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Article: Endangered Mexico: Environment on the Edge.
- Article from:
- The Washington Monthly
- Article date:
- June 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Washington Monthly Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Think of Mexico and the environment, and familiar images come to mind: the shame of the sludge-filled Rio Grande and the brown layer of smog over Mexico City, the relieving beauty of white beaches and crystal-blue oceans in tourist escapes such as Cancun and Cozumel.
But while Americans are quick to decry the environmental devastation of Mexico's cities and industrial zones, the key to understanding how this country's astonishing array of natural resources has been forever damaged lies where you might least expect it -- in those very same beaches favored by pale-skinned travelers and environmentalists on vacation.
Cancun, after all, was an island ...