"Extinct" plants found in remote Australia

Yahoo News 11 Apr 08;

Two plants that were thought to have been extinct since the late 1800s have been rediscovered in far northern Australia, according to an official report released on Saturday.

The Queensland state government's State of the Environment report said the two species were found on Cape York, in tropical far north Queensland.

"The Rhaphidospora cavernarum, which is a large herb that stands about one and a half meters high, has reappeared," state climate change minister Andrew McNamara told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

"It hasn't been seen in Queensland since 1873," he said.

He said the second plant that has reappeared, another herb called Teucrium ajugaceum, was last seen in 1891.

The report was produced from research by more than 100 academic and government experts.

"The rediscovery of two presumed extinct plant species has seen a decline in this category, with a corresponding increase in the endangered category," the report said.

It said more than 50 plant species new to science are discovered and described in Queensland every year and there are more than 12,000 native plant species known to science in the state.

(Reporting by Victoria Thieberger; Editing by Jerry Norton)

"Extinct" Plants Discovered Blooming in Australia
Dave Hansford, National Geographic News 28 Apr 08;

Two woodland plants long thought extinct have reappeared in far northern Australia, experts announced recently.

Teucrium ajugaceum, a pink-flowered mint that lives in eucalypt woodlands, had not been seen since 1891 and was listed as extinct in 1992.

Rhaphidospora cavernarum, not seen since 1873, also frequents eucalypt forests. Though it grows to almost 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall and boasts white and purple flowers, the plant had somehow evaded surveyors until now.

The discoveries in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula were revealed in a Queensland Environmental Protection Agency (QEPA) report released earlier this month.

Ingenious Adaptation

T. ajugaceum was spotted near the town of Musgrave in 2004 by QEPA staff who were investigating the impacts of road construction.

Extracting gravel to build roads may represent the biggest threat to the plant's survival, said the agency's biodiversity planning officer Bruce Wannan.

"That's been an ongoing challenge [in road construction]—to try and avoid impacting species."

The rediscovered plant has an "ingenious adaption" for dealing with bushfires, Wannan added.

"It has a large underground tuber, to which it dies down each year at the start of the dry season," Wannan said.

"Then it resprouts at the beginning of each wet season. That seems to be a good mechanism for avoiding the worst impacts of fires."

Even so, the mint has been reclassified as "vulnerable" on account of its limited range.

Little Known

Scientists know little about the ecology of the herb R. cavernarum, said Gordon Guymer, director of the QEPA's Queensland Herbarium.

"We only know it from a few scattered locations, so we don't have a precise idea of what its range or habitat requirements are."

R. cavernarum faces competition from exotic weeds, cattle grazing, and bushfires.

But cultivating specimens in greenhouses would be a last resort, especially since breeding can be difficult, Guymer added.

"The first thing to do is to monitor these populations, identify any threats, and see whether we can manage or control those threats.

"Our preference is for in situ management."

Both species may also benefit from an Australian national park expansion program announced recently.

Under the new plan, an extra 50 percent of Queensland's wilderness will be protected by 2020—creating a total of 46,332 square miles (12 million hectares).

Read more!

Littering threatens marine life

Kerryn Manifold, The Sunshine Coast Daily 13 Apr 08;

Marine-life carers in south-east Queensland are looking after more injured and sick turtles than they have in the last 20 years, as human interaction with the reptiles increases.

UnderWater World general manager Julie Cullen said the number of turtles her staff looked after was expected to more than double by the end of this financial year. Ms Cullen said she expected to see about three turtles in care at any given time when she started at UnderWater World two years ago.

“Right now, we’ve got at least nine turtles,” she said. “The average over the last 18 years is about 30 to 40 turtles coming in each year.

“This (financial) year, we’ve had 80 already.”

Ms Cullen said authorities did not know what had caused the increase, but she expected litter finding its way into the ocean had played a large part.

She said turtles could become entangled in fishing nets or fishing line or swallow plastic bags, which caused “gas pockets” and blocked their digestive system.

“The gas pockets make them float,” she said.

“If they’re always floating they can’t rest and they can’t get to the bottom to feed.”

South of Brisbane, Sea World was even forced to stop taking injured turtles in September and October last year because they had no space left to treat them.

Marine sciences manager Steven McCourt said they became overwhelmed with animals.

“We had our full-house sign out for about three weeks,” Mr McCourt said.

He said he also did not know what had caused the increase, but thought human impact could be to blame.

“Whatever people take out fishing, they need to take home,” he said.

“Bait bags, old fishing line, crab pots all need to come back so we have less human impact on these turtles.”

He said more turtles could have hatched about 13 years ago than had in previous years. They were returning to breed, and so the higher numbers could be attributed to more turtles being in the water.

He said sediment run-off from increased development could smother seagrass meadows, which formed a large part of turtle diets, and warned that global warming might have an impact on future population numbers if rising waters flooded nesting sites.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 12 Apr 08

First Hand Encounter with the Bornean Lungless Frog
lots of details and photos on the raffles museum news blog

Hantu Seahorse features on American website
on the hantu blog

Sharing about nature and giving talks about nature
thoughts and responses on the leafmonkey blog

Soft corals of Singapore
on the singapore celebrates our reefs blog

Exploring more of a new shore
on the wildfilms blog

Read more!

Climate change will hit home in Singapore: Laureate

Jane Ng, Straits Times 12 Apr 08;

CLIMATE change poses a serious problem for Singapore, and people should really start paying attention to it.

Singapore is low-lying, so if sea levels rise as a result of climate change, large parts of the island will be under water.

This warning should not be taken lightly: It comes from the first Singaporean who can say in his resume he is a Nobel Prize winner.

National University of Singapore (NUS) geography professor Wong Poh Poh, 63, is on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which shared last year's Nobel Peace Prize with former United States vice-president Al Gore.

The IPCC is a scientific body tasked to evaluate the risk of climate change caused by human activity, and has a core group of 800 scientists from around the world.

For his work on the panel, Prof Wong was among several academics honoured at the NUS annual University Awards Ceremony yesterday.

He won the Special Commendation Award for his one decade of contributions to the IPCC.

The top award at last night's event, the Outstanding Service Award for contributions to the university and society, went to Professor Lim Siong Guan, chairman of the Economic Development Board and group managing director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.

Prof Lim's career has included stints as permanent secretary in several ministries.

Thirteen awards were given out at the ceremony at the University Cultural Centre.

Prof Wong, who joined the then-University of Singapore in 1966, said he was 'happy and grateful' for the recognition from NUS.

'It is good that an institution recognises the work and contribution of its staff. I hope this will inspire others to do the same,' he said.

In environmental research, he is most passionate about coasts and anything that affects them - from climate change to tsunamis and tourism.

He has researched coastal issues since the 1960s, long before environmental issues became as prominent as they are today.

Coastal erosion, coastal management and coastal tourism issues - he has delved into them all.

Describing the Nobel prize as a 'personal highlight' of his life's work, he added: 'My guiding philosophy is, 'Do not harm nature, do not waste nature.''

NUS professor gets award for green efforts
He is lauded for his contributions as lead author on panel for climate change
Lee U-Wen, Business Times 12 Apr 08;

THE accolades keep on coming for National University of Singapore (NUS) associate professor Wong Poh Poh, who rose to fame last October when he became the first Singaporean to share a Nobel Peace Prize.

Last night, at the NUS annual University Awards ceremony, the 62-year-old was lauded for his contribution as a lead author on the UN inter-governmental panel on climate change, which produced reports to raise awareness of man-made climate change.

Prof Wong, from the NUS Department of Geography, was one of 13 educators who received awards at the University Cultural Centre, where he was presented with a Special Commendation prize.

On why he feels so passionately about climate change, he told BT: 'Many years ago, I worked on the impact of an extreme tide event, and then it turned out later that this could be an analogue for the impact of a sea-level rise. That spurred me further into climate change issues.'

He added: 'I'm happy and grateful that the work I've been doing quietly for more than 10 years is being recognised. The department and university have provided a conducive environment for the work to be carried out.'

Meanwhile, Lim Siong Guan, adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, was feted with one of the night's most prestigious honours - the Outstanding Service Award.

Mr Lim, 62, who is also Economic Development Board chairman, spearheaded the school back in 2003 as head of the steering committee.

The former permanent secretary and head of the Civil Service who retired two years ago was hailed for 'imparting his vast knowledge and expertise in areas of leadership and change management in the public sector'.

He said: 'The best contribution I can make is as a practitioner describing what has been accomplished in Singapore, sharing my experiences of what works and what does not, and explaining policies and events within a conceptual framework.

'In this way, lessons may be learnt and ideas developed for practical application elsewhere in the world.'

Other categories of awards handed out were those of Outstanding Educator, Outstanding Researcher and Young Researcher of the year.

Two professors - Goh Suat Hong from the Faculty of Science, and Sit (Wong) Kim Ping from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine - were conferred the title of emeritus professor, the institution's highest academic appointment.

Read more!

More concrete discussions about environmental issues needed in Singapore

Letter from Wong Weng Fai, Straits Times Forum 12 Apr 08;

IN 1995, I wrote a letter to this forum questioning the need for more golf courses. Today, there is no denying the reality of global warming. Yet most Singaporeans only seem to be vaguely aware of the threats it brings to Singapore.

The threat of rising sea levels on our low-lying island has been brought up before and I believe that steps are being taken to assess the situation and come up with possible solutions. However, there are other social and economic threats that have not been well discussed as yet.

In an article in the March 2008 edition of Foreign Affairs entitled 'Arctic meltdown - the economic and security implications of global warming' by Scott G. Borgerson, a former lieutenant-commander of the U.S. Coast Guard, two such interesting issues were raised.

Firstly, the Arctic is most likely the Earth's final major hydrocarbon deposit. With ill-defined borders at the poles, the author warned of potential armed conflict in the grab for resources. Any major conflicts between the world's major powers will be a political minefield for our small country.

The second, and perhaps potentially more serious, threat is that the retreating Arctic ice-cap will open up new sea routes. For example, the current 11,200 nautical miles journey from Rotterdam to Yokohama via the Suez Canal and Singapore can be cut by nearly 40 per cent to 6,500 nautical miles via a northern route via melted sea lanes in the Arctic. Even more than an economically expensive canal through the Kra Isthmus, such 'cost-free' deep sea routes may erase Singapore's natural geographical advantage.

Singapore is a small country and we have very little options. Apathy and resignation are certainly not among our options. Perhaps it is time to make discussions about environmental issues more concrete so as to prime the public consciousness so that there is better awareness and creative solutions will hopefully arise.

Read more!

Wastage at Singapore bakery

Letter from Wong Pei Shan (Miss), Straits Times Forum 12 Apr 08;

I WAS at the Vivocity Cedele Bakery Depot last Thursday night with some friends having after-dinner desserts. We were there from around 9pm till its closing time. At around 9.20pm, my friends and I noticed something disturbing.

One of Cedele's staff started clearing all the loaves of bread from the shelves and disposing of them in garbage bags. Feeling incredulous at what we were seeing, one of my friends asked if she was throwing all the loaves of bread away. When she said yes, we were shocked. My friend probed further and asked why she was throwing away all the bread. The staff member then told us that the bakery's management does this as it wants to keep its bread fresh.

My friends and I estimated that there were easily 20-30 packets of bread on the shelves. If this act is repeated in all of Cedele's branches across Singapore, imagine how much food is wasted per day. My question is: why, in times of food shortages and rising food costs, does Cedele continue with this wasteful practice? I believe the bread on the shelves is at most a day old and, as far as I know, people have not gotten sick and have no qualms about eating bread that is a day or two old. While I laud Cedele's dedication to maintaining food freshness for its customers, I am also disturbed at Cedele's wasteful act.

I have two suggestions for Cedele: Local organisation, Food from the Heart, has a Bread Distribution Programme which started in February 2003. It collects unsold bread from bakeries and hotels and distributes it to welfare homes and needy families - I am sure the number of people who require food assistance has grown, given that newspaper reports have shown more people are finding it increasingly expensive to put food on the table. Cedele can consider joining this programme.

Secondly, it can also sell off its food products at a lower price nearer its closing time, like some bakeries do, in order to clear stock for the day and minimise wastage. In times of inflation and continuous rising costs, it is perhaps prudent for Cedele to control the number of loaves of bread baked per day and not over-produce. If there are still leftovers, then Cedele would do well to think of ways to minimise wastage instead of simply throwing away food.

Read more!

Rice and the fear factor

Chua Lee Hoong, Straits Times 12 Apr 08;

WHO would have thought rice could hog headlines the way it has recently - continuously, for days on end?

Who would have thought rice could become the topic of so much discussion, even at yuppie cocktail parties?

People who never once gave a thought to the price of rice can now recite the prices of the different brands, and for 5kg and 10kg bags to boot.

They do calculations to see which is better value, and then they buy - often two or three bags at a time.

Government exhortations that they need not hoard, as there are sufficient supplies, are falling on deaf ears: A lot of people are buying more not because they fear supplies dwindling, but because they fear prices shooting up further.

The run on rice began two weeks ago, before the Government came into the picture.

On March 31, I saw for myself the after-effects at my local NTUC FairPrice supermarket. Where bulging bags of rice of myriad brands used to droop off the shelves, only a handful lay forlornly in that entire aisle.

It was a strange sensation.

I was reminded of my day trip across the Berlin Wall into East Berlin in 1988. There's nothing like a visit to the local supermarket to understand a place, so I asked for directions to one. There, I was greeted by the sight of many empty shelves. Stale bread, some canned food, that was about it. And yes, a surly cashier.

The rice shelves at FairPrice are now decently full again. But while the supply issue has been resolved, another issue remains, that of price.

The price of rice has risen 30 per cent within the past three months, and is expected to rise further. Food prices in general are also rising, fast.

Whatever the reasons - rising demand from China and India, dwindling supply due to diversion of land for food crops to biofuel crops, high oil prices feeding into higher cultivation and distribution costs for food, or simply commodity traders driving up prices with their speculative buys - the fact of higher prices is a reality that has to be dealt with.

We can be thankful that because of Singapore's wealth, higher food prices will not lead to riots the way they have in a number of poorer countries.

As National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) secretary-general Lim Swee Say pointed out, rice took up 22 cents of every $10 spent at FairPrice supermarkets last year.

Having said that, does that mean politicians should sit back and let the rice situation take care of itself?

Someone asked me this earlier this week, and I must say it's a good question.

On one side you have these arguments:

# One, the market will self-correct. As rice becomes more expensive, farmers will find it more worthwhile to grow it. The price will then come down.

# Two, those who hoard rice will soon find it not worth their while, because rice that's kept for more than three months or so will attract rice weevils, a small beetle that feeds on the internal portions of grains. They will multiply and the rice will spoil.

# Three, by talking too much about the rice situation, political leaders risk panicking the people more.

As one posting on a local blog said: 'I...feel that the Government has given too much attention to the issue of rice supply recently and hence bringing about more attention to the situation. After all, some Singaporeans have the mentality that since the Government is talking about it, something will go wrong very soon.'

Should the Government have done nothing then? All those visits by ministers to rice warehouses, the attempts to assuage people's fears, and exhortations not to hoard - were they unnecessary?

I think not. Two reasons:

# One, the importance of rice to Singaporeans. Rice is the staple food of an overwhelming majority, as a recent survey by the bilingual free daily my paper found. Most can't live without it, even if it becomes more expensive.

For poorer Singaporeans, it is even more of a staple. There are no cheaper substitutes - certainly not bread, noodles or potatoes. In any case, the prices of these have also risen.

The only viable alternative is to switch to a lower-grade rice - AA instead of AAA, say.

And even if people don't buy rice direct from the supermarket, they buy it indirectly, from the hawker centres and coffee shops.

# Two, the unprecedented nature of the recent price hikes. There is no parallel in recent world history.

There have been sharp price hikes caused by supply shortages before, but these were geographically isolated. A diversion of supply from somewhere where rice is plentiful, and the problem is solved.

What is happening now is a worldwide phenomenon - from Peru to the Philippines, rice is equally dear, and the issue politically volatile.

Singapore's political leaders have moved rapidly to alleviate the impact of the rising prices on poorer Singaporeans.

The Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) yesterday announced it was bringing forward by almost two months its plan to raise the financial aid given to those on public assistance, from July 1 to May 5.

A day earlier, NTUC announced its $4 million scheme to help lower-income union members by giving them discount vouchers to be used at FairPrice supermarkets.

The 5 per cent discount is meant to offset the estimated 5 per cent inflation this year.

If poor Singaporeans who are non-union members feel left out, they can see their MPs. The latter can apply to use ComCare funds from MCYS to buy these discount vouchers for their needy residents.

Unionists can help their members - and grassroots leaders their poorer residents - know exactly how to get these vouchers and other available help.

In fact, instead of waiting for these poorer folk to approach them, why not seek them out, door-to-door if need be? Most of them will not be clued in to the news, and will not be aware that these help schemes are available.

Meanwhile, there's the overriding need to help these folk get over the fear factor. Many are from the older generation and lived through periods when rice and other foodstuffs were scarce, and so have a tendency to hoard at the first sign of trouble.

They need to be assured that the times are different today, that there is sufficient rice for everybody.

And, contrary to the blogger who wrote that talking about the situation only gets people more worried, assure everyone that these assurances are to be taken at face value and not a sign that 'something will go wrong very soon'.

Read more!

Plants that clear the air

Want to learn how plants can improve the air quality indoors or which ones are safe for asthma sufferers? Read on
Tay Suan Chiang, Straits Times 12 Apr 08;

BRITISH landscape and garden designer Andy Sturgeon has bad and good news for city folks who spend most of their time indoors.

First, the bad news. 'Homes and offices have toxins,' says the 42-year-old, who owns Andy Sturgeon Landscape and Garden Design in Brighton, England. 'Since many of us spend 90 per cent of our lives indoors, the indoor air can be harmful.'

He is referring to what is commonly known as the Sick Building Syndrome, where building occupants find themselves falling sick, getting headaches and respiratory problems from being indoors.

He says good ventilation can improve air quality, but people are often unwilling to give up air-conditioning in tropical climes and leave the windows open.

Fortunately, there is good news: A few pots of plants will make a marked improvement to the quality of indoor air. They do not just add some greenery, but they also 'filter the air'.

'They take in toxins and break them down with the help of microbes in the compost,' says Mr Sturgeon, who studied tropical plants at the Welsh College of Horticulture.

His top picks for these green air-purifiers include the Boston fern, the dumbcane, money plant and the corn palm because 'they are easy to grow and do well in an indoor environment'.

The award-winning landscape designer, who does both residential and commercial gardens across Britain, was in town recently to prepare for the upcoming Singapore Garden Festival in July, which he will be participating in.

He points out that while the air-purifying plants can grow in an indoor environment, all plants still need some sunlight.

As a general rule, indoor plants require less water than those grown outdoors. He says a common mistake gardeners make is to water too much. 'It's better to water little but often,' he advises. The soil should feel damp, not soggy.

Life! looks at these green air-purifiers and how to care for them.

Read more!

Indonesian soldiers find evidence of illegal logging by Malaysians

Antara 12 Apr 08;

Balikpapan (ANTARA News) - Indonesian soldiers assigned in a part of West Kalimantan bordering Malaysia recently found material evidence Malaysians engaged in illegal logging on Indonesian territory, a local military spokesman said.

The evidence found by members of an army unit guarding the land border with Malaysia from the Siding Post consisted of a bulldozer bearing the Caterpillar brand and 83 logs each 12 meters long and 50 cm in diameter as well as bulldozer tracks crossing the border, chief information officer of the Tanjung Pura Military Command, Lt Col Andi Suyuti, said here Friday.

The find was made by an eight-man patrol led by Lt Ade Tiana on Wednesday (March 5) at a spot about 75 meters from the border, Suyuti said.

When the patrol arrived at the spot nobody was around but it was clear a tree-cutting activity had taken place shortly before, he said.

Later, the bulldozer`s owner, accompanied by a few Malaysian militarymen, came to the location to see the equipment and logs but they left again without any comment.

It turned out the heavy-duty equipment belonged to Malaysian timber companies Smart Link Sdn Bhd and Malaystar Sdn Bhd, Suyuti said.

Members of the Indonesian army patrol squad were also able to pinpoint the precise spots where the Malaysians had cut trees, he added.

The bulldozer and the logs were later taken to the border guard post at Jogoi Babang as evidence in a further investigation, Suyuti said. (*)

Read more!

Market alone can't halt CO2 emissions: British climate official

Marlowe Hood, Yahoo News 11 Apr 08;

A top British climate change official backed an embattled European Union scheme Friday to tax industrial carbon emissions, but also allowed for exceptions in highly competitive sectors.

Adair Turner, the newly-appointed head of Britain's Climate Change Committee, also expressed skepticism toward the reliance on industry-wide agreements and new technology favoured by the United States for reducing the greenhouse gases that drive global warning.

"My commission and the British government are in favour of moving quite fast in auctioning the permits [to emit CO2] rather than giving them away for free," as is currently done, he told business leaders and journalists in Paris.

Several major multinationals, including Shell France and cement giant Lafarge, threatened this week to stop investing within Europe or to move operations outside the EU unless the plan to sell emission permits was scrapped.

Some industries such as steel and aluminum, Turner acknowledged, face high energy costs and stiff competition from abroad, and should thus receive some form of relief.

"But it most industries the issue of international competitiveness does not arise," he said.

Lord Turner, a former vice-chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe, heads a committee that will advise the Britain on climate change policy and setting targets for slashing greenhouse gases.

It will also monitor the government's progress in adhering to its own goals.

Britain has pledged to introduce the world's first legally-binding targets to cut carbon output by at least 60 percent before 2050, using 1990 levels as a benchmark.

The Climate Change Committee may recommend, by year's end, that reductions be as high as 80 percent, and that other greenhouse gases be included in the legislation, he said.

While underlining the urgency for an aggressive climate change policy, Turner said he was skeptical of two main axes in the US approach to slowing global CO2 emissions.

"I am very worried that the world is simply assuming that carbon capture and storage (CSS) is going to be available as a technology and at a reasonable cost by 2015," he said.

CSS is an as-yet unproven technique for diverting carbon emissions -- from coal-fired energy plants, for example -- and storing them deep underground so that they do not escape into the atmosphere.

"Almost every plan that I see has simply pencilled that in" as if it were a given, he said. "If we don't have it, we will have a major problem."

The International Energy Agency has forecast a double of coal use over the next 20 years, especially to fuel new power stations in China and India.

The administration of George W. Bush has touted CSS as a key technology for reducing emissions.

Turner also expressed caution on the efficacy of industry-based agreements on curbing CO2 output.

Unless government steps in -- at the national and international level -- companies that invest in energy efficiency and carbon-reducing measures will be penalised by competitors who shun such measures, he said.

"At the end of the day, because this is a collective public problem it ultimately does require governments to require that all the players come in to a level playing field," Turner said.

While there is general agreement on the need to keep global temperatures from rising above two or three degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels to avoid catastrophic climate change, the world "has not quite woken up to the fact that it will require very, very radical action," he said.

But even if the needed measures cost one-to-two percent of world GDP over the next several decades, the cost is a relative small price to pay.

"The great wars of the 20th century cost 30 or 40 percent of GDP and millions of lives. Compared to the sacrifices previous generations made, this is trivial," he said.

Turner's comments come ahead of a "Major Economies Meeting" in Paris next week, a US-led gathering -- grouping G8 nations, the EU and major developing economies such as China and India -- of the world's major carbon-emitting nations.

Read more!

Salmon Fishing Banned in U.S. Northwest

Donna Gordon Blankinship, Associated Press National Geographic News 11 Apr 08;

West Coast fisheries managers voted Thursday to cancel all commercial salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coasts this year.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council decided to allow limited recreational fishing of coho salmon on holiday weekends off the Oregon coast, but no recreational fishing off California after several members of the panel argued that every salmon counts.

Scientists and government officials are expecting this year's West Coast salmon season to be poor because of the collapse of Sacramento River chinook, one of the West Coast's biggest wild salmon runs.

Although commercial salmon fishing off the Washington coast is scheduled to begin May 1, fisheries managers do not predict a good season off either the north or south Pacific coasts.

"For the entire West Coast, this is the worst in history," said Don McIsaac, executive director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The council's decision still must be confirmed by NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency in charge of salmon management.

Relief for Fishers

Even before the vote, however, officials were on to the next step: disaster relief for fishers, said Mariam McCall, an attorney with the marine fisheries service.

The governors of Washington, Oregon, and California have already signed letters seeking a disaster declaration. Congress will be asked to make a fast decision on money to alleviate the suffering of fishers and any other negative effects the cutback might have, said Brian Gorman, a NOAA Fisheries spokesperson.

Scientists are studying the causes of the Sacramento River chinook collapse, with possible factors ranging from ocean conditions and habitat destruction to dam operations and agricultural pollution. But a proposal to allow limited fishing for scientific purposes was struck down by the panel.

Last year average quotas for the southern coast were allowed, while fishing was restricted north of Cape Falcon to the Canadian border.

But in 2006 the salmon season extending from Cape Falcon, Oregon, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of the mouth of the Columbia River, also was severely restricted. Congress granted disaster relief totaling $62 million for fishers in Oregon and California, Gorman said.

Although the nature of the problem is different this year than in 2006, the impact will be at least as broadly felt, McCall said.

"This is such a difficult situation," she said.

Obvious Signs

The Sacramento River chinook run is usually one of the most productive on the coast, but counts last fall found a record low number of chinook returning to California's Central Valley. (See a map of California.)

San Francisco commercial fisher Barbara Emley said the signs of this year's problems with the chinook run have been obvious for a few years.

"This has unmasked the issue behind the problem," said Emley, who has fished for salmon with her husband for more than 20 years. Too few juvenile fish survive to swim out to the Pacific Ocean, she said.

Two years ago, busloads of fishers attended the Pacific Fishery Council's meetings to protest the proposed cutbacks, McIsaac said. This year, little opposition has been voiced.

"I believe that the council is doing what it has to do," Emley said.

Consumers can expect to have a hard time finding chinook at stores later this year, but they will still be able to buy farm-raised salmon, as well as wild sockeye from Alaska.

Read more!

Scentless Spring? Flower Smells Blocked by Pollution

Brian Handwerk, National Geographic News 11 Apr 08;

Soon it may be harder to stop and smell the roses.

Growing levels of air pollution from power plants and automobiles have reduced the potency of flower fragrances by up to 90 percent as compared with pre-industrial levels in the United States, a new study has found.

The trend is unpleasant for human noses, but may be life-threatening for pollinators such as bees and butterflies.

"Many insects find flowers by detecting the scent produced by those flowers," said study lead author Jose D. Fuentes, an environmental scientist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

"This [pollution] makes it increasingly difficult for pollinators to locate the flowers [and feed on their nectar]."

Flowers also stand to suffer when this symbiotic relationship falters.

If insects can't find enough flower-based food to survive, their movements won't pollinate plant species.

Overwhelming Ozone

Flowers produce volatile scent molecules that bond with pollutants such as ground-level ozone, in the process breaking down the plants' sweet smell.

With more pollution in the air, the aromatic molecules don't remain potent as long and travel shorter distances on the wind.

The new study's model suggests that in the mid-19th century, when pollution levels were first recorded, scent molecules would have been able to travel some 3,300 to 3,900 feet (1,000 to 1,200 meters).

Today, in the polluted air found downwind of large metropolises, scents may only make it some 650 to 980 feet (200 to 300 meters).

The impact is especially pronounced during high-pollution "code red" days in summer.

"Lots of vehicles are releasing nitrogen oxides," Fuentes said. "When [the gases] are in the presence of sunlight they are converted into these molecules that we call ozone—one of the main pollutants that we find in the eastern U.S. in the summer months.

"Fragrances are overwhelmed by it."

Fuentes and colleagues published their findings recently in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

Bad News For Bees?

With bee populations dropping dramatically in many parts of the world, could these missing scents be a factor?

Scientists trying to pinpoint the cause of bee declines have variously blamed viruses, mites, bacteria, pesticides, and even cell-phone radiation.

Jay Evans, an entomologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's bee research laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, was intrigued by the new study but hasn't seen bee behavior that suggests trouble with scents.

"Over the last couple of summers I don't think the bees in this area were bringing in much less food," he said.

"It might be that they had to work harder, but it seems like as long as there were bees to collect food they were finding flowers somewhere."

Evans also noted that beekeepers didn't report big drops in their honey yields, which would have occurred had food been harder to find.

But lead author Fuentes fears that the fading smell of flowers may stress insects already faced with an array of other threats.

"The [effects shown in] these studies will simply exacerbate whatever the bees are going through right now," he said.

"It's something that is really worthwhile paying attention to."

Study: Flowers Losing Smell
LiveScience.com Yahoo News 11 Apr 08;

Spring's bloom may not smell so sweet anymore, as pollutants from power plants and automobiles destroy flowers' aromas, a new study suggests.

The finding could help explain why some pollinators, particularly bees, are declining in certain parts of the world.

Researchers at the University of Virginia created a mathematical model of how the scents of flowers travel with the wind. The scent molecules produced by the flowers readily bond with pollutants such as ozone, which destroys the aromas they produce.

So instead of wafting for long distances with the wind, the flowery scents are chemically altered. Essentially, the flowers no longer smell like flowers.

"The scent molecules produced by flowers in a less polluted environment, such as in the 1800s, could travel for roughly 1,000 to 1,200 meters [3,300 to 4,000 feet]; but in today's polluted environment downwind of major cities, they may travel only 200 to 300 meters [650 to 980 feet]," said study team member Jose D. Fuentes.

With flowers no longer advertising their presence over as large an area, pollinators are forced to search farther and longer to pick up the hint of their scent. They may also have to rely more on their sight than what they smell.

Bees depend on flower nectar for food, and if they have a hard time finding the flowers, they can't sustain their populations. Other studies, along with the experiences of farmers, have indicated that bee populations are dropping in places such as California and the Netherlands. Fuentes and his team think air pollution may be the reason.

The research, funded by the National Science Foundation, is detailed online in the journal Atmospheric Environment.

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Georgia Aquarium offers eco-trip to swim with whale sharks

Leon Stafford, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 11 Apr 08;

"It parallels with the green movement. People are looking for an authentic experience."

The Georgia Aquarium is branching out from its borders in downtown Atlanta.

Way out.

The big fish tank is trying an annual "whale shark experience" trip that will have participants diving with the whale sharks at the aquarium one day and swimming with them in sunny Mexico the next.

The five-day trip, which includes five-star accommodations at hotels like the Ritz-Carlton, costs $3,170.

The move is the aquarium's attempt to improve knowledge about the gentle giants, raise funds for research and get in on the eco-tourism craze.

Neville Bhoda, spokesman for the Southeast Tourism Society, said eco-tourism — vacations that focus on the environment — is the hottest trend in travel.

"It parallels with the green movement," he said. "People are looking for an authentic experience."

The aquarium venture could also bring more people to Atlanta's hotels and restaurants. Hospitality in metro Atlanta is an $11.4 billion industry and the aquarium has, in the last few years, been a major draw.

The "whale shark experience" is the aquarium's second dip into the world of eco-tourism. Officials took a group to South Africa last year for a safari and to swim with dolphins.

This year's trip will start out small — just 10 vacationers — but more will be invited next year if it proves successful.

"If this is successful and everybody has a good time, we could do this every year," said Dave Santucci, an aquarium spokesman.

The trip, planned for Aug. 7-12, begins with a behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium. The spaces will be filled on a first-come basis. In addition to swimming or diving with the big fish, participants will hear Bruce Carlson, the aquarium's chief science officer, and Kristie Cobb, aquarium director of development and membership, detail how whale sharks are cared for and what researchers have learned about them.

Then the eco-tourists will travel to two islands just north of Cancun. They will swim with dolphins on Isla Mujeres, and then go on to swim with whale sharks on Isla Holbox.

Along the way, they will learn about efforts to conserve and protect the habitats of the islands' fish. Aquarium researchers have been working off the coast of Mexico since 2004 to study and tag whale sharks as part of Project Domino, a collaboration of Mote Marine Laboratory, Georgia Aquarium and Mexican researchers.

"We are showing people the value of our work and how global it is in scope," Cobb said. We want people to connect with animals in ways that are truly lasting."

Santucci, who went to the Mexican islands with researchers last year, said the trip is unforgettable. He said the whale sharks swim about 2- to-4 miles an hour, which allows swimmers to keep up with them, at least for a little while.

"The bigger they are, the slower they are. I got close to a 30-foot whale shark and was able to keep up with it for about 20 minutes," said Santucci, who added that he swam competitively in high school.

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