Novas perspectivas para o mundo …

… how does it affect Portugal?

We were explaining the receding of the glaciers of Kilimanjaro. The journalist asked: “and how does it affect Portugal?”. Well, the lack of water coming down the mountain may turn dry the Mara river and erase the big migration of the wild beast … and so much for the tourism … This would be just a minor collateral damage to the portuguese travel agencies. We talked about the Theory of Caos (a butterfly in Japan …): as an integrated system, a problem on one area of the planet can have consequencies on the rest of the world. At this moment, the effects of global warming are permanently visible in high latitudes (near the poles) and altitudes (say, above 2.500 meters). In lower latitudes (closer to the tropics) those effects are seen as casual and violent phenomena, but their frequency and intensity is increasing at a scary rate! I am talking about hurricanes, snow and sand storms, floods, droughts … In the past, China registered winds of 130km/h, once every 5 years. Nowadays, the same windstorms devastate Beijing 2 or 3 times a year. ‘Climate refugies’ is the new expression to designate people deslocated from their usual habitat due to its destruction by ‘natural’ causes. The number will reach 50 million refugies in 2011 (200M in 2080, according to the a Environment Defense Fund). The European Union already estimated the loss of millions of euros (65?) per year, due to direct effects of the global warming. Portugal could be one of the most affected countries (in domains such as water shortage, impact on coast lines, agriculture, forests …), as well as other coastal cities. A hurricane level 4 over New York could represent a 1 billion dolars loss to the city …

The Start …

On the 6^th Dec. starts the Copenhagen Summit and the Ice Care team will be on it´s way to the Mount Kilimanjaro. On the 11^th Dec. the International Day of the Mountain will be highlighted (www.fao.org) and, with some luck, precisely on that date we will reach the top of Africa (5.896m) and it´s glaciers, adding even more symbolism to the second Ice Care expedition.

The departure of the team takes place on the 4th of Dec. We will be 7 members, including the anthropologist Joana RP, who will guide us through the visit to the Maasai people to understand their problems resulting from the climate changes, the HPP Health doctor Cristina Pereira, and 3 participants of the ‘social program’, that will help us to register the receding of the Kili glaciers.

Meanwhile, China was promising to lead the reduction on the greenhouse gases effects through the next decade. India wanted to play game, and the USA could not stay behind …

After the impact of the movie presented by Al Gore, now was the time for the photographer James Balog, whose video (19 min.) is worth to watch. Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers receding at an alarming rate, some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change: http://www.ted.com/talks/james_balog_time_lapse_proof_of_extreme_ice_loss.html

New perspectives

Na tomada de posições para a próxima cimeira de Copenhaga, a China prometia liderar a redução dos gases de efeito de estufa na próxima década. A India pretendia acompanhar, e os EUA não podiam deixar-se ficar para trás …  Mas parece que já estão a recuar nestas intenções!
Ecologia e Sustentabilidade não são apenas uma ‘moda’. O projecto Ice Watch pretende reforçar esta ideia, apontando setas para as consequências do problema nos glaciares. Depois do politico Al Gore, o fotógrafo James Balog publicou um video (19 min.) elucidativo. Vale a pena ver:
TED Talks Photographer James Balog shares new image sequences from the Extreme Ice Survey, a network of time-lapse cameras recording glaciers receding at an alarming rate, some of the most vivid evidence yet of climate change:
http://www.ted.com/talks/james_balog_time_lapse_proof_of_extreme_ice_loss.html

álbum Kilimanjaro - African Experience:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.337003109777.199091.613684777&type=3