Since at least 1307, when King Edward I banned the burning of coal to protect his citizens´ ”bodily health”, governments have regulated the release of pollution into the air. (Chay KY and Greenstone M, 2003)
source: http://centromariomolina.org/english/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Oportunidades-calidad-del-aire-y-salud-para-ZMVM-final_LeonoraRojas_eng.pdf Industrial by-products |
The burning and combustion of fossil fuels has always been a major problem in many countries, more and less in some. Mexico City however had maintained a track record for the most hazardous quality of air in the world. It is so bad that it has taken 30 years for it to reach a much more sustainable point. The Mexico Metropolitan Area (Mexico City) has been the center of huge industrial, political and developmental reign. In the 1970s, there was a huge demand for the production of steel and metal products in Mexico. However, the by-products of producing these heavy alloy metals was not taken into account. In Figure 1.1 It shows how the products were used in proportion to one another and how the waste was produced. It shows that even though there were economically viable materials produced
Figure 1.1: shows the proportions of the steel extracted from iron ore and the waste that is produced. It also shows the amount of waste gas and solid material that is not used and is discarded as waste into the environment. The amount of energy needed to produce the ore and the by-products are also labelled. We see the proportions of the economically viable material that was produced in relation to the waste products and their relative ratios. For example the purchased scrap is about 5 times bigger than the other tab since the amount was nearly quintuple the amount of the "Others" tab.
source:http://www.ssab.com/DigitalAnnualReports/2011/en/Responsibilityandgovernance/Strategicenvironmentalwork.html
fossil fuels
The burning of fossil fuels is one of the most common global environmental problems, more serious in some countries than others. Such fuels are non-renewable and burn to create carbon dioxide and other gases which harm the respiratory system of the human body. There were 1019 cases of lung cancer in 1984-1992 in Mexico city alone. Now, statistics show that 17-20% of the 20 million people living in Mexico will develop lung or cardiopulmonary disease as they continue to breathe the same air in Mexico City. It had become such a big problem that unleaded fuel had to be banned for some time due to the heavy concentration of air pollutants. Also, because of a lesser concentration of oxygen in the air due to altitude and pollution, the combustion of fossil fuels in insufficient oxygen leads to more production of harmful gases such as sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. As we can see in Figure 1.2, Mexico is one of the biggest consumers of fossil fuels in the world.
Figure 1.2: shows the top 25 countries that have the biggest consumption of fossil fuels in the world and its subsidies. As you can see here, Mexico is quite far up the table amongst some of the biggest leading economies. Mexico City is one of the most largest urban areas in the world even though it only occupies a space of 1845 kilometers squared.
Source: www.earth-policy.org/
Source: www.earth-policy.org/
Mining By-Products
Mining was and still is a huge industry in Mexico City because of the large amount of ores and minerals as well as several sources of nuclear energy found in the soil, partly due to its geological placement. Mining in Mexico dates way back and is the biggest industry Mexico City relies on. There are more than 50 000 functioning industries in Mexico City to this day and produces 24 000 tonnes of pollutants per annum. The huge mining industry in Mexico City requires a lot of funding as we can see in Figures 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5. The government has invested a lot in the mining industry, being one of the main sources of income for the Mexican Government and because of this, have fewer restrictions on their production of toxic chemicals.
Figure 1.3: This graph is of the investment that the government did to enhance and make more profit out of the mining industry. It says 30% of the global investment in mining has come from Mexico showing their emphasis on mining expenditure and making more money out of the mining industry.
Source: https://www.camimex.org.mx/
Source: https://www.camimex.org.mx/
Figure 1.4: This graph shows the amounts of money invested into the mining industry. We can see that over the course of the years there has been increased investment into mining and how it has fluctuated over time. In 2012 we can see the huge gap between 2005 and 2012 and this gives us a general overview on how the government is using its money in proportion to the years before.
Source: https://www.camimex.org.mx/
Source: https://www.camimex.org.mx/
Figure 1.5: This is a graph of what the Mexican Government spent on in the mining industrial sector and also shows us a reflection to how much they invested in past the past year. We see that there has been increased investment in the mining section of the total funds they gained.
Source: https://www.camimex.org.mx/
Source: https://www.camimex.org.mx/