"PL" <PL@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:5adcf720-10ca-43ac-a34b-b852ab4cd600@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> > > Cuban Efforts to Protect Ozone Layer Recognized
>>
>> > "The healthy status of much of the wetlands and forests of Cuba is
>> > due
>> > not to political influence as much as the lack of foreign exchange
>> > with
>> > which to make the investments to convert lands and introduce
>> > petrochemical pesticides and
>> >
fertilizers,"http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-castro-legacy....
>>
>> > The Ecological Footprint in Cuba
>>
>> > Recent media attention has focused on Cuba's legal framework for
>> > environmental protection, the small "ecological footprint" of Cuba
>> > relative to other countries, and the eco-friendliness of the Cuban
>> > government. (1) A deeper analysis of the situation in Cuba reveals
>> > that this characterization is not sup****ted by the environmental
>> > realities on the island.
>>
>> [snip and LIE]
>>
>> Not this one again!
>
> Yep.
> The facts again
>
>>This is from a US government-funded, Miami-based
>> think-tank
> (snip)
>
> all based on data from international organizations and even Cuban
> government sources.
>
> What desperate Dan snipped:
> "The healthy status of much of the wetlands and forests of Cuba is due
> not to political influence as much as the lack of foreign exchange with
> which to make the investments to convert lands and
introducepetrochemical
> pesticides and fertilizers,"
>
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060804-castro-legacy.html?source=rss
> The Ecological Footprint in Cuba
>
>
> Recent media attention has focused on Cuba's legal framework for
> environmental protection, the small "ecological footprint" of Cuba
> relative to other countries, and the eco-friendliness of the Cuban
> government. (1) A deeper analysis of the situation in Cuba reveals
> that this characterization is not sup****ted by the environmental
> realities on the island.
>
>
> Water Pollution
>
>
> According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), water
> pollution in Cuba is a serious concern, particularly since there is a
> marked lack of infrastructure to address the issue. Of the 2,160 main
> contaminant sources recognized by UNEP, 1,273 or 59 percent, release
> their pollution into the Cuban environment without any treatment
> whatsoever. Another 433, or roughly 20 percent, receive limited but
> inadequate treatment before being discharged. (2) This analysis
> included agricultural sources of contamination, as well as industrial
> and human waste.
> Despite its clear im****tance to the citizens of Cuba, the treatment of
> urban sewage in particular is extremely limited: only 17 or 18 percent
> receives any treatment before discharge into Cuban waterways. (3) The
> infrastructure of water and sanitation are beyond the breaking point
> and are close to catastrophic failure. Havana's sewer system, which
> was built almost a hundred years ago, has been due for major repairs
> for almost five decades and is serving over two million citizens, well
> beyond its design capacity of 400,000. (4)
>
>
> The Cuban government has recognized this as a major environmental
> problem on the island, conceding that "pollution in our ground and
> marine waters has gradually aggravated...caused mainly by the deficient
> state of the sewerage and its incomplete nature in the majority of
> cases." (5) UNEP re****ted an approximate total of 341,716 tons per
> year of organic material discharged into Cuban waters, equivalent to
> the pollution generated by a population of over 22.3 million people.
> It is worth noting that this level is twice the actual 2005
> population
> of 11.2 million. (6)
>
>
> The effects of this system on the Cuban environment have been severe.
> Cuban bays are widely recognized as being among the most polluted in
> the world. (7) The Almendares River, which flows through Havana,
> carries the untreated sewage of over 42,000 people directly to Havana
> Harbor and coastal waters. (8) There has been evidence that in Havana,
> an underground aquifer that provides 36% of the city's potable water
> that runs directly beneath the polluted Almendares, represents a very
> high risk of widespread drinking water contamination for the city.
> (9)
>
>
> This is a phenomenon that is being replicated throughout the country:
> it has been estimated that annually 863.4 billion gallons of
> contaminated water finds its way into Cuba's rivers, much of it
> industrial. (10) A recent study of the groundwater in Moa, usually a
> naturally protected resource, concluded that a new water source for
> the population of Moa must be developed quickly, as the present
> source
> will be increasingly contaminated with heavy metals much of it from
> the nickel industry in the medium to long-term. (11) Tourist
> facilities have also exhibited insufficient treatment regimens, as
> many either pump waste directly into the sea at some distance from
> the
> coast, or use small oxidation pools, and release lightly treated
> water
> into the ocean. (12)
>
>
> Overdrawing of Water
>
>
> Pollution is not the only serious problem facing Cuban water supply.
> Cuba's water distribution infrastructure is crumbling, leading to
> gross inefficiencies and tremendous waste. According to a study by the
> Pan American Health Organization, the amount of water lost to leaks in
> the system is truly alarming: in smaller cities of Cuba the
> percentages range from 13 percent in Pinar del R=EDo to 30 percent in
> Manzanillo to 42 percent in Santa Clara. (13) It has been estimated
> that of the 30 million cubic meters of water pumped into Havana every
> month, 12 million are wasted. (14) This leads to an overdrawing
> situation where extraction from the environment far exceeds the actual
> volume that reaches the end user, creating undue strain on the water
> resources of the island.
>
>
> Soil Degradation
>
>
> Despite these stark realities, a recent detailed analysis of the
> Cuban
> environment concluded that water issues are not the island's most
> endangered natural resource. While water-related issues were ranked
> as
> four of the top five, the most troubled aspect was terrestrial
> degradation, which included the effects on soil quality due primarily
> to agriculture, mining, etc. (15) The widespread use of irrigation in
> agriculture with poor drainage has caused a significant amount of
> salinization of the soil, which leads to acceleration of erosion and
> decreased crop yields. According to the United Nations, Granma
> province suffers from a 20-40 percent reduction in crop yields due to
> increased salt in the soil, while the province of Guant=E1namo has
> been
> more severely affected with 10 to 70 percent reductions in yields.
> (16) Salt-affected soil covers 14 percent of the national territory,
> or approximately 1,000,000 hectares. (17) The cost of recovering
> these
> salt-affected soils has been estimated at $1.43 billion. (18) This is
> one of the main contributors to soil erosion which according to the
> Cuban government, affects 60 percent of Cuba's territory, which has
> given rise to serious concerns about desertification, or extreme
> topsoil loss. (19)
>
>
> The standard practices throughout the revolutionary period -
> including
> decades-long neglect of infrastructure, virtually non-existent
> pollution limits, and detrimental agricultural practices - seem to
> have taken a significant toll on the Cuban environment. While some
> recent "eco-friendly" policies, such as urban agriculture and reduced
> use of pesticides, have caught the attention of many, they have
> mostly
> been implemented due to shortages and lack of resources, and do not
> seem to address the most pressing issues confronting the Cuban
> ecosystem. The current situation does not seem to reveal a deep
> commitment to environmental protection, and the challenges that will
> arise from this use of resources should be of significant concern to
> the Cuban government and the island's future.
PL - anyone who has been to Cuba in the past 10 years realizes that the
island is almost as bad a disaster as Haiti. The ground is contaminated as
is the water supply. People try as hard as they can to get bottled water
for
drinking. But the AIR is nearly unbreathable. The problems are not just
the
very TIRED old motors on 50 and 80- year old cars and trucks that belch
poison into the air, but the use of open cooking using either wood or fuel
oil for cooking. In short the air in most cities in Cuba is worse than
smoking 5 packs of cigarettes a day. It was not uncommon for me to have
seen
OLD TIRED BEAT UP Soviet Era trucks going around Holguin belching smoke
that
would cover blocks. The Soviet trucks were terrible when brand new. Even
brand new Russian built cars put out several hundred times the pollution
than free world vehicles. Yes Latin America as a region is bad. Brazil is
terrible. They flat don't give a **** really. Oh the ethanol is nice, but
they are burning their rainforests like morons. People ***** about the
U.S.
and the Kyoto treaty. A treaty that penalizes the U.S. and Europe where we
are VASTLY far ahead on air pollutants and ground pollutants and TOTALLY
EXEMPTS places like India, China and Cuba. And Cuba nearly puts as much
****
into the air as the U.S. does at 1,000 times its size. Let's not even talk
about the bacteria in the water. A 16 ounce glass of water from the system
in Holguin has MORE inhabitants in it than people in China! Concern about
chemical contamination of the soil? TOO LATE! What's this crap about an
injection for the ozone lawyer?
I don't see Cuba as having a serious plan on environmental concerns. If so
they'd start im****ting far more cars from the U.S. and Japan. I just got a
new Honda SUV that is an ultra-low emissions vehicle and high efficiency
on
fuel economy getting over 25 MPG in the city and 35+ on the highway. The
car
I am driving today MEETS the standards for 2020. A new Lada? It meets the
emission standards for 1930! MAYBE on a good day IF it runs at all!
If Cuba were REALLY serious - they'd drop all the hostile bull**** and ask
the U.S. for help. Maybe the Cuban people could have clean drinking water.
It's time Cuba stopped slapping away the hands of friend****p and realized
that THEY need a serious attitude adjustment. They'd find there are far
more
people than they think who'd like to help.
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