Photo: Don’t Look Up / Netflix
In the wewbsite of the Ministry of Ecological Transition (Government of Spain) we read: “The Doñana National Park is a mosaic of ecosystems that host a unique biodiversity in Europe. Spetiall are the marshes, extraordinary importance as a place of passage, breeding and wintering for thousands of European and African birds. Unique and seriously endangered species live in the Park, such as the Iberian imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx. Doñana is the confluence of a set of ecosystems (beach, dunes, preserves, marsh…) that give this Park a unique personality”.
If we pay attention to these words, it is at least shocking that the Andalusian government presents a proposal -to be adopted into law- that would allow the legalization of wells in the vicinity of the National Park to “ensure water for farmers”. It is obvious that this is not banal. We all know that, when a debate of these characteristics is put on the table and the only choice is protect the nature or jobs, public opinion will align with the latter. In one way or another, the reality is that the marshes of the largest wetland in Europe are drying up.
Since the 1980s, climate scientists from all over the world have warned that global warming will lead to an unprecedented humanitarian disaster. The burning of fossil fuels leads to the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere is rocketing without end, reaching values much higher than those registered during the last hundreds of thousands of years of the Earth´s history. In this sense, the Mauna Loa weather station registered this week a new record, and the scientific community once again launched an SOS. Added to this fact, one of the most prestigious American scientific institutions, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency of the United States (NOAA) also published the temperature anomalies in the ocean this week, revealing how the global ocean is warming at an unprecedented rate.
Let us not be naive, a warmer world means less water, and less water means less food. In the latest report of the Intenational Panel on Climate Change, -as a result of those summits that our leaders proudly attend-, scientific data show an increase in temperature and a lack of humidity in a large part of the planet for the coming decades. It goes without saying that in Europe the most alarming data correspond to the countries of the South. Oh surprise, Spain is in the south of Europe! In this report, prepared specifically for our leaders, the risks we will face are exposed, all of them undoubtedly related to the lack of water: failed crops, extreme temperatures, floods. …In addition, this report also presents which are the most vulnerable areas and possible adaptation measures.
We could therefore say that we have the information, and although the media continues to speak of “drought” or “abnormal year”, we will have to live in a world where extreme events and problems with the supply of water will corroborate what many scientists already predicted in the 1960s. Hopefully, one day our leaders will tell the citizens something like this: “Andalusia is suffering the consequences of climate change, and if we do not take the necessary measures, many more jobs than those lost by closing the wells will be destroyed “. And if you don’t believe me, please don´t look up!
References:
– CO2 data Mauna Loa Station (Hawaii). https://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/
– NOAA Institution. https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/index.html
– Sixth Assessment Report during the Panel’s 58th Session (Switzerland, March 2023). https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-cycle/
– Película “No mires arriba” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWkUg22UbVg
