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Developing Countries
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Louisiana Wetlands |
Pollution Concerns in Developing Countries
In South East Asia, the
pollution problem has become such large problem that the local
people have to live with large garbage dumps right next to there
homes. In this picture, a family is making their way through a
waste filled shore line in order to reach their house.
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As developing countries attempt to gain a foot
hold in the world markets, they must build and maintain a
growing number of industries from textile to chemical plants.
On a global scale, this is positive
growth. However there is a large population of people whose
jobs are getting pushed out of sight as a result of this
development. Yet these people, substance
farmers specifically, form the internal backbone of these
countries economies. These industries put pollutants into the
environment that are finding their way into the local water
supply, minimizing the productivity of the local substance
farmers.
As
industrial complexes are built along river banks, their waste
gets pumped into the water, polluting it to levels so high it
becomes unusable. On top of that, there are the drastic
pollution events such as the Songhua River spill that occurred
in December of 2005, an event that the environment is still
reeling in shock from. In the suburbs of large industrialized
cities in areas such as china, the local residence have had to
resort to the use of untreated industrial wastewater to irrigate
the vegetables and other crops that they grow due to the fact
that the water in the reservoirs and rivers are unusable.
All
this pollution brings down the nutrition levels and productivity
of the farms. In fact, it increases the possibility of health
problems. According to the World Health Organization,
arsenicosis, cholera, and Japanese encephalitis are some of the
major diseases that are water related.
If,
perchance, someone traveled alone the road from Peshawar to
Islamabad in Pakistan and crossed the Indus River in the
vicinity of Attuk they would observe the meeting of the Indus
and the Kabul. One is a grayish blue, the other, a pale brown.
The brown, at its source, is considered “a toilet that is
flushed once a year.” Both supply the local farmers with water
for their crops, both are polluted to a point where people
question simply swimming in them, let alone eating food watered
by them or fish raised in them.
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Locally
Deficient in the Cabeza - Pompeis Region
Water sources have
become heavily polluted near urban areas. Many streams and water
sources face large chemical concentrations especially during dry
seasons. The demand for water is ever increasing in suburban areas
where population growth is fueled by urbanization and
industrialization.
Living in an area
like San Gabriel Valley that is becoming more urbanized each day, we
should consider this situation very closely for our near future.
Run-off from local sources along the San Gabriel Valley river
experiences large increases in pollution concentrations during the
dry seasons. Although water flows through at a lower rate during
these times, the chemical flow rate is unabated, because we continue
to dump just as many chemicals into the water. The main sources for
these pollutions are the local storm drains and water reclamation
plants. The pollution levels from these vary by type and depend on
temporal conditions, but overall they are often found at dangerous
levels during dry seasons.
The problem with
this pollution is, once it enters our water systems there is very
little we can do to remove it. There aren’t very many feasible
methods to remove the pollution. One solution would be synthetic or
natural wetlands. One that could alleviate the bio-chemical stress
on our water systems. The idea would be to place a wetlands directly
after or near these pollution sources to dampen their effects
before they are assimilated into the main water system. This set-up
would allow bio-filtration to take place and drastically reduce the
pollution levels, without letting them affect the quality of our
river water first.
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The
Louisiana Wetlands at a Global and National Scale
The Louisiana Wetland Delta is
shrinking in size at a very fast rate. The Mississippi River that
feeds it has now been blocked off using levees which reduces the
nutrient and sediment flow into the delta during occasional
flooding. |
Louisiana’s wetland is the earth’s seventh largest delta. As a
result, it has significant economic consequences in terms of
wildlife habitat and marine life. It accepts drainage from about two
thirds of the United States, including high concentrations of
agricultural run off and nitrates. This has enhanced algal growth in
the delta increasing its Biological Oxygen Demand up to a point of
complete loss of other organic life forms - a condition called
hypoxia. The wetlands also fall under a migratory path of songbirds
and waterfowl. The current loss of land stands at 5000 square miles.
With the increasing danger of losing more land, the risk of
threatening endangering species is high.
At an economic scale, the delta serves as a source of
eighty percent of the country’s offshore oil and natural gas supply.
In addition, the delta provides a passageway for thirty percent of
the offshore oil supply. Encompassing all of these factors, the
wetlands are a number one buffer to hurricane threats from the Gulf
of Mexico and the open seas. Given the current loss of land from the
Louisiana wetlands, a hurricane would be catastrophic.
Is there a relationship between Katrina and
Louisiana’s Delta?
New Orleans
lies in the midst of an ancient floodplain of the Mississippi River.
As most rivers, the Mississippi has overflowed in the past, flooding
its surrounding areas. Due to the threat, the government began
building levees to dam the flooding. As a result, what should have
been a natural occurrence was now controlled. This has cut off the
supply of nutrients and sediment to the delta that the periodic
flooding once provided, which has resulted in its drying up- loss of
land. The bottom of this coastal wetland now lies unstable as it
sinks and settles continuously. Without the steady supply of
nutrients and sediment, the aquatic plants have become flooded
causing vast expanses of open water to form, thus promoting the
occurrence of hurricanes.
As the
wetlands deteriorate and shrink at an ever increasing rate, the
chances of the occurrence of another hurricane is much higher.
Resolving this issue has begun at the federal level with partners
looking into restoring the coastal wetlands. Concerned citizens,
local governments, state and federal officials have formed the Coast
2050- a plan including watershed management, improving drainage, and
restoration of barrier islands among other ideas. The importance of
the wetland has now been realized nationally and globally and its
effects have surfaced as a result of Katrina.
Works Cited
Blanco, Katherine
Babineux. “Saving Louisiana’s Delta.” Global Issues, April
2004: April 6th, 2006. http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/0404/ijge/gj06.htm.
“Hurricane Katrina:
Wetland Destruction.” Teacher’s Domain, 2006: April 5th,
2006. http://www.teachersdomain.org/68/sci/ess/earthsys/katrinawet/index.html.
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