Archive for the ‘climate change’ Category
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
Photo by Scott Sonnenberg (wikipedia)
In recent weeks the presence of Portuguese man o’war (Sp. carabela portuguesa- Physalia phisalis) has been detected at various points on the coasts of Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque Country. Several people have been stung in beaches in Guipúzcoa (Ondarreta and Zarautz) and in Cantabria (Isla) although nobody has yet been seriously injured. Four years ago, the massive presence of the species forced the closure of several beaches in Asturias. Experts believe that the rise in the temperature of the Cantabrian Sea due to climate change has brought the Portuguese man o’war here with warmer waters. The cooler waters of Galicia have so far been free of the threat. El País. The purple Man-o-war is not a true jellyfish, but a colony of hydrozoan polyps. It can in extreme cases provoke a cardiac arrest and death in particularly sensitive persons.
Note the English and Spanish etymology comes from the creature’s air bladder, which looks similar to the triangular sails of the Portuguese ship (man-of-war) Caravela latina (two- or three-masted lateen-rigged ship caravel), of the 15th and 16th centuries. See Wikipedia
See also: Sharks, weaver fish, jellyfish and other dangerous animals in the seas around Spain
Tags: Physalia phisalis in Spain, Portuguese man o'war
Posted in Asturias, Basque Country, Cantabria, climate change, Dangerous animals, Spanish seas | 1 Comment »
Saturday, July 12th, 2008
Fapas have started a new campaign with the slogan Más osos menos CO2 (More bears less co2) to give local businesses an opportunity to neutralise their carbon emissions by planting fruit trees. The idea is for any interested companies to (simply) calculate their co2 emissions and Fapas then work out how many trees would need to be planted in bear habitat in the north of Spain. The companies will benefit by being presented with “green” certificates and the bears will profit by having more, for example, chestnut, apple and cherry trees from which to feed.
Tags: campaign, Fapas, more bears less co2, planting fruit trees
Posted in Asturias, bears, Cantabria, Carbon sequestration, Castilla y León, climate change, Galicia, Mammals | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
Spanish scientists from the Pyrenean Ecological Institute have predicted that temperatures in the mountain range in eastern Spain and south-west France could rise by between 2.8C and 4C by the start of the 22nd century. At the same time, snowfall levels could decline by between 30% and 50%. The study also claims that the slopes above 2,000 metres may see snow for only four to five months, whereas today they are covered for up to six months. The report, published in the International Journal of Climatology, also claimed rainfall levels could go down by between 10.7% and 14.8% a year by the end of this century. Researchers said the predictions, which cover the period between 2070 and 2100, were based on possible rises in greenhouse gases. They used six climate models which accurately estimated conditions in the Pyrenees between 1960 and 1990.
Juan Ignacio López-Moreno, a geographer, who led the Spanish High Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) team, said that in the best-case scenario, if emissions were low, by 2100 average temperatures could rise by 2.8C. However, if emissions rose, temperatures would increase by 4C. This would clearly have major implications for the Pyrenees. The Guardian or CSIC report here in Spanish
Tags: Pyrenean Ecological Institute, Pyrenean snowfall
Posted in Climate, climate change, On Spain, Pyrenees | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
Useful summary on climate change issues in Spain here from Celius. “As far as European countries go, Spain is on the front lines of climate change….Spring is now coming two weeks earlier in Spain, causing 23 more hot days than 30 years ago. This has a tremendous impact on the agricultural cycle in the country, as well as the wildlife. Bears in the northern mountain regions have stopped hibernating and Dung beetles in northern Spain have shifted habitat as temperatures have increased..” Iberianature archive on climate change.
Tags: Dung beetles
Posted in Climate, climate change, On Spain | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
But great news for the Cantabrian mountains and their wildlife;
The Castilla and León law courts have vetoed the project put forward by Tres Provincias S.A. for a ski resort in the San Glorio region of the Cantabrian mountains in the north of Spain, citing climate change as the main reason for its very doubtful economic viability. This makes it the first plan to have been denied on the grounds of climate change. The judgement points out that when, in 2006, the regional government of Castilla and León modified the laws protecting the Natural Park of Fuentes Carrionas and Fuente Cobre-Montaña Palentina (land included in much of the project) to enable the building of a ski resort, no scientific study was included to take into account the effects of climate change.
The threats to the environment and the future of the Cantabrian brown bear made by the project have led to huge opposition from conservationists, who have provided many environmental impact reports. The court also recognises that this project would be incompatible with the survival of many species of flora and fauna of the area, including the bears whose Eastern population would be severely affected.
News from El País
Read all about the subject on Iberianature forum
Tags: Cantabrian brown bear, Fuentes Carrionas, rejected, San Glorio, ski resort
Posted in bears, Cantabrian mountains, Castilla y León, climate change, Conservation, Iberianature news | No Comments »
Monday, February 18th, 2008
Spain is suffering its worst drought in the October-March semester for 60 years, with a national average of just 177 mm compared to the normal value of 316 mm. Only the unlikely event of very heavy rains over the next two weeks would save the period from beating the record. The prolonged drought over the last three years is the worst since reliable records began.
El Mundo
Posted in Climate, climate change, desertification, Extreme weather Spain, On Spain | No Comments »
Monday, February 11th, 2008
According to the Centro de Investigacións Mariñas of Galicia barnacle captures are likely to be favoured by alterations due to climate change, though clam and cockle farming will be hit.
Clams and cockles will be negatively affected by torrential rains as their principal beds lie at the mouth of rivers. Heavy rains will bring a large influx of fresh water harmful to shellfish. High water temperatures will lead to proliferation of pathogenic agents which attack clams and cockles.
On the plus side, the production of barnacles has increased in recent years coinciding with a fall in algal blooms, though the article does not explain why. More soon when I understand this.
El cambio climático favorecerá la captura del percebe en Galicia (El Pais)
More on barnacles from Iberianature
Tags: barnacles, clams, shellfish
Posted in Climate, climate change, fish, Galicia, seafood, Spanish seas | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008
A new report (A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds) has just been released by Birdlife on the effects of climate change on bird populations. As would be expected, the results are of serious concern. By the end of the century, the potential future distribution of the average European bird species will shift by nearly 550 km north-east. Specifically for Spain (SEO) the following species are likely to become extinct (13):
- Ptarmigan (Lagopus mutus)
- Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus)
- Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus)
- Common Guillemot (Uria aalge)
- Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)
- Tengmalm’s Owl (Aegolius funereus)
- White-backed Woodpecker (Dendrocopos leucotos)
- Dupont’s lark (Chersophilus duponti)
- Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica)
- Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella naevia)
- Balearic Warbler (Sylvia balearica)
- Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula hypoleuca)
- Rook (Corvus frugilegus) (more…)
Posted in birds, Climate, climate change | No Comments »
Friday, January 18th, 2008
Sea level in the Mediterranean could rise by as much as half a metre in the next 50 years according to the Instituto Español de Oceanografía. Sea level in the Mediterranean rose 8cm between 1948 and 2005. The study analyzed how sea levels, temperatures and salinity have evolved in the Spanish Mediterranean since 1948, when the first scientific measurements were taken. According to the researchers the observations “coincide with the worst results” of studies on global climate change. .(El Pais).
Posted in Climate, climate change, On Spain | No Comments »
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
A new report (PDF) for the Spanish government paints a grim picture for the country for the late 21st century with extreme temperatures in the summer, the wholescale desertification of the south, a collapse in biodiversity (with for example 97% of reptiles and amphibians affected), a big reduction of water resources, particularly in the south, a rise in sea level of 15cm leading from 15-70m lost in beaches. (El Pais) More soon.
Posted in Climate, climate change, On Spain | No Comments »
Thursday, November 8th, 2007
Greenpeace have just published a book (Photoclima: Imágenes de un futuro afectado por el cambio climático) which attempts to predict the future of the Spanish landscape using photo manipulation. The photos are accompanied by texts by writers including José Saramago, Manuel Rivas, Iñaki Gabilondo, Miguel Delibes and Jane Goodall. Below the River Ebro as it passes through Zaragoza and the disappearance of La Manga del Mar Menor. El Pais
Posted in Climate, climate change, photography | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007
SEO/Birdlife has launched a new webpage ( http://www.avesyclima.org) on the phenology of birds in Spain. People are invited to register and send in their data on bird sightings this year and records from previous years. The basis of the site are the 44,000 records taken since 1944 of 87 key species. This will allow migratory maps to be produced for each species and show changes due to climate change. Phenological reacords on some fruit trees (eg almond blossom) and insects are also included. Early conclusions includeÂ
-
Less and less cranes arrive every yearÂ
-
Storks are leaving later or staying all year round. 20 years not a single stork wintered in Spain. Now an estimated 30,000 winter here.Â
-
An increase in migration of Sub-Saharan birdsÂ
-
The increase in tempeartures in Spain of one and a half degrees since the early 1960s has pushed forward the arrival of at least cuckoos, storks, swifts. nightingales and swallows. However, a word of caution. With the notable exception of the storks, these early arrivals are with respect to the “unusually lateâ€1960sâ€. Arrival times are now it seems the same as the 1940s. We shall see
And here’s a map the arrival of swallows
Â
Â
Posted in birds, Climate, climate change | No Comments »
Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
11/02/2007 Temperatures set to rise 4-7ºc in summer Spain by 2070, one of the worst hit places in the world. The country’s geographical position makes it particularly vunerable to climate change.
More soon (El Pais)
Posted in Climate, climate change | No Comments »
