Ecobreves – SOUTH AMERICA: Humboldt Current Alleviates Global Warming – Study

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LIMA, May 19 2003 (IPS) - The cold Humboldt current, which flows parallel to the South American Pacific coast from the south to the northern Peruvian coast, contributes to mitigating global warming, says a new study by Peru's Institute of the Sea (IMARPE). Large quantities of carbon dioxide, generated by the burning of fossil fuels in automotive transport and industry and one of the gases that cause the so-called greenhouse effect, are absorbed by the ecosystem created by the Humboldt current, says IMARPE.

IMARPE will develop the Greater Humboldt Current Ecosystem Integrated Management Project over the next three years, alongside the Fisheries Development Institute of Chile, and with resources from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

“Through this binational effort, effective monitoring systems will be established, as well as mechanisms for identification and analysis of processes in the global ecosystem originating in the Humboldt current,” said IMARPE president Hugo Arévalo.