Environmental+Issues+in+Latin+America

=By: Alex LeDuc=

==Latin America like any other area of the world, has its environmental issues. There are problems of pollution in cities and the cleanliness and availability of water resources. There are many endangered species, the over use of marine resources, and a rise in diseases. One of the major diseases is skin cancer which is caused by the thinning of the ozone layer, which is having an extremely strong effect at the southern tip of the continent. ==



==The name of the lake above is Lake Maracaibo, it is the largest lake in Venezuela. Oil production in and around the lake basin, and nearby mining activity, have had damaging effects on this lake. The lake has suffered from an invasion of duckweed, caused by the runoff of sewage and fertilizer. Scientists are worried that the duckweed bloom could lead to an area where no living thing can grow because of low oxygen levels. The lake's environmental problems have made a major threat to local fishermen, who have had protests over the years to defense the lake and its fish.==

==In Venezuela, it is thought that the only way to get wealth is from producing oil. Many factors have made ecological issues very low profile. One large reason is the economic legacy of three quarters century old oil economy.==

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==South America has many Environmental Issues. To name a few there is deforestation, digging up forests for their soil, slash and burn for crops, inadequete water supply, trash everywhere, water pollution, not enough flood control, irrigated field degradation, air pollution, acid rain, and many more problems.==



==As you can see from the photo above, there is a lot of flooding that occurs in Latin America from bad flood control. This doesnt just wipe everything, when the water goes down it brings with it anything that was on the ground where it flooded. Everytime a river overflows it becomes more and more polluted each time. Making the water deadly to drink without putting the water through an intense purification process.==

==The air quality is so bad in Latin America that many people are getting sick. Exposure to these high levels of contaminants has resulted in cardiovascular and respiratory illness. The increasing amount of refineries and the metal industry is also contributing to dirty air.==



http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/3324 http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/003/Y1730E/y1730e07.jpg http://upsidedownworld.org/main/images/stories/March08/f-5maracaibo_modis_2004jun26.jpg http://thegoodhuman.com/2012/03/11/latino-communities-hardest-hit-by-air-pollution/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwgQgpl23Vkhome