Best of our wild blogs: 10 Jan 10

Butterfly Survival Strategies - Part 2
from Butterflies of Singapore

Dead Fish Patrol: Pasir Ris
from wild shores of singapore

Milky Stork fighting for the fish
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Continued Documentation of the Kings
from Life's Indulgences

fish fry explosion @ little sister's island
from sgbeachbum

Pasir Ris
from encounters with nature

TeamSeagrass featured in My Green Space
from teamseagrass and in Nature Watch

Migratory flock of Black Baza in Ipoh, Malaysia
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Lonely battle against Thailand’s rising tides

Warangkana Chomchuen NBC News 9 Jan 10;

SAMUT SAKORN, Thailand – Some people envied Voraphol Duanglomchan for living so close to nature.

His house stood on a muddy shore, overlooking the seemingly infinite sea of the Gulf of Thailand. At night he was lulled to sleep by rolling waves. It was all nice and romantic until one day the lullaby stopped, and he woke up to his worst nightmare.

The initially benign-seeming waves led to a series of storms that torn his house apart plank by plank. At first Voraphol tried to repair the damage after each storm. But after four years, he finally gave up and abandoned the house before it crumbled.

Today, solitary poles are the only thing left where his house once stood. During the two decades since Voraphol’s house was destroyed, he has seen almost 800 yards of land in his village erode. And he has watched as dozens of households in neighboring seaside communities have been forced to relocate further inland every three to five years.

"I began to question how often we would have to move," he said. "Endlessly?"

Voraphol, 49, decided to fight back. With a background in fine art, Voraphol had little expertise in physics or engineering, so he learned what he could by observing how other communities battled the tides.

He found that breakwaters – structures that reduce wave intensity and allow trapped sediments to build up – were widely adopted in Thailand. Most of the time, the breakwaters were made from cement poles, crushed rocks or sandbags. But with limited money, Voraphol experimented with cheaper, unconventional materials until he found the right one: old bamboos ready to be thrown away by farmers.

He tied bamboo poles together like screens and erected them in the seabed. While the round contour of the bamboo softens the force of the waves, the space between each pole allows sediments to permeate and pile up behind the bamboo screens. The use of bamboo offered an innovative local solution to tackle a growing national problem.

Rising tides
Thailand's 23 coastal provinces are facing severe erosion; already one-fifth of the country's coastline has been eroded over the last 30 years, according to Dr. Thanawat Jarupongsakul, a geography professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, who has been researching on coastal erosion since the 1990s.

Samut Sakorn, Voraphol's province, is located 20 miles south of Bangkok on the Chao Phraya River Delta and ranks in the top five of the country’s worst-hit provinces. Thanawat says that both nature and humankind have contributed to coastal erosion.

Fiercer monsoon seasons, twice annually, have driven waves to rise as high as 13 feet, while human actions, like upstream damming, have decreased sediment supply, he said. Also, Bangkok and other metropolitan areas have been sinking due to underground water pumping. And the destruction of mangrove forests in order to pave the way for shrimp and salt farms has hastened erosion.

As a result, Thailand’s sea level has been rising at a rate of 30 millimeters a year, more than 10 times higher than the world average, according to Thanawat.

"Currently we are losing 30 yards of coastal area every year, a big jump from five yards 40 years ago," said Thanawat. "If we don’t have any measures in place, it’s possible that by 2030 Thailand will lose twice as much."

‘Popular wisdom that works’
Voraphol’s use of bamboo to fight the rising water raised eyebrows initially, but not funding. Government agencies were reluctant to support his idea, saying they had no concrete evidence that it would work.

"I felt dejected. People thought I was crazy," Voraphol said. "For years it’s been like that, despair and hope. But I carried on. Someone has to do it."

His best shot arrived at a national conference on coastal erosion a few years ago. After reviewing the data he had collected, academics at the conference thought his idea seemed sound. It wasn’t long before a government agency, the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, decided to grant Voraphol financial and technical support, enabling him to expand the bamboo barrier to three rows stretching more than a mile along the shore.

"We can see that in the past two years trapped sediments behind the bamboo rows have reached 3-feet high and added up 100 yards of land," said Nitat Poovatanakul, the department’s deputy chief.

"It’s a popular wisdom that works. It was initiated and accepted by the locals, which is essentially a good start for sustainable development," added Nitat.

Hundreds of mangrove saplings were planted behind each bamboo row, with the hope that in the next four to five years the new mangrove forests will act as buffer zone.

Now, people stop by to talk to Voraphol, learn about his project and debate whether or not the bamboo barrier will work for their own community. At the very least, they get encouragement from Voraphol.

"I believe if we have the power to destroy nature, we should be able to rebuild it too," said Voraphol. "We don’t necessarily need a complex method. We just need to understand the nature itself."

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Curb global warming, make car owners sweat

Ong Soh Chin, Straits Times 10 Jan 10;

At the recent Copenhagen climate summit, Singapore pledged to do its part to reduce carbon emissions growth by 16 per cent below business as usual (BAU) by 2020, provided that there is a global agreement. The Government has also pledged to maintain carbon emissions growth at 3.6 per cent until 2020.

To achieve these aims, the Government has plans in place, not least of which is its fine-tuning of transport policies. In fact, it wants to see 70 per cent of the population take public transport by 2020, up from the 59 per cent recorded in 2006. This will be done, it says, by improving the public transport system and imposing further restraints on vehicle population and usage.

How it does so remains to be seen. If 'further restraints' means imposing additional taxes on car ownership, for example, then one wonders how effective the outcome will be.

Singapore's public transport system is already among the best in the world. While there is definitely still room for improvement, it is hard to imagine that a better public transport system, or more vehicle quotas and taxes, will solve the problem.

The car population continues to grow every year despite congestion pricing measures and the implementation of certificates of entitlement (COEs). In 2007, the number of privately owned cars in Singapore was 505,987. In 2008, it was 540,455. As of October last year, according to the latest Land Transport Authority figures, Singapore had 562,397 cars. The recent hikes in taxi prices have also not helped the situation, as there are some who now feel that it is more economical to own and drive a car than to travel in cabs.

The rising car population could, of course, be due to the increasing number of immigrants and new residents here. But as Singapore heads towards a six-million population, surely the starting point of any emissions-reduction programme is to figure out how to control its car population.

While more people are driving, more are also running and cycling. Last year saw the news that the Singapore Marathon had attracted a record 50,000 participants. The city also has an inordinate number of night races, triathlons, Ironman challenges, bike-a-thons and ultra-marathons.

Imagine if we could channel the energies of all the runners and cyclists in Singapore into something worthwhile - by getting them to ditch their cars on their regular commutes.

The Government is, perhaps, thinking along these lines. Recently, it was announced that as part of a two-year trial, Tampines would be turned into a cycling town where chunks of pedestrian walkways would be carved out for cyclists. Hopefully, if the trial is a success, this programme can be translated eventually onto a bigger canvas - say, Orchard Road or Shenton Way.

Imagine that. But think again.

Singaporeans, anecdotally, are probably among the world's worst pedestrians, motorists and cyclists. We have no social graces and even less patience.

Recent reports of cyclists being killed in traffic accidents ring home this sad truth. While reckless cyclists obviously do not do themselves any favours on the road, it is usually the car that wins. Obviously in Singapore, it is a case of four wheels best, two wheels go and die, lah.

Any pedestrian trying to cross Mount Elizabeth, that perilous gauntlet between Lucky Plaza and Tong Building, knows that cars would rather mow humans and prams down than stop and give way. 'This is not a pedestrian crossing what,' said a surly taxi driver to me once, as he revved his engine at a hapless family trying to make its way to the other side on foot.

Recession or no, Singaporeans are still mad for cars. And this rule applies as well to recreational cyclists and runners, who are happy to move their feet and pedals anywhere except on their regular commutes to work.

Of course, they have some valid reasons for this. There are the issues of safety and Singapore's hot and humid weather, which makes a work commute by bike or foot rather unattractive. But if it is a matter of having adequate shower facilities in the city, surely that problem can be easily solved. If individual offices do not provide shower facilities, perhaps one can turn to the many fitness clubs and gyms around the island instead.

Nay, the true crux of the problem lies in the fact that owning a car in Singapore - despite the usual grouses about COE prices and parking fees - is really not that much of a hassle. The roads are not as badly congested as those in other metro-polises. New York traffic, for example, is notoriously bad - therefore, it is no surprise that its residents account for almost a third of all the public-transit passenger miles travelled in the United States.

And while the Singapore Government has taken steps over the years to ease traffic congestion, this might actually not be the best course of action in the long term. Mr David Owen, author of Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, And Driving Less Are The Keys To Sustainability, wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Oct 9 last year that such steps would only have the environmentally adverse effect of making more people turn to their cars even more. This is because once congestion is eased, it will encourage more drivers to take to the road.

Plus, it is still debatable if me-thods such as congestion pricing actually ease traffic. He cited 1999 findings by Australian researchers Peter Newman and Jeff Kenworthy, who concluded that 'there is no guarantee that congestion pricing will simultaneously improve congestion and sustainability'.

One of the examples they brought up was that congestion pricing and similar measures could cause motorists to drive exactly as they always have if the congestion charge is covered by their employers. In other words, people who are paid a car allowance by their companies will not be affected.

Singaporeans obviously are willing to pay top dollar for the right to own and drive a car, even in a recession year. And this has had the unanticipated effect of making car ownership a status symbol for this nation of arrivistes. In cities like New York, princes and paupers alike ride on the subway - which, I might add, is way less efficient than the MRT. In Singapore, however, people are still judged by the type of car they drive, as well as the number of cars they have in their driveway.

So, what this country needs are measures that go beyond the wallet and which push the comfort zones of all idling motorists. Build fewer carparks. Carve out more bike lanes on major roads instead of pushing cyclists onto pedestrian walkways. In fact, increase the number of pedestrian walkways. But, at the same time, make sure the public transport system is beyond reproach and that there is no part of Singapore that cannot be reached easily by bus, MRT or taxi.

Most importantly, start public education programmes on road courtesy and safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike. Nothing will come to pass unless Singaporeans are convinced in their hearts and minds that this is the right thing to do and that it is not a social stigma to travel on public transport.

It is a long road towards a better and greener commute. But that road will only get more arduous if we do not do something about it soon.

The writer, a former Straits Times journalist, is a freelance writer and PR consultant who travels on public transport.

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Rat problem under control, says NEA chief

Straits Times 10 Jan 10;

There is no let-up in curbing rat infestation and the situation is under control, National Environment Agency (NEA) chief executive officer Andrew Tan said yesterday.

He said this following reports last week about rats in Bedok Reservoir estate. Mr Tan said the NEA works closely with town councils to keep the rat problem under control, and makes sure they engage good pest operators and sustain their efforts to control the number of rat burrows.

He was speaking to the press at the NEA's first Community Day. Its North East Regional Office in Sin Ming Drive was opened to the public for the first time.

He said: 'The town councils are responsible for the cleanliness of the areas...With the town council report, they will know which areas they have to pay greater attention to and I'm confident that they will dedicate more resources and effort to public hygiene.'

Starting this year, a report will be put out every six months on how well town councils are running their HDB housing estates.

With the NEA monitoring the situation, Singapore is relatively cleaner and more hygienic than cities elsewhere, Mr Tan noted.

Also, the NEA can serve town councils with an order to clean up and eradicate a vector problem. Non-compliance can result in a $2,000 fine. Fewer than 30 orders were served on town councils last year and none has been fined.

Pest control experts said the rat infestation situation is not serious. Said Mr Richard Chong, director of System Pest Control Services: 'Rats may move to HDB estates if waste is not properly disposed of but this is not very common. We get more complaints about rats in food centres.'

Mr Teo Ser Luck, mayor of North East District and an MP for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, said: 'In my area, I have received complaints about rats only once or twice so far but this is usually resolved quite quickly.'

Shuli Sudderuddin

NEA sent close to 30 notices to Town Councils last year
Claire Huang, 938LIVE Channel NewsAsia 9 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE: The National Environment Agency (NEA)sent close to 30 notices to Town Councils to get them to clean up their own backyard in 2009.

NEA said Town Councils receive notices when they breach Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act.

Getting rid of pests takes more than a trap but the NEA is determined to tackle the vector problems.

Andrew Tan, chief executive officer, NEA, said: "We had in recent years launched a rat attack programme and that's something we may have to revisit to keep the rat population under control."

The NEA is also working closely with the 16 Town Councils in Singapore.

Mr Tan said: "The Town Councils have the responsibility for the cleanliness of the areas. I think now with the Town Council report, they know which are the areas they have to pay greater attention to.

“This area of public hygiene and public cleanliness is one of them so I'm confident they will now dedicate more attention and resources to this effort."

Mr Tan's comments follows reports of a rat infestation at the Bedok Reservoir housing estate.

On Monday, it was reported that ten rat holes were found in just three months.

Aljunied Town Council which oversees the area said it's working on the problem.

Under the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act, Town Councils can be fined S$2,000 if they're non-compliant.

Speaking at the inaugural NEA Community Day, Mr Tan pointed out that the public, private and people sectors have a part to play in keeping Singapore clean and pest-free.

He said: "I think so long as we keep up the vigilance, we'll be able to keep the incidence low. As I've mentioned, the community plays a part."

Just last year, NEA organised more than 9,000 environmental activities in constituencies. NEA said such efforts in engaging the community have reaped benefits. One example is the drop in the number of dengue cases from 14,200 in 2005, to 4,500 in 2009.

The number of environmental volunteers in the community have also risen from 5,800 in 2004, to 16,700 in 2009.

Going forward, NEA will focus on public hygiene and food cleanliness.

Mr Tan said: “The level of awareness has increased because of the public outreach efforts and so this year, my focus would be to make sure that public hygiene, food cleanliness, these are some of the areas that I want to give greater focus." - 938LIVE/vm

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What price happiness?

Irene Tham, Straits Times 10 Jan 10;

Are Singaporeans happier when they have lots more money?

A study shows that people who have a university or postgraduate qualification and earn $5,000 or more a month are the happiest.

But they are also dissatisfied with their achievements and enjoy life the least, compared with those who are less well-off.

Indeed, it is the Singaporeans earning less than $2,000 a month who enjoy life the most, concluded the three academics behind the study.

Senior lecturer Tambyah Siok Kuan, associate professor Tan Soo Jiuan and professorial fellow Kau Ah Keng - all from the National University of Singapore Business School - presented their findings in a book, The Wellbeing Of Singaporeans, which came out recently.

The survey in 2006 polled more than 1,000 people, aged 20 to 69.

They were posed questions such as whether they enjoy life, how happy they are, and how much they feel they are accomplishing what they want in life.

For instance, on how happy they feel, they had to pick one of these answers: very happy; quite happy; neither happy nor unhappy; not too happy; and very happy.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Tambyah said: 'The higher the household income, the more a Singaporean feels that he or she has not achieved much in life.'

Dr Tan explained it this way: 'You may live in a million-dollar home but if you owe the bank a lot of money, you are not going to enjoy life very much. Conversely, someone who lives in an HDB flat may be able to enjoy life more.'

He noted that the respondents could be thinking of friendship and spiritual fulfilment when answering the questions of how often they feel they enjoy life, and how much they feel they are accomplishing what they want out of life.

According to Tanjong Pagar GRC MP Indranee Rajah, the ability to enjoy life and the feeling of achievement ultimately bring about happiness.

'It all boils down to expectations. Happy people can field the pressure and strike a balance between competitiveness and complacency,' she added.

The fear of not being able to sustain the high life 'can be a source of strain or unhappiness', she noted.

Psychotherapist Stephen Lew, 30, from the Positive Psychology Centre, said happiness is a state of mind.

'Happy people know and use their strengths. Naturally, they are better able to enjoy life, which leads to happiness,' he said.

Agreeing, Mr Kenny Toh, 39, a professional life coach and member of the International Coaching Federation, said contentment is key to happiness.

He helps professionals achieve personal growth in relationships and careers.

One of his clients, a successful entrepreneur, had struggled with unhappiness because his father was not supportive.

But once he gave up the notion of the need to gain his father's acceptance, he became happier, said Mr Toh.

Indeed, 40 per cent of a person's happiness is within his control, said psychologist and University of California professor of psychology Sonja Lyubomirsky in her 2007 book, The How Of Happiness.

The rest is genetically determined, she claimed.

One person has decided to take charge of her own happiness.

Ms Lai Ee Na, 43, quit her full-time job a decade ago and is now a freelance writer.

She did it 'to ponder about spiritual matters, see the world and meet people from all walks of life', without the shackles of rigid work hours.

While she admits she does not have a stable income, she said she is happy.

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Pedra Branca: Ironing out matters concerning outcrops

New Straits Times 9 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE: Malaysia and Singapore are pleased with the progress made in the discussions on the implementation of the International Court of Justice judgment on Pedra Branca, or Pulau Batu Puteh as known to Malaysians, Middle Rocks and South Ledge, the rocky outcrops in the seas of both countries.

Top government officials from the two neighbouring nations met here on Tuesday to iron out matters pertaining to the joint hydrographic survey, maritime and airspace management and fisheries around the outcrops, according to a joint statement by their foreign ministries.

The Malaysian delegation was led by Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Tan Sri Rastam Mohd Isa and the Singapore side by Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Peter Ho.

Both sides reiterated their commitment to honour and abide by the ICJ's judgment and implement its decision by continuing the discussions pursuant to the Second Malaysia-Singapore Joint Technical Committee Meeting held in Putrajaya on Aug 20 last year.

Both countries also agreed that the next meeting be held in one to two months in Malaysia. -- Bernama

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Indonesia to form agency to keep outer islands secure

Antara 9 Jan 10;

Surabaya (ANTARA News) - Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said he would soon form a National Agency for Border Management to ensure the security of 200 outlying islands through military and non-military approaches.

"The defense tasks of the national agency will be managed by the Defense Ministry while its economic and social tasks will be overseen by the home affairs minister. But we will continue to monitor the implementation of the agency`s tasks," Purnomo said at a function to inaugurate the Veteran National Development University (UPN) here on Saturday.

On the occasion also attended by political and military observer Muhadjir Effendy MAP, the defense minister said the formation of the agency was a strategic measure to safeguard national sovereignty over the 200 outlying islands.

"The economic and other activities the agency is to initiate on the islands will be an effective form of defense against any possible attempt by other countries to lay territorial claims to any of the islands," Purnomo said.

The existence of the economic and other activities on the islands would be an effective strategy to maintain the integrity and sovereignty of Indonesia.

"Therefore all related institutions such as the Defense Ministry, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Forestry Ministry, and other departments should be in one accord to maintain the country`s sovereignty through non-military appraches," Purnomo said.

Meanwhile, military observer Muhadjir Effendy MAP of Malang Muhammadiyah University said there should be a radical change in relation with the security at the outlying islands and the borderline with other countries.

"Such a security measure should be made immediately because certain neighboring countries have already tried to make claims to a number of the outlying islands," Effendy said.

Therefore, he added, the government should provide funds and make integrated efforts to ensure the security at border areas across the country. Also, he said, the number of security personnel in border areas should be increased.(*)

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Malaysian government targets 60% cut in power usage

The Star 9 Jan 10;

MIRI: The Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry has set an ambitious target of cutting the country's electricity usage by 60%.

This will be achieved by replacing existing electrical appliances and gadgets in government buildings and street lights with the latest low-energy devices, said Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin Fah Kui on Saturday.

He said one of the first targets would be to replace existing street lamps across the country with low-energy bulbs.

"We estimate that the country can save up to 60% of electricity usage if we switch to electrical items that are energy-efficient, such as airconditioning units for buildings that are of low-energy categories and street-lights that require low amount of electricity to light up.

"We already have new technology on these low-energy devices. What the National Green Technology Council needs to do is formulate a blueprint on the way forward.

"The Prime Minister, who is the chairman of the council, will soon announce specific plans that we will be taking to go green."

Chin said as far as developments in the green technology field were concerned, Malaysia had just started to "scratch the surface".

Asked if all local councils in the country would be compelled to change their street lights to low-energy ones, he said it would be done in stages.

He said street lights were a major source of electricity usage as 19% of the Government's electricity consumption was to power the lights in cities, towns and villages and highways.

Chin said his ministry planned to hold an international exhibition in Kuala Lumpur this year to bring in renowned green-technology firms worldwide to showcase their latest products.

He said the Government wanted to turn Kuala Lumpur into a green-technology trading hub, adding that similar exhibitions and green technology seminars will also be held in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching this year.

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Ban use of plastic bags in KL

Lim Chia Ying, The Star 9 Jan 10;

THE Penang and Selangor governments’ move for ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ has prompted 10 Kuala Lumpur MPs to petition for the city to follow suit.

They are pushing for the initiative following the successful campaign in Penang since last July, while some retailers in Selangor had started the campaign last Saturday.

The 10 MPs who signed the petition were Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw, Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai, Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, Titiwangsa MP Dr Lo’lo’ Mohamad Ghazali, Bandar Tun Razak MP Tan Sri Abd Khalid Ibrahim, Batu MP Tian Chua, Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong, and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.

Representing them were Lim, Nurul Izzah, and Tian Chua who were present at the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) building in Jalan Raja Laut to hand over the petition to the mayor.

Nurul Izzah said in October last year, the Water, Green Technology and Power Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fa Kui had announced that a national campaign to ban the use of plastic bags would be carried out as one of the ways to conserve the environment and promote green technology.

“However, up until today, it has still not been implemented.

“As Selangor has moved towards that stage recently, we wish to follow in their footsteps which is why we hope the DBKL could take the lead with this initiative,” she said.

“Kuala Lumpur actually produces a lot of waste. In fact, I’ve done some research and learnt that only 5% of solid waste in Malaysia is being recycled,” said Tian Chua.

“Compare this with Singapore where 30% of its solid waste is being recycled. It shows that our country is still far behind in this recycling aspect,” he said.

“By default, Kuala Lumpur as a Federal Territory should take the lead to spearhead the ban of plastic bags in the city,” said Lim.

“Contrary to the worries of some in the retail industry, many urban shoppers nowadays prefer plastic bag alternatives because they care about the environment, and would likely shop at retailers who are doing their bit,” he said.

Nurul Izzah said in Selangor, the state government had invited the hypermarkets and supermarkets in implementing the campaign and said the DBKL, too, could do the same.

“Once it is implemented, the DBKL could impose charges on those still wanting to use plastic bags on Saturdays, like what retailers in Selangor are doing.

“Hopefully in future, we won’t have to impose charges on consumers once they are used to not having plastic bags,” she said.

“Some shocking facts about plastic bags that people should know - plastic bags are made of polyethylene which is a petroleum product; it takes about 1,000 years for polyethylene to break down; when polyethylene does break down, toxic substances leach into the soil and enter the food chain which can choke animals to death as animals often mistake them for food. And plastic is the main culprit for drain clogs,” said Lim.

Meanwhile, it was reported that Penang has extended its once-a-week campaign to three times a week, and announced that from this year on, it would not renew the licence of businesses that did not support the state’s plastic bag reduction policy.

In the report, it is said that data provided by 45 hypermarkets and supermarkets showed that plastic bag consumption has dropped by more than a million since the campaign started.

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Florida's cold snap disaster for tropical wildlife

Juan Castro Olivera Yahoo News 9 Jan 10;

MIAMI (AFP) – Iguanas dropping from trees, manatees huddling around waters warmed by power plants and marine turtles being whisked away to shelters -- Florida's unusual cold snap is a deadly one for tropical wildlife.

The cold front sweeping in from the Arctic, with temperatures below freezing in parts of the southeastern state, is killing many animals accustomed to a temperate climate that sends droves of tourists swarming to enjoy yearlong warmth in the "Sunshine State."

The cold-blooded iguanas' comfort level begins at 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 Celsius) and they positively thrive at 95 F (35 C).

When temperatures drop below about 60 F (15 C), they become less able to move around. Below about 40 F (5 C), they become completely immobile due to a lack of blood flow. Unable to hold on, the mohawked lizards, which shelter in tree branches and crevices, drop to the ground.

Iguanas and other tropical wildlife are bearing the brunt of the severe Arctic weather in Florida, where Miami's subtropical beaches have been left all but deserted this week with temperatures plummeting to around 32 F (zero degrees Celsius).

"Cold weather impacts iguanas severely and many are killed," said Gabriella Ferraro, spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

"That is not a bad thing. It's a good thing, because iguanas are an exotic animal, they don't belong to Florida. This seasonal kill helps us to manage the population."

Travelers from Mexico, Central and South America originally introduced the creatures to Florida in the 1960s.

Although suffering from the cold, python snakes, which abound in particularly large numbers in Florida's Everglades swamp reserve, can survive in cooler temperatures.

"The good thing is that the cold weather brings the pythons out of the vegetation. They need warmer bodies and they come out to get some sun and so it is easier for hunters to find them," Ferraro explained to AFP.

Manatees and sea turtles are the most vulnerable during the cold weather, she added, noting that some of the animals had died in central Florida.

Known as sea cows for their bulky frame -- adults are an average of three meters (10 feet) long and weigh between 800 and 1,200 pounds (360 and 540 kilograms) -- manatees abound in Florida's warm waters close to river mouths and can die from prolonged exposure to low temperatures.

When water temperatures drop, manatees gather in warm-water habitats, such as discharge canals at power plants, canal systems or springs to avoid a deadly "cold stress syndrome."

With thermometers dropping to record lows, large groups of manatees huddled in recent days seeking the warmth of power plants in Riviera Beach, north of Miami, and Apollo Beach, near Tampa off the Gulf of Mexico.

The FWC says it has rescued about 250 sea turtles so far and placed them in special shelters where they can rest while waiting for the sea to warm.

The seemingly lifeless iguanas can be revived, however. Passersby can usually bring them back to life by picking up the lizards and setting them in the sun. After a brief warm-up, most will scamper off into the bushes.

Florida's exotic creatures may have to brace for worse, with forecasters saying a new polar front could sweep in over the weekend in the state, where some parts have already seen temperatures 20 degrees below normal.

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Climate change experts clash over sea-rise ‘apocalypse’

Critics say an influential prediction of a 6ft rise in sea levels is flawed

Jonathan Leake Times Online 10 Jan 10;

Climate science faces a new controversy after the Met Office denounced research from the Copenhagen summit which suggested that global warming could raise sea levels by 6ft by 2100.

The research, published by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, created headline news during the United Nations summit on climate change in Denmark last month.

It predicted an apocalyptic century in which rising seas could threaten coastal communities from England to Bangladesh and was the latest in a series of studies from Potsdam that has gained wide acceptance among governments and environmental campaigners.

Besides underpinning the Copenhagen talks, the research is also likely to be included in the next report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This would elevate it to the level of global policy-making.

However, the studies, led by Stefan Rahmstorf, professor of ocean physics at Potsdam, have caused growing concern among other experts. They say his methods are flawed and that the real increase in sea levels by 2100 is likely to be far lower than he predicts.

Jason Lowe, a leading Met Office climate researcher, said: "These predictions of a rise in sea level potentially exceeding 6ft have got a huge amount of attention, but we think such a big rise by 2100 is actually incredibly unlikely. The mathematical approach used to calculate the rise is simplistic and unsatisfactory."

The row comes just weeks after the so-called climategate affair when emails leaked from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit revealed how scientists tried to withhold data from public scrutiny.

The new controversy, which has no connection with Climategate, dates back to January 2007, when Science magazine published a research paper by Rahmstorf linking the 7in rise in sea levels from 1881-2001 with a 0.7C rise in global temperature over the same period.

Most scientists accept those data and agree that sea levels will continue to rise. However, Rahmstorf then parted company from colleagues by extrapolating the findings to 2100 — when the world is projected to have warmed by up to 6.4C unless greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced.

Based on the 7in increase in 1881-2001, Rahmstorf calculated that such a spike in temperature would raise sea levels by up to 74in — a jump that stunned other experts.

They say it is unsafe to use the relatively small increases in sea levels seen in the 19th and 20th centuries to predict such extreme changes in future.

Another critic is Simon Holgate, a sea-level expert at the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, Merseyside. He has written to Science magazine, attacking Rahmstorf's work as "simplistic".

"Rahmstorf is very good at publishing extreme papers just before big conferences like Copenhagen when they are guaranteed attention," said Holgate. "The problem is that his methods are biased to generate large numbers for sea-level rise which cannot be justified but which attract headlines."

One key problem cited by Holgate is that much of the 1881-2001 sea-level rise came from small glaciers melting in regions such as the Alps and Himalayas. Such glaciers are, however, disappearing fast and will be largely gone by 2050. It means further rises in sea levels would have to come from increased melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.

These hold enough water to raise global sea levels by more than 200ft, but their recent contribution to sea-level rise has been negligible. Jonathan Gregory, a sea-level specialist at the Met Office, said: "We do not know enough about the physics of large ice sheets to predict how global temperature rise will affect them. My concern about these extreme predictions is that they could discredit the whole process because they are not backed up by solid science and that is vital in such a political area of research.”

Rahmstorf said he accepted the criticisms but his work was "the best system we have got". He added: “I agree that there has been too little research into the behaviour of ice sheets but that is exactly why I did this research. It uses simple measurements of historic changes in the real world to show a direct relationship between temperature rise and sea level increase and it works stunningly well.”

Rahmstorf said the last decade had, however, seen preliminary evidence suggesting that the ice sheets of Greenland and West Antarctica were becoming unstable. He said: "In my heart I hope my critics are right because a rise of the kind my work predicts would be catastrophic," he said. "But as a scientist I have to look at the evidence . . . my figures for sea-level rise are likely to be an underestimate of what the world will face by 2100."

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