Reflection Post

Our reflection based on this blog.

It was a fascinating journey to be able to pay attention to urban ills of pollution and look at in-depth effects that it has on our society. Pollution such as air, water, land, dust, thermal, soil, plastic and noise were looked at in relation to specific elements of society and recommendations were given to reduce these levels. It can be seen that most pollution is due to man-made activities and only we can stop the impacts it has on our environment. Society today has become accustomed to the pollution all around without even paying attention to how serious causes and effects of it can be. It is our right to help in any way that we can to reduce, reuse and recycle every waste material possible, so that pollution would be reduced. It is very difficult to eradicate pollution in its entirety, therefore we must find a way to help decrease.

This blog has other related blogs in which can be helpful in doing further research on pollution and its effects on society.

Narik and Stefan- http://urbantrinibloggers.blogspot.com/

They spoke about topics relating to urban ills such as pollution of rivers, deforestation and other harmful effects that man has caused pollution through, due to selfish gain of money. These are all effects which society does not pay attention to as it has become a norm to see destroyed lands and wilted vegetation.

Kaaria and Jameel- http://urbangeographers.wix.com/port-of-spain

All things which makes urban areas pulse and feel alive are happening right where all things makes urban die slowly. Pollution is seen in vast amounts all over the streets of Port-Of-Spain, while it’s these same streets which brings in the revenue for the country by hosting tourist attraction sites. This is contradictory to the people of society as they claim to love their country while defacing it at the same time. 

Stephen and Yusseff- http://urbandeceptiontrini.blogspot.com/

Urban deception can be linked to our blog since it can be seen that there are many problems faced by people and their decisions of everyday life. This shows how humans think an what makes them cause pollution.

My body was vibrating. My ears were ringing. My brain was numb. My heart was pounding.

I know what you are thinking. Maybe I was ill or something but no I was not. This was me experiencing the after effects of a high noise environment. This experience motivated me to question our level of noise pollution throughout this country and even the world. It is a fact that the leading loss of hearing is from noise. Do you know that excessive noise can lead to a whole host of other serious health problems which include high blood pressure, stress related health conditions such as migraine, colitis, and ulcers.

Environmental noise pollution which is a form of air pollution continues to grow every day because of the major growth in our communities today. In the urban environments, boom cars, car horns, car alarms, and public transport systems may also be the cause. In urbanized and industrial towns it is observed that the noise level is also generated due to factories, small scale industries, and businesses

How does noise pollution cause hearing loss? Why is excessive noise too hazardous to our physical health? Do you know that noise is associated with increased aggression? The estimated cost of noise pollution is $30.8 billion a year and this is just in Europe. The World Health Organization Europe’s 2011 report, “Burden of disease from environmental noise,” analyzes the relationship between environmental noise and healthcare treatment, impaired learning and decreased productivity due to noise. At least 50% of teachers have damaged their voice from talking over classroom noise. A study of teachers published in the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research in 2004, noted another side-effect of noise pollution in classrooms. Do you know that 3% of the cardiac arrests cases in Germany have been explicitly linked to traffic noise? This alarming fact was found in a 2009 press release from the Environmental Protection UK.

This video illustrates noise pollution along the bus route area.

Who turned up the heat?...I suppose Thermal pollution!!

Who turned up the heat?...I suppose Thermal pollution!!

Many would ask, “what is thermal pollution? I’ve never heard of this before.” This is because society leans towards educating the public about problems which directly affects humans. Thermal pollution is very real and plagues most urban cities due to the presence of industries. Since the expansion of the industrial sector, most companies use lakes and river to cool down their machineries and this is the number one cause of thermal pollution. There are also other important factors which can lead to this pollution such as soil erosion, natural causes like volcanoes and even runoff from flat surfaces. Thermal pollution is mainly the situation where water temperature has increased significantly and introduced in a setting with a lower temperature[1]. The effects of this rise in water temperature have severe impacts on organisms which live in these settings. Natural ecosystems are ruined and migration or even death may take place. This is a situation that has to be payed close attention to as much of the industrial plants and companies should reduce their emissions of high temperature water and cool it down before it is released back into river and streams.

Some companies in the Point Lises area emit their waste water, full of contaminants and of high temperatures, back into nearby rivers and lakes. This was taken to show how dirty the water is and how no life can thrive in this settin

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[1] http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-thermal-pollution.php

WOULD YOU BATHE HERE?

BELIEVE IT OR NOT!!! Do you know that pollution is one of the most ignored concepts in the world?

There is a lot of contamination taking place here. A lot of toxic waste on this marine surface. These toxic chemicals comes from us humans who choose to litter on the beaches. As long as this litter reaches the shore it gets into the ocean and it remains there for many years. We have to blame ourselves for this mess that we have caused on our beaches. All of this is because of human activities.

Now we ask the question, what are the impacts of this litter?                                       

All this plastic we are seeing here is then broken down into tiny particles and spread plastic pollution throughout many beaches. 
Now we ask the question, what are the impacts of this litter?                                       

All this plastic we are seeing here is then broken down into tiny particles and spread plastic pollution throughout many beaches.

This picture shows a highly polluted beach with various types of pollutants that humans dumped and ended up in a result of pollution located in Salybia Toco

Land Pollution In Relation To Urbanization

Don’t Mess with the Street People!!!

Industrialization and urbanization reinforced each other and urban areas became increasingly congested. Urbanization and industrialization are major causes of land pollution. With industrialization came urbanization. The increasing factory businesses created many more job opportunities in the cities. Preventing pollution in urban area to reduce both its dependence on pollutants it produces, and to properly recycle or dispose of pollutants. Preventing pollution in urban areas is often largely a public relations task. People need to be educated about proper ways to dispose of waste. Regulations are often necessary to reduce the amount of pollutants contaminating our environment.  Urban activities generate large amount of city wastes including several biodegradable materials and many non-biodegradable materials. These wastes can cause clogging of the drains around the environment which can cause serious drainage problems that can lead to health problems. These solid wastes have seriously damaged the normal movement of water thus creating problem of inundation, damage to the building foundations and as well public health hazards. This then produces foul smell within the environment. The underground soil within the cities is also likely to be polluted. Every single day there are tons and tons of domestic waste is thrown into the streets by people. This same wastes that we throw into the streets can eventually end up in our water ways and this can get into our systems and we can get sick due to this.

These pictures illustrates pollution in the streets of Maraval which have been done by persons in society.

Be a Part of the Solution

Not the Pollution

Do you know that plastic pollution exist? Do you know that these plastic breaks down into such small segments? Oh yes one plastic bottle could end up on every part of the beach. Say no to pollution people it is slowly destroying our land. Instead let’s keep making a positive impact to our sea waters by keeping it clean. Pollution is one of the biggest global killers, affecting over 100 million people. 14 billion pounds of garbage are dumped into the ocean every year and most of it contains plastic. The continuous dumping of the plastics allows for over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed every year. These plastic waste ranges from grocery bags and soft drink bottles to lost rubber duckies and also the microbeads from face washes which is fast growing environmental problem. Experts estimate that plastics account for 1 percent of municipal solid waste in the 1960 and it is 10% more today. Most of these plastic ends up in landfills and a good portion of it end up straight to the ocean. Base on research plastic disposal in the ocean can grow to 155 million metric tons by 2025. Today thousands of pounds of plastic can be found swirling convergences making up about 40 percent of the world’s ocean surfaces. We’re surrounded by plastic. Thin k of every piece you touch in a single day. The world population is living, working, vacationing, increasingly conglomerating along the coasts. In 2008, our global plastic consumption worldwide has been estimated at 260 million tons and according to a 2012 report by Global Industry Analysts. Agricultural practices, coastal tourism, port and harbor developments, urban development  and many others all play a part in the threaten state of the coastal system and the marine habitats. Most of these plastics come from the urban areas in which the wind transports these plastic particles to the sea. We can help stop this plastic pollution by ensuring that we do not leave our litter to linger throughout the cities and surroundings that will allow it to end up in the sea.

Help prevent plastic pollution. It all starts with YOU!

These Pictures were taken at Chagville Beach Chaguaramas which displays plastic pollution on the land and then in the water.

 Why is pollution running??? Half of society doesn’t even do it!!!

Polluted Urban Run-Off

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, people have increasingly congregated in urban areas. Air pollution often plagues industrialized cities, particularly this happened during the early development. Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms that are also present in the same environment. Suspended particulate matter is made up of airborne smoke, soot, dust, and liquid droplets from fuel combustion. The amount of suspended particulate matter is usually measured in micro grams per cubic meter of air. According the World Health Organization’s air quality standards, the concentration of suspended particulates should be less than 90 micro grams per cubic meter, but however in many cities this is not usually the case it is measured to be more. This high concentration of suspended particulates adversely affects human health which affects respiratory diseases and heart diseases. It is stated that worldwide, in 1995 the ill health caused by such pollution resulted in at least 500,000 premature deaths and 4-5 million new cases of chronic bronchitis. The most of these people who are at risk from air pollution are the urban dwellers. By using cleaner fossil fuels and a higher reliance on renewable sources of energy such as hydro, solar, geothermal and wind are some of the best ways to control and reduce air pollution without limiting economic growth. The fuel combustion by motor vehicles is another major source of suspended particulate emissions in the urban areas in which these emissions are detrimental to human health because the pollutants are emitted to ground level. Urbanization means increase of population in an area which they then need more materials in order to live therefore the industries have to supply their needs which therefore promotes in polluting the air more. These industrial plants releases a lot of toxic chemicals into the ocean and rivers in which results in contamination to the environment and water ways.

These pictures illustrates the pollutants from the industrial plant and the chemicals they release in the oceans and rivers on a plant located in Point

Maybe the saying should be “DUST till Dawn”…

                  Maybe the saying should be “DUST till Dawn”…

The picture shows the clouds of dust draping over the vegetation around the Trinidad Cement Limited in Claxton Bay.

It was very disheartening to see the tons of layers of dust sitting on the vegetation surrounding the Trinidad Cement Limited.  It was a mound of falling tiny particles which caused allergic reactions to manifest. This cement company tried to use a trapping mechanism by surrounding it with plants and trees to catch the dust. This mechanism however has been detrimental to the life of the vegetation and as seen in the picture, they have been mostly suffocated and they are no longer lush and green. Dust pollution is evident and has adverse effects on the environment. This urban setting is very harmful to any living creature. It was very alarming to see houses surrounding this company since there is so much pollution taking place and is being carried around from place to place by the wind. The smaller the dust particles, is the larger amount of harm done to the organism which breathes it in. These tiny particles are able to penetrate deeper into the mouth, lungs and throat which can cause disruptions in DNA sequences[1]. As a result, respiratory illnesses and interruptions in brain and nervous system activities can be experience. This is detrimental to babies and animals since higher concentrations are found on the ground level. It is very important therefore to stay away from dust pollution and greater importance for companies to try harder at keeping the dust at a minimal. A great way to reduce the effects of dust pollution is by wearing a respirator whenever in the vicinity of dust particles that are in abundance.

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[1] http://www.asienreisender.de/dustpollution.html

Soil pollution and Deforestation…What does this have to do with me?

Soil pollution and Deforestation…What does this have to do with me?

Just like many other forms of nature, soil also suffers from pollution. We depend on produce from the earth for sustenance and it all stems from the part which is rarely seen, the soil.  With the presence of man made elements, it is now very difficult to keep the planet’s soil healthy and beautiful. Natural waste from dead plants and animals help in maintaining balance in the ecosystem while man made waste is full of chemicals and cause soil pollution to occur. Soil pollution is caused mainly by the use of pesticides and various other chemicals which tend to mix with the natural materials and cause harm to the earth and in turn to living organisms. It is the farmers’ responsibility to make sure that harmless amounts of chemicals are being introduced in planting. Farmers use the setting of deliberate forest fires as a land clearing tool, which causes deforestation. This method eventually leads to soil degradation and in turn pollution. Particles become loose on the land and are easily carried away by wind or water. This is how the soil looses it important nutrients and structure. The effects of soil pollution can be very harsh to plants, animals and humans. This is our main source for food and it is our responsibility to save our fertile lands and not let it be destroyed. In urban areas especially, land is not taken care of properly and is treated without importance. This was seen as shown in the picture below where fires were being lit along the highway indiscriminately. This shows how much the land is important to the urban settings. The generation of today has to practice sustainable agriculture in order for food supply to continue in the future.

Further readings can be done on how you can achieve sustainable agriculture by utilizing proper techniques for farming on this website:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/building-fertile-soil-zmaz03jjzgoe.aspx

This photograph was taken by the Gasparillo bypass, on the North bound lane. The picture to the top shows indiscriminate lighting of fires very close to houses. While the bottom photograph shows how the soil is left after the fires are passed.

Excessive cars, traffic and smog….Our clean air is being contaminated!!!!

Excessive cars, traffic and smog….Our clean air is being contaminated!!!!

There are many types of pollution which can be evident everyday as we pass along our normal routes, but we are blind towards it due to the fact that it has become a part of the norm in society. On our everyday commutes, whether it may be from our homes to places of work or school, pollution is seen everywhere. As simple as the vehicles on the roads that we use, they cause much air pollution which we are blind sighted to due to the convenience they provide us with.  Air pollution caused by vehicles can be said to be primary pollutants being emitted, but they do however cause reactions with the natural air and become secondary pollutants. These can cause adverse effects on human health e.g. respiratory illnesses, as well as on the environment by acid rain[1]. Personally, changes were made in order to reduce air pollution through vehicular usage in the household by carpooling. This in fact makes a difference but in a very insignificant way. However, if many persons in society thought about carpooling with friends and family, this would reduce air pollution in a major way. The first and last photos in the collage below depict the traffic congestion situation which plagues the urban roadways in Trinidad. This can be reduced only if carpooling was enforced as a side effect of an educated population. The picture in the middle shows how dirty the emissions of some vehicles are and clean air is horribly contaminated. There are lots of ways in which air pollution can be reduced and it all starts with YOU!

Figure 1: Picture taken on the highway to Trincity mall, to show smog emitted from the vehicle causing air pollution, making it hard to breathe in fresh air. It also shows the amount of vehicles piling up, causing traffic.

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[1] http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-effects-solutions-of-air-pollution.php