Transcript Environmental Issues of Latin America

Environmental Issues of Latin
America
SS6G2 The student will discuss environmental issues in
Latin America.
a. Explain the major environmental concerns of Latin
America regarding the issues of air pollution in Mexico City,
Mexico, the destruction of the rain forest in Brazil, and oilrelated pollution in Venezuela.
Famous for its size, its history, and the
warmth of its people, Mexico City is also
infamous for its air pollution
In 1992, the United Nations described
the city's air as the most polluted on
the planet. Six years later, that air
earned Mexico the reputation of "the
most dangerous city in the world for
children."
This is a reputation Mexico has been
working hard to improve. But despite more
than a decade of stringent pollution-control
measures, a dull haze hangs over the city
most days, obscuring the stunning snowcapped mountains that frame the city and
endangering the health of its inhabitants.
Many factors have contributed to this
situation: industrial growth, a population
boom (from 3 million in 1950 to some 20
million today), and the proliferation of
vehicles. More than 3.5 million vehicles -30% of them more than 20 years old -now ply the city streets.
Geography conspires with human activity to produce a
poisonous scenario. Located in the crater of an extinct
volcano, Mexico City is about 2,240 meters above sea
level. The lower atmospheric oxygen levels at this
altitude cause incomplete fuel combustion in engines
and higher emissions of carbon monoxide,
hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds. Intense
sunlight turns these noxious gases into higher than
normal smog levels. In turn, the smog prevents the sun
from heating the atmosphere enough to penetrate the
inversion layer that blankets the city.
For More Information on Mexico City
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-29135-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Destruction of the Rainforest in
Brazil
Deforestation in Brazil
:
This image of the southern Amazon
uses satellite data from the Moderate
Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on the Terra satellite
collected in 2000 and 2001 to classify
the terrain into three separate land
surface categories: forest (red),
herbaceous (non-woody) vegetation
like grasses (green), and bare ground
(blue). The Amazon's numerous rivers
appear white.
What is deforestation?
In many tropical countries, the majority of
deforestation results from the actions of poor
subsistence cultivators. However, in Brazil only
about one-third of recent deforestation can be
linked to "shifted" cultivators. A large portion of
deforestation in Brazil can be attributed to land
clearing for pastureland by commercial and
speculative interests.
For what are pastures used?
Cattle ranching is the leading cause of deforestation in
the Brazilian Amazon. This has been the case since at
least the 1970s: government figures attributed 38
percent of deforestation from 1966-1975 to large-scale
cattle ranching. However, today the situation may be
even worse. According to the Center for International
Forestry Research (CIFOR), "between 1990 and 2001
the percentage of Europe's processed meat imports that
came from Brazil rose from 40 to 74 percent" and by
2003 "for the first time ever, the growth in Brazilian cattle
production—80 percent of which was in the Amazon—
was largely export driven."
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/amazon/amazon_destructio
n.html
Beef…it’s what's for dinner.
Destruction of the rain forest in
Brazil
http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm
Go to the above website to learn about the
Amazon Rainforest
Information can also be found in the
Green book on pages 250-251
Oil-related pollution in Venezuela
Among the environmental concerns in
Venezuela is the effect of pesticides and other
agrochemicals on the health of peasant
women. A study by the Central University of
Venezuela’s Ivonne Alvarado found that in 43%
of cases, samples of mother’s milk were found to
contain organochlorine insecticides. Cases of
respiratory congestion and rashes are frequently
reported among poor women and children.
The Venezuelan government is being accused of an
oil spill cover up, downplaying the extent of the
damage to the Venezuelan coastline after an oil spill
on March 1, 1997. The Venezuelan environmental
organization FORJA is accusing the Environment
Ministry of admitting to only 9000 of nearly 60,000
barrels of crude oil that leaked from a Greek tanker
accident in Lake Maracaibo and the Gulf of
Venezuela. Orinoco Oilwatch says the accident
caused “extensive pollution” and “serious damage” to
the sensitive ecosystems along the coast.