TITLE:
State of Air Quality in Malawi
AUTHORS:
Harold Wilson Tumwitike Mapoma, Xianjun Xie
KEYWORDS:
Air Quality; State of Environment Report; Ozone Depleting Substances; Climate Change; Malawi
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.4 No.11,
November
28,
2013
ABSTRACT: Air pollution in Malawi is recognized
as one of the key environmental issues. Out of nine key issues it is ranked
eighth on priority issues. This has led to lagging behind in terms of research
and reporting on the issue. However, the Malawi Government has made strides in
implementing policies, acts and programs that are directly or indirectly
concerned with the improvement and abatement of air quality to meet the
millennium development goals (MDGs) especially goal number 7. The inventories
and studies show that air quality in Malawi is still good, but future anticipated air quality problems
are cause for worry such as impact on human health, global climate change and
ozone depletion. Trends in consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS) show
a remarkable drive towards total reduction. Emissions standards are in place in
line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Recommendations on how to
deal with air quality issues have been proposed in the national state of
environmental report (NSOER) in that: 1) there is a need for an operational
framework for climate change programs in Malawi and; 2) there is a need to unify climate
change policies dealing with enforcement of ODS phasing out, alternative energy
sources, emissions from vehicles and industries, and institutional and human
resource capacity.