Environmental issues in Chile
Environmental issues in Chile include deforestation, water scarcity, pollution, soil erosion, climate change, and biodiversity loss, especially in its industry-heavy "sacrifice zones".
It is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Andes Mountains on the east, and the Atacama Desert in the north; it is home to several important eco-regions, such as the Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests, a biodiversity hot-spot that harbors richly endemic flora and fauna, and the Tropical Andes, which stretches into northern Chile.
[3] The country has a wide variety of climates due to its large size and extreme geographical features including glaciers, volcanoes, rain forests, and deserts.
[12] This puts a considerable strain on snow melt water supplies which harms the rural communities living in the Atacama.
Santiago, the capital city of Chile, is surrounded by mountain ranges which facilitates the accumulation of pollutants from car emissions and industrial development over the region.
[14] It is common to use wood for heating in the southern portion of Chile, which tends to experience cold temperatures, as it is less costly than gas or electricity.
[15] The port city of Arica's water is severely contaminated by arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead due to Chilean company Promel accepting 20,000 tonnes of toxic waste from Swedish mining conglomerate [Boliden AB] from 1984-1985.
Despite contradicting Sweden's international obligations according to the Decision-Recommendation (C(83)180) of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the toxic waste was marked as "nonhazardous" when shipped to Chile, where Arica's health authorities allowed the import.
An estimated 12,000 residents of Arica have experienced serious health impacts including anemia, cancer, respiratory issues, birth defects, miscarriages, and infertility.
In 2021 the United Nations called for the hazardous waste to be removed to Sweden and safely disposed of, saying the environmental consequences in Arica are an unaddressed human rights violation.
In the past several decades the region's main economy is tourism, in 2016 there was an estimated 1.498,295 tourists visiting the area.
High rates of emissions, black and Brown carbon (BC and BrC), come from truck and ship activities in this port.
In 2014 there was a spill which resulted in 37,000 liters of oil being dumped into the ocean after two tankers, the LR Mimosa and the Monobouy Terminal, connection broke.
8 of the Chilean Constitution, the right to live in a pollution free environment, plaintiffs include FIMA and the Terram Foundation.
Women of Zones of Sacrifice in Resistance of Puchuncaví-Quintero, an organization established in 2016 in response to health crisis' like the La Gerda school poisoning.
[23] Dunas de Ritoque is a local environmental NGO in Quintero Puchuncaví, fighting for the preservation of the environment.
[28] Other Organizations involved in the health crisis of the Valparaíso Province include: FIMA, Ecosystems, Institute of Political Ecology (IEP), Oceana, CODEFF, Terram Foundation, Greenpeace and Sustainable Chile.
