Examples of Transboundary Pollution

US-Mexico Transboundary Pollution

• In 2002, the United States and Mexico, along with tribal governments, proposed Border 2012 Program -- an international program designed to reduce pollution-related public health risks and maintain the natural environment.The proposal was followed by a 60-day public comment period, in which public and private stakeholders could raise issues that the program might address.

  In the region around California, stakeholders specifically identified "proposed power plants in Mexicali, soil particles in the air from the Salton Sea, vehicle emissions and brick-kiln burnings in Tecate, as well as trash burning in many cities" as transboundary issues of concern.

  In the region around New Mexico, stakeholders identified "regionwide plans for air basins and watersheds," as well as, "other air quality problems focused on toxic gases, and dust from trucks in the Marfa/Presidio area" as specific concerns.

U.S. Emissions Drift into Canada

• A 2005 report from the Canadian province of Ontario titled, "Transboundary
  Air Pollution in Ontario," explicitly lays out the smog affecting Canadians that is directly attributable to U.S. sources. According to the report, a considerable amount of Ontario̵7;s smog comes from the U.S. The report also acknowledged that Ontario is a contributor to regional air pollution.

  Of the health damages that total about $6.6 billion annually -- approximately $3.7 billion can be attributed to U.S. emissions and $2.9 billion to Ontario air pollution, the report said. A large proportion of damages attributable to U.S. emissions is in southwestern Ontario while the greatest impacts of Ontario air pollution originating in Ontario are seen in the south-central part of the province, the report said.

Europe Takes Steps to Limit Transboundary Pollution

• Under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, European nations have agreed to several treaties designed to regulate environmental and pollution issues across borders -- including the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Pollution, the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context and the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents.

  In a 2011 report, the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution cited evidence from ground-based and satellite observations that showed particulate matter and other pollution being transported from country to country and around the world.

  Since the early 1990s, the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents has worked to prevent and mitigate the pollution-related effects of industrial accidents. According to the convention's website, Europeans were spurred into action by the 1976 industrial accident in Seveso, Italy, and the 1986 accident in Basel, Switzerland.

Transboundary Pollution Among China, Japan and South Korea

• According to a report from The London School of Economics and Political Science, Japan, South Korea, China and other northeast Asian countries form a single ecological community as a result of proximity and climate factors. "Seasonal westerly winds can carry pollutants (acid particular matter, sand) across the whole region, and the semi-enclosed seas of the region, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, transport polluted matter from the surrounding land as well as from ships," the report said.

  A 2000 study from Japanese researchers, published in the journal "Atmospheric Environment," found evidence of air pollutants over China being transported by a typical winter weather pattern southeastward to the remote Japanese islands of Oki and Okinawa.