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Article: The Med slides towards disaster
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- October 28, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Tomorrow an international conference begins in Crete to try to
prevent a repetition of the horrifying events of 7 August, when
more than 20 people died as a flood of mud carried away a campsite
in the Spanish Pyrenees. It was a graphic demonstration of a
growing menace to Mediterranean countries, which the conference
aims to tackle: erosion.
It takes a long time for rock to be weathered into soil around
the Mediterranean Sea, but only a few moments for that soil to be
washed away in a rainstorm. The typical time for such storms is
autumn - soon after summer, when fires often rob the topsoil of its
protective plants. The landscape, so much loved by tourists as well
as by local people, is in ...