Best of our wild blogs: 13 Jan 10

Official global launch of International Year of Biodiversity 2010
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

Nature walks at St. John's Island with the Tropical Marine Science Institute from wild shores of singapore

Water trends in the next decade
from Water Quality in Singapore

Phylomon: Pokemon meets Real Wildlife
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

One of five
from The annotated budak and Gnaptime and Smooth operator

Chestnut-winged Cuckoo eats Privet Hawk Moth caterpillar
from Bird Ecology Study Group

spitting mudskipper II @ Chek Jawa
from sgbeachbum

Clean Coal and Biomass Cogeneration Plant by Tuas Power: A Chronology from AsiaIsGreen

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Electric cars to receive special rebates in Singapore

Under Tides, each Mitsubishi iMiEV will be priced at only $90,000
Samuel Ee, Business Times 13 Jan 10;

THE first Mitsubishi iMiEV electric car in Singapore will be registered under a financially attractive scheme called Tides as the Republic powers into the electric vehicle domain.

Because of its sophisticated technology, the cost of making an electric car is prohibitive.

For example, the iMiEV has an OMV or open market value of about $85,000, based on the current exchange rate. Compare this with the non-electric version of the car, called the Mitsubishi i with a conventional 660cc petrol engine - this has an OMV of only approximately $14,000.

If the usual registration taxes are levied, the list price of the iMiEV will more than double as the Additional Registration Fee is 100 per cent of OMV and excise duty is 20 per cent of OMV - and this doesn't even include the GST and COE required over and above that.

So instead, the iMiEV - the first of which arrived earlier this month - will be registered under Tides or the Transport Technology Innovation and Development Scheme.

It is part of the $20 million test-bed project that will see 50 units of the iMiEV deployed to test the electric vehicle infrastructure, which will include the setting up of a pilot network of charging stations.

Ten of the eco-friendly cars will be used by government agencies, while the rest will go to private sector companies who want to participate in the test-bed. Only Singapore-registered companies will be considered.

Under Tides, each iMiEV will be priced at only $90,000, with ownership stretching for up to four years.

'If the car were to be registered using only the green vehicle rebate, the final retail price would be around $190,000, which realistically is not commercially viable for an iMiEV,' said Edmund Gin, senior manager of Cycle & Carriage (C&C), the authorised distributor of Mitsubishi cars.

He added that C&C hopes the test-bed proves to be successful and serious thought will be given to promote the use of electric cars in the future.

The electric Mitsubishis will be affixed with blue- and-yellow RD number plates. With these special research & development licences, their owners will also be exempt from road tax.

However, they will have to pay an annual administrative fee of $1,600 to the government.

As part of their contribution to R&D under the Tides scheme, iMiEV owners also have to collate data based on the requirements of A*Star, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

So does this mean that ordinary folk will soon be able to go down to the Mitsubishi showroom and buy an iMiEV?

'Two key factors will determine the timing for making the iMiEV a commercial retail possibility,' said Mr Gin.

'First would be the reduction in the cost price of the iMiEV, after the amortisation of costs kicks in for the manufacturer.'

As for the second point, he said: 'Most importantly, we will need the support from the government in introducing tax rebates for customers to enjoy the iMiEV.'

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Relief measures soften energy price hikes: Iswaran

Alvin Foo, Straits Times 13 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE cannot be insulated from volatile global energy prices, but measures are in place to mitigate the impact of price rises on households, said the Senior Minister of State for Trade & Industry, Mr S. Iswaran.

He told Parliament yesterday that liberalising the power generation sector has injected diversity into the market, and competition helps combat cost increases.

'We cannot insulate Singapore from the global energy market and the long-term trends or volatility in global energy prices,' he said in response to questions from Nominated MP Viswa Sadasivan and Madam Ho Geok Choo (West Coast GRC).

'Volatility is something we must get used to. The long-term trend is probably upward, because of the various fundamental pressures like more demand for energy from developing markets,' he added.

Measures such as the Utilities Save rebate scheme, which can be used to directly offset utility charges, can help households cope with price rises, he noted.

The competition, which came as a result of the opening up of the sector in 2001, also helps to combat price increases.

He said: 'Our market is a strong one, competitive one, so we are able to eke out as many efficiencies as we can.'

Liberalising the sector has benefited consumers, as it has brought efficiency gains because the new players compete to bring costs down.

These lower costs have benefited consumers directly, said Mr Iswaran.

For instance, over the past eight years since the liberalisation of the electricity market, the price of fuel oil has increased by 160 per cent. Yet, the electricity tariff for households has increased by only 15 per cent.

Moreover, opening up the sector has enriched the market with a diverse range of players bringing different technologies and experience.

'Since liberalisation, we have seen the entry of new power generation companies. Keppel Merlimau Cogen has entered the market, and Island Power is planning to do so ... power generation companies have moved towards newer and more efficient technologies,' said Mr Iswaran.

Before liberalisation, most of Singapore's electricity was generated by steam plants powered by fuel oil, he noted. Now, more than 80 per cent is generated by combined cycle plants fuelled by natural gas.

'Such gas-fired plants enjoy better efficiencies that translate into lower costs. These lower costs have benefited consumers directly,' he added.

Pump prices near $2 mark
Trend may ignite interest in fuel-efficient cars and cheaper grades of petrol
Straits Times 13 Jan 10;

PUMP prices are inching towards $2 territory, a level that is likely to reignite interest in fuel-efficient cars and cheaper grades of fuel.

Yesterday, Caltex and ExxonMobil led the pack when they jacked up prices by five cents a litre.

The move, the latest in a series of unremitting increases that began in the second half of last year, brought 98-octane petrol to $1.94 a litre. The two companies' 95- and 92-octane grades of petrol are now $1.857 and $1.797 a litre respectively. Diesel is at $1.323. All rates are before discounts. The other two fuel companies are expected to follow suit soon.

Petrol last touched the $2 level briefly in August last year, but eased soon after.

But with crude oil prices now around 10 per cent higher than they were in the middle of last year, analysts expect pump prices to remain firm this year.

Crude oil for February delivery was nearly US$84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday - the highest since October 2008, when global financial institutions began unravelling.

Although oil futures eased early yesterday on news of higher temperatures and a lower US employment rate, the commodity's mid- to long-term outlook is bullish.

Mr Ng Weng Hoong, editor of energy news portal EnergyAsia, said he expects crude to touch US$100 a barrel this year. At its peak in July 2008, a barrel of crude cost US$147, pushing pump prices here to an all-time high of $2.50. 'The speculators are back, and so is the rush to stockpile,' he said, adding that China will continue to soak up a lot of demand.

The world's biggest energy consumer after the United States, China imported a record 203.8 million tonnes of oil - or 4.1 million barrels a day - last year, according to the Bloomberg news service.

Oil brokers here expect the commodity to move between US$75 and US$85 in the first quarter, but say it is likely to stay above US$80 in the near term.

The higher pump prices are expected to nudge motorists towards cars that are more fuel-efficient.

Mr Vincent Ng, product manager with Honda agent Kah Motor, said that while buyers are now better informed about fuel efficiency, it is still not the overriding factor.

'As much as we want to create fuel economy awareness, the buying decision is still ultimately driven by car prices,' he said. 'But when all things are equal, the car with better economy wins.'

Mr Colin Yong, the spokesman for Volkswagen Centre Singapore, said VW's small turbocharged cars are proving to be popular. But he said buyers are more 'sold on the low road tax' of these 1.4-litre cars, vis-a-vis rivals' 1.6-litre cars.

Oil industry players expect motorists to shift towards cheaper, lower-octane fuels.

Since pump prices began climbing steeply in 2007, motorists have moved increasingly away from 98-octane petrol.

The trend prompted Chevron, which markets the Caltex brand here, to re-introduce 92-octane fuel last March.

More are expected to switch to the budget fuel once pump prices breach $2, widely seen as the tolerance level here.

CHRISTOPHER TAN

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U.S. to set aside habitat for jaguar recovery

Susan Montoya Bryan, Associated Press Yahoo News 13 Jan 10;

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday it will set aside critical habitat for the endangered jaguar and develop a recovery plan for the elusive animal once thought to have disappeared from the United States.

The agency said it will review which lands the big cats need to survive and will put together a plan by early next year to help the species recover.

Conservationists had been anxiously awaiting the decisions on the recovery plan and critical habitat since last Friday, when a federal court had imposed a deadline for the agency. The court granted a last-minute extension, giving the Fish and Wildlife Service until the end of Tuesday.

"This is a huge boost for recovery because it means the best scientists and best minds on how to conserve jaguars will come together and figure out how to restore them onto our landscapes," said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups that has been seeking critical habitat for the jaguar for more than a decade.

Robinson and other conservationists saw the case as a test of whether the Obama administration would take extra steps to protect animals whose ranges stretch beyond the nation's borders.

The largest cats native to the Western hemisphere, jaguars live primarily in Mexico, Central and South America. They once inhabited an extensive area that spanned California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and Louisiana.

The cats were considered eliminated from the country until two were spotted in 1996 near the Arizona-New Mexico border.

Most recently, a snare captured a jaguar last year in southern Arizona. Nicknamed Macho B, the cat was eventually euthanized after falling ill, sparking criticism over jaguar recovery efforts.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday that it decided to set aside critical habitat for the jaguar based on new information it received over the last three years. It acknowledged that there are "physical and biological features" in the Southwest that can be used by jaguars.

While the boundaries of the critical habitat have yet to be set, Eva Sargent of Defenders of Wildlife said protecting an animal's range is key to recovery.

"What the jaguar really needs is protected corridors where it can move between Mexico and the U.S. That's the ticket," she said, adding there is some concern over how construction of a wall between Mexico and the U.S. could impact the jaguar population.

Some landowners in southern New Mexico and Arizona also voiced concerns about how critical habitat may impact grazing permits and recreation in the area.

Caren Cowan, executive director of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, questioned why critical habitat was being established at the fringe of where the animal might survive. She said if the goal is to recover the species, more effort should be focused on populations in Mexico and further south.

Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Tom Buckley said it will be a long process for establishing the habitat boundaries and developing a recovery plan and the effort will include opportunities for public participation.

The agency said it has no plans to reintroduce jaguars into the United States. Any cats that might be found north of the border will be those that wander up from Mexico.

From 1996 through 2009, four or possibly five jaguars have been documented in the United States. All the sightings have been limited to southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.

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42 tons of poison to purge island of rats

Desperate measure to save Lord Howe Island's native species
Kathy Marks, The Independent 13 Jan 10;

Lord Howe, an idyllic island off the Australian mainland, carefully conserves its natural treasures. The World Heritage-listed chunk of rock has strict quarantine laws, and limits the number of tourists who may visit. But its unique birds, insects and plants are under threat from an implacable foe: the black rat. Accidentally introduced in 1918 when a ship ran aground, rats are blamed for the extinction of five endemic bird species.

Wildlife experts warn that 13 other native birds, two reptiles, five plants and numerous invertebrates are at risk. Rats are also a threat to the vital tourism industry, which relies on the island's pristine image.

Now Lord Howe, 500 miles north-east of Sydney, has decided to rid itself of rats and mice – and has put together one of the most radical pest-eradication programmes ever attempted. If the plan is approved, the island will be blitzed with poison from the air.

In order to protect local wildlife, entire populations of native birds will be caught and kept in cages for 100 days for their own protection. All cows and chickens will be slaughtered or shipped to the mainland beforehand, while dog owners will be offered muzzles for their pets, and parents will be advised to keep a close eye on their children.

A number of islands have been made predator-free, most notably in the Seychelles and New Zealand, and pest-elimination projects have occasionally been carried out on inhabited islands. But nowhere has such a project been contemplated in a place with a substantial population: Lord Howe has 350 permanent residents as well as 400 or so visitors at any one time.

Stephen Wills, chief executive of the Lord Howe Board, which administers the island as part of New South Wales, agrees that the plan – which involves dropping nearly 42 tons of poison-laced bait from helicopters – is radical. But there is no other option, he believes. "This is one of the most beautiful places in the world, which is why it warrants such a significant and detailed programme," he says.

A crescent-shaped island with a lagoon and coral reef, Lord Howe is said to be washed by the cleanest ocean on the planet. Two-thirds of it is a protected reserve, while its surrounding waters are a marine park. The World Heritage listing was granted in 1982 because of its outstanding natural beauty and exceptional biodiversity.

When it was discovered by the crew of HMS Supply, a British ship, in 1788, the island was home only to birds, insects and reptiles. During the decades that followed, various predators were introduced, of which the rat was by far the most destructive. The effects of its presence were swift and disastrous.

In 1921 an Australian naturalist, Alan McCulloch, wrote: "Two short years ago the forests of Lord Howe were joyous with the notes of myriads of birds, large and small and of many kinds ... Within two years this paradise of birds has become a wilderness, and the quietness of death reigns where all was melody."

In recent years, the island has banished feral goats, pigs and cats. But rodents are still a serious problem. As well as threatening native wildlife, they eat the seeds of the kentia palm, an endemic plant, which forms the basis of Lord Howe's only industry apart from tourism. Up to 1.5 million kentia palms – the world's most popular indoor plant – are exported ever year.

The rat-eradication plan, pencilled in for August 2012, has yet to be approved by the Lord Howe board and the Australian government. It would involve two separate aerial bombardments a fortnight apart, as well as baiting by hand. The poison is expected to become harmless after 100 days.

During that period, two endangered bird species considered at particular risk of consuming the poison – the Lord Howe woodhen and the pied currawong – will be kept in aviaries. Each species consists of about 200 individuals. The woodhen was saved from the brink of extinction after the population dropped to about 20 in the late 1970s.

Beef cattle and chickens will be removed from the island, with the board compensating owners and restocking herds and flocks later. Milk cows will remain on the island, but will be kept in pens and fed on pre-cut grass.

Mr Wills admits that while most locals want to get rid of the rats, "many people, understandably, have concerns". They include Clive Wilson, who believes the rat plague has been exaggerated. "The poison exposes the island, its environment and the people to a great deal of danger," he told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I think they will do a lot of damage and in the end there will still be rats."

Among the native creatures believed until recently to be extinct on the island – which prides itself on having no marine or air pollution, and no litter – was the Lord Howe stick insect. Then, in 2001, a team of conservationists who landed on Balls Pyramid, a large rock south-east of the island, were astonished to discover a small population of the stick insects, living under a single shrub.

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Shipping map helps combat invasive species at sea

Yahoo News 13 Jan 10;

PARIS (AFP) – Invasive species that hitch a ride on cargo ships pose a rising threat to marine biodiversity, with the potential to inflict costs in the billions of dollars.

But a new map of shipping networks should provide watchdogs with a useful tool against these stowaways, scientists in Germany said on Wednesday.

Microbes, larvae, snails and other species are notorious for riding in ballast tanks or on ships' hulls to a new home.

But until now there have been scant means of identifying ships or even shipping patterns to help pinpoint the source of the risk.

Sleuths trying to track these intruders have generally used a so-called "gravity model" of ship movements. It assumes that journeys are likelier between nearby ports than between ports that are far apart.

The truth, though, is rather more complex, say marine biologists led by Bernd Blasius of the Carl von Ossietzky University in Oldenburg.

They used data from automatic transmitters, installed aboard large ships from 2001 to give port authorities the time of arrival and departure, to build a network of how the world's 16,363 large cargo vessels plied their trade in 2007.

What emerged were small clusters of ports, sometimes based in a regional transport web, and journey lengths and port stays that differed crucially according to the type of ship -- bulk dry carrier, container or oil tanker.

Container ships, they found, sail along largely predictable, repetitive routes among a small, dense linked cluster of ports, gathered in 12 regional "communities" around the world.

For instance, a container ship may shuttle frequently around Europe, visiting Rotterdam, Hamburg and Antwerp, and around Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Santos in South America.

These vessels travel fast (at between 20 and 25 knots) and spend less than two days in a port on average.

In contrast, bulk dry carriers are more unpredictable, changing their routes at short notice according to the fluctuating supply and demand of the goods they carry. In the course of a year, they do few repeat trips on the same route.

Oil tankers, too, also follow short-term market trends, but their destinations are limited, moving between ports with crude terminals and refineries.

Both tankers and carries are slow movers, travelling at between 13 and 17 knots, and have a longer turnaround, spending around five or six days in port.

Importantly, both bulk dry carriers and oil tankers often sail empty after offloading their goods, and take on large quantities of ballast water for trim, which is then discharged when they are laden once more.

But frequency of trips, as seen in container ships especially, is also a factor.

The more aliens that are offloaded in a new habitat, the better their chance of beating the odds of "ecological roulette," says the study.

"With 90 percent of world trade carried by sea, the global network of merchant ships provides one of the most important modes of transportation" of intrusive species, says the study.

The paper, published on Wednesday by Britain's Journal of the Royal Society Interface, quotes a 2005 estimate that bioinvasion inflicts a financial loss 120 billion dollars a year.

Among the most notorious examples is a North American jellyfish, Mnemiopsis leidyi, that has so devastated native plankton stocks in the Black Sea that it has helped destroy several commercial fisheries.

The European zebra mussel, introduced into the Great Lakes in the mid-1980s, has infested 40 percent of internal waterways in the United States. In southern Australia, the Asian kelp, Undaria pinnatifida, is invading new areas rapidly, displacing the native seabed communities.

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Tilapia Feed on Fiji's Native Fish

ScienceDaily 12 Jan 10;

The poster child for sustainable fish farming -- the tilapia -- is actually a problematic invasive species for the native fish of the islands of Fiji, according to a new study by the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups.

Scientists suspect that tilapia introduced to the waterways of the Fiji Islands may be gobbling up the larvae and juvenile fish of several native species of goby, fish that live in both fresh and salt water and begin their lives in island streams.

The recently published paper appears in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. The authors include: Stacy Jupiter and Ingrid Qauqau of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Aaron P. Jenkins of Wetlands International-Oceania; and James Atherton of Conservation International.

"Many of the unique freshwater fishes of the Fiji Islands are being threatened by introduced tilapia and other forms of development in key water catchment basins," said Dr. Jupiter, a co-author of the study and one of the investigators examining the effects of human activities on the native fauna. "Conserving the native fishes of the islands will require a multi-faceted collaboration that protects not only the waterways of the islands, but the ecosystems that contain them."

The most surprising finding of the study centers on the tilapia, a member of the cichlid family of fishes from Africa that has become one of the most important kinds of fish for aquaculture, due in large part to its rapid rate of growth and palatability. Aside from its value as a source of protein, the tilapia is sometimes problematic to native fish species in tropical locations.

To gauge the impacts of tilapia and other human activities on native fish species in the Fiji Archipelago, researchers surveyed the fish species and other denizens of 20 river basins on the major islands of Vitu Levu, Vanua Levu, and Taveuni. In addition to catching and identifying fishes with gill and seine nets, the scientists also rated other environmental factors such as: the potential of erosion due to loss of forest cover and riparian vegetation; road density near rivers and streams; the distances and complexity of nearby mangroves and reefs; and the presence or absence of invasive species (tilapia mainly).

The team found that streams with tilapia contained 11 fewer species of native fishes than those without; species most sensitive to introduced tilapia included the throat-spine gudgeon, the olive flathead-gudgeon, and other gobies. In general, sites where tilapia were absent had more species of native fish.

Since tilapia are known to consume the larvae and juvenile fish, the researchers assume that the introduced species may be consuming the native ones as they make their way upstream and down. Absence of forest cover adjacent to streams was also correlated to fewer fish species.

Based on the spatial information compiled in the study, the researchers found that remote and undeveloped regions -- with waterways containing a full complement of native species and no tilapia -- on the three islands should be considered priority locations for management. The main management activities, the authors recommend, should include conserving forests around waterways and keeping the tilapia out.

"Protecting marine and aquatic biodiversity takes more than managing isolated rivers or coral reefs," said Dr. Caleb McClennen, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Marine Program. "A holistic conservation approach is needed, one that incorporates freshwater systems, the surrounding forest cover, coastal estuaries and seaward coral reefs. As aquaculture continues to develop worldwide, best practices must include precautionary measures to keep farmed species out of the surrounding natural environment."

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Beware of 'bluewash': Which fish should you buy?

Nic Fleming, New Scientist 12 Jan 10;

ACTRESS Greta Scacchi posed naked clutching a large dead cod. The upmarket London restaurant Nobu was criticised for selling an endangered species of tuna. And the Pret A Manger sandwich chain stopped selling sushi made from yellowfin tuna in branches worldwide.

Campaigns to encourage diners and shoppers to question whether the seafood they buy is sustainable have hit the mainstream, thanks in no small part to The End of the Line, a 2009 documentary about overfishing. However, the advice given to consumers over sustainable seafood is inconsistent at best, and at worst, misleading.

"Putting too much emphasis on consumers is not an effective strategy" for preserving fisheries, says Jennifer Jacquet of the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre in Vancouver, Canada, who is lead author of a study comparing dozens of sustainable seafood initiatives published in this month's Oryx (DOI: 10.1017/S0030605309990470). "There is simply too much mislabelling, too much misleading information, too many inconsistencies and, so far, too few results."

There is little consensus on what constitutes a "sustainable" fishery. Jacquet points out that while most schemes agree on high-profile species such as the Atlantic bluefin tuna, six organisations rank Atlantic halibut as a species to avoid, while Friends of the Sea and the Monterey Bay Aquarium recommend it as sustainable. Jacquet identifies conflicting advice for other species including bigeye tuna, lingcod, Atlantic haddock and albacore tuna.

Fisheries researchers question the accuracy of counting methods and modelling. For example, in one of the best-managed fisheries in the world - the eastern Bering Sea - one study identified 30 per cent fewer walleye pollock than models had predicted, suggesting the modelling was flawed (Science, vol 326, p 1340).

Even when accurate information is available, classification usually depends not just on species, but on location and fishing method. As a result, the average consumer could easily find the advice confusing. A wallet card produced by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, for example, has 12 different entries for tuna.

The study's authors fear that the inconsistency and confusion could be exploited to sell products that do not meet rigorous standards. The greenwashing that some companies have employed to falsely boost their eco-credentials "could turn into 'bluewashing' today", they say.

They conclude that governments, not consumers, should take the lead to protect fisheries by legislating on the amount of seafood used in animal feed, for instance. "We do not argue against the principle that consumers should make a point of choosing products that reflect their ideals," adds Jacquet. "However, working with household consumers alone cannot save fish."

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Airlines, Airports Note Surge In Bird Strikes

Associated Press NPR 12 Jan 10;

Reports of airplanes hitting birds and other wildlife surged last year, including serious accidents such as birds crashing through cockpits and crippling engines in flight, according to an Associated Press analysis of new government data.

More than a dozen states across two migration routes from Minnesota to Texas have seen the highest increases.

"Birds and planes are fighting for airspace, and it's getting increasingly crowded," said Richard Dolbeer, an expert on bird-plane collisions who is advising the Federal Aviation Administration and the Agriculture Department.

The government's tally for all bird strikes last year could reach or even exceed 10,000 for the first time — which would represent about 27 strikes every day. There were at least 57 cases in the first seven months of 2009 that caused serious damage and three in which planes and a corporate helicopter were destroyed by birds. At least eight people died, and six more were hurt.

The destroyed planes include the Airbus A320 that, with 155 passengers and crew, went into the Hudson a year ago this week after hitting a flock of Canada geese. No lives were lost in that dramatic river landing.

But when a Sikorsky helicopter crashed en route to an oil platform last January after hitting a red-tailed hawk near Morgan City, La., the two pilots and six of seven passengers were killed. The lone survivor was critically injured.

Why the increase in bird-strike reports?

Airports and airlines have become more diligent about reporting, said Mike Beiger, national coordinator for the airport wildlife hazards program at the Agriculture Department. Experts also blame increasing populations of large birds like Canada geese that can knock out engines on passenger jets.

Reports of bird strikes through July have doubled in at least 17 states since 2005, including many along the Mississippi and central migratory flyways running across the central U.S. The 17 states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Wisconsin.

The surge in reports for 2009 — expected to be as much as 40 percent higher once the final accounting is in — comes in spite of government concerns that disclosing details about such strikes would discourage reports by airports and airlines out of worries about lost business. The previous high was 7,507 strikes in 2007.

After US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson on Jan. 15, the AP asked the government for its data, including details about more than 93,000 strikes since 1990. Even after the FAA agreed to turn over the records to the AP, it quietly proposed a new federal rule to keep the information secret. But Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood intervened and ordered the release. LaHood recently included the disclosure in a list of the department's leading safety accomplishments for last year.

"Going public doesn't appear to have harmed it, and every indicator I have is we have an increased industry awareness on the importance of reporting," said Kate Lang, FAA acting associate administrator for airports, in an interview.

Not all airports have been diligent. Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, for example, showed 46 strikes during the first seven months of 2008 but only 12 for the same period in 2009. When the AP asked about the decline, the airport said there were 28 strikes — not 12 — during that period in 2009 but the airport had neglected to report more than half of them.

A spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, John Kelly, said the reporting failure was an oversight and the airport would immediately file the missing incidents. The authority manages the airport, which last year had one of the highest rates of bird strikes in the country.

Dolbeer, the government's bird-strike expert, said a spate of serious collisions that took place miles away from airports was especially troubling.

On Nov. 4 over eastern Arizona, for instance, air cargo pilot Roger Wutke had just begun a descent from 11,000 feet in his twin-engine Beechcraft turboprop when a western grebe — a two-foot-long water bird — crashed through his windshield. The bird hit Wutke, knocking off his glasses, breaking his radio headset and splattering him in blood.

Unable to see out much of the shattered left windshield and unable to hear air traffic controllers, Wutke still managed to land the plane safely.

"I don't know how I did it," Wutke, 26, said in an interview. "It was pretty rough."

Two days earlier, a Delta Air Lines jet en route from Phoenix to Salt Lake City with 65 passengers struck grebes at about 12,000 feet. The impact tore a 21-inch hole in the MD-90's fuselage, forcing pilots to declare an emergency and return to Phoenix.

On Nov. 14, a Frontier Airlines Airbus A319 en route to Denver collided with a flock of snow geese at about 4,000 feet, forcing the shutdown of one engine. The other engine was also struck but didn't lose power. The plane returned to Kansas City for an emergency landing.

The FAA has mostly focused on keeping birds away from airports, where most strikes take place. But grebes and snow geese are migratory birds and were flying miles away from airports when these collisions took place - evidence that more attention is needed to reduce the threat of wildlife strikes away from airports, Dolbeer said.

The FAA said it is cracking down on airports who have had serious bird strike incidents but failed to complete required assessments of risks from birds. The agency identified 91 airports that should have conducted formal assessments but didn't, Lang said. The agency is working on a proposal to make the assessments mandatory for all commercial airports. It's also testing different bird-detecting radars, which enable workers to find birds and chase them away.

Some airports are replacing shrubbery that attracts birds and insects that other birds eat. In some cases, airports bring in predatory hawks to chase away flocks of smaller birds.

In the first seven months of 2009 there were 4,671 wildlife strikes reported in the government's data, an increase of 22 percent over the same period in 2008. More serious accidents increased over the same period by 36 percent. Officials are still manually adding paper reports for the second half of the year, and they said online reports indicate an even larger increase over that period.

The database includes collisions with all wildlife — deer and coyotes on runways, for example — but historically 98 percent of reported incidents involve birds.

In one case, according to the government reports, a bald eagle was sucked into the right engine of a United Airlines Boeing 757 that had just taken off from Denver International Airport and caused $14 million in damage. The plane, with 151 passengers and crew bound to San Francisco, returned to Denver.

Last month, a Continental Airlines Boeing 767 with 134 passengers struck birds after taking off from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, damaging one engine. The plane dumped 9,700 gallons of jet fuel over a warehouse district west of Newark before returning to the airport.

The data showed 218 airports reported fewer strikes during the first seven months of 2009, but 351 airports reported more strikes; 59 reported no change from the same period the previous year.

Denver recorded more bird strikes in the first seven months of 2009 than any other airport with 273, an increase over 223 during the same period in 2008. It is spending more money and has hired a second biologist.

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Cold water killing turtles, marine life in Florida

Rescue facilities overwhelmed
Herald Tribune 12 Jan 10;

SARASOTA - Cold water is killing endangered sea turtles and other marine wildlife statewide, the lingering result of a record-breaking spate of freezing weather this month.

More than 2,000 sea turtles have been found floating listless and near death in the water by wildlife rescuers. Two manatees have died of cold stress and thousands of dead fish, including sharks, have been reported.

The biggest, most catastrophic impact has been on green sea turtles, an endangered species that frequents the state's bays and estuaries. Of the approximately 2,000 sea turtles found so far, more than 90 percent were green sea turtles.

“We're hoping that as many as 70 percent of the affected turtles might survive,” said Carli Segelson, spokesperson for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

Green sea turtles represent one of few success stories in the history of nursing endangered species from the cusp of extinction. This latest setback could hinder the animals' ability to rebound if the state's rescue efforts do not succeed.

“If we're assuming that the turtles are rescued and rehabilitated and put back into the ocean it's a minimal effect,” said Wallace J. Nichols, a sea turtle expert and research scientist for California Academy of Sciences.

If most of the turtles die, the implications are serious.

“When you're talking thousands of turtles being removed from a population of endangered species, it's certainly a concern,” Nichols said.

An estimated 88,500 nesting females exist worldwide, according the Caribbean Conservation Corporation.

Reviving a turtle from cold shock is easy compared to other illnesses that strike turtles, Segelson said. But the sheer volume of those at risk is a conern.

Mote Marine Laboraties in Sarasota is treating 13 of the turtles at its wildlife hospital, which is equipped to comfortably handle 9 turtles at a time.

“Right now, like all the other organizations that are taking these turtles around the state, we are overbooked,” said Haley Rutger, a spokesperson for Mote Marine.

A wildlife hospital in Boca Raton was treating 71 turtles on Tuesday in a facility equipped to handle seven.

Turtles were most affected in Brevard County and the Panhandle, but recoveries have also been made in Southwest Florida.

Segelson said the state has seen cold-stunned sea turtles before, but this episode is likely the largest cold-related sea turtle stranding ever.

When water temperatures fall between 45 and 50 degrees, sea turtles start becoming weak and going limp. Many of them appear dead, but are in state of shock.

“It's important for people to note that even if these animals appear to be dead, they may still be alive,” Segelson said. She encouraged people to report listless sea turtles to the state's toll free wildlife hotline: 888-404-3922.

“We're going to continue with rescue efforts today and as long as the situation warrants that action,” Segelson said.

Manatees are also at risk. The warm water creatures start suffering cold stress when water temperatures dip below 68 degrees. Manatees seek power plant discharge canals and natural warm springs to keep their body temperatures from dropping.

Wildlife officials are urging people, including motor boaters and kayakers, to avoid areas where large numbers of manatees are gathering.

Warm water fish also are dying. The temperatures have killed snook, jack species, parrotfish, barracudas, pompano, tarpon, mullet, catfish, gag grouper, kingfish, bass bream and carp.

Gulf temperatures in Venice on Tuesday were 52 degrees, as recorded by a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration buoy. The temperature is about 10 degrees below average for January, according to the buoy historic data.
Earlier today

Cold weather is taking a toll on state wildlife, with reports that about 2,000 sea turtles have been injured by the unusually chilly waters.

Rescue facilities across the state are overwhelmed.

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center has sent out a plea for financial help as it struggles to treat 71 sea turtles in a facility that is meant to house 7.

Mote Marine Laboratory's wildlife rehabilitation hospital in Sarasota is also taking some of the overflow.

The hospital is now treating four sea turtles and is expected to get five more tonight.

Four turtles already have had to be euthhanized at the Mote hospital and seven have died so far.

Sea turtles' body functions start to shut down in cold water.

Most of the affected turtles are endangered green sea turtles and were found in St. John's Bay in the Panhandle and on Mosquito Lagoon on the east coast, according to a Mote Marine press release.

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Borneo project aims to save forest, boost livelihoods

David Fogarty, Reuters The Star 12 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - An Indonesian firm hopes to save an area three times the size of Singapore from logging, by enticing locals to protect the forest while potentially earning itself millions from selling carbon credits.

The key to the Katingan peat conservation project is the value of the carbon stored in the plants and the vast amount of planet-warming carbon locked away in the peat underground.

The oval-shaped 217,000 ha (542,500 acre) project nestles between two rivers in central Kalimantan on Borneo island, which has already lost about half its forest cover to logging for timber, clearing for palm oil plantations and mining.

But Jakarta-based PT Rimba Makmur Utama is betting on a global market in selling carbon offsets to investors seeking projects that preserve and rehabilitate forests, which lock away carbon dioxide in the fight against climate change.

Each offset represents a tonne of CO2-equivalent kept from being emitted and forests are among the world's top carbon "sinks" if left intact, acting like lungs for the atmosphere.

"I'm not going to be a hypocrite by saying this is not for the money but we have to be patient," said Dharsono Hartono, PT RMU's president director, and a former investment banker. "It's not going to make money right away."

Project planning began two years ago and has attracted funding from the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, or NORAD, he added.

A key challenge was determining future demand for forest carbon offsets. The United States and Australia have yet to pass domestic carbon trading laws but both, if approved, could ignite annual demand for hundreds of millions of tonnes of offsets from forest preservation projects priced from $5 to $10 a tonne.

The United Nations hopes a global scheme it supports, called reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation, or REDD, will be part of an expanded global pact to fight climate change from 2013. REDD aims to reward developing countries for saving forests through the sale of carbon credits to rich nations.

CARBON RIGHTS

The Katingan project is one of more than a dozen REDD investments in Indonesia at various stages of development hoping a multi-billion dollar market in forest offsets will take off.

The Katingan site is different because most of it sits on a dome of peat. Emissions from degraded or burned peat land make up nearly half of Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions. The site also has the world's sixth largest population of orangutans as well as rare clouded leopards.

The project has a provisional site licence and hopes to get a formal full 60-year ecosystem restoration licence by March, said project consultant Rezal Kusumaatmadja of Bali-based Starling Resources.

Such a licence carries the right to the forest's carbon stock but bans tree cutting, requiring the investor to replant degraded areas and dam drainage canals to restore the water table.

About a third of the site's peat swamp forest has already been logged, although more than half is still pristine.

Kusumaatmadja said the project covered long-term monitoring of the site's carbon stock via 400 sampling plots of 50 m by 40 m. A large plant nursery would be needed to revegetate cleared or degraded areas, with dams being built, rangers employed and community development programmes created.

The project did not envisage keeping out the roughly 100,000 surrounding villagers, while about 20 percent of the revenue from carbon credit sales is earmarked for local communities, with rattan harvesting encouraged to help supplement their incomes.

Hartono hopes to sell the first carbon offsets in 2011 once the project is verified by two bodies, the Voluntary Carbon Standard and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Alliance.

He could not say how many carbon offsets might be sold each year, but hoped they would be several million each year over the project's 30-year life. But this depended on further studies.

Carbon stock measurements show about 170 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent locked above ground in the site's trees and shrubs. Peat land can contain 5 to 6 times the amount of CO2 underground, giving sites like Katingan a high potential value.

(Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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Graft Threatens Indonesia's Carbon Offset Billions: Report

Sunanda Creagh, PlanetArk 13 Jan 10;

JAKARTA - Billions of dollars set to flood into Indonesia under a U.N.-backed forest protection scheme are at risk because of graft unless the country puts strong oversight mechanisms in place, a report released on Tuesday warned.

Indonesia has the world's third largest area of tropical forest and stands to gain billions of dollars every year from a proposed greenhouse gas offset scheme called reduced emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) that was formalized at recent global climate talks in Copenhagen.

REDD allows polluters to earn tradeable carbon credits by paying developing nations not to chop down their trees.

However, a two-year study by the West Java-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) warned that past and recent cases of corruption and financial mismanagement in Indonesia's forestry sector revealed systemic weaknesses that could scuttle REDD.

"Investors should be looking very carefully at the financial governance conditions in the countries where they will be investing their funds. Like Indonesia, many tropical forest countries have long track records of mismanaging public financial resources, particularly in the forestry sector," said the report's co-author, Christopher Barr.

A spokesman from the Forestry Department said the government was committed to transparency.

"Everything is now transparent, measured and monitored. Not just in the REDD sector but in all our financial management, it's now very tight," said spokesman Masyhud.

"It's not possible to play around. Every institution has an inspector general and we also now have the Supreme Audit Agency and the Corruption Eradication Commission," two agencies which are involved in the fight against corruption.

PAST PROBLEMS COULD RETURN

Indonesia last year set up a legal framework for REDD. Several pilot projects are under way and the governments of Norway, Australia, Germany and the U.S. have promised millions of dollars in funding for REDD demonstration activities.

The CIFOR report recommended Indonesia set up new mechanisms to monitor the money flowing into the country for REDD projects and to strengthen existing oversight bodies such as the Corruption Eradication Commission, known as the KPK.

The report exposed details of mismanagement of the Reforestation Fund, which was established in 1989 under former president Suharto and which collected billions of dollars in levies from timber concessionaires to pay for reforestation.

The CIFOR study was partly based on a previously unpublished 1999 audit by Ernst and Young, seen by Reuters, which found $5.252 billion was lost from the fund through systemic financial mismanagement and fraud between 1993/94 and 1997/98.

Control of the Reforestation Fund has now been transferred to the Ministry of Finance and institutions such as the KPK and Supreme Audit Agency have helped improve the situation since the fall of Suharto in 1998, said Barr.

"But significant problems have continued through the post-Suharto period, many of which raise fundamental questions about how future REDD payment schemes will be managed," he said.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the agency is now investigating senior forestry ministry officials and lawmakers suspected of taking bribes for a radio communications system contract.

"The problems that have plagued the Reforestation Fund over the last 20 years are likely to reoccur" without further strengthening of oversight systems, Barr said.

Indonesia last week revealed an ambitious plan to create an extra 21.15 million hectares (52.26 acres) of forest by 2020.

(Editing by Sara Webb and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Thailand approves draft law to settle industrial row

Reuters 12 Jan 10;

BANGKOK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Thailand's cabinet approved draft legislation on Tuesday to set up an independent body to oversee health and environmental impact assessments at the Map Ta Phut industrial estate, where a court has frozen certain operations. The draft, which must be approved by parliament, is a step towards allowing 64 suspended operations to go ahead at the world's eighth-biggest petrochemical hub in eastern Rayong province.

In December the government approved regulations on health and environment assessments for new industrial projects and it now expects a 13-member panel to be formed within 60 days to carry out the inspections.

"After the draft has been approved, it would be clearer how to solve this and push the process forward," Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told reporters.

Companies at the estate include top energy firm PTT PTT.BK, PTT Chemical PTTC.BK and Siam Cement SCC.BK, Thailand's top industrial conglomerate.

Among the foreign companies are a Thai unit of Germany's Bayer and Australia's BlueScope Steel Ltd.

The projects were put on hold because of the companies' failure to carry out health impact assessments (HIA) in line with the 2007 constitution. The government was blamed because it had not set up the body required to oversee the HIAs.

The central bank says the suspensions could cut GDP growth by up to 0.5 percentage point this year, while an industry ministry estimate last month said a protracted legal standoff could cost as much as $18 billion.

The court order stoked concern about legal uncertainty and government competence in a country once seen as a safe haven for investment but now mired in five years of political strife.

(Reporting by Pracha Hariraksapitak and Ambika Ahuja; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Alan Raybould)

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Green China: Friend Or Foe?

Greener World Media, PlanetArk 13 Jan 10;

Barely a week goes by without new evidence of the greening of China. This is great news for the planet -- but some people say it's bad for the U.S.

Are they right to worry?

What got me thinking about this was a phone conversation the other day with Bill Gross, the brilliant and tireless entrepreneur who is the chief executive of eSolar and a founder of electric-car startup Aptera.

Bill was calling with great news for eSolar, a Pasadena, Ca-based firm that makes software and equipment for utility-scale solar thermal power plants. This weekend in Beijing, eSolar announced a deal with a Chinese electrical-power manufacturer to build at least 2 gigawatts (2,000 megawatts) of solar thermal power plants over the next 10 years, beginning with a 92-megawatt plant that will break ground this year.

"China is really moving fast to implement as many green technologies as they can, to become experts at them and to scale them up," Bill told me. "It's a statement that China is thinking about clean energy for the long term."

I'm hearing this more and more. Tulsi Tanti, who runs a big Indian wind power company called Suzlon, told me last month in Copenhagen that China is his biggest market. My blogging colleague Jesse Jenkins (at The Energy Collective) has written about a report from the Breakthrough Institute, where he works, called Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant (available here as a PDF) that argues, among other things, that:

Asia's rising "clean technology tigers" -- China, Japan, and South Korea -- have already passed the United States in the production of virtually all clean energy technologies, and over the next five years, the government's of these nations will out-invest the United States three-to-one in these sectors.

It also says:

If the United States hopes to compete for new clean energy industries it must close the widening gap between government investments in the United States and Asia's clean tech tigers and provide more robust support for U.S. clean tech research and innovation, manufacturing, and domestic market demand.

The New Yorker just published a long story about clean tech China called Green Giant. And this week in The Times, Tom Friedman tackles the issue again, saying:

I've been stunned to learn about the sheer volume of wind, solar, mass transit, nuclear and more efficient coal-burning projects that have sprouted in China in just the last year.

We are either going to put in place a price on carbon and the right regulatory incentives to ensure that America is China's main competitor/partner in the E.T. revolution, or we are going to gradually cede this industry to Beijing and the good jobs and energy security that would go with it.

Note Friedman's use of "competitor/partner." That's the question, isn't it: Is China a competitor or partner or both?

Obviously, that depends on precisely what China is doing; no single China investment in clean tech can be called typical. But let's look at the question through the prism of this weekend's eSolar deal. Interestingly, eSolar already manufactures in China -- it buys its motors and gear boxes from a contract manufacturer in Shenzhen. The company is also supplying its solar thermal technology to India through a key partner, the Acme Group. So, like most any big company, eSolar has a global supply chain and a global customer base. Other clean tech startups like First Solar, which makes solar PV panels, and Coda Automotive, an electric car company, also manufacture in China. (For details, see Todd Woody's story about First Solar and my blogpost about Coda.)

According to Bill Gross, eSolar's most valuable asset, according to Bill Gross, is the software which enables its equipment -- fields of mirrors known as heliostats -- to efficiently focus the sun's rays on water, creating an intense heat that vaporizes the water and creates steam to drive a conventional electricity-generating turbine. The company has been operating a plant in Lancaster, Ca., which impressed delegations of Chinese officials who came to visit last fall.

"They had been looking all over the world at every solar thermal technology, to find one they can bring into China," Bill said. "We've been producing electricity for six months, so we have very reliable day by day data."

Interestingly, China's Penglai Electric made the deal with eSolar is less time than it is taking the U.S. Department of Energy to decide whether to provide loan guarantees for a similar plant that eSolar wants to build in New Mexico with NRG Energy, a firm power generation firm. One of the advantages that the Chinese have over the U.S. is that they can move fast.

Another is that the Chinese government can will things to happen. ("Not in my backyard" is not a cry often heard when the backyards are in Beijing or Shanghai.) Yet another advantage is China's massive government subsidies, which some clean energy boosters in the U.S. use to argue that our government is not doing enough. See the following from Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, as quoted in The Times:

"In China, 80 percent of the entire cost of a factory and worker training is paid for by the government," Mr. Resch said. "Malaysia will give you a 10- or 20-year tax holiday."

He praised Mr. Obama's $2.3 billion tax credit program, but said its 30 percent credits were not nearly as generous as China's.

Think about that for a moment, though. If eSolar and First Solar and Coda Automotive do business in China, and get a piece of those subsidies, how is that bad for the United States? Doesn't it mean that the Chinese government is subsidizing U.S. companies and U.S. jobs?

In the case of eSolar, the China deal will enable the company to become profitable almost immediately, Bill told me. In fact, there's a chance that if the company does more deals, it won't need a loan guarantee from the U.S. government to go forward in New Mexico. That's good for American taxpayers.

At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, I have to say that I wonder about the whole "global competitiveness" argument around clean technology. For one thing, without massive government subsidies, the U.S. is unlikely to become a center of "green manufacturing" for products that can be shipped easily from place to place. (Huge and heavy products like wind turbines are another matter.) What's more, is it really such a bad thing if China or India are able to generate "green jobs" faster than we are. There's no question that they need the jobs more-per capita income in China is about $3,000, and in India it's about $1,000.

I asked Bill Gross by email: "Should Americans be worried about the rise of clean tech in China? Do you view China as a partner to the U.S. or a competitor or both?" He replied:

I think China doing this is a great thing for us. First of all, as a California-based company, this creates jobs in the United States. Second, this is one earth, so a project anywhere that is renewable is a great project. But finally, we need bold leadership across the planet to take renewable energy seriously, and if China does that, and we all emulate that, that's not just a good thing, that's a great thing.

Maybe we need the trumped-up equivalent of a "space race" with China to motivate Congress to get moving and put a price on carbon. But we shouldn't. As Bill says, this is one earth.

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Many China power plants face closure amid coal shortage

Business Times 13 Jan 10;

(BEIJING) Dozens of Chinese power plants are running out of coal and might be forced to shut down this week as bitter winter cold boosts demand and snow hampers delivery of new supplies, state media said yesterday.

Factories have been closed in parts of central China where power demand exceeds supply but analysts said they expected no immediate impact on the economy. No power cuts to homes have been reported.

Among 598 major power plants, 11 per cent have less than three days of coal and 'would shut production at any time', the Xinhua news agency said. It gave no details of where they are located but that percentage would be equal to 66 generating stations.

In hard-hit Hubei province, the authorities have cut power demand by about 10 per cent by closing small factories and ordering others to operate only three days a week, said an official of the provincial economic commission. He would give only his surname, Liu. Hubei lost part of its generating capacity last week when two plants shut down due to technical problems.

Hubei officials are visiting neighbouring regions to buy coal or power, Mr Liu said. 'This coal shortage cannot be solved in one or two days.'

Spokesmen for the country's planning agency, the Cabinet's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), referred questions to the government electricity bureau, which referred questions to the NDRC.

Power demand spiked last week after storms dumped snow on China during the coldest winter in decades. Many families, especially in the south, lack central heating and rely on electric space heaters.

Chinese analysts said they foresaw no major economic impact from the power rationing. 'My hunch is that this will have a bigger impact on food and vegetable prices than on industry, because the first quarter is not the peak demand period for factories,' said Lu Zhengwei, senior economist for Industrial Bank in Shanghai.

China regularly suffers such power crunches because operators let coal stockpiles run low when fuel costs rise. China relies on coal for 70 per cent of its power. Spot coal prices have risen 40 per cent since September, according to Citigroup. Heavy snows have blocked roads and ports, hampering the delivery of new supplies.

Some power plants have cut output in the central provinces of Hebei, Jiangxi and Hunan, in Liaoning in the northeast and in the industrial metropolis of Chongqing in the southwest, Citigroup analysts said in a report.

Temperatures are expected to fall again this week. -- AP

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Climate scientists convene global geo-engineering summit

Meeting in California in March will discuss possible field trials of schemes that would tackle climate change by reflecting sunlight or fertilising the ocean with iron
David Adam, guardian.co.uk 12 Jan 10;

Scientists are to hold a high-level summit to discuss how the world could take emergency measures such as blocking out the sun to slow dangerous global warming.

Experts from around the world have been invited to attend the meeting in March in California, which will examine possible field trials of so-called geo-engineering schemes, such as pumping chemicals into the air and oceans to combat climate change.

The move follows the failure of the recent Copenhagen climate talks to set meaningful carbon reduction targets, and comes amid mounting concern that such controversial techniques may be the only way to curb rising temperatures.

Mike MacCracken, a global warming expert at the Climate Institute in Washington DC, who is organising the conference's scientific programme, said: "Most of the talk about these geo-engineering techniques say they should be saved until we get to an emergency situation. Well the people of the Arctic might say they are in an emergency situation now."

He added: "It is hard to see how mitigation [carbon cuts] can save the Arctic and losing the Arctic is a tremendous risk, not just for the region but for the rest of the world. So are there other ways to save it?"

Without significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, scientists say global average temperatures could rise by 4C within many of our lifetimes, which could devastate wildlife and threaten the water and food supplies of hundreds of millions of people.

Geo-engineering techniques, such as filling the sky with shiny dust to reflect sunlight, could curb such temperature rises without the need to restrict greenhouse gas emissions. The meeting aims to assess risks and benefits, establish ground rules for research and plan experiments that would be needed before a full scale geo-engineering attempt.

Calls for such research have increased as pessimism grows about the likely course of global warming.

In an influential report last year, the Royal Society, Britain's premier scientific academy, concluded that geo-engineering methods that block out the sun "may provide a potentially useful short-term back-up to mitigation in case rapid reductions in global temperature are needed". The society stressed that emissions reductions were the primary solution, but recommended international research and development of the "more promising" geo-engineering techniques.

Bob Watson, chief scientist at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told the Guardian in November he backed such research. "We should at least be looking at it. I would see what the theoretical models say, and ask ourselves the question: how can we do medium-sized experiments in the field," Watson said. "I think it should be a real international effort, so it isn't just the UK funding it."

MacCracken said: "If there is going to be funding for this kind of research and you are someone in the UK government, then what kind of safeguards do you want to have in place that nothing can go wrong? Because if something does go wrong then you could be up before parliament or worse."

He added: "We also have to be mindful about how we communicate these ideas to the public because some of them can sound a little like Doctor Strangelove."

He said the March meeting was based on a landmark gathering of scientists involved in research with genetically modified (GM) organisms in 1975, which established voluntary guidelines to protect the public, and paved the way for breakthroughs such as the mass production of synthetic insulin in GM bacteria. The geo-engineering conference will take place at the same Asilomar centre, on the Monterey Peninsula.

Some scientists have criticised the upcoming conference because its funding is being arranged by a US group called the Climate Response Fund, which promotes geo-engineering research, and is run by Margaret Leinen, a marine biologist. Leinen's son, Dan Whaley, runs a firm called Climos, a company set up to profit from geo-engineering by selling carbon credits generated by fertilising ocean plankton with iron. Leinen was formerly chief scientific officer with Climos, but told Science magazine she has taken all possible steps to avoid a conflict of interest, and no longer holds a position, shares or intellectual property in the firm.

MacCracken said one aim of the conference was to judge which techniques could work on a global scale, which could count against ocean iron fertilisation. "We don't want to go out and test approaches that could not be scaled up enough to be useful. Would we risk doing anything in the ocean that would only have a small effect? Almost certainly not."

The push towards geo-engineering research has not pleased everyone. A recent report (pdf) for the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation by the ETC group called geo-engineering an act of "geo-piracy" and warned that the "the world runs a serious risk of choosing solutions that turn out to be new global problems".

There are also concerns about how to regulate geo-engineering and whether its techniques could be developed and unleashed by a single nation, or even a wealthy individual, without wide international approval.

The House of Commons science and technology committee will tomorrow open an inquiry into the regulation of geo-engineering, with David MacKay, chief scientist at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, among those due to give evidence.

From artificial trees to giant space mirrors: Possible geo-engineering solutions

Stratospheric aerosols

Spray shiny sulphur compounds into the high atmosphere to reflect sunlight. Relatively cheap and easy to do, though the chemicals gradually fall back to earth. The most likely option, though possible side effects include changes to global rainfall.

Ocean fertilisation

Dump iron into the sea to boost plankton growth and soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Hard to do on a significant scale, and doubts about how deep the plankton would sink have raised doubts about how long the carbon would be secured.

Cloud whitening

Fleets of sailing ships strung across the world's oceans could spray seawater into the sky to evaporate and leave behind shiny salt crystals to brighten clouds, which would then reflect sunlight back into space. Could be turned off at any time, but might interfere with wind and rain patterns.

Space mirrors

A giant orbiting sunshade in space to block the sun. More likely to be a collection of millions or even trillions of small mirrors rather than a giant orbiting parasol. Very expensive and impractical with current technology.

Artificial trees

Devices that use a chemical process to soak up carbon dioxide from the air. Technically possible but very expensive on a meaningful scale.

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Unusual Arctic Warmth As North Hemisphere Shivers

Deborah Zabarenko, PlanetArk 13 Jan 10;

WASHINGTON - While much of the Northern Hemisphere has shivered in a cold snap in recent weeks, temperatures in the Arctic soared to unusually high levels, U.S. scientists reported

This strange atmospheric pattern is caused by natural variability and not by rising levels of greenhouse gases. However, it could affect Arctic ice which in turn may impact global warming, said Mark Serreze, director of the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado.

"It's very warm over the Arctic, with air temperatures locally at 10 to 15 degrees F (5.6 to 8.4 degrees C) warmer than they should be in certain areas," Serreze said in a telephone interview on Monday.

This contrasts with record or near-record cold over much of the eastern United States and Canada, Europe and Asia for the last two weeks of December and the first days of January, the data center reported.

It's due to a large area of high pressure over the Arctic, and a big area of low pressure at the mid-latitudes, where much of the Northern Hemisphere's population is concentrated.

Usually these areas of differing air pressure would shift and mix in a phenomenon known as the Arctic oscillation. Instead, they've remained stationary in what scientists term a negative phase of the oscillation. A positive phase would have low pressure over the Arctic and high pressure over the mid-latitudes.

Serreze said that as of December, the oscillation was in the most extreme negative phase seen since modern record-keeping began in 1950.

"Normally the circulation of the atmosphere would mix these two (areas of varying air pressure) together, and it's not doing a very good job of that right now, so we have these blobs of warm air over the Arctic and these blobs of cold air over the mid-latitudes, just sitting there," he said.

The blobs appear to be starting to shift, a sign that the negative phase is weakening.

The extent of Arctic sea ice at the end of December remained below normal, some 350,000 square miles (920,000 square kilometers) below the average for December from 1979-2000. But it was above the 2006 record low for the month.

The low level of Arctic ice could accelerate climate warming because there is less light-colored ice to reflect sunlight and more dark-colored ocean water to absorb it.

However, the Arctic oscillation could have an opposite effect. With the blobs of pressure in place, the ice that now covers the Arctic is less likely to be moved south to melt. This could help build up the older, hardier Arctic ice, which means more ice to reflect the sun's warming rays.

(Editing by Alan Elsner)

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Australian city's hottest night in 108 years

Yahoo News 12 Jan 10;

SYDNEY (AFP) – The Australian city of Melbourne has sweltered through its hottest night since 1902, with temperatures topping 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), meteorologists said Tuesday.

Millions tossed and turned in the overnight heat in Australia's second city, with power cuts exacerbating the problem in some areas and some people even resorted to nocturnal trips to the beach to cool off.

"It's probably the most uncomfortable night I've ever had Down Under," said Andrew Jefferson of Ballarat, west of Melbourne, who emigrated from Britain in 2001.

Thousands of homes were without power as electricity companies' equipment failed in the heat. The city was also hit by hundreds of train cancellations on Monday, enraging commuters.

Meteorologists said earlier this month that the last decade was the hottest on record in Australia.

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What Would Failure to Combat Climate Change Quickly Mean?

A new study quantifies for the first time what happens to long-term policy options if mid-term emissions targets are not met.
Douglas Fischer and The Daily Climate
Scientific American 12 Jan 10;

BOULDER, Colo. – Turns out climate policy has some tipping points.

Failure to set and meet strict targets for greenhouse gas emissions cuts over the next 40 years could put long-term goals – such as limiting planetary warming to 2ºC by 2100 – permanently out of reach.

That's the conclusion of one of the first analyses to explore the relationships among energy use, mid-century targets and long-term policy options, published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study establishes the notion of "feasibility frontiers," the point at which end-of-century goals become unobtainable or increasingly unlikely unless specific mid-century benchmarks are met.

The study also for the first time establishes odds of hitting specific long-term targets. If energy demand remains high, for instance, it finds that even if the world's governments manage to cut global emissions in half by 2050 and then do everything possible to limit emissions from 2050 on, society has only even odds of limiting global temperature increases to 2º, a goal noted in the recent Copenhagen Accord.

These so-called "mid-century" benchmarks must be hit, in other words, to preserve options for future generations. The study was published by scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria, and the Energy Research Center in the Netherlands.

"The long-term target discussion, as important as it is, is less important than the interim," said Michael Oppenheimer, a climate scientist and policy expert at Princeton University who was not involved in the study but is familiar with the research.

Another example of a long-term goal is a cap on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, which today are rising as a result of human activity. The science is not clear what level poses a threat, but some research suggests concentrations must remain at or below 450 parts-per-million to prevent drastic climate change. Some advocacy groups seek a goal of 350 ppm, a level the atmosphere surpassed during the Reagan administration. Preindustrial levels were 287 ppm; today's readings are closer to 387.

But emissions today are on a path toward 550 ppm or beyond. If a 50 percent emissions cut is deemed too expensive for today's economies, and emissions instead remain flat for the next few decades – no easy feat in itself – the chances of holding atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations at 480 parts per million or less evaporate. Even a future with 550 ppm CO2 becomes – depending on various energy assumptions – difficult or extraordinarily expensive to achieve, according to the analysis.

"There's a cost to preserving options," said NCAR climate scientist and lead author Brian O'Neill. "What is the value of preserving an option you may want to exercise in the future?"

Gary Yohe, an economist at Wesleyan University, said the paper is notable for showing that climate policy has tipping points that work much the same way such thresholds work in various Earth systems. Tip an ecosystem or planetary process – such as the atmospheren – too far in one direction, and it may suddenly and irreversibly "flip" into an altered state that precludes any notion of going back to the unaltered version.

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