19th August 2010

ENVIRONMENT

Yesterday in class we studied the environment.

Chile suffers badly from air pollution. I would like to say that New Zealand is clean and green but one of our biggest cities Christchurch suffers from the same situation. Here are a selection of reports I sourced that I have melded together about Pollution.

SANTIAGO

Santiago, Chile is among the worst smog cities in the world. The five million inhabitants of Santiago, Chile are exposed to high levels of air pollution during a significant portion of the year.

Santiago basks in one of the most spectacular settings of any city in the world. Located in central Chile, the city sits in the middle of a valley and is surrounded by two mountain ranges: the Andes Mountains and the Cordillera de la Costa. Because of Santiago's unique geographic location and weather patterns, further exacerbated in winter when wind and rainfall levels are at their seasonal lowest, ventilation and dispersion of air pollutants within the valley are restricted. Often times rain and/or wind (both rare for Santiago's climate) are the only solution to smoggy air thus explaining why Santiago, with emission levels similar to those in other cities, suffers from such high atmospheric pollution levels. One of the articles described students in art class as drawing ‘their horizons a murky gray’

Chile's smog problem began with the industrialism of the 70's that has continued through to the current decade. At the present moment, it shows no signs of improvement as the major sources of emissions go largely unregulated. As Chile is the world's largest producer of copper, industrial emissions in Santiago primarily arise from the mining sector and smelter operations. The process of mining contributes a considerable amount of pollutants to both the air and water; chief pollutants include sulfur dioxide, arsenic and suspended particulate matter. As you would be able to see, the levels of smog in La Dehesa, Las Condes, Vitacura and more affluent neighborhoods is typically less than Santiago Centro or Pudahuel, or El Bosque barrios, where all the factories are and poor people.

Some other causes of pollutants are an increasing rate of automobile use and wood-burning stoves. In 1997, Santiago and Chicago signed a Memorandum of Understanding under the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities program as "Sister Cities," whereby Chile agreed to implement a $1.2-million subsidy for the deployment of a fleet of natural gas buses.

During the winter the government issues smog alert warnings based on the number, per cubic meter, of particles with a diameter of 10 microns. Up to 100 PM-10 is considered "Good". Above that is "bad," until 300, which is "pre-emergency" and 500 is "emergency" smog. In comparison US cities that hit 50 or 60 microns declare a state of emergency. In Chile pre-emergency smog alert levels trigger the removal of more polluting cars from the streets. When the air quality is in pre-emergency or emergency state, children, senior citizens and people with respiratory problems are advised to avoid trips to downtown Santiago whenever possible. The Health Ministry may cancel physical education classes and recommend that children avoid outdoor activity during critical periods.

http://www.corrosion-doctors.org/AtmCorros/mapChile.htm
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/chile/santiago
http://c.hileno.com/2007/05/ranking-santiago-chile-smog-levels-and.html
http://www.chipsites.com/ww/health-information-chile.html

TEMUCA

Unlike Santiago which suffers from pollution created by industry, Temuca suffers from pollution created by private users.
Firewood use in the world's poorest regions has been recognized as a contributor to local air pollution; however, it supplies 20 percent of the country's energy, according to local residents and officials. "There's an important part of the population that doesn't have much purchasing power, those who live practically day to day," Pantoja said. "For them, it's difficult to get quality firewood. We yearn to establish a social supply center for certified firewood, but for this we need the support of more institutions. We can't do it alone." "I have just enough for water, light, cooking, and buying the things I need," said Ahumada, who lives on about US$266 per month. "CONAMA has promised for two years to help out, but there is no help at all."

In Coyhaique, the city that recently ranked the worst in particulate air pollution, 97 percent of residents burn firewood. Firewood in Chile is four times cheaper than paraffin, five times cheaper than natural gas, and seven times cheaper than electricity. Most homes are not equipped for other types of heating systems and are poorly insulated.

Apart from municipal efforts to promote more sustainable burning methods, no official policies regulate the use of firewood. "In Chile, firewood actually isn't recognized as a fuel [by the government] despite being the second largest source of energy in the country," said Rony Pantoja, regional technical secretary of the National Firewood Certification System (SNCL), a partnership formed in 2005 between firewood dealers and the government. "There are no policies that modernize and make sustainable [firewood] use.... It gives the impression that this issue doesn't interest [the national government in] Santiago."

SNCL's goal is not to impose binding firewood standards on anyone, but to encourage sellers and consumers to be more aware of the issues and to demand higher quality wood, Pantoja said. He hopes one day to establish a Certified Firewood Supply Center that would help improve poor residents' access to quality firewood.
The Chilean Senate Committee on Mines and Energy met with SNCL in May to discuss addressing firewood management issues. The partnership with SNCL encourages firewood dealers to sell drier wood, which lessens the release of harmful particulates into the air. For a nominal fee of 200 Chilean pesos (35 U.S. cents), sellers receive an official label that they can display to indicate their firewood's quality. By comparison, a cubic meter of wood costs 15,000-22,000 pesos.

Yet local, regional, and state governments have failed to cooperate widely, Pantoja said. As a result, less than 3 percent of publicly purchased wood, including that used in schools, government offices, and even local health agencies, was certified by SNCL, El Mecurio reported in 2008. A year later, the share has risen to 34 percent, Pantoja said.

Temuco violated Chilean air pollution laws on 34 days, three times the number of days as in 2004.It has a population of 300,000 and has the fourth most polluted air in the country. On winter nights, Carmen Ahumada who lives in Temuco, is unable to see across the street to her neighbor's house. Visibility in Temuco, Chile, can be as low as five meters at times, she said.

Like Santiago, cold weather conditions, especially at night, trap urban air pollution near the ground, cloaking Chile's urban areas in thick smog. The problem worsens during the winter, when lower temperatures and poor home insulation ratchet up the amount of firewood burned.

The regional decontamination plan issued by Chile's National Commission of the Environment (CONAMA) allotted 30 million pesos (US$53,250) to help with improving fuel quality, replacing heating technology, and beefing up home insulation. These funds, however, will be dispersed in projects taking place only over the next 10 years.

http://www.worldwatch.org/node/6157

CHRISTCHURCH

Eighty percent of Christchurch’s winter air pollution comes from wood or coal burners and open fires. Only 10 percent comes from vehicles and 10 percent from industry.

The older and less efficient a fire is, the greater the quantity of emitted dangerous fine particulate emissions (known as PM10). On cold, still winter nights, these particles can form into choking, brown smog.

For up to 50 days each winter, the level of PM10 particles in the air in Christchurch exceeds Ministry for the Environment guidelines.

Research indicates each year this pollution is responsible for:
• serious health problems for several thousand people, such as respiratory and cardiac illness (causing them to take time off work, which affects the local economy)
• the premature deaths of more than 150 people due to respiratory or cardiac illness
• higher health costs for everyone, due to heavier demand on the health system
• a damaging effect on the public image of Christchurch.
•
In Christchurch, because there are hills close by, a layer of warmer air, known as an inversion layer, traps the smog down at street level. This directly affects the people who live there. Although the problem is at its worst in the evening, the smog is often clearly visible the next morning.

http://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/Contexts/Enviro-imprints/Looking-closer/Air-pollution-in-Christchurch