Singapore's S$150m observatory aims to study natural disasters better

Channel NewsAsia 28 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE: A research centre called the Earth Observatory of Singapore will be set up to study more about natural disasters in the region.

The observatory, located at Nanyang Technological University, has received funding of S$217 million over the next ten years.

It will focus its research on natural disasters such as tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and climate change.

NTU President, Dr Su Guaning said initial research programmes include refining tsunami forecasts for western Sumatra and analysing the impact of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on the Southeast Asia region.

A database of earthquake faults in Southeast Asia is also planned.

Dr Su Guaning said the benefits of the observatory in the coming years are the modelling and forecasting of possible damage from natural disasters.

While Singapore has been free of such natural disasters, it is surrounded by neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, which lies in the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’ – an area where such calamities happen frequently.

Professor Kerry Sieh who heads the observatory believes that this facility will bring the scientific community closer to society.

Professor Sieh hopes that more scientific work can be turned into workable ideas to help mitigate the impact of natural disasters.

The centre is expected to be ready in the first quarter of next year but research will begin later this year. - CNA/vm

$150m to better understand natural disasters
Sheralyn Tay, Today Online 29 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE may not be disaster-prone, but that does not mean we are spared when a natural calamity hits our neighbours.

The occasional tremors that have sent Shenton Way workers scurrying down the stairs from their high-rise offices in recent years, have not been forgotten.

Plus the fact that Singapore is located in a region of tumultuous volcanic activities and geological fault lines; it is not surprising that the National Research Foundation and the Ministry of Education have granted $150 million for a Research Centre of Excellence dedicated to earth sciences.

This makes the Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS), based at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), one of the most well-funded research facilities of its kind in the world.

Led by a "dream team" of three world-renowned scientists, Professors Kerry Sieh, Paul Tapponier and Chris Newhall, the EOS will propel Singapore to the forefront of earth sciences, said NTU president Su Guaning.

Headed by Prof Sieh, who hails from the prestigious California Institute of Technology, the centre will focus on the big four of the region's natural disasters: Tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and climate change.

And with the greatest "earthquake experiment" happening right now in Sumatra, the present offers an "unparalleled" chance for its study, said Prof Sieh.

While earthquake occurrences tend to be uncommon, we are in the middle of a "flurry" of them as we witness a cycle that occurs about once every 200 years, he said.

"There is no better place to be right now to study earthquakes than Singapore because it is happening in our own backyard."

And while Singapore is relatively safe from volcanic and tectonic activity, it will still be affected by regional disasters, said Prof Sieh, pointing to the 2004 Boxing Day tremblor that unleashed devastating tsunamis.

"We do not usually worry about things that happen once every 200 years, but it is these things that can kill a quarter of a million people in Aceh, so we have to understand these things as we emerge from 10,000 years of stable climate and head into unstable climate."

The EOS will not only be critical in understanding these geographical changes but also predicting them with more lead time, so that, most importantly, this knowledge and data can be translated into political, economic and social action that saves lives and livelihoods.

So far, warnings for earthquake and volcano eruptions have been ad hoc, but better long-term predictions will pave the way for much better responses, said Prof Sieh, as policy-makers can factor these issues into urban planning and formulating emergency systems.

A few projects have been identified in the pipeline. One seeks to refine tsunami forecasting in Western Sumatra and the South China Sea, and another will evaluate the impact of the future Sumatran earthquakes on Singapore and the region.

The data EOS collects will also be useful in studying the impact of earthquakes on our buildings in a more integrated way and help narrow the gaps in current prediction models, explained Prof Pan Tso-Chien, dean of NTU's college of Engineering.

With the "powerful faculty", Prof Pan is optimistic that the EOS would, in time, draw "like a magnet" more junior faculty and bright students, to build a stellar research hub for earth sciences.

According to Dr Su, the EOS may start a graduate programme from late-2009, and possibly an undergraduate programme in two to three years.

New earth sciences lab to study natural disasters
Located at NTU, it will research earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and climate change
Tania Tan, Straits Times 29 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE is an island of tranquillity in the middle of one of the most volatile earthquake zones in the world: South-east Asia.

Now, researchers are hoping to use the country's prime location to study the effects of tremors and other natural phenomena such as volcanic eruptions and climate change at the new Earth Observatory of Singapore (EOS).

The centre, set to begin operations in August, will focus its research on 'serious environmental challenges', said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

'These are issues which affect Singapore,' said Mr Lee. 'We are in South-east Asia - far away from the earthquake zone but, at the same time, in the middle of an earthquake zone which surrounds us and with volcanoes also along the rim of the plate.

'It is important for us to understand what can happen, and how it can affect us.'

He was speaking at the Pan Pacific Hotel yesterday at the third Research Innovation and Enterprise Council meeting.

Located at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), the observatory will cost about $287 million over 10 years. Construction of the EOS laboratories will begin later this year.

Half of the funds will come from the National Research Foundation and the Ministry of Education, making EOS the first 'well-funded' research institute of its kind, said founding director Professor Kerry Sieh.

As one of the world's leading geologists, Prof Sieh has spent the last five years studying earthquakes in Indonesia. He also successfully predicted the 2005 earthquake in Sumatra.

'South-east Asia is the best place in the world for an earthquake experiment,' said Prof Sieh. 'There is no other place in the world with such a high frequency of earthquakes.'

The 57-year-old professor will make a permanent move here from the California Institute of Technology in August.

Joining him are Professor Paul Tapponnier and Professor Chris Newhall, experts in the fields of earthquakes and vulcanism respectively.

A Frenchman, Prof Tapponnier discovered the great active geological faults of Tibet early in his career and their effect on India and Asia.

Currently based in the Philippines, Prof Newhall invented a scale for volcanic eruptions, similar to the Richter scale used to measure earthquakes.

'We've got ourselves a dream team of scientists,' said NTU president Su Guaning.

It is a team which Prof Sieh hopes to expand; at full strength, the centre will have about 20 faculty staff, including climate change specialists.

Among the centre's early projects are studies on the impact of earthquakes on places in the region, including Hong Kong and Singapore.

'We hope to do good research, and from there help our neighbours be better equipped,' said Prof Sieh.

And though the centre is a step away from the usual research drives - namely medicine, green technology and information technology - it represents an invaluable addition to Singapore's, said Dr Su.

'The economic benefits of this centre are not immediately obvious,' conceded Dr Su. 'But it'll be a boost to our reputation, which is something money cannot buy.'

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Philippine government introduces conservation programme to deal with shortage of rice

Channel NewsAsia 28 Mar 08;

MANILA : As the Philippines scrambles to boost its rice supply, the government has come up with a conservation programme that will discourage wastage of the country's staple.

Filipinos waste 50 kilogrammes of rice a day, according to official statistics.

That translates into wastage amounting to US$715,000 daily.

According to the National Food Authority, around 25,000 bags of rice are wasted everyday.

The study shows that customers at restaurants and fast food chains waste the most rice.

The Department of Agriculture has appealed to these establishments to offer smaller portions of rice, in view of the current national shortfall.

It is part of a new rice conservation programme launched by the government.

Rex Estoperez, Spokesperson, National Food Authority, said, "You are required to eat only half a cup of rice...we are encouraging the food chains or restaurants to give options to consumers because if they cannot consume a whole cup of rice, it will go to waste. We have been doing random sampling on restaurants and food chains, and the wastage is so much. It's something that we cannot recover."

One fast food chain that has started offering half servings of rice is Chowking, which sells Chinese cuisine.

Many of its patrons support the move.

One person said, "It's fine with me as I usually just eat half a cup of rice. Previously, I forced myself to finish all the rice even though I was full."

Another commented, "Sometimes we order a lot of food but we can't finish all of it. If everyone only eats half a cup of rice each, especially those who are on a diet, there'll be more savings for the National Budget."

A third said, "It's a good idea. We share one cup of rice as we can't finish the whole cup in one sitting."

The Department of Agriculture is in now in discussions with hotel chains and other food outlets to see how they can help conserve rice.

The message to Filipinos is that if they waste less rice, imports could go down from the current 83 percent of the amount consumed to as low as 37 percent.

The Philippines is currently the world's biggest rice importer, as the government buys close to 2 million metric tons from the international market every year. - CNA/ms

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'Earth Hour' to plunge millions into darkness

Madeleine Coorey Yahoo News 28 Mar 08;

Twenty-six major cities around the world are expected to turn off the lights on major landmarks, plunging millions of people into darkness to raise awareness about global warming, organisers said.

'Earth Hour' founder Andy Ridley said 371 cities, towns or local governments from Australia to Canada and even Fiji had signed up for the 60-minute shutdown at 0900 GMT on March 29.

"There are definitely 26 (cities) that we think, if it all goes to plan, we are going to see a major event of lights going off," he told AFP.

Cities officially signed on include Chicago and San Francisco, Dublin, Manila, Bangkok, Copenhagen and Toronto, all of which will switch off lights on major landmarks and encourage businesses and homeowners to follow suit.

Ridley said it was also likely that other major European cities such as Rome and London, and the South Korean capital Seoul, although not officially taking part, would turn off lights on some attractions or landmarks.

The initiative began in Sydney last year and has become a global event, sweeping across 35 countries this year.

From 8:00 pm local time in Sydney, the energy-saving campaign will see harbourside icons such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House bathed only in moonlight, restaurant diners eat by candlelight and city skyscrapers turn off their neon signs.

Organisers hope the initiative will encourage people to be more aware of their energy usage, knowing that producing electricity pollutes the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels which are contributing to global warming.

But they are also aware that it will be just a small step in solving the problem of rising temperatures around the globe.

"Switching the lights off for an hour is not going to make a dent in global emissions," organiser Charles Stevens, of the environmental group WWF, told AFP.

"But what it does do is it is a great catalyst for much bigger changes. It engages people in the processes of becoming more energy efficient."

Stevens said the initiative encouraged businesses to be more careful with their electricity use while at the same time sending "a fairly powerful message to governments that people are demanding action."

Some 2.2 million people participated in last year's 'Earth Hour' in Sydney, cutting the central business district's energy usage by more than 10 percent.

While no cities from China or India are involved this year, Stevens said it was hoped that the movement would expand in 2009, which he said would be a particularly significant year given that it is the deadline for United Nations talks to determine future action on climate change after the Kyoto Protocol.

Ridley, who began 'Earth Hour' last year while working with WWF Australia, said the initiative was about individuals and global companies joining together to own a shared problem -- climate change.

"Governments and businesses are joining individuals, religious groups, schools and communities in this terrific movement that's all about making a change for the better," he said.

"It's staggering to see so much support from across the globe in just our second year and we're hoping that this will continue to grow year after year."

Cities officially involved in 'Earth Hour' include Aalborg, Aarhus, Adelaide, Atlanta, Bangkok, Brisbane, Canberra, Chicago, Christchurch, Copenhagen, Darwin, Dublin, Hobart, Manila, Melbourne, Montreal, Odense, Ottawa, Perth, Phoenix, San Francisco, Suva, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Vancouver.

Related link

Earth Hour Singapore for efforts at home and what you CAN do to support this.

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Climate change now a UN human rights issue

Yahoo News 28 Mar 08;

Climate change is now officially a human rights issue, as the UN Human Rights Council on Friday passed a resolution on the subject, recognising that the world's poor are particularly vulnerable.

The council also gave the green light for a study into the impact of climate change on human rights, describing climate change as a "global problem .. that requires a global solution".

The resolution, submitted by the Maldives and passed without a vote, also noted that the poor tend to have limited resources to cope with the impact of global warming.

The country's Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid told AFP that climate change "violates all human rights" -- from the basic to the fundamental.

"In the case of Maldives, the right to life itself," he said.

The island state is among the world's most vulnerable states to global warming, as it risks being submerged by rising sea waters.

Shahid said Maldives appreciated various forums which have already been discussing the climate change issue.

"But the very important aspect of the human dimension is sometimes lost. Scientific and economic issues have all been taken into account," he said, adding that the country wanted to use the resolution to highlight the human dimension of the problem.

When introducing the resolution in Geneva, Maldives' representative told delegates that the debate on the subject had so far tended to focus on physical effects, while the "phenomenon on human beings" had been largely overlooked.

"It is time to highlight the human face of climate change," he said.

Supporting the resolution, Sri Lanka's representative called it "timely" and said because of climate change, even "the right to life is under threat".

The council's resolution acknowledged findings by the landmark report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which said the evidence of a human role in the warming of the planet was now "unequivocal", and that the situation could be irreversible.

It also cited those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change: low-lying and small island states; countries with low-lying coastal, arid and semi-arid areas or areas prone to floods, drought, and desertification; and developing countries with fragile mountainous ecosystems.

Greenpeace political adviser Daniel Mittler welcomed the resolution, saying that it "points to the right direction".

"We have always maintained that climate change is way more than an environment issue, it is a security issue, an economic issue - in fact it is the most important economic issue of our time, and indeed a human rights issue.

"It has a direct impact on people's lives, the ability of people to lead decent livelihoods. For example, Africans who can't farm as they used to or Alaskans who can no longer maintain their traditional lifestyle due to climate change effects."

However, he pointed out that the study proposed by the council is to be conducted "within existing resources", and said that more should be done to ensure that a thorough study be done.

"It's so ironical, if climate change is such a key issue, then countries should put more resources behind it," said Mittler.

U.N. human rights body turns to climate change
Reuters 28 Mar 08;

GENEVA (Reuters) - Climate change could erode the human rights of people living in small island states, coastal areas and parts of the world subjected to drought and floods, the U.N. Human Rights Council said on Friday.

In its first consideration of the issue, the United Nations forum's 47 member states endorsed by consensus a resolution stressing that global warming could threaten the livelihoods and welfare of many of the world's most vulnerable people.

They backed the proposal from the Maldives, Comoros, Tuvalu, Micronesia and other countries for "a detained analytical study of the relationship between climate change and human rights," to be conducted by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"Until now, the global discourse on climate change has tended to focus on the physical or natural impacts of climate change," Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, the Maldives' ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, told the session.

"The immediate and far-reaching impact of the phenomenon on human beings around the world has been largely neglected," he said. "It is time to redress this imbalance by highlighting the human face of climate change."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has made the fight against climate change one of his top priorities, and encouraged all United Nations agencies to incorporate it into their work.

International experts have warned that the expected impacts of climate change -- including rising sea levels and intense storms, droughts and floods -- could strip millions of people from access to housing, food and clean water.

But diplomats at the United Nations have not yet sought to enshrine the right to protection from the effects of climate change in an international treaty, as has been done for other social and economic rights.

Louise Arbour, a former Canadian Supreme Court justice, has announced she will not seek another term as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights when her tenure ends on June 30. Her successor has not yet been named.

(Reporting by Laura MacInnis)

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Markets Nervous: Will US Plant Enough Corn?

Carey Gillam, PlanetArk 28 Mar 08;

WHITE CLOUD, Kan. - Kansas farmer Ken McCauley wants to help keep the world from going hungry next year, so he's planting corn: lots and lots of corn.

The third-generation farmer said he'll begin seeding about 3,000 acres of corn on his north-eastern Kansas farm within the next two weeks, compared to only about 1,000 acres of soybeans he'll plant this spring, a change from his traditional 50/50 mix of the two key crops.

Indeed, with food prices racing higher around the world, and strong demand for corn from food companies, livestock producers and ethanol makers, US corn production is considered a critical component of keeping people fed.

Higher prices for corn have fattened farmer wallets even as stocks from last year's bumper crop remain sufficient for the short term.

But as spring planting season draws near, now market analysts fear that many US farmers will not follow McCauley's example but will instead plant soybeans, which are commanding historic high prices at more than $13 a bushel (compared with $5.50 a bushel for corn) and are much cheaper to produce than corn.

Market experts say all signs point to a sharp decline in overall US corn seeding this spring, which could spell a significant tightening of supplies that would resonate at home and abroad, impacting everyone from consumers to cattle feeders.

"We have tight stocks worldwide and strong demand, so when there is an acreage or production shortfall you end up with more extreme and violent moves in prices. This is the risk that we face," said agricultural economist Bill Lapp.

On Monday, the US Department of Agriculture will issue a report laying out its latest estimates for this year's seeding of key corn, soybean and wheat crops.

Analysts on average were predicting this year's corn acreage at 87.387 million acres, down 6.2 million acres from 2007's 93.6 million, which was the biggest corn area in over 60 years.

Soybean plantings are estimated by analysts on average at 71.721 million acres, up from 63.6 million last year.

Because soybeans are typically planted later than corn, which goes into the ground in early to mid-April in many areas, those numbers could shift even further in favour of beans if current unfavourable wet and cool weather in the US corn belt persists.

North America Risk Management Inc analyst Jerry Gidel said that 2008 corn plantings need to be at least in the 88 million-89 million acre range to generate even minimally adequate supplies for 2008/09. The fact that planting estimates are already below that and there is the potential for even more declines is causing anxiety across the marketplace, according to Gidel.

"People are getting nervous," he said.

A shortfall in corn this year would follow last year's short supplies of quality world wheat and soy crops, which caused prices to spike to record levels and contributed to rampant inflation in food prices domestically and abroad.

Fears are further compounded by the fact that farmers in Argentina, one of the world's leading suppliers of soy, corn, wheat and beef, have gone on strike in a protest against new taxes, essentially shutting down the country's grain export business.

"There are a number of the larger food companies that understand not only the tightness in stocks for corn, soybeans and wheat in the US but also globally, and those food companies are preparing for it," said Joe Victor vice president at Allendale, a commodity research advisory firm. He called the situation "unnerving."

"What does it mean for the consumer? More than likely higher prices yet to come," Victor said. "With higher grain costs, whether that grain is being fed for milk production, meat or egg production ... it's very likely we're getting ourselves into a bind."

For McCauley, who is chairman of the National Corn Growers Association, the market issues translate to higher profit potential. Indeed, McCauley is holding tight to about 50,000 bushels of old corn, anticipating what analysts say could be another 10 percent or greater price jump.

"Corn was too cheap before," said McCauley, taking a break from clearing winter debris from his still-barren fields. "We're making the most of this."

(Reporting by Carey Gillam; editing by Jim Marshall)

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The real recession is declining quality of life in the US

Robert Costanza, Business Times 28 Mar 08;

THE news media and the government are fixated on the fact that the US economy may be headed into a recession - defined as two or more successive quarters of declining gross domestic product (GDP).

The situation is actually much worse. By some measures of economic performance, the US has been in a recession since 1975 - a recession in the quality of life, or well-being.

How can this be? One first needs to understand what GDP measures to see why it is not an appropriate gauge of our national well-being.

GDP measures the total market value of all goods and services produced in a country in a given period. But it includes only those goods and services traded for money.

It also adds everything together, without discerning desirable, well-being-enhancing economic activity from undesirable, well- being-reducing activity. An oil spill, for example, increases GDP because someone has to clean it up, but it obviously detracts from well-being. More crime, more sickness, more war, more pollution, more fires, storms and pestilence are all potentially positives for the GDP because they can spur an increase in economic activity.

GDP also ignores activity that may enhance well-being but is outside the market. The unpaid work of parents caring for their children at home doesn't show up in GDP, but if they decide to work outside the home and pay for child care, GDP suddenly increases. And even though US$1 in income means a lot more to the poor than to the rich, GDP takes no account of income distribution.

In short, GDP was never intended to be a measure of citizens' welfare - and it functions poorly as such. Yet it is used as a surrogate appraisal of national well-being in far too many circumstances.

The shortcomings of GDP are well known and several researchers have proposed alternatives that address them, including William Nordhaus' and James Tobin's Measure of Economic Welfare, developed in 1972; Herman Daly's and John Cobb's Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare, developed in 1989; and the Redefining Progress think-tank's more recent variation, the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).

Although these alternatives - which, like GDP, are measured in monetary terms - are not perfect and need more research and refinement, they are much better approximations to a measure of true national well-being.

The formula for calculating GPI, for instance, starts with personal consumption expenditures, a major component of GDP, but makes several crucial adjustments. First, it accounts for income distribution. It then adds positive contributions that GDP ignores, such as the value of household and volunteer work. Finally, it subtracts things that are well-being-reducing, such as the loss of leisure time and the costs of crime, commuting and pollution.

While the US GDP has steadily increased since 1950 (with the occasional recession), GPI peaked about 1975 and has been relatively flat or declining ever since. That's consistent with life- satisfaction surveys, which also show flat or dropping scores over the last several decades.

This is a very different picture of the economy from the one we normally read about, and it requires different policy responses. We are now in a period of what Mr Daly - a former World Bank economist now at the University of Maryland - has called 'uneconomic growth', in which further growth in economic activity (that is, GDP) is actually reducing national well-being. How can we get out of this 33-year downturn in quality of life? Several policies have been suggested that might be thought of as a national quality-of-life stimulus package.

To start, the US needs to make national well-being - not increased GDP - its primary policy goal, funding efforts to better measure and report it. There's already been some movement in this direction around the world. Bhutan, for example, recently made 'gross national happiness' its explicit policy goal. Canada is developing an Index of Well- being, and the Australian Treasury considers increasing 'real well-being', rather than mere GDP, its primary goal.

Once Americans' well-being becomes the basis for measuring our success, other reforms should follow. We should tax 'bads' (carbon emissions, depletion of natural resources) rather than 'goods' (labour, savings, investment). We should recognise the negative effects of growing income disparities and take steps to address them.

International trade also will have to be reformed so that environmental protection, labour rights and democratic self- determination are not subjugated to the blind pursuit of increased GDP.

But the most important step may be the first one: Recognising that the US is mired in a 33-year-old quality-of-life recession and that our continued national focus on growing GDP is blinding us to the way out.

Robert Costanza is the director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont

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Happiness in all shapes and sizes

Jaime Ee, Business Times 28 Mar 08;

DEAR judges searching for Singapore's Happiest Person:

I understand that you believe such a person exists. I could not agree with you more, hence, I would like to submit my application for this esteemed honour.

I feel that I have the necessary prerequisites you are looking for, namely:

I am happy.

I am not sad.

My favourite colour is not blue.

I have a sunny disposition.

My favourite song is Tomorrow from the musical Annie. I believe the sun will always come out tomorrow, more so when the weather forecaster predicts rain.

Yes, I do understand that the above may give you reason to believe that my happiness is chemically induced rather than a natural tendency to look on the bright side. In anticipation of that, I will have you know that my happiness is a scientific conclusion based on my credentials as a keen, albeit uncertified, anthropologist and part-time primatologist.

In fact, my research could be useful to you as you sort through the many nominations to find a winner - thanks to my careful scientific studies, I am able to determine the difference between one who is genuinely happy and the guy in my office who walks by with a perpetual grin on his face.

Thanks to my research, I have identified several strains of happiness:

# The look of everlasting happiness: These people are always smiling, regardless of how you test their patience, say, by tossing paper clips at them when they are not looking. You never see them frown and they're always ready with a cheerful greeting. But don't get all jealous and wonder what their happiness secret is. That smile is actually a 'fear grin' - similar to that of long-tailed macaques when they bare their teeth and look like they're going to take your eye out but actually they're being submissive. So be careful of such overt displays of joy as you never know when they will go for your jugular.

# The overcoming all odds happiness: This is usually more short-term happiness, and occurs at times of great stress which is finally overcome. Say, when you're stuck at the Woodlands checkpoint with a bursting bladder - the sheer joy you feel when you finally find a portable loo. Or, if you're a fugitive hiding in the forest and foraging for food - the sheer happiness you feel when you try some strange berries and realise, 'Hey, I'm not dead!'. Of course, this may cause unhappiness in some other quarters, thereby leading to our next category.

# The theory of equilibrium happiness This yin and yang theory rests on the notion that one's happiness comes usually from depriving another person of his. Like when the person in front of you in the queue gets the last custard-filled chocolate glazed doughnut and you have to settle for the hard krullers instead. Or when plastic surgeons see an exodus of patients from aesthetic doctors.

# The happy kind of happiness: yes, the warm, feel-good, roll with the punches kind of level-headed contentment that we all wish we had but can't give up our full-HD TV sets for.

However, if you succeed in finding such a person, I would suggest that you let me administer some of my stringent proven methods that involve just a token amount of violence to ensure that the winner is genuine. Please let me. It would make me happy.

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Mar 08

A Big Thank You
from Kok Sheng to all who contributed on his cj project blog

Look, watch and listen to birds
a call to share info on bird calls on the bird ecology blog

Happy birthday plastic bag
from New Scientist Environment Blog

Blue digs
busy seashore wasp on the budak blog

Power packed Easter at Hantu Blog anniversary!
more photos on the ashira blog

Eco-Guide#3
YouTube and other links to environmental issues on eco-singapore facebook

Is lights off campaign a turn-off?
is it just a gimmick? on the reuters environment blog

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NEA confirms it was raining hailstones in Singapore

Channel NewsAsia 27 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE: The sudden downpour on Thursday afternoon brought more than just heavy rain.

Hailstones were raining down in some parts of Singapore, according to callers to Channel NewsAsia’s hotline.

The National Environment Agency later confirmed that hailstones were reported in central Singapore between 3.15pm and 3.45pm.

Callers said the hailstones were the size of 5 cent coins.

They were seen mainly in Bishan, Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio.

Rosie Hoe, a witness to the hailstones in Bishan, said: "We tried to take photographs but it doesn't show on our cameras. So, they were calling their friends and all to come and see. So, there were actually quite a lot of people here."

It's believed the hailstones fell for about 20 minutes before subsiding.

The last hailstone incident was reported in July 2007.

Hailstones form in intense thunderstorm clouds. Such clouds develop when there is strong convection, which occur all year round in the tropics.

Generally, the hailstones would have been melted before they reach the ground.

However, in the presence of a strong downdraft in an intense thunderstorm, the hailstones can be brought to the ground rapidly without melting. - CNA/vm

Central Singapore hit by hailstone shower
Icy pellets get residents in Toa Payoh, Bishan and Braddell excited
Diana Othman & Sumathi V. Selvaretnam, Straits Times 28 Mar 08;

PARTS of Singapore were pelted with hailstones during yesterday afternoon's heavy downpour.

The weatherman confirmed that these pellets of ice were reported in central Singapore between 3.15pm and 3.45pm.

Roughly three-quarters the size of a five-cent coin, they caused a stir among those living or working in Bishan and Toa Payoh.

Hailstones, formed in thunderstorm clouds, usually melt before they hit the ground, but strong downward gusts of wind sometimes send them to the ground before they melt.

A managing director, who wanted to be known only as Mr Goh, was in his office in a flatted factory in Braddell Road when the hail started falling. He said he thought at first it was just raining heavily.

'But the sound of the rain was different - it sounded more like solid things were falling,' he said.

Going out to the corridor in front of his office, he and his staff saw tiny bead-like objects bouncing about on the ground as the rain poured down.

They became excited when they realised the beads were solid pieces of ice which melted as soon as they picked them up.

Mr Goh, who said it was the first time he had seen this weather phenomenon, added that at first, there was 'quite a lot of ice' but, as the minutes went by, they petered out and only rain fell.

He reckoned the hailstones fell for about 10 minutes.

Another witness, IT consultant Stuyvesant Lim, 35, was observing a quiet game of chess at a Residents' Committee Centre in Bishan East when he heard a commotion outside.

He said: 'I thought it was kids throwing ice from the block. Then we realised it was falling from the sky.'

He realised another thing - that had the hailstones been bigger, the windscreens of cars could have been damaged.

Mrs Evelyn Chan, 53, who runs a machine tools business with her husband but was home yesterday, said the strangely 'hazy' atmosphere made her step out of her kitchen into the backyard of her house in Carmichael Road, off Braddell Road.

She said: 'When I looked at the ground, I saw crystals. I thought it was snow. But when I picked up a piece, I realised it was ice.'

The last time hail fell here was in July last year.

It's raining ice ... in Singapore
Today Online 28 Mar 08;

WITH the overcast sky and heavy rains reducing his vision, Mr Norman Tan switched on his windscreen wiper as he was driving along the Central Expressway yesterday afternoon.

"Suddenly, I see something jumping and bouncing on my windscreen. It doesn't look like rain. It's definitely not water," said Mr Tan, who added that he was afraid, not knowing what was "dropping from the sky".

He recounted his unusual encounter to 938Live: "The moment it drops, it bounces, then it melts."

Mr Tan was among several callers to the 938Live hotline who said they had spotted ice pieces — later confirmed as hailstones — in areas such as Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio and Bishan.

Cabbie Mr Ng knew that it was not just normal rain because "there was banging on the roof of my taxi".

"The ice pieces were the size of green or red beans," Mr Ng said.

The National Environmental Agency Meteorological Services confirmed that hailstones were reported in central Singapore between 3.15pm and 3.45pm yesterday. The last such incident here occurred on July 27 last year.

According to the agency, hailstones form in intense thunderstorm clouds, which occur all year round in the tropics.

"Generally, the hailstones would have been melted before they reach the ground. However, in the presence of a strong downdraft in an intense thunderstorm, the hailstones can be brought to the ground rapidly without melting," it said in a statement.

Read more!

Swiss adventurer arrives in Singapore in Solar Taxi

Channel NewsAsia 27 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE: Swiss Adventurer Louis Palmer is in Singapore on a worldwide tour to promote his solar car.

His tour, which covers 50,000km, 400 cities, 40 countries over one-and-a-half years, aims to drive home the message of global warming and alternative fuel sources.

A long trailer, carrying solar panels, is attached to the car. Designed in Switzerland, the 500kg car is made of aluminium and fibre glass.

The 36-year-old school teacher started his ambitious expedition in Europe in July 2007 and has since travelled across the Middle East, India and Australia.

"I cannot produce solar cars and I cannot open a factory tomorrow. But I can inspire hundreds of millions of people by driving the Solar Taxi around the world. I take two minutes of their time and make them think about the purpose behind it," said Mr Palmer.

He claims this is the first time a solar car is being driven around the world, fuelled by solar power only.

During his tour, Mr Palmer gives talks to students, politicians and celebrities to spread the message about how alternative fuels like solar energy are cheap and are able to prevent pollution.

He calls his car 'Solar Taxi' because it is used to give free rides. It was also showcased at the recent United Nations World Climate Conference in Bali.

While solar cars are not new, the Solar Taxi can travel a much longer distance. Mr Palmer said he hopes to approach big manufacturers to produce the car after completing his expedition later this year.

"All solar cars may be able to travel 80km or 100km on one battery charge, but the Solar Taxi can do up to 400km on one charge. The battery technology is improving a lot these days," he said.

The Solar Taxi has a top speed of 90km per hour and Mr Palmer, on average, travels 400km a day.

After Singapore, the Solar Taxi will continue the Asian leg, and then travel to America and Africa before ending in Europe.- CNA/so

Around the world in Solartaxi
Melissa Sim, Straits Times 28 Mar 08;

After nine months of travelling around the world in a solar-powered vehicle, Swiss adventurer Louis Palmer has made it to Singapore - the half-way mark.

Mr Palmer hopes to become the first person to circle the globe in a vehicle that uses solar power.

So far, the ride has been smooth. He has had just two mishaps: minor accidents in Syria and India.

Today, he leaves in his Solartaxi for Malaysia via the Causeway and will carry on through China, Japan, the United States and finally back to Lucerne in Switzerland, where he started his journey on July 3 last year.

He hopes to be back home by early December.

Half of the vehicle's energy is produced by solar panels on top of a 5m-long trailer rigged to the Solartaxi.

The other half comes from electrical energy taken from various power sockets worldwide.

To compensate for the energy taken, electricity is generated by solar panels back in Switzerland and fed back into the power grid.

Mr Palmer spent his three days here visiting Singapore Polytechnic and Nanyang Technological University, where he spoke about his efforts to promote the use of solar energy and prevent global warming.

Mr Palmer is not letting up on his cause once he returns home. 'I'll go around the world again and again, until more people are convinced to use solar energy,' he said.'

Related links

Meet the solar cabby
Ng Jing Yng, Today Online 26 Mar 08;

Solar-powered taxi seeks to go around world
Alister Doyle, Reuters 5 Dec 07;

Read more!

New electronic playgrounds may be introduced in Singapore's heartlands

Channel NewsAsia 27 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE: Imagine a playground that's fully electronic.

That's what one entrepreneur is hoping to introduce to children with its unique and innovative system.

Town Councils said they need time to assess the new innovation and if they implement them, it would most likely be at some of the larger neighbourhood parks. The playground system costs between S$40,000 to S$60,000.

One of the most important elements’ of the playground will be the racer bike which when pedalled, gets the rest of the game systems powered up and activated.

Allan Ang, Managing Director of RetroMax, said: "They have to peddle to generate the electricity and it's stored within a capacitor. All this is done in a very safe way, it's very low voltage. So, once the electrical energy is stored, they can proceed to play various games within the play area itself." - CNA/vm

Dream playground now a reality here

KidPower is all about high tech – and safety, too
Ng Jing Yng, Today Online 28 Mar 08;

IMAGINE going to your neighbourhood playground and hopping onto a bicycle with a speedometer so you know how fast you are going, plus engine sounds to double the thrill.

And after three to four minutes of pedalling, you will be able to play "catching" with beaming light sensors that challenge you to tap them before the lights go out.

This is no dream playground but a reality that will hit Singapore later this year. Unveiled yesterday by local playground supplier Retromax in collaboration with United States manufacturer Landscape Structures, the new electronic playground — known as KidPower (picture) — is set to replace traditional playgrounds at local estates.

And with one other big plus — safety.

Spring Singapore is rolling out new specifications today, and Retromax is set to comply with the safety standards.

With its low-rise structures and wide-space zones, KidPower is designed to reduce the risk of falls and accidents, said Mr Allan Ang, managing director of Retromax.

High structures, especially those monkey bars often found in older playgrounds, have been blamed for causing many playground accidents here.

Dr Peter Wong from the children's emergency department at KK Women's and Children's Hospital said he "sees several children each day with playground-sustained injuries".

The majority of his young patients suffer from elbow fractures as a result of falling from monkey bars, he added. Some of the injuries are serious enough that the children have to be hospitalised.

Mr Ang said that KidPower is designed to challenge children both mentally and physically. At the core of its system is the bike, Gener-Racer, which generates electricity to power the entire playground.

Children can go to seven different zones such as the Vertzone, where they will be able to tap lit touchpads placed at various heights, or the Lightpacer, where they tap light sensors in an order they must first memorise.

When the prototype of KidPower was built on a trial site in the United States earlier this year, it received positive responses from children, parents and disabled groups, which regarded the playground as disabled-friendly.

Mr Jason Sim, managing director of Playpoint, a company dealing with playground structures here, agreed that innovative playgrounds such as KidPower are needed for a generation raised on a diet of Nintendo and Xbox and known for their short attention span.

Apart from new safety guidelines, future playgrounds must also incorporate electronic and artificial intelligence into playground equipment, Mr Sim added.

Electronic playgrounds like KidPower will cost between $40,000 and $60,000 to install and its promoters hope that these playgrounds will also yield some health benefits — by helping children to lose weight.

Read more!

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease: Deadly strain infections up

Judith Tan, Straits Times 28 Mar 08;

Health Ministry tells parents and family doctors to be alert; may close pre-schools if situation worsens

HEALTH officials are warning parents about a rise in the number of cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) caused by a potentially deadly strain of virus.

The strain, called Enterovirus 71 (EV71), was found in a 'higher' number of patients between mid-February and last Saturday, according to the Ministry of Health.

Officials, though, did not say how many people have come down with EV71, which can lead to infections in the brain, heart, and lungs.

A total of 3,721 people have contracted HFMD since the start of the year. A Health Ministry spokesman said a sample study had revealed that about 20 per cent of patients with the ailment tested positive for EV71.

During an outbreak in 2000-2001, the same strain killed more than 70 children in Asia, including seven in Singapore.

While none have died this year, health officials are still on the alert. Family physicians have been told to check for the virus and schools are keeping close tabs on young children, especially those under five who are most susceptible to the disease.

HFMD is a common childhood ailment and actually comes from over 60 different strains of viruses. These include Coxsackie A16, the milder strain that is more common in Singapore.

It causes ulcers, rashes and blisters and can infect adults.

The Health Ministry spokesman said that the spread of EV71 is 'above the normal range' compared with past years and that the ministry would consider closing pre-schools if the situation got worse.

The increase in infections coincides with the reopening of schools after the week-long March break.

During the 2001 outbreak, all kindergartens and childcare centres were closed for 12 days, affecting about 140,000 children.

A check by The Straits Times found that 10 people went to the National University Hospital between mid-February and Wednesday with HFMD.

A hospital spokesman said that out of the 10, only one patient was warded.

There were 14 cases treated at the KK Women's and Children's Hospital this month and the last - 10 of which were caused by the EV71 strain.

But the hospital would not disclose how many of the patients were warded.

Symptoms of infection include a fever lasting two or three days; sore throat; blister-like rashes on the hands, feet and bottom; mouth ulcers, vomiting and diarrhoea.

The virus is spread through contact with blister fluid, saliva, faeces, items used by an infected person and occasionally through the air.

EV71 strain responsible for recent spike in Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease
Tan Hui Leng, Today Online 28 Mar 08;

THE dreaded Enterovirus 71 (EV71) strain has been identified as that responsible for the recent spike in Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD) cases.

Up until last Saturday, a total of 3,721 HFMD cases have been reported to the Ministry of Health (MOH) this year — up from 2,480 in the same period last year. The last two weeks, in particular, saw a sharp spike, with last week's figures hitting 585 — crossing the warning level of 565 cases.

Of the cases in the first 12 weeks of the year, 21 per cent of virus isolates tested positive for EV71.

This strain has on occasion been associated with "serious complications", noted the MOH. During the 2000 and 2001 HFMD outbreak, it killed seven children.

However, it is also important to grasp that most EV71 infections are mild in nature, said the MOH. "Many EV71 infections also pass unnoticed as they do not cause any symptoms to appear."

HFMD is a common childhood disease. Symptoms include fever, upper respiratory symptoms, rash with blisters on the palms and soles, and mouth ulcers.

Parents should consult a doctor early if their children exhibit symptoms.

Patients should remain at home and have limited contact with other children until all blisters have dried up.

There has not been any HFMD case involving serious complications this year.

Still, the MOH has asked all doctors to be on high alert. Pre-schools and schools have also been asked to step up hygiene measures. Pre-schools may be closed if necessary.

More HFMD cases reported this year
Channel NewsAsia 27 Mar 08;

SINGAPORE: There has been an increase in the number of Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease (HFMD) cases this year.

The Health Ministry (MOH) has received 3,721 reports so far. It is alerting doctors to be vigilant and to detect new cases early for treatment.

It is also working with the Education Ministry and the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports to alert schools to step up measures against HFMD.

If necessary, the Health Ministry may require the closure of pre-schools under the Infectious Diseases Act.

HFMD is spread through direct contact with respiratory droplets. This includes saliva, faeces and blister fluid of an infected person.

Symptoms include fever, mouth ulcers and rashes with blisters on the palms and soles.

Children five years old and younger are the most vulnerable.

MOH has discovered high circulation of the Enterovirus 71 among infected persons since mid-February.

The re-emergence of the virus is of concern as there could be serious health complications.- CNA/so

Read more!

Scouring the world to keep food in Singapore affordable

Jessica Lim, Straits Times 28 Mar 08;

PORK from South Africa. Fish from Namibia. Eggs from the United States.

These are not the usual sources of produce sold in Singapore, but with prices from traditional suppliers heading ever upwards, importers are expanding their horizons.

The reason: If prices get too high, consumers stop buying, and importers' bottom lines take a hit.

So importers are casting their nets far and wide for everything from staples like rice to meat and vegetables.

Meat merchant Jack Koh, 59, used to get his supplies from Malaysia and Thailand. Now he imports from Canada, Brazil and New Zealand as well.

He said: 'We try to explore new sources all the time. It's a contingency plan, even if we do not buy from them in the end.'

Checks showed that at least 10 meat importers have widened their supply sources in the past year.

Mr Koh is the president of the Meat Traders' Association, whose members are scouring Vietnam, Sabah, Sarawak and South Africa for suppliers.

'We must spread out from the north, east, south, west, to everywhere. Anything can happen, and if we do not make sure prices stay down, our customers will stop buying meat. When they suffer, we suffer too,' he said.

When the hunt is over, what results is a fresh platter of chow.

Already, Namibian fish is available at NTUC FairPrice outlets. The chain was the first to bring in a seven-tonne shipment from the south African country last year. And recently, it also started stocking Vietnamese rice, which is about 20 per cent cheaper than that from Thailand.

More supplies from non-traditional sources are on the horizon. In time, eggs - 90 per cent of which come from Malaysia now - might be imported from the US.

Mr Tan La Huah, the former chairman of the Eggs Import/Export Trading Association, said that importers here are holding discussions with US egg suppliers and at least one importer has already turned to the US for its supply.

'We are comparing prices before we decide if we should import American eggs,' said Mr Tan, who brings about 72,000 Malaysian eggs into Singapore every week.

'If we do, another 20 tonnes of these eggs will be available here every month.'

Even the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has got in on the act.

Its spokesman, Mr Goh Shih Yong, said that the AVA 'works with the industry to facilitate the imports of food from diverse sources at competitive prices' and makes efforts to keep the 'market accessible so traders can bring in food items'.

So far, the agency has given new suppliers in Belgium, Brazil, China, France, South Africa and Taiwan the green light to export frozen pork to Singapore.

It also recently approved Taiwan as a new source of frozen duck.

Supermarket chain Cold Storage works with more than 200 suppliers from all over the world to produce the 1,600 items on its shelves.

The massive effort to locate new sources is motivated to a large extent by rising food prices worldwide.

The prices of staples such as rice, wheat, corn and soya beans have all risen sharply, hitting record highs.

Wheat price increases have pulled up prices of flour-based products like bread and noodles. Prima Food - which supplies about 60 per cent of flour to manufacturers here - has raised its flour prices twice in the past three months.

Rice prices have risen, and supermarkets here have upped the price of a 10kg bag by about $2.

Consumers are feeling the pinch.

Mr Augustine Chua, 56, a production manager who earns about $1,500 a month, said: 'I buy house brands now and more frozen food than before.

'I also eat more tofu and less meat. But now the price of tofu, and even rice, is also going up.'

Importers have to look for new sources or risk a repeat of the Great Vegetable Throwaway: About a month ago, many wet-market stallholders had to throw out greens imported from China, after customers baulked at buying because prices almost doubled after severe weather in the country affected supply.

But how does sourcing food from afar help to bring prices down?

There are two ways, said Mr Koh.

When importers diversify their sources, they are no longer at the mercy of one supplier.

Having a choice of suppliers means the buyer's bargaining power goes up, said Mr Koh.

Also, when exports from one place are stemmed - say, because of weather or a bird-flu epidemic - importers and manufacturers can switch to other suppliers easily, and are not held hostage to high prices caused by supply shortages.

Of course, all this is good for the businesses' bottom line as well.

'By searching for cheaper food sources, importers manage to keep their profit margins up,' said Mr Thomas Pek, the managing director of Tai Hua Food Industries.

'It is a win-win situation - our customers benefit from cheaper products and keep coming back to us.'

But however hard the suppliers look to diversify their sources, more price hikes are on the horizon.

A recent United Nations assessment predicted that food prices would continue to increase for the next few years and would, in fact, 'rise in 2008, 2009 and probably at least until 2010'.

In the meantime, consumers will have to hope for news of the sort provided by Mr Png Geo Lian, the chairman of The Association of Chinese Wheat Flour Merchants of Singapore.

He says that importers are moving away from the 'conventional supplies of wheat from places like Canada, America and Australia' and tapping sources in China, where 'wheat is cheaper by about $10 per 25kg bag'.

Read more!

Scramble to grow rice

Experts warn on future availability of staple
Today Online 28 Mar 08;

LOS BANOS [Philippines] — It is the staple food of half of humanity but only a handful of countries have large rice surpluses, leaving even some of the biggest producers scrambling to grow enough to feed their own people.

Land endowment determines which countries have enough of the grain, say the world's foremost rice experts.

Rice yields in the Philippines are nearly double those of Thailand, the world's top exporter, yet as in the case of Indonesia, "there is just not enough land", said International Rice Research Institute (Irri) president Robert Zeigler.

The Philippines and Indonesia have a total of nearly 300 million mouths to feed and are among the most vulnerable consumers of the grain as inflation-adjusted rice prices have recently spiked close to historical highs.

The Philippines has imported rice almost every year since 1869, while Java, Indonesia's most populous island, has been an importer since the 16th century, said Irri economist David Dawe.

Just 30 to 35 tonnes — or 7 per cent of the world's annual rice harvest — is traded in the world market, and because the volumes are so thin, they are subject to price shocks.

China is the world's largest producer and consumer and also has the highest yields, but is not a key player in the export market, said Dr Zeigler, adding that China guards its rice reserve levels as a "state secret".

"China, like any government, is extremely concerned that their people have enough to eat," he said.

An unlucky confluence of events has pushed spot prices close to US$1,000 ($1,380) per tonne, levels not seen since the scientific breakthroughs of the "green revolution" in the early 1980s boosted yields and had since then helped keep prices below US$400 a tonne.

Bad weather in Bangladesh, pests and disease in Vietnam, and political problems in Myanmar — until the 1950s the world's top rice exporter — have cut stocks usually available in the international market, Dr Zeigler said.

The biofuels industry could also make maize and soybeans more attractive.

"We have some land in Asia that is being redirected towards biofuel — certainly a lot of interest in converting some good land into oil palm plantations for biodiesel. That's a concern," Dr Zeigler said.

"In general, there's just not much room for areas of growth in the world for rice." — AFP

Related articles

Rice in Asia; shortages and sharp price rises expected
Alastair McIndoe, Straits Times 27 Mar 08;

Read more!

Asian utilities keen on recycling waste gas: GE Energy

Two modifications for gas-driven plants are starting out in the region
Matthew Phan, Business Times 28 Mar 08;

ASIAN utilities and other energy users are showing keen interest in improving efficiency and recycling waste gases in their generators, says an executive of US-based GE Energy.

The power generating plant maker's regional director of strategic marketing S Ramanan said that two particular modifications for gas-driven power plants are 'just starting out' in Asia but could rapidly catch on.

The first is fuel flexibility, which allows generators to burn a blend of waste gas and natural gas. The second is operating flexibility, which raises the efficiency of gas turbines even when they are running at low, off-peak utilisation rates.

Fuel-flex technology was developed decades ago and is widespread in the US and North Asia - which have had to import natural gas - but not in South-east Asia, Mr Ramanan said.

Blends can comprise a significant portion - or even a majority - of waste gas. Given that the cost of fuel makes up 60-70 per cent of the cost of power generation, fuel flexibility is 'critical for Singapore to consider' as it is highly dependent on natural gas, he said.

Fuel-flex is used ideally where infrastructure already exists, such as on Jurong Island, Mr Ramanan said.

Elsewhere, GE has booked projects in Thailand, Malaysia and Australia.

The challenge with fuel-flex is that a lot of infrastructure is required to collect and compress the waste gas - large quantities are needed because the gas has relatively low calorie content and is released at low pressure.

Ironically, it tends to be older generation turbines, like GE's E-class turbines, that can burn different fuels, Mr Ramanan said.

With E-class turbines, when gas first contacts the turbines - which is where heat is converted to mechanical energy - its temperature is 1,100 to 1,200 degrees Celsius, versus 1,300 to 1,500 degrees for its F-class turbines.

The lower burning temperature allows E-class turbines to use different fuel mixes; though if they use natural gas alone, they run at a lower efficiency than F-class units.

Op-flex, meanwhile, is a relatively new technology, developed in response to higher energy prices, as generators turn their gas turbines on and off more often to cut waste.

Again, it is more widespread in the US and North Asia, where gas turbines are used as necessary to meet peak demand, rather than in South-east Asia, where gas is burned for base-load power.

PowerSeraya told BT that it does not use fuel-flex or op-flex technology at its plants, which it manages based on peak and off-peak needs.

Tuas Power and Senoko Power did not respond to queries by press time.

Read more!

Horror tour of China bear farm

Letter from Lydia Wong Jui Fang (Ms), Straits Times Forum 28 Mar 08;

ABOUT two years ago, my mother signed up for a China tour. She had looked forward to the trip with her friends but she was not prepared for what awaited her when she was there.

She was horrified when the tour guide took them to a reservation-cum-farm that sold bear bile for so-called medical consumption. The tour group was warned not to take photographs of the place for fear of bad publicity. And my mother had to endure screams of the tormented creatures locked in small and filthy cages. The bears were beaten, underfed and had dirty tubes inserted in them to drain their bile.

Upset with the experience, she refused to enter the compound further when she realised what the business was about and exchanged harsh words with the tour operator. Needless to say, it spoiled what could have been an enjoyable holiday for her. It has been a while but she still recounts the experience with sadness and anger.

I urge everyone who intend to go on holidays to check with their tour operators to ensure that their itineraries are free of such programmes. As tourists, we have a moral responsibility of not supporting such causes.

Related link

Acres and trade in bear parts in Singapore on the Acres website

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Nigeria's forests to disappear by 2020: expert

Yahoo News 27 Mar 08;

Nigeria will lose all of its remaining forests in the next 12 years if the rate of deforestation remains unchecked, an environmental expert warned Thursday.

"Considering the rate at which trees are chopped down without any regeneration efforts ... all of Nigeria's forests will disappear by 2020," Kabiru Yammama told AFP.

Yammama, who heads up the National Forest Conservation Council (NFCCN), a body that acts as a consultant to the Nigerian government, said all forests in northern Nigeria have been depleted and deforestation is moving southwards.

"The north has lost virtually all its forests. Our 1999 survey showed that the rate of deforestation in northern Nigeria alone stood at 400,000 hectares per annum," he said.

Nigeria uses 40.5 million tonnes of firewood every year, he said, adding: "Imagine the depredation wrought on the vegetation in the last decade."

According to the most recent NFCCN report, released in 2007, 35 percent of arable land in 11 northern states has been swallowed by desert.

This has affected the livelihood of over 55 million people, more than the combined population of Mali, Burkina Fasso, Senegal and Mauritania.

Nigeria has the seventh-largest gas reserves in the world but has so far failed to harness them to produce affordable cooking gas, meaning the bulk of the population still relies on wood or charcoal for cooking.

"Now that the forests in the north are gone, attention has shifted to ... southern Nigeria where trees are burnt for charcoal. This is more destructive than tree chopping because it is more rapid and kills all the flora and wildlife," Yammama further warned.

"If this trend continues unchecked Nigeria will join the league of Ethiopia which has lost all its forests," he said.

He cited desertification, rain shortages and drought as some of the consequences of deforestation that northern Nigeria is facing.

Earlier this month Nigeria's meteorological agency warned that the rainy season is getting shorter, particularly in the north, where it has dropped to 120 days from 150 days 30 years ago.

Rain fell for even less than 120 days in the last crop season which adversely affected yields and sent food prices up.

Read more!

Russia calls for sturgeon fishing ban in Caspian

Dario Thuburn, Yahoo News 27 Mar 08;

Russia on Thursday proposed that Caspian Sea states impose a five-year ban on fishing for sturgeon, prized for its caviar eggs, to save stocks from collapse, a spokesman for the fisheries agency said.

"We are ready to announce a moratorium," said spokesman Alexander Savelyev, adding that Russia would formally propose the ban to the other four Caspian Sea states of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan soon.

"This is because the sturgeon is about to disappear," said Savelyev, adding that Russia was not able to fish its annual quota of 50 tonnes of sturgeon last year because overfishing and poaching had depleted stocks.

The fisheries agency also put forward a draft law on Thursday for the creation of a state monopoly on sturgeon fishing and caviar sales in an effort to stop poaching -- a business worth one billion dollars (634 million euros) a year, Savelyev said.

Poaching is "a ruthless, pitiless business motivated only by profit," he continued. The draft law, which also proposes tax breaks for private sturgeon farms, is set to be examined by parliament in the next few days.

Almost all the world's sturgeon, one of the oldest species of fish, live in the Caspian Sea. Their eggs have been prized as a delicacy for centuries and environmentalists say the fish are heading for extinction.

The international environmental watchdog WWF warned earlier this year that the population of Caspian Sea sturgeon, including the osetra, servruga and beluga species, had fallen by as much as 70 percent in the past few decades.

Almost 12 tonnes of illegal caviar were sold in Europe between 2000 and 2005, according to official data from the European Union. Experts believe that is only a fraction of the caviar poached from the Caspian.

Russian police have stepped up raids on illegal caviar in recent years. In one of the latest incidents, nearly two tonnes of black caviar were confiscated from stores in the Moscow region in August last year.

Russia has also launched a sturgeon breeding programme but says its efforts are being undermined by fishing in other parts of the Caspian Sea and has therefore said any action needs to be taken jointly by Caspian Sea states.

Local scientists at the one of the sturgeon breeding centres in the region of Astrakhan in southern Russia also blame the boom in offshore oil and gas development in the Caspian Sea for depletion of stocks.

"We can keep the population at the same low level but we cannot revive the glory of the Caspian since human activity has a very large impact," Alexander Kitanov, a local scientist, said.

"The sturgeon could disappear from the Caspian Sea just like it has disappeared everywhere else. If it falls out of the food chain, its place will be taken up by other species and it will never be able to return."

Read more!

Consensus reached to fight tuna overfishing: Japan

Hiroshi Hiyama, Yahoo News 27 Mar 08;

"But in the end, everyone knew that to conserve the fish we can't continue fishing like we're doing now,"

Tuna eating and catching nations agreed Thursday to review rules to fight chronic overfishing, paving the way for stricter catch quotas later this year, Japanese officials said.

Officials, scientists and fisheries industry people from 13 nations held two days of talks in Tokyo amid concern that the growing popularity for Japanese food around the world is endangering tuna populations.

"There was opposition to the idea that the rules might be tightened, particularly from fisheries operators in the Mediterranean, who said the regulations are pretty tight as they are," said a Japanese official who attended the closed-door talks.

"But in the end, everyone knew that to conserve the fish we can't continue fishing like we're doing now," he said.

A 2006 deal agreed to cut the annual catch of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic Ocean by one-fifth to 25,500 tonnes by 2010.

A report issued in France last year said that France, Italy, Japan and Spain were the biggest violators of international quotas for bluefin tuna.

Fishing operators also have violated rules not to go tuna fishing during the breeding season and to avoid catching small fish.

Experts have repeatedly warned that that tuna will eventually become extinct at current fishing rates. The United States has in the past suggested a complete temporary ban on tuna fishing to ensure the fish survives.

"Japan's position is that we do not want to encourage overfishing and we would accept stricter fishing quotas based on scientific evidence," the official said.

The Tokyo meeting informally brought together members of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.

The commission is preparing to issue the latest data on tuna population and catch in June, in a report that is likely to suggest urgent need for controlling tuna fishing, the Japanese official said.

Some participants at the meeting warned that the commission's authority to control tuna fishing might be taken away by other conservation bodies if the quotas go ignored and tuna populations continue to shrink.

"It is difficult to speculate how strict the reviewed quota will be. But it is hard to imagine the new data indicating optimistic prospects for the tuna population," the official said.

The commission will hold a meeting in the latter half of the year based on the report to be issued in June, aiming to put forward a plan to increase tuna populations, the official said.

Japan is by far the biggest consumer of tuna, served raw in sashimi slices or with rice in sushi rolls.

But demand has been rising around the world as a growing number of people eat Japanese food, which is perceived as healthy.

Foreign fisheries operators say Japanese and other buyers are asking for a growing amount of tuna. Japanese businesses maintain they only buy fish that are legally caught.

Read more!

People power to deal with litter problem in the UK

People Clearing Litter aims to clean-up streets
Paul Eccleston and Steve McCormack, The Telegraph 27 Mar 08;

A campaign to clean up other people's discarded litter has been launched.

Steve McCormack, founder of People Clearing Litter, is attempting to recruit public-spirited volunteers to clean up eyesore sites.

He claims authorities are overwhelmed by the scale of the problem and the only solution is for like-minded people to do the job themselves.

Mr McCormack has set up a website - www.peopleclearinglitter.co.uk - as a focal point for the campaign where people can gain information and encouragement.

"The message of my campaign - that public bodies alone will never be able to tackle the litter problem - is not a counsel of despair, but one of optimism, because it provides the chance for ordinary people to show they are prepared to work together to improve their environment," he said.

He is asking people with a few minutes to spare fill up a bag or two of rubbish and then to register with the site, to report what they have done in their own area. They can also link up to jointly tackle the worst eyesores.

The website currently reports that 165 sites have so far been cleared of litter.

Here he explains his mission:

How we can solve the litter problem?

When I first suggested to friends that I was thinking of starting a national campaign to try to persuade British people to pick up litter thrown away by others, most thought I was on the mad side of naïve.

Although enough of them had noticed, with distaste, the increasing accumulation of litter in places they passed on foot or in cars, they doubted there'd be many people willing to get their hands dirty and actually help clear it up.

Worthy, but doomed to fail was the thrust of what they thought of my idea.

There were two reasons behind their pessimism. They thought people had an ingrained resistance to clearing up someone else's mess, particularly if that person could be categorised as lazy or anti-social.

And they said people would object to performing a task that was already the responsibility of public bodies, funded of course by the taxpayer.

But I saw flaws in both these cases. First, if no-one ever lifted a voluntary finger to put right the mistakes or misdeeds of others, we'd truly sink as a society. And second, our taxes are already spent on litter clearing. It is just that we, as a society, are tossing so much litter away that the authorities can't cope.

But what about Keep Britain Tidy, I hear you ask? Aren't they on top of the problem? Are they hell. First, they effectively re-branded themselves out of existence a couple of years ago by being swallowed up by an organisation no-one's ever heard of, called Encams.

And second, they manage to spend large chunks of their £10m annual budget (most of which is our taxes) on producing lengthy, wordy reports few will ever read.

The last of these concluded (I kid you not) that the litter problem had not got any worse over the last four years, when the truth staring us in the face every day is the complete opposite.

It's clear, I'm afraid, that publicly funded bureaucracies, with half an eye on their Government paymasters, can do nothing more than scratch the surface in this area.

We, the people, are the ones with the power.

So, a fortnight ago I launched the campaign and the website (www.peopleclearinglitter.co.uk) on Jeremy Vine's lunchtime BBC Radio 2 programme. My simple message was that, if we want to get rid of litter eyesores, we had better do some of the work ourselves.

I was overwhelmed and heartened by the response. Supportive phones calls flooded the programme, my email inbox was engulfed by messages promising active help, and within 24 hours, the website had registered 15,000 hits.

It was gratifying to know I wasn't alone, and I sensed a similar feeling of relief around the country. 'I thought I was the only one going around with an old carrier bag picking up litter,' wrote a woman from Windsor.

'It's such a relief to know that there are more of us around,' said another woman, from Kent, along with photographs of the cans, bottles, sweet wrappers and plastic bags she's just collected from a path near her home.

In a letter arriving the next day, a man from Sussex wrote: 'Thank heavens there are other like-minded people supporting your efforts. I was beginning to despair.'

By the end of the first day, hundreds of these and other supporters had recorded their recent litter-picking exploits on the website and started using the Forum area to communicate with like-minded people in their localities.

One of my initial aims was that the website, by providing this central rallying point for the campaign, would embolden and encourage people who might feel a little nervous or self-conscious collecting litter in public. Happily, the early signs are that this objective is being achieved.

A man from Burnley wrote: 'Great idea. I find rubbish spoiling my walks in the countryside, but I won't feel like a lone nutter if your idea takes off.'

In similar vein, a man told me of his resolve to do something about the 'thousands' of plastic bags stuck in trees next to his local Tesco store in Huntingdon. 'I am going to sort out this mess. You have given me the final push,' he reported.

One way in which I hope the campaign will spread is as a result of the visibility that will be created by supporters wearing the green campaign badges, and, more powerfully, tying up the bags of litter they collect with the green People Clearing Litter ribbon available through the website. The idea is that these flashes of green will attract the eye, as bulging bags are left for collection alongside council litter bins on footpaths and pavements.

This might just do two other things. First, councils might be encouraged to raise their game, as they surely should. And second, some of the current litter-droppers might just think twice the next time they causally toss that empty can into the bushes, or wind down their car window and chuck out a burger box and empty bottle.

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Experts seek answers on water footprint

Arthur Max, Associated Press Yahoo News 27 Mar 08;

It's not only our carbon footprint we should worry about. Experts are looking for solutions to our growing water footprint, as urban populations explode and the demand for biofuels adds stress on water for farmland.

Nearly half the people on Earth, about 2.5 billion, have no access to sanitation, many of them in urban slums. The world's cities are growing by 1 million people a week, and soon their aging water systems will not cope.

"What we are doing now can't keep up with the issues we already have," says Carol A. Howe, an expert working for a UNESCO-led water development project called Switch.

"Something needs to change. It needs to change quickly, and it needs to be fairly dramatic," she told a symposium of journalists Wednesday.

The threat of climate change has drawn attention to carbon footprints, the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity. Now scientists have begun calculating a water footprint, the amount of water needed to produce goods or services.

A report published this month by UNESCO-IHE, the Institute for Water Education in Delft, says it takes 70-400 times as much water to create energy from biofuels as it does from fossil fuels.

It said the production of crude oil requires slightly more than one cubic meter of water for one unit of energy, compared with 61 cubic meters to grow biomass in Brazil — mostly sugar used for ethanol — for the same amount of energy. The water footprint of biomass grown in the Netherlands is 24 cubic meters, the report said.

Engineers are experimenting in a dozen cities from Lima to Beijing to find ways to ease the pressure on water resources.

The pilot projects, run by the U.N. Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization and funded by the European Union, range from turning rooftops into gardens, capturing and recycling rain, recharging underground water reservoirs with waste water, and swapping traditional flush sanitation for dry toilets.

The English city of Birmingham is monitoring the effects of green roofs to reduce flooding during storms, to cut energy needs and to study how to capture run-off to reduce water needs in the buildings or surrounding areas, Howe said.

A project in Tel Aviv, Israel, channels treated waste water into the aquifer through the natural filtering system of the soil, and is testing whether it can be reused for drinking water, she said.

Gary Amy, a professor of urban water supply and sanitation with UNESCO-IHE, said the United Nations is almost certain to miss its 2015 goal of halving the percentage of the world's population who lack adequate sanitation. The goal takes 1990 as the base level.

Accounting for population growth, some 500,000 new people every day would have to be connected to a sanitation system to meet the U.N. target, he said.

Waterless toilets, using either chemicals or composting, are being tested in Ghana, Kenya, Peru, Egypt and elsewhere. They also enhance the possibility of separating human waste, using liquid waste as a rich source of nutrients for crops, Amy said.

"If we captured all the urine in Africa, it could match all the nitrogen and phosphates used for agriculture," he said.

Howe said standard mechanisms consume about 25 percent of all residential water — drinking water that is literally flushed down the toilet. "It takes a lot of energy and money to bring in the water, to treat it, to put into the toilet, to treat it again, and to put it into the river system," she said.

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The man making 'wind bags' to store wind energy

Brady Haran, BBC News 26 Mar 08;

Seamus Garvey wants to "store the wind".

He believes the future of energy is storing it as compressed air in giant bags under the sea. And a major power company has invested in the scheme.

Professor Garvey, a long-time proponent of compressed air, feels vindicated by the research grant.

He said: "As the country and the whole world moves toward using more renewable energy, we're going to need energy storage." His idea would utilise familiar renewable sources - wind, waves and tidal power.

But Professor Garvey does not believe we should be forced to "use it or lose it" when conditions are best.

Energy would instead be used to compress and pump air into underwater bags, anchored to the seabed.

When energy demand is highest, the air would be released through a turbine, converting it to electricty.

Store or waste?

Professor Garvey, from the University of Nottingham, said: "The demand for electricity's not constant.

"In the middle of the day we want a lot of it, at night almost nobody wants electricity.

"Also, the wind does not blow at the same speed all the time.

"We will have times (as wind power becomes more common) when the amount of electricity generated by the wind is more than the total demand for the whole country... then you have to store it or waste it."

Power company E.ON has granted 300,000 euros (£236,000) towards building two prototypes - the first on land, then an underwater version powered by waves.

Using compressed air to store energy is not new - for example, it has previously been done in disused mines.

But Professor Garvey will do it under the sea, in flexible containers he has dubbed "energy bags".

He said: "We have to overcome the instinct that (this idea) is too simple to be good.

"And then to show that the economics stack up."

Professor Garvey anticipates his prototypes will be operating within 18 months.

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