Is it possible that a country known and loved by many for its great entertainment and just overall pleasure it provides, be thought of as having issues? Chile, this well known nation of having various attractions and enormous sense for safety has had difficulty with environmental issues. Though Chile is highly recognized for its astonishing mining sector, this very sector seems to be the biggest issue correlated with pollution in the air, water, and land. Also, deforestation and wildlife seem to be two other highly recognizable environmental issues. These three issues have thus far question the reality of the occurrences actually taking place in Chile, since the many wonderful attractions contradict such possibility.
Though Chile’s mining industries bring much production and much success, it also causes a lot of harm on the environment. The mining industry contributes greatly to the Chilean economy since the production of copper is infinitely huge as well as the exportation of it. Other environmental issues associated with mining are air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, and along with these three issues is the risk exposed by abandoned mining sites and tailing dams. In regards to air pollution, Chile has been ranked the second most polluted city in Latin America. It is greatly affected by the metallurgical industry, primarily copper smelters since it's the main source of sulfur dioxide emissions in Chile. The copper smelters not only emit sulfur dioxide but also release significant amount of arsenic in the air.
On the other hand water pollution occurs from the mismanagement of water used in mining operations and from tailing disposal. Industries such as agriculture, forestry, and mining contribute to the contamination of streams and seas. With the variety of natural resources that Chile has produced, it has become a leading exporter of fish, fresh fruit and copper but this exportation has contaminated the lakes and rivers. However, commercial fruit growers seem to have a greater affect, since they rely on far more chemical fertilizers and pesticides which aren't really needed to flourish. Current legislation however, now requires Santiago to become the first city in Latin America to treat all its wastewater and therefore construction is taking place in order to manage the wastewater.
Land pollution falls alongside air and water pollution because if the air and water are being polluted it ultimately makes the land polluted as well. Investigations are being taken upon the metallic content of minerals in order to see their effect on agriculture. Iron, seems to have low toxicity, presenting a lower risk then most minerals. Copper however, seems to be the biggest threat for soil contamination and therefore the industry needs to make some adjustments in order to prevent serious damage. The mining sector however, also faces a greater challenge which is the need to clean up abandoned mines, tailing dams, and facilities in which Chile has little experience of.
Moving along to deforestation, Chile has approximately 13.4 million hectares of native forests, 3.9 million hectares are protected by the government and the remaining 9.5 hectares are in private hands. Indigenous forests grow between 12 to 15 million m3 timber annually and about 15% of its work is best fitted for industrial productions, while 85% is better for fuel wood. However, about 85% of wood used by factories come from tree plantations and about 10% from native forests. Chile is therefore supplying larger world markets and about 70% of the forests and the industry's output are being exported. This exportation accumulates the Chilean economy and companies such as Canadian companies have increased its presence in the Chilean sector by providing products and services that relate to the forestry sector. Chile is said to be the world's third biggest producer of woodchips, exporting roughly 90% of woodchips. Being recognized as such means that Chile is destroying valuable coniferous species and native species. "A proposed Ley de Bosques Nativos (Native Forest Law) would offer economic incentives for owners of native forests properties, promoting sustainable harvest with subsidies and discouraging nonnative plantations, but progress has been slow (Moon Travel Guides)."
Wildlife seems to be another big issue in Chile’s environment. Large amounts of the Chilean wildlife have been provided with legal protection especially in the south. Many Chilean inhabitants heavily rely on natural resources for their living. "Exotic plantations, logging, livestock grazing, hunting, commercial fishing, and mining are some of the human activities that have affected and continue to threaten wildlife and wild lands in the region (Chile)." Many animal species have become endangered due to this constant reliability of inhabitants to the natural resources. The Guanacos are known to be one of the most endangered species since they suffer from competition in livestock and habitat loss. They are not only affected by this but also by sheep, cattle, and rabbits, whom compete with native herbivores and ultimately lead to transmitting diseases to the Guanacos. This endangerment of species causes changes in the environment by damaging forests and changing the natural flow of water.
The general picture is that mining, deforestation, and wildlife all relate to one another and if one is endangered then it ultimately leads to the others possibility of endangerment as well. Mining however, is very important because of the great economic improvement it has created in Chile’s economy and so they greatly rely on it but it ends up hurting them much more with the result in pollution of air, water and land. Deforestation comes next because it also helps them financially especially with the exportation of woodchips. They export to larger markets all over the world without realizing the harm they create not only to themselves but to the many species that greatly rely on the forests. This then leads me to the final environmental issue, wildlife. The wildlife of many animals is being taken away by deforestation but also by hunting and all humans do to capture these species. Seeing such harm Chile implements on itself in order to gain more financially, seems absurd since they are affecting themselves.
Though it seems that these three environmental issues can in no way be controlled, information technology seems to affect the issue of deforestation. Chile is known to be the most advanced telecommunication infrastructures in Latin America and therefore a variety of inhabitants have internet access which has spread throughout the population. Deforestation contributes to the growth of industry and seems to be a major revenue source for the government but also seems to affect climate. Information technology's growth has brought awareness to many other countries of the many problems that occur due to the removal of forests. "The Chilean environmental group Defensos del Bosque Chileno collaborated with its Japanese counterparts to launch an educational campaign designed to curb the wood chip trade between Chile and Japan (Forest Stewardship Council)." Products were being sold that were environmentally and socially unsustainable. An environmental group, known as the WWF-UK offered to help by resolving this problem. This therefore led to the creation of the Certification Scheme, which provided approval of products harvested in properly managed forests. The many companies that committed themselves to this Certification did so due to their desire to improve competitive advantage, for environmental values, corporate leadership, desire to do the right thing, and to gain consumers trust (Forest Stewardship Council). This demonstrates that companies not only in Chile are willing to do what it takes to be environmentally fit. Though it may not seem like information technology played a huge role here, on the contrary it did, since the majority of the population in Chile has internet access. They can easily become aware of the harms of deforestation or any other environmental issue and being aware of such leads for an action to stop all harmful environmental issues.
Information technology can have a serious impact on environmental issues and the use of such technology leads for a better world. Though Chile is slowly advancing in information technology they can use the little technology they do have to progress and help improve the environment. Such environmental issues need to be taken care of and technology like these can most definitely ensure to restore the environment as well as many different aspects of Chile so that it truly is that attractive country that everyone loves.
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