[Music] climate change is knocking hard on Spain's doors some parts of the country are turning into deserts sterile Barren wastelands ill suited for Life the United Nations estimates that 74% of the country is in the process of desertification while 18% of Spain could become irreversibly desert the regions alaria Valencia and Andalusia are the most vulnerable if left unchecked by 2100 most of the Southern half of Spain will be a desert Madrid is facing nothing less than an existential crisis and it couldn't come at a worse time Spain is a major exporter of agricultural Goods to
Europe earning the nickname bread basket of Europe however Ukraine the other Bread Basket is in crisis Global prices and Supply chains are facing disruptions as a result if the Spanish Supply chains also break down it could very well tip the scale and ignite a catastrophe with global ramifications Madrid must find ways to preserve its status as Europe's Bread Basket while simultaneously fighting off the march of the desert the truth is we do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our [Music] descendants Spain isn't alone in the problems it faces climate crises
are destabilizing trade routes all over the world water levels are drying up from the Panama Canal to the Mississippi River jeopardizing a sector that's already spiraling after Russia's withdrawal from a crucial wheat deal crop yields and grain supplies are in Jeopardy and some Global strategists expect wheat prices to Surge by as as much as 15% annually experts are now admitting what we worried about all along a recession is still likely and it's likely coming soon so you can't afford to let your hard-earned savings sit in markets that might be affected right that's exactly why I
and thousands of my subscribers have discovered an asset class that's consistently been resilient during Global catastrophes billionaires wanted it but nearly 55,000 everyday investors got at first and profited every time with blue chip art thanks to our sponsors at Masterworks Masterworks recently made their 16th Contemporary Art sale thus far for investors in fact it was their 16th straight exit to deliver positive returns to their investors no wonder over 800,000 people have joined the platform to invest in legendary works from Picasso basat and Banky but today Caspian report subscribers can still skip the wait list and
start investing Now by clicking the link in the description see important disclosures at [Music] masterworks.io but in a rapidly changing climate the presence of this indispensable resource is increasingly finite nowhere is this more apparent than in Spain the Iberian Peninsula is a world unto itself though part of Europe its economic and political challenges are as unique as its physical setting in the north the Pyrenees wall the peninsula off from the European plane imbuing its territories with a maritime orientation meanwhile its rugged internal geography has historically complicated efforts to maintain internal cohesion let alone centralized rule
in particular iberia's southern tip lies but 14 km K from North Africa in the 8th Century Arab armies exploited this Geographic closeness to conquer most of the peninsula over the next s centuries Islamic hegemony gradually rolled back after the last Arab Emirate fell in 1492 Spain's Atlantic orientation allowed it to fund voyages and build a vast overseas Empire Spain's Glory Days are gone and finished its contemporary geopolitical objetive Ives are more modest focusing Less on conquest and expansion and more on issues closer to home while its territory today is secure from invading armies Madrid now
faces a different Insidious enemy the advancing threat of desertification drought heat deforestation and limited rainfall are terraforming Spain's geography turning it into a wasteland there is an expression in Spain that reflects the gravity of the situ situation an abil AAS meal meaning April will bring the rains only this year it didn't recent winter and spring seasons have been particularly unkind the month of April was the driest since records began in 1961 however the drought and Heatwave are part of a larger change despite being surrounded by open oceans Spain's internal regions are running out of water
in Valencia morci Castile lancha and extra Madura the available water stock dropped below 40% of total capacity in Catalonia and Andalusia water reserves have dropped as low as 25% of capacity now the change is affecting its agricultural sector Spanish farmers are awaiting their lowest yield in decades only crops near the coastline or desalination plants are expected to make it through the rest of the country country is facing an uphill battle but part of the blame also rests with the practices of Spanish Farmers if anything the changing climate shows the limits of Spain's agricultural model which
was designed on the premise of Limitless water supply for added context Spain's agricultural sector accounts for as much as 80% of the country's freshwater consumption the return on investment has been substantial Spain's biggest exports in terms of value are wine and olive oil while in terms of volume Vines lead with 39 million tons of production followed by cereals this thriving agricultural foreign trade generates a surplus of more than 17 billion EUR for Spain it also reduces Central Europe's need for imports from outside the Euro Zone especially for exotic fruits that are difficult to grow in
total Spain's agricultural exports accounted for more than 50 billion Euros in 2021 true feeding an entire continent is big business but everything has a price for Spain that price is not measured in Euros but in soil degradation looking at things from space neighboring Portugal is significantly Greener owing to a lack of large-scale Agriculture some parts of Spain look like islands of brown in a sea of green this is especially true in the tabernas in alia the only hot deser in Europe drought and heat are now exacerbating Spain's water deficit not surprisingly farmers are among the
first to suffer the consequences of a water shortage to this end since the 1950s Madrid has tackled water shortages through infrastructure development it constructed hundreds of dams and water diversion systems to create a sophisticated distribution Network in all the country has about 12200 artificial dams and reservoirs the most of any European State these facilities are mainly found in the country's Southern half where agricultural zones are the most intense take this footage from Alia for instance a sea of plastic canopy stretches over the landscape the operation fills more than 16,000 football fields of green houses it's
so vast that it's visible from outer space while these green houses have transformed Alia into one of Europe's most productive agricultural regions they pose significant environmental challenges the Intensive farming methods employed here rely heavily on water drawn from aquifers contributing to groundwater depletion in an area already prone to drought and water scarcity moreover the use of plastic sheets pesticides and fertilizers has sparked concerns over soil degradation and water pollution year in and out each Greenhouse grows a single crop however each year the soil degrades and aquifers deplete faster all contributing to desertification make no mistake
Al Maria's industrialized agriculture is an economic Miracle but it is an environmental nightmare nonetheless simultaneously to the north of Spain the Ebro River Basin faces numerous complications from mismanagement the Ebro is one of Spain's major rivers it flows Southeast for more than 900 km before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea the Basin is a crucial water system supporting a wide range of economic activities including agriculture industry and hydroelectric power generation however precipitation has decreased in recent years while agricultural consumption has steadily increased the ebro's flow has now reduced to the point that entire Wildlife species have
disappeared from the area the ecological habitats are under stress if no change is made to Spain's water Administration the mighty Ebro River will eventually become bone dry still more in the lamancha region local aquifers face irreversible depletion lamancha is widely known for its agricultural activity including cultivating Vineyards and Olive Orchards however the overe extraction of groundwater for irrigation has led to a decline in water levels jeopardizing the long-term sustainability of both the natural ecosystem and agricultural productivity the depleting aquifers also pose a risk to the quality of the remaining water making it more susceptible to
contamination the long-term hazards for Spain are real the country needs a more sustainable approach to Water Management the core problem is that its agricultural infrastructure was built on the presumption that there would be an endless water supply the same infrastructure led the country to draw again and again from its reserves to support an industry designed to feed the rest of Europe Spain did so for decades worse it did so without moderation now as climate change starts to take shape Spain's industrialized agricultural model is no longer sustainable the same regions where Spanish fruits and vegetables are
grown are the most vulnerable to desertification this includes Alia Province but also Mera Valencia and Andalusia for years on end annual rainfall accounted for 28% lower than forecast the country is now wilting under severe drought climactic heat places even greater constant strain on Spain's limited Water Resources so much so that the desertification Research Center in Valencia argued ues that a large part of Spain will turn into a desert in a few years the United Nations meanwhile estimates that 74% of Spain is already in the process of desertification admittedly Spain's geography has always been prone to
drought in fact desertification in Iberia predates emissions induced climate change historically the region was largely covered by forests dominated by Maritime Pine these Lush expansive Woodlands mitigated desertification by stabilizing the soil and preventing erosion moisture was drawn from the air while plant cover softened incoming solar radiation and heat on the ground as with most things environmental human activity changed all this throughout Antiquity demand for lumber increased chiefly for construction Heating and charcoal for smelting as a result the maritime Pines were were gradually replaced with Evergreen Oaks during the Middle Ages deforestation assumed a military character
as Christian forces sought to roll back and eventually expel Islamic civilization from Iberia later in the early modern period Timber exploitation for ship building gathered Pace as Spain pursued transatlantic exploration forests were privatized and systematically harvested to meet the demands of ever growing Spanish fleets over the centuries these cumulative factors gradually depleted the native forests and disrupted the natural ecosystem so in a way Spain has already undergone terraforming for the worse it sacrificed its ancient Native forests for Empire Building however these unsustainable agricultural practices have persisted into the present seen in this view climate change
is not the sole tap route for desertification it is however a magnifier and multiplier increased droughts hotter temperatures and more extreme weather patterns increase stress on regions that are already water scarce ecosystems are thus struggling to recover which hastens the encroachment of desert areas into the bargain aquafer depletion and seawater intrusion contribute to water scarcity sea level rise storms and mismanagement of resources have led to increased salinity in coastal soils and reduced the abundance of water for agriculture this has all sorts of implications foremost desertification increases the risk of wildfires in 2022 Spain suffered the
largest number of wildfires in Europe with more than 500 cases according to the European forest fire information system the areas that are struck by Wildfire then accelerate and spread the desertification process taken together Madrid is up against enormous challenges Low Winter rainfall has induced a drought so severe that the government has approved €2.2 billion EUR in emergency measures to assist farmers and build new water infrastructures but if Spain is to remain the Bread Basket of Europe it needs to do more Spanish lawmakers need to adapt urgently to the new world brought on by climate change
its water management system needs to be overhauled from the ground up Spain needs to develop ways to use and reuse water including waste water unattended leaks cost the country about 15% of its total water supply these are the things Spain can do right away to remedy its water deficit but above all the country needs to use water more thoughtfully granted Spain has taken steps to combat desertification it's not watching helplessly as the desert conquers land the past Century has seen reforestation initiatives and sustainable land practices gather Pace initially these efforts were focused primarily on preventing
landslides a notable example is the reforestation project in the Sierra di espuna region of Moria carried out between 1901 and 1939 during the Franco era these efforts were redoubled as make workor projects to alleviate unemployment and they succeeded in reforesting 2.9 Million hectars of Spanish Forest more than 11% of the total land area the problem though was that such projects were not undertaken with a mind to ecological balance non-native species like Pine and Eucalyptus predominated reforestation efforts planting large monocultures of these trees increased the risk of forest fires but despite these problems some reports indicate
that reforestation and conservation initiatives have increased Forest cover in recent years Innovations like fog capture Nets have shown promise in harvesting moisture from the air to support vegetation growth by collecting fog water droplets these systems provide an alternate water source for plants in arid regions meanwhile regenerative farming methods can rejuvenate soil quality and enhance its ability to hold water steering clear of monocultures and encouraging a variety of crops can further bolster ecosystem resilience and Aid in water preservation Spain needs to adopt like-minded Innovations on a large scale to correct its water deficit and stop the
march of the desert it needs to start seeing things from an environmental perspective not just a financial one the well-being of soil is intrinsically tied to the well-being of society the desert is 's way of bankruptcy once the green is gone all life pays the debt I've been your host Chiron from Caspian report so if you haven't yet subscribed now is a good time to do so just remember to click the Bell icon otherwise you'll still be missing out on our latest content thank you for watching and [Music] S
