News September 2022 | Earth Refuge

September 9, 2022June 9, 2023

Chile Rejects New Eco-friendly Constitution

9 September 2022 – by Cosmo Sanderson

Chilean voters have rejected the chance to enact a groundbreaking constitution that would have enshrined the “rights of nature”.

Almost 62% of voters turned down what had been described as an “ecological constitution” in last Sunday’s vote.

The proposed text, which was championed by Chile’s leftist President Gabriel Boric, would have made Chile only the second country to recognise the rights of nature after Ecuador.

“Nature has rights,” the text read. “The state and society have the duty to protect and respect them.”

The constitution would have also reportedly seen the creation of autonomous governmental bodies to safeguard those rights and allowed Chilean citizens to bring lawsuits to enforce them.

Aside from its environmental protections, the proposed constitution recognised the rights of Chile’s indigenous populations to their land and resources. It would also have made gender parity across government a legal requirement.

Chile’s existing constitution was entered into in 1980 during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Chileans overwhelmingly voted to update it in 2020, a year after a rise in public transport fees sparked a million-strong march in Santiago against inequality.

Olga Barbosa, an ecologist at the Austral University of Chile, told US journal Science that she was “shocked” by the outcome of the vote, reflecting that there is “still so much fear of change.”

Nicolás Trujillo Osorio, a philosopher of science at Andrés Bello National University, told the same publication that concepts including the rights of nature were too vague and poorly explained.

Boric has announced he will work with Congress and civil society to launch a new constitutional process. “We have to listen to the voice of the people,” he said regarding the rejected text, and develop a new proposal that will “fill us with confidence and unite us all”.

September 9, 2022September 9, 2022

Extreme Drought in Europe is Causing Record-Breaking Disruption

Low waters of the Rhine river in summer 2022

9 September 2022 – Darina Kalamova

This year another negative climate-related record in Europe will likely be broken as the ongoing drought is set to become the worst one in the last 500 years.

The combination of low rainfall and extremely high summer temperatures is overheating and drying up rivers and lakes across Europe. Water shortages are already hindering the continent’s activity because the river basins provide important economic routes and ecosystems. Without them, international trade, industrial activity, agriculture, energy and food production are in danger of collapse.

The Rhine is Europe’s largest and most important river and its water is used for freight transport, irrigation, manufacturing, power generation and drinking. Since early August 2022, the river has been recording alarmingly low levels and is in danger of becoming impassable. This will halt the transport of grain, coal, and other goods with catastrophic economic consequences. Ships are already being forced to limit their cargo and if the water level continues to drop, they may have to stop operating altogether.

Economic activity in the Danube is disrupted as well. Wrecks of World War II ships have resurfaced from the water and while this is not the first time this has occurred, the wrecks emerge only when the water level is extremely low. The rise of water temperature also poses a serious threat to the river as the overheating can result in lower oxygen content and not enough soil moisture. Concerns for the survival of the local fish species have been raised.

Other important European waterways are facing similar threats and experts warn that the expected rainfall this autumn may not be enough to raise water levels high enough to restore normal activity and that similar dry periods may no longer be exceptions in the future, but the rule.

September 1, 2022September 1, 2022

Oak Fire in California: Sparking New Fire Management?

1 September 2022 – Willy Phillips

This piece discusses the Oak Fire in California and the future of fire cycles in the state.

On July 22nd, the foothills of Sierra Nevada, California, saw the state’s most sporadic and unpredictable fire to date, called the Oak Fire. The Oak Fire burned nearly 18,000 acres in its first three days. About 2,000 firefighters fought to keep the blaze at bay, which destroyed numerous properties and left thousands without power. The CAL fire department reported over 6,000 people evacuated in the first 72 hours of the blaze. Today, over a month later, the fire is nearly contained, but still holds an ‘active’ listing on the fire departments website. As the fire season comes to a close, many fear events as unpredictable and rampant as this are soon to be commonplace.

California has faced some of the United States’ most severe climate challenges. From extensive droughts to unmatched heatwaves, the state is familiar with the impact of climate change on their fire season. Beth Pratt, a regional fire expert, spoke of the regularity of big fires, saying, “The fire cycle up here, before these 1,500-year droughts which we’re in, was like a big one every 15, 20 years, now we have multiple big fires every year.”

The uptick in massive fires has not happened overnight. Instead, years of unrelenting drought, warmer-than-average temperatures, and a buildup of dry-brush fuel on the forest floor have created ideal fire conditions. Across California, fire crews and departments have cited “explosive fire behavior” due to the unprecedented lack of moisture. In fact, soil records reveal these are the driest conditions California has seen in 1200 years, with no hopes of moisture on the horizon. As even drier conditions take hold in California, fire management is due for an overhaul. Evacuation as a management strategy is entirely unsustainable, but can only be avoided with comprehensive and collaborative management.

To build these new strategies, the state and supporting agencies have much work to do. Citizens can do their part by adhering to evacuation strategies and being disaster-ready with supplies on hand. However, a large amount of fire safety must come from proactive state-wide efforts to address climate change, like fire-proofing buildings, and prescribed burns throughout the state. Previous fire management strategies utilizing rainfall and cooler temperatures have fallen short. In response, experts are calling for more proactive and comprehensive approaches that depend on multi-level cooperation and continued adaptation to the observed conditions. Undoubtedly a tough task, but one that is critical to the longevity of the state and its residents.