Archive for March 2nd, 2010
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
A new study has determined that global warming is not killing the Monteverde golden toad of Costa Rica, an often-cited example of climate-triggered extinction, but the culprits were El Nino, combined with a pathogen.
The toad vanished from Costa Rica’s Pacific coastal-mountain cloud forest in the late 1980s, the apparent victim of a pathogen outbreak that has wiped out dozens of other amphibians in the Americas.
Many researchers have linked outbreaks of the deadly chytrid fungus to climate change, but the new study asserts that the weather patterns, at Monteverde at least, were not out of the ordinary.
The role that climate change played in the toad’s demise has been fiercely debated in recent years.
The new study is the latest to weigh in.
In the study, researchers used old-growth trees from the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve to reconstruct moisture levels in that region over the last century.
They expected to see global warming manifested in the form of a long-term warming or drying trend, but instead discovered that the forest’s dry spells closely tracked El Nino, the periodic and natural warming of waters off South America that brings drought to some places and added rainfall and snow to others.
The golden toad vanished after an exceptionally dry season following the 1986-1987 El Nino, probably not long after the chytrid fungus was introduced.
Scientists speculate that dry conditions caused the toads to congregate in a small number of puddles to reproduce, prompting the disease to spread rapidly.
Some have linked the dry spell to global warming, arguing that warmer temperatures allowed the chytrid pathogen to flourish and weakened the toad’s defenses.
The new study finds that Monteverde was the driest it’s been in a hundred years following the 1986-1987 El Nino, but that those dry conditions were still within the range of normal climate variability.
“There’s no comfort in knowing that the golden toad’s extinction was the result of El Nino and an introduced pathogen, because climate change will no doubt play a role in future extinctions,” aid study lead author Kevin Anchukaitis, a climate scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Under the new immigration law, tourists will be able to stay in Costa Rica for a full year without having to leave the country. Instead, they will be able to renew their tourist visa three times here for additional 90-day stays, according to Mario Zamora, the immigration director.
Each renewal will cost $100, he noted. After three renewals, the tourist will have to leave Costa Rica, although they could quickly return with a new tourism visa, he said.
Zamora also said that he was in error when he told a reporter that rules would be changing for the so-called perpetual tourists. A.M. Costa Rica reported the incorrect information Feb. 19 and attributed it to Zamora.
Friday Zamora blamed himself for saying that tourists would not be able to go to the same country twice to renew
their visa and that after two trips to renew a visa a tourist will have to stay out of Costa Rica for a minimum of 15 days. He gave no explanation for why he made the error, but suggested that he may not be totally familiar with the new immigration law.
The news report generates some concern among Costa Rica’s perpetual tourist population.
Zamora also said in an interview Friday that the regulations for the new immigration law should be ready to publish in 15 days. However, he said the law, which went into effect Monday, was written in detail and that the regulations are not extensive.
He noted that the prior immigration law operated for nearly four years without regulations being published. The new immigration law only says that tourists can renew their visas by paying $100. Not in the law is the limit on renewing the visa just three times. Presumably that will be contained in the regulations, but Zamora did not say this.
Story by AM CR
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Drug enforcement agents arrested a Mexican carrying $250,000 in undeclared cash over the weekend at Costa Rica’s largest airport, making this the fourth large seizure of cash this year in the Central American country, the security ministry said.
The cash was found Saturday at Juan Santamaria International Airport where the suspect arrived on a flight from Guadalajara, Mexico.
‘Suspicions arose when the man, whose last name is Munoz Briceno and who is 24 years old, started acting strangely, making police think that he was up to something,’ the ministry said.
Drug enforcement agents searched the Mexican and his luggage, finding the cash in a suitcase.
The suspect was turned over to prosecutors in Alajuela, located about 20 km west of San Jose, where he faces money laundering charges.
Several Mexicans carrying large sums of cash have been arrested this year at Juan Santamaria International Airport, with officials saying that the money is likely linked to drug trafficking.
During the first two months of the year, five Mexicans – a couple, a woman and two men – have been arrested in four separate incidents and authorities seized $874,290.
‘All these cases, but especially the ones involving Mexicans, make us suspect that they came to pay for some service provided, such as smuggling or warehousing of drugs,’ Security Minister Janina Del Vecchio said.
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Last Friday they decided not to enforce some laws requiring everyone carry fire extinguishers, reflective triangle , and a couple of other items like child seats, that they probably should have left in.
The transit police officers union voted overwhelmingly to not enforce the new laws, but will enforce really tough drunk driving laws and those regarding reckless driving! Sadly, those are the laws the courts are ignoring with only eleven convictions in over a year.
So immediately, the transit chief starts making noises that officers who do not enforce these new laws will be derelict in their duties. The diputados, not to be outdone by management, join in the hue and cry for enforcement. Should be interesting!
OK, so what is the big deal and why won’t the new laws work?
Basically, they are overkill. Costa Rica drivers are arguably the world’s worst. I have driven in a lot of countries, but drivers here just scare me to death. Therefore, new laws are a good idea… right?
Yeah… unless you make the fines so large that they can come close to the salary of the police office whose job it is to enforce them.
Also there is also a point system. Once you get 50 points, you lose your license for two years.
Let’s look at a few:
Red light / U Turn – 165,000 colones – 20 points – ($300.00 )
Taxi or bus drivers who are rude to passengers 90,800 colones – (no points)
Talking on a cell phone while driving – 165,000 colones – (20 points)
Taxis that fail to use the meter (la maria) – 90,800 colones (no points)
Driving without a license – 227,000 colones ($410.00) – (25 points)
Bribing a police officer – 227,000 colones – (20 points)
These fines, for many Costa Ricans, can represent all or most of their monthly income of some families! A rookie police officer only makes about$250,000 colones (around $450.00) per month.
Now what do you suppose will happen when that officer stops someone to issue a $300.00 traffic ticket? Or maybe a drunk driving citation that costs the driver 293,000 colones ($530.00) plus loss of license, car and jail time?
To put this into perspective, it would be like someone in the USA, earning $60,000 per year, having to pay about $4,000.00 for blowing a red light.
Now, the police officers union is also thinking that trying to ticket a driver who may not only lose his license but may be unable to feed his family or pay his mortgage just might tend to cause a conflict. The actual wording (translated) is that “officers could be exposed to dangerous situations. Now you could argue that that is their job… but clearly, the officers do not relish these types of confrontations.
When you go to court, you are asked about your income and if it is larger, these fines can get larger. And as these fines are tied to a base number, they will rise automatically every year.
Tourists won’t care about the points, but they can get tagged with the fines…even after they leave the country if renting a car… and they won’t fight it. There are many, many stories about bribes being solicited and/or offered. Most are true. The nice thing is that tourists won’t report an officer for bribery either way. They will just pay up and move on!
Another goofy think is that all new and (as I understand it) first time renewals of drivers licenses will now require a psychological exam! Cost will be about $30.00 and INS, your friendly local monopolistic insurance company will not be assisting. This means first time and maybe first renewal of licenses will cost a whopping 85,000 colones!
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
During the first day under the new Ley de Tránsito, traffic officials report issuing more than 250 tickets in San José, despite a call from the officer’s union to implement the law. Some drivers will have to pay up to ¢300.000 colones for their imprudence.
Almost half of the tickets were issued before noon on Monday, only hours after officials began patrolling the streets with their new armament, a law that severely punishes drivers who commit all types of serious offenses, as well as minor like tinted windows.
Although many Tránsitos (traffic officials) decided to tow the union line, many others preferred to complete their duties and apply the full weight of the law that was first approved in December 2008 and postponed to March 1.
However, and in accordance with a call from the Ministro de Transportes and Obras Pública (MOPT), Marco Vargas, Tránsitos are asked to go easy on light offenders, using the opportunity to educate drivers on the new laws.
Items like not carrying the required emergency kit, that includes a reflective triangle, the first aid kit and booster chairs for children under 12 years of ago, will be let go with a warning for the first 60 days.
However, all major offers that include speeding and not respecting traffic signals, for example, were fined yesterday. Those who were found violating the vehicular restriction of San José yesterday will not have to pay up ¢30.000 colones instead of the ¢5.000 fine of last Friday.
Vargas told the press on Monday that he has issued the Tránsito police his guideline of what should be fined and not, but in all cases serious traffic violations, especially those that put life at risk, will be sanctioned fully.
While the traffic police was busy yesterday understanding and applying the new law, the country’s legislators (the same that approved the law) continued their discussions for amendments, particularly to reduce many of the fines.
Legislators during the past several weeks could not reach a consensus prior to the March 1 deadline, as the legislative process was bogged down with more than 200 motions pending discussion before a vote on any changes.
Meanwhile, during a driving tour of the west end of San José, the new highway to Caldera and the Guanacaste route to Liberia and the beaches of Tamarindo and Playas del Coco, traffic was lighter than normal.
Many drivers, it appears, preferred not to take out the family car on Monday in fear of being stopped for a violation and the heavy fines and possible loss of points with each ticket.
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Hundreds of schoolchildren across the country will receive a lesson in hygiene to prevent respiratory disease and diarrhea.
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
At least 8 earthquakes shook in the vicinity of the volcano Irazu between 7 and 9 pm on Monday.
A report from the Seismological Network of the University of Costa Rica, the tremors had intensities between 1.5 and 3.6 degrees on the Richter scale.
The communities that reported the quakes were Ppacayas, Oreamuno, San Rafael, San Gerardo, and Cartago.
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Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
The future ministro de Seguridad, José María Tijerino, promises more police in the streets and more resources for security and the “professionalism” of police officers once he takes office on May 8th.
Appointed on Tuesday by Laura Chinchilla, Tijerino, a former Fiscal General (top prosecutor) between 1990 and 1995, promises to get tough on crime and is hopeful that the new legislative assembly will support his reforms.
Asked where he would get the financing, Tijerino said he would ask for financial help by governemts who are friends, like the United States and Canada.
Tijerino assures that the problem of insecurity that has swept the country is a reality and not just a perception.
Joining Tijerino in the fight agaisnt crime will be Jorge Chavarría, who has been named vice-ministro de Seguridad and Mario Zamora, the current director of immigration, moving to the post of vice-ministro de Gobernación.
Tijerino takes over the job from Janian Del Vecchio, who took over from , who quit amid controversy when he got tough on drug traffickers.
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