Las redes invisibles que impulsan la economía global – Los 5 eslabones débiles

Cables, oleoductos, carreteras, estrechos marítimos, rutas aéreas y satélites forman la frágil red sobre la que se construye la economía global. Se trata de redes invisibles de enorme importancia para la cadena de suministro global y la vida moderna, que, sin embargo, sólo se recuerdan cuando una guerra como la de Ucrania o Israel amenaza uno de estos puntos estratégicos. Un estudio del Deutsche Bank arroja luz sobre los cinco eslabones débiles de la economía global. Es decir, las infraestructuras que no pueden ser reemplazadas por alguna alternativa y por tanto, pueden bloquear la cadena de suministro global.

There are some vulnerabilities in the global economy that are more or less known to everyone, such as Taiwan's semiconductor factories, global financial centers and the 0.5% of subway stations in London and Paris that could block the half network.

But there are also the invisible but very important networks, as was shown by the damage done to an undersea gas pipeline and telecommunications cable between Finland and Estonia on October 10, reminiscent of the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline a year ago. In 2010, the eruption of a volcano in Iceland "grounded" one second of Europe's air traffic for 8 days, notes Deutsche Bank.

Tanto Ucrania como Israel se encuentran cerca de puntos tan importantes para la economía global.

1. Cables y conductores

– Cables de datos: Up to 99% of the world's digital communications as well as 10 trillion financial transactions. dollars, pass through fiber optic cables located on the sea floor. There are approximately 550 active and planned cables, spanning 1.4 million kilometres. Many are barely thicker than a watering can, explains Deutsche Bank. These cables are vulnerable to espionage and sabotage and to accidental damage.

– Cables eléctricos submarinos: Los interconectores de energía permiten a los países comprar energía eólica o solar más barata a sus vecinos con un clima más favorable, aumentando la seguridad del suministro y gestionando mejor la demanda. Pero pueden ser destruidos por sabotaje o accidente.

– Gasoductos de gas natural: Europa depende de los gasoductos para la mayor parte de su suministro de gas natural. En 2020 importó casi 40% de su gas natural de Rusia y, desde entonces, ha tenido que depender de gasoductos de Noruega e importar GNL. Como demostraron las explosiones de Nord Stream, estos oleoductos son vulnerables al sabotaje.

– Oleoductos: Most of the world's oil pipelines are located in Europe and Asia and start from Russia. A typical oil pipeline is about 50 centimeters in diameter and can carry over 1 million liters (or 6.300 barrels per hour). By comparison, a barrel can carry less than 200 barrels at a time. Pipelines are made of steel and, where possible, are buried in the ground. Like natural gas pipelines, they are vulnerable to damage, earthquakes and sabotage.

2. Carreteras, ferrocarriles y ríos.

Some railways and roads in far-flung places carry a disproportionately large share of supplies critical to the global economy, with no alternatives. A vast area in the Congo and Zambia, for example, is Africa's largest producer of copper and accounts for two-thirds of the world's cobalt production. But there are only four roads, all bad and congested, to transport these raw materials from the mines to ports in Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania. Something similar is happening with Brazil's soy, which is the world's No. 1 exporter. In the last two years, drought has hit rivers that are vital waterways, showing how vulnerable these transports are.

3. estrechos del mar

Along with the Cape of Good Hope, there are 8 important "straits" for sea transport. As Deutsche Bank explains, these are the five "keys that unlocked the world" for the British Empire, if the Straits of Dover are removed and the Panama Canal, the Turkish Straits, the Straits of Bab el Madeb and the Straits of Hormuz are added . In oil, for example, more than 60% of supply is transported by sea, with the Straits of Hormuz being the most important point for the market, since a fifth of the world's consumption (and a third of LNG) passes through it. At its narrowest point, the Straits of Hormuz are only 33 kilometers wide.

Estos estrechos son vulnerables a bloqueos, colisiones o encallamientos de barcos, piratas, ataques terroristas, guerras y accidentes como derrames de petróleo.

4. Pistas de aterrizaje

Air transport depends on an invisible network of corridors that can be disrupted by weather, wars or unusual events, such as when Spain's airspace was closed last November to allow a Chinese missile to enter Earth's atmosphere. Strikes by air traffic controllers have caused major transport problems in Europe this year, while the biggest post-war air traffic blockade occurred in 2010, when the volcano in Iceland erupted.

5. Satélites

The world is very dependent on the US Global Positioning System (GPS). This uses approximately 30 Earth-orbiting Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) satellites, which send signals to over 4 billion users worldwide. But these signals are weak and prone to interference, and it has been estimated that if GPS is "cut", the cost will exceed $1 billion a day, just for the US.

(FUENTE: https://www.moneyreview.gr/business-and-finance/125480/deutsche-bank-ta-aorata-diktya-poy-kinoyn-tin-pagkosmia-oikonomia-oi-5-adynamoi-krikoi/)