South America
This thread is for discussion of South American aspects of global warming.
Climate Conversation Group
Taking the heat out of global warming
For the first time in history, people shouting “the end is nigh” are somehow
For the first time in history, people shouting “the end is nigh” are somehow
the sane ones, while those of us who say it is not are now the lunatics.
Latest climate models v. reality
As the models continue to leave actual temperature readings in their dust, sizeable warming halted about 1995 — although it might resume at any time. It must hasten to have any hope of catching up with the predictions.
If you claim warming continues, we want evidence of continued warming — eminently reasonable. Making us wait for 17 years for that evidence invites us to doubt you.
Claiming that warming hasn't stopped is the same as claiming it has — and both are ridiculous, for nobody knows the future. The best you can do is describe the past.
Click graph for larger version.
‘Green tsunami’ gathers force in South America
Cold snap freezes South America – beaches whitened, some areas experience snow for the first time in living memory
Mapping the cold snap in South America
Peru Government Declares Cold Wave Emergency
A govt climate adaption initiative that actually helps people in need..
Peru Sends 97,000 Blankets To Andean Highlands To Weather Cold
Peru’s government on Monday sent 18 trucks carrying 97,000 blankets to villages in the Andean highlands, where the populations endure freezing temperatures.
The blankets were sent to Puno, Apurimac, Ayacucho, Junin, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Ancash and La Libertad regions, daily La Republica reported.
The shipment is part of the national government plan to provide support to people who are not properly equipped to weather the cold.
Children and the elderly are often the most vulnerable to the cold temperatures, and every year a number of people in the highlands die during Peru’s cold winter months of June through August.
Last week, temperatures in the district of Mazocruz, located some 4,000 meters above sea level in the Puno region, dipped to -18 degrees Celsius, which is the lowest temperature in the department so far this year.
Meanwhile, some 70,000 blankets were also sent to the northern region of Loreto last week to help people living in colder than normal temperatures.
The government’s initial budget for the plan is about 36.1 million soles ($13.6 million), which is intended to benefit almost 250,000 people.
http://www.peruviantimes.com/03/peru-sends-97000-blankets-to-andean-highlands-to-weather-cold/16151/
A better use of funds than rewarding China for manufacturing for deliberate destruction a gas a mindless creed makes us dread.
Chile – Big Freeze hits fruit farmers
175 people killed in South America cold spell
Freezing temperatures threaten thousands in Peru
Hundreds die in Peru’s big freeze
Snow in Brazil, below zero Celsius in the River Plate and tropical fish frozen
Argentina Colder Than Antarctica Raises Power Imports (Update2)
2 years later and a similar event is occurring (see previous comment), Tim Ball reports:-
1 Million Fish Dead in Bolivian Ecological Disaster
Chilly in Chile: South America Hit by Cold Snap
Crops & Markets
Cold strikes Argentina’s blueberries
See this July 2, 2012 comment re frost impacting citrus fruit including oranges and mandarins, as well as lemons and grapefruit to a lesser extent.
Agricultural emergency declared in NEA Argentina
http://www.climateconversation.wordshine.co.nz/open-threads/climate/regions/south-america/#comment-103549
Starbucks blames cooler Costa Rica night-time temperatures on global warming. Meanwhile scientists and growers blame changing weather and climate on “climate change” (after planting higher up the mountains when the weather was warmer).
—————————————————————————————————————————-
Climate change takes toll on coffee growers, drinkers too
Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 10:03 PM – The Seattle Times
Shifting temperatures and erratic rainfall are taking a toll on the lucrative coffee crop in Costa Rica. Yields are way down, part of the reason coffee drinkers here are paying more for their morning cup.
SANTA MARIA DE DOTA, Costa Rica — A mile above this rural mountain town, coffee trees have produced some of the world’s best arabica beans for more than a century.
Now farmers are planting even higher — at nearly 7,000 feet — thanks to warmer temperatures.
“We noticed about six years ago, the weather changed,” said Ricardo Calderón Madrigal, whose family harvests ripe, red coffee cherries at the higher elevation. He sells beans to some of the most notable coffeehouses in the U.S., including Stumptown Coffee of Portland and Ritual Coffee in San Francisco.
[Snip]
Yields in Costa Rica have dropped dramatically in the last decade, with farmers and scientists blaming climate change for a significant portion of the troubles.
[snip]
Global warming — more accurately called climate change — poses “a direct business threat to our company,” Starbucks executive Jim Hanna told an Environmental Protection Agency panel in 2009 in Seattle.
[Snip]
On the slopes of Volcano Poás, the biggest threats are colder nights, fiercer winds and rain that falls too hard and at the wrong times. Temperatures at Flores’ coffee farms on Poás used to stay above 60 degrees at night, but now are dropping to 52 degrees. He also has planted more rows of Indian cane and other trees as windscreens.
Continues………
Anger mounts over hydro plan for Patagonia
May 14, 2011
CHILEAN authorities have approved a $2.8 billion plan to dam two rivers in Patagonia for hydro-electricity, triggering angry protests and claims that swathes of pristine wilderness will be destroyed.
The HidroAysen project envisages five dams to tap the Baker and Pascua rivers, an isolated area of fiords and valleys, and generate 2.75 gigawatts of power for Chile’s booming economy.
The government has championed the dams as vital to poverty alleviation and growth, but public opinion has split, with many saying the project is unnecessary and will devastate an ecological haven.
[Snip]
HidroAysen argued that the dams will provide cheap and clean electricity in comparison to oil and coal. Chile recently approved three coal plants.
Some analysts say Chile will need to triple its energy capacity in the next 15 years to feed fast-growing industries and cities. The country imports 97 per cent of its fossil fuel needs and relies mainly on hydro power for electricity, leaving it vulnerable to oil shocks and drought.
The council of ministers is expected to nod through the proposed dams but activists hope to win concessions in the environmental impact assessment for the next phase of the project: 1900-kilometre transmission lines, estimated to cost $3.5 billion, to bring electricity to Santiago.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/anger-mounts-over-hydro-plan-for-patagonia-20110513-1emcw.html#ixzz1MJqRLA7c
Five of South America’s major fruit-producing countries have witnessed an historic cold snap over the last week, including a snowstorm in the Argentine citrus region of Tucumán.
Low temperatures were registered in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia.
The blizzard hit Tucumán on Friday in conditions not seen since 1920, while the Brazilian state of Santa Caterina recorded a wind chill of -25°C (-13°F), website Infobae.com reported.
June 29th, 2011
http://www.freshfruitportal.com/
A repeat from last year, see previous comment:-
Agricultural emergency declared in NEA Argentina
Serious frosts in NEA Argentina have led to a declaration of agricultural emergency and disaster for the region.
Entre Ríos governor Sergio Urribarri said he had met with president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to set out a diagnosis of the situation and plan short-to-medium term goals. He said around citrus 2,000 growers have been affected by the frosts, which impacts on 12,000 workers.
“Mindful of the social dimensions of this situation, we are committed to managing this both at the provincial level and before the national authorities with the measures necessary to partner with the sector, which is suffering from the consequences of an unheard of phenomenon for this time of year,” Urribarri was quoted as saying.
Urribarri is expected to hold roundtable talks with people from affected areas this week, with a group comprising of growers, mayors and his own government team.
Frosts of -5°C (23°F) hit the departments of Feliciano, Federal, Federación, Concordia and Colón on Jun. 7, 8 and 9, registering a duration of 12 cold hours.
The story reported the frosts affected 50,000 hectares of citrus fruit including oranges and mandarins, as well as lemons and grapefruit to a lesser extent.
Entre Ríos Citrus Federation president Elvio Calgaro, told the website the damage done by the frosts was “enormous” and the industry would need to work with the government to move forward.
He said on the affected land around 80% of crops were impacted by the weather event.
Source: freshfruitportal.com
http://atcitrus.com/english/noticia.asp?seccion=principales&id=1138
12,000 workers is equivalent to approx half of the NZ seasonal kiwifruit workforce.
See also October 22, 2010 at 11:23 am
Crops & Markets
Cold strikes Argentina’s blueberries
http://www.climateconversation.wordshine.co.nz/open-threads/climate/regions/south-america/#comment-26789
Carbon cowboys
Amazonian tribes are facing new challenges as carbon credit dealers move into their forests, write Patrick Bodenham and Ben Cubby.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/carbon-cowboys-20110722-1hssc.html#ixzz1Sw6d7ZgJ
Chile hit by ‘white earthquake’ of heavy snow
A “white earthquake” of heavy snow has blanketed parts of Chile leading the government to declare a “disaster area” in eight municipalities where around 16,000 people were left isolated.
Temperatures plunged to as low as -23 C (-9.4F) in some rural areas as severe snowfall wreaked havoc, leaving people without food supplies, mobile phone signals or radio communications.
Miguel Mellado, governor of the province of Cautin, said that in four days from Sunday to Wednesday the area had seen “four months worth of snowfall.”
In the town of Lonquimay, around 350 miles south of the capital Santiago, more than 6,500 people were trapped in their homes after snow piled up to 2.3 metres (7ft 6ins), while in surrounding rural areas it was reported to have reached 9ft.
[...]
Although severe cold weather is not unusual in the region, close to the border with Argentina, Mr Pinera described the current polar front as the worst it had seen in 30 years.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/8656274/Chile-hit-by-white-earthquake-of-heavy-snow.html
South America Gripped By Brutal Winter
By P Gosselin on 26. Juli 2011
German climate blog Readers Edition here has been keeping an eye on the winter in South America. While much of the news has been buzzing about the “record heat wave” hitting the US last week (a whopping 0.4% of the stations reported record highs! /sarc), Europe and South America for example are being left out in the cold.
[Check out the anomaly plot]
In South America, dozens of people have died from the bitter cold in 7 countries so far, just when cold snaps were supposed to be getting rarer and the heat waves more frequent. The cold is repeat of last year’s brutal South American winter.
Readers Edition writes (paraphrased):
In southern Peru, temperatures in the higher elevations of the Andes fell to -23°C. Since the beginning of last week 112 people have died of hypothermia and flu.
Coldest winter in 10 years
In Argentina the lowest temperatures in 10 years were measured – the temperature dropped to -14°C. At least 33 people died, some froze to death and some from poisonous gases emitted from faulty heaters.
Thousands of cattle freeze to death in fields.
It was unusually cold in neighbouring countries. In the tropical regions of Bolivia where temperatures rarely fall below 20°C (68°F), the temperature hovered near 0°C. At least four people died because of the cold. Two homeless persons died in Uruguay. Thousands of cattle froze in the fields in Paraguay and Brazil.
Natural gas shortages
In some areas of Bolivia and Peru, school was cancelled for some kids at the end of the week. Emergency shelters were opened for the homeless in larger cities. In Argentina some provinces faced natural gas shortages.
Heavy snow in Chile
Unusually heavy snows have fallen in parts of Chile. States of emergency have been declared in 8 communities with some buried in up to 3 meters of snow. In the south of the country about 170 people have become isolated from supply lines.
http://notrickszone.com/2011/07/26/south-america-gripped-by-brutal-winter/
Selected quotes from:-
In the Andes, freak cold extracts a brutal toll
Climate change alters the environment in complex ways. The Andes, warming for decades, has seen three bitter winters that have left more than 400 dead and aid agencies scrambling.
Experts see the fingerprints of global warming there, too.
By Emily Kirkland
for the Daily Climate
http://wwwp.dailyclimate.org/tdc-newsroom/2012/02/andes-extreme-cold/
And,
And,
And,
But unfortunately,
In conclusion,
Numpties