Spain
Ocean Cooling Would Explain the Mystery of How Antarctic Formed
The fossil evidence of a cooling in the oceans 35 million years ago might have resolved the mystery about how the Antarctic froze in one of the greatest changes in climate in the earth's history.
The fossil signals of a 2.5 degree Celsius drop in ocean temperatures, enough to cause the formation of the ice cap in the Antarctic, could also help us to understand if the continent will melt because of modern global warming, according to a scientific study.
The complete melting of the Antarctic would raise sea levels approximately 57 meters over thousands of years. Even a small degree of melting could threaten coastal cities from New York to Shanghai as well as low-lying islands.
The research team made up of Welsh and American scientists studied fossils of foraminifera found in core samples from mud in Tanzania to determine that the earth's oceans were 2.5 degrees Celsius cooler 35 million years ago. Significantly CO2 levels at that time were roughly double current levels.
El País, Madrid February 28, 2008
Climate Change to Improve Galician Wines
According to scientists attending the International Congress on the Rural Environment, Agriculture and Climate Change in Santiago de Compostela:
Wines are among the few Galician agricultural products to benefit from the warming of the planet.
The grape harvest which has traditionally taken place in October now starts at the beginning of September allowing the vines to grow longer.
This is a positive element in a sea of risks. Climate change has already brought insects and diseases native to Africa to this corner of the Iberian peninsula and is beginning to threaten the abundant fodder that Galician peasants have always enjoyed.
El País, Madrid February 29, 2008
Zapatero Provides Assurances that there Will Be No Diversion from the Ebro while he is President
Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who is campaigning for reelection, went on to accuse his opponent, conservative Mariano Rajoy of the People's Party, of failing to take a clear position on this question, which is a major issue in the upcoming Spanish parliamentary elections.
The diversion of 350 cubic hectometers of water from the Ebro river in Aragon province to the province of Valencia has aroused strong opposition from Spanish environmentalists as well as locally in Aragón. An El País articlefrom a couple of weeks ago pointed out that 350 cubic hectometers is less than half the amount of water that would be saved by stopping losses from leaks and evaporation in the current canal system.
El País, Madrid March 2, 2008
Hundreds of Ter [River] Irrigators Protest Diversion for Barcelona
Several hundred irrigators from seven Ter [River] Water Associations participated today in two demonstrations at the bridges over the river that lead to Verges and Torroella de Montgri (Girona) to protest the lack of water for their crops at a time when water is being diverted for consumption in Barcelona.
The Ter [River] Water Associations and the agrarian organization Unió de Pagesos organized the protests to demand the return of the water to the river and to express their unhappiness at the lack of foresight of the Catalan administration and it's attempt to penalize them in the distribution of the water.
The irrigators, who arrived at the protests with over a hundred tractors allowed vehicles to alternate in crossing the two Ter bridges and handed out apples to the drivers warning them that next summer there might not be any fruit if they can't irrigate their fields.
These protests are taking place against a backdrop of acute water shortages in Barcelona, which has arranged to bring water by ship from Tarragonato the south beginning in April. The ships will carry 2.4 cubic hectometers to Barcelona, enough to supply 12% of the city's needs.
La Vanguardia, Barcelona March 3, 2008
Mexico
60% of Amphibians in Mexico Threatened with Extinction
According to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Zoology [at the National Autonomous University of Mexico] more than 60 percent of species of Mexican amphibians are in danger of extinction because their ecological sustainability has been significantly affected, and if measures are not taken to mitigate those effects the damage to the ecosystem will be regrettable.
Mexico ranks fifth in the world in terms of amphibian diversity.
But the country is among the top five nations in number of species in danger of extinction. Colombia has 208 threatened species, our country 191, Ecuador 163; Brasil 110, and China 86.
Particularly vulnerable are the Xochimilco area, Lake Pátzcuaro and Río Frío.
El Universal, Mexico City February 29, 2008
Marine [Petroleum] Deposits a Priority for the Country
Mexican government officials are calling for legal changes to allow PEMEX, the state-run Mexican oil monopoly to enter into alliances with foreign oil companies in order to avoid losing out completely on the exploitation of deep-sea offshore petroleum deposits along Mexico's maritime border with the United States and to acquire deep-sea drilling technology that Mexico currently lacks.
According to Senator Francisco Labistida, if nothing is done, if there is no participation in the exploitation of those deposits, we could lose the 9 billion barrels that the Cinturón Plegado zone is estimated to contain. This is petroleum that lies on the border, in Mexican and American waters, at a depth where it can only be extracted with state-of-the-art technology that Mexico does not possess.
Since 2001, according to information at the Senator's disposal, there are four American companies within 5 kilometers of the zone and there is a risk that they will extract the petroleum there on the border via the "drinking straw effect".
El Universal, Mexico City March 7, 2008
Dominican Republic
South American Crisis Could Alter Río Summit in the Dominican Republic
The subjects that prompted the convocation of the Río Summit in Santo Domingo, climate change and energy supplies, may be pushed aside because of the increase in tensions between Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia, which have led to the mobilization of troops on their common borders.
Originally it was stated that the Río Summit, which will take place on Thursday and Friday this week in Santo Domingo, basically would be an attempt to reach agreements on energy questions y and opportunities for cooperation to prevent climate change and natural disasters.
El Nacional, Santo Domingo March 3, 2008
Costa Rica
Government Calls for Caution on CO2 Emissions Offsets
Faced with impatience on the part of entrepreneurs hoping to sell CO2 offsets, the Costa Rican government has responded by urging patience.
Replying to criticism that it is necessary to act now and not 20 years from now, Sergio Musmanni of the National Strategy on Climate Change declared:
We are going to proceed step by step in order to be very certain and to do what we have to do (...) We are talking about having the process ready this year. We aren't asking (a business) to wait until 2121.
Musmanni recommended that companies that already offer these kind of services place special emphasis on reduction of emissions because, he affirmed, [we] are more interested in that approach than in simply carrying out measurements and offsets.
La Nación, Costa Rica March 5, 2008
Chile
Fears of a Chilean Energy Crisis Drives Copper to its Highest Price Ever
Chile's energy problems are contributing to drive the price of copper higher:
"A crisis of energy rationing in Chile would have a powerful effect on production!" Macquarie copper analyst Adam Rowley's words show that a new factor must now be added to the many explanations of the pressures driving the red metal's price higher.
The probability of energy rationing with it's far from negligible effects, must now be added to worldwide inflation, the shortfall in copper production, purchases by commodity investment funds, the weak dollar (and the mortgage crisis in the US) and high demand from China. "If you lose between 5% and 10% of Chilean production, the copper market will go crazy." According to Rowley that would be enough to push the price of the mineral to over 4.50 dollars a pound."
El Mercurio, Santiago March 7, 2008
Argentina
Two tornados cut across Río de la Plata
Two waterspouts, tornados ocurring over rivers and oceans, were observed this afternoon in Río de la Plata in the area of the Buenos Aires district of San Isidro, but produced neither victims nor injuries according to the National Meteorological Service.
The waterspouts appeared about 200 meters offshore and then began to move toward the coast near the towns of Acassuso and San Fernando but vanished before making landfall according to reports.
These tornados appeared on the heels of extremely heavy rains that had caused flooding in the same area. I found the readers' comments at the end of the article to be very interesting. A selection follows:
The fact is that I find this subject pretty frightening. Does anyone know if this can get worse? I'm terrified by tornados and they've been telling us for a WHILE about global warming and nobody pays any attention--What are we waiting for?
Do our political leaders still have doubts about climate change? Besides the torrential rains that are occurring more often, [we have] hailstorms with bigger pieces of ice and now this: tornadoes.
Ok, and then they tell us the climate isn't changing...that global warming is exaggerated... we've had snow and now a tornado over Buenos Aires, what's next?
It's incredible. It's still hard for me to believe what's going on with the weather here. We always hear that the poles are going to melt, that deserts will spread, but we always imagined it as something far away.
We're all in the oven. This is for those who have made money at the expense of our natural resources and who are still doing it without giving a damn. I hope these unscrupulous people really pay dearly.
There were many more commenters, none of whom expressed any doubts regarding the reality of global warming.
Clarín, Buenos Aires March 2, 2008
Crossposted at European Tribune
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