A few weeks ago, the US space agency (NASA) released a surprising snapshot taken from space. These pictures showed the “golden rivers”, the magnificent golden scars that cross the Amazon rainforest. However, this is not good news for local people and the environment.
An amazing clich
December 24, 2020 NASA released and explained An interesting photo. This is one, taken Above the Peruvian Amazon Reveals the presence of “golden rivers” in the middle of the forest. In addition to the beauty of these large glossy scars, they unfortunately testify to a dark environment. In fact, it is a question of destroying gold that is illegal on Amazon but above all. In fact, this is not a question of golden rivers, but Pits dug by illegal miners.
More precisely, the photos are of the area of the Matre de Dios in the southeast of Peru. Usually this kind of activity Takes place out of sight Thanks to the stable presence of the cloud cover. A temporary solution, however, was able to reveal the presence of pits by reflecting the stagnant water that was there. Fortunately, the astronaut of the International Space Station (ISS) Took advantage of this rare opportunity Destroy the event.
A bad situation
The thing is, gold from Madre de Dios is at the center of a glorious atmosphere. No less than 90% of the gold harvested in the region in 2016 From craft or illegal mines, As indicated CNN In an article from February 11, 2021. However, the effects affect both local people and the region’s biodiversity. With Rising prices of precious metal, The poor people found themselves at the heart of a real gold rush. Unfortunately, the latter Use mercury To extract gold, Thus this toxin ends its course in the rivers and poisons the local people.
In A 2013 report (PDF / 2 pages in English) Researchers at the University of Carnegie-Mellon (USA) have noted the number of fish in the city of Porto Maldonado (Matre de Dios). According to the results of their study, 9 of 15 species of fish The levels of mercury consumed by the population were higher than the regulatory levels. Not surprisingly, approx 80% of the city’s population They had dangerous levels of mercury in their bodies.
Gold mining in many parts of the Amazon is a real disaster, and sometimes a major cause of deforestation. According to Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project, Peruvian Amazon In 2018, 9,280 hectares of forest were lost, Or equivalent to 13,000 football fields.
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