CUPID at Work: Ana Calvo yesterday stayed busy with a steady stream of customers at her flower stand Kiosko Ana on San José's Avenida 2. She beefed up her inventory with cards and balloons relaying romantic messages for Valentine's Day, or El Día de Los Enamorados, today.

Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles this week expressed concern about the fact that approximately 500 brown pelicans were found dead on an islet in the Gulf of Nicoya by Costa Rican Coast Guard officials Friday, according to the wire service ACAN-EFE.

7th Annual “Have a Heart” Charity Golf Tournament
Proceeds to benefit local schools, Hacienda Pinilla Golf Course, northwestern Guanacaste province. Info: 653-0270.

Francisco Céspedes in Concert
Ballads celebrating Valentine's Day, 8 p.m., Herradura Hotel, northwest of San José. Info: 223-2321.

By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff | aroberson@ticotimes.net

Good news and bad news about San José's air quality were announced this morning by Universidad Nacional (UNA) researcher Jorge Herrera. The good news: for the first time, scientists have recorded a decrease in particulate matter such as dust and soot and less sulfur in the air. The bad news: nitrogen dioxide levels have continued to rise.

The decrease in particulate matter and sulfur, both of which are produced by cars and factories and can aggravate respiratory problems, can likely be attributed to the National Oil Refinery (RECOPE) requiring lower sulfur levels in the nation's fuels, Herrera said, addressing journalists as well as San José Mayor Johnny Araya, Public Health Minister María Luisa Avila and Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles during a press conference.

Fuels with lower concentrations of sulfur means less of this element ends up in particulate matter, defined as solid or liquid particles dispersed as dust, ash and other materials, according to information provided by UNA.

Herrera called this news “encouraging,” but said government officials must improve the capital's public transportation system, the culprit of an increase in harmful nitrates.

The UNA study, which has been carried out for the past three years, uses meters to measure nitrogen dioxide levels at 14 points around the city. Five of these points showed levels higher than the 40 micrograms per cubic meter recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO): near the San Juan de Dios Hospital on Paseo Colón, the Metropolitan Cathedral on Ave. 2, the La Castellana gas station on Ave. 10, the National Water and Sewer Institute (AyA) building on Paseo de los Estudiantes and the Numar building in Barrio Cuba.

Nitrogen dioxide levels have increased in 65% of the points measured, which Herrera says is likely caused by the number of cars in the city increasing by almost 9% each year.

Herrera's suggestions to government officials include reorganizing bus routes, obtaining more modern buses and establishing a legal minimum quality for the country's fuel. Institutions including the ministries of Environment and Energy (MINAE) and Public Works and Transport (MOPT) as well as the San José Municipality should collaborate to make these things happen, Herrera said.

By Blake Schmidt
Tico Times Staff | bschmidt@ticotimes.net

The Arias Administration included a proposal to crack down on those in possession of child pornography in its extraordinary legislative agenda sent to the Legislative Assembly yesterday.

“Jail is the only place for those seeking to exploit society's most defenseless,” Presidency Minister Rodrigo Arias said in a statement that announced the proposal's inclusion in the executive agenda.

The proposal's presentation in the assembly comes a week after a U.N. report shined light on Costa Rica's lack of funds, resources, laws and enforcement to tackle the growing commercial and sexual exploitation of children here.

The report came after Austrian authorities dismantled an international child pornography ring that spanned 77 countries, including Costa Rica, and involves more than 2,000 suspects.

International Police (INTERPOL) are investigating the case in coordination with Austrian authorities, though no one has been arrested in the case, according to INTERPOL official Mercedes Quesada.

Environment and Energy Minister Roberto Dobles this week expressed concern about the fact that approximately 500 brown pelicans were found dead on an islet in the Gulf of Nicoya by Costa Rican Coast Guard officials Friday, according to the wire service ACAN-EFE.

Scientists are “working to identify the cause of these deaths, deaths that were abrupt and as of now have no scientific explanation,” Dobles said, declining to speculate on what killed the birds.

Scientists at Universidad Nacional (UNA) Veterinary School in Heredia, north of San José, are studying the bodies of some of the pelicans, which can weigh up to five kilograms and feed off of fish and other matter along Costa Rica's Pacific coast, reported the daily La Nación.