Undersea waterfalls that carry coastal waters down canyons and slopes to the sea bed have a profound influence on deep-sea ecosystems, which they supply with rich nutrients. They also strongly affect fisheries, the movement of sediments and even the capacity of the water to serve as a carbon sink.

A team led by Miguel Canals of the Geology Department at Barcelona University has studied one such waterfall in the Gulf of Lion and concluded that global warming threatens to reduce the intensity and frequency of these waterfalls, only 3 of which are found in the Mediterranean, and consequently threatens deep-sea shrimp fisheries and other resources.

El País, Madrid March 12, 2008

Mexico

Greenpeace Says Argentine Glaciers in Retreat

The environmental organization, Greenpeace, today released images of the striking retreat of the Viedma glacier in the southern Argentine province of Santa Cruz.  The glacier may disappear completely in the next decades because of the effects of climate change.    

The upper photo was taken in 1928.  The lower in 2004.

In the last 20 years glaciers the length of Patagonia have shrunk between 10 percent and 20 percent" according to a press release by Ricardo Villalba of the Argentine Institute for Snow, Glaciers and Environmental Sciences (IANIGLIA-- according to its initials in Spanish--JR) in Mendoza.

"Glaciers are a true thermometer of climate change. The stunning current state of the Viedma glacier highlights the irreversible tendency of Argentina's glaciers if the earth's global temperature continues to rise," explained Rosario Espina, the coordinator of the campaign against climate change for Greenpeace Argentina.

El Universal, Mexico City March 10, 2008

Cuba

International Symposium on Forest Resources to be Held in Cuba

Some 200 researchers from 20 countries have confirmed that they will be attending the Fifth International Symposium on Sustainable Management of Forest Resources that will be held at the University of Pinar del Río in Cuba.

Divided into seven workshops, the meeting will cover topics such as sustainable management of forest ecosystems, law, education and computerization of allied sciences as well as the use of wood in construction and fire management.

Granma, Havana March 14, 2008

Costa Rica

Mount Pastoruri Slowly Dying in Peru Due to Global Warming

Mount Pastoruri, one of the jewels of Peruvian tourism, is slowly dying because of the global warming that is ravaging the planet, and specialists forecast that it's eternal snows will disappear in 15 or 20 years.

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The 5,240 meter (17,292 feet) high mountain is the number one destination for alpine recreation in Peru with around 60,000 visitors annually. It is part of Huascarán National Park. [Ironically, Mount Husacáran is the place where glaciologist Lonnie Thompson did much of his early work drilling for the ice cores that have been fundamental to our understanding of global warming.  See Mark Bowen's biography of Thompson: Thin Ice: Unlocking the Secrets of Climate in the World's Highest Mountains.--JR] However the melting of the mountain's snow has caused the authorities to close the area to the public between December and March.

Between 1995 and 2001, Pastoruri's total area shrank from 1.8 km2 to 1.2 km2. Other Peruvian glaciers are shrinking at similar rates having lost a quarter of their total mass in an eight-year period.

La Nación, Costa Rica March March 8, 2008

Uses of Nature inspiration for New Trail at INBioparque

Many children now grow up thinking that milk comes naturally from tetrabrick boxes or that chicken is manufactured at the supermarket, but the reality is all these things are the result of how people have "domesticated" nature.

Yesterday, INBio opened a new trail called Sustainable Use of Biodiversity at its theme park in Santo Domingo de Heredia with the goal of teaching this reality to children while also providing a reminder to adults.

"We want to use this trail to remind people that everything that we use in our everyday lives comes from nature. They need to remember that corn was wild but now it's cultivated.  Likewise that cotton also grew wild but now is used to make cloth", said Costa Rican scientist Ana Lorena Guevara.

Visitors who walk the trail will encounter cod-liver, vanilla and linden plants and many others specific to Costa Rica along with explanations of the useful products that can be made from them.

"The difference between Costa Rica being a a poor country or a developed one will depend on whether we make wise use of nature's riches," concludes Rodolfo Carboni, director of Lisan Laboratories...

La Nación, Costa Rica March 12, 2008

Colombia

Government launches Transparent Water Program in Bid to Halt Squandering of Funds Allocated for Potable Water.

A report made public yesterday by the Environmental Ministry shows that between 1996 y 2003 $11.7 trillion pesos [6.31 billion dollars] that the government sent to local authorities to resolve drinking water and sanitation problems were wasted.

According to the Ministry if the funds had been employed properly, 16 million people, living in 838 towns that today have no potable water, would have it.

Additionally, 95 percent of the communities would have sewer systems, a service currently only available to 65 percent of them.

In Barranquilla, for example, only 45% of the allocated funds were spent on water and sewer systems between 2001 and 2005. Meanwhile, the United Nations Development program has declared that Barranquilla's water is some of the most expensive in the world ahead of cities like New York and London.

Under the Transparent Water program all contracts will be awarded publicly and contractors will have to provide public reports on how they have spent funds.  The contracting process will be overseen by the President's Fight Against Corruption  program and the Attorney General's Office.

El Tiempo, Bogotá March 14, 2008

Chile

On the Shores of the Straight, Antarctic Museum to Become Reality

José Retamales, the director of the Chilean National Antarctic Institute is getting closer to seeing his dream fulfilled: a museum of Antarctic science in Punta Arenas.

"We want to have a first class center that will astound the visitor.  It will be a museum about the Antarctic and it's influence on the world. The first of its kind," Retamales explains, which is why he is not thinking small.

Retamales, who projects the museum will cost 20 million dollars to build, has hired Spanish physicist Jorge Wagensberg to oversee the project.  Wagensberg was director for thirteen years of the CosmoCaixa science museum in Barcelona, which, in 2006, was chosen the best science museum in Europe.

The new museum is expected to open its doors in 2011.

El Mercurio, Santiago March 10, 2008  

Forecast of a Normal to Dry Winter Means Drought Will Last Through 2008 and 2009

Chile's drought is set to continue at least through 2008. Currently two thirds of the country is suffering from drought with no end in sight. Some meteorologists expect the La Niña, which is considered to be driving the drought, to last through September.

Chile is looking to runoff from the country's glaciers to help it make it through the drought, at least in urban areas. In many rural areas they have already run out of potable water.

Of the 1,500 systems of Rural Potable Water [APR by it's Spanish initials] constructed by the government, 166 have already been declared to be "in water scarcity". Another 52 are in the process of obtaining this status. When the process is complete 52 municipalities will be included and 199 thousand people affected.  

During February of this year, hydroelectricity contributed 43% of the power to the Central Interconnected System was.  A year ago it was 64%.

This is one of several reasons why electric bills continue to climb. Generating electricity with diesel, gas and coal necessarily increases the costs.

El Mercurio, Santiago March 14, 2008

Crossposted at Daily Kos