Santiago, Chile

Santiago (officially in Spanish Santiago de Chile) is Chile's capital and largest city, located at {{coor dms|33|26|16|S|70|39|02|W}}. It is situated in the country's central valley, and administratively is a part of the Santiago Metropolitan Region. While Santiago is the capital, legislative bodies meet in nearby Valparaiso.

Climate

Santiago has a mild Mediterranean climate: relatively hot dry summers (November to March) with temperatures reaching up to 35 degrees Celsius on the hottest days; winters (June to August) are more humid, with typical maximum daily temperatures of 15 degrees Celsius, and minimums of a few degrees above freezing. Mean rainfall is 360 mm per year.

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Thermal inversion (a meteorogical phenomenon whereby a stable layer of warm air holds down colder air close to the ground) causes high levels of smog and air pollution to be trapped and concentrate within the Central Valley during winter months. The government has attempted to reduce pollution by giving incentives for heavy industry to move out of the valley but such measures have seen limited results.

Related Topics:
Thermal inversion - Smog - Air pollution

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The Mapocho river, which crosses the city from the north-east to the south-west of the Central Valley, is contaminated by industrial and household sewage, dumped unfiltered into the river, and by upstream copper-mining waste (there are a number of copper mines in the Andes east of Santiago). The central government recently passed a law that forces industry and local governments to process all their wastewater by 2006. There are now a number of large wastewater processing and recycling plants under construction.

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Sound levels on the main streets are high, mostly because of noisy diesel buses. Diesel trucks and buses are also major contributors to winter smog.

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