Best of our wild blogs: 31 Jan 09

World Wetlands Day 2009 - SBWR photo exhibition
on the ashira blog

Coastal work off the Marina Barrage
on the wild shores of singapore blog

Blue-tailed Bee-eater and the dragonfly
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Seen on STOMP: monitor lizard climbing
on the Lazy Lizard's Tales blog

Good News!
Giant clam paper published on the Psychedelic Nature blog

Teaching scientific knowledge doesn't improve scientific reasoning
on Not Exactly Rocket Science

Cruelty to whale sharks can impact tourism: Malaysian Minister
on the wild shores of singapore blog

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Crab finds by Singapore-led team now on stamps

Straits Times 31 Jan 09;

SEVEN new species of crabs, discovered by a Singapore-led expedition off the southern Philippines coast, have been immortalised on postage stamps.In fact, four of them were named by three local researchers from the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The museum's director, Associate Professor Peter Ng, led the research effort which more than 60 scientists from around the world participated in.

'We are very proud,' he said.

'This shows that sometimes, the value of what we do as scientists can be reflected in something that is of common usage, such as a stamp.'

The Stone Crab (Euryozius camachoi), is a species he named personally.

'If you are Filipino, it is a piece of your heritage and something to be proud about,' he said of the creature, which can be found only in the central Philippines.

The precious finds were dredged from depths of between 100m and 800m in the Bohol and Sulu seas off the island of Panglao, in the southern Philippines.

The area is famed for its rich diversity of species living in diverse environments.

The team discovered about 1,200 different species of crabs and shrimps over four expeditions which began in 2004. Several dozen were new species.

But the global inventory of marine biodiversity is far from complete.

About 1,800 new species are discovered on such trips every year, and around 275,000 have been recorded so far.

'The exercise of science is a continuous journey to increase our knowledge about what is out there on our planet.

'This journey is not only a very fulfilling one, but also fun,' said Prof Ng.

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Singapore: Driest January in 10 years

Judith Tan & Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 31 Jan 09;

SINGAPORE is experiencing an unusually dry spell and it looks like it may last another month.

This month has been the driest January in 10 years, without a decent shower across the island in a long while.

January is usually a wet month, with heavy showers that can last up to three days at a stretch.

So what happened?

Blame the unusual weather way up north. In Siberia, actually.

An annual accumulation of very cold dry air over Europe and Asia reaches its peak during winter, affecting weather patterns in the northern hemisphere.

That cold front occurred earlier than usual this time, said Professor Lim Hock, founding director of Temasek Laboratories at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Its effects have included the unusually cold weather in Hong Kong, the sudden cold snap in parts of Thailand earlier this month, and the strong north-easterly winds over the South China Sea all the way to Singapore, he said.

The dry weather Singapore has experienced in January is usually associated with February, he added.

Helping to explain, the Meteorological Services Division of the National Environment Agency said the north-east monsoon has wet and dry phases - rain from late November to January, followed by dry weather in February.

This year, however, a shift in wind patterns kept the rain away from Singapore.

The weatherman cautioned against leaping to conclusions that the unseasonal dry spell is a sign that global warming is at Singapore's shores.

There is a difference between climate change and natural variations in climate that occur from year to year, the experts agree.

Associate Professor Matthias Roth from the NUS' department of geography said that one dry January did not make a trend.

'We have to analyse the weather patterns over the next 10 years to see if these trends are still evident,' he said.

For the record, 2004 saw the wettest January in 10 years with 600.9 mm of rainfall, well above the long-term average of 244 mm.

This month, however, only 38.3 mm of rainfall was recorded.

It has resulted in slightly lower water levels at Singapore's reservoirs, but the PUB said yesterday that there was no cause for concern.

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More hot spots detected in Riau

But north-easterly winds are keeping haze from affecting S'pore
Judith Tan, Straits Times 31 Jan 09;

THE threat of haze from Sumatra's forest fires has returned this month as hot spots increase in the Riau province of Sumatra.

Fortunately, it will not be affecting Singapore's air quality any time soon, despite the island experiencing a dry spell.

The current prevailing north-easterly winds are keeping the smoke haze at bay - for the time being.

The National University of Singapore's Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (Crisp), using satellite imaging, detected fires in Riau on Jan19, 22 and 28.

'Fires in January this year come earlier than usual. If the dry spell continues, we may expect more land-clearing activities in Riau and other parts of Indonesia,' said Dr Liew Soo Chin, who heads the Crisp research team.

Fire starters - farmers, individuals and big companies which hire people to start the fires - often take advantage of a dry spell to start fires to clear the land.

For the last couple of years, fire activity in Riau has usually begun in the later part of February, said Dr Liew.

But he said it would be hard to predict now whether there would be more hot spots in a couple of weeks.

A hot spot is a fire covering at least a hectare of land.

Dr Liew added that with the north-easterly winds blowing in the first few months of the year, 'even if there are fires in Sumatra, the haze will not affect Singapore'.

Since 1998, Crisp has held daily checks on fires in the region using satellite images and reported its findings to the Environment Ministry.

The World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia, with the help of ground staff and satellite images, has detected 1,025 hot spots across the country as of Monday - with more than 800 in Riau alone.

It said the forest fires in Riau reached their peak for this month on Wednesday last week, with 172 hot spots detected that day alone.

A check with volunteers of homegrown non-governmental organisation Mercy Relief in Riau found there were three ongoing forest fires yesterday - an improvement from a week ago.

Mr Fatra Budeyanto, a spokesman for the Alliance of the Indigenous People of Riau, told The Straits Times there were 30 to 40 hot spots a week ago.

'The haze was particularly bad in the morning and evening. When the rain came in the last three days, it brought respite and put out most of the fires,' he said.

According a report in the Jakarta Post on Thursday, the Indonesian government had promised to investigate a forestry company and a group of local farmers accused of using illegal slash-and- burn methods to clear land, causing widespread forest fires across the Riau province.

Mr Illyas Asaad, Deputy Minister for Environmental Compliance, told the newspaper that stern measures 'were in the works to help fight Indonesia's international image as a smoke exporter'.

However, he declined to identify the company in question.

Last year, haze hit Singapore in May when smoke from land-clearing fires in Indonesia drifted over the island.

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Worst dengue outbreak in Malaysia

More than 5,000 cases so far this year; rainfall, public apathy blamed for Aedes breeding
Hazlin Hassan, Straits Times 31 Jan 09;

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is going through its worst dengue outbreak ever, health officials said yesterday, with higher rainfall and public apathy being blamed for encouraging the widespread breeding of the Aedes mosquito.

In the first 28 days of this year alone, 14 people have died and 5,062 cases have been recorded. This compares with five deaths and 2,855 cases in the same period last year.

'This is the worst outbreak ever,' Health Ministry director-general Ismail Merican told reporters yesterday.

If the trend of 14 deaths a month were to continue for the rest of the year, the number of deaths this year would be higher than the 112 recorded last year.

There was a record total of 49,335 cases last year. In 2007, there were 48,846 cases with 98 deaths.

Officials said the present outbreak is mainly centred in Kuala Lumpur and neighbouring Selangor state.

Dengue fever is endemic in South-east Asia, and cases in Malaysia have surged since 2003.

Despite annual outbreaks and government campaigns to raise awareness, Tan Sri Ismail lamented that many residents were still unaware of the risks involved in allowing mosquitoes to breed on their premises.

He identified 54 housing estates - 48 alone in Selangor, Malaysia's richest state - that have continued to notch many new dengue cases for more than a month.

Of these 54 areas, only five have conducted voluntary community clean-up sessions, while the rest have so far failed to implement any remedial measures.

'It is important for the public to come together to destroy the mosquito breeding grounds,' Mr Ismail said.

He said many households in affected areas refuse to allow the local authorities to conduct pesticide fogging to kill the Aedes mosquito that transmits dengue fever.

'They take it for granted. They think it will never happen to them,' he told The Straits Times yesterday.

He warned that the government could fine households RM100 (S$42) and organisations RM300 each time they refuse to allow fogging. A total of RM3.4 million was collected last year, he said.

Global warming and unpredictable rainfall have also contributed to the spread of the disease, as stagnant water collects in containers, pots and drains, allowing mosquito larvae to build up, he added.

He noted that the outbreaks were mainly in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, where there is 'a lot of urbanisation and abandoned projects' that could provide breeding sites for mosquitoes.

A dengue survivor, Ms Mahani Hashim, said she is all for maintaining clean surroundings after recovering from dengue just four weeks ago.

While she has always been fussy about cleanliness, she is even more vigilant now, checking nooks and corners in and outside her house.

'Now I spray every corner with mosquito repellent in case there are mosquitos hiding there,' the 34-year-old personal assistant told The Straits Times.

'I also check for water that may have accumulated in containers and I clear clutter in my house diligently. I don't want to get dengue again.'

Health Minister Liow Tong Lai warned recently that the dengue outbreak could discourage tourism and lower productivity.

Read more!

CO2 pollution 'turning oceans more acid'

Yahoo Newws 30 Jan 09;

NICE, France (AFP) – Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must fall sharply to avoid inflicting acid damage to the world's marine ecosystems, more than 150 scientists warned Friday.

Acidification of ocean waters caused by greenhouse gases is already wreaking havoc on coral ecosystems and will have a huge knock-on impact on human communities, they said in a declaration released in the southern French city of Nice.

"We are deeply concerned by recent, rapid changes in ocean chemistry and their potential, within decades, to severely affect marine organisms, food webs, biodiversity and fisheries," the appeal to policymakers said.

"Ocean acidification is accelerating and severe damages are imminent."

The only way to stabilise, and eventually reverse, the trend is to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, it said.

"The chemistry is so fundamental and changes so rapid and severe that impacts on organisms are unavoidable," said James Orr, a researcher at the Marine Environment Laboratories in Monaco.

"The questions are now how bad will it be and how soon will it happen."

Since industrialisation began in the 18th century, atmospheric levels of CO2 have risen by nearly 40 percent, thanks mainly to unbridled burning of coal, gas and oil.

Much of this CO2 is absorbed by the ocean, rendering it more acidic.

This process makes it harder for numerous marine organisms to build the calcium-based shells and skeletal structures on which they depend for survival. It also changes seawater chemistry, and has been shown to harm organisms ranging from oysters to sea urchins to squid.

CO2 in the atmosphere today aveages 385 parts per million (ppm). By mid-century, the concentration could easily exceed 550 ppm, which would decrease the rate at which coral forms by at least a third, studies have shown.

Even before that point, many coral reefs will already have seriously eroded.

Ocean acidification will also have a huge impact of human communities, the scientists warned.

In a chain of consequences, it will affect marine food webs and lead to substantial changes in commercial fish stocks, threatening protein supply and food security for tens of millions of people.

"Coral reefs provide fish habitat, generate billions of dollars in annual tourism, protect shorelines from erosion and flooding, and provide the foundation for tremendous biodiversity," the scientists said.

By 2050, more regions could become chemically inhospitable to reefs, they said.

The statement is called the Monaco Declaration, as it summarises work at an international symposium on the ocean staged in Monaco last October.

Acid oceans 'need urgent action'
BBC News 30 Jan 09;

The world's marine ecosystems risk being severely damaged by ocean acidification unless there are dramatic cuts in CO2 emissions, warn scientists.

More than 150 top marine researchers have voiced their concerns through the "Monaco Declaration", which warns that changes in acidity are accelerating.

The declaration, supported by Prince Albert II of Monaco, builds on findings from an earlier international summit.

It says pH levels are changing 100 times faster than natural variability.

Based on the research priorities identified at The Ocean in a High CO2 World symposium, held in October 2008, the declaration states:

"We scientists who met in Monaco to review what is known about ocean acidification declare that we are deeply concerned by recent, rapid changes in ocean chemistry and their potential, within decades, to severely affect marine organisms, food webs, biodiversity and fisheries."

'The other CO2 problem'

It calls on policymakers to stabilise CO2 emissions "at a safe level to avoid not only dangerous climate change but also dangerous ocean acidification".

The researchers warn that ocean acidification, which they refer to as "the other CO2 problem", could make most regions of the ocean inhospitable to coral reefs by 2050, if atmospheric CO2 levels continue to increase.

The also say that it could lead to substantial changes in commercial fish stocks, threatening food security for millions of people.

"The chemistry is so fundamental and changes so rapid and severe that impacts on organisms appear unavoidable," said Dr James Orr, chairman of the symposium.

"The questions are now how bad will it be and how soon will it happen."

Another signatory, Patricio Bernal, executive secretary of the UN Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, outlined how the marine research community intended to respond to the challenge.

"We need to bring together the best scientists to share their latest research results and to set priorities for research to improve our knowledge of the processes and of the impacts of acidification on marine ecosystems."

Prince Albert II used the declaration to voice his concerns, adding that he hoped the world's leaders would take the "necessary action" at a key UN climate summit later this year.

"I strongly support this declaration. I hope that it will be heard by all the political leaders meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009."

Read more!

Fishy decision in Sabah, Malaysia

Daily Express 30 Jan 09

Kota Kinabalu: The local fishing sector is puzzled over the decision to allow foreign vessels to fish in Sabah waters when no less than the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) had expressed serious concern over the steep decline in catchment.

United Sabah Fisheries and Boat Owners Association (USFBOA) Chairman Arsani Arsat said the decision only added to the burden of Sabah's fishermen who are already facing many difficulties, besides low catch.

"To allow these foreign fishing vessels to come into our waters means we now have to compete with them. Yet, we have never applied to fish in their countries' waters," he said.

Arsani was commenting on sightings of a number of foreign fishing vessels right in front of the State Capital waters, which turned out to be from Vietnam and had been given permits to fish in Malaysian waters.

Arsani said members of USFBOA had hoped that the Government would have considered priority to local fishermen before letting in others and wants an explanation for the move.

Daily Express understands that while the approval is granted by Federal, however, the recommendation (C2) must come from the State Fisheries Director.

State Fisheries Director Rayner Stuel Galid, when contacted, said the licence was issued by the Federal Fisheries Director-General based on the recommendations of the State Fisheries Department. However, he did not elaborate on the Department's reasons for the approval.

The Sabah Anglers Association also found it ironic for the Federal Government to say one thing and do the opposite where Sabah is concerned and asked whether the Vietnamese have also been allowed to do likewise in Sarawak waters.

Its President Datuk Wilfred Lingham noted that Federal Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Samad recently spoke of the need to "study" or "investigate" reports of a steep drop in fish catch both in Sabah and West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia "purportedly to identify the reasons as if this is a new problem."

"Why study the obvious," he asked, also noting LKIM Chairman Datuk Abdul Rahim Ismail's recent call for complaints of dropping fish catch to be investigated. "It's not time to study but time to act," he said.

Lingham scoffed at talk that the move may have to do with teaching local fishermen how to fish better. He said it had been clear through numerous court convictions that many Vietnamese fishermen had been caught fishing for protected species like turtles, etc, off Sabah and Labuan.

"Besides, it is common knowledge that wherever these Vietnamese operate, there is almost always a 'mother ship' lurking nearby where most of the catch is transferred to."

He said notwithstanding these fears, it may also become another issue for the opposition since the livelihood of Sabah's fishermen, most of who comprise poor Bumiputras, is bound to worsen.

Lingham said marine scientists have studied the dwindling fish stock issue for the last 30 years and reasons for fish stock depletion have been widely published everywhere for anyone who cares to take note.

Citing the Asia-wide study, he said the total biomass of fish, that is, its abundance at any one place and time in terms of weight at shallow depths along the West Coats of Peninsular Malaysia has fallen by about 90 per cent!

Lingham cited Vietnamese Representative of the UN Environment Programme Vo Si Tuan, who warned that the South China Sea has taken an "environmental battering" which threatened future food supplies.

Vo said governments have failed to factor the marine environment for active protection in their head long rush to industrialise. He said they also turned a blind eye to both overfishing and use of destructive fishing methods from small time fishermen to industrial deep sea trawlers, both fish stocks and coral reefs, coastal mangrove forests and seagrass which breed, house and feed these fish stocks had depleted or lost at an alarming rate to pollution and habitat destruction.

"The key issue on a basin scale (South China Sea for instance) are habitat degradation and loss, overfishing and land-based pollution," said Lingham, quoting Vo, in addition to methods like drift-nets, long lines, trawling, pakang, bombing, use of poisons etc.

" There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the sea by the middle of the century if current trends continue " Lingham quoted a November 2006 article by BBC environment journalist Richard Black who warned that "this century is the last for wild seafood."

In this regard, Lingham said Malaysian leaders should start taking home opinions of ordinary fishermen who have gone to the press complaining their plight.

The paradox is that while these fishermen are crying out about their problems, the issuance of licences for long line fishing - one of the deadliest and most depleting fishing methods - is still considered.

In Sabah, the excesses of fishing methods are also damaging to the marine food chain. Lingham cited the hundreds of "Pakang" or platforms over the sea with nets below for catching anchovies in Cowie Bay, Tawau.

This is "destructive" on at least two counts, Lingham asserted.

One, it routinely makes 20 to 30 per cent throw-backs of dead fish (unwanted fish) back to the sea because these guys are so singularly focused on anchovies that they consider any other fish a nuisance.

"The other point is that big and valuable fish like travalley, snappers, ikan tenggiri, etc, rely on small fish to sustain their populations and overfishing of small anchovies will disrupt their food chain.

Lingham quoted one veteran angler saying that 10 years ago, coming back with 50kg from any single line and hook fishing trip be it the west or east coats of Sabah was "sub-sub-sui (easy)" but nowadays, one is lucky to be able to land just 6kg.

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Japan to take some tuna fishing boats out of service: government

Yahoo News 30 Jan 09;

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan will take out of service up to 20 percent of its tuna fishing boats after tougher catch quotas were imposed on the land of sushi, the government said Friday.

Environmentalists have warned that tuna stocks are declining to dangerously low levels across the world as a global fad for Japanese food and a lack of regulation lead to over-fishing.

Of 739 long-line tuna fishing boats, Japan will scrap more than 100 ocean-going and coastal vessels by the end of March, the Fisheries Agency said.

Nearly 1,000 Japanese fishermen will lose their jobs in the process, the agency said. The government will provide those losing their boats with one-time payments that total 9.7 billion yen (108 million dollars).

Japan is the world's biggest consumer of tuna and imports most of the bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean.

Last year, international tuna conservation bodies decided that Japan should cut its fishing quota for bigeye tuna and bluefin tuna each by 30 percent.

Some conservation groups have called for even tougher restrictions on tuna, saying that even the revised catch levels are not sustainable.

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World heads for 'water bankruptcy', says Davos report

Yahoo News 30 Jan 09;

DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) – The world is heading toward "water bankruptcy" as demand for the precious commodity outstrips even high population growth, a new report warned Friday.

In less than 20 years water scarcity could lose the equivalent of the entire grain crops of India and the United States, said the World Economic Forum report, which added that food demand is expected to sky-rocket in coming decades.

"The world simply cannot manage water in the future in the same way as in the past or the economic web will collapse," said the report.

Water has been consistently under-priced in many regions and has been wasted and overused, the report said.

Many places in the world are on the verge of "water bankruptcy" following a series of regional water "bubbles" over the past 50 years.

The report said that energy production accounts for about 39 percent of all water used in the United States and 31 percent of water withdrawals in the EU. Only three percent is actually consumed, but competition for access to water will intensify over the next two decades.

Water requirements for energy are expected to grow by as much as 165 percent in the United States and 130 percent in the EU, putting a major "squeeze" on water for agriculture, said the WEF.

The report said most glaciers in the Himalayas and Tibet will be gone by 2100 at the current rate of melting, but they provide water for two billion people. About 70 major rivers around the world are close to being totally drained in order to supply water for irrigation and reservoirs.

The WEF said that within two decades water will become a mainstream theme for investors -- even better than oil.

Speaking at the Davos forum on Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said: "The water problem is broad and systemic. Our work to deal with it must be so as well."

Corporate chiefs at the forum have also expressed concern. "I am convinced that, under present conditions and considering the way water is being currently managed, we will run out of water long before we run out of fuel," said Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of Swiss food conglomerate Nestle.

"The only way to measurably and sustainably improve this dire situation is through broad-scale collaborative efforts between governments, industry, academic, and other stakeholders around the world," said Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive of PepsiCo Inc, the US drinks major that makes huge use of water.

Dominic Waughray, the WEF head of environmental initiatives, said "management of future water needs stands out as an urgent, tangible and fully resolvable issue for multiple stakeholders to engage in."

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Resist industry pressure to dilute green reform: U.N.

Krittivas Mukherjee, Reuters 30 Jan 09;

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Industries are pressing governments worldwide to dilute policies on climate change, but the world must not slacken the fight for a "structural shift" to a green economy, the U.N. climate panel chief said on Friday.

Calling the global economic downturn "a major distraction," R.K. Pachauri said even countries such as Germany, which was among those leading the climate change war, were under pressure.

"There is a lot of pressure from business and industry now on the leadership to see that they cut back on some of the professed commitment that they have articulated in the past," said Pachauri, the head of the Nobel Prize-winning U.N climate panel.

Many industrialized nations are shelving ambitions for the deepest cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 as economic slowdown overshadows the fight against climate change.

But, the election of Barack Obama as the new U.S. president, has tempered the gloom, Pachauri said.

For many nations, Obama's election is reason for optimism -- many U.S. allies accuse his predecessor George W. Bush of doing too little to diversify away from fossil fuels. China and the United States are the top greenhouse gas emitters.

"They are very proactive on this issue," Pachauri told a news conference.

"But it will take them a little time to sort of get all the nuts and bolts together, though I think the speed at which the new administration is moving gives you some reassurance that things will happen in the right direction."

Obama has spoken of a "planet in peril" and says he will cut U.S. emissions back to 1990 levels by 2020 -- they have risen about 14 percent since then -- followed by far deeper cuts to 80 percent of 1990 levels by 2050.

He is also pushing for massive stimulus packages that should help a shift from fossil fuels by creating "green" jobs.

Pachauri rejected suggestions that cheaper oil could undermine the move to cleaner fuel, saying record high prices in the last year have created a lasting interest in energy conservation and green fuel.

"This time around people have learnt a lesson," he said.

"Anyone who understands the oil market, the energy market would know that we shouldn't be fooled by the current lull in prices.

"Look, we can not afford to wait much longer...otherwise we are going to create problems that would become intractable and almost impossible to solve in the future."

(Editing by David Fox)

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Pole-to-pole flight finds CO2 piling up over Arctic

Timothy Gardner, Reuters 30 Jan 09

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Scientists who flew a modified corporate jet from pole to pole to study how greenhouse gases move found carbon dioxide piling up over the Arctic, but also higher than expected levels of oxygen over the Antarctic.

The three-week, $4.5 million mission this month in a specially equipped Gulfstream V jet was the first of five flights planned over the next three years by a Harvard University-led project based in Colorado.

The research will help scientists understand how carbon is stored in the planet and how much carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, is released by cars and factories burning fossil fuels, or by the burning of forests.

The jet, which flew from Colorado to the Arctic and back south to the Hawaiian Islands toward Antarctica, is equipped to suck in air samples and test them in a laboratory aboard.

Initial observations point to a carbon dioxide build up over the Arctic, which may be due to industrial pollution and burning of trees over the last few centuries, scientists told reporters on Thursday in a teleconference about the mission.

The slightly increased levels of oxygen over Antarctica may result from increased growth of plants in the tropics due to higher levels of carbon dioxide or higher temperatures, said Britton Stephens of the Boulder, Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research.

Much of this may have to do with yearly biological changes in plants, Stephens said. Forests in the North absorb carbon dioxide in the summer and release it in the winter when leaves fall off and rot.

"There's a strong need to understand what the forests and oceans are doing now so we can predict whether or not they'll continue to protect (us) in the future," Stephens said.

As more than 180 countries try to agree on a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, which runs out in 2012, atmospheric-based measurements are expected to play a larger role in trying to show how carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases move across the atmosphere.

On Thursday, the U.S. space agency NASA said it will launch a satellite next month to measure carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and Japan is also working on satellite research.

The combined measurements could eventually inform the world more accurately about the best way to slow global warming, which scientists warn could lead to more deadly heat waves, droughts, floods and storms.

One of the major challenges scientists face is tracking the estimated 30 billion tons of carbon emitted each year by motor vehicles, factories, deforestation and other sources. About 40 percent of the gas accumulates in the atmosphere, with the rest apparently being absorbed by oceans and forests.

Stephens said data from flights on the research jet will complement some 20 models that predict how greenhouse gases move through the atmosphere. Until now, these models run by universities and governments, have been based on observations from the surface of the planet.

Steven Wofsy, a Harvard professor of atmosphere and environmental science, said the flights should also provide a baseline for atmospheric observations that occur some 10 or 15 years into the future.

The next missions will be take place at different times of the year to help scientists learn more about the role seasons play in variations of carbon levels and to help make predictions about how much fossil fuel can be burned safely.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner, editing by Anthony Boadle)

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Homes razed, chaos in record Australian heatwave

Amy Coopes Fri Yahoo News 30 Jan 09;

SYDNEY (AFP) – Southeastern Australia faced chaos Friday, as some of the hottest temperatures in a century fanned fires that destroyed homes, claimed lives and strained emergency, power and transport services.

Scores of train services were cut and tens of thousands of homes were without power in the states of Victoria and South Australia, with the mercury topping 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) for a third consecutive day.

"It is an extreme week. The system is not made to operate where you've got temperatures in the suburbs of 46 degrees Celsius," said Victoria's leader, John Brumby, as the heatwave dragged on.

As many as ten homes were razed as wildfires raged in the state's Latrobe Valley, burning through 2,000 hectares (4,900 acres) of forest, grassland and pine plantations, emergency workers said.

In the neighbouring state of South Australia, police said there had been a surge in sudden deaths, with 19 people dying on Friday in the state capital Adelaide, of who 14 were elderly.

"Normally the ambulance service would have just a few [deaths] during a day, so this is a much higher number," said John Hill, South Australia's health minister.

"You've got to draw the conclusion that a lot of them have something related to the effects of heat."

The Australian Open tennis grand slam in Melbourne did not escape the heat, with organisers closing the roof of the Rod Laver Arena to fend off the sun on centre-court and offering players icepacks and longer breaks.

Defending men's champion Novak Djokovic pulled out citing heat exhaustion when the temperature reached 35C on Tuesday and Serena Williams said it was so hot on court she felt like she was having an "out-of-body experience."

The record temperatures -- Victoria's hottest three days since records began -- caused rail lines to buckle and forced the cancellation of hundreds of train services.

All train travel in the state was free to make up for the axing of almost 500 train services due to the heat on Thursday.

Searing temperatures also placed the electricity grid under acute strain, prompting an explosion at a substation in Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city, and resulting in rolling blackouts throughout the region.

Children were sent home from school, tens of thousands of people were estimated to have skipped work and lifesavers worked late into the night for the first time in history as people flocked to the ocean to cool off.

Adelaide is preparing for its longest hot spell since 1908, with forecasters tipping temperatures above 38 degrees for the next seven days. It recorded its hottest ever night on Thursday -- a sweltering minimum of 34 degrees.

Tasmania hit a record temperature of above 40 degrees for the second day in a row on Friday, only the second time in recorded history the southern island state has experienced such heat.

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Carbon trading may be the new sub-prime, says energy boss

Terry Macalister, The Guardian 30 Jan 09;

The row over the working of the European Union's emissions trading scheme intensified last night when EDF Energy warned that speculators risked turning carbon into a new category of sub-prime investment.

Vincent de Rivaz, the chief executive of the UK arm of the French-owned gas and electricity group, said politicians and regulators needed to revisit the way the ETS was working and whether it was bringing the results they wanted. "We like certainty about a carbon price," he said. "[But] the carbon price has to become simple and not become a new type of sub-prime tool which will be diverted from what is its initial purpose: to encourage real investment in real low-carbon technology."

Green campaigners have long been critical of the way the emissions trading scheme was set up, but it is unusual for a leading industry figure to cast doubt on it, as power companies lobbied hard for a market mechanism to deal with global warming.

"We are at the tipping point where we ... should wonder if we have in place the right balance between government policy, regulator responsibility and the market mechanism which will deliver the carbon price," said de Rivaz.

De Rivaz's comments came as Tony Hayward, chief executive of BP, emphasised that a predictable global carbon price was important because it would make "vast numbers of alternative energy sources competitive". He told the World Economic Forum in Davos that certainty over carbon emissions would help "solve the world's energy problems".

Their comments came days after the Guardian revealed that steelmakers and hedge funds were cashing in ETS carbon credits obtained for free, causing the price of carbon to plunge. The price of carbon has slumped from €30 a tonne to below €12, leading to a tail-off in clean-technology offset projects in the developing world.

The EU's emissions trading scheme was set up as a market solution to cut greenhouse gas pollution from industry. Polluters were issued with permits that can be traded between companies and countries as a way of encouraging an overall reduction in carbon output. However, companies are now cashing them in. Up to €1bn-worth of permits are said to have been sold off in recent months as companies see an opportunity to bring in funds at a time when their carbon output is expected to fall due to lower production.

De Rivaz said an over-reliance on markets without tougher safeguards was responsible for the financial turmoil that has sent banks into administration or forced sale. He believed there had been a "lost sense of values" and he was anxious that this should not extend into the energy sector, but was not prepared yet to call for a carbon tax to replace the ETS.

Point Carbon, an information provider and consultancy, claims the sell-offs are only one of a number of factors influencing carbon prices and argues it is "rational" for them to be selling off credits.

"Recession in Europe is bringing a slowdown in manufacturing, meaning less production and less emissions," said Henrik Hasselknippe, global head of carbon at Point Carbon. "Companies are doing exactly the rational thing in these circumstances, which is to sell if they are long on credits. If they are emitting less then they do not need the credits so much and the price of carbon will fall."

However, Bryony Worthington, an expert on climate change and founder of sandbag.org.uk, said: "What should have been a way to kick-start investment in much needed low-carbon, efficient technologies is now a cash redistribution exercise." A study commissioned by the WWF environmental organisation from Point Carbon, published in March last year, estimated that "windfall profits" of between €23bn and €71bn (£20.9bn-£64.4bn) would be made under the ETS between 2008 and 2012, on the basis that the price of carbon would be between €21 and €32. Up to €15bn could be made by British companies that were given credits they did not need.

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Recession threatens carbon trading

James Melik, BBC World Service 29 Jan 09;

A crucial scheme to control greenhouse gases is under threat due to the recession.

Under the Kyoto Protocol adopted in 1997, since ratified by 183 countries, industrialised nations agreed to reduce their emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide (C02) which cause global warming.

Among the measures introduced was the European Carbon Trading System, whereby governments put a price on the amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by any company.

By forcing companies to pay for the right to pollute, it was hoped they would be more inclined to clean up their act.

Trading permits

Companies are issued emission permits and are required to hold an equivalent number of allowances (credits) which represent the right to emit a specific amount.

The total amount of allowances and credits cannot exceed the cap, limiting total emissions to that level.

Companies that need to increase their emission allowance must buy credits from those who are willing to sell.

In effect, the buyer is paying a charge for polluting, while the seller is being rewarded for having reduced emissions by more than needed.

Three-quarters of the main polluting greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, comes from burning fossil fuels - oil, gas and coal.

The environmental group Carbon Trade Watch complains about imbalances in the sources of the burning of fossil fuels, as the world's richest countries consume more per capita than countries with larger populations.

For instance the USA produces 24% of the world's CO2 emissions yet has only 4.5% of the world's population. Conversely India has 16.7% of the world's population yet only produces 4% of the CO2 emissions.

Price freefall

It seemed like a market solution to global warming in Europe, but initially many of these permits were given away for nothing.

Now, as recession bites, industries like steel, cement and glass may be polluting less, but only because they're producing less.

So companies are desperately selling off the carbon credits they no longer need to bolster their faltering balance sheets

That has led to a big drop in the market value of carbon permits, and as the right to pollute becomes cheaper, there is less incentive for companies to stop polluting.

Mark Lewis, a carbon analyst at Deutschebank, told World Business News that the recession has cast a spotlight on the frailties of emissions trading.

"Selling allowances would not be happening if they'd had to pay for them in the first place," he says.

"Getting them free allows them to be sold on a risk-free basis and that is exacerbating the fall in the price of credits," he adds.

Tougher caps

Each year the cap on emissions gets tougher, but the price of the credits would have come down anyway as a result of the financial downturn.

"If everybody had to pay for the allowances on a pay-as-you-go basis, like other commodities they consume, the price for carbon allowances would have fallen anyway as a result of this recession," he says.

In the past, Russia has managed to achieve its Kyoto targets without any pain because its industrial output has declined so sharply.

Critics of carbon trading maintain this proves the inherent weakness of such systems, but Mr Lewis does not think a straight tax on fossil fuels would provide a better solution.

"It might be simpler on one level," he says, "you would know in advance what the price was but you wouldn't get any certainty on the level of emissions reduction."

Bubble fears

Another measure introduced under the Kyoto Protocol to curb greenhouse gases is also coming into question.

This is the clean development mechanism (CDM), which allows industrialised countries to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries - as an alternative to what would undoubtedly be more expensive emission reduction programmes in their own country.

However, in recent years, criticism against the mechanism has increased.

Offset projects under Kyoto are only supposed to qualify for carbon financing if they represent emissions reductions above and beyond what would have happened anyway.

In practice, large numbers of projects that were already well under way, are presenting themselves as CDM projects in order to gain an extra revenue stream, and these projects do not represent additional emissions reductions, Carbon Trade Watch maintains.

David Victor, head of Stanford University's Energy and Sustainable Development Program, says that between a third and two-thirds of CDM offsets do not represent actual emission cuts.

If an offset project does not represent reductions and is being used to justify increased emissions at some other point, it actually represents a net increase in emissions.

If a high number of CDM projects are not additional, there is a real danger of a "carbon bubble".

Scientists are adamant that CO2 emissions must be sharply cut in the next 10 years otherwise there will be irreversible damage to the planet.

Otherwise, it might be too late to repair the damage the planet has already suffered.

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Iowa's green energy policy struggle

Scott Simon, BBC News 30 Jan 09;

The presence of prairie winds and rich soil makes Iowa literally fertile ground for developing alternative energy sources from wind turbines and biofuels.

But the landscape is also a reminder that achieving energy independence is a formidable challenge and making an agricultural economy green is not easy.

Farm workers cannot take subways to work, farmers have to drive long distances into the fields to sow and harvest their crops and to deliver them to markets.

Farm animals themselves, not to put too fine a point on it, produce methane - a powerful greenhouse gas - that is trapped in the atmosphere.

Those challenges have not stopped the state setting itself ambitious goals.

Energy pioneers

The Iowa Climate Change Advisory Panel recently wrote a report for Governor Chet Culver setting out how the state can reduce carbon emissions by 90% by 2030.

The state has set up an Office of Energy Independence - surely the perfect place, I thought, to test how easy it will be for President Obama to achieve energy independence for the whole of America.

There are plenty of energy pioneers to be found in Iowa.

Roger Neuberger, a farmer, lives near Clear Lake in the north-west part of the State - where the wind blows hardest.

He gets money from an energy company each year for making room for two wind turbines on his land.

Mr Neuberger has promised the energy company that he will not publicly reveal how much he is being paid, but other farmers have let it be known that, depending on when their contracts were signed, they can receive somewhere between $2,000 (£1,400) and $4,000 per turbine every year for the next 30 years.

Mr Neuberger is very happy, if rather modest about his role at the new frontier.

Asked if he felt like a pioneer, he replied: "Yeah, I suppose so."

"There were a number of farmers who didn't want to do this because they didn't understand - they were concerned how they were going to be treated. We've been treated wonderful. I couldn't ask for anything better."

Foreign oil

Iowa hopes that wind energy will deliver more than just electricity - and that investment in wind technology will help to transform towns depressed by unemployment.

Towns like Newton, which is just to the east of the capital, Des Moines.

Nearly 2,000 people lost their jobs in Newton when the town's biggest employer, Whirlpool, shut its doors in 2007.

Hundreds of those same workers, who once made washing machine parts, now make blades for wind turbines at the TPI factory.

But the jobs did not come cheap.

The state gave the manufacturer $6m in subsidies and tax breaks - in return the company promised to hire 500 people.

Larry Crady worked at Whirlpool for 23 years, making coin-operated laundry machines.

"It just wows you when you see a blade open and close," Larry says. "When you pull that blade out of the mould it's exciting, I feel like I'm doing something more than just building a washing machine, I'm building something for everyone to capitalise on."

Mr Crady's sense of wonder is understandable - the plant certainly has the "wow" factor.

The turbine blades are as long as a 747 jet and the factory is longer than an aircraft carrier.

It is fitting, then, that - according to the plant's manager - so many of those that work there feel that making the blades is as much about national security as it is about electricity.

"A lot of us in this company and in wind energy have a sense of calling to this," Crugar Tuttle says. "I think in the interview process it comes out with a lot of our veterans that this is about weaning us off foreign oil."

But wind energy is a long way from delivering independence for Iowa any time soon.

It provides just 8% of Iowa's energy needs.

If it is to go any way towards making the rest of the country energy independent, a distribution grid would be needed.

Controversial

President Obama has promised to invest $150bn in renewable energy over the next 10 years.

He hopes to increase dramatically the contribution that wind, solar and other renewable sources can make to the country's energy supply.

According to current projections, renewables will still be providing only 8% of the country's energy supply 20 years from now.

Certainly, energy independence will not be possible without replacing the foreign petrol used in cars.

Many Iowans think the solution is biofuels (as do most presidential candidates - albeit only while they are campaigning in the crucial Iowa caucuses).

Refineries across the state produce 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol a year - enough to replace 10% of the petrol in America's cars.

But biofuels are controversial.

A UN report says they drive up the price of food.

And is ethanol really clean?

We visited POET's ethanol plant in Hanlontown in the northern part of Iowa.

The plant, like most in the state, is powered by fossil fuels.

I spoke to POET's Vice President for Project Development, Larry Ward.

He insists that despite the use of natural gas in the production of ethanol, it is a good bargain.

"There's a tremendous net gain from an energy standpoint. Using natural gas to produce ethanol you have a gain - for every unit of energy you put into the plant you get two units of energy out."

The trouble is, many of Iowa's ethanol refineries use coal - the dirtiest fuel of all.

It is one of the reasons why Iowa will soon be building another coal-fired power plant.

More than half of all the electricity produced by the new plant is expected to be used to fuel the state's ethanol refineries.

King coal

Another problem is that Iowa gets very cold in winter.

How many Americans would risk living in a place where January temperatures hover around -18F, if they had to rely on sun or wind power for heat?

What happens when the sun goes down and the wind dies?

That is why, despite the push for ethanol and wind power, coal is still king when it comes to powering Iowa.

It currently provides 85% of the state's energy needs.

Phil Wyse, a state representative for 22 years, believes Iowa and America need nuclear power.

"We need sources of power that are constant and don't rely on things like whether the wind's blowing or the sun's shining," he says.

"Alternative to coal? Nuclear more in the mix."

Despite all the wind energy and ethanol Iowa strives to produce, carbon emissions are still growing here - and they are 1% higher than the average for the whole of the US.

Iowa may have much to show the rest of America about green energy - including how hard it will be to make America energy independent.

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UK energy saving policy 'failing'

Mark Kinver, BBC News 30 Jan 09

The UK government is failing to support its own measures designed to deliver energy savings, an expert has warned.

Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust (EST), said local authorities needed more funds in order to ensure savings were being made.

While ministers were quick to promote new policies such as "zero carbon homes", existing building regulations were not being upheld, he added.

Under EU commitments, the UK has to deliver 20% energy savings by 2020.

"To me, this highlights a real gap between the aspiration to do something appropriate and the actual delivery on the ground," Mr Sellwood told BBC News.

"If it were just a matter of policy announcements, the UK would be up among the leading countries.

"Our building regulations in the UK are among some of the toughest in Europe, but they are extremely poorly enforced as far as energy efficiency goes."

Simple fixes

He said research showed that, in some cases, up to 30% of properties being built would fail existing building regulations.

"When you think that we are putting a lot of reliance on meeting our CO2 reduction targets by increasing the toughness of our building regulations, this is a real concern."

The Climate Change Act, which became law late last year, requires future governments to cut carbon dioxide by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050.

Households in the UK are estimated to be responsible for almost 20% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that failure to cut CO2 emitted by homes will threaten any attempt to achieve the legally binding target.

Mr Sellwood said the failings were occurring in areas that did not require technical expertise.

"It is simple things like people not fitting windows or doors correctly. Instead of getting energy efficiency, we are getting energy inefficiencies."

He added that there were too few inspections being carried out in order to spot the shortfalls.

He warned that the current situation on the ground did not bode well for the government's commitment that all new homes from 2016 had to be "zero carbon".

"If there is no proper enforcement of the building regulations, we won't know if what has been built is the same as what was promised."

To overcome the shortfall in building inspectors, Mr Sellwood said that it was important for local authorities to receive the necessary resources in order to uphold the regulations.

Acting smart

Another policy area he said that was failing to live up to expectations involved "smart meters".

"A short while ago, the government announced that it was going to implement a programme of installing smart meters in people's homes," he explained.

"This would allow the household to indentify their energy use and obviously take measures to reduce it.

"Since then, there has been silence from the government.

"It could be as long as five to 10 years before we see any tangible change in the number of smart meters in people's homes."

He added that studies in other countries had shown that smart meters had helped cut energy consumption by up to 10%.

The technology, he suggested, would have a number of benefits. Firstly, it would help people save money in a time of financial uncertainty and high energy prices.

Secondly, it would help reduce the demand for energy and cut carbon emissions.

As well as criticising the UK government, the EST has also voiced concerns about possible plans to change the EU's energy efficiency labelling scheme for household goods and appliances.

Mr Sellwood said the current A-G rating system could be replaced by another scheme, even though research suggested that most people recognised it and understood how the A-G format worked.

"We think that the EU has enough on its plate at the moment without trying to change this," he said.

"It is a case of 'if it isn't broken, don't try to fix it'."

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Waste could be crucial in search for cleaner fuels

Reuters 30 Jan 09

LONDON (Reuters) - What we throw away could soon be used to power our cars, if projects to produce ethanol from commercial waste are ramped up.

Some companies are exploring the environmental and financial benefits of putting waste to good use and are developing technology to produce bioethanol.

Magazine paper company UPM Kymmene and renewable fuel supplier Lassila & Tikanoja are currently running pilot tests to produce bioethanol from the pulp-based waste created by the paper industry.

"We will start discussions with the European Union over investment support in February and hope to make a decision on a full-scale plant by the end of the year," Lassi Heitanen, senior expert at Lassila & Tikanoja, told Reuters.

By developing waste processing units, Finnish energy company St1 Oy's biofuel division hopes to produce 70 million litres a year of bioethanol by the end of 2011.

Industrial and household waste is vastly under-utilised and is usually burned or disposed of in a landfill. Decaying waste can generate methane which is even more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide.

Using it to produce a cleaner type of fuel could also help reach EU's target that 10 percent of the bloc' transport fuel should come from renewable sources by 2020.

Ethanol burns with a greater efficiency than gasoline, thereby emitting less carbon dioxide. The world produced 52 billion litres of ethanol in 2007, mostly in the United States and Brazil.

In a similar move to use waste efficiently, British renewable energy company New Earth Energy has partnered with waste management group Biossence to generate renewable energy in the northwest of the UK.

They want to use household and industrial waste as an energy source at two plants in the northwest of the country by 2010.

(Reporting by Nina Chestney; Editing by James Jukwey)

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