Elements of concern in Haiti

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We don’t realize just how much chemistry can be involved in a place like Haiti where there are little trees and lots of soil erosion. However, if we think about what the trees could provide and what takes accountability for some of the deforestation, a few elements s come to mind.

Some of the elements on the periodic table that would be apart of soil erosion due to deforestation in Haiti is Hydrogen, Oxygen and Carbon.

Hydrogen- Hydrogen is part of the water molecule. When Haiti’s soil erosion causes floods or their are tropical storms, their is an abundance of hydrogen. When these conditions cause droughts their would only be a lack of hydrogen. The rain, which is hydrogen is a partial cause to the ongoing deforestation. These floods and storms uproot the trees as they cannot hold on as their soil is eroded and is to weak.

This is one of Haiti’s droughts where Hydrogen levels were low.

Oxygen- There is a lack of oxygen in this environment as the main source of it has almost gone to extinction. There is not nearly enough trees to support the conversion of the carbon dioxide to oxygen. There is not enough trees to do this to provide enough for all living things. Although they do receive a small amount of oxygen from when the sugar is turned into plant food and the extra oxygen from this process is released to the atmosphere.

This shows a man cutting down a tree for charcoal production. This is lowering the oxygen level concentration.

Carbon- Haiti has a big charcoal production, charcoal is made up of mainly carbon which would account for most of the carbon Haiti has. There is more carbon as there are not enough trees to produce oxygen. Also, the deforestation from logging and the cutting of the trees adds more CO2 to the atmosphere. This would only make the concentration of carbon higher.

This is an image of what Haiti’s charcoal process looks like. This is what contributes to most of Haiti’s carbon levels.

The level of concentration of these elements mainly rely on the conditions of the environment, the weather and the production of charcoal around Haiti and where the soil erosion and deforestation is taking place..