MONTEVIDEO - In 2015 the world will have 23 mega-cities with more than 10 million inhabitants each, and 19 will be in developing countries, said experts at the "Reinventing the City" forum, held in Montreal Jun 27 under the auspices of the Secretariat of Environmental Management for Latin America and the Caribbean (SEMA).

Most of that growth will occur in less developed areas of Latin America and the Caribbean, where urban poverty is the highest in the world. According to the World Bank, 39 percent of the families in the region's cities live below the poverty line.

Representatives of government, the private sector and civil society discussed innovative practices for sustainable development and began drawing up international standards based on different urban experiences.

BUENOS AIRES - Bicycle use in the Argentine capital rose 51 percent in the last year as a result of the country's profound economic crisis, according to a study by the Association of Bicycle Riders.

Bikes do not require much maintenance and allow people to save money with this alternative to public transportation, which can consume 10 to 20 percent of the minimum monthly salary.

Just two percent of the cyclists in the capital are women, says the Association's survey. However, in the city outskirts not covered by the survey, many women travel by bicycle.

MEXICO CITY - The Metropolitan Autonomous University of Mexico is ready to study the micro-algae that cause "red tide", an unpredictable phenomenon that causes fish kills and can make people ill who consume seafood coming from affected areas.

These tides are red due to the sporadic but massive concentration of single-cell microorganisms on the water surface.

Within five years, researchers working at 10 different points along Mexico's Pacific coast hope to produce an atlas of the areas where the phenomenon occurs, its behavior and mechanisms to prevent it.

LIMA - Scientists at the University of Piura, a northwestern department of Peru, are studying the climate conditions of the past using the rings in the cross sections of trees found in the regions arid forests.

"The rings provide testimony about the climate in each year of the tree's live because its characteristics vary according to the seasonal rainfall it received," explained Rodolfo Rodríguez, head of the research team.

Piura is one of the areas hardest hit by El Niño, a warm water current in the Pacific Ocean that causes climate extremes worldwide, including heavy rainfall and severe drought.