Wednesday 2 May 2012

Do you love your legs?

"Every twenty-two minutes someone loses a limb or a life to landmines-more than 26,000 men, women, and children each year."

What you need to know: Landmines are an explosive charge concealed just under the surface of the ground or of a roadway, designed to be detonated by pressure. They are indiscriminate once planted they will detonate on contact. It wouldn't matter who you are, why you were there, nothing.  In the last 25 years approximately 50 nations have produced and exported about 200 million landmines. Therefore even if we in Canada do not deal with landmines it is still a big issue around the world. There are two way to refer to landmines: "smart mines" and "dumb mines". Both which I don't agree with because landmines are inhumane. But "smart mines" are the safer version of landmines because they are marked and can be deactivated. They also are very useful in war zone to save troops and destroy the enemy. In order to get  rid of these mines "is much like trying to outlaw war it-self." Then there is "dumb mines" which are indiscriminately place and unmarked. Unable to be found and deactivated. Although "smart mines" are marked, both "smart" and "dumb" mines are hard to  find because rain and other weather can move landmines. Once planted landmines have a lifespan of 50 to 100 years. They cost $1-$15 to make but $300-$1000 to deactivate  


Link to site image was found.


4 comments:

  1. I found it really interesting how landmines are so cheap to make, and yet so expensive to deactivate. It makes me wonder how often they actually ARE deactivated.

    The only real question I have is how the weather is able to move the landmines.

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  2. Well it depends on the type of soil in sand wind can shift sands dramatically, and the fine grit of sandy soils can rapidly wear equipment. And if vegationtion grows that need to be removed beofre finding the landmines.

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  3. I was shocked to hear that approximately 200 million landmines have been mass produced in the past 25 years. It gives me a clear indication of how grave the situation is. It is distressing to know that a total of 50 nations are included in the production of these landmines. Surely, if Canada is not directly involved, there are neighbouring nations that are. Would you be able to give any examples?

    I appreciated your connection to war, stating that outlawing landmines is "similar to outlawing war itself." This also promotes the idea that there are numerous underlying root issues, and landmines themselves are simply a manifestation of these issues.

    Thanks Meagan!

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    1. Hey Gabbrielle,
      Yes, there are neighboring nations involved such as the United States and China. I found it interesting in my research when I found some of the different underlying issues because it seemed very "black and white" from first seeing the issue.
      Thanks for your comment!

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