Madrid y Barcelona se enfrentan a una contaminación preocupante

Madrid y Barcelona, las dos mayores ciudades de España, tomaron esta semana medidas contra la contaminación del aire, por su gran alcance debido a un anticiclón de gran alcance , limitando la velocidad de los coches o la recomendación de utilizar el transporte público.
Los niveles de contaminantes en la atmósfera han alcanzado el pasado fin de semana en Barcelona el doble del nivel permitido por la Unión Europea. A las nueve de la noche, prácticamente no había estaciones marcadas en verde en el mapa de la web municipal de calidad del aire de Madrid, informa el Diario El País.
Las medidas tomadas no son suficientes y se exigen medidas más concretas: restringir el tráfico de coches privados en el centro de la ciudad, aumentar el transporte público y con precios más bajos (more public transport and lower reliance on automobile),favorecer y promocionar los vehículos menos contaminantes, el aumento de las tarifas de estacionamiento, el desarrollo del traslado en bicicleta y más zonas peatonales, la creación de grandes plazas de estacionamiento en las afueras , revisión de sistemas de calefacción yendo hacia sistemas más limpias,reducción de emisionesde sistemas industriales de combustión, planes de choque, programas de educación y sensibilización etc.
"La contaminación mata a 16.000 personas prematuramente cada año en España", según cifras citadas por la Comisión Europea el miércoles por Ecologistas en Acción. "Puede aumentar la tasa de mortalidad de 5%", dijo Javier González Medel, portavoz de la Asociación en Defensa de la Salud Pública en Madrid.

WWF: Highest environmental standards required for deep-sea floor drilling for gas in the eastern Mediterranean.

After the drilling of oil and oil spill risks they entail, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) warned on Wednesday February 9 against environmental risks of drilling in deep waters to exploit gas deposits colossal in the eastern Mediterranean, which would cause irreversible damage to marine biodiversity.
The recently discovered Leviathan gas field, 135 km off the coast of Israel - Palestine, is the world’s biggest deepwater gas find in a decade – with an estimated volume of 16 trillion cubic feet of gas – while the West Nile Delta gas field, discovered earlier this year, lies in Egyptian waters, 80 km northwest of Alexandria.
But on these two areas sits a unique and delicate marine ecosystem, whose rich biological communities host rare species of deep-sea sponges, worms, molluscs and cold water corals – some of which are thousands of years old.
The Levant Sea is protected by such laws as a Mediterranean-wide ban on destructive trawl fishing beyond the depth of 1,000 metres by the UN’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean, and encompasses two deep-sea Fisheries Restricted Areas where other potentially harmful activities are also limited – in recognition of the sea bed’s value and fragility.
WWF is calling on the eastern Mediterranean states – particularly on Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon – and on the European Union, to ensure that the highest environmental standards are set regarding current and prospective developments in deep-sea floor drilling for gas and oil in the eastern Mediterranean, including exploratory drilling and future commercial exploitation.

Further information on: http://wwf.panda.org/?uNewsID=199297

Spain: Desalination plant powered by renewable energy without brine discharge

A report by researchers at the Cartagena Technical University (UPCT) in Spain outlines a desalination process using renewable energy and resulting in lower environmental impacts. Population and industrial growth have placed a heavy demand on water supplies. Moreover, climate change and population density have brought the topic of water sustainability to the fore. Since the 1960s, Spain has been a global leader in desalination, and remains the largest user in the Western world of such technologies. Today, Spain's more than 700 desalination plants produce 1.6 million cubic metres of water a day - enough to meet the needs of eight million people. Over the last four decades, Spain has developed the second largest tourist industry in the world. Such growth has necessitated significant development along the country's Mediterranean coast. To meet the water demands of the region's many golf courses and holiday resorts, local authorities have relied heavily on desalination. However traditional desalination processes can cause environmental damage when brine, which has a higher salt concentration than seawater, is pumped back into the sea. Moreover, a study on the potential impacts of desalination drafted for the European Commission found that in view of Europe's proposed 20-20-20 environmental target, desalination would place a high demand on energy resources at a time when increasing energy efficiency was a priority. The UPC desalination plant would involve both distillation and vapour compression, driven by renewable energy. The system proposed reduces environmental impacts and promises 100 m3 of freshwater an hour. Initially, seawater distillation would use heat provided by solar cells. The resulting saltwater flow would then be fed into a vapour compressor, driven by wind turbines, for final separation of salt and water.
Further information on:
‘Seawater integrated desalination plant without brine discharge and powered by renewable energy systems', Desalination 235 (2009):
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6TFX-4V476YK-K-1&_cdi=5238&_user=10&_orig=browse&_coverDate=01%2F15%2F2009&_sk=997649998&view=c&wchp=dGLbVzb-zSkWz&md5=2094de858c629b586f937df496b0e9bd&ie=/sdarticle.pdf
‘Potential impacts of desalination development on energy consumption', DG Environment study:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/quantity/pdf/desalination.pdf
Related information on the ETAP website:
‘The desalination technology race':
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/etap/pdfs/desalination.pdf

El Comité de las Regiones de la Unión Europea (CoR) busca contribuciones para las políticas del agua sostenible.

Pantano de Itoiz en Navarra (Spain)

La política del agua debe promover una gestión eficiente y sostenible de los recursos hídricos y las autoridades locales y regionales tienen un papel importante que desempeñar en este contexto. Como parte de la "eficiencia de recursos" iniciativa insignia de la estrategia "Europa 2020, la Comisión Europea llevará a cabo una revisión de la política de aguas de la UE para el año 2012.
Con esto en mente, el Comité de las Regiones propone adoptar un dictamen prospectivo sobre "El papel de las autoridades regionales y locales en la promoción de una política sostenible del agua" en su sesión plenaria en junio de este año. Nichi Vendola (IT / PSE), Presidente de la Región de Puglia, miembro de la Comisión CDR ENVE y el coordinador político de la Plataforma europea de seguimiento de 2020, asumirá el papel de ponente de este dictamen.

EU Committee of the Regions (CoR) seeks input on sustainable water policies
Water policy must promote efficient and sustainable management of water resources and local and regional authorities have an important role to play in this context. As part of the "Resource Efficiency" Flagship Initiative of the Europe 2020 strategy, the European Commission will carry out a review of EU water policy by 2012.
With this in mind, the Committee of the Regions intends to adopt an outlook opinion on "The role of regional and local authorities in promoting a sustainable water policy" at its plenary session in June this year. Nichi Vendola (IT/PES), President of the Region of Puglia, member of the CoR ENVE Commission and the political coordinator of the Europe 2020 Monitoring Platform, will take on the role of rapporteur for this opinion.
Read more in:
http://www.emwis.net/thematicdirs/news/2011/01/eu-committee-regions-cor-seeks-input-sustainable-water-policies

Public transport and lower reliance on the automobile may make big cities not always the biggest polluters

Big cities like New York, London and Shanghai send less pollution into the atmosphere per capita than places like Denver and Rotterdam, said a study released on Tuesday.
Researchers examined data from 100 cities in 33 nations for clues about which were the biggest polluters and why, according to the report in the peer-reviewed journal Environment and Urbanization.
While cities across the world were to blame for around 71 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, urban dwellers who can use public transport rather than drive helped to lower per capita emissions in some cities.
For instance, the sprawling western US city of Denver's per capita emissions were nearly double those in New York City, home to eight million inhabitants and a gritty, heavily used subway system.
'This is mainly attributable to New York's greater density and much lower reliance on the automobile for commuting,' said the study.
Even Denver's per capita emissions, at 21.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, were sharply higher than Shanghai at 11.2 tCO2e, Paris (5.2) and Athens (10.4)
An analysis of three neighborhoods in Toronto found that the highest emissions came from the suburbs, where streets are lined with large single family homes that are far from commercial centers.
The lowest levels of emissions came from areas with apartment complexes in walking distance to shopping and transit.

Using seawater and sun power to produce food, energy and drinking water in deserted zones

EMWIS (Euro-Mediterranean Information System on the know-how in the Water Sector)-EMWIS is a program of the Union for the Mediterranean- informs the following:
A green machine that promises to turn sun and seawater into food, fuel and drinking water will be tried out in the desert near the Red Sea in Jordan, project partners announced. The Sahara Forest Project has the potential to turn deserts into green oases that soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and thus curb global climate change. It’s the sort of thing environmentalists who aren't afraid of geoengineering might describe as dreamy.
How it works:
The machine integrates a 10-megawatt solar power plant with a high-tech greenhouse and desalination system to turn readily available sun and seawater into life essentials that are increasingly difficult to acquire affordably in the Middle East. Here's how it works: Saltwater pumped from the Red Sea is evaporated from grilles at the front of the greenhouse to create cool and humid conditions, which are good for growing food and algae. The algae can be used to produce more food or fuel. As the cool and humid air leaves the growing area, it passes over a second evaporator containing seawater heated by the sun, which warms the air so it can hold even more water. This hot and humid air then meets a series of vertical pipes that have been cooled by seawater, which causes the freshwater vapours to condense and trickle as freshwater droplets down the tubes for collection. This freshwater is then heated by a concentrated solar power plant, which creates steam to turn turbines that generate electricity. The electricity powers the pumps and fans used to bring saltwater in from the Red Sea and grow crops and algae in the greenhouse. Leftover freshwater will be used to re-green the area around the greenhouse, creating that carbon-soaking vegetative sponge.
Funding and rollout Project partners signed a deal to build a demonstration machine on a 50-acre site in Aqaba with funding from the Norwegian government. The designers estimate the construction cost to be $110 million (80 million euros). In addition, the project has rights for expansion onto 500 acres. In-depth feasibility studies will be conducted throughout 2011. Construction of the pilot plant is slated for 2012, with commercial-scale development eyed for 2015. Partners in the Sahara Forest Project include London-based Max Fordham Consulting Engineers, Seawater Greenhouse, Exploration Architecture, and the Oslo, Norway-based Bellona Foundation.

My comment is that it would be a great acheivement to expand as a new model of sustainable development taking advantage of sun power and seawater for desertic zones in many countries.

Read the complete information at:
http://www.emwis.org/thematicdirs/news/2011/01/jordan-sahara-forest-aqaba-turn-sun-and-seawater-food-and-drinking-water

2010 was second warmest year

With a mean temperature of 14.50 °C, 2010 becomes the second warmest year on record, after 1998. The record is maintained by the Met Office and the Climatic Research Unit at UEA.

Read more at:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2011/2010-global-temperature

Speaking about the figures, Professor Phil Jones, Director of Research at the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia said: "The warmest 10 years in all three datasets are the same and have all occurred since 1998. The last 10 years 2001-2010 were warmer than the previous 10 years (1991-2000) by 0.2 °C."
These figures follow two similar announcements last week from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which suggested that 2010 was the joint warmest year on their respective records.
Adam Scaife, head of long-range forecasting at the Met Office, said the studies painted a relatively coherent picture. "The three leading global temperature datasets show that 2010 is clearly warmer than 2009," he said. "They also show that 2010 is the warmest or second warmest year on record
The UN's World Meteorological Organisation , which bases its reports on all three sets of data, said that 2010 was the joint warmest year on record, tied with 1998 and 2005. "The 2010 data confirm the Earth's significant long-term warming trend," said the secretary-general, Michel Jarraud. "The 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1998."
2010 saw a number of extreme weather events, including a summer heatwave in Russia, floods in Pakistan, Australia and China and heavy snowfall in northern Europe.