Turns out one of the most commonly-told stories of environmental degradation simply doesn't check out. The actual forestation in Haiti is more than an order of magnitude higher than the 2% reported in the disaster stories:
30%, similar to the US or Germany.
Yeah, the 2% figure is more fake news by the innumerate press.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, satellite images of the island of Hispaniola routinely show that the East -- Dominican Republic -- side of the island is much greener than the West -- Haiti -- side. The Dominican Republic is described as having the climate and vegetation of a "tropical rain forest". Which climate and vegetation the nation of Germany, last time I was there, did not have. Nice forests, sure, but not jungles. To compare Haiti to Germany and then declare the problem a myth seems just about as fake as the 2% claim being debunked.
I dunno, looking at the satellite images on google maps, Haiti seems roughly comperable to the DR and Jamaica, and all three slightly less forested than Puerto Rico. All four are highly developed, so surely there are less forests than a few hundred years ago. There are regions of thick jungle, but all of these seem more like scattered forested terrain through the mountainous areas. Only the flats and lower valleys seem densely jungle.
ReplyDeleteQuick google research, take it for what it's worth.
The article discusses satellite imagery, which was a major part of their effort to reject the claim.
ReplyDeleteThe article seems to have an agenda of its own, which I am going to puzzle over before opining. That's not to say that it's not accurate. It seems convincing.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Haiti is still poor, right? That seems missing from the discussion.