Friday, April 10, 2015

Blog #8- Rio water pollution

As if the rural deforestation of Brazil’s Amazon forests is not bad enough, there have been cases streaming to the surface about Rio’s pollution getting worse.  As the 2016 World Olympics was promised to Rio de Janeiro in 2009, the government promised to get most of the pollution cleaned up in time. Now they are saying it will not be done on time and that the mess is only getting worse. As the letters between Senators and representatives and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Congressional Caucus come to attention, the question of the Olympic sailors’ health come to mind.  It is said in the letters that the 7 million Brazilians’ sewage waste ends up right into Guanabara Bay, which is directly where the water portion of the Olympics will be taking place. A test done in December of 2014 has come back showing that the “super bacteria”, KPC enzyme found in the water causes several different bodily infections and diseases such as E-coli, dysentery, hepatitis A & B and is only treatable by antibiotics.  There have been meetings to discuss where the sailing portion should be moved to, but no public information has been released.  It is also showing that it is killing many of the fish species there as well and aerial shots of the bay shows household trash filling up throughout the bay, including where is to be the sailing lanes for the Olympics. As for the living conditions of the area, it is unacceptable. The sewage water for cities need should not be flushing their sewage into the bay directly next to them. As we can see it carries diseases that can severely harm the population and the ecosystem contained near it. The trash in the bay should not be there, as it should be put away in a landfill somewhere outside the city. Trash in the water around the city only provides more hazards. Regardless of all this trouble in the water, Carlos Nuzman, the head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, inform the public that the water will be ready on time for 2016 somehow.





No comments: