Talking about forest fires when the thermometer below 0 º in half of Spain is rare. However, measures to prevent them should be carried out during most of the year and the autumn and winter they also serve to check how the forests have recovered after a fire.
And when assessing whether a forest is recovering from the devastating effects of fire, the presence of the snail is an indicator that things are going well. So says a team of researchers at the University of Barcelona, who has studied the changing structure of animal populations after a fire.
The researchers conducted a sampling in the area affected by fire in August 2003 that devastated 3,000 hectares of natural park of Sant Llorenç del Munt il'Obac. Three years later, compared the situation in the burned area with an area near the park that had not been affected by fire in order to analyze how varies malacological fauna (molluscs).
Difficult survival
"The terrestrial gastropods-snails, have a very limited capacity to reproduce in damaged areas. They are very slow when it comes to recolonize an area affected by a disturbance," says Vicenç Bros, gastropods specialist of the Technical Office of Natural Parks Barcelona Provincial Council. "Also, are much more affected than other agencies because, unlike other animals that can run, they need to have small shelters under rocks or in the trunks of trees to survive." They get to hide a small proportion of the population, which in future will be to repopulate the area.
One of the main conclusions of the study, published in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation "is that after the fire, the species typical of moist forests in Europe (as 'Pomatias elegans' or 'Acanthinula aculeata') are very concerned. In contrast, the predominate in drier environments, such as the Mediterranean ( 'Xerocrassa penchinati' or 'Cernuella virgata') spread more easily, according to Bros.
The researchers found that in areas near the edge of the fire has not been a significant increase of forest species. The drought that affected the area between 2004 and 2007 may have decreased the ability of snails to repopulate the burned area.
This research is part of a multidisciplinary study that analyzed the evolution of different bodies after fires, such as birds, reptiles and various types of arthropods (insects, arachnids, etc).
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta news about ecology. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta news about ecology. Mostrar todas las entradas
martes, 16 de febrero de 2010
jueves, 21 de enero de 2010
The UN admits he was wrong in predicting the melting of Himalayan glaciers
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has admitted that not enough scientific evidence about the rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers, as predicted in the Fourth Assessment Report published in 2007, and has apologized for his mistake.
For the year 2035 these glaciers could be gone altogether, the report of the IPCC, a body set up by the UN. This is the paragraph in question: "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than anywhere else in the world and if the current pace continues, the probability of disappearing by 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the Earth keeps warming at the current rate.
However, this forecast was made without properly implement control standards required by the IPCC, the agency said. As explained, it was erroneous both the calculation of the mass of ice melt as the estimated date of disappearance of glaciers. These data came from, "the testimony of an expert" and not a reference article that has been reviewed by another expert, as required by the IPCC.
The general conclusion remains valid
The IPCC said that despite this, the report's overall conclusion is still valid. It is not known if the Himalayan ice will run out but you lose it. The mass loss of glaciers in Asia and Latin America will accelerate during the twenty-first century.
Because the glaciers have an important role in the hydrological cycle, the melting could lead to water shortages as well as changes in the seasonality of flooding in areas that receive water from melting ice.
This error could be an argument for the deniers of climate change in order to undermine the credibility of the climatologists.
For the year 2035 these glaciers could be gone altogether, the report of the IPCC, a body set up by the UN. This is the paragraph in question: "Glaciers in the Himalayas are receding faster than anywhere else in the world and if the current pace continues, the probability of disappearing by 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high if the Earth keeps warming at the current rate.
However, this forecast was made without properly implement control standards required by the IPCC, the agency said. As explained, it was erroneous both the calculation of the mass of ice melt as the estimated date of disappearance of glaciers. These data came from, "the testimony of an expert" and not a reference article that has been reviewed by another expert, as required by the IPCC.
The general conclusion remains valid
The IPCC said that despite this, the report's overall conclusion is still valid. It is not known if the Himalayan ice will run out but you lose it. The mass loss of glaciers in Asia and Latin America will accelerate during the twenty-first century.
Because the glaciers have an important role in the hydrological cycle, the melting could lead to water shortages as well as changes in the seasonality of flooding in areas that receive water from melting ice.
This error could be an argument for the deniers of climate change in order to undermine the credibility of the climatologists.
martes, 19 de enero de 2010
Environment ministers from the EU to postpone its decision on cutting emissions
Europe has the "vocation" and "will" to reduce its CO2 emissions by 30% in 2020 compared to 1990 levels, but that goal will take place only if other countries make efforts "comparable" to the European Union, Efe reported.
The problem is that the EU itself has not yet defined what "comparability", a term that can be interpreted as equal effort or effort within the capacity of each country.
This was recognized by Secretary of State for Climate Change, Teresa Ribera, after chairing the informal council of environment ministers of the EU, meeting in Seville today.
In the same press conference, the EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the EU's objective remains to reach agreement "global, ambitious and binding", something "we could not get in the Copenhagen Climate Summit .
However, "the disappointment that came out of this Summit can now be used to advance and ask everyone and get a stronger commitment at the meeting in Mexico (November 2010), the agreement we all want," he said.
Diplomatic efforts
For his part, Minister of Climate and Energy of Belgium (a country that will chair the EU after Spain), Paul Magnette, has said that Europe must take advantage of their networks and international contacts to make a great diplomacy scale and get far more concrete progress in the Copenhagen agreement.
Magnette meant that Europe must continue working to ensure that all countries that attended the Copenhagen summit will announce their emission reduction commitments, which is still unknown, since the agreement was signed at the summit was only Danish a statement of intent that countries must be accomplished before next January 31.
The emissions reduction target to be carried out in Europe will be fixed, in fact, next week at the meeting of the Council of Permanent Representatives in Brussels, called Coreper, which is to decide whether the EU finally committed to a reduction emissions of 30% in 2020 compared to 1990 levels or remains at 20%.
For now, it appears that only has taken clear that the target of 20% is "clear", but a commitment beyond that number will depend on what other countries do, something that will not be known next week .
But even apart from what other countries decide, as the most polluting emerging, it appears that within the EU there is little consensus on the possibility of reducing emissions by 30%, as is the case in Poland or Italy , as environment minister even said, in comments reported by EFE-Dow-Jones, that "after the failure of Copenhagen, raised 30% is surreal."
Others, however, as Spain, Britain, Germany and France are in favor of that goal.
UN Advocacy
What I do agree that the 27 is that the UN is the "only place to be conducting" negotiations on climate change.
"From Europe, the sentiment is clear that the place must perform these negotiation processes is large United Nations," which is "the only forum for global reach," said Teresa Ribera.
"If there are other forums or restricted spaces, from a sectoral or geographical reasons, should be forums that help, forums complementary to the UN, never substitutes," he underlined.
Bank was responding to Jonathan Pershing, the United States representative at the last summit in Copenhagen, who recently described the meetings of the UN to "chaotic" and has advocated that the climate negotiations take place only between most polluting countries.
The problem is that the EU itself has not yet defined what "comparability", a term that can be interpreted as equal effort or effort within the capacity of each country.
This was recognized by Secretary of State for Climate Change, Teresa Ribera, after chairing the informal council of environment ministers of the EU, meeting in Seville today.
In the same press conference, the EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said the EU's objective remains to reach agreement "global, ambitious and binding", something "we could not get in the Copenhagen Climate Summit .
However, "the disappointment that came out of this Summit can now be used to advance and ask everyone and get a stronger commitment at the meeting in Mexico (November 2010), the agreement we all want," he said.
Diplomatic efforts
For his part, Minister of Climate and Energy of Belgium (a country that will chair the EU after Spain), Paul Magnette, has said that Europe must take advantage of their networks and international contacts to make a great diplomacy scale and get far more concrete progress in the Copenhagen agreement.
Magnette meant that Europe must continue working to ensure that all countries that attended the Copenhagen summit will announce their emission reduction commitments, which is still unknown, since the agreement was signed at the summit was only Danish a statement of intent that countries must be accomplished before next January 31.
The emissions reduction target to be carried out in Europe will be fixed, in fact, next week at the meeting of the Council of Permanent Representatives in Brussels, called Coreper, which is to decide whether the EU finally committed to a reduction emissions of 30% in 2020 compared to 1990 levels or remains at 20%.
For now, it appears that only has taken clear that the target of 20% is "clear", but a commitment beyond that number will depend on what other countries do, something that will not be known next week .
But even apart from what other countries decide, as the most polluting emerging, it appears that within the EU there is little consensus on the possibility of reducing emissions by 30%, as is the case in Poland or Italy , as environment minister even said, in comments reported by EFE-Dow-Jones, that "after the failure of Copenhagen, raised 30% is surreal."
Others, however, as Spain, Britain, Germany and France are in favor of that goal.
UN Advocacy
What I do agree that the 27 is that the UN is the "only place to be conducting" negotiations on climate change.
"From Europe, the sentiment is clear that the place must perform these negotiation processes is large United Nations," which is "the only forum for global reach," said Teresa Ribera.
"If there are other forums or restricted spaces, from a sectoral or geographical reasons, should be forums that help, forums complementary to the UN, never substitutes," he underlined.
Bank was responding to Jonathan Pershing, the United States representative at the last summit in Copenhagen, who recently described the meetings of the UN to "chaotic" and has advocated that the climate negotiations take place only between most polluting countries.
lunes, 2 de noviembre de 2009
The 'reincarnation' of plastic bags
The smell is detected long before through the door. It is dense. to waste. Inside, tons of containers of all colors and shapes fall from the trucks, including thousands, millions of plastic bags, those films that are caught as easily on the shelves for the most trivial objects and only 13 % ends up in a yellow container to be reincarnated in a container or a pipe.
We are in the plant selection and the recycling of plastics Amorebieta, just outside Bilbao, one of the largest in the country.
The Spanish are still primary pupils in the subject of recycling, but slowly we are passing exams. From 1997 to extend have recovered 10 million tons of packaging his life turned into something else. It is the equivalent of 10 stadiums like the Bernabeu clogged.
Of these, eight million were recycled, because there is a 25% of the waste (unfit, they are called) that goes wrong and located at home. Still, this simple gesture of separating waste meant a saving of 7.7 million tonnes of CO2 or annual water consumption of four million people.
"It is therefore important to select good household waste, but so is reducing the containers used or that companies take steps to save on raw material and do: since 1996 have managed to save 75,000 tonnes saving measures, explains Antonio Barron, director of communications Ecoembes, a nonprofit company that manages recycling.
Population not in containers
With 12,400 associates, Ecoembes ensures that covers 90% of the packaging market, all bearing the green dot indicates that they can be recycled and therefore pay a fee.
However, for this conversion takes place must be near a yellow container. Adolfo, who lives in Guardo (Palencia) is part of 1.5% of the population who, according Ecoembes, does not. "It's a shame, not even paper," he complains. So their plastics are not among that 38% is recycled.
We are in the plant selection and the recycling of plastics Amorebieta, just outside Bilbao, one of the largest in the country.
The Spanish are still primary pupils in the subject of recycling, but slowly we are passing exams. From 1997 to extend have recovered 10 million tons of packaging his life turned into something else. It is the equivalent of 10 stadiums like the Bernabeu clogged.
Of these, eight million were recycled, because there is a 25% of the waste (unfit, they are called) that goes wrong and located at home. Still, this simple gesture of separating waste meant a saving of 7.7 million tonnes of CO2 or annual water consumption of four million people.
"It is therefore important to select good household waste, but so is reducing the containers used or that companies take steps to save on raw material and do: since 1996 have managed to save 75,000 tonnes saving measures, explains Antonio Barron, director of communications Ecoembes, a nonprofit company that manages recycling.
Population not in containers
With 12,400 associates, Ecoembes ensures that covers 90% of the packaging market, all bearing the green dot indicates that they can be recycled and therefore pay a fee.
However, for this conversion takes place must be near a yellow container. Adolfo, who lives in Guardo (Palencia) is part of 1.5% of the population who, according Ecoembes, does not. "It's a shame, not even paper," he complains. So their plastics are not among that 38% is recycled.
miércoles, 21 de octubre de 2009
The U.S. military chooses Acciona major project for renewable
The Corps Army of the United States has selected a consortium of Acciona, through its subsidiary Acciona Solar Power, Energy and Clark, to develop a macro-solar.
The facility will have 500 MW and will entail an investment of 2,000 million dollars in the first phase. Will rise in a most emblematic military facilities from the U.S. military: the military complex of Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert (California), where the largest field of training troops in the country, as well as space communication center NASA's Goldstone.
The Army and the companies just signed a memorandum of understanding that represents the beginning of the project, as reported by the own company Acciona.
The selection corresponds to a process of open competition in March by the Energy Council of the Army (Army Senior Energy Council), a body created in October 2008 to promote a sustainable energy strategy aimed at finding alternative sources for savings and security of supply facilities, crews, vehicles and other assets in the U.S. Army.
By federal mandate, the U.S. military should be reduced by 30% its energy consumption by 2015 (based on 2003) and 25% of demand must be met by renewable sources by 2025.
Different technologies
The joint proposal by Acciona Solar Power and Energy Clark sees the development of a 500 MW solar-expandable to 1,000 MW at a later stage, thermal and photovoltaic technologies, so it represents the largest solar project to date provided by the Department of Defense.
Well exceeds the 14 MW PV installed in 2007 at Nellis Air Force Base, also in Nevada, and 2 MW of Fort Carson, Colorado (the largest of the Army to date).
The facilities will be implemented in five locations previously identified by the military experts, numbering a total area of 5,600 hectares.
The project is in an early stage. By 2013 it expects to produce the first kilowatts in a 20 MW PV plant. The remaining plants will combine photovoltaic and solar thermal technology and would be completed by 2022.
The project of 500 MW will result in a significant boost to jobs in the area. Are estimated at 4,000 direct jobs generated by the project in its construction phase.
Previous experience
The Mojave Desert, which is Fort Irwin, is one of the areas with higher levels of insolation in the U.S.. The resort is situated midway between Los Angeles (California) and Las Vegas (Nevada), in an environment very similar to the host plant Nevada Solar One solar thermal power, 64 MW installed by Acciona Solar Power June aen 2007.
The facility will have 500 MW and will entail an investment of 2,000 million dollars in the first phase. Will rise in a most emblematic military facilities from the U.S. military: the military complex of Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert (California), where the largest field of training troops in the country, as well as space communication center NASA's Goldstone.
The Army and the companies just signed a memorandum of understanding that represents the beginning of the project, as reported by the own company Acciona.
The selection corresponds to a process of open competition in March by the Energy Council of the Army (Army Senior Energy Council), a body created in October 2008 to promote a sustainable energy strategy aimed at finding alternative sources for savings and security of supply facilities, crews, vehicles and other assets in the U.S. Army.
By federal mandate, the U.S. military should be reduced by 30% its energy consumption by 2015 (based on 2003) and 25% of demand must be met by renewable sources by 2025.
Different technologies
The joint proposal by Acciona Solar Power and Energy Clark sees the development of a 500 MW solar-expandable to 1,000 MW at a later stage, thermal and photovoltaic technologies, so it represents the largest solar project to date provided by the Department of Defense.
Well exceeds the 14 MW PV installed in 2007 at Nellis Air Force Base, also in Nevada, and 2 MW of Fort Carson, Colorado (the largest of the Army to date).
The facilities will be implemented in five locations previously identified by the military experts, numbering a total area of 5,600 hectares.
The project is in an early stage. By 2013 it expects to produce the first kilowatts in a 20 MW PV plant. The remaining plants will combine photovoltaic and solar thermal technology and would be completed by 2022.
The project of 500 MW will result in a significant boost to jobs in the area. Are estimated at 4,000 direct jobs generated by the project in its construction phase.
Previous experience
The Mojave Desert, which is Fort Irwin, is one of the areas with higher levels of insolation in the U.S.. The resort is situated midway between Los Angeles (California) and Las Vegas (Nevada), in an environment very similar to the host plant Nevada Solar One solar thermal power, 64 MW installed by Acciona Solar Power June aen 2007.
lunes, 19 de octubre de 2009
Brown warning of a 'catastrophe' if no climate change pact
If world leaders fail to reach an agreement on climate change, Britain, like other European countries and the rest of the world will suffer "catastrophes" in the form of natural floods, droughts and deadly heat waves.That's the apocalyptic warning today launched the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on the last day of a meeting of 17 most polluting countries in the world aimed at bringing positions with a view to the forthcoming summit in Copenhagen on the subject.
Brown has warned the congregation that there is no "plan B" if no agreement is reached and have only 50 days to reach it. "Since I announced that I will be in Copenhagen, and I am urging the other leaders to make the same commitment."
From the summit in the Danish capital, under the auspices of the UN should output a document to replace the Kyoto Protocol that have not signed key countries like the U.S. and China. "If we fail in Copenhagen Earth will be in danger," warned the Premiership British.
Brown has assured the delegates meeting in London that heat waves like those in 2003 killed 35,000 people above the usual levels of mortality are much more frequent in the future. "An agreement can and should" put the world in the way of limiting temperature increase to two degrees, "said Brown.
"To maintain the current tenancy, such events could become common in Britain in a matter of decades. And life for our children or grandchildren, high temperatures in 2003 could become standard in much of Europe" , said Brown.
If no agreement is reached in Copenhagen, added the prime minister, the world will face new conflicts fueled by a wave of migrations of people to flee from all types of natural disasters.
For the year 2080, 1.800 million people, equivalent to a quarter of the world's population could suffer water shortages continue as climate change so far.
According to Brown, still "possible" to reach agreement in the Danish capital, but "we must recognize that our negotiators are not reaching the necessary consensus with the speed it would take.The head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra Pachauri, recently warned the U.S. weekly Newsweek that the prospects of the states participating in the Copenhagen summit to reach an agreement seem to be "getting worse".
jueves, 15 de octubre de 2009
The Arctic will be navigable in the summer of 2020
The Arctic ice could melt in the summer of 2020, which would allow its navigation, as affirmed an expert from the University of Cambridge, which considers that this may be the most visible impact of climate change. "It's as if the man was removing the cap from the northern part of the planet," said the British media physics professor Peter Wadhams.This is one of the conclusions of the study conducted Wadhams, the Polar Ocean Physics Group at Cambridge, having considered the measures of the ice collected by the British nuclear submarine HMS Tireless' in 2007 and those taken this year by an expedition led by polar adventurer Pen Hadow.
According to Wadhams, freighters do not have to rely on boats to break the ice to cross the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean through the so-called Northwest Passage. This route will be ice free for several months a year, which will reduce the over 4,800-km route to do the boats that are in the Far East to Europe via the Suez Canal, the study adds.
"The North Pole will be exposed in ten years. One can navigate in a Japanese freighter car through the North Pole and into the Atlantic. The ice will retreat to an area north of Greenland and Ellesmere Island in 2020" Wadhams said. According to the expert, "the change in the Arctic ice in summer will be the biggest impact that global warming will have on the physical appearance of the planet."
The explorer Pen Hadow and his two teammates-Ann Daniels and Martin Hartley-spent 73 days between 1 March and 7 May of this year walking 450 kilometers in the Arctic while taking measurements. They made holes and 1500 found that the average thickness of ice floes was only 1.8 meters. Hadow said the newspaper 'The Times', techniques for future expeditions to the Arctic during the summer will have to be modified to adapt to frequent open water areas.
miércoles, 14 de octubre de 2009
The gorillas, forest guards against CO2
In the fight against climate change, any contribution is positive. Therefore, conservation experts have drawn the attention of the world authorities on the protection of great apes in support of reforestation programs, provides a simple and effective tool to combat CO2 emissions.
Gorillas eat fruit and plants, to be digested and redeposited in the soil, help seeds germinate. Although not yet fully known the importance of these apes in their ecosystems, the UN ambassador for the Year of the Gorilla, Ian Redmond, said that many species of trees and plants would not survive without them, the elephants and the other large mammals.
Currently, several industrialized countries work with different programs for the reforestation of forests in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, as a measure to help contain the effects of global warming. In the same vein, several economists have said that the cheapest way to reduce emissions is to invest in the rehabilitation of large forest areas.
Redmond said that the major nations will meet in the forthcoming World Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen would commit a grave error if not commit to specific funds to protect the gorillas. "If we save the trees but not animals, we witness a long agony of forests," said Redmond told The Guardian. "I ask participants in Copenhagen that the gorillas do not consider a luxury item."
Natural sink for CO2
Forests are a natural sink for carbon, absorbing about 4,800 million tonnes each year. "That's what these animals are not mere decoration, or interesting objects of study. They are part of an ecosystem". As reported by the Endangered Species Fund, two gorillas in the Congo die each week and their bodies are sold for their meat consumption. Although most individuals live in National Parks, are rapidly losing their habitat.
The areas inhabited by gorillas are in many cases, the scene of civil wars. It is also an endangered species by poachers and habitat destruction caused by mining and illegal timber used by local guerrillas to finance itself. Nearly two decades of civil war in the Great Lakes area of Africa, which includes areas of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Kenya, have had a serious impact on the population of these animals.
Gorillas eat fruit and plants, to be digested and redeposited in the soil, help seeds germinate. Although not yet fully known the importance of these apes in their ecosystems, the UN ambassador for the Year of the Gorilla, Ian Redmond, said that many species of trees and plants would not survive without them, the elephants and the other large mammals.
Currently, several industrialized countries work with different programs for the reforestation of forests in Africa, Southeast Asia and South America, as a measure to help contain the effects of global warming. In the same vein, several economists have said that the cheapest way to reduce emissions is to invest in the rehabilitation of large forest areas.
Redmond said that the major nations will meet in the forthcoming World Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen would commit a grave error if not commit to specific funds to protect the gorillas. "If we save the trees but not animals, we witness a long agony of forests," said Redmond told The Guardian. "I ask participants in Copenhagen that the gorillas do not consider a luxury item."
Natural sink for CO2
Forests are a natural sink for carbon, absorbing about 4,800 million tonnes each year. "That's what these animals are not mere decoration, or interesting objects of study. They are part of an ecosystem". As reported by the Endangered Species Fund, two gorillas in the Congo die each week and their bodies are sold for their meat consumption. Although most individuals live in National Parks, are rapidly losing their habitat.
The areas inhabited by gorillas are in many cases, the scene of civil wars. It is also an endangered species by poachers and habitat destruction caused by mining and illegal timber used by local guerrillas to finance itself. Nearly two decades of civil war in the Great Lakes area of Africa, which includes areas of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Kenya, have had a serious impact on the population of these animals.
viernes, 2 de octubre de 2009
Climate change will not feed 25 million children
Some 25 million children go hungry in the next four decades by the food shortages that cause rising temperatures, have warned at the meeting of the UN climate change being held in Bangkok source International Research Institute for Food Policy (IFPRI, for its acronym in English).
"This tragedy can be avoided with an investment of about 6140 million per year to increase agricultural productivity and help farmers to address the effects of global warming," said Gerald Nelson, an author of the report of IFPRI.
"Better roads, irrigation systems, access to potable water and schooling for girls are essential," added Nelson, under the climate change conference held in Bangkok to prepare for the Copenhagen summit in December.
The study says that people in developing countries have access to 2410 calories per day in 2050, 286 calories less than in 2000; in Africa will be 392 less, and in industrialized countries below 250.
Revueltas polulares by food shortages
Last year, the rising price of basic foods at the news of production shortfalls caused popular riots in various parts of the world, from Egypt to Thailand and the UN decided to hold an urgent meeting.
The G-20 leaders agreed last week in Pittsburgh (USA) 1,400 million euros donated to fight hunger, while the UN announced a summit on the issue in November.
The secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon pressed the weekend World Bank and other multilateral institutions to increase their contributions to the third world, in a time when "most people still lack access to food because prices are incredibly high because of the economic crisis and lack of rain. "
Nelson believes that the food crisis last year, when reports of shortages of basic foods sparked protests in many poor and emerging countries, was a wakeup call.
Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda suffer from soaring food prices because of poor harvests and drought, because there are parts of the world that show signs of vulnerability to climate change and changing rainfall cycles, according to IFPRI.
"The Earth's population will be 50% higher than today in 2050 (...) the challenges are enormous even without climate change," added the researcher.
For Lester Brown, founder of Earth Policy Institute, food is also the most worrying issue of climate change and noted that Asia is at the epicenter of the crisis.
First, some 2,500 million people or about half of the economically active population in rich countries depended on agriculture for their livelihoods, according to 2005 data.
And on the other, 75% of the poor worldwide live in rural areas most vulnerable to climate changes. "If we continue doing things as we have done until now, we certainly ensuring disastrous consequences," Nelson warned.
Some 4,000 delegates from 179 countries are attending the Bangkok conference, which began last Monday and ending on October 9. The achievements and obstacles to the Bangkok meeting will be held in Barcelona in November to finalize and close the agenda of the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen.
"This tragedy can be avoided with an investment of about 6140 million per year to increase agricultural productivity and help farmers to address the effects of global warming," said Gerald Nelson, an author of the report of IFPRI.
"Better roads, irrigation systems, access to potable water and schooling for girls are essential," added Nelson, under the climate change conference held in Bangkok to prepare for the Copenhagen summit in December.
The study says that people in developing countries have access to 2410 calories per day in 2050, 286 calories less than in 2000; in Africa will be 392 less, and in industrialized countries below 250.
Revueltas polulares by food shortages
Last year, the rising price of basic foods at the news of production shortfalls caused popular riots in various parts of the world, from Egypt to Thailand and the UN decided to hold an urgent meeting.
The G-20 leaders agreed last week in Pittsburgh (USA) 1,400 million euros donated to fight hunger, while the UN announced a summit on the issue in November.
The secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon pressed the weekend World Bank and other multilateral institutions to increase their contributions to the third world, in a time when "most people still lack access to food because prices are incredibly high because of the economic crisis and lack of rain. "
Nelson believes that the food crisis last year, when reports of shortages of basic foods sparked protests in many poor and emerging countries, was a wakeup call.
Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda suffer from soaring food prices because of poor harvests and drought, because there are parts of the world that show signs of vulnerability to climate change and changing rainfall cycles, according to IFPRI.
"The Earth's population will be 50% higher than today in 2050 (...) the challenges are enormous even without climate change," added the researcher.
For Lester Brown, founder of Earth Policy Institute, food is also the most worrying issue of climate change and noted that Asia is at the epicenter of the crisis.
First, some 2,500 million people or about half of the economically active population in rich countries depended on agriculture for their livelihoods, according to 2005 data.
And on the other, 75% of the poor worldwide live in rural areas most vulnerable to climate changes. "If we continue doing things as we have done until now, we certainly ensuring disastrous consequences," Nelson warned.
Some 4,000 delegates from 179 countries are attending the Bangkok conference, which began last Monday and ending on October 9. The achievements and obstacles to the Bangkok meeting will be held in Barcelona in November to finalize and close the agenda of the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen.
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