Urbanization the Predecessor of Industrialization

Industrialization: Major Negative Effects!!

Photo 1 

Ever since I was a little kid, passing on the highway from my grandmother's house in Chaguanas there was a part of the highway I looked forward too. The Petrotrin Industrial Estate which is seen from afar along the highway seen in Photo 1 above which lights up very beautifully at night. However with time comes wisdom and sadly the innocence of a child is lost... as a child all I saw was the pretty lights and fire, but as an educated adult I now see it for what it really is. A major source of capitalism and pollution! It represents the sad reality we live in where human advancement and our planet is put behind capital accumulation. Day in, day out fire and smoke is seen erupting from the furnaces of the industry... how do people not see this as a major problem? 

As stated by Dear and Flusty 1998 "the most important underlying shifts in the contemporary political economy is from a Fordist to a post-Fordist industrial organization" That is most economies have shifted from agriculture to industrialization. This is followed by major negative impacts, again illustrated by Dear and Flusty 1998 using California as an example they stated that the people of California had no regard for the environment and they have been "energetically, ceaselessly, and sometimes carelessly unrolling the carpet of urbanization over the natural landscape for more than a century". They listed the impacts of this as mainly air pollution followed by habitat destruction for animals. 

In our case the implementation of major industrialization due to our mono-crop oil and gas economy has and will continue to have negative effects on the environment. Firstly there is the issue of habitat loss as forests are felled to produce these sites. The aesthetics of nature are lost and the uprising of modern metallic structures replace the forests as seen in Photo 2 below. Adapted from a booklet received from Petrotrin.com 

Photo 2

These industries occupy large areas where nature once prospered and to me this is a very sad state, is capital worth the environmental degradation these mass producing industries produce?

Industries generate large amounts of air, water and land pollution. Industrial waste are high in toxins and if improperly disposed of can enter the food chain via bio-accumulation and make its way onto our plates hence having direct effects on humans themselves added to the direct effect of respiratory illnesses it causes.   

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas which contributes largely to global warming. With the felling of forests more carbon dioxide is left present in the atmosphere as said forests act as carbon carbon sequestration units (filters and stores carbon dioxide from the air). This leads to increasing rates of global warming, to make matters worst these industries PRODUCE carbon dioxide, as seen from photo one the fire and smoke constantly escaping from the furnaces. This not only has negative effects on the country of Trinidad and Tobago, but on a wider scale the world is affected. 

Global warming poses large threats to humans, as temperature rises polar ice caps melt at a faster rate hence rising sea levels. Lands close to the coast are loss and major flooding could occur. Also as a result of the rising sea levels Coral Reefs are greatly affected as they are sensitive to change. The deeper water causes the photic zone to decrease, corals need sunlight to grow so with less sunlight less growth would occur and they could possibly die. The Buccoo Reef is a major tourism attraction in Tobago, tourism generates a large source of Tobago's revenue therefore is completely destroyed less tourists would visit the island and less revenue will be earned. As such in this "hunger" for capital accumulation our own economy is contradicting itself and at the cost of the environment. 

These effects need to be reduced, and it should be of utmost importance for the government to find cleaner ways of producing oil and gas. They can also take measures to diversify the economy into a more environmentally sustainable ways such as tourism. Barbados solely depends on tourism for the majority of their revenue, maybe our government can take a note from their playbook. The environment would highly appreciate it! 

The following are further articles about the effects of industrialization:

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/business-magazine/Latin_America_and_the_Caribbean_in_2013__Building_on_a__decade_of_inclusion_-184772871.html

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects/

https://kaitlindeforest.wordpress.com/what-are-the-consequences/

References:

Petrotrin. Petrotrin A Valued Partner. May 2015. Accessed May 25, 2015. file:///C:/Users/Narik/Downloads/Petrotrin-A%20Valued%20Partner%205_15%20(2).pdf

High Municipal Waste Generation In St Augustine Trinidad

Municipal Waste Generated Over ONE Weekend??? 

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

According to WorldAtlas,2016 using World Bank data, Trinidad and Tobago was listed number 1 for "Waste Generation Per Capita" That's right number one! At first I thought this was a lie but then a first hand situation made me question...

Upon returning to my apartment situated at Old Tim St Augustine after a weekend home I was greeted with the sight of literally overflowing garbage bins on the outside of my building. I took a walk down the street only to discover this was apparently a trend... outside of each building were more and more bins being overflowed with garbage! Some buildings had a proper place assigned for their garbage while others simply placed them in garbage bags along the street.  This made me stop and wonder... where had all of this waste come from? How long has it been there? How long would it remain there? Rats and cockroaches were seen in abundance around these garbage which showed it attracted dangerous vectors. I was now extremely worried about my health! not only mind but each student who live around the campus of the University. We walk these streets everyday unknowing that vermin infest these areas and walk on the same street as us. Their bacteria are on our shoes and upon entering our apartments we bring said bacteria in. This to me was serious cause for concern! Again i questioned where had this waste come from? Students such as myself usually leave their apartment on Friday and return Sunday...had this garbage been sitting around since Friday evening? Despite that the quantity of garbage produced in one weekend was very alarming! 

As stated before in the previous post, apart from being aesthetically displeasing there are health risks associated with this accumulation of garbage, the garbage attracts vectors such as cockroaches and rats seen first hand! and for people living in these areas this can be a major problem as it leads to vector related diseases. (A.E. Onyido, P.O. Okolo, M.O. Obiukwu and E.S. Amadi, 2009). Also as a result of this stagnant rubbish the air quality can be diminished by foul smelling odor produced by the garbage.

According to Childe, 1950 urbanization leads to a generation of large "surpluses". This surplus generated leads to major wastage as seen from the above photos. Due to the large population associated with urban areas a large amount of consumption is done and the waste products of this consumption are then discarded. This accumulates to a large amount as seen again in the photos, again this waste was generated over a weekend. 

Something surely needs to be done about this otherwise serious health concerns would arise (see article from express below on the various vector borne diseases). This needs to be a collective effort between not only the government but people themselves. Persons need to adopt better practices such as reducing the amount they use, reusing what can be reused and recycling what can be recycled. Governments can assist this situation by designating more garbage collection for urban areas even throughout the weekend.

Photo 4

It must be noted that not only does the government have to increase the garbage collection days but also ensure better collection is done. As seen in photo 4 waste was left back even after garbage collectors passed the area.

The following article speaks about vector borne diseases due to improper garbage disposal:

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/letters/Our_deadly_littering_habit-115333989.html

The following are articles which speak about the amount of waste produced by Trinidad and Tobago:

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160309/news/tt-has-a-trash-problem

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160321/editorial/waste-worse-than-corruption

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Separate_your_garbage-102405714.html

http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-generating-the-most-trash-per-capita.html

Negative Effects of Urban Festivities

        Urban Festivities: Major Source Of Pollution!!!

Photo 1 Improper Waste Disposal at Rienzi Kirton Highway, San Fernando, Trinidad

Photo 2 Improper Waste Disposal at Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain, Trinidad

The above photos reflect a serious problem experienced in urban areas of Trinidad and Tobago which is caused as a result of urban festivities. Urban festivities such as Carnival can have major negative effects on the environment, as seen in the photos above, two urban areas: San Fernando and Port of Spain are plagued with heavy pollution as an after-effect of Carnival. As the density of the city increases for urban activities the effects of improper waste disposal are magnified and thus there needs to be proper waste disposal strategies in place as well as clean-up activities after these events. Both photos were taken on Carnival Tuesday in Trinidad (8th February, 2016) in photo 1 masqueraders can be seen parading in the background un-phased by the aesthetically displeasing sight of garbage filled drains. This shows the mentality of these persons carefree and unaware of the negative implications which their improper disposal habits incur on the environment. In the span of one day many persons from local and foreign come together to participate in these activities, they indulge in food and drinks to have a good time but then litter and pollute the urban environment.

Bottles, cans and boxes are some of the few items seen in these pictures most items being biodegradable in nature. In the case of Photo 1, if there were to be a heavy rainfall all the garbage in the drains would either be pushed to the nearby Cipero River leading to various deleterious effects on the fauna inhabiting the river as plastics can suffocate animals living in the river, or be ingested by them (Dr Paul Clark, 2014). Also they can release chemicals in the water which can alter parameters such as pH, conductivity, turbidity etc which may impact animals living in the river. Or if not pushed to the nearby river this garbage could clog the drains leading to flooding in these areas which would damage infrastructure and lead to reduction in productivity as persons would be unable to access the area until the flood dissipates. Also the clogging of drains can also lead to stagnant water being present, which could lead to foul stenches diminishing air quality or furthermore act as breeding grounds for vectors such as mosquitoes.

Photo 2 shows the Queens Park Savanah, on a regular day its grasses are clean and free of pollutants where persons can enjoy recreational activities to relax and unwind after long days working, but again after the urban activities pollution plagues the park making it unsightly. Apart from being aesthetically displeasing there are health risks associated with this, the increase in garbage attracts vectors such as cockroaches and rats, for people living in these areas this can be a major problem as it leads to vector related diseases. (A.E. Onyido, P.O. Okolo, M.O. Obiukwu and E.S. Amadi, 2009). Also as a result of this stagnant rubbish the air quality can be diminished by foul smelling odor produced by the garbage.

Another impact of urban activities are noise pollution, around carnival time there are many parties which take place in urban areas this leads to major noise pollution. Effects of noise pollution from these activities lead to stress, irritability, anxiety among others and is a serious issue.

The government needs to take action to reduce these impacts for the betterment of the environment. Proper waste disposal needs to be practiced by the people, as well as clean-up activities need to be more efficient. More bins could be put up throughout the urban area and more workers could be hired to perform clean-ups on a daily basis, with the numbers increasing after such events. As for the noise pollution the EMA can put measures in place to address these issues by sending officers to deal with complaints received efficiently. Pollution is a serious issue and it needs to be dealt with efficiently.

Below are some articles related to the negative impacts of pollution on the Environment:

“Plastic Litter Threatens River Life” - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/10547684/Plastic-litter-threatens-river-life.html

“Effects of Noise pollution” - http://eschooltoday.com/pollution/noise-pollution/effects-of-noise-pollution.html

“Survey of Vectors of Public Health Diseases in Un-Disposed Refuse Dumps in Awka Town, Anambra State, Southeasthern Nigeria” - http://scialert.net/fulltext/?doi=jp.2009.22.27

Traffic Woes As Densely Populated Urban Areas are Central Activity Hubs!!!!!!!!

The above photo shows a common problem experienced in urban areas of Trinidad and Tobago, TRAFFIC!!!!! It is quite common to see the sight of traffic around many urban districts of the twin island republic, such as Port of Spain, San Fernando, Chaguanas, Arima, etc. This is primarily due to the fact that these areas contain most of the facilities, businesses, services and government offices in a small, dense area. This centralization thus leads to the large population all gathering in the same area to conduct their business procedures.

This series of development follows the model put forward which outlines the growth of a city around certain points that have high activity, high economic activity, and opportunities for employment and betterment. These are the core areas. The Periphery refers to the other areas surrounding the core, which usually supplies the core. This was seen in the extract taken from Childe (1950), where cities in the old world were usually built around central structures such as temples, and the growth then extended outwards from that central point.

This photo similarly shows the congestion that occurs at the Gulf City Mall, San Fernando. The close proximity to the main road which also leads into the heart of San Fernando commonly leads to heavy traffic build up in the area. In addition to the traffic itself, the time spent in traffic results in a loss of human resource as time spent in traffic could have been spent to do work. Also, the exhaust fumes from the traffic build up is also harmful to persons and the environment as the fumes released contains toxins such as Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide, which are harmful to human health in large amounts, and are also greenhouse gasses which contribute to global warming.

The photo also depicts the woes expressed by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, that public transportation is not fully utilized, which means more private cars on the roadways. If more persons were using the public transport system, then the fewer vehicles on the road would also ease the traffic woes. Below are three articles taken from the Trinidad Express Newspaper which speaks on the public transport system in the country.

1. "Public urged to use other transport" - http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Public-urged-to-use-other-transport-294932151.html
2. "Buy new buses to ease transport woes" -  http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20151024/letters/buy-new-buses-to-ease-transport-woes
3. "Let the traffic flow" - http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20151118/news/8216let-the-traffic-flow8217