Portugal Situation Report Wednesday 2nd November 2022
Good morning – Firstly thank to all of you who visited our stand at the Mediterranean Garden Fair at Estoi last weekend.
We were certainly kept busy particularly so on both mornings. A broad variety of topics A number of topics were raised but the most common were, land cleaning, rural fire preparedness, firescaping gardens, residency cards, GNR Safe Residence Program, crime levels, the work of Safe Communities, our Facebook page and our work during Covid-19. I thank those of you who kindly made donations, which helps us a great deal in maintaining our services to the benefit of the community.
My thanks to Jane, Antonia, and Mile for being there to run the stand and to the organizers, Mediterranean Gardening Association, for organising once again such a great community event.
A reminder that the National Earthquake Awareness Exercise “A Terra Treme” will be conducted on Wednesday 9thNovember at precisely 11.09 hrs.
This is conducted each year with the aim of creating awareness and being prepared for, and what to do should an earthquakes take place. The last major earthquake one was on February 28, 1969 Portugal resulting in two deaths in the Algarve plus 11 more in Morocco. The epicentre was at sea, some 250 kilometres (155 miles) southwest of Lisbon and about 200 kilometres (124 miles) from the Cape of São Vicente, the south westernmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe. The earthquake occurred at dawn, at 3:41AM, on a cold night after a rainy day in Lisbon. It registered a magnitude between 7.3 and 7.9 degrees on the Richter scale.
Every day around 10-15 very small earthquakes occur, mostly to the south west/south of Portugal and are seldom felt. However, Portugal is a high risk area hence the importance of awareness, as well of that of tsunamis. To participate simple register on the A terra Treme website and outline how many people will participate and the actions you are taking. This can be at the simplest level with the practice of the 3 gestures (Drop, Cover, Hold), to practicing a more complete exercise that even tests the Emergency Plan, involving different entities. More details here:
We are now into November and with the change of weather conditions, higher humidity, wetter and cooler, this is the time of the year when garden waste can be burned in small piles.
Unfortunately sometimes such burnings have become out of control as a result of those responsible not following the law concerning registration/authorisation or safety advice. As a result this has led to damage to rural areas and property and places the community and those who have to deal with such fires at risk.
It is important therefore to follow the law and adhere to the established safety guidelines in burning debris. During the whole year, on days of Very High or Maximum Risk, waste-burning is prohibited unless prior authorisation is obtained from the Câmara Municipal. From 1st of November till 31st of May, whenever the risk of fire is High, Moderate or Low, all that is required is for the Câmara Municipal to be given advance notification.
Lastly as we have now finished the official bathing season a reminder that beaches do not have life guards. So for those of you visiting the beaches and going for a dip in the sea please take extra care. The number of deaths from drown is at an all-time high this year. Please take heed of the presence of rip currents and warning flags that maybe in place. As we have mentioned before some cliffs along the Algarve and west coast are unstable and warning signs are in place. With the rains recently this may have exacerbated the situation. People have been warned!
With that please have a safe week ahead
News
The Mediterranean heats up faster than the rest of the planet and is one of the areas that will “suffer the most” from climate change
The Mediterranean is warming faster than the rest of the planet and a considerable rise in temperatures is expected even in places where the effects of climate change are mitigated, according to projections from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.
The problem is more complex in the Mediterranean, which “heats faster than the rest of the world and is the hotspot for climate change,” said Francisco Doblas-Reyes, director of the earth sciences department at the National Supercomputing Center in Barcelona.
The conclusion is contained in the report “Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change”, published by the center last week, with the collaboration of more than a hundred experts who analyze the evolution of climate change and the impact on the health of citizens.
Projections of temperatures in Spain and the Mediterranean until 2100 indicate that they could rise between two and eight degrees, numbers “especially worrying due to the water pressure in this area”, he said.
Another conclusion is that heat waves and high temperatures will be more and more frequent, which will affect the health of people in Spain, a European country with a very aging population.
According to Doblas-Reyes, the Mediterranean is one of the areas of the planet that “will suffer the most” from the effects of already visible climate change, with one of the hottest Octobers in history.
The Europe-focused report points to “alarming increases” in health risks that countries on the continent are already facing due to extreme weather and climate events, increased risk of transmission of infectious diseases, heat-related illnesses and deaths from exposure to air pollution.
According to the report, exposure to heat waves between the first and second decades of the 21st century (2000-2009 and 2010-2019) increased by an average of 57%, with increases in some areas of more than 250%.
Web Summit: Seventh edition starts today with more than 70 thousand participants
Newsroom, Nov 01, 2022 (Lusa) – The seventh edition of the Web Summit starts today in Lisbon and runs until Friday, with more than 70,000 participants this year, 2,630 ‘startups’ and companies, 1,120 investors and 1,040 speakers.
Web Summit executive president Paddy Cosgrave recently told Lusa that this year there are “many things”, from “the scale”, to the “sale [of tickets that sold out earlier than ever], three weeks ago”. .
In this year’s edition, the issue of cybersecurity will be under debate, as it continues to be “a big problem”.
Not just from the standpoint of individual security, each individual’s passwords and laptops and devices, “but also cybersecurity” at the country level.
In terms of Portuguese startups attending the event, “we have the largest number ever” and Brazil’s participation has grown a lot, said Paddy Cosgrave.
Regarding expectations for this edition, Cosgrave said that it will be “by far the busiest ever”, noting that the exhibitor space grew “60%”, as did the “drastic” increase in outdoor space.
He recalled that other events in the world are over, in the wake of the pandemic, but that the Web Summit is back busier than ever.
Web Summit is an annual technology conference, held in Lisbon since 2016 and is considered one of the largest and most important technology events in the world.
Note;
Tickets for the Web Summit 2022 is sold out. You can pre-register for the 2023 edition here:
More than 10 million cigarettes seized in a container in Leiria
More than ten million cigarettes in a maritime container parked next to the public road in the Leiria region were seized by the Tax and Customs Authority (AT), the AT have published on its Portal.
The goods, according to AT, would result in a tax evasion of around 1.87 million euros, with a loss of the same amount for the European Union and the Portuguese State.
It was during a control operation carried out by the Southern Operational Division of the Customs Antifraud Services Department and the Lisbon Tax Detachment of the UAF/GNR that they found that the container contained 10,500,000 cigarettes packed in boxes, ready to be sold.
“In order to safeguard the financial interests and the preservation of public health in the 27 States of the Union, the cigarettes were seized, thus preventing them from entering the consumption chain”, the statement said.