Impacts and Risks of Global Change - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 64

disposal, generate huge amounts of toxic residuals that are diffi cult to
assimilate by nature and alter or reduce the well-being of the population.
This situation is constantly evolving, not only as a consequence of
population growth and of the accelerated urban expansion, but also as a
direct result of the economic and technological developments, which raise
consumption levels and the demand for satisfaction of the ever-increasing
and complex requirements of the people.
The principal aspects of urban contamination in the Andean sub-
region are manifold: urban over-expansion characterized by considerable
diffi culties in regulating land use and the ever-increasing distances travelled
by car, a notable population and economic growth and the accompanying
increase in energy use, together with erosion and biogenic factors.
Latin America is not a major producer of greenhouse gases, in particular
of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). In spite of this, there is evidence of a continuous
growth, around 2.4% p.a., in the emission of this pollutant (CEPAL 2007). In
urban areas in particular, this situation has led to an increasing atmospheric
contamination with worrying effects on the health, productivity and quality
of life in the cities.
People are also exposed to contamination in the comfort of their homes
when they burn biomass. Given its affordable price, wood is the most
accessible and the cheapest source of energy for impoverished communities.
This accounts not only for a greater contamination but also signifi es a
deterioration of the ecotones adjacent to cities. Even though wood is a
renewable source of energy, limited knowledge of silvicultural techniques
(degradation) leads to overexploitation and loss of this natural resource
(deforestation).
Another element that contributes to environmental degradation is the
production, handling and fi nal disposal of both household and industrial
waste, which in urban areas is often carried out without control by the
authorities.
The institutional set-up of the countries in the Andean sub-region
is characterized by fi ssures and gaps, which means that not all public
institutions are politically stable or economically and socially valued. Not
all of them are known, accepted or practiced by the society. Also, without
exception, these public institutions present a partial territoriality as the
state is unable to cover the entire nation, exhibiting an inability to ensure
the validity of the territory as a joint fi eld of articulation, jurisdiction, and
regulations. Thus the stability of the state is in question. It is unable to
maintain and reproduce itself under a set order of principles (Campero
and León 1999).
It is therefore common for never-ending crises in these countries
(usually called 'crises of legitimacy') to be generated by the collision of
opposing projects. The low institutionalization of administrative processes