October 29, 2024 will be remembered as the day when several Valencian regions saw night fall under the waters which flooded the streets and fields following a DANA (Isolated High Level Depression) which brought down precipitation of enormous intensity: more than 400 l/m² in Chiva and exceeding 600 l/mm² in Turís. It is precisely in the city of Chiva that there is the ravine of the same name which, fed by the ravines of other cities, ends up flowing into Lake Albufera, a paradigmatic zone of urban and destructive nonsense. which annihilates nature.
Despite the fact that the entire area is rigorously mapped as prone to flooding, there has not been the slightest problem of uncontrollable construction, both around the ravines and avenues and in the surroundings of the Albufera itself, forcing the lake ecosystem. According to an analysis by DATADISTA, three out of ten housing units affected by this DANA were built during the urban boom and in a flood zone, to which must be added the proliferation of industrial zones and shopping centers. For decades, this unbridled urban planning has proliferated, for speculative purposes, on the Spanish coast, associated with mass tourism and systemic corruption, modifying canals, occupying flood zones, extracting construction materials and eroding soil, activities that make it difficult for water to flow. . drain it and give it even greater speed, thereby increasing its strength.
Transition to plant-based diets enabling effective restoration of nature, biodiversity and water and nutrient cycles, so that forests and oceans can regulate global climate, integrating the anti-speciesist perspective, usually vilified and excluded , at the epicenter of the ecosocial debate.
The fact that it is part of the Natura 2000 network and the Ramsar network of wetlands, which includes the most important wetlands in the world, has not prevented the lake from being subject to a process of degradation caused by the establishment of urban waste infrastructure. siltation to create and maintain rice fields, polluting discharges and fishing. All this demonstrates the hypocrisy and uselessness of ecosystem protection figures. In this state, the Albufera was unable to assimilate the tumultuous waters coming from the ravines, which was one of the key factors in the brutal overflow of all the canals, affecting, in its path, all the towns in the region . influence.
The scientific community has been warning for years that events such as DANA, which devastated Valencia and other parts of Spanish territory, will become increasingly strong and frequent due to climate change. This DANA, described as the greatest disaster in the history of the country, is only the announced beginning of what will happen in the years to come. How many DANAs like this or worse will happen until governments trigger the climate emergency? And above all, what really needs to be done in this emergency to avoid the exponential multiplication of these disasters, and which is not at all on the governments’ agenda?
Radical reduction in consumption in all areas of life as the only way to stop fossil fuels, towards deindustrialized lifestyles closer to those of many indigenous communities on Earth.
The underlying issues are complex and rarely discussed. On the one hand, these DANA, traditionally called cold drops, are typical of the Mediterranean climate, but their unusual virulence is the effect of a warming of the ocean which is increasing due to Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emitted. by human activities, where not only carbon dioxide from the combustion of fossil fuels stands out, but also methane and nitrogen oxides from livestock, which alone emits more GHGs than transport world, and the meat industry, particularly that of extensive livestock farming, which has an impact four times greater than that of aviation.
At the same time as the uppermost layer of water warms due to excess GHGs, fishing (including, but not limited to, industrial and trawling) is devastating ocean ecosystems, significantly reducing the capacity of the ocean to regulate the planetary climate and massively destroying ecosystems and species. and populations of marine life. Similarly, on land, the tropics and all types of forests are massively deforested, particularly to create pastures for livestock, with the same dual effect of GHG emissions due to land use change and elimination. carbon sinks and the resilience of forest ecosystems. maintain the vital functions of the Earth system and its cycles, as detailed in the “Planetary Boundaries” paradigm. At the same time, aquaculture has a devastating impact on coastal ecosystems essential to climate regulation, and livestock farming and agriculture are the cause of 700 dead zones in the oceans due to discharges of nitrates and slurry.
All this must lead to a profound rethinking of civilization and dominant ways of life. The response to DANA, to stop its exponential proliferation as much as possible, should be, in this order:
- The transition to a plant-based diet that enable effective restoration of nature, biodiversity and water and nutrient cycles, so that forests and oceans can regulate the planetary climate, integrating the perspective anti-speciesistusually vilified and excluded, at the epicenter of the ecosocial debate.
- The radical drop in consumption in all areas of life as the only way to stop fossil fuels, towards deindustrialized lifestyles closer to those of many indigenous communities on Earth.
- The profound overhaul of our omnipresent and destructive way of inhabiting and occupying the Earthwith a brake on the urbanizationnotably from the heavily punished coast, as well as opening a debate on the taboo of overcrowdingwhich must be urgently approached from a radically democratic, ecofeminist, queer and anti-racist angle.
Without these measures, we can only prepare for an exponential increase in these events, as well as extreme droughts and fires, deadly heat waves, extreme sea level rise and much more. assuming a possible extinction scenario within this century due to delirium. of a suicidal and genocidal economy with unlimited growth.
Thoroughly rethink our omnipresent and destructive way of inhabiting and occupying the Earth, by putting an end to urbanization, particularly on the heavily punished coast, and by initiating a debate on the taboo of overpopulation, which must be urgently addressed by radically democratic leaders. , ecofeminist, queer and anti-racist perspectives.
But all that is silencednot only from governments of all political persuasions, but even from the climate and environmental movements themselves, due to the weight of the issue. cattle fishing lobby in each of them, as we have denounced since Rebeldes Indignadas about the Scientific Rebellion Spain, and the recalcitrant speciesism that permeates almost all eco-social groups. We face it one call to action.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This statement was published by some digital media immediately after the passage of DANA which devastated part of the Valencian Community. We considered it relevant to echo him, given the relevance of his view on the causes and consequences of the climate emergency.
