The Impact of Gas Flaring on Child Health in Nigeria
Burning off the gas coming out of oil wells—gas flaring—is a common practice in oil-producing developing countries. This economically wasteful and environmentally damaging process occurs because infrastructure has been built with a focus on oil pro...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099237508302236581/IDU0af7dd3f1075cb04fed0a71e0b3a08fb54368 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37934 |
| Summary: | Burning off the gas coming out of oil
wells—gas flaring—is a common practice in oil-producing
developing countries. This economically wasteful and
environmentally damaging process occurs because
infrastructure has been built with a focus on oil production
rather than gas capture and because weak regulations and
limited environmental monitoring make flaring an attractive
choice for oil producers. Moreover, gas flaring is harmful
to human health, especially because of pollutants. This
research focuses on Nigeria, where over 10 percent of all
gas produced is flared and about 2 million people in the
Niger Delta live within four kilometres of a gas flare.
While several studies from developed countries examine
relationships between gas flaring and human (especially
infant) health, a lack of data limits what research is
possible in developing countries. This paper uses infant
health data from Demographic Health Surveys, and
satellite-detected data on gas flaring to examine the
effects of flaring on disease incidence and infant mortality
in oil-producing regions of Nigeria. The findings show a
strong positive association between gas flaring and the
incidence of respiratory diseases and fever among children
younger than five years. The study contributes to the
literature measuring the wider cost to society of oil and
gas production and adds to a growing body of work using
satellite data to understand well-being in places where
conventional data sources are unavailable or unreliable. |
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