Air Pollution.Where is it coming from?
From burning of fossil fuels – traffic, energy production, agriculture; coming from nearby cities such as San Juan as well as Caguas What effects will it have? Toxic pollutants in the air may impact wildlife because animals can experience health problems if they are exposed to sufficient concentrations of air toxics over time. Air pollution may lead to:
|
Runoff from Man-Made Rivers.Where is it coming from?
Deforestation in Puerto Rico has destroyed much of the El Yunque forest. This creates toxins. Because this portion of Puerto Rico receives a lot of rain (over 200 inches per year) the toxins are brought in runoff to the forest from the people who live nearby (as another result of deforestation). Similarly, additions of stream crossings for tourists have created small man-made rivers which bring pollutants from the nearby houses into the rainforest. What effects will it have? This runoff will eventually bring many pollutants into the rainforest, introducing foreign chemicals into the systems of various plants and animals. Since some of these chemicals will be toxic, and most will be foreign, the organisms will have an adverse reaction. These reactions can range from disease to death. When these die, the rainforest will begin to fall apart due to the interdependency of its species upon each other, and the beautiful landscape will be ruined as trees wither into husks. |
Pollution.
One of the main problems in El Yunque are the two prevalent pollution sources. These are air pollution from fossil fuel usage and water pollution from surface runoff.