Consequences of Environmental Pollution and Degradation in Third World Countries

A simple cartoon in a magazine, thats all people see it as. There is constantly talk about the environment being destroyed and weve become immune to the topic. It just washes over us, Without the idea actually sinking in. Everything that is being done on this planet somehow affects someone, something. The state of our planet is becoming severely degraded without people realizing the brutal truth. Oh, its down south. we dont live there, it doesnt affect us. it’s With this mentality that the state of the planet is going to continue to decline. Throughout the third world the land is being severely degraded due to the deforestation of rainforests. the side effects that go along With the destruction of forests, and the role multinational corporations play.

Deforestation

Deforestation has been a hot topic throughout the first world now for some years and its commonly stated that this is one of the worst environmental problems on the planet, yet we arent even there experiencing the problem. or doing a lot to help rectify it. Rainlorests are being destroyed at a rate of 1.5 acres per second throughoutAsia, Central and South America, and Africa. Rainforests cover less than 6 percent of the Earth, yet 70 percent of the Earths species are found Within them. For example: Panama has as many plant species as all of Europe combined, and a single island in the Philippines contains more woody plants than all of the US. There are many factors that play in the game of deforestation. the main ones being the growing population and farmland, logging. and cash crops. Population and farmland As the worlds population increases, so does the need for food, especially in third world countries. During the 19605 the Brazilian government set up a program to relocate poor people outside of large cities.

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The government started building roads through rainforests and then bused people to the rainforest to start a new life. To try and make a living people began to slash and burn the rainforest in order to make room for agriculture.(see Figure 1) For the first couple of years the ashes from the rainforest act as a fertilizer, but rainforest land isnt very good for growing crops. The soil in which rainforests grows isnt very arable, which is why whenever you see pictures of rainforests the roots grow shallow in the ground and spread throughout long distances. As soon as the soil is devoid of nutrients, farmers move on to the next patch of rainforests and the process starts all over again. Logging Logging is one of the five most valuable exports from third world countries. one single tree from the rainforest can be worth up to $1000. South East Asia is a source of about of all exported tropical lumber, which is the leading cause of degradation throughout that continent. More than 70% of all tropical hardwoods are produced by only six countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, and Cote dlvoire.

When logging companies come in they only want the best quality wood, which is only a dozen of Asias 630 wood species. The problem is these species are scattered throughout the forests, and Within one acre there are usually only a couple of trees that are suitable to loggers Loggers go into a forest, extract the trees they want, all the while trampling other spaces around; the trouble. With this when a few trees are extracted per hectare. it ends up affects one to two thirds of the surrounding trees.

Cash

Crops Cash crops are a big contributor to the problem of deforestation. During colonial times, Europeans came into Africa and with them new crops for farmers to plant. These crops were not suited for the and land of Africa, compared to the traditional crops that had been frown for hundred of years, this was the start of the monoculture of crops. Since then, the problem has only escalatedю With third world countries being in enormous debt and the need to get out of It. Cash crops were planted in order to repay there debts, but in the process of this it was forgotten that the people of the third world had to eat as well, Farming isnt the only type of cash crop grown, throughout Central and South America beef are raised for export to first world countries, Cattle make a huge ecological footprint on land that has already been cut down or burnt.

Most of the time, cattle are Just set loose on land to graze until theres nothing left. in which case another chunk of forest is burnt and the process starts all over again, Mangroves Mangroves are a very intricate part of the oceans ecosystem, although many people have no idea what they are. Mangroves are groups of small, salt tolerant trees and bushes located along 70 percent of all tropical coastlines, near the outlet ol rivers. (See Figure 2) These areas are home to a diverse number of plants and fish. over 2,000 species. They stabilize and protect the coastline against erosion, they trap silt from washing off the land, and they filter out pollution. Around two thirds of all fish caught around the world were hatched in mangroves, and ironically mangroves are being destroyed to create fisheries.

The downside to this is manrmade fisheries arent sustainable for nearly as long, because theres Just fish. not the entire eco-system, Sadly, since they dont last long. The process just keeps continuing, as more and more mangroves are being destroyed, and as they disappear so do the number of fish caught per year, Malaysia had one of the worst destruction rates for mangroves; over 12,000 acres are lost each year due to fisheries; agriculture and urban expansion, and the production of matches, newspapers, oil. medicines, sugar, and construction materials. Degradation Deforestation and the reasons for deforestation lead into a much bigger problem, the actual degradation of the enVironment. Being brought about by many causes, enVIronmental degradation is also a topic of broad ps. The focuses in this paper are on Wind erosion, water degradation. sorl erosion, and desertification. Wind Erosion Wind erosion is a problem that is increasingly worsened by deforestation. With know trees in the ways, the wind is capable of moving deserts right up to neighboring cities,(See Figures 3,4) The wing can care dust particles thousands of miles, through different countries, and even across oceans to different continents, Wind degradation increases the possibility of droughts and in turn famine.

Winds spread deserts degradation thousands of acres yearly, so if theres a bad rain season there isnt nothing that farmers can fall back on if their crops dont succeed that year, Soil Erosion Soil erosion is known as the quiet crisis; because compares to a natural disaster ihats results are instantaneous, erosion is a serious problem, but takes years to be noticed. It can take up to 1,000 years for one inch of topsoil to form, yet 20 billion tons of topsoil is washed away each year.(See Figure 5) Rain is probably the biggest cause of soil erosion (after the land has been deforested). Water is approximately 500 times heavier than air, one-third to one-half the weight of rock, and about equal the weight of topsoil; which means if rain comes down and theres no plants, the soil is in trouble. (See Figure 6) Plants are very important in the prevention of erosion: they slow down water as it flows over land and let it soak in. the roots help keep the soil in position. and the leaves break the impact of the raindrops Deforestation has a big impact upon upper watersheds.

When it rains in forested areas, water soaks into the ground into groundwater and shows up again in rivers. With the disappearance of trees raindrops beat right onto the ground creating gullies and reeking havoc throughout the envrronment. (See Figure 7) At one point Ethiopias highlands were rich and fertile, but since 1900 over 90 percent of the forests have been cut down. Due to this, every year almost one billion metric tons of topsoil is washed away. In the last 40 years in the Himalayas 40 percent of the trees have been cut down, causing 35-75 metric tons of soil to be stripped away from each hectare of land yearly, Since the Himalayas are the youngest mountains on the Earth, they are also the most susceptible to soil erosion.

Throughout the monsoon season there is a constant, around the clock watch for landslides. These slides have caused horrific damage (see Figure 8), such as burying whole villages; and with up to 20,000 landslides per day. the results are disastrous, Water Degradation Soil erosion can lead to degradation in the water. as the soil erodes it creates deposits in rivers, lakes, and oceans This buildup of soil kills seaweeds, affects shellfish, damages beaches, and pollute the shores. As pollution affects our land, it also affects our water, As the soil is carried ofl into the water, so are any pesticides that might have been on the soil, Farmers often pollute the water Without realizing it, due to lack of knowledge and a proper drainage system.

Once in the water the pollution affects all sorts of species, animals and plants.

Desertification

Desertification is a serious problem caused by factors listed above, which is happening throughout half of the planet. Each year six million hectares of arable soil are lost through desertification, With the process acceleration in Sub-Sahara Africa, Mediterranean Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.(see Figure 9) In Mali, the desert has spread 350 km south in 20 years and in Sudan the desert has spread 100 km in 17 years. The agricultural loses due to desertification are huge, in 1985 loses were estimated at 20 billion pounds (roughly 40 billion Canadian dollars). Over one-third of Africa is affected by desertification, (see Figure 10)

Multinational Corporations

Daily in our lives we are constantly being bombarded With the information of corporations that exploit third-world nations in one way or another, Just walking down the street of Toronto you run across rallies chanting that Roots is em, or picketers outside of the Disney Store handing out pamphlets on how the company exploits its workers in factories, Usually its these types of comments, on the treatment of workers, but another big topic is the way they treat the environment.

Three different examples that explore different areas of environmental degradation are the IMF and the World Bank, McDonalds, and Chiquita Bananas The IMF and the World Bank During the early seventies markets throughout the World were doing great, so banks and nations went on a loaning spree. At the time interest rates were relativity low, so developing nations took advantage of the situation. Unfortunately, later in the seventies, an economic crisis hit the price of oil doubled. To try and combat inflation the United States raised their interest rates by twenty percent, leaving all those countries who had taken out loans With a big problem on their hands. The interest rates were sky high and developing nations weren't making any money because of the economic Cl’lSIS, Mexico came forward and announced they couldn't pay the interest back which was soon followed by many developing countries complaining of the same problem. To try and control this problem the IMF and World Bank stepped in to enforce the money owed. Desperate began destroying the environment at an outrageous pace, trying to come up with some source of income. Large corporations took advantage of this situation, moving their business into developing countries where they could access cheap, raw materials and pay workers next to nothing without anyone caring.

McDonalds

Throughout the eighties, the issue of where Mcdonald's received its meat was making headlines. In truth, their meat (along With many other companies) came from third world countries in Central and South America. Sadly, due to the corporations that root themselves in third-world countries where land and materials are cheap and workers don't need expensive wages, children are going hungry because more grain is going to the cattle than to the actual people of the countries. It's a display of economic imperialism that happening daily throughout the world. With these companies. the first world is getting richer, while the third world is getting poorer. Unfortunately, since the eighties, not a lot has been said about the subject although many companies claim they do not purchase beef from the south, although we can never be sure. By looking at the statistics, people in the south are eating less beef, yet their production of cattle continues to rise. We can never be completely positive about where our Big Mac came from. although many speculate meat is still coming from the third world, only now through middlemen buyers.

Chiquita Bananas

Chiquita bananas have constantly been the subject of debate over their lack of concern for the environment and people. This company owns many plantations throughout Central America and the Caribbean to start with. Bananas are a crop that uses up nutrients in the soil quickly, making them sustainable in one place for only twenty years, creating an ever-going process of rainforest coming down, and plantations going up. Pesticides are a big part of life on a plantation; there are plastic bags with pesticides that are wrapped over the fruit (see Figure 11), the fruit is consistently crop dusted, once the fruit Is harvested it has a little bath in pesticides to make sure that no bugs get on the fruit during shipment, and finally the fruit ready to be shipped in boxes wrapped With pesticide coated plastic, Some problems arise from these practices, many times the plastic bags that covered the fruit during growth isn't disposed of properly and ends up blowing along the coast polluting the environment. When the plants are planning on being crop dusted. no notification is given to workers in the fields, leaving them exposed to pesticrdes that cause mayor health problems later in life.

Along with the workers being affected, the pesticides that are sprayed on crops often hit any open water areas near plantations, as well as neighboring villages. Environmental degradation in third-world countries is a huge problem and theres not one set solution. In order to solve this problem, or at least slow. It down, everyone on this planet must all cooperate together. First and third world together. The lirst world has caused many of problems, but they can also have a big hand in the solution. This does not mean to ship over a few tons of food when people are hungry; there needs to be a long term solution to the problem. People of the first world need to educate those in third world countries, and maybe even themselves. until everyone can understand the detrimental effects of environmental degradation. Lack of education is the basis of all problems, and if we can educate everyone, well be on the path to success.

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