Turkey, Neighbors Pledge to Clean Up Mediterranean

A baby turtle heads to sea on a beach in Mersin, southern Turkey, Aug. 7, 2020. (DHA Photo)
A baby turtle heads to sea on a beach in Mersin, southern Turkey, Aug. 7, 2020. (DHA Photo)
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Turkey, Neighbors Pledge to Clean Up Mediterranean

A baby turtle heads to sea on a beach in Mersin, southern Turkey, Aug. 7, 2020. (DHA Photo)
A baby turtle heads to sea on a beach in Mersin, southern Turkey, Aug. 7, 2020. (DHA Photo)

Turkey and its neighbors pledged Friday to do a better job addressing the threats posed by pollution to people's health and the natural habitats of the Mediterranean Sea.

From plastic waste to slimy mucilage forming on their coasts, the ring of tourism-dependent Mediterranean countries have battled a steady stream of environmental problems, raising the issue's importance in voters' eyes.

Responding to the tide of public unease, envoys from 21 regional states agreed at a four-day gathering that ended Friday on Turkey's southern coast to slash the use of sulphur in fuel for ships.

Their decision to reduce the sulphur content of the fuel to 0.1 percent from 0.5 percent in the Mediterranean will be submitted to the International Maritime Organization.

Once approved, the cap will come into force in January 2025.

"We expect that through the implementation of this decision, there will be an important reduction of pollution coming from ships," said Tatjana Hema, coordinator of the Mediterranean Action Plan at the United Nations Environment Program.

Mediterranean countries and the European Union hope the limit on sulphur use -- the culmination of five years of talks that could provide a template for other deals -- will ultimately save lives.

Besides hurting the sea, air pollution caused by smoke-chugging ships can be linked to 60,000 premature deaths a year globally, according to some expert estimates.

Hema told AFP any cut in sulphur would have positive "socioeconomic and health" effects by reducing hazardous emissions.

The EU led the effort to reduce sulphur content in fuel, said Patrick Child, deputy director general for the environment at the European Commission.

"It's one of the seas with the most challenging environmental biodiversity threats," he said, calling the agreement on sulphur oxides a "breakthrough".

But the list of increasingly urgent problems is long, putting pressure on regional governments.

The Mediterranean is "a hotspot for climate change", said Carlos Bravo, an ocean policy expert who works for the Swiss-based OceanCare advocacy group.

Other issues include ships colliding with marine mammals, Bravo said, since the sea is one of the most dense for shipping traffic.

Action was also needed to eliminate "bycatch", where turtles and sharks get trapped in commercial fishing nets, and to reduce noise pollution from ships that affects more than 150 species, Bravo said.

Turkey, which this year became the last G20 country to ratify the Paris climate agreement, has come under particularly heavy criticism for how it treats its water.

The issue gained international attention when a thick layer of slime dubbed "sea snot" covered Istanbul's southern shores on the Sea of Marmara last summer.

Scientists blamed the mucus on Turkey's failure to properly treat agricultural and industrial waste before it flows down rivers into the sea, whose unusual warmth creates ripe conditions for algae to grow out of control.

The sea snot has all been cleaned up, said Soner Olgun, laboratory, measurement and monitoring department chief at Turkey's environment ministry, adding he did not "expect it to return this year or next year".

Turkish officials now stress the imperative of eliminating all forms of waste -- particularly plastics -- to save the sea.

"It's not just related to marine litter, but also related to waste water treatment, as we saw in Istanbul with the mucilage," Mehmet Emin Birpinar, Turkey's deputy environment minister, told AFP.

Eighty percent of sea waste arrives from land, Birpinar said.

A Greek study in October said 3,760 tons of plastic waste were floating in the Mediterranean, whose littoral states stretch from North Africa to the Middle East and southwestern Europe.

One of the most poignant examples of the plastics' harm comes from the famous but endangered loggerhead turtles, whose babies hatch on Turkey's southern coast before crawling into the sea when they are ready.

They are carnivores but tend to confuse jellyfish for plastic bags, explained Yakup Kaska, head of the Sea Turtle Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre based in Mugla, southwestern Turkey.

Kaska said rising sea temperatures also led to an increase in female turtles because heat determines the creatures' sex.

"We are getting nearly 90 percent of the hatchlings who are females. We need males," Kaska said.

"If one degree Celsius is the best scenario for the temperature increase, we may have all female hatchlings in 50 or 100 years."



Record Cold Grips Argentina, Chile and Uruguay

The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region. SEBASTIAN LOSADA / AFP
The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region. SEBASTIAN LOSADA / AFP
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Record Cold Grips Argentina, Chile and Uruguay

The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region. SEBASTIAN LOSADA / AFP
The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region. SEBASTIAN LOSADA / AFP

A polar air mass has brought record low temperatures to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, causing at least 15 deaths and forcing governments to restrict gas supplies and activate emergency shelters.

The three South American countries have all recorded sharply below-zero temperatures as the polar air originated from Antarctica and swept across the region, said AFP.

In Argentina, at least nine homeless people have died from the cold this winter, according to NGO Proyecto 7.

The capital Buenos Aires recorded its lowest temperature since 1991 at -1.9 degrees Celcius (28.6 Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, while the coastal city of Miramar saw snow for the first time in 34 years. Further south, the town of Maquinchao recorded -18C on Tuesday.

Electricity demand caused cuts across Buenos Aires, leaving thousands without power for over 24 hours in some areas.

The government suspended gas supplies to industries and petrol stations Wednesday to ensure household supplies, and removed price controls on gas cylinders Thursday.

Desert snow

Uruguay declared a nationwide "red alert" after six people died, allowing President Yamandu Orsi's government to forcibly move homeless people to shelters.

Montevideo recorded its lowest maximum temperature since 1967 at 5.8C on June 30, according to meteorologist Mario Bidegain.

Chile also activated homeless shelter plans during the coldest days. The city of Chillan, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Santiago, hit -9.3C, according to the Chilean Meteorological Directorate.

"What happened this week in Chile and the Southern Cone in general is a cold wave caused by an escape of a polar air mass from Antarctica," climatologist Raul Cordero from the University of Santiago told AFP.

Snow even fell in parts of the Atacama Desert, the world's driest, for the first time in a decade.

"It is not so common for these cold air masses to extend so far north, so we cannot rule out that this is also caused by climate change," meteorologist Arnaldo Zuniga told AFP.

The region expects relief in the coming days, with Buenos Aires reaching 12C on Thursday, Montevideo 14C and Santiago 24.7C.

"I was quite surprised by the change from cold to hot -- the change was very drastic," student Dafne Naranjo, 18, said in Santiago.

Climatologist Cordero said heatwaves have become more frequent than cold spells in recent years.

"The frequency of heatwaves has tripled, whether in summer or winter, not only in the Southern Cone but throughout the world," he said.