Tuesday, August 10, 2010

What is wrong with this photo?

I took this photo today from the lookout of the Metropolitan Natural Park (135 meters above sea level) more or less at 9:00 AM. It shows the old part of Panama City, plus the Pacific entrance of the Canal. Something is missing, don't you think? Maybe the next photo, taken 20 minutes later, will help you notice what I mean:
Suddenly, the Amador's Coastway and both Naos and Perico Islands appear. That is because the first photo shows a dense SMOG curtaine over the city. Many panamanians think that air pollution is a problem of big cities like Mexico DF or Los Angeles, but the reality is that it is our problem too. Think about this: Panama's government ratified the Kyoto Protocol (1999), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1995) and the Vienna Convention, nevertheless we have been unable to reduce our CO2 emissions since then (see the graphic):Most part of our CO2 emissions come from the combustion of liquid fuels (89%), followed by that of the cement manufacturing with 6%. Not only the CO2 is a problem. We produce each year approximately 1.044.000 metric tons of non-CO2 air contaminants (specially carbon monoxide emissions)... and that is a lot! It is time to inform ourselves in how to reduce our CO2 emissions and start to change our way of life for the benefit of our children. After all, we all want a clear sky over our heads, don't we? (the last photo was taken one hour after the second one).Source: Earthrends.wri.org.

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