jueves, 24 de noviembre de 2005
Inundaciones
Se han puesto de moda los fenómenos climatológicos y atmosféricos. Especialmente si estos son devastadores y así podemos hacer tremendismo y un poco de ecologismo sandía (verde por fuera,rojo por dentro).
Inundaciones. Como todos sabemos estas se ven aumentadas en sus efectos debido a la deforestación que sufren ciertas zonas el planeta, ya que si hubiera árboles estos reducirían la fuerza del agua, aboservería parte de ella etc etc.
Pues bien parece que no es así.Como dicen ahora los guayones: "Va a ser que no."
Según un informe de la FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) titulado "Forests and floods. Drowning in fiction or thriving on facts?":
Every year, reports of large-scale flooding in the Asian lowlands capture headlines and dominate newscasts. The 1980s and 1990s will be particularly remembered for catastrophic floods and their profound effects on people, property and economies in many Asian countries.
Globally, floods affect the personal and economic fortunes of more than 60 million people each year.
Much has been written about floods, their causes and impacts. Debate has been intense about how to prevent, mitigate and manage them. Each tragic event inevitably becomes a political issue. Political survival demands that politicians are seen as responding to each crisis in quick fashion. Thus, officials seek immediate answers and short-term solutions. In many countries, there is widespread belief -including among many foresters- that forests can prevent or reduce floods.
Therefore, an immediate,frequently drawn conclusion is that floods occur because forests have been cleared or degraded. Hence it is but a small step to presume that the continuing deforestation of Asia’s watersheds is the cause of the misery brought to millions of people every year.
The reality, however, is that direct links between deforestation and floods are far from certain. Although the media attributes virtually every flood-related tragedy to human activities- particularly to agricultural expansion and timber harvesting (typically characterised by the press as ‘rampant illegal logging’ irrespective of legality or harvesting methods employed)-hydrological systems are so complex that it is extremely diffi cult to disentangle the impacts of land use from those of natural processes and phenomena.
In the case of upland/lowland as well as forest and flood relationships, existing ‘knowledge’ is frequently based more on perceived wisdom, or myths, than on science. In the rush to identify the culprits for the most recent disasters, assumptions are made about processes in one region based on observations from other regions which often have quite different environmental characteristics, or by extrapolating from small to large scales.
Oversimplificationis common, frequently leading to initiatives such as logging bans or the resettlement of people residing in watershed areas - often with minimal environmental benefits
but very defi nite negative social and economic implications. The unfortunate outcome is that intended results are rarely achieved, but scarce funds are misallocated and unnecessary hardships are heaped upon those segments of society that become scapegoats for fl ood-related disasters and damages.
All floods cannot and should not be completely prevented - flooding is important for maintaining biodiversity, fish stocks and fertility of flpodplain soils. In many floodplains, certain crops (e.g., jute or deep water aman rice in Bangladesh) depend on seasonal flooding.
However, steps can be taken to limit the adverse impacts of floods and to ensure effective responses to flooding events. This requires a far better understanding of the interactions between human activities and floods, the limitations of watershed management and the role of floodplain or river-basin management in reducing flood-related impacts.
As a first step, decision-making needs to be supported by an objective perspective of the relationships between forests and water, in order to distinguish myths and conventional wisdom from facts and sound science. Building on better understanding of physical processes and the relationships between land use and hydrology, more effective responses can be designed to reduce the magnitude of disasters without repeating the mistakes of the past.
Y es que:
"Towns and cities have long been established on flood plains, despite the risk of periodic flooding. This is because the numerous social and economic benefits of living near water tend to outweigh the risk. Historically, such settlements have clung to the higher ground on the flood plain. But as towns and cities have grown, new housing estates and commercial zones have been built on ever more flood-prone areas...
In reality, the huge economic losses attributed to flooding in recent years are mainly a reflection of economic growth, increased investment in infrastructure and rapidly growing flood plain populations. Floods are no more frequent today than they were 120 years ago, when lush forests were abundant. The problem is just that more people now live and work on flood plains."
No está mal leerlo completo, así nos evitaremos repetir tópicos como si fueramos loros, lo cual no es nada bueno y menos ahora que los loros se mueren de gripe.
Inundaciones. Como todos sabemos estas se ven aumentadas en sus efectos debido a la deforestación que sufren ciertas zonas el planeta, ya que si hubiera árboles estos reducirían la fuerza del agua, aboservería parte de ella etc etc.
Pues bien parece que no es así.Como dicen ahora los guayones: "Va a ser que no."
Según un informe de la FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) titulado "Forests and floods. Drowning in fiction or thriving on facts?":
Every year, reports of large-scale flooding in the Asian lowlands capture headlines and dominate newscasts. The 1980s and 1990s will be particularly remembered for catastrophic floods and their profound effects on people, property and economies in many Asian countries.
Globally, floods affect the personal and economic fortunes of more than 60 million people each year.
Much has been written about floods, their causes and impacts. Debate has been intense about how to prevent, mitigate and manage them. Each tragic event inevitably becomes a political issue. Political survival demands that politicians are seen as responding to each crisis in quick fashion. Thus, officials seek immediate answers and short-term solutions. In many countries, there is widespread belief -including among many foresters- that forests can prevent or reduce floods.
Therefore, an immediate,frequently drawn conclusion is that floods occur because forests have been cleared or degraded. Hence it is but a small step to presume that the continuing deforestation of Asia’s watersheds is the cause of the misery brought to millions of people every year.
The reality, however, is that direct links between deforestation and floods are far from certain. Although the media attributes virtually every flood-related tragedy to human activities- particularly to agricultural expansion and timber harvesting (typically characterised by the press as ‘rampant illegal logging’ irrespective of legality or harvesting methods employed)-hydrological systems are so complex that it is extremely diffi cult to disentangle the impacts of land use from those of natural processes and phenomena.
In the case of upland/lowland as well as forest and flood relationships, existing ‘knowledge’ is frequently based more on perceived wisdom, or myths, than on science. In the rush to identify the culprits for the most recent disasters, assumptions are made about processes in one region based on observations from other regions which often have quite different environmental characteristics, or by extrapolating from small to large scales.
Oversimplificationis common, frequently leading to initiatives such as logging bans or the resettlement of people residing in watershed areas - often with minimal environmental benefits
but very defi nite negative social and economic implications. The unfortunate outcome is that intended results are rarely achieved, but scarce funds are misallocated and unnecessary hardships are heaped upon those segments of society that become scapegoats for fl ood-related disasters and damages.
All floods cannot and should not be completely prevented - flooding is important for maintaining biodiversity, fish stocks and fertility of flpodplain soils. In many floodplains, certain crops (e.g., jute or deep water aman rice in Bangladesh) depend on seasonal flooding.
However, steps can be taken to limit the adverse impacts of floods and to ensure effective responses to flooding events. This requires a far better understanding of the interactions between human activities and floods, the limitations of watershed management and the role of floodplain or river-basin management in reducing flood-related impacts.
As a first step, decision-making needs to be supported by an objective perspective of the relationships between forests and water, in order to distinguish myths and conventional wisdom from facts and sound science. Building on better understanding of physical processes and the relationships between land use and hydrology, more effective responses can be designed to reduce the magnitude of disasters without repeating the mistakes of the past.
Y es que:
"Towns and cities have long been established on flood plains, despite the risk of periodic flooding. This is because the numerous social and economic benefits of living near water tend to outweigh the risk. Historically, such settlements have clung to the higher ground on the flood plain. But as towns and cities have grown, new housing estates and commercial zones have been built on ever more flood-prone areas...
In reality, the huge economic losses attributed to flooding in recent years are mainly a reflection of economic growth, increased investment in infrastructure and rapidly growing flood plain populations. Floods are no more frequent today than they were 120 years ago, when lush forests were abundant. The problem is just that more people now live and work on flood plains."
No está mal leerlo completo, así nos evitaremos repetir tópicos como si fueramos loros, lo cual no es nada bueno y menos ahora que los loros se mueren de gripe.
