Jamaica - Noemy Gomez

Jamaica is one of the Caribbean island countries in the Caribbean Sea. It is the third largest of the Caribbean islands with an area of 4,411 miles. The islands climate is very tropical because its surrounded by sea. Storms and other natural disasters are somewhat common and unfortunately cause destruction within the island. Its population is approximately 2,973,463 and its population is mostly of African ancestry. Although English is the official language, Jamaican Creole is also a widely spoken language in Jamaica. In 1494 after Christopher Columbus came across the island the Spanish invaded Jamaica and brutally destroyed the island and its inhabitants. Later on in the 1600's the Spanish surrendered to the English and they took over the island. The English settlers brought many African slaves to Jamaica during the late 1600's and 1700's. After over 300 years Jamaicas people gained independence from Britain in 1962. Despite their independence Jamaica continues to struggle with poverty rates because of the debts they owe, the lack of resources, poor leadership, corruption, and other outside interference. Jamaica is going through many environmental issues right now, and a big one is water pollution. The island's waste system involves dumping everything out at sea, burning garbage that can have toxic trash, and sewers that are not managed properly. Burning all the waste and plastic is bad for the environment and poses a huge respiratory risk to people. And dumping waste into the sea doesn't provide a long term solution because of the long term consequences that will happen. Water pollution will cause the biodiversity and food sources to diminish and will hurt their water quality (drinking) and even swimming because Jamaica's income does depend on tourists.