Transantiago Fails to Cut Contamination
Santiago of Chile: Worst Smog levels in eight Years
Santiago residents faced this year’s first environmental public “pre-emergency” (one last that dont mentioned by goberment) situation this weekend, as air contamination reached its highest level since 1999. On Saturday, the Particle Quality Index (ICAP) hit 409, well above the 300 that is required for the government to declare a pre-emergency. While levels had returned to normal by late Sunday, environmentalists are concerned that the capital’s new public transport of Santiago: Transantiago is not living up to its promises of safer, cleaner air for its residents:
The Promess of Transantiago Project:
“Transantiago is a revolutionary transformation, unique in the world, which seeks to modernize and improve the quality of life of the habitants, promoting the use of the public transport, facilitating the use and improving the level of service … Seeks to diminish also the consumption of fuel and the gas emissions for the decontamination of the city”.
What’s more, the bad news came on the back of a visit by former U.S. presidential candidate and environmental poster boy Al Gore. His aim was to raise awareness about climate change and impending environmental disasters throughout Chile and Latin America.
On Saturday morning, smog particles in the air rose to a “dangerous” level in many parts of Santiago. Pudahuel residents suffered most from the contamination, with peak of 409 registered on the local ICAP monitor. Contamination levels had been at over 300 since Friday, but the government only issued a warning for Saturday, a fact that was criticized by both local press and health experts.
Pre-Emergency:
During pre-emergency situations, the elderly and the very young are advised to stay indoors because of their weak lungs. Smog can inflame breathing passages, decreasing the lungs’ working capacity, and cause shortness of breath, pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing, and coughing. It can cause eye and nose irritation and dry out the protective membranes of the nose and throat and interfere with the body’s ability to fight infection, increasing susceptibility to illness. Prolonged exposure to contaminated air can cause asthma and cancer.
During winter months, the Metropolitan Region issues regular information on air quality levels, which range from “good,” with the IPAC at 0 to 100, to “emergency,” when the IPAC is over 500.
If the government declares an alert, it can restrict the use of vehicles without catalytic converters, which are main sources of contamination in the region. This weekend, more than 100 people were fined for driving in spite of vehicle restrictions. However, many of them said they were unaware that any such restriction was in place.
One of the most recent measures taken to combat air contamination in the capital was the public transport overhaul, the Transantiago. Before the system’s inauguration, government officials promised that contamination would be reduced by 75 percent under the Transantiago, and that states of alert and pre-emergency would become a thing of the past. It seems, however, that this is not the case. Although this is the first pre-emergency this year, smog levels tend to rise during the coldest months of June and July, and more alerts are expected.
Chile’s government made more promises this weekend to take action about Chile’s environmental situation, spurred on by former U.S. vice-president Al Gore’s visit to Chile. On Friday, Gore addressed an audience of 1700 people, including President Michelle Bachelet, and former presidents Patricio Aylwin and Ricardo Lagos, the latter of whom was recently nominated a UN climate change ambassador.
“Chile is in the part of the world that is going to be experiencing a lot more heat waves,” said Gore after the presentation.
President Bachelet closed the event with a reference to Gore’s presentation and a promise to speed up action to prevent climate change in Chile.
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Transantiago Chile · Publicación: English Information
