Best of our wild blogs: 14 Jun 08

All the fish you can eat, and less
the perils of overfishing on the budak blog

Nest parasitism: Banded Bay and Indian Cuckoos
from Bird Ecology Study Group blog

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What ownership of dots in the ocean means

Staking claim on what's ours
Evangeline Majawat, New Straits Times 14 Jun 08;

THE Pedra Branca and Middle Rocks decision by the International Court of Justice has thrown the spotlight on previously unknown, and even uncared for, islands, shoals, rocks and other maritime features. Maritime Institute of Malaysia director-general Datuk Cheah Kong Wai and Research Fellow Capt Rakish Suppiah explain to EVANGELINE MAJAWAT just what ownership of these dots in the ocean means.

Q: What are the international maritime laws which govern the seas?

Cheah: Historically, there was no uniformity in the maritime environment and as a result, various countries practiced different principles. To create some form of uniformity, countries came together and agreed that there should be a treaty to govern the ocean.

This treaty led to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) on Dec 10, 1982.

Malaysia ratified Unclos in Oct 1996. By ratifying Unclos, states can claim maritime zones as provided for in the convention.

Q: What if a country doesn't ratify Unclos?

Cheah: Then they're not bound by it. However, they must abide by the customary international law, which is accepted by the international community as the norm.

Q: What are maritime zones?

Cheah: Under Unclos, a coastal state can claim territorial sea of up to 12 nautical miles. Beyond the territorial sea, it is called the contiguous zone and extends another 12 nautical miles.

A country can also claim 200 nautical miles (measured from the baseline) as its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). There is also the Continental Shelf.

States can claim all these zones so long as they don't overlap with the maritime zones of neighbouring countries. (A baseline is the line along the coast measured during low tide).

Q: Who draws our country's boundaries?

Cheah: It's a comprehensive process that involves many agencies.

The map is drawn based on input from agencies such as the mapping division, Foreign Affairs Department, Fisheries Department, Attorney-General's Chambers and the Survey and Mapping Department.

Q: Are the maps updated? Is our baseline affected by reclamation work?

Cheah: The map used is the Peta Baru 1979. Maritime boundaries are not affected by reclamation work.

If a country reclaims land within its territorial sea, the baseline remains unaffected and will continue to follow the natural coast.

Q: Can you define an island? What other marine features are there?

Cheah: The definition is very technical. Under Article 121 of Unclos, an island is a "naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide".

An island must be able to support habitation and sustain economic life. Then there are rocks, reefs and low tide elevations.

Q: Is Pedra Branca an island?

Cheah: It's a rock. But it is subject to interpretation. There will be discussions and justifications to define what Pedra Branca is.

Q: Does an island exert its own maritime boundary?

Cheah: An island, as defined by Unclos, can claim its own territorial sea and EEZ.

Q: What about rocks?

Cheah: Under Article 121(3), "rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shelf have no Exclusive Economic Zone or continental shelf. But it is entitled to its own territorial sea".

Q: What about a low tide elevation?

Cheah: A low tide elevation is important because it can be considered to be a basepoint. In the case of Middle Rocks, the baseline could extend to South Ledge if South Ledge was taken to be a basepoint.

Q: What's the challenge now with Pedra Branca/Middle Rocks?

Cheah: As you've pointed out, there is a need to unravel the technicalities of the definition. We leave it to the technical teams of both countries to discuss and come to an agreement.

It's quite tricky because depending on the definition, the feature could generate certain zones. Therefore, it is important for discussions before delimitation can be carried out.

Q: How does an inclusion of a new feature affect a country's maritime boundaries? Does it extend its rights?

Cheah: Yes.

Q: How does one lay claim on "unclaimed marine features"?

Cheah: Any marine feature which lies within your territorial sea is definitely yours. Perhaps we need to assert our authority by carrying out activities.

Q: Must there be some sort of activity by the state as a sign of its sovereignty even if the islands lie in one's territorial sea?

Rakish: Not as such. Unless the island is clearly proclaimed under International Law and charted in the map, it isn't necessary for any activities.

However, in the case where an island has been proclaimed but remains uncharted, it is necessary to prove that we have sovereignty by having some sort of economic or commercial activities. It would be even better, if we could station army personnel or navy guarding the island.

There are countries that would love to exert the notion of terra nullius (no man's land) to exert claim that they were the first to occupy the land. Take for example, Pedra Branca.

Q: Is there any threat of any neighbouring countries laying claim if there is no active assertion by Malaysia on a feature.

Cheah: In the past, you could have done it but not these days. The government is aware whether the islands or rocks belong to us. Any foreign state must obtain permission from us to conduct any sort of activities.

We can claim islands/features which lie up to 200 nautical miles into the EEZ. For example, Layang-layang island in Sabah.

In the case of islands in the South China Sea, we have put up personnel, living quarters and set up government-commissioned scientific researches.

Rakish: It has been proven with Pedra Branca. Malaysia had its claim on that island but Singapore's activities, (and our) lack of documentation and relevant documents granting the republic the authority to manage the island, contributed to its case. Singapore was able to show its authority of its commercial and economic value of Pedra Branca.

Q: What about Batuan Unarang off the east coast of Sabah? Why should a sovereignty dispute arise when it lies within our waters?

Cheah: Batuan Unarang came into dispute after the Sipadan case was settled. Batuan Unarang lies at the border of the territorial sea. The boundary is somehow vague which gives rise to the dispute.

Each country may claim that Batuan Unarang lies in their waters. Malaysia and Indonesia are in discussion to reach an amicable agreement. Sovereignty of any island must be discussed diplomatically.

Q: Can local fishermen go to an island within our territorial sea, and should a dispute crop up, can the government use that as a basis when presenting the case?

Cheah: It will not carry much weight. It's not concrete evidence.

Q: Why is the EEZ important?

Cheah: By claiming EEZ, it gives sovereign rights to explore, exploit and manage the natural resources, living and non-living, in that zone.

It is all mainly for economic purposes such as fisheries, scientific researches and also environment protection and conservation. Other states may explore the zone as long as it is with the permission of the sovereign state.

Rakish: In many regions, states that are unable to claim a full EEZ because of the presence of neighbouring states will delimit the EEZs, usually through negotiations.

Q: How does a country's sovereignty correlate to maritime boundary?

Cheah: A country's sovereignty extends only to the territorial sea which is 12 nautical miles. Similarly, the sovereignty also extends to the airspace above for 12 nautical miles.

Beyond that, a country only has sovereign rights which means you have certain rights which are exclusive to that state. For example, fishing or exploitation of natural resources can only be carried out by the EEZ of the state which owns it.

Rakish: A state would have sovereignty over islands outside the 12 nautical miles limit, if these islands have been proclaimed to be under the state's jurisdiction under international law, for example Pulau Perak (Malaysia) and Greenland (Denmark).

Q: Is the principle of equidistance automatically applied during delimitation discussions between disputing countries?

Cheah: The countries must discuss and agree first. The line is drawn depending on the natural features.

Q: How would a concave/convex feature of a coast affect the delimitation based on the principle?

Cheah: Unclos defines all technicalities and would address all unfairness that should arise. For example, if you have a bay, the baseline is the straight line connected by points at the entrance of the bay.

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Bintan casino not scrapped

Straits Times 14 Jun 08;

A CASINO a mere 50-minute ferry ride from Singapore may still become a reality.

Two months after Bintan officials said that plans to build a casino have been scrapped, island regent Ansar Ahmad said otherwise.

The proposal, from Malaysian developer Landmarks last October, was submitted to the Jakarta government for approval early this year.

If approved, the casino will be the first to host legalised gaming in Indonesia.

'The plan is still being debated between the local Bintan and Jakarta central governments,' Mr Ansar said at the sidelines of a ground-breaking ceremony of Bintan's latest development, the 1,300ha Lagoi Bay early last month.

Asked why the Bintan urban-planning authorities had said in April that the request was killed 'a long time ago', he said the confusion could have arisen from differences in opinion between the local and central governments.

The involvement of many government departments further complicated the issue.

'Under Indonesian law, gambling is prohibited, unless approved by the government. There was some confusion whether the approval is by the local or central government,' he said in Bahasa Indonesia.

'For us, as long as the central government approves the plan, we will carry it out.'

Certain quarters, such as the religious department, are not keen on the casino plan, he said, adding: 'We will have to make the community understand that access is limited to foreigners and selected people, and there will be barriers such as high entrance fees. Then maybe they will be more receptive.'

It is not known when a decision is expected but the central government will need time to study the proposal and collect public feedback, he said.

Mr Ansar stressed that the casino is only a small part of the bigger plan, which is the US$3.1-billion (S$4.2-billion) integrated resort built by Landmarks, boasting high-class villas and designer boutiques.

Landmarks' biggest shareholder is the Genting group, which is also building one of the two Singapore casinos.

The 338ha Treasure Bay Bintan resort, where the proposed casino will be based, is one of two major developments taking place on Bintan. The other is the Lagoi Bay development which launched its land sales last year.

Las Vegas-based gaming analyst Jonathan Galaviz said even if Bintan has a casino within an integrated resort, it would not have an adverse impact on Singapore since the Republic is still 'a necessary travel gateway via ferry service' to Bintan.

Singapore's status as an air hub cannot be easily replaced so it will continue to be an important transit point for tourists who want to head to Bintan, he said.

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HK green groups urging govt to tackle "light pollution"

Channel NewsAsia 14 Jun 08;

HONG KONG : Green groups in Hong Kong are urging the government to come up with new laws to deal with light pollution in the city.

Hong Kong is known as the "City of Lights".

However, the bright lights in the city are proving too much for some Hong Kong residents.

Environmental activist Hahn Chu Hon-Keung has found some extreme examples around busy shopping areas.

At one mall in Causeway Bay, the light meter reading is over 10,000 lux or light intensity.

Hanh Chu, who is Environment Affairs Manager of green group Friends of the Earth, said, "Do we need it so bright at night? Or put it another way, playing tennis at night, the court would be bright enough, but here it's three times the brightness."

Ever since the international airport was moved away from the city, lighting has become more ostentatious.

Advertisers and shops are keen to compete for eyeballs on the streets, and that means the brighter the lights, the better.

Hanh Chu said, "You can imagine what it's like living here, even just looking at it is disorientating enough. Just imagine if you're in a movie, being interrogated by the police and they're shining a bright light at you, it's uncomfortable."

In extreme cases, the light pollution has taken a toll on residents.

Hanh Chu himself has highlighted more than 10 cases last year, with some people having to seek psychiatric treatment or eventually having to move out.

Unfortunately, Hong Kong does not regulate the brightness of outdoor lighting.

And while it seems that Hong Kong residents are not likely to switch off the lights anytime soon, green group Friends of the Earth has won over some converts.

Hong Kong will be participating in a 20-nation "Lights Out" campaign on June 21, which will see part of the Hong Kong's famous skyline go dark for an hour.

More than 75 landmark buildings across Victoria Harbour have already signed up.

The message they are trying to get across is to use electricity in moderation to reduce greenhouse gases.

Hahn Chu said, "In the past 10 years, Hong Kong's population has increased 5 to 6 percent, but we're using over 10 percent more electricity. So that's a 100 percent increase. If we really understand lighting and want to lower power usage, Hong Kong can still be just as beautiful."

Friends of the Earth is encouraging anti-light pollution measures, including shading outdoor lighting, dimming lights after business hours, and reducing the use of spotlights. - CNA/ms

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The Switch: when will it come?

Today Online 14 Jun 08;

DEMAND destruction is a neat concept.

It is a fancy economic term for what happens when the price of a commodity gets absurdly high. Once the price accelerates far beyond the fundamentals, users can no longer afford the cost. They look for ways to conserve and cut back on usage. This destroys demand for the commodity, and prices collapse.

First coined by economists to predict the likely breaking point in oil demand, it can apply to virtually any product. It has fashionably become the consumers’ weapon of choice.

Take oil. A few had speculated that the recent high of US$139.12 per barrel would be the trigger. Others pontificate that US$150 would be the ultimate demand destruction for oil. At that price, many economies would struggle. The global airlines industry, already highly distressed, would likely implode. Trucking businesses and the transport industry as a whole would convulse with pain.

Let’s stretch the argument. Demand destruction can also apply to a whole lot of other things. The 90-cent roti prata — the price charged at some Jalan Kayu outlets — must also be close to demand destruction. At $1 per prata, some would be encouraged to find alternatives, and $1.20 would probably spell the end of the craving for many.

To be sure, roti prata could cost $1.50in several years, but it would be under adifferent economic cycle and the cumulativeinflationary pressures then are likely toset the stage for the next wave. Just like the 20-cent prata, 5-cent curry puff,30-cent kolo mee, 20-cent mee rebus many decades before were victims of relentless economic and inflationary surges.

The thing about demand destruction is that as consumers, we have a big part to play. We can buy cheaper alternatives — government leaders recently extolled house brands — or switch to substitutes. A cheaper brand of rice, butter, cooking oil, coffee and the list goes on.

In doing so, we are deliberately sending the message that the high prices or inflationary bubbles — worst of all, the discriminatory and unjustifiable increases — are untenable. And as demand is curtailed, prices will drop, eventually.

The oft-cited reasons for the inflationary pressures are the commodity boom driven by pent-up demand in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as well as the diversion of food for bio-fuels. The low global interest rates and effective US dollar depreciation have also been contributory factors.

But the catalyst in this commodities boom must surely be the heavy-duty speculation by hedge and commodity funds trying to make up for the huge losses sustained in the credit crunch that hit the global financial sector, and in particular the United States, the last nine months.

Admittedly that is a global phenomenon. Aren’t we fighting a losing battle? How do we figure in this grand scheme of things?

Signs are emerging that the oil and commodity prices are looking to soften from their recent dizzying heights. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments this week that he does not want the US currency to weaken any further because of risks to inflation caused the dollar to strengthen against the majors like euro and yen. This has had the desired effect of reversing the prices of commodities, including oil.

What remains to be seen is whether as prices of these commodities ease, a corresponding drop is registered in the end-products. Merchants and hawkers who are fast on the draw when it comes to the upside must display a similar swiftness to the downside.

When all is said and done, as consumers we have the all-powerful weapon of demand destruction. We hold the trigger to demand. It is the great equaliser.

The writer is a media consultant.

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Chikungunya virus may be here to stay: Expert

Scientist working on vaccine says it'll be tough for Singapore to wean itself from virus
Judith Tan, Straits Times 14 Jun 08;

CHIKUNGUNYA surfaced in Singapore in January this year, infecting 13 people in Little India.

Then, two cases of the dengue-like illness emerged in Upper Thomson Road five months later.

And only two days ago, an expatriate housewife in Farrer Road was diagnosed with the disease.

Now, a scientist working on a vaccine against chikungunya believes it is just a matter of time before the virus becomes a permanent part of Singapore's disease landscape.

Dr Lee Smith, vice-president for product development at local biotech firm SingVax, said: 'Singapore is surrounded by Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia where the disease is endemic. It is difficult for Singapore to wean itself from the chikungunya virus.'

Dr Smith said it was 'quite amazing' that Singapore has avoided large-scale outbreaks of the mosquito-borne disease for so many years.

Like dengue, chikungunya is spread by the Aedes mosquito. Its symptoms, which usually appear within days, include fever, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, muscle ache, rash and joint pain.

These are similar to symptoms of dengue, which makes diagnosing the disease difficult. It can be distinguished only after a laboratory test of the patient's blood.

Dr Smith said that recently, however, the chikungunya virus had gone through a genetic mutation.

It can now be carried by the Aedes albopictus mosquito, cousin to the Aedes aegypti, which is known to spread both chikungunya and dengue.

'The mutation made it easier for the virus to reproduce inside the Aedes albopictus mosquito, more commonly known as the Asian Tiger mosquito because of its stripes. It has been found in Mediterranean Europe and has travelled north to Germany. It was the vector that caused the epidemic in northern Italy last year,' Dr Smith said.

The latest case diagnosed here was a 37-year-old expatriate housewife who lives in the Farrer Road area.

She developed symptoms last week and sought outpatient treatment two days later.

As she and her family did not travel recently, it was likely a case of local transmission.

But a spokesman for the Health Ministry said there is no need for mass screening in the latest case since family members and close neighbours did not catch the virus.

The housewife was discharged from hospital on Thursday.

The disease usually lasts three to 10 days so patients should rest, hydrate regularly and take medication for fever and pain.

There is currently no cure for the disease but last month SingVax announced plans to start work on a vaccine.

Dr Smith said the United States military has already developed a vaccine against the virus but it has yet to see the light of day.

'Priorities have since changed. The focus now is global terrorism,' he said.

The military's vaccine has already been tested on people who have contracted the disease. Dr Smith said local researchers are working with the US military to expand those trials.

Disease common in other parts of the world
Straits Times 14 Jun 08;

WHILE chikungunya fever is rarely fatal, deaths have been reported overseas.

The disease is endemic in places such as India, Africa, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia.

It was first reported in Tanzania in 1953.

In India, the disease was first reported in Calcutta in 1963. From March 2005 to March 2006, more than 3,000 cases were found on La Reunion, a French island located on the Indian Ocean.

Since then, other countries in the south-west Indian Ocean have also reported chikungunya cases.

In 2006, several European countries - France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Switzerland - reportedly saw imported cases.

Last year, an outbreak of chikungunya fever was reported in the province of Ravenna in north-eastern Italy. As of last November, a total of 204 cases were confirmed.

The Italian epidemic marked the first outbreak in Europe.

The Pasteur Institute in France found that the virus had mutated and can be transmitted by the Aedes albopictus mosquito. This species is present all over Europe.

Since the beginning of this year, there has been a total of 24 chikungunya cases in Singapore. Out of these, 16 were locally transmitted.

JUDITH TAN

Farrer Road market stallholders concerned about recent chikungunya case
Channel NewsAsia 13 Jun 08;

SINGAPORE: Stallholders in the Farrer Road area are getting concerned after the most recent single case of chikungunya was found in the area.

Stallholders pointed out some potential mosquito breeding sites such as a false ceiling where water sometimes collects.

The recent spate of wet weather hasn't helped improve the situation.

Residents also said there is also a need for authorities to ensure common areas are kept clean.

Two cases of chikungunya fever were detected in the Teachers Housing Estate near the Upper Thomson Road area. It was the first time the disease has been found locally, outside the Little India cluster.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) was informed on 3 June that an 86-year-old retiree had chikungunya fever. She was admitted to hospital but has since been released.

Then on 5 June, a maid from the same household was detected to have the fever too, following a blood screening. She received outpatient treatment.

Investigations revealed that this was likely a case of local transmission as both did not travel recently. - CNA/vm

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Research giant's Singapore lab to create new rice varieties

Tania Tan, Straits Times 14 Jun 08;

INTERNATIONAL research giant Bayer opened a $10 million lab here yesterday that is aiming to create hardier and higher-yielding varieties of rice.

The company is hoping work at the 5,000 sq m facility in Pandan Loop will help Asian countries grappling with rice shortages and skyrocketing prices.

The laboratory will focus on creating rice strains that are 30 per cent more productive than current varieties. These hybrids will also be disease resistant, said Bayer spokesman Damien Plan.

Researchers will use DNA analysis to determine if their cross breeding has been successful. The technique cuts out the lengthy process of planting, harvesting and testing the rice. 'It's as good as traditional breeding methods, only much faster,' said Mr Plan.

A disease-resistant hybrid could be produced here in as little as four years, he said.

Bayer CropScience has commercial varieties of hybrid rice - that yield between 20 per cent and 30 per cent more grain - growing in seven countries including India, Vietnam and Brazil, but they are not disease-resistant.

The Pandan Loop lab is currently staffed with five scientists, but hopes to treble this number within the next three years.

It is believed to be only the second lab here that focuses on rice. Local research institute Temasek Life Sciences also conducts such studies.

Asia is the world's rice bowl, producing over 90 per cent of rice crops annually.

'Singapore is at the centre of Asia, providing the best place to do research, with maximum impact,' said Mr Plan. '(Local) talent is also crucial in this project.'

In the face of a world food crisis, the lab is a timely addition as calls for rice research by organisations like the World Bank grow louder.

Skyrocketing rice prices crippled many poor communities, causing riots in some, as prices hit US$1,000 (S$1,300) per tonne last month.

Producing the ultimate 'super rice'
From iron-fortified rice to hardy GM varieties, scientists aim to improve staple
Tania Tan, Straits Times 14 Jun 08;

YOU are what you eat.

If researchers had their way, many more stomachs would be filled - with healthier rice, the crop which feeds half the world.

Take, for example, rice containing extra iron, created by extensive cross-breeding of grain varieties.

In 2005, more than 300 Filipino women were randomly fed either high iron-fortified or normal rice for a nine-month period.

The research, conducted by the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) in the Philippines, was compelling: Over 20 per cent more women fulfilled their daily minimum iron requirements simply by eating iron-fortified rice.

'By putting nutrients directly into rice, we give poor rural communities a chance at a better life,' said Dr Parminder Virk, an IRRI senior scientist who worked on developing the high iron-fortified rice, which is now being grown in padi fields in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Polished rice is low in essential nutrients such as iron, vitamin A and zinc, leading to malnutrition in poor communities where people eat little else.

'For people who rely on rice alone, they'd need to eat several kilos of rice a day to prevent malnutrition,' said Dr Virk.

Since the 1960s, scientists have been trying to create a 'super grain' that is tougher and more nutritious than conventional rice.

About 20 countries conduct rice research. Most efforts are centred in Asia, which produces more than 90 per cent, or 645 million tonnes, of the world's rice every year.

Researchers have successfully produced versions of rice with high iron, zinc or vitamin A content - by selecting traits from more than 20,000 varieties of grain available - through generations of conventional breeding, explained Dr Virk.

With technological advances, a new breed of rice has also emerged, incorporating genes from other plants, and sometimes, bacteria, he added.

These are created by inserting the genes of say, soya bean, into the grain, to encourage iron production. Bacteria genes have also been incorporated to produce genetically modified rice rich in vitamin A.

Local researchers have also made some progress in developing a Singapore brand of 'super rice'.

Dr Srinivasan Ramachandran, associate director of the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory's Rice Functional Genomics research programme, is focusing on creating hardier grains.

His team has developed a drought-resistant grain that can withstand up to 12 days with little or no water - conditions that normal varieties cannot survive in.

'Rice is a delicate crop,' explained Dr Ramachandran. 'Too much or too little water, and it is ruined.'

Another variety produced in his lab also yields up to 13 per cent more grain than normal.

The new strains are being tested in small-scale field tests in Temasek's lab in Beijing.

The three-month test, slated to end next month, will allow researchers to gauge how well the grain performs under real-life field conditions. If successful, the grain will be grown on a larger scale, as the research is fine-tuned.

But while high-yielding and nutritious rice produced the old-fashioned way has been a success in countries such as Thailand and the United States, it will be some time before genetically modified (GM) rice hits store shelves, despite its superior features.

Detractors say a GM staple could potentially harm health.

'True, we are not sure what the possible impact might be, consuming GM rice every day for the long term,' said Dr Ramachandran. 'But there's been no evidence to suggest a health risk.'

Said Irri's Dr Virk: 'Public acceptance still has some way to go.' However, he hopes that the first drought-resistant grains will be approved for commercial release within the next five years.

Added Dr Ramachandran: 'Since this is a staple food, there are understandably health concerns which require more testing to address.'

Nonetheless, such grains could play a part in alleviating world hunger.

'It's one tool that can help address a very large and complicated problem,' he said.

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The price of neglecting crop research

Straits Times 14 Jun 08;

Research budget cuts have contributed to a looming world food crisis
THE brown plant hopper, an insect no bigger than a gnat, is multiplying by the billion and chewing through rice paddies in East Asia, threatening the diets of many poor people.

The damage to rice crops, occurring at a time of scarcity and high prices, could have been prevented.

Researchers at the International Rice Research Institute (Irri) in the Philippines say they know how to create rice varieties that are resistant to the insects. However, budget cuts have prevented them from doing so, they say.

This is a stark example of the problems that are coming to light in the world's agricultural system.

Experts say that during the food surpluses of recent decades, governments and development agencies lost focus on the importance of helping poor countries improve their agriculture.

The budgets of institutions that delivered the world from famine in the 1970s, including the rice institute, have stagnated or fallen, even as the problems they were trying to solve became harder.

'People felt that the world food crisis was solved, that food security was no longer an issue, and it really fell off the agenda,' says Irri director general Robert S. Zeigler.

The institute is the world's main repository of seeds, genes and other information about rice, the crop that feeds nearly half of the world's people.

But at Irri nowadays, greenhouses have peeling paint and holes in their screens and walls. Hallways are dotted with empty offices.

In the 1980s, it employed five entomologists, or insect experts, overseeing a staff of 200. Today, it has one entomologist with a staff of eight.

Cutbacks worldwide

SIMILAR troubles plague other centres in Asia, Africa and Latin America that work on crop productivity in poor countries.

Agricultural experts have complained about the flagging efforts for years and warned of the risks.

'Nobody was listening,' says MrThomas Lumpkin, director general of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.

Now, a reckoning is at hand.

Growth of the global food supply has slowed even as the population has continued to increase and as economic growth is giving millions of poor people the money to buy more food.

With demand beginning to outstrip supply, prices have soared and food riots have erupted, undermining the stability of foreign governments.

World leaders are scrambling to respond.

On May 1, US president George W. Bush asked Congress for an extra US$770 million (S$1.06billion) to pay for food aid and to help farmers improve their productivity.

But cuts in agricultural research continue.

The United States is in the midst of slashing, by as much as 75 per cent, its US$59.5 million annual support for a global research network that focuses on improving crops vital to agriculture in poor countries. That network includes the rice institute.

Crop by crop and country by country, agricultural research and development are lagging.

The Mexico centre has created drought-tolerant corn for Africa and higher-yielding, disease resistant wheat for South Asia. But it does not have the money to get the varieties into the hands of poor farmers.

In Africa, where yields have remained stagnant since the 1960s, efforts to bolster them have been hampered by cuts not only in research but also in programmes, such as fertiliser distribution.

The biggest cutbacks have come in donations to agriculture in poor countries from the governments of wealthy countries and in loans from development institutions that the wealthy governments control, like the World Bank.

Drastic budget cuts

ADJUSTING for inflation and exchange rates, the wealthy countries, as a group, have cut such donations roughly in half between 1980 and 2006, from US$6billion a year to US$2.8 billion a year.

'Agriculture has been so productive and done so well, people have kind of lost sight of how fragile it really is,' said Dr Jan E. Leach, a plant pathologist at Colorado State University.

'It's as if we have lost track of the fact that food is linked to agriculture, which is linked to human survival.'

Agricultural R&D work is never done. Food demand keeps growing. Insects and plant diseases adapt, overcoming efforts to thwart them.

In the 1960s, population growth was far outrunning food production, threatening famine in many poor countries. But then wealthier nations joined forces with the poor countries to improve crop yields.

Countries such as India and Pakistan embraced new plant varieties, irrigation projects and fertiliser programmes in a vast effort that came to be known as the Green Revolution.

Yields soared and, by the 1980s, the threat of starvation had receded in most parts of the world.

The Green Revolution had led to the creation of a global network of research centres focusing on agriculture and food production, with 14 institutes - including Irri - scattered across Asia, Africa and Latin America, in addition to a research office in Washington.

The centres, known collectively as the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, carry much of the burden of improving crop yields in developing countries.

As the world lost its focus on crops, the overall budgets of some of the centres were cut.

Spending fell on the laborious plant-breeding programmes needed to improve crop productivity.

The stage was being set for a food emergency.

In 2004, the world economy began growing more quickly, about 5 per cent a year. As the food supply was lagging, millions of people were gaining the money to improve their diets.

The world began to use more grain than it was producing, cutting into reserves, and prices started rising.

Early this year, as stocks fell to perilous levels, international grain prices doubled or even tripled, threatening as many as 100 million people with malnutrition.

Slow recovery

AT THE World Bank, agricultural funding has begun to recover.

Under new president Robert B. Zoellick, the bank has decided to double its lending to such programmes in Africa.

Other wealthy countries are joining the United States in increasing their support.

But the case of the brown plant hopper shows there will be no quick fix for the years of neglect.

The insect is not a new problem. In the 1960s, Irri pioneered ways to help farmers grow two and even three crops a season, instead of one, one of the critical innovations of the Green Revolution that staved off famine.

But, with rice plants growing more of the year, the hoppers - which live only on rice plants - had longer to multiply.

The institute responded by testing thousands of varieties of wild rice for natural resistance.

Researchers found four types of resistance and bred them into commercial varieties by 1980.

But the hoppers adapted swiftly, and the resistant strains started losing their effectiveness in the 1990s.

An important insecticide lost its punch too as the hopper developed the ability to withstand up to 100 times the dose that used to kill it.

While the insect was adapting, the rice institute was being gutted.

After peaking in the early 1990s, its budget has been cut in half. Several dozen important varieties of rice have been lost from the institute's gene bank through poor storage.

Promising work on rice varieties that could withstand high temperatures and saltier water - ideal for coping with global warming and the higher sea levels that may follow - had to be abandoned in the early 1990s.

A potential solution is at hand for the plant hopper problem.

No fewer than 14 new types of genetic resistance have been discovered.

But with the budget cuts, the institute has mounted no effort to breed these traits into widely-used rice varieties.

Doing so now would take four to seven years, if money can be found.

Meanwhile, the hoppers have become a growing threat.

China, the world's biggest rice producer, announced last month that it was struggling to control the rapid spread of the insects there.

A plant hopper outbreak can destroy 20 per cent of a harvest; China is trying to hold losses to 5 per cent in affected fields.

'We must stay ahead of rapidly evolving pests - and increasingly, a changing climate - to assure global food security,' said Irri's Mr Zeigler.

'Cutting back on agricultural research today is pure folly.'

NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

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90 per cent of pandas in jeopardy after China earthquake

Jane Macartney, Times Online 13 Jun 08;

Nearly all of China’s endangered pandas are in jeopardy after the earthquake last month devastated the remote mountain corner that is their last remaining habitat.

Already boxed into these steep and thickly forested hillsides by the advance of Man, its numbers limited by a slow rate of reproduction and with its food supply threatened by the scarcity of its favourite arrow bamboo, the panda is now facing its most severe crisis in decades.

Chinese officials, usually reluctant to reveal the real extent of a crisis, have announced that the last 1,590 pandas living in the wild face a very uncertain future after the earthquake.

Yan Xun, an official at the State Forestry Administration, said: “Their living environment is completely destroyed. Massive landslides and large-scale damage to forests triggered by last month’s earthquake are threatening the existence of wild pandas.”

The fate of the pandas has been a cause of concern since the May 12 earthquake, which cut off access to large swaths of mountainous areas, including China’s largest panda breeding centre in Wolong. One giant panda from the reserve was buried this week after its body was found crushed under the walls of its pen. Another is missing. The other 51 are safe, including 14 cubs that were carried out of the reserve by keepers.

The fate of the 1,400 pandas living in the quake-hit regions – about 88 per cent of the total – remains unknown and a source of growing anxiety. The tremor damaged 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres), 83 per cent of China’s total panda habitat. The real extent of the damage could be even worse because landslides have blocked roads, preventing officials from assessing some areas.

Mr Yan said: “Caves and tree hollows where giant pandas live may be damaged, water in the habitat is polluted, and some of the bamboo is buried or smashed.” He said it was almost certain that the earthquake had claimed more pandas among its victims.

“There must have been wild pandas crushed to death during the quake and in the aftershocks. But we do not have the number.”

It was still far too dangerous for researchers to venture into these remote mountain areas to try to assess the ravages on a population that had grown in recent years.

Of the 55 protected reserves where wild pandas roam, 49 have been affected by the earthquake. Landslides have toppled whole mountainsides, possibly burying many of the animals.

Zhang Zhihe, head of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the headquarters of China’s hugely successful campaign to save the panda through artificial insemination, said that he was also anxious that the devastation of the mountain terrain could deprive the wild panda of access to bamboo. He told The Times: “The pandas now cannot make their way between different mountains because of the landslides and so they may not be able to find food.”

It has taken China years to create these reserves, linked by corridors along which the pandas can move with the minimum of encroachment by man. Now these corridors will almost certainly have to be recreated.

Mr Zhang said: “As a wild animal, the panda has the capacity to survive in the short term. But the danger lies in its longer-term survival with the damage to the ecology.”

Panda habitat damaged by China quake
Yahoo News 17 Jun 08;

At least 80 percent of the habitat for giant pandas in China's earthquake-hit province was destroyed or damaged, a forestry official said Tuesday.

China's May 12 temblor centered in Sichuan devastated a vast area of wild habitat for endangered species, including the giant panda, Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the State Forestry Administration, told reporters.

"We still cannot reach some of the local habitats, so it's impossible to assess the exact losses," Cao said.

The endangered panda is revered as a national symbol in China, where about 1,600 pandas live in the wild, mostly in Sichuan and the neighboring province of Shaanxi. Another 180 have been bred in captivity.

Forty-nine nature reserves, including the popular Wolong Nature Reserve, were damaged throughout Sichuan, Cao said, making up 2 million acres. The facility, which used to house 64 pandas, was badly damaged by the quake and one panda died.

The center remains closed to visitors, and might not open again until next year. Six pandas have been sent to another reserve in Sichuan, and eight have been sent to Beijing for an Olympics stay at the Beijing Zoo that was planned before the quake.

The earthquake also badly damaged forestry resources in the affected areas, Cao said. Direct economic losses to the forestry business were $3.3 billion and 232 forestry workers were killed, he said.

Most of panda habitat damaged or destroyed in China quake
Yahoo News 17 Jun 08;

Over 80 percent of the giant panda's habitat in China was damaged or destroyed by the earthquake that hit southwest Sichuan province, an official at the State Forestry Administration said Tuesday.

"In the earthquake, 83 percent of the giant panda's habitat was damaged or destroyed," Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the administration, told reporters.

The fate of the pandas has been a cause of concern following the devastating May 12 quake, which cut off access to large swathes of mountainous areas, including China's largest panda breeding centre in Wolong, Sichuan.

A giant panda from the Wolong reserve has already been found dead after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake.

The 1,400 wild pandas in the quake-hit regions represent about 88 percent of the country's total of the endangered animals. Sichuan is their main home, with others living in nearby provinces.

"Due to current communication problems, it is still impossible to go deep into the mountains, so we are unable to assess the number of animal losses," Cao said.

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EU to shut down industrial bluefin tuna fishing early

Leigh Thomas, Yahoo News 13 Jun 08;

The European Commission said Friday it would close the industrial tuna fishing season early, provoking a wave of protest from Europe's leading fishing nations.

With quotas nearly full, the EU executive said that bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic needed to be halted early to protect the increasingly popular species.

The move targets fishing by purse seiners, boats that draw nets around whole schools of fish before drawing them in. They account for 70 percent of all bluefin tuna hauls.

Under the decision, the boats from Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus and Malta will be banned from fishing bluefin tuna from June 16, while purse seiners from Spain will not be able to cast their nets from June 23.

The season would usually have run to the end of June, when the fleet normally hauls in 90 percent of its catches, taking in as much as 550 tonnes of tuna per day.

Unlike the industrial fleets, small tuna fishing boats, which are mostly active in the eastern Atlantic will be able to keep filling their quotas until the end of their season, which closes at the end of November.

"The closure of the purse seine fishery is necessary to protect this fragile resource, and ensure the recovery of the stock," the commission said in a statement.

The commission's decision sparked swift and sharp criticism from Italy, France and Spain.

Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said the move dealt an unjustified blow to a sector already struggling to cope with record fuel prices.

"I don't agree with this decision because it is unjustified and because it fails to take full account of the economic and social impact it will have on a sector that is already in crisis," Zaia wrote to EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

In Paris, Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier slammed the decision and called for an urgent meeting of EU fisheries experts.

Barnier deplored "this decision, made without having taken account of technical factors and catch figures," a statement from his ministry said.

It said he had contacted Borg to call for "the urgent organisation" of a meeting of experts from the EU executive commission.

The committee will be able to "provide useful data on bluefin tuna catches by purse seiners in the countries concerned," the statement said.

The government of Spain, home to Europe's largest fishing fleet, also protested, saying that it "rejects as disproportionate the decision by the European Commission."

As the bluefin tuna fishing reaches the peak of the season this month, the commission has been keeping a close eye on the industry after overfishing in 2007 also led to the early closure of the season.

The commission said an early closure was all the more necessary this year because the purse seiner fleet had grown substantially since 2007 despite tougher international quotas and EU funds available for reducing fleets.

"The commission is determined to use all necessary means to prevent a recurrence of the substantial overfishing seen in 2007," it said.

Environmentalists have warned that tuna could face extinction if fishing continues at current rates to feed a worldwide fad for Japanese food such as sushi.

But tuna fishing is an increasingly lucrative industry, particularly for developing economies that export to Japan, which consumes a quarter of the world's tuna.

The World Wildlife Fund welcomed the early closure of the season, although it was critical of the commission's decision to give an extra week to Spain

"WWF believes this out-of-control fishery should never have been allowed to open this year at all," said Aaron McLoughlin, association's fishing expert in Europe.

"Overfishing and massive illegal catches threaten the survival of bluefin tuna," he added. "Fishing should be banned indefinitely at least during June, the key spawning month for Mediterranean bluefin tuna."

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Fishermen in Thailand's Pattani province face uncertain future

Channel NewsAsia 13 Jun 08;

PATTANI PROVINCE, Southern Thailand : Fishermen in the southern Thailand province of Pattani are facing an uncertain future.

Their fishing grounds have been limited, amid negotiations to finalise a deal with Riau Islands in Indonesia.

In Pattani province in Thailand's deep south, fishing is essential to the region's economic survival.

But now the fishing and fish processing industries are being threatened.This year, production is expected to be down by more than a third.

Amnard Suntornkuman, Fish Factory Quality Control, said, "Our production is being affected. We catch less fish than we did in the past."

The fishermen are feeling the effects of fewer fish too.

One fisherman said, "These fish are very fresh. The fishermen have to stay out at sea for two nights, then come back to hand in the fish here."

He said that previously, fishermen would get the same catch in just a day.

Much of the fish used to come from Indonesian waters around the Riau Islands.

But a concession agreement between Pattani province and Riau Islands has stalled.

With fewer places to fish, the fisherman have to stay out longer.

There are about 70,000 fishing boats registered in Thailand, but trade groups and the Fisheries Association have said that number should really be closer to 40,000, given the reduced areas that fishermen are allowed to travel into.

Fishing and fish processing accounts for a third of the province's income and the provincial governor said the best solution is not to reduce fleets, but to hammer out a deal with Indonesia and the Riau Islands.

Pattani Governor Panu Uthairat said, "The Thai government really wants to negotiate with Indonesia and we have been partially successful. At the same time, on the provincial level, I - as Pattani Governor - have been talking to the Riau Islands' Governor."

Both provinces have signed a memorandum of understanding, and the Riau Islands is letting a very limited number of Thai fishing boats in.

They have not finalised an agreement and neither party can say when they will do so. - CNA/ms

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Vast Peat Fire May Burn for Months in North Carolina

Willie Drye, National Geographic News 13 Jun 08;

About 450 firefighters are battling a 40,000-acre (16,000-hectare) blaze in northeastern North Carolina that could burn for months unless the drought-stricken region gets a downpour.

The fire, which was sparked by a lightning strike on June 1, is currently the largest active wildfire in the United States.

Containing and extinguishing the fire is posing a unique challenge, because it is burning in highly flammable peatland.

Peat is partially decomposed plant matter formed in wetlands that can be harvested as fuel. It can be the first step in the formation of coal, a process that takes millions of years.

North Carolina's coastal plain region has about 500 square miles (1,300 square kilometers) of peat that can be up to 15 feet (4.5 meters) thick in some places.

In Washington, Hyde, and Tyrrell counties, where the fire is raging, more than a foot of peat has burned in some places, said Gary Mease, a state forestry division firefighter from Hayesville, North Carolina.

"Think of it as one giant charcoal briquette," Mease said. "It will ignite and [the fire will] sink into the soil."

This means that firefighters face an unusual danger, because the fire can travel underground and suddenly blaze up behind them.

"These fires don't go away," Mease said. "It sits there and smolders [underground], creeps around, skunks around, until it gets the right conditions to go to the surface."

For now the fire is about 40 percent contained, said Brian Haines, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources. Crews hope to have the blaze fully contained within the next couple of weeks.

Frightened Animals

Much of the wildfire is currently within the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, home to several endangered species, including about 130 red wolves and the red-cockaded woodpecker.

Bonnie Strawser, a spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said officials don't think the animals there will be seriously affected.

"The wildlife will be fine," Strawser said. "Most of them smell the smoke and feel the heat and move out of the way."

But firefighters are encountering a few frightened animals as they battle the blaze.

Firefighter Mease said one worker had seen 14 black bears, and others have crossed paths with cottonmouth moccasins and rattlesnakes. Fortunately the only injuries so far have been bee stings and poison ivy, he said.

Hope for a Storm

Haines, of the Division of Forest Resources, added that the giant fire has sent a plume of smoke more than 45,000 feet (13,700 meters) into the atmosphere.

"There's such a great amount of heat produced by the fire. When it reaches a certain height, it actually creates its own weather conditions and can create lightning," he said.

Firefighters are using bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment to build firebreaks and are drawing water from private agricultural canals and shallow lakes, he said.

But only a heavy rainfall such as what would accompany a tropical storm or hurricane will provide enough water to completely extinguish the blaze.

"It's not that we want the damage from a strong tropical storm," Haines said. "But we could use the rain."

Meanwhile, firefighters about 80 miles (128 kilometers) away in southern Virginia are battling a smaller fire in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.

Catherine Hibbard, a spokesperson for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the blaze started when logging equipment caught fire on Monday.

Loggers had been removing white cedar trees that had been knocked down by Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

Hibbard said the fire has not been contained and now covers about 1,000 acres (405 hectares) on the North Carolina-Virginia border.

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Drought emergency declared in vital California farmland

Channel NewsAsia 13 Jun 08;

SAN FRANCISCO: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency on Thursday to help the state's Central Valley farm region deal with a severe drought.

"Central Valley agriculture is a 20-billion-dollar a year industry," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "If we don't get them water immediately, the results will be devastating."

"Food prices, which are already stretching many family budgets, will continue to climb and workers will lose their jobs – everyone's livelihood will be impacted in some way," he said.

The emergency declaration allows the governor to direct state resources to deliver much-needed water to nine counties in the central region, which extends from the state capital Sacramento to Bakersfield.

Schwarzenegger earlier Thursday declared a state of emergency in a coastal county south of San Francisco as wildfires threatened thousands of homes in the state's rain-starved north.

On Wednesday, he made a similar declaration for another jurisdiction, Butte County, as brush and forest fires burned toward hundreds of homes there.

Another fire was burning in Monterey county just south of Santa Cruz.

On June 4, Schwarzenegger declared that the state was in a serious drought, raising the danger of fire outbreaks. That declaration allowed officials to mandate water cutbacks and rationing.


- AFP/so

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Florida citrus under siege from greening disease

Reuters 13 Jun 08;

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Florida's multibillion dollar citrus industry is beleaguered by citrus greening or yellow dragon disease and is mounting an effort to formulate ways to eradicate the disease, a senior official said.

"It is clear to me that our industry's battle against huanglongbing (HLB) or citrus greening may be the most daunting challenge that has ever faced our industry," Michael Sparks, chief executive of top citrus growers group Florida Citrus Mutual, said in a speech on Thursday at its annual meeting in Florida.

A copy of the speech was made available Friday. Florida Citrus Mutual said its growers form part of a $9.3 billion industry which employs 76,000 workers.

He said all 32 Florida counties with commercial citrus production are infected with the disease, a bacteria with no known cure which kills the citrus plant in about two years.

"The levels of infection are greatest in southern counties, with some groves in that area reaching (a) 60 percent infection rate. Projections are for the continued spread of HLB throughout the state," he said.

"Right now, all we can do is to try and control the bug that spreads HLB and remove infected trees that have the disease. That's it," Sparks concluded.

The disease, first noted by the Chinese in their citrus groves in the 1800s, has devastated citrus farms around the world. The disease was first detected in the United States in 1998 and has spread rapidly.

Separately, Sparks said other major issues for Florida citrus growers would be establishment of a controversial guest workers program as part of immigration reform. The growers also are concerned with softening demand for orange juice by the American consumer.

"Orange juice is not a given on the American breakfast table anymore. There are a lot of alternatives," said Sparks. "Literally thousands of new beverages are introduced each year from sports drinks to energy drinks to fruit punches to bottled water."

(Reporting by Rene Pastor; Editing by David Gregorio)

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US wants biotech to help solve global food crisis

Yahoo News 13 Jun 08;

A senior US official on Friday urged countries to remove barriers to the use of biotechnology and other innovations that would increase food production at a time of crisis.

"We must address the policies and trade barriers that increase food prices by preventing access to food and to the best technologies available to produce food," Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said.

"In the long term, we believe sustainable food security will come from advances in science and technology and the creation of an efficient global market for both agriculture products and food production technologies," he said.

"We therefore are strongly encouraging countries to remove barriers to the use of innovative plant and animal production technologies, including biotechnology," Negroponte said.

"Biotechnology tools can help speed the development of crops with higher yields, higher nutrition value, better resistance to pests and diseases, and stronger food system resilience in the face of climate change," he said.

"Are there negative food and climate change implications associated with increased demand for biofuels?" he asked.

"We think this has had minor impact, but are dedicating substantial resources for research for cellulosic biofuel technology," he said.

"We are also working hard to conclude a successful Doha agreement that will reduce and eliminate tariffs and other barriers as well as market-distorting subsidies for agriculture goods," he said.

"Over 40 developing countries unwisely have put trade-restrictive policy measures into place," he said, adding that export restrictions should be lifted.

"They (the export restrictions) have taken food off the global market, driven prices higher, and isolated farmers from the one silver lining of the rise in food prices -- higher incomes for agriculture producers," he said.

Negroponte was speaking at a ceremony to name former US senators Robert Dole and George McGovern the winners of the 250,000 dollar World Food Prize for their role in "encouraging a global commitment to school feeding."

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Senegal city is 'most threatened' by rising sea levels

BBC News 13 Jun 08;

St Louis in Senegal is the city most threatened by rising sea levels in the whole of Africa, a senior United Nations official says.

"Climate change is the principal reason," UN Habitat's Alioune Badiane told a conference in St Louis, AFP news agency reports.

The city is built on an island between the mouth of the Senegal River and the Atlantic Ocean.

It was made a World Heritage site in 2000 by Unesco, the UN cultural agency.

The city, near Senegal's border with Mauritania, was founded by the French in the 17th century.

It was once the colonial capital of French West Africa and Mauritania.



But in the early years after Senegal's independence in 1960, Dakar, further along the coast, became the principal city.

Correspondents say it is known for its architectural charm and attracts more than 10,000 foreign tourists every year.

Talking at a conference at St Louis University, Mr Badiane said that the St Louis "was the African city most threatened by the rising levels of the sea".

He said a channel built in 2004 to save the city from flooding had actually made the situation worse.

"It is a double handicap for St Louis to be between the ocean currents and the River Senegal," he said.

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Major Breakup Threatens Antarctic Ice Shelf

Andrea Thompson, LiveScience.com Yahoo News 13 Jun 08;

A large chunk of one of Antarctica's ice shelves broke off at the end of May, new satellite images show, marking the second major breakup of the shelf this year and the first documented episode to occur in winter.

The European Space Agency's Envisat satellite captured images of an area of ice about 62 square miles (160 square kilometers) breaking off of the Wilkins Ice Shelf from May 30 to 31.

The Wilkins Ice Shelf is a broad plate of floating ice south of South America on the Antarctic Peninsula. It connects two islands, Charcot and Latady.

In February 2008, an even larger area of about 154 square miles (400 square km) broke off from the ice shelf, narrowing the connection between the islands to a 3.7-mile (6 km) wide strip of ice. After the most recent breakup, the connection was whittled down to just 1.7 miles (2.7 km).

This narrow strip is all that is protecting thousands more kilometers of the ice shelf from further breakup.

The Antarctic Peninsula has experienced more warming than any other part of the southernmost continent; in the past 50 years, it has experienced 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 degrees Celsius) of warming.

The warming has been so drastic, because the peninsula is sandwiched between a region with substantially rising air temperatures and a warming ocean.

In the past 20 years, seven ice shelves along the peninsula have retreated or disintegrated, including the spectacular 2002 breakup of the Larsen B Ice Shelf .

Scientists monitoring the Wilkins Ice Shelf don't think the current breakup has finished.

"The remaining plate has an arched feature at its narrowest position, making it very likely that the connection will break completely in the coming days," said Matthias Braun of Bonn University and Angelika Humbert of Münster University, both in Germany, in a statement.

The satellite monitoring of Antarctic ice shelves is part of the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008 worldwide research effort.

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China top carbon emitter, Beijing under pressure

Gillian Murdoch, Reuters 13 Jun 08;

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's ranking as top emitter of the main planet-warming gas, carbon dioxide, seemed confirmed by a Dutch report on Friday, putting more pressure on Beijing to come up with their own figures, experts said.

The finding from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) is the third published in English by either European or U.S.-based researchers to show China at the top.

It says China's CO2 emissions raced 14 percent ahead of the total emitted by the United States last year.

One of the report's biggest effects will be to put more pressure on the central government to speed up the process of tallying its own total greenhouse gas emissions.

"No matter how many of these kind of reports are released, you still need the confirmation from China to really confirm the story," said Greenpeace China's Beijing-based climate and energy campaign manager Ailun Yang.

Even without China's confirmation, Friday's report represented the consensus view, said Isabel Hilton, editor of bilingual Mandarin-English China Dialogue website, which publishes reports about China's environment.

The delay in Beijing's confirmation reflected reluctance.

"As the Chinese saying goes, the tall tree attracts the wind. The government is conscious that being the largest emitter by volume, along with a vigorous program of building coal-fired power stations, risks putting China at a moral disadvantage in international diplomacy," said Hilton.

UNFAIR

The Dutch report ranked India, another fast-developing Asian giant with a population of more than one billion, as the third biggest national emitter, at eight percent of the global total.

Pressure is building to include big developing countries in global targets ahead of a U.N.-led meeting in Copenhagen in 2009, which is expected to forge a broader pact to fight greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol after 2012.

But experts, including the Dutch report writers, say that the third major academic analysis to place China top does not mean that the fast-developing nation is a global bad guy.

"To put things in perspective you should also look at national circumstances like emissions per capita and GDP (income) per capita, which is much smaller in the case of China," said PBL's senior scientist Jos Olivier.

As superficially attractive as national rankings are, the picture they give is somewhat misleading, said Gavin Edwards, head of Greenpeace International's climate campaign.

"We live in a globalised world with global trade. Take any random major corporation which has large outlets in the West, you'll find large manufacturing bases in places like China. So it's very hard to decide who those emissions belong to."

Announced just as a U.N.-sponsored meeting on emissions cuts winds down in Bonn, and a few weeks before a major G8 meeting on the issue in Japan, the ranking might further heat up global discussions.

"(China's ranking) will certainly increase pressure for developing countries to join a post-Kyoto regime," said Hilton.

"The developed countries are responsible for the past. The developing countries, as the ratings show, hold the world's climate future in their hands."

BIGGER PICTURE

China accounted for two-thirds of last year's global 3.1 percent rise in carbon emissions, from consumption of fossil fuels and cement production, but China's per-capita emissions still lagged far behind those of the United States, at 5.1 and 19.4 tonnes per person respectively, Friday's report said.

While understandable, China's delays in facing the numbers could prove problematic for Beijing, said Elizabeth Economy, Deputy Director of Asia Studies and Fellow for China at U.S.-based Council for Foreign Relations.

"China has said that it will consider aspirational targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but not hard targets until 2050, when it anticipates that its per-capita emissions may well match those of the U.S. today," Economy said.

"The world, of course, cannot afford such a delay."

(Additional reporting by Gerard Wynn in London; Editing by Emma Graham-Harrison, Gerard Wynn and David Fogarty)

China biggest CO2 emitter last year: Dutch agency
Yahoo News 13 Jun 08;

China's carbon dioxide emissions in 2007 were about 14 percent higher than the United States and accounted for two-thirds of the global rise, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) said Friday.

With an eight percent national increase, China's carbon dioxide emissions contributed the bulk of last year's 3.1 percent global rise in CO2 emissions, according to a statement released on the last day of a United Nations conference on climate change in Bonn, Germany.

"With this, China tops the list of CO2 emitting countries, having about a quarter share in global CO2 emissions (24 percent)," it said.

The United States was second with 21 percent, while the European Union was at 12 percent, India eight percent and Russia six percent, said the statement.

Cement clinker production was a major cause of the emissions, and with an increase of 10 percent in 2007 China now accounted for about 51 percent of global cement production, said the PBL.

"After the earthquake which recently hit the Sichuan province, it may be expected that the rebuilding of houses and roads for over five million people will cause the cement demand to soar even further," it said.

Warmer winter weather and high fuel prices contributed to a two percent drop in CO2 emissions in Europe last year, it added.

But in the US, a cold winter and warm summer contributed to rising carbon emissions from heating and cooling functions. Overall in the US last year, CO2 emissions rose by 1.8 percent.

"Since population size and level of economic development differ considerably between countries, the emissions expressed per person show a largely different ranking," added the agency.

The US topped the list of C02 emissions per person measured in metric tonnes with 19.4, followed by Russia with 11.8, the EU with 8.6, China with 5.1 and India with 1.8.

The figures were compiled from recently published British Petroleum energy data and cement production data for 2007.

In the current global warming talks, the US and other Western nations have balked at making mandatory cuts in greenhouse gases as developing nations like China are not required to slash emissions under the UN climate change framework.

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