One of the major campaign promises from the Trump administration from 2016 was his border wall. Immediately after he vowed that he was going to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, it was faced immediately by backlash by pro immigration groups, Democrats and one other unlikely group: environmental scientists. When I first heard about the border wall construction, I only came across a few articles talking about the impacts that the wall would have on the local ecosystem, but the issue never made front page headlines again after the election. Only on the rarest of occasions was the issue talked about, as it was overshadowed by “more important” issues that people took on the wall. But recently, there have been studies that have been done on the border wall now that Former President Trump has left office, and that President Biden has officially stopped the border wall construction. In today’s episode of 90SS, we will take a look at what exactly has been impacted, what experts say should be done to fix those problems, and some of the ways that I think they should go about fixing those problems. One problem that has been cited by experts the most is the migration of animals like sheep and owls. What previously was just land for these animals, all of a sudden got stuck in Mexico or the United States without any ability to cross over. The other problem that has recently occured is the building of the wall in desolate areas that not only create flooding up and down the border, but also cause serious effects of the nearby ecosystems because the land is so desolate that human beings rarely visit, much less bringing large barriers with them. Experts say that the first thing that the Biden administration should focus on first is the areas where water is becoming increasingly scarce. Without water, they argue, there is no life. It becomes much harder to restore an area with life without the presence of water. They should use up to date equipment or some sort of machine that would detect the best way to prevent further erosion of dirt, so that the water stays in place. When rainfall occurs, the water will naturally come back. Since the issue is big, it requires big ideas and big thinking to reverse the damage that is done by these walls. Many activists across the country that the new administration invoke quick action on removing the wall.
Photo by Ganapathy Kumar on Unsplash
Reese, April. “Some Ecological Damage from Trump’s Rushed Border Wall Could Be Repaired.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 25 Jan. 2021, www.scientificamerican.com/article/some-ecological-damage-from-trumps-rushed-border-wall-could-be-repaired1/.
