Global warming in Spain could see rising seas devour huge swathes of beach, many animal and plant species facing extinction and the countryside much more prone to floods and forest fires, scientists warned.
Their forecasts were contained in a report presented Tuesday to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who promised to make the fight against climate change a top priority if he is re-elected in March. He promised "a new contract between mankind and the planet."
Zapatero spoke the same day the European Union said Spain was among only three countries of the bloc which are not on track to fulfill their carbon dioxide reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. The others were Italy and Denmark.
A 42-page summary of the study by Spanish scientists, some of whom sat on the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that in a worst-case scenario Spain will look quite different in 2050 if global warming is not checked.
Spain's green north will have a hotter, more Mediterranean climate, while the already hot south will face even greater danger of desertification, it said.
The country's diversity of animals and plants will be particularly hard hit, as species will be unable to migrate to escape climate change by moving to cooler areas.
"Terrestrial ecosystems will be subjected to a change in conditions unlike anything in thousands of years," the report said.
On Spain's coasts, it said average sea levels are projected to rise 15 centimeters (6 inches) by 2050. In the Canary Islands, for instance, one of Europe's top tourist destinations, this could lead to seas eating up 15-meter (50 feet) swathes of beach.
And in the Costa Brava resort area of Catalonia and on the Balearic islands in the Mediterranean, this erosion could reach a stunning 70 meters (230 feet), the report warned.
Other woes predicted by the report: soil erosion will affect the course of rivers and increase the likelihood of flooding; dryer soil and higher temperatures mean a "drastic" rise in conditions favoring forest fires; the higher temperatures will also encourage disease-carrying insects from Africa, introducing illnesses until now nonexistent in Spain.
Zapatero is expected to unveil proposals for fighting climate change on Sunday. They are expected to stress energy savings through measures like carpooling, and government aid for switching industry to clean sources of energy not reliant on fossil fuels, the newspaper El Mundo reported. - IHT
Their forecasts were contained in a report presented Tuesday to Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who promised to make the fight against climate change a top priority if he is re-elected in March. He promised "a new contract between mankind and the planet."
Zapatero spoke the same day the European Union said Spain was among only three countries of the bloc which are not on track to fulfill their carbon dioxide reduction commitments under the Kyoto Protocol. The others were Italy and Denmark.
A 42-page summary of the study by Spanish scientists, some of whom sat on the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that in a worst-case scenario Spain will look quite different in 2050 if global warming is not checked.
Spain's green north will have a hotter, more Mediterranean climate, while the already hot south will face even greater danger of desertification, it said.
The country's diversity of animals and plants will be particularly hard hit, as species will be unable to migrate to escape climate change by moving to cooler areas.
"Terrestrial ecosystems will be subjected to a change in conditions unlike anything in thousands of years," the report said.
On Spain's coasts, it said average sea levels are projected to rise 15 centimeters (6 inches) by 2050. In the Canary Islands, for instance, one of Europe's top tourist destinations, this could lead to seas eating up 15-meter (50 feet) swathes of beach.
And in the Costa Brava resort area of Catalonia and on the Balearic islands in the Mediterranean, this erosion could reach a stunning 70 meters (230 feet), the report warned.
Other woes predicted by the report: soil erosion will affect the course of rivers and increase the likelihood of flooding; dryer soil and higher temperatures mean a "drastic" rise in conditions favoring forest fires; the higher temperatures will also encourage disease-carrying insects from Africa, introducing illnesses until now nonexistent in Spain.
Zapatero is expected to unveil proposals for fighting climate change on Sunday. They are expected to stress energy savings through measures like carpooling, and government aid for switching industry to clean sources of energy not reliant on fossil fuels, the newspaper El Mundo reported. - IHT
1 comments:
I think Zapatero will be hard pressed to make too may changes. Spain is on fire economically and unfortunately the status quo is good.
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