Massive dredging off Cyrene Reef begins
from MPA notice and massive reclamation near Labrador continues on the wildfilms blog
Plastic Bags Are Bad. But, They’re Not Made From Oil
from the green routine blog
Nesting of Spotted Dove
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog
Samantha Donovan, ABC News 26 Jul 08;
BRENDAN TREMBATH: Victoria's decision to allow the culling of black swans in the state's east is angering environmentalists. Five permits have been issued to shoot swans which have been damaging crops.
But the cull's opponents argue that the drought and environmental mismanagement are forcing the birds to search for other sources of food.
Samantha Donovan reports.
SAMANTHA DONOVAN: In Gippsland, the black swan is a prominent emblem for tourism and is also an important symbol to the local Indigenous community. But in the east of the region, famous for its lakes and protected wetlands, the swans are becoming pests.
Five permits have been issued to farmers to shoot a total of 90 swans. The Victorian Environment Department's manager of biodiversity services, Kimberley Dripps, says the department was left with no alternative.
KIMBERLEY DRIPPS: In this case the swans have moved into a young lucerne crop and they've caused so far over $60,000 worth of damage to that crop. And the farmer involved has undertaken several methods to try and move the swans on and those have unfortunately been unsuccessful.
SAMANTHA DONOVAN: But Jill Redwood from Environment East Gippsland is horrified that the swans are being culled.
JILL REDWOOD: It's an outrage that the Government has approved a massacre of our native black swans. It's in their nesting season and it's on the edge of a listed Ramsar Wetland.
And the reason the swans are moving out of the wetland into the farmers' pasture is because the lakes are dying. And these have been dying for the last two or three decades but the Government has done nothing about it, and now all the seagrass has died off, the swans are starving, and they're having to move over into farmland.
SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Jill Redwood argues that the Victorian Government has been negligent in failing to address the environmental problems facing the Gippsland lakes and wetlands.
JILL REDWOOD: They've been very busy writing lots of reports to say that the wetlands are in a very bad way but they've actually done nothing about it. And so now we've got the dead wetlands and all the problems that arise from that. The swan problem is just one of the many.
SAMANTHA DONOVAN: But Kimberley Dripps denies that the Victorian Environment Department could have been doing more to fix the swan's habitat.
KIMBERLEY DRIPPS: I think that's a very challenging question because the area that we're talking about is extremely large and there have been a run of unfortunate natural disasters that have contributed in this case.
We could expect that given the drought situation in Gippsland that there might be short-term difficulties with swans, however we'd expect that nature will in due case restore it's natural balance.
BRENDAN TREMBATH: Kimberley Dripps from the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment, ending Samantha Donovan's report.
Maria Almenoar, Straits Times 25 Jul 08;
A NEW 1.3km tunnel will be built from the Sentosa Gateway as a link to nearby roads to cope with growing traffic in the area when the integrated resort and new condominiums are completed.
This will allow outgoing traffic from Sentosa to bypass the busy cross junction of the Gateway and Telok Blangah Road.
That junction is expected to see a 60 per cent increase in traffic between 2010 and 2015 - arising mainly from the new integrated resort on Sentosa and new condominiums in the area.
Currently, about 6,000 cars use that junction during the evening peak period. That number will swell to between 9,600 and 10,800, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Friday.
When the tunnel is completed in 2015, it will start along the stretch directly between VivoCity and St. James Power Station and end along Kampong Bahru Road and Keppel Road heading east.
The LTA said that motorists who use the mainly two-lane tunnel will see a 50 per cent drop in their travel time - to under 10 minutes - for that stretch.
Travel time on surface level will also improve by 25 per cent.
The tunnel is in addition to other road works in the area which have begun since June to meet growing traffic demands.
Improvements include adding lanes on Telok Blangah Road, an extra lane for vehicles turning into the Sentosa Gateway and the widening of the Kampong Bahru Road.
These works will be completed in 2010, in time for the opening of the integrated resort on Sentosa.
LTA will start preliminary works on the tunnel, which includes laying cables, at the Sentosa Gateway area, by the end of the year.
Tunnel works proper will only begin in 2011.
LTA assured motorists that there will be minimal disruption to those heading to the area.
New Sentosa tunnel to be built by 2015
Diondi Tan, Business Times 26 Jul 08;
THE Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be adding to and expanding the current road infrastructure around the Sentosa gateway. This is to ensure that extra capacity will be available to meet projected use in 2015.
These improvement and construction plans will include a two-lane tunnel that connects outbound traffic from Sentosa directly to Kampong Bahru Rd and Keppel Rd, bypassing the Telok Blangah and Sentosa Gateway junction entirely.
According to LTA chief executive, Yam Ah Mee, the tunnel will cut motorists' travel time in 2015 by half, around 10 minutes' worth of savings, and ensure smoother traffic flow.
Motorists who are travelling on surface roads will also experience a reduction in travel time due to less pressure being placed on the above ground roadway infrastructure.
'These road improvement plans complement the package of road improvements we announced earlier in February this year, and will ensure that both visitors and residents who are heading out of the Sentosa area will have a pleasant traffic experience,' said Mr Yam.
The actual construction of the tunnel will only start after the opening of Resorts World, and is slated to begin in 2011, and to be completed in 2015.
Booking green rooms
Isabel Ong, Straits Times 26 Jul 08;
IF YOU have ever wondered why the National Library's entire central lending section is contained in its basement, it is to minimise the movement of people and lessen the heat generated within the building.
This and other energy-saving features of the library in Victoria Street are featured in a new book.
Titled The National Library Of Singapore: Redefining The Library, the 205-page book showcases the 16-storey building's environmentally responsible infrastructure and design.
Built at a cost of $203 million and opened to the public in 2005, the library is touted as the first green library building in Asia.
The book details its construction process by including photographs, sketches and floor plans.
It also contains interviews with key National Library Board (NLB) personnel, such as chief executive Dr N Varaprasad and director of design Datuk Dr Ken Yeang, whose architectural firm T. R. Hamzah & Yeang won the bid to design the library in 1998.
'They liked our scheme because it encouraged people to rethink what a library was,' Dr Yeang says of his bid. It took him and his team 11/2 years to finalise the design.
On why the library was designed with a green objective, Dr Varaprasad says: 'There is an increasing number of buildings which are environmentally sensitive and it does impact the common man. We wanted to look into the future and see how energy consumption and operating costs of this library can be minimised.'
The book, which cost less than $120,000 to publish, was written from the perspective of how people use it, says Mr Johnson Paul, NLB's deputy director of publishing and research services.
He says: 'In designing a building, you need to know how people can effectively use these spaces. As it's the only public building here that has 10,000 people walking in and out in a day, it proves that the building is usable and able to sustain that kind of usage.'
Among its green features are double-glazing facade panels that reduce solar heat gain, light shelves that allow in daylight to reduce the use of artificial lighting, and steel extensions which diffuse sunlight streaming in.
This has led to an average saving of 33 per cent on monthly energy bills compared to a building without the green features, says Mr Sandamurthi Rethinam, deputy director of NLB's properties and facilities management.
Ten per cent of library space is devoted to greenery, but its 14 gardens are not just for aesthetics. Two are open to the public and the rest are on various floors to absorb heat and carbon dioxide, reducing the heat generated in the building.
These initiatives have won the library many international awards, such as the first prize in the Asean Energy Efficient Building Awards last year and the gold medal award from the World Association of Chinese Architects in 2005.
So far, libraries in Malaysia and Germany have already placed orders for the book, while copies of it are being sent to the national libraries of several other countries.
# The book, published by GK Consultancy, is available for $57.70 (with GST) at Books Kinokuniya and online at The Library Shop (shop.nlb.gov.sg).
Esther Ng, Today Online 26 Jul 08;
SHOWHOST Samson Zee used to leave his computer switched on overnight. His air-conditioner used to be left running the whole day when he went out. Being energy-efficient was the last thing on his mind.
All this changed when he hosted the launch of the National Environment Agency’s (NEA) 10% Energy Challenge in April and started to apply the agency’s energy-saving tips.
Between May and June, Mr Zee shaved off between $30 and $40 off his monthly power bill. This, despite the fact that many consumers had complained to SP Services that their bills for May were higher than those of previous months.
Mr Zee is so pleased with the results that he wants to share his new-found knowledge and passion.
“Everyone can be more energy-efficient. I used to spend $120 a month and my home office is around 2,000 sq feet. Now, my energy bill has dropped to around $80-$90 a month. That’s a saving of about $500 a year,” he said.
His secret? Changing the way he uses his household appliances.
For instance, when Mr Zee found out that air-conditioning typically formed about 30 per cent of a household’s electricity bill, he started to install more fans in his office.
“I would set the air-con at 25 degrees Celsius. Once the room is cool enough, I would switch it off and use the fan. You can still get the same cool effect,” he said.
When this Weekend Today reporter shared how she was reluctant to switch to fluorescent bulbs because of their cold and unflattering light, Mr Zee was quick to dispel this myth, explaining that “compact fluorescent bulbs these days come in various shades from cool to daylight to warm”.
According to Ms Tan Li Yen, an NEA executive engineer, this is a common misconception surrounding fluorescent bulbs, adding that myths on energy usage abound.
“Many people think I must pull the plug from the power socket to prevent my appliances from consuming electricity on standby mode. This is not true. It applies to countries like America where their power points don’t come with switches.”
She added: “You only need to switch off the appliance at the power socket.”
Other myths include switching a compact fluorescent lamp off and on, or that shutting down and starting up a computer uses more energy than leaving it on.
According to the NEA, it is more energy efficient to switch off your compact fluorescent lamp if you are leaving the room for more than five minutes.
For households with storage water heaters, the NEA recommends switching on the heater 20 minutes before taking a hot shower and switching it off immediately after use. Or, consumers could also switch to instantaneous water heaters which are cheaper and more energy efficient.
Craig Johnstone, couriermail.com.au 26 Jul 08;
THE Queensland Government has admitted its strategy to protect coastal towns and suburbs from climate change is a failure.
It has appealed for federal funding to help build sea walls and levees to hold back storm surges and rising sea levels.
In a disturbing report sent to Canberra, the Government says its coastal management plans do not deal adequately with climate change risks and that existing residential and commercial development is now vulnerable to sea level rise and storms.
The Government has begun planning for Queensland to experience a sea level rise of nearly 1m over the next 50 years - about triple the level originally forecast.
It has ordered reviews of all its coastal management plans and urban planning strategies to ensure they take into account what the latest science says about the impact of climate change on existing and future development.
Climate Change Minister Andrew McNamara said Queensland's canal estates were of particular concern.
"Canal developments effectively bring rising sea levels kilometres inland," he said.
"You have engineered in issues about rising sea levels far beyond the natural coastline."
The Government was currently investigating "what are the possibilities" of constructing barriers to protect certain communities from storm surges and rising sea levels, he said.
Reviewing planning strategies to force councils not to approve development in areas at risk from the impact of climate change was "good old-fashioned risk management", he said.
News of the Government's actions came as an official briefing note to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd showed the sea level in far north Queensland was likely to rise by 20cm above 1990 levels by 2030.
The note, prepared for Mr Rudd's visit to Cairns yesterday, warned that the increased intensity of cyclones hitting Cairns would produce storm surges and floods that would cover up to 72 sq km of the city's area, more than double original forecasts.
Touring the Great Barrier Reef yesterday, Mr Rudd said coral bleaching was happening at "a pace of knots".
He added: "Those who are still climate change sceptics need to have a long, hard look at the absolute importance of preserving this wonderful asset."
Federal Climate Change Minister Penny Wong warned last month that more than 700,000 coastal addresses around the nation and about $25 billion in assets were at risk from storm surge and rising sea levels.
Insurance Australia Group has called for homeowners in low-lying areas to be charged a levy on their insurance to cover land that would be flooded due to climate change.
In a recent report, the Queensland Office of Climate Change said the sea level rise would cause one-in-100 year storm tides to create surges measuring 0.45m along the Sunshine Coast and 0.5m at Hervey Bay".
In a submission to a parliamentary committee investigating how coastal communities can cope with climate change, the Government says "coastal hardening" - or sea walls and levees - will be needed.
"Consideration needs to be given to the potentially high financial cost to Australia which will undoubtedly flow from the need for coastal hardening against the impacts of climate change," the submission says.
"The Queensland Government supports thought being given to a future financial framework to address the problem in the context of future national budget framing."
Treasurer Wayne Swan would not be drawn on the issue yesterday, saying his infrastructure priorities remained ports, rail and roads.
However, Premier Anna Bligh has said a prime reason for reviewing the South East Queensland Regional Plan is to ensure it takes the impact of climate change into account.
"When Terry Mackenroth first undertook this plan, frankly, whilst the issue of climate change was being talked about, I do not think people had any real understanding of what the long-term planning issues might be for approval of waterside dwellings, for example, and where density may or may not be appropriate," she said last week.
The future is grim reveals climate change report
Peter Michael, couriermail.com.au 26 Jul 08;
QUEENSLAND will become hotter and super-cyclones will batter the coast as far south as Brisbane by 2070, the nation's top scientists have warned.
In a top-level ministerial briefing note seen by The Courier-Mail, the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre, the co-ordinating body for the nation's 15 peak scientific bodies, offers stark predictions about climate change.
The confidential report to Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Environment Minister Peter Garrett and Climate Change Minister Penny Wong paints a bleak picture of stronger and more frequent cyclones, coral bleaching and the extinction and loss of flora and fauna.
Mr Rudd yesterday fired an angry salvo at climate change sceptics saying: "It's real. Climate change is at work and it is increasing at a pace of knots."
Mr Rudd and Senator Wong visited the Great Barrier Reef off Port Douglas to see evidence of coral bleaching under global warming, where the Prime Minister declared: "We have a real problem on our hands.
"If you go back into ancient corals, up to 1000 years old, it is only in the last 20 to 25 years that you can see coral bleaching."
Under pressure over his carbon emissions scheme, Mr Rudd warned climate change sceptics against "digging a hole and burying their heads in the sand".
"We need Australia to act locally and globally because, if we fail, assets like the Great Barrier Reef will be fatally in peril," he said.
The Australian Government's Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility report prepared for Mr Rudd's visit found north Queensland's $6 billion economy was "highly vulnerable to climate change".
The latest climate change projections predict that by 2030: Average annual temperature will increase by between 0.6C and 1.2C, and that after 2030, the rate of increase will be highly dependent on emission levels.
Also, cyclones will be stronger, more frequent and last longer, and the region of cyclone activity will shift southwards, affecting areas 300km further south by 2070.
Local sea levels will be 13 to 20cm above 1990 levels, and 49 to 89cm above 1990 levels by 2070.
The report said global warming could also possibly lead to the extinction of vulnerable rainforest vertebrates, while low-lying islands in Torres Strait could become uninhabitable.
It also painted a picture of coral disease and turtles, dugongs and seabirds struggling to survive.
It comes as new research shows the Daintree, the world's oldest rainforest, may disappear because of global warming.
It revealed some parts of the 135-million-year-old forest, two hours' drive north of Cairns, already is showing signs of decline under human-triggered climate change.
Deep in the heart of the Daintree, ecologist Cassandra Nichols has spent two years working high above the forest floor studying the canopy of the lush tropical rainforest.
"This is the lungs of the earth," Ms Nichols, 29, said.
"You can taste the oxygen in the air.
"The water that flows out of these mountains is pure, clean and sweet.
"But the scariest part is to think the rainforest may change from this to eucalypt scrub, simply because of man-made global warming."
Using a crane, scientists from across the world have been studying sentinel plants for signs of climate change.
Lead researcher Dr Michael Liddell, of James Cook University, said latest studies of a hectare of Daintree forest showed the whole ecosystem was at risk of irreversible change.
CSIRO research showed much of the lowland rainforest could disappear and revert to eucalypt, leading to the end of species such as the cassowary, he said.
Added to this was the possibility the "stressed" forest could shift from being the "ultimate carbon sink" and reverse its role to become a carbon emitter.
Mr Rudd and Senator Wong met with some of the region's top scientists yesterday to discuss the dire warnings.
One new study of a palm, the normanbya normanbyi, observed alarming differences in fruiting under drought and flooding rains of climate change.
"At the moment we need some basic data on how the forest performs under normal conditions," Dr Liddell said.
Experts say they are a cheap and effective way to protect low areas
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 26 Jul 08;
MANGROVES could be the natural protection against rising sea levels here, if climate change wreaks havoc in coming years.
Oceans are expected to rise up to 59cm by 2100, based on conservative expert reports, causing widespread flooding in low-lying areas, including Singapore. Growing mangroves could be a cheap and effective way of minimising the damage, said coastal geomorphologist Wong Poh Poh of the National University of Singapore's geography department.
'Sea level rise can be stopped naturally, at a much lower cost than building sea walls by growing mangroves,' he said at an international workshop on climate change recently.
Dr Wong said mangroves effectively add and stabilise sediments such as sand or broken coral to the shoreline. This raises the level of land gradually, in tandem with sea level.
Hardy mangroves also provide an effective barrier that can cut the power of storms, while being fertile grounds for biodiversity to flourish.
Currently, Singapore employs sea walls, drainage systems as well as elevated roads and buildings to protect the land from being inundated by water.
'Flooding is a long-term threat we have to consider,' said Dr Wong, who worked with the Nobel Peace Prize- winning Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the coastal chapter of its climate change report released in 2006.
Dr Wong was the only local among six experts to speak at an international forum on climate change and security organised by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
The panelists noted that the IPCC's estimate of a 1.5 deg C rise in temperature by the turn of the century is conservative.
But even this change would cause health-care costs to escalate due to changing patterns of infectious diseases such as malaria and dengue. Lost tourism revenue was another area where Singapore could be hit hard, they added.
Dr Jurgen Kropp, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, said Singapore could face a whopping bill if it does not address climate change along its coast because it has a large amount of real estate, including the airport, close to the coast.
'Beyond 2050, Singapore could have to consider more coastal protection with dykes or higher flood walls,' Dr Kropp said.
Professor Arnulf Grubler, an energy and technology expert from Yale University, said that Singapore was not too small to make a difference.
'The dense urban setting makes Singapore ideal to create a zero-emissions transport centre, and businesses will be interested in developing the model and exporting it to the rest of the world,' he said.
Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 26 Jul 08;
CLIMATE change woes could lead to regional wars over water, according to experts gathered in Singapore to discuss the security impact of global warming.
Changes must begin now, they said, for the world to survive extreme weather conditions. This included flooding and drought, which could be experienced 30 to 70 years from now, the experts said at a forum organised by the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University.
Professor Brahma Chellaney, an analyst in strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in India, said future wars could be fought not over oil, but water.
He pointed out that Asia has 20 times less water per capita than drought-plagued Australia and that inter-state water disputes are already rife in India. In the south, the lack of clear river-water allocation rules creates high economic and environmental costs.
'Asia has less fresh water per capita than most people realise. China and India are reaching the level of water scarcity matching the Middle East,' he said.
And as global warming takes hold, the fear is that droughts will spread in the region, causing widespread water shortages.
He said models like the Indus Water Treaty, which divides water flow between rivers in Pakistan and India, would be useful to emulate.
In tandem with droughts, floods caused by rising sea levels are expected to hit low-lying countries.
Associate Professor Wong Poh Poh of the National University of Singapore's geography department said that by 2100, most of the tens of millions affected by floods will come from Asia, forcing possible migration.
He cited findings from the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change report.
Professor Arnulf Grubler, from Yale University's school of forestry and environmental studies, urged governments to provide incentives, and businesses to take the lead in finding solutions with scientists.
SHOBANA KESAVA
Mark Kinver, BBC News 25 Jul 08;
The recent surge in demand for food and biofuel has increased the risks facing the world's wetlands, warn scientists.
A declaration by 700 scientists said the habitats faced a growing risk of being converted into farmland.
It also stated that the current knowledge of the extent of the world's wetlands was "unacceptable" and called for a global inventory to be set up.
The document was produced at the end of a UN-convened major scientific conference in Cuiaba, Brazil.
In their statement, the scientists highlighted other activities that were degrading the habitats, such as peat extraction and the construction of hydro-electricity dams.
"It is time to recognise the incalculable value of wetlands to all species - including ours," said Paulo Teixeira, co-chairman of the 8th Intecol International Wetlands Conference.
"If we don't plan and invest properly now, the cost to recreate artificially the services wetlands provide will dwarf the cost of preserving and protecting them in the first place."
In their declaration, the scientists called on the 158 countries that were party to the international wetlands agreement, known as the Ramsar Convention, to adhere to the global framework.
"Some countries have high standards for wetlands management, restoration and protection; however, many others are far behind," it said.
Fuelling the problem
They also warned against increasing farmland that encroached on the habitat, which caused damage through sediment, fertiliser and pesticide pollution.
"Biofuel production has led to a large loss of wetlands in the US already," explained Eugene Turner from Louisiana State University.
"They are now growing as much corn to produce biofuels as they used to export out of the country."
Professor Turner told BBC News that the surge in demand for the crop had resulted in agreements to conserve areas on the margins of farmland being broken.
"It is more profitable now to farm right up to the edge of a stream, so we are losing wetlands in the US from this alone."
"Of course, there are knock-on effects," he added. "If you do not grow the corn while the price is high, then somebody else is going to produce it - maybe on a key wetland site.
"This is an example of how interrelationships are not considered when we make decisions."
Carbon concerns
Another topic that was high on the conference agenda was the role the landscapes played in the global carbon cycle.
"Although that they may be 3-5% of the terrestrial surface, wetlands store about 20% of all terrestrial carbon, which amounts to 500-700 gigatonnes," explained Professor Turner.
"We are releasing, on a net basis, about 3.5 gigatonnes into the atmosphere, so any small change in the carbon from wetlands going into the atmosphere has a big impact."
He added that the future well-being of wetlands in the Arctic region was of particular concern.
"The places where it is going to proportionally warm the greatest is towards the Arctic; that region has an awful lot of wetlands.
"You put food in a refrigerator at home to keep it cool; if you don't, it begins to rot.
"The same thing applies in the Arctic," he explained. "The carbon is stored under the permafrost, meaning it is permanently frozen.
"The ice is receding, so the carbon that is stored there is going to be released and that is a problem."
WWF website 25 Jul 08;
This discovery highlights that efforts to prevent illicit fishing activities from occurring have been unsuccessful, activities that make it all but impossible to manage fish stocks and ensure that fishing boats are sound and secure from oil leaks.
The region, site of many key WWF projects, is widely recognised as the most important area of marine biodiversity on the planet, and is often referred to as the nursery of the seas.
Insufficient monitoring has left it susceptible to activities that could destabilise its unique marine biodiversity, a system that directly sustains the lives of nearly 130 million people across six countries of south-east Asia
“The health of the Coral Triangle is critical to the livelihoods of millions of people and it is crucial that adequate management systems are in place to prevent the kinds of scenes we have seen in Bali over the last week, and to reduce the threat of oil spills and overfishing,” said the leader of WWF’s Coral Triangle Program, Lida Pet Soede.
The sustainable management of these locations is especially important, and particularly difficult, as over-exploitation of marine resources is exacerbated by a combination of extreme dependence of coastal economies, population growth and poverty.
WWF is calling for increased protection of sensitive areas, monitoring of fishing activities, and more accountability for owners of vessels, especially considering this week’s discovery.
This news comes amid the recent announcement that up to half of all remaining coral reefs could disappear within the next twenty years.
“It is crucial that we properly manage the Coral Triangle’s unique marine wilderness for the benefit of the whole planet,“ Ms Soede said.
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News 25 Jul 08;
July 25, 2008 -- Humans have over-exploited the whale shark -- the world's largest living fish -- to such a degree that the ocean giants are actually shrinking in size, according to new research.
The whale shark population has also fallen by approximately 40 percent over the past decade in Western Australian waters, the new study has found, suggesting that this once prevalent shark, which can reach lengths up to 42 feet, is undergoing a severe decline in certain regions.
"We are all very alarmed at our findings, which really did defy our expectations," co-author Ben Fitzpatrick, a University of Western Australia biologist, told Discovery News.
The researchers analyzed the largest-ever database of sightings and size information on whale sharks. The database represents a long-term, continuous record of sightings -- 4,436 in total -- as well as photo ID information concerning age and size, all pertaining to whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia.
Because the sharks gather seasonally at the picturesque reef from March to June, a profitable industry has been built around "dive with sharks" activities. Usually by air sightings, tour operators regularly gather information on the sharks, compiled in the extensive database.
Fitzpatrick and his colleagues not only detected the population drop at the reef, but they also discovered the sharks have shrunk in body length by an average of over 6.5 feet. The overall reduction appears to be due to the disappearance of older, larger females, along with some males, within whale shark groups.
"I think it is mostly because the larger animals are being hunted for food and other products, such as for soup fins," explained Barry Brook, another co-author of the study and director of the Research Institute for Climate Change and Sustainability at The University of Adelaide.
"The larger the fin, the more valuable it is," Brook added.
The findings are published in the latest issue of Biological Conservation.
The scientists believe a selection effect may also be at work, whereby pressures are forcing smaller, younger whale sharks to breed earlier, but they believe this is just "a minor piece of the puzzle."
Brook said that while the whale sharks enjoy protection in Ningaloo Reef waters, the sharks migrate over large distances, often traveling thousands of miles.
"Artisanal fisheries via harpoons for meat, for example, off the coasts of India and Indonesia, but mostly by Taiwanese and Chinese commercial fisheries" are likely responsible for the declines, he said, adding that whale shark meat is referred to as "tofu fish" due to its texture, which is also prized in shark fin soup and Chinese medicine.
Ship strikes also tend to kill larger adults, he said, though evidence for the strikes is hard to compile since resulting deaths would usually remain unknown.
These latest findings counter a study late last year by Brad Norman and Jason Holmberg of ECOCEAN, a research education and conservation organization. That report, based on multiple underwater images of the sharks, concluded that Ningaloo Reef whale sharks are thriving. Norman did, however, admit to Discovery News that the species is "rare" and "vulnerable to extinction."
Brook and his colleagues have authored a written response to Norman's paper, which is still under consideration by the journal, Ecological Applications. They say that while whale sharks receive some trade protection from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, "it is difficult to police non-international trade or local hunting by indigenous people."
The migratory habits of whale sharks, Brook said, "mean it is impossible to protect the Ningaloo population once the sharks leave Australian waters for Indonesia and the Philippines."
The researchers urge officials to establish well-enforced international protection for the sharks. They also hope that collaborative tagging studies in the future will help to better identify and monitor whale shark migration routes.
Michael McCarthy, The Independent 26 Jul 08;
Numbers of puffins at England's largest colony, on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast, have mysteriously tumbled by a third in the past five years.
Breeding pairs of the small seabirds have decreased on the National Trust-owned islands from 55,674 in 2003 to 36,500 this year.
Results of the count, which was carried out by the team of nine National Trust wardens across eight of the islands, came as a shock. All eight islands showed a decrease in population, with four showing a dramatic decrease of up to 50 per cent.
"The results from this survey have completely surprised us, as we were predicting another rise in the numbers of breeding pairs," said the head warden, David Steel. "Stocks of sand eels, the staple food of puffins in the summer, are in good supply around the islands and there is a lack of ground predators, creating a good environment for puffins to breed."
He added: "Extensive monitoring work shows that good numbers of young puffins are successfully fledging each year but it would appear they're just not coming back to the islands the following years. Presumably fewer birds are surviving over winter than are needed to maintain current numbers."
Staple Island and Brownsman Island, where the majority of puffins can be found, have seen the numbers of breeding pairs fall by more than 30 per cent since the last survey was carried out in 2003.
Possible factors behind the decline are not yet properly understood but according to the trust, "this dramatic drop in numbers would suggest there is something happening at sea during the winter, for example, an intensification of storms as a result of our changing climate which could affect the ability of puffins to find food."
John Walton, the trust's property manager for the Farne Islands and the Northumberland coast, said that in almost 30 years of working with the Farne puffins this was the first downturn in the population he had witnessed. "With such a dramatic fall in numbers of breeding puffins on the islands, we need to do some further work to find out why things are changing, and whether this is a long term trend," he said. "We'll being carrying out sample surveys next year on some of the islands to build up a more detailed picture of what is happening."
Records for the number of breeding pairs of puffins found on the Farne Islands date back to the 1930s, but the first detailed count took place in 1969 when there were 6,800 pairs. The islands hold the largest colony of puffins in England, and constitute the fourth largest colony in the UK.
Puffins nest underground in burrows, and during the survey, which began in May, the wardens put their arms down holes to make sure the nests were occupied.
The islands are home to many seabirds as well as a population of grey seals.
Unexpected fall in puffin numbers
Mark Kinver, BBC News 25 Jul 08;
England's biggest colony of puffins has seen the birds' numbers fall by a third in just five years, a survey shows.
Experts had expected to see a slight increase in the population on the Farne Islands, owned by the National Trust.
The Trust says the size of the decline is unprecedented, adding that it will carry out another survey in 2008 in order to monitor the situation.
One theory is that many of the birds are dying from starvation during the eight months they spend at sea.
"We were expecting a slight increase because since the last survey in 2003, we had a number of good years for puffins," explained David Steel, the Trust's head warden on the islands.
"There were plenty of chicks fledging from the nests, so we were not only getting enough to maintain the population, but increase it.
"But something is going badly wrong somewhere."
Winter losses
The three-month survey, carried out on eight of the islands, recorded 36,500 breeding pairs. The previous survey, which was conducted in 2003, counted 55,674 pairs.
Mr Steel told BBC News that there was no visible explanation for the decline on the islands.
"There was no evidence that they were having difficulties.
"The birds had been bringing in good quantities of food, and there was not a predator problem on the islands."
One suggestion for the downturn is the survival rate over the winter months, when the puffins spend eight months at sea.
"The dramatic decline on the Farnes leaves no doubt that the North Sea has lost a substantial number of its puffins," explained Professor Mike Harris, emeritus fellow at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
"With poor survival of adult birds a likely factor in the decline, we urgently need to know more about puffins during the eight months of the year that they spend in the open sea."
The results reflect the findings of an earlier survey on the Isle of May, in the Firth of Forth - the UK's largest puffin colony. Published in June, it also showed a decline of about 30%.
David Steel said this year's results had left his team feeling anxious about the puffin population on the Farne Islands.
"This colony is the fourth largest in Britain, so to see it experience such a decline is a worry."
In order to monitor the situation, Mr Steel said the Trust would carry out another survey next year.
"We are going to target the islands that saw the biggest decreases," he explained.
Puffins nest in burrows, so their numbers are assessed by counting the number of occupied burrows, after the birds have cleaned out their nests and before vegetation begins to grow over.
Mr Steel explained: "We can then compare them with this year's results because we actually have 20 square metres on each island mapped, so we can go back to a particular spot and see what the impact is next year.
"Hopefully, we can now judge it on an annual basis and keep a much closer eye on things."
Alister Doyle, Reuters 25 Jul 08;
OSLO (Reuters) - Companies seeking oil in the Arctic will need better technology to clean up spills onto ice and could new face hazards such as rougher seas caused by climate change, experts said on Friday.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated this week that 22 percent of the world's undiscovered, technically recoverable reserves of oil and gas were in the Arctic, raising environmentalists' worries about possible impact on wildlife.
"The Exxon Valdez showed what a catastrophe can be caused by oil in the Arctic," said Ilan Kelman, a scientist at the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo. "The environment is remote, harsh and vulnerable."
The Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground off Alaska in 1989, spilling 11 million U.S. gallons of oil off Alaska and killing thousands of birds and marine mammals.
Commercial Arctic oil exploitation began in Canada in the 1920s at Norman Wells but oil companies still lack full technology to handle spills, for instance, if oil seeps into or below ice floating on the sea.
"Responding to major oil spills remains a major challenge in remote, icy environments. This is especially true for spills in waters where ice is present," according to a 2007 report by the Arctic Council, grouping all governments with Arctic territory.
New cleanup technologies "have yet to be fully tested...spill prevention should be the first priority for all petroleum activities," according to the study for the United States, Canada, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland.
Governments and oil companies are developing stringent safety standards to minimize risks of spills.
The WWF environmental group urged a moratorium on all oil and gas exploration until there was proper anti-spill technology and an ability to deploy clean-up equipment quickly to remote sites hit by winter darkness.
DARKNESS
"We still lack technology to clean up spills in the ice and we can't do it in the dark," said Neil Hamilton, head of the WWF's Arctic Programme. "We need a moratorium until the oil spill response gap is filled."
Chill temperatures mean that any spilt oil breaks down slowly, lingering longer in the environment and posing a threat to creatures such as seabirds or polar bears.
Global warming is set to make the Arctic region more accessible to oil firms as ice recedes. Arctic summer ice shrank in 2007 to a record low since satellite measurements began.
Kelman said that easier access to the Arctic could have unexpected side-effects -- the seas might become rougher if a blanket of sea ice recedes.
"Ice on the sea prevents storms from causing big waves," he said. He said that oil or gas facilities around the Arctic need to be built especially strong since climate change could cause shifts in sea currents, storms and higher waves.
Paul Johnson, principal scientist at the research laboratories of environmental group Greenpeace in Exeter, England, said the world should not look to the Arctic for oil even with prices at almost $130 a barrel.
"We are dealing with ecosystems that may not recover once they are disturbed," he said.
(Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Straits Times 26 Jul 08;
Govt offers grants to help waste-to-fuel plants kick off, and subsidy for such fuels
NEW YORK - AFTER years of false starts, a new industry selling motor fuel made from waste is getting a big push in the United States, with the first commercial sale possible within months.
Many companies have announced plans to build plants that would take in material like wood chips, garbage or crop waste and turn out motor fuels.
About 30 small plants are in advanced planning stages, under construction or, in a handful of cases, already up and running in test mode.
Scientists have known for decades that it was possible to convert waste to fuel, but in an era of cheap oil, it made little sense.
With oil now trading around US$125 a barrel and petrol above US$4 a gallon (3.8 litres), the potential economics of a waste-to-fuel industry have shifted radically, setting off a frenzy to be the first to market such products.
'I think American innovation is going to come up with the solution,' said Mr Prabhakar Nair, research chief for UOP, a company working on the problem.
The federal government is offering grants to help plants get off the ground and a subsidy of US$1.01 a gallon for one type of fuel. This is twice the subsidy it historically offered for ethanol made from corn.
Potential controls on global warming gases would heighten the appeal of these fuels, since many of them would add little new carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Tellingly, the type of companies placing bets on the field has started to expand.
The earliest were small start- ups founded by people with more technological vision than business experience.
Now, some of the giants of global business, including Honeywell, DuPont, General Motors, Royal Dutch Shell and BP, are taking stakes in the nascent industry.
And advancing technology has made the notion more plausible.
Virtually any material containing hydrogen, carbon and oxygen could potentially be turned into motor fuel.
That includes plastics, construction debris, forest and lawn trimmings, wood chips, wheat straw and many other types of agricultural waste.
The potential fuels include ethanol, which can be blended with petrol or other liquids that could displace petrol or diesel entirely.
Government studies suggest the country could potentially replace half its petrol supply in this way - even more if cars became more efficient.
The government is pushing to get the industry off the ground. Legislation passed last year mandates the use of 36 billion gallons of biofuels a year by 2022, less than half of it from corn ethanol.
Almost all the rest is supposed to come from non-food sources, though the requirement could be waived if the industry faltered.
A handful of small companies have long made a diesel replacement from waste oil, or sold kits to individuals to do the same. One company in Carthage, Missouri, even turns turkey guts into fuel.
The goal of the emerging waste-to-fuel industry is more elaborate, however: to take bulky, solid feedstocks and transform them into high-grade motor fuel.
And an increasing interest from big companies - ones with a track record of solving technical problems - suggests that a waste-to-fuel industry may not remain out of reach forever.
NEW YORK TIMES
Business Times 26 Jul 08;
Their plan is to increase agricultural productivity to meet fuel, food demands
(ST LOUIS) The argument over using crops to make biofuels is about to get a little louder, courtesy of a new group formed by some of the biggest agribusiness companies in the world.
The new group - formed by Monsanto Co, Archer Daniels Midland, Deere & Co and DuPont Co - announced on Thursday that it will use national advertisements and lobbyists on Capitol Hill to build the case for using crops to make fuels like ethanol and biodiesel, even as grain prices climb worldwide.
Just a niche market three years ago, the biofuels industry has blossomed because of federal mandates requiring the US to use nine billion gallons (34 billion l) of alternative fuel annually by 2009. The mandates are under attack from a wide variety of groups that blame the new industry for rising food prices that have sparked riots and hoarding everywhere from Haiti to South-east Asia.
Organisers of the newly formed Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy said that they want to change the debate about biofuels. Their plan is to convince consumers and politicians that both goals can be met at once by increasing agricultural productivity.
'I think the only path forward is one that meets both food and energy security demands,' said Monsanto's chief technology officer, Robert Fraley. 'I think we can add a component of science and technological perspective to the discussion.'
Monsanto hopes to double the yield-per-acre of crops like corn and soya beans by 2030, he said. Pioneer Hi-Bred, a division of DuPont, plans to boost yields of its seeds by 40 per cent within a decade.
The alliance plans to lobby federal lawmakers to keep current ethanol mandates while increasing funding for agricultural research and development that could increase crop yields. It also plans to try to sway consumers by telling them that new technologies will make it possible to grow enough food to affordably fill petrol tanks and grocery carts.
Companies behind the alliance stand to benefit from any increase in farming and grain consumption, whether it be increased use of Archer Daniels Midland's new ethanol plants, Monsanto's seeds or Deere & Cos farming equipment.
The alliance did not say how much it will spend on the campaign, beyond saying that the project has a budget worth several million dollars. But even that kind of cash does not guarantee that Congress will not revisit the wisdom of biofuels mandates.
The alliance faces opposition from well-funded agricultural interests that are suffering under rising food costs, including the American Meat Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA).
The GMA is already funding a campaign to highlight the negative effect of rising grain costs for average consumers, and it wants Congress to reconsider the federal ethanol mandates. The GMA is not swayed by the idea of waiting for agricultural productivity to improve, GMA vice-president for federal affairs Scott Faber said in a statement.
'While improvements in global agriculture are vital, this work must not distract us from the fact that while we wait, millions of people will be pushed deeper into hunger and poverty because we are diverting more and more food and feed supplies to producing ethanol,' he said in a statement. 'Congress and the administration can take immediate action to curb hunger by revisiting these flawed policies.'
About 22 per cent of the US corn crop went to produce biofuels this year, which is virtually the same as last year, according to the National Corn Growers Association. A full 33 per cent of this year's harvest, or 3.9 billion bushels, is expected to go towards ethanol production.
While virtually all experts agree that using crops for biofuels drives up the price of grain, opinions vary greatly as to how much.
White House economic advisers said the ethanol industry accounts for just 2 per cent to 3 per cent of the recent jump in grain prices, which are up more than 40 per cent this year over last year.
Estimates cited by the International Food Policy Research Institute and others say biofuels account for more than 30 per cent of the increase.
Cutting back US ethanol mandates would badly damage a booming US biofuels industry that is just now starting to deliver domestically produced fuel to consumers, said Archer Daniels Midland vice-president Todd Werpy\. \-- AP
Melanie Dabovich, Associated Press Yahoo News 25 Jul 08;
The plant has been described by local residents as magical, its qualities almost mythical.
The native herb yerba mansa, translated from Spanish as the "calming herb," has been used for centuries throughout the Southwest by American Indians and Hispanics for ailments ranging from toothaches to sinus infections.
Though the herb is relatively unknown outside the region, those in the folk herb industry say yerba mansa could become as popular as goldenseal and echinacea.
But before the ancient herb can get its day in the sun, researchers must find a way to protect the ecologically threatened plant from depletion by habitat loss and urban development.
Charles Martin, a researcher at New Mexico State University's Sustainable Agriculture Science Center, has found a solution. He has made yerba mansa a viable agricultural crop for New Mexico's small farmers.
"As far as I know, our center is the only place in the U.S. conducting production research (on yerba mansa)," Martin said. "We targeted native herbs in an effort to find alternative crops for small farmers that are drought-tolerant and have a built-in pest resistance, and yerba mansa is an ideal plant that meets that criteria."
Also called yerba del manso, lizard tail or swamp root, the small plant with large white flower spikes is a perennial native to riverbanks and wetlands in the Southwest and northern Mexico.
The effort to grow yerba mansa for commercial cultivation benefits farmers, but it is also an attempt to protect the plant's future.
The herb is on the "to-watch" list by United Plant Savers, a Vermont-based organization dedicated to protecting native plants used as folk remedies.
Many herbal products that have been scientifically studied have not lived up to their claims. And many, like yerba mansa, have not been rigorously studied at all. Herbal supplements do not require government proof of safety and effectiveness to be sold.
Martin said it's hard to quantify how much yerba mansa, or Anemopsis californica, remains in the wild. Researchers look to the plant's shrinking habitat as an indicator of its well-being.
In New Mexico, riverside acreage along the Rio Grande continues to be swallowed by homes and development. Irrigated agricultural land once dominated, but now it has been reduced to less than 1 percent of the state's entire land base.
Martin and his staff established a small demonstration plot that has grown because of the plant's prolific spreading abilities. This feature could help farmers in keeping an established stand growing indefinitely, he said.
The only limiting factor in growing yerba mansa is water, Martin said.
"It will grow in a wide variety of conditions and soils, including alkaline-encrusted soil and in all degrees of sunlight," he said. "Once established, it doesn't need any more water than a typical crop, than say alfalfa."
As commercial demand for so-called herbal treatments increases, some plants run the risk of being over-harvested.
In 2007, U.S. sales of herb and botanical dietary supplements totaled $4.8 billion, a 4.3 percent increase over 2006 sales, according to the Nutrition Business Journal.
Yerba mansa is gaining attention as a goldenseal substitute, said Michael Moore, director of the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine in Bisbee, Ariz. If yerba mansa becomes widely used, cultivation is the only way to ensure a steady supply.
"There are a lot of plants that have almost been picked to extinction," including goldenseal and American ginseng, Moore said. "A hundred years ago, American ginseng could be found in 22 states and now it's only found in a few."
Martin's research in New Mexico could expand into other regions that already grow yerba mansa on a large scale. Several nurseries in California grow yerba mansa for ecological restoration projects.
"We could easily go into cropping. It could be a branch of what we're doing already," said Jeff Nighman, vice president of Santa Barbara Natives Inc. in Gaviota, Calif.
Bill Quiroga, president of Native American Botanics and Yaquis tribe member in Tucson, Ariz., has tested different growing techniques for yerba mansa using aeroponics. Aeroponics is a form of hydroponics that uses a water-and-fertilizer solution to grow root crops instead of soil.
Though the research has been halted because of lack of funding, Quiroga said his goal is to get American Indian farmers to grow the herb using aeroponic technology to supply his wholesale company.
But as his state's population swells and creeks dry up, Quiroga worries some native plants like yerba mansa could be lost.
"We have to find ways to grow it so that we keep the herb for later generations," he said.
Yahoo News 25 Jul 08;
The UN food agency on Friday called for more research into the tropical root crop cassava as a way of helping poor countries threatened by soaring food and oil prices.
Cassava "has enormous potential," the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a statement that cited the conclusions of a meeting of experts in the Belgian city of Ghent.
"At present average cassava yields are barely 20 percent of those obtained under optimum conditions."
The scientists called for increased funding for research and development to boost farmers' yields and explore other uses such as the production of biofuels.
Cassava, a staple for nearly one billion people in 105 countries where it provides up to a third of daily calories, is widely grown in tropical Africa, Asia and Latin America.
It is also the cheapest source of starch and used in more than 300 industrial products.
"One promising application is fermentation of the starch to produce ethanol used in biofuel," it said.
FAO warned, however, that policies that encourage a shift to biofuel production should "carefully consider its effects on food production and food security."
Initially hailed as a weapon in the fight against global warming, the tide of public opinion and policy has recently begun to turn against biofuels.
They are now cited by UN agencies, the World Bank and non-government organisations as contributing to higher food prices as farmers rush to cultivate the more profitable crops used for biofuels rather than food.
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