An environmental expert, Dr. Mofoluso Fagbeja says over 700 kilogramme of sooth was released from gas flaring into the atmosphere in the Niger Delta in 2015.
Dr. Fagbeja who is the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Ile-Ife Campus of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) said this in a lecture entitled: “ Connecting People to Nature in the City and on the Land from the poles to the Equator” during the celebration of the World Environment Day in Port Harcourt.
The university don also said that 38 and 13 percents of Nigerian men and women die between ages of 50 tobo from environment-related illnesses.
Dr. Fagbeja who described the situation as a big colossal loss to the country, also decried the increasing rate of air pollution in the country.
He said the poor attitudes by Nigerians toward the environment had disconnected the people from their natural habitats.
According to him, apart from the poor environmental management culture, the nation also  lacked basic infrastructure to support the growing urban population adding that the attendant consequences of these was the increase in the rate of poverty and illiteracy.
He however commended the Rivers State Government for the construction of the Port Harcourt Pleasure Park and other projects which had restored Port Harcourt to its Garden City status.
Meanwhile, the state Commissioner for Environment Professor Roseline Konya has described the burning of tyres in the state is no longer acceptable.
Prof. Konya said during this year’s celebration of the World Environment Day.
She said this situation was increasing the rate of the black sooth being experienced in the state.
The commissioner who urged for a change of attitude said that government would take stringent measures to protect the environment from further destruction.