rise event report," n.d.). A United Nations report shows that "small state islands like Bahrain, will be among the most affected areas of the world," ("Sea-level Rise event report," n.d.). Oceanic and Coastal Pollution Inefficient waste management practices and the petrochemicals industries are collectively responsible for coastal pollution in Bahrain.

Most of Bahrain's industrial and urban development occurs in coastal regions, presenting clear threats to the sensitive maritime ecosystems. Among the species most directly harmed by Bahrain's industrial and urban development include the dugong, green turtle, dolphin, and the Socotra cormorant (Zainal, Al-Sayed, & Al-Madany, 2008). Inefficient and ineffective waste management in urban centers has also led to waste being dumped in or around coastal regions.

According to Fowler (1993), the Gulf conflicts in the 1990s resulted in four to eight million barrels of crude oil being spilled into the Persian Gulf, with long-term repercussions. The Gulf is an already sensitive ecosystem, as it is shallow and highly saline (Fowler, 1993). In response to critical needs to protect the surrounding waters and minimize the harmful effects of pollution, the government of Bahrain has adopted a national contingency plan for mitigating oil spills and preventing hazardous waste dumping (Kingdom of Bahrain, 2017).

References Air Pollution in Bahrain: Real-time Air Quality Index Visual Map (n.d.). Retrieved online: http://aqicn.org/map/bahrain/ Bahrain Economic Development Board (2017). Water. Retrieved online: http://www.bahrain.com/en/bi/key-investment-sectors/Pages/Water.aspx#.WQ5rmInyuRs CIA World Factbook (2016). Bahrain Urbanization. Retrieved online: http://www.indexmundi.com/bahrain/urbanization.html Fowler, S.W. (1993). Pollution in the Gulf. IAEA Bulletin. Retrieved online: https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/35205980913.pdf IAMAT (2016).