The deserts of north Africa are threatening to leap the Mediterranean and creep through Spain, according to government figures made public as part of a national campaign to halt desertification.
A third of the country is at risk of being turned into desert as climate change and tourism add to the effects of farming.
More than 90% of land bordering the Mediterranean from Almeria in the south to Tarragona in the north is considered to be at high risk. But that figure climbs to almost 100% in Alicante and Murcia.
Spain's environment ministry has announced a ?50m programme to combat desertification.
Over-grazing and irrigation methods that wash away topsoil were to blame for some of the damage, experts said. Building developments and climate change were doing the rest.
Spain builds an estimated 180,000 holiday homes along its coast every year. "We have grown too quickly without protecting areas of nature," Javier Pedraza of Complutense University, Madrid, said this week.
北非大沙漠跨越地中海 進逼西班牙
根據(jù)西班牙政府近日公布的一組數(shù)據(jù)，位于北非的大沙漠有可能躍過地中海進而在西班牙境內(nèi)蔓延，這些數(shù)據(jù)的披露也是該國反荒漠化行動的一個組成部分。
據(jù)英國《衛(wèi)報》6月18日報道，由于氣候變化、旅游業(yè)發(fā)展以及對土地的開墾，該國三分之一的國土已處于荒漠化的威脅之下。從南方的阿爾美里亞到北方的塔拉戈納之間的地中海沿岸地區(qū)，有90%的土地被認為處于高度危險狀態(tài)下。而在阿利坎特和穆爾西亞地區(qū)，這一比例已經(jīng)攀升到了100%。
西班牙有報紙6月17日評論說：“如果任由事態(tài)發(fā)展下去，我們以后就不需要專門跑到北非去欣賞沙漠所特有的靜寂氛圍了，只要到加那利群島、巴倫西亞或穆爾西亞走一趟就可以了。”
報道說，西班牙環(huán)境部已經(jīng)宣布將啟動一項耗資5000萬英鎊的計劃以遏制荒漠化的發(fā)展趨勢。專家們認為，過度放牧以及將表土層完全沖刷殆盡的灌溉方式都要對土壤沙化付責任。當然，建筑地的擴張與氣候變遷也難辭其咎。西班牙每年都要沿其海岸線建造約180，000幢各種度假房屋。來自馬德里孔普盧騰斯(Complutense)大學的哈維爾-佩德拉薩表示：“這些地區(qū)發(fā)展得太快，以至于忽略了對其自然環(huán)境的保護。”
A third of the country is at risk of being turned into desert as climate change and tourism add to the effects of farming.
More than 90% of land bordering the Mediterranean from Almeria in the south to Tarragona in the north is considered to be at high risk. But that figure climbs to almost 100% in Alicante and Murcia.
Spain's environment ministry has announced a ?50m programme to combat desertification.
Over-grazing and irrigation methods that wash away topsoil were to blame for some of the damage, experts said. Building developments and climate change were doing the rest.
Spain builds an estimated 180,000 holiday homes along its coast every year. "We have grown too quickly without protecting areas of nature," Javier Pedraza of Complutense University, Madrid, said this week.
北非大沙漠跨越地中海 進逼西班牙
根據(jù)西班牙政府近日公布的一組數(shù)據(jù)，位于北非的大沙漠有可能躍過地中海進而在西班牙境內(nèi)蔓延，這些數(shù)據(jù)的披露也是該國反荒漠化行動的一個組成部分。
據(jù)英國《衛(wèi)報》6月18日報道，由于氣候變化、旅游業(yè)發(fā)展以及對土地的開墾，該國三分之一的國土已處于荒漠化的威脅之下。從南方的阿爾美里亞到北方的塔拉戈納之間的地中海沿岸地區(qū)，有90%的土地被認為處于高度危險狀態(tài)下。而在阿利坎特和穆爾西亞地區(qū)，這一比例已經(jīng)攀升到了100%。
西班牙有報紙6月17日評論說：“如果任由事態(tài)發(fā)展下去，我們以后就不需要專門跑到北非去欣賞沙漠所特有的靜寂氛圍了，只要到加那利群島、巴倫西亞或穆爾西亞走一趟就可以了。”
報道說，西班牙環(huán)境部已經(jīng)宣布將啟動一項耗資5000萬英鎊的計劃以遏制荒漠化的發(fā)展趨勢。專家們認為，過度放牧以及將表土層完全沖刷殆盡的灌溉方式都要對土壤沙化付責任。當然，建筑地的擴張與氣候變遷也難辭其咎。西班牙每年都要沿其海岸線建造約180，000幢各種度假房屋。來自馬德里孔普盧騰斯(Complutense)大學的哈維爾-佩德拉薩表示：“這些地區(qū)發(fā)展得太快，以至于忽略了對其自然環(huán)境的保護。”