According to an article published today in Diario Informaci\u00f3n, the European Environment Agency has published a report on the consquences of climate change in Spain. The report warns that the province of Alicante will lose 20% its water resources during the next 75 years as average temperatures are expected to rise by as much as 4\u00ba. This means that if population in Southern Spain continues to rise, the whole area will have a serious drinking-water problem in a few decades time. Last week was Alicante’s driest ever week in October.<\/p>\n
The results of the study were made public last week by the Spanish Secretary of Prevention of Pollution and Climate Change, Arturo Gozale Azpiri during a talk at a conference held about desalination, a process which converts salt water into drinking water.<\/p>\n
Some experts claim that desalination represents the only solution for areas facing potential water resource problems, whereas other experts claim that the spread of desalination facilities will allow further growth of areas that do not have the natural means to support their exploding populations and that the pollution caused by desalination plants undermine the positive effects derived from the conversion of salt water to drinking water. <\/p>\n
Gozale Azpiri said at the desalination conference that the plants which will be set up in Spain to counteract the desertification of some areas will respect the pollution limits established by the Kioto Agreement. Spain’s Socialist government has completely overturned the previous administration’s environmental policy, particularly in water management, and sees the construction of desalination plants as the most viable solution to Spain’s water problems.<\/p>\n