Protecting the Grass at the Cinta Costera

One of the goals of the design of the Cinta Costera was to provide the city with ample green areas.  Without them the city dwellers would suffocate in the modern jungle of steel, glass and concrete.  They came up with a wonderful project.  When you visit the area, you can see extensive areas of green grass which refreshes your eyes.

During the Christmas display of the Villas Navideñas (Christmas decorations), the organizers were concerned that visitors could stampede into these green areas and destroy the grass.  To protect it, they surrounded the area with white fences.  I thought it was an enticing sight.  White and green make a nice color blend.

Below are a couple of pictures of the small fences built to protect the grass at the Cinta Costera.  Here we go.

Snapshot of a nice white fence protecting the green grass and other vegetation of the Cinta Costera in Panama City, Panama. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

In this case the words of the legendary Country song, "Don't fence me in" do not apply. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

On the yesterday’s evening news I learned that it’s highly likely that the Carnival will be held within the perimeter of the Cinta Costera.  I hope City Hall will do something similar to this in order  to protect the green spaces.  Or else, we run the risk of having a barren piece of land after the Mardi Gras madness is over and we once again regain our senses.  Good Day.

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The Slowly Rising Oceans

(Credit: ©The Washington Post)

The Global Language Monitor has recently  announced the Top Words of the Decade (2000-2009), as part of its annual global survey of the English language.   The Top Words were Global Warming, 9/11, and Obama followed by Bailout, Evacuee, and Derivative; Google, Surge, Chinglish, and Tsunami followed. Climate Change was the top phrase, while Heroes was the top name; bin-Laden was number two.

I was not surprised at all the words global warming and climate change are being searched and re-searched by many people around the globe—and the numbers are rising even as we speak.    A large number of them fully believe that global warming and climate change are real and here to stay, while many others feel it’s only a hoax made up by ultra liberals trying to pull the rug from under the huge manufacturing conglomerates responsible of emitting enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  Who to believe?  It’s the same eroded story of the glass half full or half empty.

It’s no big secret that Greenland—the world’s largest island—has consistently losing its ice sheets during the last 30 years.  Reputed scientists have found that over this period, Greenland’s melt zone has expanded by 30 percent.  Its ice cap now loses 60 to 90 cubic miles of ice every year—more than all the ice in the Alps.  This ice is melting away into the oceans, slowly adding the sea level rise.

“The wolf is coming,” says the scientific community, but many are looking the other way.  Experts are studying the Earth’s polar regions and glaciers to see if warmer global temperatures will melt enough ice to raise sea levels, disrupting marine life and even change ocean and weather patterns.  Some of these factors have been experienced by the 4,200 inhabitants in the small town of Ilulissat in Greenland.  They are seeing first hand how global warming is changing their town and their ancestral lifestyle.  They know for a fact that growing waterfalls from melting ice on Greenland are undermining the ice sheets that once kept sea levels from rising.  Greenland is thawing.

Human activities are emitting an increasing amount of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere.  For example, the atmosphere carbon dioxide in 1976 was 330 ppm (parts per million).  In 2007 the number increased to 379 ppm.  That’s a hike of 24 percent in a little more than thirty years.  Where is this gas coming from?  Mainly from our coal power plants, from our automobiles and from our homes.

Visible effects of the rising temperatures are:

• Ferocious wildfires in California, Greece, and Australia.
• Record-breaking droughts in Africa, the Southern part of the United States and Australia.
• Disappearance of 80 percent of the glaciers of Mount Kilimanjaro.
• Receding glaciers of the Himalayas.
• Destructive hurricanes and floods in Bangladesh.
• Plummeting water levels  in the Colorado River.

It is estimated that 70 percent of the world’s population lives on coastal plains.  Eleven of the fifteen biggest cities stand on the coastline or river estuaries.  As the oceans rise, salt will invade the water table depriving inhabitants of drinking water.  It’s anticipated widespread migratory phenomena can occur in the future at unpredictable scales.

In Panama, huge waves destroyed the road leading to Punta Chame. Waves this size were never seen before.  Puerto Caimito in Chorrera was completely wiped out by similar waves.  It’s inhabitants are presently rebuilding their houses, even though they are well aware the ocean will be back and their dwellings will once again be destroyed.

Similar events happened last year at Costa Arriba and Costa Abajo in the Province of Colon.  Swelling oceans are destroying villages near the Panama coastlines.  For these people, global warming and climate change is not a hoax.  If I were you, I would be reluctant in buying a beach house or a vacation home near the ocean.  It could be submerged in less than a decade if the rising oceans trend continues.  Take heed at Nature’s warnings and Good Day.

Related Interactive Information – Vital Signs of a Warming World

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Supermarkets in Panama are Embracing the Green Cause

For years supermarkets in Panama have been flooding the country with plastic bags.  The practice in the past has been to have bag boys at the front end stuffing your groceries in plastic bags when you pay the bill at the cash box.  This means that in a month, thousands of plastic bags are reaching Panama homes.

What most people do with these plastic bags is to use them as garbage bags for the garbage collectors to pick up during the week.  Other bags are left behind at beaches, lakes, rivers, parks, streets and other places where irresponsible people litter.  The result is a nationwide pollution of plastic bags that are adversely affecting  marine animal life.

It is a known fact that plastic bags photodegrade:  Over time they break down into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers which eventually contaminate soils and waterways.   As a consequence, microscopic particles can enter the food chain.  The effect on wildlife can be catastrophic.  Nearly 200 different species of sea life including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles die due to plastic bags.  They die after ingesting plastic bags which they mistake for food

Data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency shows that somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year.  We have to do something to ban plastic bags to protect our environment and wildlife.

Yesterday evening, I went to El Machetazo Supermarket to buy some stuff and was surprised to see an attractive spot at the entrance promoting a Green February.  El Machetazo is joining other supermarkets in introducing plastic bags that will biodegrade or decompose within a period of one year.  It’s not exactly what we want but it’s a step in the right direction.

This is what I saw yesterday evening while visiting El Machetazo at San Miguelito:

A green display promoting a new biodegradable plastic bag at El Machetazo supermarket in San Miguelito.

A closer view of the new degradable plastic bag displayed at El Machetazo supermarket in San Miguelito.

Another supermarket or wholesale warehouse which is also cooperating in the banning of plastic bags is PriceSmart. Recently I received an e-mail from them announcing that starting March 2nd they will stop providing plastic bags at their sites.  Instead they are encouraging their customers to buy cloth bags at a very cheap price.  The Blue Bags come in a 4-pack for $3.49, which makes the cost of each bag approximately $0.87.  Next time every time you go to PriceSmart, you should bring your own cloth bags.  This is exactly what we want!

If we use a cloth bag, we can save 6 bags a week.  That’s equivalent to 24 bags a month or 288 bags a year.  That’s 22,176 bags in an average life time.  If just 1 out of 5 people in our country did this, we would save 640,000 bags over our life time.  Quite a lot isn’t it?

Many countries are taking steps to ban the plastic bag, (i.e.,  Bangladesh, China Ireland and Rwanda).  Israel, Canada, western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Taiwan, and Singapore have also banned or are moving toward banning the plastic bag.

I’m glad that Panama is starting to act in reducing the free distribution of plastic bags.  A big round of applause for El Machetazo and PriceSmart who are leading the Green Cause in Panama.  Good Day.

Related PowerPoint Presentation:  The Danger of Plastic Bags

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