Environmental Issues in South Africa

Urbanisation and Industrialization have been very apperent in South Africa in recent years. With the discovery of luxurious resources such as diamonds and oil, man has virtually destroyed the ecology of South Africa. Every diamond mine and every oil rig has destroyed a very substantial amount of South African ecosystem. Pollution levels have increased by incredible margins. There are natural occurences that have been yearly air pollution problems ever since the starting of South Africa's existence. These are named veld fires. These are fires that occur by themselves in South Africa's dry season. It gets so dry that even a hot sunny day could start a fire. I'm not talking about house fires of course. Forest fires, farm fires and fires destroying lots of plantation and ommiting toxic gases, and smoke, into the atmosphere. That used to be the leading cause of pollution in South Africa. Not anymore. With the dicovery of oil came oil spills on the oceanic Southern border. Transportation of the goods and the man power became essential so cars, trucks, and buses became a necessity. The mining grounds had to be cleared of all plantation to facilitate digging destroying the ecosystem(trees ommiting oxygen, plants, and animal habitats.). So unfortunately racism, poverty, HIV/AIDs, and political problems aren't the only disfunctionalities of the country. Pollution is one now too.