Fish kill at Pasir Ris: do you have a million bucks to spare?
from Water Quality in Singapore
Singapore Nature: Library resources
from Celebrating Singapore's Biodiversity!
Long-tailed Shrike eating impaled skink
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Life Cycle of the Painted Jezebel
from Urban Forest
Losing your head
from The annotated budak
For Kids! MAD Lesson on Critters' Cribs with Cicada Tree Eco Place from Celebrating Singapore's Biodiversity!
Back to school on biodiversity
from BBC NEWS blog by Richard Black
Mysteries of the mangrove swamp
from Boing Boing
Best of our wild blogs: 15 Jan 10
Batam fishermen complain of toxic waste dumping - "suspected from Singapore"
TempoInteraktif 15 Jan 10;
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Residents and fishermen in Batam Island were to file complaint to the government over toxic waste disposed in Batam waters as three ministers were scheduled to visit the island today.
Head of the Regional Control Environmental Office in Batam Dendi Purnomo said locals and fishermen have collected around three tonnes of sludge oil from the coast of Tanjung Bemban since Thursday and will continue their work today.
Vice Chairman of the Riau Islands Chapter of the Indonesian Fishermen Association Awaludin Nasution said on Friday he estimated no less than 10 tonnes of toxic waste had been dumped in the area creating three centimeter thick of waste deposit along the coast in Tanjung Bemban. “Usually a special boat were sent to dump the waste so that it would drift into the Indonesian water,” Awaluddin said suspecting that the waste came from Singapore.
Muchlis Lubis a resident who joined the work to collect the waste as evidence to support their complaint to the Indonesian government said the waste have destroyed the ecosystem along the coast of Tanjung Bemban which stretched for hundreds of meters.
Head of the regional environment office Dendi Purnomo said it will take Jakarta support to solve the problem in intergovernmental level.
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: Residents and fishermen in Batam Island were to file complaint to the government over toxic waste disposed in Batam waters as three ministers were scheduled to visit the island today.
Head of the Regional Control Environmental Office in Batam Dendi Purnomo said locals and fishermen have collected around three tonnes of sludge oil from the coast of Tanjung Bemban since Thursday and will continue their work today.
Vice Chairman of the Riau Islands Chapter of the Indonesian Fishermen Association Awaludin Nasution said on Friday he estimated no less than 10 tonnes of toxic waste had been dumped in the area creating three centimeter thick of waste deposit along the coast in Tanjung Bemban. “Usually a special boat were sent to dump the waste so that it would drift into the Indonesian water,” Awaluddin said suspecting that the waste came from Singapore.
Muchlis Lubis a resident who joined the work to collect the waste as evidence to support their complaint to the Indonesian government said the waste have destroyed the ecosystem along the coast of Tanjung Bemban which stretched for hundreds of meters.
Head of the regional environment office Dendi Purnomo said it will take Jakarta support to solve the problem in intergovernmental level.
AVA helping fish farmers affected by plankton bloom off Pasir Ris, Pulau Ubin
Mustafa Shafawi, 938LIVE Channel NewsAsia 14 Jan 10;
SINGAPORE: The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is extending help to the 34 fish farms off Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin affected by the plankton bloom last month.
The agency said it's bearing the cost of disposal of the dead fish.
It's also linking farmers up with reputable suppliers of good quality frys so that the farmers can explore bulk purchasing to reduce cost of restocking.
AVA is also continuing with on-site monitoring at the farms to monitor water conditions as well as providing technical advice to the farmers.
In addition, it'll work with the farmers to formulate contingency plans to prepare for similar situations.
This includes putting in place appropriate aeration systems and sourcing for insurance coverage.
AVA will also work with the relevant experts to identify potential triggers for plankton bloom.
It will carry out research and development to explore technological solutions and develop an early warning system.
AVA has informed the farmers of these measures.
It will be working closely with them to ensure their operations can resume as soon as possible.
The farmers affected reported losing about 400,000 fish to the plankton bloom.
This accounts for about 0.5 per cent of Singapore's overall fish consumption. - 938LIVE/vm
Fish farmers receive support from AVA
Today Online 15 Jan 10;
SINGAPORE - The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has stepped in with some help for fish farmers hard hit by last month's plankton bloom at Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin.
It is offering to bear the cost of disposing the dead fish, which numbered some 400,000 according to the 34 affected fish farms. It will also link farmers up with "reputable suppliers of good quality fry so that farmers can explore bulk purchasing to reduce cost of restocking", said the AVA which, going forward, will develop an early warning system against a repeat of the incident.
Some farmers had called on the Government to help them financially defray their losses and replenish their stocks.
The AVA, however, noted that plankton blooms - which can happen very quickly under certain conditions, such as a combination of sudden shifts in weather, land nutrients washed into the sea and little water exchange from rising and ebbing tides - are "part of the risks associated with farming".
Nevertheless, it would help in some ways, including continuing to monitor water conditions on-site and giving the farmers technical advice.
The AVA will also work with them to formulate contingency plans for similar situations in the future, such as putting in place appropriate aeration systems and sourcing for insurance coverage.
In addition, it will work with experts to identify potential triggers for plankton bloom, explore technological solutions to the potential risks of aquaculture production, and develop an early warning system.
"AVA has informed the farmers of these measures and will be working closely with them to facilitate resumption of operations as soon as possible," said the authority in a statement.
Fish farmers not back on their feet
Straits Times 15 Jan 10;
THE waters off north-east Singapore may have returned to normal following an overgrowth of plankton late last month, but life has yet to get back to normal for the farmers who lost their fish stocks as a result.
Many fish farmers contacted yesterday said they were struggling to raise the cash to buy new fish fry to make a fresh start of their businesses.
Some help is on the way.
Yesterday, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said it was taking several measures to help get the affected fish farmers back on their feet.
It will bear the cost of disposal of the dead fish and help the farmers buy good-quality fish fry at low cost through bulk purchases.
It will also continue monitoring the water and provide technical advice.
Expert help is also being sought to develop an early-warning system to try to avoid similar incidents in future, as well as to carry out research, develop technological solutions, and identify the triggers for plankton blooms.
Most farmers said that although this help was welcome, what they now needed most was financial aid to restart their operations.
Mr Phillip Lim, whose farm a kilometre offshore lost thousands of fish in waters starved of oxygen because of the plankton bloom, says he just does not have the money to buy new fish fry.
Others are determined to carry on the trade.
Mr James Low, 53, whose farm is about 3km off Pasir Ris Beach, has pumped in $10,000 to purchase 7,300 sea bass and 3,000 garoupa fry to restart his farm.
He said it would take at least six to nine months before the fish matured and were ready to go to market.
The bloom killed about 400,000 fish at over 30 fish farms off Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin.
That number, said the AVA, is equivalent to 0.5per cent of the overall fish consumed here.
LIM WEI CHEAN
Followup Measures for Fish Farmers Affected by Plankton Bloom
AVA media release (PDF) 14 Jan 10;
The incidence of plankton bloom at Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin in late
December 2009 resulted in 34 fish farms off Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin reporting
losses of about 400,000 fish. This accounts for about 0.5% of overall fish
consumption.
2 Investigations showed that the cause was due to plankton bloom.
Plankton blooms can happen very quickly under certain conditions. For
example, a combination of factors like sudden shifts in the weather between
bouts of sunshine and heavy rain; nutrients from the land washed into the sea
by the rain; and little water exchange from rising and ebbing tides.
3 Such adverse conditions are part of the risks associated with farming,
especially in the sea. Nevertheless, AVA is helping farmers that were affected
by the plankton bloom by :
i. Bearing the cost of disposal of the dead fish;
ii. Linking farmers up with reputable suppliers of good quality frys so
that farmers can explore bulk purchasing to reduce cost of
restocking;
iii. Continuing with on-site monitoring at the farms to monitor water
conditions; and
iv. Providing technical advice to the farmers.
4 In addition, AVA will work with the farmers to formulate contingency
plans to prepare for similar situations including putting in place appropriate
aeration systems and sourcing for insurance coverage. AVA will also work with
the relevant experts to :
i. Identify potential triggers for plankton bloom;
ii. Carry out research and development to explore technological
solutions to address potential risks of aquaculture production; and
iii. Develop an early warning system.
5 AVA has informed the farmers of these measures and will be working
closely with them to facilitate resumption of operations as soon as possible.
SINGAPORE: The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) is extending help to the 34 fish farms off Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin affected by the plankton bloom last month.
The agency said it's bearing the cost of disposal of the dead fish.
It's also linking farmers up with reputable suppliers of good quality frys so that the farmers can explore bulk purchasing to reduce cost of restocking.
AVA is also continuing with on-site monitoring at the farms to monitor water conditions as well as providing technical advice to the farmers.
In addition, it'll work with the farmers to formulate contingency plans to prepare for similar situations.
This includes putting in place appropriate aeration systems and sourcing for insurance coverage.
AVA will also work with the relevant experts to identify potential triggers for plankton bloom.
It will carry out research and development to explore technological solutions and develop an early warning system.
AVA has informed the farmers of these measures.
It will be working closely with them to ensure their operations can resume as soon as possible.
The farmers affected reported losing about 400,000 fish to the plankton bloom.
This accounts for about 0.5 per cent of Singapore's overall fish consumption. - 938LIVE/vm
Fish farmers receive support from AVA
Today Online 15 Jan 10;
SINGAPORE - The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has stepped in with some help for fish farmers hard hit by last month's plankton bloom at Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin.
It is offering to bear the cost of disposing the dead fish, which numbered some 400,000 according to the 34 affected fish farms. It will also link farmers up with "reputable suppliers of good quality fry so that farmers can explore bulk purchasing to reduce cost of restocking", said the AVA which, going forward, will develop an early warning system against a repeat of the incident.
Some farmers had called on the Government to help them financially defray their losses and replenish their stocks.
The AVA, however, noted that plankton blooms - which can happen very quickly under certain conditions, such as a combination of sudden shifts in weather, land nutrients washed into the sea and little water exchange from rising and ebbing tides - are "part of the risks associated with farming".
Nevertheless, it would help in some ways, including continuing to monitor water conditions on-site and giving the farmers technical advice.
The AVA will also work with them to formulate contingency plans for similar situations in the future, such as putting in place appropriate aeration systems and sourcing for insurance coverage.
In addition, it will work with experts to identify potential triggers for plankton bloom, explore technological solutions to the potential risks of aquaculture production, and develop an early warning system.
"AVA has informed the farmers of these measures and will be working closely with them to facilitate resumption of operations as soon as possible," said the authority in a statement.
Fish farmers not back on their feet
Straits Times 15 Jan 10;
THE waters off north-east Singapore may have returned to normal following an overgrowth of plankton late last month, but life has yet to get back to normal for the farmers who lost their fish stocks as a result.
Many fish farmers contacted yesterday said they were struggling to raise the cash to buy new fish fry to make a fresh start of their businesses.
Some help is on the way.
Yesterday, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said it was taking several measures to help get the affected fish farmers back on their feet.
It will bear the cost of disposal of the dead fish and help the farmers buy good-quality fish fry at low cost through bulk purchases.
It will also continue monitoring the water and provide technical advice.
Expert help is also being sought to develop an early-warning system to try to avoid similar incidents in future, as well as to carry out research, develop technological solutions, and identify the triggers for plankton blooms.
Most farmers said that although this help was welcome, what they now needed most was financial aid to restart their operations.
Mr Phillip Lim, whose farm a kilometre offshore lost thousands of fish in waters starved of oxygen because of the plankton bloom, says he just does not have the money to buy new fish fry.
Others are determined to carry on the trade.
Mr James Low, 53, whose farm is about 3km off Pasir Ris Beach, has pumped in $10,000 to purchase 7,300 sea bass and 3,000 garoupa fry to restart his farm.
He said it would take at least six to nine months before the fish matured and were ready to go to market.
The bloom killed about 400,000 fish at over 30 fish farms off Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin.
That number, said the AVA, is equivalent to 0.5per cent of the overall fish consumed here.
LIM WEI CHEAN
Followup Measures for Fish Farmers Affected by Plankton Bloom
AVA media release (PDF) 14 Jan 10;
The incidence of plankton bloom at Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin in late
December 2009 resulted in 34 fish farms off Pasir Ris and Pulau Ubin reporting
losses of about 400,000 fish. This accounts for about 0.5% of overall fish
consumption.
2 Investigations showed that the cause was due to plankton bloom.
Plankton blooms can happen very quickly under certain conditions. For
example, a combination of factors like sudden shifts in the weather between
bouts of sunshine and heavy rain; nutrients from the land washed into the sea
by the rain; and little water exchange from rising and ebbing tides.
3 Such adverse conditions are part of the risks associated with farming,
especially in the sea. Nevertheless, AVA is helping farmers that were affected
by the plankton bloom by :
i. Bearing the cost of disposal of the dead fish;
ii. Linking farmers up with reputable suppliers of good quality frys so
that farmers can explore bulk purchasing to reduce cost of
restocking;
iii. Continuing with on-site monitoring at the farms to monitor water
conditions; and
iv. Providing technical advice to the farmers.
4 In addition, AVA will work with the farmers to formulate contingency
plans to prepare for similar situations including putting in place appropriate
aeration systems and sourcing for insurance coverage. AVA will also work with
the relevant experts to :
i. Identify potential triggers for plankton bloom;
ii. Carry out research and development to explore technological
solutions to address potential risks of aquaculture production; and
iii. Develop an early warning system.
5 AVA has informed the farmers of these measures and will be working
closely with them to facilitate resumption of operations as soon as possible.
Higher fences for Malaysian baby turtles
The Star 15 Jan 10;
GEORGE TOWN: Two layers of fencing will be put up at the hatching sites of the Pantai Kerachut Turtle Hatchery and Conservation Centre to prevent predators from harming newly hatched baby turtles.
The Penang Fisheries Department, which runs the centre, will put up the extra fencing in light of a recent incident where baby turtles at the hatchery were killed, their heads bitten off by iguanas.
The department’s management and resource protection branch chief Mohd Rafi Hasan said it was the first time such an incident took place, adding that the iguanas had climbed over the fence.
“Other than putting up the double fencing, we will also increase the height of the fences. There are natural predators like iguanas and birds in the vicinity as the centre is located near the forest,” he said.
Mohd Rafi also said more officers would be dispatched at night to patrol the hatchery to prevent a repeat of the incident.
A visitor to the hatchery was shocked to find badly injured or headless baby turtles at one of the three hatching sites.
The visitor, who wished to be known only as Yap, said he quickly alerted the centre’s officers who came with a bucket to pick out the surviving baby turtles.
Universiti Sains Malaysia marine biologist Dr Aileen Tan Shau-Hwai said she was not surprised at what happened as baby turtles were exposed to many dangers.
She proposed a green house with good ventilation to avoid a recurrence.
The centre, initiated by the Fisheries Department in 1990 to hatch Green Turtle and Olive Ridley Turtle eggs, was opened to the public in 2007.
It has since collected 34,970 Green Turtle eggs and 329 Olive Ridley Turtle eggs, of which 18,761 and 315 respectively were successfully hatched.
GEORGE TOWN: Two layers of fencing will be put up at the hatching sites of the Pantai Kerachut Turtle Hatchery and Conservation Centre to prevent predators from harming newly hatched baby turtles.
The Penang Fisheries Department, which runs the centre, will put up the extra fencing in light of a recent incident where baby turtles at the hatchery were killed, their heads bitten off by iguanas.
The department’s management and resource protection branch chief Mohd Rafi Hasan said it was the first time such an incident took place, adding that the iguanas had climbed over the fence.
“Other than putting up the double fencing, we will also increase the height of the fences. There are natural predators like iguanas and birds in the vicinity as the centre is located near the forest,” he said.
Mohd Rafi also said more officers would be dispatched at night to patrol the hatchery to prevent a repeat of the incident.
A visitor to the hatchery was shocked to find badly injured or headless baby turtles at one of the three hatching sites.
The visitor, who wished to be known only as Yap, said he quickly alerted the centre’s officers who came with a bucket to pick out the surviving baby turtles.
Universiti Sains Malaysia marine biologist Dr Aileen Tan Shau-Hwai said she was not surprised at what happened as baby turtles were exposed to many dangers.
She proposed a green house with good ventilation to avoid a recurrence.
The centre, initiated by the Fisheries Department in 1990 to hatch Green Turtle and Olive Ridley Turtle eggs, was opened to the public in 2007.
It has since collected 34,970 Green Turtle eggs and 329 Olive Ridley Turtle eggs, of which 18,761 and 315 respectively were successfully hatched.
Bringing an Indonesian reef back to life
Marcella Segre, Contributor , Gil Trawangan,
Jakarta Post 12 Jan 10;
Imagine diving off one of the beautiful shores of the Gili islands in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and finding yourself facing fishermen equipped with dynamite and destroying the coral reef.
It would be far from picture perfect, but this was the reality before the Gili EcoTrust, a not-for-profit environmental organization, was set up in the area in 2002 and signed an agreement with fishermen a few years later in collaboration with the local Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA).
The fish bombing has now ended, thanks to the action of the local protection and conservation officials. But there is a need to continue supporting the action to ensure fishermen no longer return to their old practice and damage the reefs.
Following joint efforts by officials, the Gili EcoTrust and the local dive centers, fishermen from Muroamy on the Gili islands are only allowed to fish in two designated areas.
They also receive a monthly compensation that will be considerably reduced if they are caught out of the designated areas or fishing with invasive methods such as dynamite and cyanide. The compensation system is funded by a fee collected by dive centers and has proved to be very successful.
“It was hard to convince the fishermen, but now our islands are more beautiful and more and more tourists come to the Gilis. It has benefited us all,” says Hari, a resident of Gili Air.
Through the years, the Gili EcoTrust has expanded its activities that now include a range of actions focused on the protection of the environment in the islands as a whole.
The group has a lot of work left to raise awareness among local people and tourists to reduce their environmental impact on a delicate ecosystem that has already been irreparably damaged.
Information boards have been placed all around Gili Trawangan and Gili Air to provide basic tips about eco-friendly behavior for taking a shower or walking on the beach.
In Gili Trawangan, a Clean-up Day is held every first Friday of the month, and students from the tourism school and Islamic school are given ecology classes.
The Gili EcoTrust is actively involved in the implementation of the Biorock project in the Gilis. Thanks to these Biorock structures, the reefs off the Gili islands are now undergoing a rapid restoration process. The structures are electrified steel structures allow mineral accretion and therefore speed up the process of growth of the pieces of coral attached to them.
To date, 33 structures have been put place to restore the coral reef, making the Gili islands the second-largest Biorock site in Indonesia after Pemuteran in Bali.
The Gili EcoTrust also hosts regular international workshops on Biorock technology. Participants learn every step of the installation of Biorock reefs: how to survey suitable sites in terms of the seabed, currents and waves; how to connect the cables; how to attach the coral and ensure the maintenance of the structures.
The workshops, organized in close collaboration with Mataram University, address worldwide participants, with emphasis given to teachers and students’ participation to ensure the project’s sustainability.
The Gili islands are also the testing ground for erosion-resistant Biorock structures.
It is one of the few sites in the world where the experimental structures have been placed. There are currently three such sites around Gili Trawangan.
“It’s not very nice to look at, but it’s working,” says dive master Seb.
“You can see them at low tide, sticking out of the water. It looks like a bunch of steel, cement and building material. But in only 10 months, the beach is already back.”
It is part of a more comprehensive erosion-resistance scheme on the islands, where land erosion is a real problem as the beach is fast disappearing.
In Gili Air, there have been attempts to counter the erosion by placing rubble or growing mangroves on the shores. Another technique introduced by the Gili EcoTrust is the planting of vetiver grass.
“This is the best and most sustainable method to preserve our beaches,” says Gili EcoTrust manager Delphine Robbe.
She says hotels and businesses tend to place sandbags or to build seawalls, which actually do not slow down the waves but deflect them, thus taking more and more sand off the beach.
The roots of vetiver grass can reach as deep as 5 meters, so it holds the sand much more effectively and also provides a more natural look.
The organization is now working to create a network with other environmental organizations, industries and businesses, such as by establishing eco-guidelines for their properties and collecting an “Eco fee” from guests. Recycled bags are also being printed and distributed in order to phase out plastic bags.
In Gili Trawangan, garbage is collected and brought to the dump in the middle of the island. A new incinerator will be built and a path made of recycled material leading to the dump is under construction.
“Rubbish is a major problem on all three islands,” Hari says. “There’s an urgent need to tackle the issue seriously.”
Jakarta Post 12 Jan 10;
Imagine diving off one of the beautiful shores of the Gili islands in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and finding yourself facing fishermen equipped with dynamite and destroying the coral reef.
It would be far from picture perfect, but this was the reality before the Gili EcoTrust, a not-for-profit environmental organization, was set up in the area in 2002 and signed an agreement with fishermen a few years later in collaboration with the local Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA).
The fish bombing has now ended, thanks to the action of the local protection and conservation officials. But there is a need to continue supporting the action to ensure fishermen no longer return to their old practice and damage the reefs.
Following joint efforts by officials, the Gili EcoTrust and the local dive centers, fishermen from Muroamy on the Gili islands are only allowed to fish in two designated areas.
They also receive a monthly compensation that will be considerably reduced if they are caught out of the designated areas or fishing with invasive methods such as dynamite and cyanide. The compensation system is funded by a fee collected by dive centers and has proved to be very successful.
“It was hard to convince the fishermen, but now our islands are more beautiful and more and more tourists come to the Gilis. It has benefited us all,” says Hari, a resident of Gili Air.
Through the years, the Gili EcoTrust has expanded its activities that now include a range of actions focused on the protection of the environment in the islands as a whole.
The group has a lot of work left to raise awareness among local people and tourists to reduce their environmental impact on a delicate ecosystem that has already been irreparably damaged.
Information boards have been placed all around Gili Trawangan and Gili Air to provide basic tips about eco-friendly behavior for taking a shower or walking on the beach.
In Gili Trawangan, a Clean-up Day is held every first Friday of the month, and students from the tourism school and Islamic school are given ecology classes.
The Gili EcoTrust is actively involved in the implementation of the Biorock project in the Gilis. Thanks to these Biorock structures, the reefs off the Gili islands are now undergoing a rapid restoration process. The structures are electrified steel structures allow mineral accretion and therefore speed up the process of growth of the pieces of coral attached to them.
To date, 33 structures have been put place to restore the coral reef, making the Gili islands the second-largest Biorock site in Indonesia after Pemuteran in Bali.
The Gili EcoTrust also hosts regular international workshops on Biorock technology. Participants learn every step of the installation of Biorock reefs: how to survey suitable sites in terms of the seabed, currents and waves; how to connect the cables; how to attach the coral and ensure the maintenance of the structures.
The workshops, organized in close collaboration with Mataram University, address worldwide participants, with emphasis given to teachers and students’ participation to ensure the project’s sustainability.
The Gili islands are also the testing ground for erosion-resistant Biorock structures.
It is one of the few sites in the world where the experimental structures have been placed. There are currently three such sites around Gili Trawangan.
“It’s not very nice to look at, but it’s working,” says dive master Seb.
“You can see them at low tide, sticking out of the water. It looks like a bunch of steel, cement and building material. But in only 10 months, the beach is already back.”
It is part of a more comprehensive erosion-resistance scheme on the islands, where land erosion is a real problem as the beach is fast disappearing.
In Gili Air, there have been attempts to counter the erosion by placing rubble or growing mangroves on the shores. Another technique introduced by the Gili EcoTrust is the planting of vetiver grass.
“This is the best and most sustainable method to preserve our beaches,” says Gili EcoTrust manager Delphine Robbe.
She says hotels and businesses tend to place sandbags or to build seawalls, which actually do not slow down the waves but deflect them, thus taking more and more sand off the beach.
The roots of vetiver grass can reach as deep as 5 meters, so it holds the sand much more effectively and also provides a more natural look.
The organization is now working to create a network with other environmental organizations, industries and businesses, such as by establishing eco-guidelines for their properties and collecting an “Eco fee” from guests. Recycled bags are also being printed and distributed in order to phase out plastic bags.
In Gili Trawangan, garbage is collected and brought to the dump in the middle of the island. A new incinerator will be built and a path made of recycled material leading to the dump is under construction.
“Rubbish is a major problem on all three islands,” Hari says. “There’s an urgent need to tackle the issue seriously.”
WWF to help expand China's panda reserves
Yahoo News 14 Jan 10;
BEIJING (AFP) – The World Wildlife Fund said on Thursday it planned to spend 40 million yuan (5.9 million dollars) over the next three years to increase the number of giant panda reserves in China.
The environmental group also plans to build "wildlife corridors" between the 60-plus reserves to enable the pandas to move around more freely, WWF China representative Dermot O'Gorman told AFP.
"The only way we are going to protect the long-term security of the giant panda is to ensure that the existing habitat remains of high quality," he said.
O'Gorman said WWF will try to work with local governments to reduce the impact of tourism, highways and other infrastructure on panda habitats, as well as expand a scientific monitoring system to cover all the reserves.
There are nearly 1,600 pandas living in the wild, more than three-quarters of them in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Pandas also are found in northwestern Gansu province and northern Shaanxi province.
Another 290 giant pandas are in captive-breeding programmes in China.
BEIJING (AFP) – The World Wildlife Fund said on Thursday it planned to spend 40 million yuan (5.9 million dollars) over the next three years to increase the number of giant panda reserves in China.
The environmental group also plans to build "wildlife corridors" between the 60-plus reserves to enable the pandas to move around more freely, WWF China representative Dermot O'Gorman told AFP.
"The only way we are going to protect the long-term security of the giant panda is to ensure that the existing habitat remains of high quality," he said.
O'Gorman said WWF will try to work with local governments to reduce the impact of tourism, highways and other infrastructure on panda habitats, as well as expand a scientific monitoring system to cover all the reserves.
There are nearly 1,600 pandas living in the wild, more than three-quarters of them in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Pandas also are found in northwestern Gansu province and northern Shaanxi province.
Another 290 giant pandas are in captive-breeding programmes in China.
New species discovered in Ecuador
A snail sucking snake and a miniature gecko are among discoveries by a team of scientists in Ecuador's rainforest
Suzanne Goldenberg, guardian.co.uk 15 Jan 10;
A team of scientists working in a threatened rain forest in Ecuador have discovered a species of snail sucking snake, 30 varieties of frog, and a gecko so small it can perch on top of a pencil.
But the finds come from an area which is being rapidly deforested and the animals could soon become extinct.
About 95% of the trees around Cerro Pata de Pájaro – the area of rain and cloud forest in the west of the country where the species were discovered – have been felled for farming, said Paul Hamilton who led the expedition for Reptile & Amphibian Ecology International.
In the remaining forest cover, he said the scientists had come across several important discoveries. Each mountaintop in the region is its own microhabitat, with its own variety of frog, lizard, and other small animal. "In this part of Ecuador, if you go to one spot you can find 20 or 30 species of frog, and if you go to the next site over you will see a whole bunch of different ones," said Hamilton.
Important discoveries included a snake with striking red markings with a blunt snout "made just perfectly for jamming into the hole of a snail shell and providing that suction to suck the snail right out of there"; frogs which lay their eggs in trees, rather than in water; salamanders that have dispensed with lungs and breathe entirely through their skin, geckos and least four previously unseen types of stick insect.
But the animals' habitat is being threatened by deforestation and climate change. The rise in temperatures and drought are forcing animals to move to higher elevation in search of cooler, wetter climates. Frogs which depend on the moist tree cover to protect their eggs could be especially at risk.
Suzanne Goldenberg, guardian.co.uk 15 Jan 10;
A team of scientists working in a threatened rain forest in Ecuador have discovered a species of snail sucking snake, 30 varieties of frog, and a gecko so small it can perch on top of a pencil.
But the finds come from an area which is being rapidly deforested and the animals could soon become extinct.About 95% of the trees around Cerro Pata de Pájaro – the area of rain and cloud forest in the west of the country where the species were discovered – have been felled for farming, said Paul Hamilton who led the expedition for Reptile & Amphibian Ecology International.
In the remaining forest cover, he said the scientists had come across several important discoveries. Each mountaintop in the region is its own microhabitat, with its own variety of frog, lizard, and other small animal. "In this part of Ecuador, if you go to one spot you can find 20 or 30 species of frog, and if you go to the next site over you will see a whole bunch of different ones," said Hamilton.
Important discoveries included a snake with striking red markings with a blunt snout "made just perfectly for jamming into the hole of a snail shell and providing that suction to suck the snail right out of there"; frogs which lay their eggs in trees, rather than in water; salamanders that have dispensed with lungs and breathe entirely through their skin, geckos and least four previously unseen types of stick insect.
But the animals' habitat is being threatened by deforestation and climate change. The rise in temperatures and drought are forcing animals to move to higher elevation in search of cooler, wetter climates. Frogs which depend on the moist tree cover to protect their eggs could be especially at risk.
Voodoo wasps that could save the world
Genetic breakthrough could enable scientists to unleash armies of insects on deadly crop pests
Steve Connor, The Independent 15 Jan 10;
They are so small that most people have never even seen them, yet "voodoo wasps" are about to be recruited big time in the war on agricultural pests as part of the wider effort to boost food production in the 21st century.
The wasps are only 1 or 2 millimetres long fully-grown but they have an ability to paralyse and destroy other insects, including many of the most destructive crop pests, by delivering a zombie-inducing venom in their sting.
Now scientists believe they have made the breakthrough that will enable them to recruit vast armies of voodoo wasps to search and destroy farm pests on a scale that could boost crop yields without polluting the wider environment with insecticides.
The researchers have decoded the full genomes of three species of parasitic wasp, which could lead to the development of powerful new ways of deploying these tiny insects against the vast range of pests that destroy billions of tonnes of valuable crops each year.
There are more than 600,000 species of parasitic voodoo wasps and they already play a critical role as a natural regulator of insect populations. However, scientists believe that the decoding of their genomes will open the door to new and better better ways of targeting them against specific pests.
"These genome sequences will be a major tool for agricultural pest control. Many people may not realise how dependent humans are on these tiny wasps which protect our food crops and save billions of dollars each year by reducing crop loss," said Chris Smith of San Francisco State University, a member of the research team.
The three wasps all belong to the Nasonia genus and are strictly speaking "parasitoid" species, meaning that they lay their eggs inside the paralysed bodies of other insects, keeping them alive long enough for the wasp larvae to grow and mature into adults as they feed off the living flesh of their "zombie" host.
"Parasitic wasps attack and kill pest insects, but many people don't even notice them or know of their important role in keeping pest numbers down. We owe them a lot. If it weren't for parasitoids and other natural enemies, we would be knee-deep in pest insects," said Professor John Werren of the University of Rochester, who led the study published in the journal Science.
"If we can harness their full potential, they would be vastly preferable to chemical pesticides which broadly kill or poison many organisms in the environment. We basically broadcast toxins into the environment – pesticides to control in a very non-specific way a large number of pests. As a result the environment is exposed to these toxins, and we are as well."
The scientists hope that deciphering the genomes of the Nasonia wasps will enable them to find the insect genes involved in directing a wasp to attack a specific insect, with the aim of understanding how to manipulate such attacks. The researchers also hope to identify the chemical nature of the venoms used by the wasps to paralyse their hosts, a development that could also lead to new drugs for human medicine.
Parasitoid wasps are already used as natural pesticides. Last year, for instance, scientists in the US released thousands of parasitic wasps to attack the olive fruit fly, which is decimating the olive groves of California. The wasp is harmless to people, pets and plants.
Scientists also believe that knowing the genomes of the Nasonia wasps will help in the fight against human diseases that are carried by insects. It may be easier to control the disease-carrying insect using the parasitic wasps, rather than targeting the disease itself.
Insects: Back from extinction
They do sea eagles. They do red kites. They do corncrakes. And now, they're doing bumblebees.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, not content with successfully reintroducing some of Britain's most charismatic and endangered bird species, is turning its attention to insects. With the help of conservation partners, it is bringing back endangered species of bees, crickets, hoverflies and moths on its vast national network of nature reserves.
It is the RSPB's contribution to 2010 as a special wildlife year - this is the International Year of Biodiversity - and opens up the possibility of much wider restoration of lost wildlife species in Britain than has hitherto been considered practicable.
The list of insects to be brought back is headed by the short-tailed bumblebee, now extinct - it was once widespread in the south of England but disappeared as a result of changes in farming methods, with the last recorded UK population being in 1988.
However, populations taken to New Zealand by British settlers a century ago have survived and some will be brought back for release this summer on the RSPB's Dungeness reserve in Kent, with the help of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Natural England, and Hymettus, a bees and wasps conservation group.
Another project, also in cooperation with Natural England, will be the reintroduction of field crickets to the RSPB reserves at Farnham Heath, Surrey and Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex in April. Field cricket populations have declined severely due to loss of habitats such as lowland heathland and grassland, and were at their lowest point in the late 1980s after they were reduced to a single surviving colony of just 100 individuals in Sussex.
In Scotland, the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage will be laying the groundwork for a planned reintroduction of the threatened pine hoverfly to the RSPB's Abernethy reserve in 2011. One of Britain's most endangered insects, the pine hoverfly only breeds in the hollows of tree stumps created by fungi, and changes in forestry practices have led to a crash in its population.
Also in Scotland, the RSPB and Butterfly Conservation this year will establish a captive breeding programme in an attempt to create a sustainable population of the rare dark bordered beauty moth, which lives in aspen woodland and heathland, currently only in two colonies in Scotland and one in northern England. If this is successful the moths will be released at a Scottish RSPB reserve next year.
"The B in our name stands for birds - and we stand up for birds wherever we can - but our work covers all kinds of wildlife," said Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB's Director of Conservation. "No conservation organisation worth its salt concentrates on just one species and ignores all others. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and that chimes perfectly with our efforts to protect whole ecosystems on our reserves from the smallest bug to the tallest tree.
"We have recorded more than 13,000 different species on our 200 reserves, and only three per cent of those are birds. I'm very excited that they will soon become home to some of the country's most endangered insects."
There was also a longer-term reason for the reintroductions, Dr Avery said – climate change, which would see many creatures seeking to move northwards. Some species, especially birds, would be able to do this easily, but others would not. "Over the next few decades we may have to move species to where they need to be, rather than where they are," he said.
Michael McCarthy
Parasitic wasps may hold pesticide, genetic secrets
Yahoo News 15 Jan 10;
WASHINGTON (AFP) – They are almost too small to see, but parasitic wasps possess a powerful poison and unusual genetic makeup that could give them outsized scientific importance, according to US researchers.
A group of scientists who sequenced the genomes of three parasitic wasp species say their work has revealed that the tiny insects have features useful for both pest control and medicine, and could even improve understanding of genetics and evolution.
In a study to be published in Friday's edition of Science magazine, lead researchers John Werren, a professor of biology at the University of Rochester in New York, and Stephen Richards at the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, described their tiny subjects.
"Parasitic wasps attack and kill pest insects, but many of them are smaller than the head of a pin, so people don't even notice them or know of their important role in keeping pest numbers down," Werren said.
"There are over 600,000 species of these amazing critters, and we owe them a lot. If it weren't for parasitoids and other natural enemies, we would be knee-deep in pest insects."
The tiny insects lay their eggs inside often much larger hosts, including caterpillars. When the eggs hatch, they kill the unsuspecting host from the inside out.
But the wasps only target specific insects, acting like "smart bombs," said Werren.
"Therefore, if we can harness their full potential, they would be vastly preferable to chemical pesticides, which broadly kill or poison many organisms in the environment, including us."
The wasps, which all fall in the Nasonia genus, also offer promise for genetic research.
Like the fruit fly, a common genetic research subject, the wasps are small, easily grown in a laboratory and reproduce quickly, but the wasps have only one set of chromosomes.
"A single set of chromosomes, which is more commonly found in lower single-celled organisms such as yeast, is a handy genetic tool, particularly for studying how genes interact with each other," Werren said.
The scientists also uncovered, to their surprise, that the wasps have acquired genes related to the human smallpox virus, a discovery that may have applications for the study of evolutionary processes.
"Emerging from these genome studies are a lot of opportunities for exploiting Nasonia in topics ranging from pest control to medicine, genetics, and evolution," Werren said.
Steve Connor, The Independent 15 Jan 10;
They are so small that most people have never even seen them, yet "voodoo wasps" are about to be recruited big time in the war on agricultural pests as part of the wider effort to boost food production in the 21st century.
The wasps are only 1 or 2 millimetres long fully-grown but they have an ability to paralyse and destroy other insects, including many of the most destructive crop pests, by delivering a zombie-inducing venom in their sting.
Now scientists believe they have made the breakthrough that will enable them to recruit vast armies of voodoo wasps to search and destroy farm pests on a scale that could boost crop yields without polluting the wider environment with insecticides.
The researchers have decoded the full genomes of three species of parasitic wasp, which could lead to the development of powerful new ways of deploying these tiny insects against the vast range of pests that destroy billions of tonnes of valuable crops each year.
There are more than 600,000 species of parasitic voodoo wasps and they already play a critical role as a natural regulator of insect populations. However, scientists believe that the decoding of their genomes will open the door to new and better better ways of targeting them against specific pests.
"These genome sequences will be a major tool for agricultural pest control. Many people may not realise how dependent humans are on these tiny wasps which protect our food crops and save billions of dollars each year by reducing crop loss," said Chris Smith of San Francisco State University, a member of the research team.
The three wasps all belong to the Nasonia genus and are strictly speaking "parasitoid" species, meaning that they lay their eggs inside the paralysed bodies of other insects, keeping them alive long enough for the wasp larvae to grow and mature into adults as they feed off the living flesh of their "zombie" host.
"Parasitic wasps attack and kill pest insects, but many people don't even notice them or know of their important role in keeping pest numbers down. We owe them a lot. If it weren't for parasitoids and other natural enemies, we would be knee-deep in pest insects," said Professor John Werren of the University of Rochester, who led the study published in the journal Science.
"If we can harness their full potential, they would be vastly preferable to chemical pesticides which broadly kill or poison many organisms in the environment. We basically broadcast toxins into the environment – pesticides to control in a very non-specific way a large number of pests. As a result the environment is exposed to these toxins, and we are as well."
The scientists hope that deciphering the genomes of the Nasonia wasps will enable them to find the insect genes involved in directing a wasp to attack a specific insect, with the aim of understanding how to manipulate such attacks. The researchers also hope to identify the chemical nature of the venoms used by the wasps to paralyse their hosts, a development that could also lead to new drugs for human medicine.
Parasitoid wasps are already used as natural pesticides. Last year, for instance, scientists in the US released thousands of parasitic wasps to attack the olive fruit fly, which is decimating the olive groves of California. The wasp is harmless to people, pets and plants.
Scientists also believe that knowing the genomes of the Nasonia wasps will help in the fight against human diseases that are carried by insects. It may be easier to control the disease-carrying insect using the parasitic wasps, rather than targeting the disease itself.
Insects: Back from extinction
They do sea eagles. They do red kites. They do corncrakes. And now, they're doing bumblebees.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, not content with successfully reintroducing some of Britain's most charismatic and endangered bird species, is turning its attention to insects. With the help of conservation partners, it is bringing back endangered species of bees, crickets, hoverflies and moths on its vast national network of nature reserves.
It is the RSPB's contribution to 2010 as a special wildlife year - this is the International Year of Biodiversity - and opens up the possibility of much wider restoration of lost wildlife species in Britain than has hitherto been considered practicable.
The list of insects to be brought back is headed by the short-tailed bumblebee, now extinct - it was once widespread in the south of England but disappeared as a result of changes in farming methods, with the last recorded UK population being in 1988.
However, populations taken to New Zealand by British settlers a century ago have survived and some will be brought back for release this summer on the RSPB's Dungeness reserve in Kent, with the help of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, Natural England, and Hymettus, a bees and wasps conservation group.
Another project, also in cooperation with Natural England, will be the reintroduction of field crickets to the RSPB reserves at Farnham Heath, Surrey and Pulborough Brooks, West Sussex in April. Field cricket populations have declined severely due to loss of habitats such as lowland heathland and grassland, and were at their lowest point in the late 1980s after they were reduced to a single surviving colony of just 100 individuals in Sussex.
In Scotland, the RSPB and Scottish Natural Heritage will be laying the groundwork for a planned reintroduction of the threatened pine hoverfly to the RSPB's Abernethy reserve in 2011. One of Britain's most endangered insects, the pine hoverfly only breeds in the hollows of tree stumps created by fungi, and changes in forestry practices have led to a crash in its population.
Also in Scotland, the RSPB and Butterfly Conservation this year will establish a captive breeding programme in an attempt to create a sustainable population of the rare dark bordered beauty moth, which lives in aspen woodland and heathland, currently only in two colonies in Scotland and one in northern England. If this is successful the moths will be released at a Scottish RSPB reserve next year.
"The B in our name stands for birds - and we stand up for birds wherever we can - but our work covers all kinds of wildlife," said Dr Mark Avery, the RSPB's Director of Conservation. "No conservation organisation worth its salt concentrates on just one species and ignores all others. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and that chimes perfectly with our efforts to protect whole ecosystems on our reserves from the smallest bug to the tallest tree.
"We have recorded more than 13,000 different species on our 200 reserves, and only three per cent of those are birds. I'm very excited that they will soon become home to some of the country's most endangered insects."
There was also a longer-term reason for the reintroductions, Dr Avery said – climate change, which would see many creatures seeking to move northwards. Some species, especially birds, would be able to do this easily, but others would not. "Over the next few decades we may have to move species to where they need to be, rather than where they are," he said.
Michael McCarthy
Parasitic wasps may hold pesticide, genetic secrets
Yahoo News 15 Jan 10;
WASHINGTON (AFP) – They are almost too small to see, but parasitic wasps possess a powerful poison and unusual genetic makeup that could give them outsized scientific importance, according to US researchers.
A group of scientists who sequenced the genomes of three parasitic wasp species say their work has revealed that the tiny insects have features useful for both pest control and medicine, and could even improve understanding of genetics and evolution.
In a study to be published in Friday's edition of Science magazine, lead researchers John Werren, a professor of biology at the University of Rochester in New York, and Stephen Richards at the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, described their tiny subjects.
"Parasitic wasps attack and kill pest insects, but many of them are smaller than the head of a pin, so people don't even notice them or know of their important role in keeping pest numbers down," Werren said.
"There are over 600,000 species of these amazing critters, and we owe them a lot. If it weren't for parasitoids and other natural enemies, we would be knee-deep in pest insects."
The tiny insects lay their eggs inside often much larger hosts, including caterpillars. When the eggs hatch, they kill the unsuspecting host from the inside out.
But the wasps only target specific insects, acting like "smart bombs," said Werren.
"Therefore, if we can harness their full potential, they would be vastly preferable to chemical pesticides, which broadly kill or poison many organisms in the environment, including us."
The wasps, which all fall in the Nasonia genus, also offer promise for genetic research.
Like the fruit fly, a common genetic research subject, the wasps are small, easily grown in a laboratory and reproduce quickly, but the wasps have only one set of chromosomes.
"A single set of chromosomes, which is more commonly found in lower single-celled organisms such as yeast, is a handy genetic tool, particularly for studying how genes interact with each other," Werren said.
The scientists also uncovered, to their surprise, that the wasps have acquired genes related to the human smallpox virus, a discovery that may have applications for the study of evolutionary processes.
"Emerging from these genome studies are a lot of opportunities for exploiting Nasonia in topics ranging from pest control to medicine, genetics, and evolution," Werren said.
Haiti Earthquake, Deforestation Heighten Landslide Risk
Ker Than, for National Geographic News 14 Jan 10;
The combination of widespread deforestation and the recent earthquake in Haiti could lead to more landslides in the already hard-hit country, scientists say.
Many of Haiti's people, the poorest in the Americas, routinely cut down trees for fuel—either to burn "raw" or turn into charcoal.
As a result, the destruction of Haiti's natural forests is almost total, making the Caribbean country one of the most deforested in the world.
As Haiti's trees have disappeared, landslides have become a major concern, especially during the rainy season, and the destabilizing effects of an earthquake on soil only worsen the problem.
(See "Haiti Earthquake Pictures: Devastation on the Day After.")
Natural Buffers Depleted in Haiti
Forest canopies serve as natural buffers against wind and rain, and the deep roots of trees help keep the granular soil from shifting.
"If you remove the trees, you have no buffer. So the water"—and soil—"tends to very quickly move downhill," said Mark Ashton, a professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
During an earthquake, hillside stability is further threatened as the ground is shaken.
"Anywhere you have strong motion and steep terrain, you have extremely high risk of slope failure and landslides, and they can be extremely large," said Colin Stark, a geophysicists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York.
(See "Haiti Earthquake Pictures: Aerial Views of the Damage.")
Earthquake Plus Rain Equals Trouble
Among the rare bright spots for Haiti this week are that its capital, Port-au-Prince, is on relatively flat land—making the landslide threat one less thing to worry about—and that the earthquake struck during the dry season.
"The worst kinds of landslides would be if you had an earthquake on rain-soaked soil," Yale's Ashton said.
The surrounding hilly regions may not be so lucky, he added. Even without landslides, post-earthquake pictures show collapsed houses sliding downhill.
"It's where foothills are that the worst landslides will occur," he said. "That's also where people tend to build their houses."
The combination of widespread deforestation and the recent earthquake in Haiti could lead to more landslides in the already hard-hit country, scientists say.
Many of Haiti's people, the poorest in the Americas, routinely cut down trees for fuel—either to burn "raw" or turn into charcoal.
As a result, the destruction of Haiti's natural forests is almost total, making the Caribbean country one of the most deforested in the world.
As Haiti's trees have disappeared, landslides have become a major concern, especially during the rainy season, and the destabilizing effects of an earthquake on soil only worsen the problem.
(See "Haiti Earthquake Pictures: Devastation on the Day After.")
Natural Buffers Depleted in Haiti
Forest canopies serve as natural buffers against wind and rain, and the deep roots of trees help keep the granular soil from shifting.
"If you remove the trees, you have no buffer. So the water"—and soil—"tends to very quickly move downhill," said Mark Ashton, a professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
During an earthquake, hillside stability is further threatened as the ground is shaken.
"Anywhere you have strong motion and steep terrain, you have extremely high risk of slope failure and landslides, and they can be extremely large," said Colin Stark, a geophysicists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York.
(See "Haiti Earthquake Pictures: Aerial Views of the Damage.")
Earthquake Plus Rain Equals Trouble
Among the rare bright spots for Haiti this week are that its capital, Port-au-Prince, is on relatively flat land—making the landslide threat one less thing to worry about—and that the earthquake struck during the dry season.
"The worst kinds of landslides would be if you had an earthquake on rain-soaked soil," Yale's Ashton said.
The surrounding hilly regions may not be so lucky, he added. Even without landslides, post-earthquake pictures show collapsed houses sliding downhill.
"It's where foothills are that the worst landslides will occur," he said. "That's also where people tend to build their houses."
Indonesia's tree planting another way to endorse forest conversions: Greenpeace
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 14 Jan 10;
The government’s much-campaigned tree planting program may help endorse forest conversions by plantation firms in the country that would harm the country’s plans to slash carbon emissions from forestry sector, activists warned.
Greenpeace Indonesia criticized the government over its mitigation plans, which included industrial forest concessions (HTI) as a priority sector in the tree planting program.
“We worry the tree planting program is a way to hide conversion activity by plantation companies,” Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest Campaigner said Thursday.
He said that most plantations usually cut trees to clear land before replanting it, including Acacia trees.
“If planting Acacia trees is considered as part of climate mitigation, the government has made a public lie,” he said.
Forestry Ministry campaigned that 1 billion trees be planted this year as the country’s climate mitigation to cut emissions from the forestry sector.
The ministry’s mitigation agenda put the enhancing carbon stocks from planting trees including by the HTI and communal forest as top priority to meet the 14 percent emission cut from the forest.
It said that planting trees would be held in 5.8 million hectares of the HTI areas, including in Riau, Jambi and West Kalimantan.
The ministry also promised to combat illegal logging and reduce forest fires to slash emissions.
Greenpeace said that planting trees would never balance the deforestation rate, which reached over 1 million hectares per year.
Greenpeace forest campaigner, Yuyun Indradi said that clearing forest would also damage the ecological aspect of the forest.
“Replanting it would never return such an ecological aspect,” he said.
“The government’s proposal for the replanting program must mean ecosystem restoration, not more timber plantations.
The government’s much-campaigned tree planting program may help endorse forest conversions by plantation firms in the country that would harm the country’s plans to slash carbon emissions from forestry sector, activists warned.
Greenpeace Indonesia criticized the government over its mitigation plans, which included industrial forest concessions (HTI) as a priority sector in the tree planting program.
“We worry the tree planting program is a way to hide conversion activity by plantation companies,” Bustar Maitar, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Forest Campaigner said Thursday.
He said that most plantations usually cut trees to clear land before replanting it, including Acacia trees.
“If planting Acacia trees is considered as part of climate mitigation, the government has made a public lie,” he said.
Forestry Ministry campaigned that 1 billion trees be planted this year as the country’s climate mitigation to cut emissions from the forestry sector.
The ministry’s mitigation agenda put the enhancing carbon stocks from planting trees including by the HTI and communal forest as top priority to meet the 14 percent emission cut from the forest.
It said that planting trees would be held in 5.8 million hectares of the HTI areas, including in Riau, Jambi and West Kalimantan.
The ministry also promised to combat illegal logging and reduce forest fires to slash emissions.
Greenpeace said that planting trees would never balance the deforestation rate, which reached over 1 million hectares per year.
Greenpeace forest campaigner, Yuyun Indradi said that clearing forest would also damage the ecological aspect of the forest.
“Replanting it would never return such an ecological aspect,” he said.
“The government’s proposal for the replanting program must mean ecosystem restoration, not more timber plantations.
Long-Term Business Benefits Inspire Forest Concessionaires to Go Green
Fidelis E Satriastanti, Jakarta Globe 14 Jan 10;
Six timber concessionaires in Indonesia's Kalimantan are making a push for green certification, a move they say will not only help preserve the nation’s forests but also ensure their companies survive as viable long-term organizations.
“We don’t want to be a short-lived company looking for a quick profit,” Bambang Poerwanto, production director of PT Roda MasTimber Kalimantan, said recently. “The main benefit for getting certified as green is the long-term survival of our companies.”
Bambang said that managing the production process in a sustainable fashion would help preserves the forests and gives employees job security. “The certification also gives our product added value and increases our ability to attract buyers,” he said.
The concessionaires have signed a memorandum of understanding with The Borneo Initiative (TBI), a Dutch-based nongovernmental organization involved in sustainable forest management that will give the companies financial support in their quest to be certified by the Indonesian Ecolabeling Foundation.
“TBI will be assisting us in the preaudit phase, consultation and the final audit. We can do the certification process ourselves but it’s difficult and very time-consuming,” Bambang said.
The Borneo Initiative’s aim is to encourage green certifications for forests in Indonesia, starting in Kalimantan. Jesse Kuijper, a member of the group’s board, said it was crucial for Indonesia to focus on sustainable forest management at this point in time.
“There is a growing trend for larger European and American companies … to feel more secure when [timber products] have been acquired in a legal way, and preferably in a sustainable way,” he said.
Kuijper said that from a cost-benefit perspective, it was more expensive in the long run if things were not done in a sustainable manner.
“[Sustainability] is very, very profitable in the long term, even though there are some short-term costs. For instance, you would need to be logging a little bit less than you have done in the past,” he said, adding that as an extra incentive, certified companies could get higher prices for their products.
Rizal Bukhari, director of TBI’s Indonesian office, said on Tuesday that his organization would provide funding to the concessionaires to help them obtain certification.
“Based on our research, concessionaires are very interested [in getting certified] if they get professional support and financial aid,” Rizal said. “The financial support will be given so the companies can pay third parties, such as forest experts and consultants.”
TBI will subsidize the certification process with a maximum 180,000 euros ($262,000) for each of the concessionaires’ 135,000 hectares, with the remainder to be financed by the concessionaires themselves.
Kuijper said TBI’s objective was to overcome any obstacles that blocked the companies from getting certified, including financial issues, knowledge of the process, the various institutions that need to be dealt with and information about those in the market for sustainable products.
“When we first came here, there was no overall approach [to cover all those issues]. Everybody did a part of the process but nothing was really connected,” Kuijper said.
Bambang said his company had been planning to get certified since 2001 but was forced to delay the process because of economic issues, including wildly fluctuating wood prices.
The other concessionaires seeking certification are Sarang Sapta Putera, Belayan River Timber, Indexim Utama Corporation, Suka Jaya Makmur and Sarmiento Parakanca Timber.
Bambang said his company already had certification for another concession and had received approval from the government for its annual work plan validation (known as RKT). Once certified, he said, it will no longer be necessary to get the plan approved by local governments.
“Of course, that comes with consequences — if we are proven to have violated the plan, then we will face heavy penalties,” he said.
Art Klassen, regional director for Southeast Asia Pacific at the Tropical Forest Foundation, said the best guarantee for forest conservation in the country was to put it in the hands of responsible companies that would implement sustainable forest management practices according to credible standards.
“I’ve been coming to Indonesia for more than 14 years now, working with some of the companies here, and the forests they still run today are the same as they were 14 years ago because they are responsible and care for the forests,” he said.
About one million hectares of forest have already been certified in Indonesia, of which 600,000 hectares are located in Kalimantan. The government’s projection for 2013 is to have 3.3 million hectares certified as sustainable and five million by 2015.
Six timber concessionaires in Indonesia's Kalimantan are making a push for green certification, a move they say will not only help preserve the nation’s forests but also ensure their companies survive as viable long-term organizations.
“We don’t want to be a short-lived company looking for a quick profit,” Bambang Poerwanto, production director of PT Roda MasTimber Kalimantan, said recently. “The main benefit for getting certified as green is the long-term survival of our companies.”
Bambang said that managing the production process in a sustainable fashion would help preserves the forests and gives employees job security. “The certification also gives our product added value and increases our ability to attract buyers,” he said.
The concessionaires have signed a memorandum of understanding with The Borneo Initiative (TBI), a Dutch-based nongovernmental organization involved in sustainable forest management that will give the companies financial support in their quest to be certified by the Indonesian Ecolabeling Foundation.
“TBI will be assisting us in the preaudit phase, consultation and the final audit. We can do the certification process ourselves but it’s difficult and very time-consuming,” Bambang said.
The Borneo Initiative’s aim is to encourage green certifications for forests in Indonesia, starting in Kalimantan. Jesse Kuijper, a member of the group’s board, said it was crucial for Indonesia to focus on sustainable forest management at this point in time.
“There is a growing trend for larger European and American companies … to feel more secure when [timber products] have been acquired in a legal way, and preferably in a sustainable way,” he said.
Kuijper said that from a cost-benefit perspective, it was more expensive in the long run if things were not done in a sustainable manner.
“[Sustainability] is very, very profitable in the long term, even though there are some short-term costs. For instance, you would need to be logging a little bit less than you have done in the past,” he said, adding that as an extra incentive, certified companies could get higher prices for their products.
Rizal Bukhari, director of TBI’s Indonesian office, said on Tuesday that his organization would provide funding to the concessionaires to help them obtain certification.
“Based on our research, concessionaires are very interested [in getting certified] if they get professional support and financial aid,” Rizal said. “The financial support will be given so the companies can pay third parties, such as forest experts and consultants.”
TBI will subsidize the certification process with a maximum 180,000 euros ($262,000) for each of the concessionaires’ 135,000 hectares, with the remainder to be financed by the concessionaires themselves.
Kuijper said TBI’s objective was to overcome any obstacles that blocked the companies from getting certified, including financial issues, knowledge of the process, the various institutions that need to be dealt with and information about those in the market for sustainable products.
“When we first came here, there was no overall approach [to cover all those issues]. Everybody did a part of the process but nothing was really connected,” Kuijper said.
Bambang said his company had been planning to get certified since 2001 but was forced to delay the process because of economic issues, including wildly fluctuating wood prices.
The other concessionaires seeking certification are Sarang Sapta Putera, Belayan River Timber, Indexim Utama Corporation, Suka Jaya Makmur and Sarmiento Parakanca Timber.
Bambang said his company already had certification for another concession and had received approval from the government for its annual work plan validation (known as RKT). Once certified, he said, it will no longer be necessary to get the plan approved by local governments.
“Of course, that comes with consequences — if we are proven to have violated the plan, then we will face heavy penalties,” he said.
Art Klassen, regional director for Southeast Asia Pacific at the Tropical Forest Foundation, said the best guarantee for forest conservation in the country was to put it in the hands of responsible companies that would implement sustainable forest management practices according to credible standards.
“I’ve been coming to Indonesia for more than 14 years now, working with some of the companies here, and the forests they still run today are the same as they were 14 years ago because they are responsible and care for the forests,” he said.
About one million hectares of forest have already been certified in Indonesia, of which 600,000 hectares are located in Kalimantan. The government’s projection for 2013 is to have 3.3 million hectares certified as sustainable and five million by 2015.
Forest CO2 Market In The Balance: Report
Michael Szabo, PlanetArk 15 Jan 10;
LONDON - The global market for carbon offsets from planting trees and preserving forests, worth nearly $150 million to date, could stall without a U.S. climate bill or a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, a report said on Thursday.
"At the end of 2009, the market for forest carbon stands in an uncertain position on the verge of potentially enormous growth," the State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009 report said.
"Amidst this scene of opportunity and risk, investors are still eyeing forest carbon, though many are waiting on more definite regulatory signals before taking a financial leap."
Although climate talks in Copenhagen in December failed to agree a new legally-binding global climate pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. pledged at the summit $1 billion toward a scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
Many countries have committed politically to the $3.5 billion scheme, of which Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Britain are also contributors.
A domestic U.S. bill to cut emissions has also stalled in Congress, with market players calling its passage this year vital for investment.
Regardless of this uncertainty, the forest carbon market grew nearly fivefold since 2006.
The market was worth $37.1 million in 2008, after rising to $40.5 million a year before and from $7.6 million in 2006, according to Ecosystem Marketplace, the report's authors.
The report said the forest carbon market was worth $21 million in the first half of 2009.
The volume-weighted average price was $7.88 per tonne of carbon dioxide, with compliance markets like the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme commanding the highest average price for forest offsets ($10.24).
The over-the-counter (OTC) market for voluntary carbon offsets, typically unregulated and somewhat opaque, had average prices of $8.44 a tonne, while forest offsets trading on the Chicago Climate Exchange, the only exchange for voluntary carbon offsets, saw prices of around $3.03.
To the end of June 2009, the market traded the equivalent of 20.8 million tonnes in offsets, representing 2.1 million hectares of forests worth some $149.2 million, the report said.
Of this, North America was home to 39 percent worth $32 million, Latin America had 22 percent worth $35.5 million, Australia had 16 percent worth $37.8 million and Africa had 11 percent worth $20.9 million, the report said.
Asia and Europe made up only 6 percent and 4 percent of volumes, worth $10 and $6 million respectively.
The report found that of the protected forests in question, the top drivers of deforestation were commercial logging (23 percent) and agricultural development (19 percent).
Latin America, home of the Amazon rainforest, showed the largest variety of pressures, which also included ranching, illegal logging, urban development and oil and gas exploration.
(Editing by William Hardy)
LONDON - The global market for carbon offsets from planting trees and preserving forests, worth nearly $150 million to date, could stall without a U.S. climate bill or a successor pact to the Kyoto Protocol, a report said on Thursday.
"At the end of 2009, the market for forest carbon stands in an uncertain position on the verge of potentially enormous growth," the State of the Forest Carbon Markets 2009 report said.
"Amidst this scene of opportunity and risk, investors are still eyeing forest carbon, though many are waiting on more definite regulatory signals before taking a financial leap."
Although climate talks in Copenhagen in December failed to agree a new legally-binding global climate pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. pledged at the summit $1 billion toward a scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).
Many countries have committed politically to the $3.5 billion scheme, of which Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Britain are also contributors.
A domestic U.S. bill to cut emissions has also stalled in Congress, with market players calling its passage this year vital for investment.
Regardless of this uncertainty, the forest carbon market grew nearly fivefold since 2006.
The market was worth $37.1 million in 2008, after rising to $40.5 million a year before and from $7.6 million in 2006, according to Ecosystem Marketplace, the report's authors.
The report said the forest carbon market was worth $21 million in the first half of 2009.
The volume-weighted average price was $7.88 per tonne of carbon dioxide, with compliance markets like the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme commanding the highest average price for forest offsets ($10.24).
The over-the-counter (OTC) market for voluntary carbon offsets, typically unregulated and somewhat opaque, had average prices of $8.44 a tonne, while forest offsets trading on the Chicago Climate Exchange, the only exchange for voluntary carbon offsets, saw prices of around $3.03.
To the end of June 2009, the market traded the equivalent of 20.8 million tonnes in offsets, representing 2.1 million hectares of forests worth some $149.2 million, the report said.
Of this, North America was home to 39 percent worth $32 million, Latin America had 22 percent worth $35.5 million, Australia had 16 percent worth $37.8 million and Africa had 11 percent worth $20.9 million, the report said.
Asia and Europe made up only 6 percent and 4 percent of volumes, worth $10 and $6 million respectively.
The report found that of the protected forests in question, the top drivers of deforestation were commercial logging (23 percent) and agricultural development (19 percent).
Latin America, home of the Amazon rainforest, showed the largest variety of pressures, which also included ranching, illegal logging, urban development and oil and gas exploration.
(Editing by William Hardy)
Nature-for-oil plan in Ecuador in jeopardy
Alexander Martínez Yahoo News 14 Jan 10;
QUITO (AFP) – A plan to leave major oil reserves in Ecuador's Amazon basin untouched in return for a major international donation was in jeopardy Thursday after Foreign Minister Fander Falconi resigned.
Falconi spearheaded the 3.5-billion-dollar initiative until President Rafael Correa on Saturday called the payment conditions he was negotiating with the United Nations "outrageous."
Correa even threatened to start drilling for oil in June at the ITT camp in Yasuni National Park unless conditions changed.
Last month, the president said the nature-for-oil plan would be called off in June, instead of at the end of this year, if Ecuador did not get the promised funds -- half the value of the 850 million barrels of oil the ITT camp is estimated to hold.
"We will not submit. Let them know that this country is nobody's colony. We won't accept shameful conditions. Keep your money," Correa said late Tuesday after Falconi resigned.
Correa, however, made it clear negotiations had not failed.
Falconi said Wednesday the six-month deadline for the initiative was tantamount to killing it, but predicted the clauses stipulating payment conditions would be signed in two weeks.
He also cited pressure to begin drilling for oil.
"I can't give you any names," he said, but mentioned that in 2007, state-run Petroecuador "had a unit ready to exploit the camp for a few years."
The countries behind the money offer in the nature-for-oil deal were not involved in the negotiations between Ecuador and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Falconi said.
"They're not demanding that the conditions be this way or that way. That really would be outrageous," he added.
Roque Sevilla, who headed the technical commission behind the plan that resigned en masse along with Falconi, told AFP that between 1.5 and 1.7 billion dollars have been pledged so far, with Germany (910 million) and Spain (241.8 million) leading the pack that included France, Sweden and Switzerland.
Sevilla also said the conservation projects the donations are intended to support "have been sovereignly chosen by Ecuador."
The former official also confirmed Petroecuador's interest in seeing the deal fall through.
"Petroecuador feels very uncomfortable about losing 20 percent of Ecuador's oil reserves under the deal," he said, adding that the company has plans to pump the oil from the ITT camp to a new refinery it will start building with Venezuela on the coast in June.
Sevilla was quick to note that Caracas had no part in the deal under discussion and that extracting oil from the untouched reserves would take a few years at best.
Correa came up with the initiative in 2007 and plans to use it as leverage in global warming deals, such as the carbon-emission quotas included in the Kyoto Protocol.
The president says that by preserving the Yasuni National Park home to several nomadic Indian tribes, Ecuador will spare the Earth some 410 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that contribute to global warming.
Ecuador To push Amazon Oil Proposal With "Dignity"
Alexandra Valencia, PlanetArk 15 Jan 10;
QUITO - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa will keep promoting his initiative to protect the country's Amazon region by refraining from drilling for oil, but warned on Thursday that his government will negotiate the deal hard.
Under the Yasuni initiative, OPEC-member Ecuador would leave 850 million barrels of oil, worth $6 billion, underground in the Amazon as a contribution to countering climate change.
In return for not extracting the oil, Ecuador is looking to donor countries to pay it $350 million a year. Negotiations with potential donors -- such as Germany, Belgium and Spain -- have been difficult.
"We will keep pushing for the success of the Yasuni initiative, which was drawn up by my office, but without threatening the dignity and sovereignty of the country," Correa said during a public address.
Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Fander Falconi, who had been in charge of the negotiations, quit on Tuesday after Correa accused him of mishandling the administration of the project and allowing donor countries to impose conditions.
Ecuador says not touching the oil would avoid creating 410 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
(Editing by Jim Marshall)
QUITO (AFP) – A plan to leave major oil reserves in Ecuador's Amazon basin untouched in return for a major international donation was in jeopardy Thursday after Foreign Minister Fander Falconi resigned.
Falconi spearheaded the 3.5-billion-dollar initiative until President Rafael Correa on Saturday called the payment conditions he was negotiating with the United Nations "outrageous."
Correa even threatened to start drilling for oil in June at the ITT camp in Yasuni National Park unless conditions changed.
Last month, the president said the nature-for-oil plan would be called off in June, instead of at the end of this year, if Ecuador did not get the promised funds -- half the value of the 850 million barrels of oil the ITT camp is estimated to hold.
"We will not submit. Let them know that this country is nobody's colony. We won't accept shameful conditions. Keep your money," Correa said late Tuesday after Falconi resigned.
Correa, however, made it clear negotiations had not failed.
Falconi said Wednesday the six-month deadline for the initiative was tantamount to killing it, but predicted the clauses stipulating payment conditions would be signed in two weeks.
He also cited pressure to begin drilling for oil.
"I can't give you any names," he said, but mentioned that in 2007, state-run Petroecuador "had a unit ready to exploit the camp for a few years."
The countries behind the money offer in the nature-for-oil deal were not involved in the negotiations between Ecuador and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Falconi said.
"They're not demanding that the conditions be this way or that way. That really would be outrageous," he added.
Roque Sevilla, who headed the technical commission behind the plan that resigned en masse along with Falconi, told AFP that between 1.5 and 1.7 billion dollars have been pledged so far, with Germany (910 million) and Spain (241.8 million) leading the pack that included France, Sweden and Switzerland.
Sevilla also said the conservation projects the donations are intended to support "have been sovereignly chosen by Ecuador."
The former official also confirmed Petroecuador's interest in seeing the deal fall through.
"Petroecuador feels very uncomfortable about losing 20 percent of Ecuador's oil reserves under the deal," he said, adding that the company has plans to pump the oil from the ITT camp to a new refinery it will start building with Venezuela on the coast in June.
Sevilla was quick to note that Caracas had no part in the deal under discussion and that extracting oil from the untouched reserves would take a few years at best.
Correa came up with the initiative in 2007 and plans to use it as leverage in global warming deals, such as the carbon-emission quotas included in the Kyoto Protocol.
The president says that by preserving the Yasuni National Park home to several nomadic Indian tribes, Ecuador will spare the Earth some 410 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that contribute to global warming.
Ecuador To push Amazon Oil Proposal With "Dignity"
Alexandra Valencia, PlanetArk 15 Jan 10;
QUITO - Ecuador's President Rafael Correa will keep promoting his initiative to protect the country's Amazon region by refraining from drilling for oil, but warned on Thursday that his government will negotiate the deal hard.
Under the Yasuni initiative, OPEC-member Ecuador would leave 850 million barrels of oil, worth $6 billion, underground in the Amazon as a contribution to countering climate change.
In return for not extracting the oil, Ecuador is looking to donor countries to pay it $350 million a year. Negotiations with potential donors -- such as Germany, Belgium and Spain -- have been difficult.
"We will keep pushing for the success of the Yasuni initiative, which was drawn up by my office, but without threatening the dignity and sovereignty of the country," Correa said during a public address.
Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Fander Falconi, who had been in charge of the negotiations, quit on Tuesday after Correa accused him of mishandling the administration of the project and allowing donor countries to impose conditions.
Ecuador says not touching the oil would avoid creating 410 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
(Editing by Jim Marshall)
Most Norwegians Want Arctic Drilling Study: Survey
Wojciech Moskwa, PlanetArk 15 Jan 10;
OSLO - An industry-backed survey published on Thursday shows most Norwegians favor an impact study that could pave the way to open a pristine, fish-rich Arctic area to oil activities and prolong Norway's energy boom.
The oil industry says the waters near the Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands in the Arctic now have the most prospects off Norway and must be tapped to prolong the North Sea state's oil bonanza as output from mature oilfields declines.
Environmentalists say that any spill in the unspoiled region would be disastrous for its diverse eco-system, which includes unique cold water reefs, pods of sperm whales and killer whales, some of the largest seabird colonies in Europe as well as being the spawning grounds of the largest cod stock in the world.
A number of opinion polls over past months suggest that Norwegians are split nearly down the middle on Arctic drilling and the issue was a major theme in last year's general election.
The survey by pollster Synovate, carried out for the oil industry lobby group OLF, shows that seven out of 10 Norwegians want the authorities to conduct an impact study of how oil and gas exploration would affect the Lofoten region.
"For us, this is a confirmation of our position that the impact assessment is reasonable," OLF chief Gro Braekken said in a statement publishing the results of the survey.
Two small parties in the government -- the Socialist Left and the Center Party -- are against drilling, but the main Labour Party has not yet made up its mind.
Labour awaits the results of seismic scans of the region which indicate the potential size of oil and gas resources to be found. Norway's main trade union LO, Labour's traditional ally, backs the project, saying it could create jobs.
The government is expected make a decision on drilling off the Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands in 2010, although it has vowed not to open up the area until at least 2013.
OIL RICHES VS ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Environmentalists said the survey is part of the oil industry's campaign to win over the divided public.
"The survey does not ask the real questions: should drilling happen if all the competent Norwegian scientific bodies advise against it? And is an impact assessment needed when all these scientific bodies already advise against drilling there?" WWF Norway chief Rasmus Hansson told Reuters.
The survey also showed that eight out of 10 Norwegians believe the oil and gas industry will have great significance for development in northern Norway, which has large fishing and tourism sectors.
The survey, conducted on December 1-11 on a representative sample of 1,307 adult Norwegians, shows that 85 percent of the population have a very good or fairly good impression of the oil and gas industry. Almost as many believe the industry has given Norwegians increased standard of living.
Norway invests most of its oil and gas revenues in an offshore wealth fund, which has grown to around $450 billion.
The funds are earmarked for pension payouts when oil and gas production winds down, giving Norwegians security about their future welfare and a tangible benefit from oil exploration.
The oil and gas sector accounts for about a quarter of Norway's GDP, a third of government revenues and half of the affluent Nordic country's exports.
Norway's oil output has dipped to 2 million barrels a day from highs around 3.5 million early last decade, but gas output has risen. Present forecasts show production tapering off slowly over the next decades unless major new resources are tapped.
Exploration drilling in past years has not proven any "elephant sized" fields off Norway, although a number of interesting finds were proven near existing North Sea platforms, which may make developments cheaper and easier to bring on line.
(Editing by Anthony Barker)
OSLO - An industry-backed survey published on Thursday shows most Norwegians favor an impact study that could pave the way to open a pristine, fish-rich Arctic area to oil activities and prolong Norway's energy boom.
The oil industry says the waters near the Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands in the Arctic now have the most prospects off Norway and must be tapped to prolong the North Sea state's oil bonanza as output from mature oilfields declines.
Environmentalists say that any spill in the unspoiled region would be disastrous for its diverse eco-system, which includes unique cold water reefs, pods of sperm whales and killer whales, some of the largest seabird colonies in Europe as well as being the spawning grounds of the largest cod stock in the world.
A number of opinion polls over past months suggest that Norwegians are split nearly down the middle on Arctic drilling and the issue was a major theme in last year's general election.
The survey by pollster Synovate, carried out for the oil industry lobby group OLF, shows that seven out of 10 Norwegians want the authorities to conduct an impact study of how oil and gas exploration would affect the Lofoten region.
"For us, this is a confirmation of our position that the impact assessment is reasonable," OLF chief Gro Braekken said in a statement publishing the results of the survey.
Two small parties in the government -- the Socialist Left and the Center Party -- are against drilling, but the main Labour Party has not yet made up its mind.
Labour awaits the results of seismic scans of the region which indicate the potential size of oil and gas resources to be found. Norway's main trade union LO, Labour's traditional ally, backs the project, saying it could create jobs.
The government is expected make a decision on drilling off the Lofoten and Vesteraalen islands in 2010, although it has vowed not to open up the area until at least 2013.
OIL RICHES VS ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
Environmentalists said the survey is part of the oil industry's campaign to win over the divided public.
"The survey does not ask the real questions: should drilling happen if all the competent Norwegian scientific bodies advise against it? And is an impact assessment needed when all these scientific bodies already advise against drilling there?" WWF Norway chief Rasmus Hansson told Reuters.
The survey also showed that eight out of 10 Norwegians believe the oil and gas industry will have great significance for development in northern Norway, which has large fishing and tourism sectors.
The survey, conducted on December 1-11 on a representative sample of 1,307 adult Norwegians, shows that 85 percent of the population have a very good or fairly good impression of the oil and gas industry. Almost as many believe the industry has given Norwegians increased standard of living.
Norway invests most of its oil and gas revenues in an offshore wealth fund, which has grown to around $450 billion.
The funds are earmarked for pension payouts when oil and gas production winds down, giving Norwegians security about their future welfare and a tangible benefit from oil exploration.
The oil and gas sector accounts for about a quarter of Norway's GDP, a third of government revenues and half of the affluent Nordic country's exports.
Norway's oil output has dipped to 2 million barrels a day from highs around 3.5 million early last decade, but gas output has risen. Present forecasts show production tapering off slowly over the next decades unless major new resources are tapped.
Exploration drilling in past years has not proven any "elephant sized" fields off Norway, although a number of interesting finds were proven near existing North Sea platforms, which may make developments cheaper and easier to bring on line.
(Editing by Anthony Barker)
China Needs To Cut Use Of Chemical Fertilizers: Research
Niu Shuping, PlanetArk 15 Jan 10;
BEIJING - China, the world's largest grain producer and top consumer of fertilizers, should reduce its reliance on chemical fertilizers by as much as 50 percent because excessive use has resulted in serious pollution, according to a research report.
"Not many people are aware that agriculture is the largest polluter in China, which should be a subject for serious concern," said Wen Tiejun, head of the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Renmin University of China.
Chemical fertilizers had helped China, the world's most populous country, to feed its population despite limited farmland, but excessive application had led to low farmland efficiency and serious pollution, according to a research report issued by the school and Greenpeace on Thursday.
The report said farmers, particularly in northern China, used 40 percent more fertilizers than crops needed, resulting in about 10 million tons of fertilizer every year being discharged into water, polluting China's rivers and lakes.
China produced 24 percent of the world's total grain output, but its use of fertilizer accounted for about 35 percent of total global consumption. China's grain production had increased more than eight-fold from the 1960s, while use of nitrogen fertilizers had surged by about 55 times, the report said.
It also urged the government to reduce subsidies to fertilizer makers and called for more support for farmers who use animal waste.
(Editing by Chris Lewis and Jerry Norton)
BEIJING - China, the world's largest grain producer and top consumer of fertilizers, should reduce its reliance on chemical fertilizers by as much as 50 percent because excessive use has resulted in serious pollution, according to a research report.
"Not many people are aware that agriculture is the largest polluter in China, which should be a subject for serious concern," said Wen Tiejun, head of the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Renmin University of China.
Chemical fertilizers had helped China, the world's most populous country, to feed its population despite limited farmland, but excessive application had led to low farmland efficiency and serious pollution, according to a research report issued by the school and Greenpeace on Thursday.
The report said farmers, particularly in northern China, used 40 percent more fertilizers than crops needed, resulting in about 10 million tons of fertilizer every year being discharged into water, polluting China's rivers and lakes.
China produced 24 percent of the world's total grain output, but its use of fertilizer accounted for about 35 percent of total global consumption. China's grain production had increased more than eight-fold from the 1960s, while use of nitrogen fertilizers had surged by about 55 times, the report said.
It also urged the government to reduce subsidies to fertilizer makers and called for more support for farmers who use animal waste.
(Editing by Chris Lewis and Jerry Norton)
British coastal cities threatened by rising sea 'must transform themselves'
Hull and Portsmouth could be dramatically remodelled, suggests report
Robert Booth, guardian.co.uk 15 Jan 10;
Hull could be transformed into a Venice-like waterworld and Portsmouth into a south coast version of Amalfi, engineers and architects have claimed in a study of options for developing Britain's coastal cities in the face of rising sea levels.
The Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of British Architects yesterday warned the future of cities including London, Bristol and Liverpool was at risk from seas which the Environment Agency predict could rise by as much as 1.9m by 2095 in the event of a dramatic melting of the Greenland ice sheet.
The report, Facing up to Rising Sea Levels. Retreat? Defence? Attack?, suggests swaths of Hull and Portsmouth's city centres could be allowed to flood over the next 100 years and large parts of the populations moved out.
In a model that explores managed retreat from the coast in some areas, Hull's historic city centre would be limited to an island reached by bridges and Venetian-style water taxis, while in Portsmouth large parts of Portsea island would be given back to the sea while new "hillside living" developments would be built on densely packed hillside terraces, akin to the towns of Italy's Amalfi coast. "The scenarios we have created are extreme, but it is an extreme threat we are facing," said Ruth Reed, Riba president. "Approximately 10 million people live in flood-risk areas in England and Wales, with 2.6m properties directly at risk of flooding."
Other options include building out into rising waters using piers and platforms to create new habitable space – a strategy known as "attack". In Hull this could involve floating disused oil rigs up the Humber and reusing them for offices, homes and university buildings, while in Portsmouth two-storey piers could be built with the lower tier used for traffic and the top tier used for pedestrian space.
Architect David West, one of the report's author's, admitted the proposals were "blue sky thinking" and uncosted, but said they had the potential to relieve pressure for housing on inland sites. "I think the concept of arriving at Hull as if you were arriving at Venice airport and taking a boat into the city is really exciting."
The proposals were met with scepticism in Portsmouth. "A retreating coastline in this area would have a significant detrimental impact on the internationally designated harbours," said Bret Davies, a coastal strategy manager at Portsmouth city council.
The Environment Agency's coastal policy adviser, Nick Hardiman, warned that extending into the sea was likely to be too expensive and structures were not likely to be sustainable.In the next financial year the Environment Agency will spend £570m on building and maintaining flood defences.
Radical sea defence rethink urged in the UK
BBC News 15 Jan 10;
Rising sea levels and more storms could mean that parts of at-risk cities will need to be surrendered to protect homes and businesses, a report warns.
The authors say that "radical thinking" is needed to develop sea defences that can cope with the future threats.
About 10 million people in England and Wales live in flood risk areas.
The project, launched on Friday, is a joint venture between the Institution of Civil Engineers (Ice) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba).
The report, Facing up to Rising Sea Levels, urges the government, planning authorities and the public, to act sooner rather than later.
"If we act now, we can adapt in such a way that will prevent mass disruption and allow coastal communities to continue to prosper," said Riba president Ruth Reed.
"But the key word is 'now'," she added.
The study warns that rising sea levels, an increase in the frequency of storms and sinking landmasses could leave many UK coastal areas vulnerable to extreme flooding.
Facing the future
The project focuses on Kingston-upon-Hull and Portsmouth, two cities deemed among the most at-risk areas in the UK, and presents a series of six scenarios set up to 90 years in the future.
The scenarios are based on three themes:
• Retreat - moving "critical infrastructure" and housing to safer ground, allowing the water into parts of the city
• Defend - building city-wide sea defences to ensure water does not enter the existing urban area
• Attack - extending the existing coastline and building out on to the water (using stilts, floating structures and/or land reclamation)
The scenarios were developed by a group of experts, including architects, civil engineers, city designers, developers and policymakers.
Their ideas also had to take into account a number of constraints, including a lack of funding to protect the entire coastline of the UK, which stretches for more than 12,500km (7,700 miles).
"The scenarios we have created are extreme, but it is an extreme threat we are facing," observed Ms Reed.
The authors decided to focus on Kingston-upon-Hull and Portsmouth because the two cities displayed many of the characteristics of flood-prone areas.
They said that Kingston-upon-Hull was a low-lying city that has to be constantly drained by pumps, the River Hull - which runs through the middle of the area - is liable to flooding, and the port is of national strategic importance.
Portsmouth was also vulnerable, they added, because most of the city is located on an island that was no more than 3m (10ft) above sea level, and was densely populated.
Ben Hamer, chairman of the Ice steering group, said that government, public officials and businesses needed to work together in order to halt the "water invasion".
"Some very difficult decisions need to be made in the future, and to do this we need integrated thinking," he said.
"The UK must urgently change the way it plans, builds and designs at-risk communities."
The project's findings, which include sketches and details of the proposed "new cities", will be presented in a exhibition that will visit London, Portsmouth and Kingston-upon-Hull.
Robert Booth, guardian.co.uk 15 Jan 10;
Hull could be transformed into a Venice-like waterworld and Portsmouth into a south coast version of Amalfi, engineers and architects have claimed in a study of options for developing Britain's coastal cities in the face of rising sea levels.
The Institution of Civil Engineers and the Royal Institute of British Architects yesterday warned the future of cities including London, Bristol and Liverpool was at risk from seas which the Environment Agency predict could rise by as much as 1.9m by 2095 in the event of a dramatic melting of the Greenland ice sheet.
The report, Facing up to Rising Sea Levels. Retreat? Defence? Attack?, suggests swaths of Hull and Portsmouth's city centres could be allowed to flood over the next 100 years and large parts of the populations moved out.
In a model that explores managed retreat from the coast in some areas, Hull's historic city centre would be limited to an island reached by bridges and Venetian-style water taxis, while in Portsmouth large parts of Portsea island would be given back to the sea while new "hillside living" developments would be built on densely packed hillside terraces, akin to the towns of Italy's Amalfi coast. "The scenarios we have created are extreme, but it is an extreme threat we are facing," said Ruth Reed, Riba president. "Approximately 10 million people live in flood-risk areas in England and Wales, with 2.6m properties directly at risk of flooding."
Other options include building out into rising waters using piers and platforms to create new habitable space – a strategy known as "attack". In Hull this could involve floating disused oil rigs up the Humber and reusing them for offices, homes and university buildings, while in Portsmouth two-storey piers could be built with the lower tier used for traffic and the top tier used for pedestrian space.
Architect David West, one of the report's author's, admitted the proposals were "blue sky thinking" and uncosted, but said they had the potential to relieve pressure for housing on inland sites. "I think the concept of arriving at Hull as if you were arriving at Venice airport and taking a boat into the city is really exciting."
The proposals were met with scepticism in Portsmouth. "A retreating coastline in this area would have a significant detrimental impact on the internationally designated harbours," said Bret Davies, a coastal strategy manager at Portsmouth city council.
The Environment Agency's coastal policy adviser, Nick Hardiman, warned that extending into the sea was likely to be too expensive and structures were not likely to be sustainable.In the next financial year the Environment Agency will spend £570m on building and maintaining flood defences.
Radical sea defence rethink urged in the UK
BBC News 15 Jan 10;
Rising sea levels and more storms could mean that parts of at-risk cities will need to be surrendered to protect homes and businesses, a report warns.
The authors say that "radical thinking" is needed to develop sea defences that can cope with the future threats.
About 10 million people in England and Wales live in flood risk areas.
The project, launched on Friday, is a joint venture between the Institution of Civil Engineers (Ice) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba).
The report, Facing up to Rising Sea Levels, urges the government, planning authorities and the public, to act sooner rather than later.
"If we act now, we can adapt in such a way that will prevent mass disruption and allow coastal communities to continue to prosper," said Riba president Ruth Reed.
"But the key word is 'now'," she added.
The study warns that rising sea levels, an increase in the frequency of storms and sinking landmasses could leave many UK coastal areas vulnerable to extreme flooding.
Facing the future
The project focuses on Kingston-upon-Hull and Portsmouth, two cities deemed among the most at-risk areas in the UK, and presents a series of six scenarios set up to 90 years in the future.
The scenarios are based on three themes:
• Retreat - moving "critical infrastructure" and housing to safer ground, allowing the water into parts of the city
• Defend - building city-wide sea defences to ensure water does not enter the existing urban area
• Attack - extending the existing coastline and building out on to the water (using stilts, floating structures and/or land reclamation)
The scenarios were developed by a group of experts, including architects, civil engineers, city designers, developers and policymakers.
Their ideas also had to take into account a number of constraints, including a lack of funding to protect the entire coastline of the UK, which stretches for more than 12,500km (7,700 miles).
"The scenarios we have created are extreme, but it is an extreme threat we are facing," observed Ms Reed.
The authors decided to focus on Kingston-upon-Hull and Portsmouth because the two cities displayed many of the characteristics of flood-prone areas.
They said that Kingston-upon-Hull was a low-lying city that has to be constantly drained by pumps, the River Hull - which runs through the middle of the area - is liable to flooding, and the port is of national strategic importance.
Portsmouth was also vulnerable, they added, because most of the city is located on an island that was no more than 3m (10ft) above sea level, and was densely populated.
Ben Hamer, chairman of the Ice steering group, said that government, public officials and businesses needed to work together in order to halt the "water invasion".
"Some very difficult decisions need to be made in the future, and to do this we need integrated thinking," he said.
"The UK must urgently change the way it plans, builds and designs at-risk communities."
The project's findings, which include sketches and details of the proposed "new cities", will be presented in a exhibition that will visit London, Portsmouth and Kingston-upon-Hull.
Abu Dhabi 2100: under water?
Vesela Todorova, The National 15 Jan 10;
ABU DHABI // The UAE could lose up to six per cent of its populated and developed coastline by the end of the century because of rising sea levels, according to a government-sponsored report on the local impact of climate change released yesterday.
A rise of one metre, the most modest scenario presented as not “unlikely” in the report, would put 1,155 square kilometres of the country’s coast under water by 2050; while nine metres – the most dire – would see almost all of the capital and much of Dubai submerged.
“While we may not be able to pinpoint exactly when to expect a one-metre gradual rise in sea level, we do know that it may be sooner than most scientists ever thought possible,” the report said.
Climate Change: Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation was commissioned by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and compiled by researchers from the Stockholm Environment Institute in the United States. It marks the country’s first effort to examine the impact on the coastline, interior and ecosystems from ongoing climate change caused by burning fossil fuels.
“The UAE is seriously concerned about climate change on many levels,” said Majid al Mansouri, the EAD secretary general, at the release of the study yesterday.
“We are a country that already faces extreme climatic conditions and has precious natural resources, so long-term variations in temperature and precipitation will produce adverse impacts.”
The report urges the UAE to make plans to mitigate its impact and accommodate changes. Officials said the study would be used to help the country address coming climate change, and also by UAE diplomats arguing the country’s case in international climate negotiations that aim to set new limits on the emission of greenhouse gases.
Dr El Waleed Mohamed Hamad el Malik, a legal adviser at the EAD, said the study was commissioned as part of the country’s dedication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
“We have an obligation under the convention to highlight the impacts of climate change,” he said.
The report, which focuses on Abu Dhabi in greatest detail, cautions that some of the emirate’s most biologically-productive ecosystems, such as mangrove forests and seagrass beds, as well as flagship species such as the houbara bustard and marine turtles, are at an increased risk of extinction.
Populated coastline areas across the country are also extremely vulnerable, it said.
“For coastal zones in the UAE – home to approximately 85 per cent of the population, over 90 per cent of the infrastructure, many sensitive ecological subsystems, and important cultural heritage sites – the vulnerability to climate change is very high,” the study said.
It warned that unless future development planning accounted for the changes, there would be unacceptable economic damages for the UAE’s coastal zones.
The International Panel on Climate Change, the world’s most authoritative scientific body on the subject, estimates that sea levels will rise by between 0.37 metres and 0.59m by the turn of the century. The actual fluctuation will depend on a number of variables, including how much global temperatures rise, and how that will affect glaciers and snow cover on polar caps.
Because of the variability, the study focused on several scenarios. The first, involving the one-metre sea-level rise by 2050, would see Abu Dhabi lose a total of 344 square kilometres to the sea, including extensive mangrove areas, more than a hundred square kilometres of urban green spaces as well as 10 sq km of built-up area and roads.
Dubai would lose important infrastructure as well, the report said.
The second assesses what would happen if the sea rose three metres by 2050, a scenario that would see flooding in the Mangrove Village development as well as parts of Industrial City south of the main island, with Abu Dhabi losing more than 800 sq km under water.
A further projection for the entire country put sea levels rising nine metres by 2100, which would see 5,000 sq km – including all of the capital and Dubai – submerged. The shore would migrate south by up to 30km, and Jebel Dhanna and Al Mirfa would become islands.
“All coastal cities in the UAE will experience progressively increasing inundation, depending on the scenario analysed,” the report said.
The UAE report warns that despite uncertainty, some degree of global warming can be expected resulting in an unavoidable increase in sea levels.
“The uncertainty of ‘when’ and ‘to what extent’ are we really vulnerable placates many into a ‘wait and see’ mentality,” the report said.
The EAD last year drafted a policy on climate change, but the document is not likely to be released before the Ministry of Environment and Water, which is working on a national strategy, is ready with its own recommendations, Mr al Mansouri said.
Developers plan to keep the sea at bay
Loveday Morris, The National 17 Jan 10;
ABU DHABI // With hundreds of billions of dirhams invested in developing the capital’s low-lying, sandy islands, prudent measures have been taken to ensure the landmark projects do not one day disappear under the sea.
Abu Dhabi’s 2030 plan shows an idyllic archipelago, with arched bridges stretching across still, turquoise waters, joining eco-villages and residential zones to cultural landmarks and the lofty towers of the financial district.
But much of the natural land earmarked for development lies at less than two metres above sea level, meaning defences are essential, especially in light of increasingly pessimistic data on the extent sea levels may rise.
Last week, a report commissioned by the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi said the UAE could lose up to six per cent of its populated and developed coastline by the end of the century because of rising sea levels, and unless adequate planning is taken the economic impact will be “unacceptably high”.
According to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month, the average global sea level may rise by as much as 1.9 metres before 2100, much more than previous forecasts.
From ambitious land-raising projects to sea walls and barriers, safeguards against the impact of climate change must be considered by any coastal development.
The Abu Dhabi 2030 plan states: “The emerging reality of global warming and its potential to raise sea levels means all new waterfront development should be planning for higher water levels at their edge.”
Originally lying at about two metres above sea level, Saadiyat Island, where Abu Dhabi plans to create a US$27 billion (Dh99bn) cultural district, has undergone massive landscaping to protect it from rising tides.
Developers used 106 million tonnes of rock and dredged sand to raise the level of the land by as much as 13 metres on parts of the island, which now stands between four and 15 metres above sea level.
“We have also built breakwaters to protect the three exposed museums on the water’s edge,” said Dominique Bombaert, the project manager for Jan De Nul, the Belgian company that undertook the massive job. The island is also relatively naturally sheltered from sea swells, he said.
Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company said in a statement it had “ensured that the development of Saadiyat Island has been conducted with potential sea level and climatic changes in mind”.
Many plans for the islands were also under way before the Urban Planning Council (UPC) was formed in 2007. But the council, which is organising the capital’s development, has met developers and is “confident” they have taken sufficient measures.
Developers currently have no legal obligation to take into account the potential for rising tides, but the UPC is writing new guidelines to be published before the end of the year.
The Abu Dhabi 2030 plan says developers should take into account a 75cm rise in sea levels. Neil Mallen, the UPC’s planning manager for the environment, said most developers had taken “very safely conservative estimates. It’s the prudent thing to do in the absence of any reliable, official information”.
However, the UPC still estimates that property and infrastructure valued at $400m now in place would be put at risk by a half-metre rise in sea level.
The economic impact is expected to rise exponentially as construction grows in line with the Abu Dhabi 2030 plan.
Nakheel officials have said engineers of the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai factored in a possible sea level rise of 50cm in its design, plus an additional buffer to protect against tides, storm surges and high seas. The level of the island is a minimum of four metres above the top water level at high tide.
According to last week’s report, a rise of one metre in the UAE, the most modest scenario presented as not unlikely, would put 1,155 square kilometres of the country’s coast under water by 2050. A rise of nine metres the most dire scenario would see almost all of the capital and much of Dubai submerged.
It is easier, and more pleasing to the eye, to engineer protection into a project rather than add it later, according to Dr Paul Ashley, who is responsible for environment practice at Mott MacDonald, a British engineering and development company that worked on several developments in Dubai Marina.
“You could always aid coastal protection by retrofitting, but doing that and keeping a development attractive to live in could be tricky,” he said.
Though its geography may make the UAE susceptible to the effects of a rising sea, the Arabian Gulf’s shallow waters, with a maximum depth of 90 metres, mean it is far less prone to storm surges.
“The reality with the Gulf is that it’s a rather small, shallow water basin so the risk of storm surges and really sudden dramatic impact from sea-level rise is if anything a little less,” Mr Mallen said.
Larger landmark projects, which have teams of experts working on preventive measures, are not as much a concern to the UPC as smaller developments that may not take into account the potential for increased flooding.
“There’s certainly been a massive investment in development on relatively low-level land, and it’s a concern,” Mr Mallen said.
ABU DHABI // The UAE could lose up to six per cent of its populated and developed coastline by the end of the century because of rising sea levels, according to a government-sponsored report on the local impact of climate change released yesterday.
A rise of one metre, the most modest scenario presented as not “unlikely” in the report, would put 1,155 square kilometres of the country’s coast under water by 2050; while nine metres – the most dire – would see almost all of the capital and much of Dubai submerged.
“While we may not be able to pinpoint exactly when to expect a one-metre gradual rise in sea level, we do know that it may be sooner than most scientists ever thought possible,” the report said.
Climate Change: Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation was commissioned by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) and compiled by researchers from the Stockholm Environment Institute in the United States. It marks the country’s first effort to examine the impact on the coastline, interior and ecosystems from ongoing climate change caused by burning fossil fuels.
“The UAE is seriously concerned about climate change on many levels,” said Majid al Mansouri, the EAD secretary general, at the release of the study yesterday.
“We are a country that already faces extreme climatic conditions and has precious natural resources, so long-term variations in temperature and precipitation will produce adverse impacts.”
The report urges the UAE to make plans to mitigate its impact and accommodate changes. Officials said the study would be used to help the country address coming climate change, and also by UAE diplomats arguing the country’s case in international climate negotiations that aim to set new limits on the emission of greenhouse gases.
Dr El Waleed Mohamed Hamad el Malik, a legal adviser at the EAD, said the study was commissioned as part of the country’s dedication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
“We have an obligation under the convention to highlight the impacts of climate change,” he said.
The report, which focuses on Abu Dhabi in greatest detail, cautions that some of the emirate’s most biologically-productive ecosystems, such as mangrove forests and seagrass beds, as well as flagship species such as the houbara bustard and marine turtles, are at an increased risk of extinction.
Populated coastline areas across the country are also extremely vulnerable, it said.
“For coastal zones in the UAE – home to approximately 85 per cent of the population, over 90 per cent of the infrastructure, many sensitive ecological subsystems, and important cultural heritage sites – the vulnerability to climate change is very high,” the study said.
It warned that unless future development planning accounted for the changes, there would be unacceptable economic damages for the UAE’s coastal zones.
The International Panel on Climate Change, the world’s most authoritative scientific body on the subject, estimates that sea levels will rise by between 0.37 metres and 0.59m by the turn of the century. The actual fluctuation will depend on a number of variables, including how much global temperatures rise, and how that will affect glaciers and snow cover on polar caps.
Because of the variability, the study focused on several scenarios. The first, involving the one-metre sea-level rise by 2050, would see Abu Dhabi lose a total of 344 square kilometres to the sea, including extensive mangrove areas, more than a hundred square kilometres of urban green spaces as well as 10 sq km of built-up area and roads.
Dubai would lose important infrastructure as well, the report said.
The second assesses what would happen if the sea rose three metres by 2050, a scenario that would see flooding in the Mangrove Village development as well as parts of Industrial City south of the main island, with Abu Dhabi losing more than 800 sq km under water.
A further projection for the entire country put sea levels rising nine metres by 2100, which would see 5,000 sq km – including all of the capital and Dubai – submerged. The shore would migrate south by up to 30km, and Jebel Dhanna and Al Mirfa would become islands.
“All coastal cities in the UAE will experience progressively increasing inundation, depending on the scenario analysed,” the report said.
The UAE report warns that despite uncertainty, some degree of global warming can be expected resulting in an unavoidable increase in sea levels.
“The uncertainty of ‘when’ and ‘to what extent’ are we really vulnerable placates many into a ‘wait and see’ mentality,” the report said.
The EAD last year drafted a policy on climate change, but the document is not likely to be released before the Ministry of Environment and Water, which is working on a national strategy, is ready with its own recommendations, Mr al Mansouri said.
Developers plan to keep the sea at bay
Loveday Morris, The National 17 Jan 10;
ABU DHABI // With hundreds of billions of dirhams invested in developing the capital’s low-lying, sandy islands, prudent measures have been taken to ensure the landmark projects do not one day disappear under the sea.
Abu Dhabi’s 2030 plan shows an idyllic archipelago, with arched bridges stretching across still, turquoise waters, joining eco-villages and residential zones to cultural landmarks and the lofty towers of the financial district.
But much of the natural land earmarked for development lies at less than two metres above sea level, meaning defences are essential, especially in light of increasingly pessimistic data on the extent sea levels may rise.
Last week, a report commissioned by the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi said the UAE could lose up to six per cent of its populated and developed coastline by the end of the century because of rising sea levels, and unless adequate planning is taken the economic impact will be “unacceptably high”.
According to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences last month, the average global sea level may rise by as much as 1.9 metres before 2100, much more than previous forecasts.
From ambitious land-raising projects to sea walls and barriers, safeguards against the impact of climate change must be considered by any coastal development.
The Abu Dhabi 2030 plan states: “The emerging reality of global warming and its potential to raise sea levels means all new waterfront development should be planning for higher water levels at their edge.”
Originally lying at about two metres above sea level, Saadiyat Island, where Abu Dhabi plans to create a US$27 billion (Dh99bn) cultural district, has undergone massive landscaping to protect it from rising tides.
Developers used 106 million tonnes of rock and dredged sand to raise the level of the land by as much as 13 metres on parts of the island, which now stands between four and 15 metres above sea level.
“We have also built breakwaters to protect the three exposed museums on the water’s edge,” said Dominique Bombaert, the project manager for Jan De Nul, the Belgian company that undertook the massive job. The island is also relatively naturally sheltered from sea swells, he said.
Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company said in a statement it had “ensured that the development of Saadiyat Island has been conducted with potential sea level and climatic changes in mind”.
Many plans for the islands were also under way before the Urban Planning Council (UPC) was formed in 2007. But the council, which is organising the capital’s development, has met developers and is “confident” they have taken sufficient measures.
Developers currently have no legal obligation to take into account the potential for rising tides, but the UPC is writing new guidelines to be published before the end of the year.
The Abu Dhabi 2030 plan says developers should take into account a 75cm rise in sea levels. Neil Mallen, the UPC’s planning manager for the environment, said most developers had taken “very safely conservative estimates. It’s the prudent thing to do in the absence of any reliable, official information”.
However, the UPC still estimates that property and infrastructure valued at $400m now in place would be put at risk by a half-metre rise in sea level.
The economic impact is expected to rise exponentially as construction grows in line with the Abu Dhabi 2030 plan.
Nakheel officials have said engineers of the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai factored in a possible sea level rise of 50cm in its design, plus an additional buffer to protect against tides, storm surges and high seas. The level of the island is a minimum of four metres above the top water level at high tide.
According to last week’s report, a rise of one metre in the UAE, the most modest scenario presented as not unlikely, would put 1,155 square kilometres of the country’s coast under water by 2050. A rise of nine metres the most dire scenario would see almost all of the capital and much of Dubai submerged.
It is easier, and more pleasing to the eye, to engineer protection into a project rather than add it later, according to Dr Paul Ashley, who is responsible for environment practice at Mott MacDonald, a British engineering and development company that worked on several developments in Dubai Marina.
“You could always aid coastal protection by retrofitting, but doing that and keeping a development attractive to live in could be tricky,” he said.
Though its geography may make the UAE susceptible to the effects of a rising sea, the Arabian Gulf’s shallow waters, with a maximum depth of 90 metres, mean it is far less prone to storm surges.
“The reality with the Gulf is that it’s a rather small, shallow water basin so the risk of storm surges and really sudden dramatic impact from sea-level rise is if anything a little less,” Mr Mallen said.
Larger landmark projects, which have teams of experts working on preventive measures, are not as much a concern to the UPC as smaller developments that may not take into account the potential for increased flooding.
“There’s certainly been a massive investment in development on relatively low-level land, and it’s a concern,” Mr Mallen said.
Global warming 'speeds' up gas emissions
BBC News 14 Jan 10;
Rising temperatures are not just a sign of climate change but are also a cause of it, a new study has suggested.
Higher temperatures on the surface of the earth are fuelling a further increase in emissions of methane, Edinburgh University experts found.
Methane is a greenhouse gas which is more potent than carbon dioxide.
The study indicated warmer temperatures in regions which were at higher latitudes increased methane - exacerbating global warming.
Scientists studying atmospheric levels of methane from the world's largest source of the gas, wetlands such as paddy fields, marshes and bogs, found that emissions were increasing in line with rising temperatures.
Researchers used satellite measurements of the atmospheric concentration of methane as well as data relating to surface temperature changes and variations in surface water to work out the levels of wetland emissions of methane from different regions.
The results showed that output from wetlands increased 7% between 2003 and 2007.
The findings also showed which regional wetland emissions were most sensitive to changes in flooding and extreme temperatures, which could help scientists predict future climate change.
Professor Paul Palmer of Edinburgh University's school of geosciences, who supervised the study, said: "These findings highlight the compound effect of increasing global warming - higher temperatures lead to faster warming.
"Our study reinforces the idea that satellites can pinpoint changes in the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from a particular place on earth.
"This opens the door to quantifying greenhouse gas emissions made from a variety of natural and man-made sources."
The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and was carried out in collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Space research. Data was supplied by Nasa and the European Space Agency.
The University of Edinburgh PhD study is published in Science.
Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show
Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame
David Adam, guardian.co.uk 14 Jan 10;
Scientists have recorded a massive spike in the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas seeping from Arctic permafrost, in a discovery that highlights the risks of a dangerous climate tipping point.
Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame.
The discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing methane in greater quantities. Such Arctic soils currently lock away billions of tonnes of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, leading some scientists to describe melting permafrost as a ticking time bomb that could overwhelm efforts to tackle climate change.
They fear the warming caused by increased methane emissions will itself release yet more methane and lock the region into a destructive cycle that forces temperatures to rise faster than predicted.
Paul Palmer, a scientist at Edinburgh University who worked on the new study, said: "High latitude wetlands are currently only a small source of methane but for these emissions to increase by a third in just five years is very significant. It shows that even a relatively small amount of warming can cause a large increase in the amount of methane emissions."
Global warming is occuring twice as fast in the Arctic than anywhere else on Earth. Some regions have already warmed by 2.5C, and temperatures there are projected to increase by more than 10C by 2100 if carbon emissions continue to rise at current rates.
Palmer said: "This study does not show the Arctic has passed a tipping point, but it should open people's eyes. It shows there is a positive feedback and that higher temperatures bring higher emissions and faster warming."
The change in the Arctic is enough to explain a recent increase in global methane levels in the atmosphere, he said. Global levels have risen steadily since 2007, after a decade or so holding steady.
The new study, published in the journal Science, shows that methane emissions from the Arctic increased by 31% from 2003-07. The increase represents about 1m extra tonnes of methane each year. Palmer cautioned that the five-year increase was too short to call a definitive trend.
The findings are part of a wider study of methane emissions from global wetlands, such as paddy fields, marshes and bogs. To identify where methane was released, the researchers combined methane levels in the atmosphere with surface temperature changes. They did not measure methane emissions directly, but used satellite measurements of variations in groundwater depth, which alter the way bacteria break down organic matter to release or consume methane.
They found that just over half of all methane emissions came from the tropics, with some 20m tonnes released from the Amazon river basin each year, and 26m tonnes from the Congo basin. Rice paddy fields across China and south and south-east Asia produced just under one-third of global methane, some 33m tonnes. Just 2% of global methane comes from Arctic latitudes, the study found, though the region showed the largest increases. The 31% rise in methane emissions there from 2003-07 was enough to help lift the global average increase to 7%.
Palmer said: "Our study reinforces the idea that satellites can pinpoint changes in the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from a particular place on earth. This opens the door to quantifying greenhouse gas emissions made from a variety of natural and man-made sources."
Palmer said it was a "disgrace" that so few satellites were launched to monitor levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. He said it was unclear whether the team would be able to continue the methane monitoring in future. The pair of satellites used to analyse water, known as Grace, are already over their expected mission life time, while a European version launched last year, called Goce, is scheduled to fly for less than two years.
The new study follows repeated warnings that even modest levels of global warming could trigger huge increases in methane release from permafrost. Phillipe Ciais, a researcher with the Laboratory for Climate Sciences and the Environment in Gif-sur-Yvette, France, told a scientific meeting in Copenhagen last March that billions of tonnes could be released by just a 2C average global rise.
More on methane
While carbon dioxide gets most of the attention in the global warming debate, methane is pound-for-pound a more potent greenhouse gas, capable of trapping some 20 times more heat than CO2. Although methane is present in much lower quantities in the atmosphere, its potency makes it responsible for about one-fifth of man-made warming.
The gas is found in natural gas deposits and is generated naturally by bacteria that break down organic matter, such as in the guts of farm animal. About two-thirds of global methane comes from man-made sources, and levels have more than doubled since the industrial revolution.
Unlike carbon dioxide, methane lasts only a decade or so in the atmosphere, which has led some experts to call for greater attention to curbs on its production. Reductions in methane emissions could bring faster results in the fight against climate change, they say.
Rising temperatures are not just a sign of climate change but are also a cause of it, a new study has suggested.
Higher temperatures on the surface of the earth are fuelling a further increase in emissions of methane, Edinburgh University experts found.
Methane is a greenhouse gas which is more potent than carbon dioxide.
The study indicated warmer temperatures in regions which were at higher latitudes increased methane - exacerbating global warming.
Scientists studying atmospheric levels of methane from the world's largest source of the gas, wetlands such as paddy fields, marshes and bogs, found that emissions were increasing in line with rising temperatures.
Researchers used satellite measurements of the atmospheric concentration of methane as well as data relating to surface temperature changes and variations in surface water to work out the levels of wetland emissions of methane from different regions.
The results showed that output from wetlands increased 7% between 2003 and 2007.
The findings also showed which regional wetland emissions were most sensitive to changes in flooding and extreme temperatures, which could help scientists predict future climate change.
Professor Paul Palmer of Edinburgh University's school of geosciences, who supervised the study, said: "These findings highlight the compound effect of increasing global warming - higher temperatures lead to faster warming.
"Our study reinforces the idea that satellites can pinpoint changes in the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from a particular place on earth.
"This opens the door to quantifying greenhouse gas emissions made from a variety of natural and man-made sources."
The study was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and was carried out in collaboration with the Netherlands Institute for Space research. Data was supplied by Nasa and the European Space Agency.
The University of Edinburgh PhD study is published in Science.
Arctic permafrost leaking methane at record levels, figures show
Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame
David Adam, guardian.co.uk 14 Jan 10;
Scientists have recorded a massive spike in the amount of a powerful greenhouse gas seeping from Arctic permafrost, in a discovery that highlights the risks of a dangerous climate tipping point.
Experts say methane emissions from the Arctic have risen by almost one-third in just five years, and that sharply rising temperatures are to blame.
The discovery follows a string of reports from the region in recent years that previously frozen boggy soils are melting and releasing methane in greater quantities. Such Arctic soils currently lock away billions of tonnes of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, leading some scientists to describe melting permafrost as a ticking time bomb that could overwhelm efforts to tackle climate change.
They fear the warming caused by increased methane emissions will itself release yet more methane and lock the region into a destructive cycle that forces temperatures to rise faster than predicted.
Paul Palmer, a scientist at Edinburgh University who worked on the new study, said: "High latitude wetlands are currently only a small source of methane but for these emissions to increase by a third in just five years is very significant. It shows that even a relatively small amount of warming can cause a large increase in the amount of methane emissions."
Global warming is occuring twice as fast in the Arctic than anywhere else on Earth. Some regions have already warmed by 2.5C, and temperatures there are projected to increase by more than 10C by 2100 if carbon emissions continue to rise at current rates.
Palmer said: "This study does not show the Arctic has passed a tipping point, but it should open people's eyes. It shows there is a positive feedback and that higher temperatures bring higher emissions and faster warming."
The change in the Arctic is enough to explain a recent increase in global methane levels in the atmosphere, he said. Global levels have risen steadily since 2007, after a decade or so holding steady.
The new study, published in the journal Science, shows that methane emissions from the Arctic increased by 31% from 2003-07. The increase represents about 1m extra tonnes of methane each year. Palmer cautioned that the five-year increase was too short to call a definitive trend.
The findings are part of a wider study of methane emissions from global wetlands, such as paddy fields, marshes and bogs. To identify where methane was released, the researchers combined methane levels in the atmosphere with surface temperature changes. They did not measure methane emissions directly, but used satellite measurements of variations in groundwater depth, which alter the way bacteria break down organic matter to release or consume methane.
They found that just over half of all methane emissions came from the tropics, with some 20m tonnes released from the Amazon river basin each year, and 26m tonnes from the Congo basin. Rice paddy fields across China and south and south-east Asia produced just under one-third of global methane, some 33m tonnes. Just 2% of global methane comes from Arctic latitudes, the study found, though the region showed the largest increases. The 31% rise in methane emissions there from 2003-07 was enough to help lift the global average increase to 7%.
Palmer said: "Our study reinforces the idea that satellites can pinpoint changes in the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from a particular place on earth. This opens the door to quantifying greenhouse gas emissions made from a variety of natural and man-made sources."
Palmer said it was a "disgrace" that so few satellites were launched to monitor levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane. He said it was unclear whether the team would be able to continue the methane monitoring in future. The pair of satellites used to analyse water, known as Grace, are already over their expected mission life time, while a European version launched last year, called Goce, is scheduled to fly for less than two years.
The new study follows repeated warnings that even modest levels of global warming could trigger huge increases in methane release from permafrost. Phillipe Ciais, a researcher with the Laboratory for Climate Sciences and the Environment in Gif-sur-Yvette, France, told a scientific meeting in Copenhagen last March that billions of tonnes could be released by just a 2C average global rise.
More on methane
While carbon dioxide gets most of the attention in the global warming debate, methane is pound-for-pound a more potent greenhouse gas, capable of trapping some 20 times more heat than CO2. Although methane is present in much lower quantities in the atmosphere, its potency makes it responsible for about one-fifth of man-made warming.
The gas is found in natural gas deposits and is generated naturally by bacteria that break down organic matter, such as in the guts of farm animal. About two-thirds of global methane comes from man-made sources, and levels have more than doubled since the industrial revolution.
Unlike carbon dioxide, methane lasts only a decade or so in the atmosphere, which has led some experts to call for greater attention to curbs on its production. Reductions in methane emissions could bring faster results in the fight against climate change, they say.
Scientists Push "Doomsday Clock" Back A Minute
Basil Katz, PlanetArk 15 Jan 10;
NEW YORK - Scientists pushed back the hands on the symbolic Doomsday Clock by one minute citing hopeful developments in nuclear weapons and climate changes.
The symbolic clock that shows how close mankind is to self-annihilation was moved back to six minutes before midnight from five minutes on Thursday.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which maintains the clock and puts an illustration of it on its cover, attributed the move to efforts by world leaders to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals and collaborate on climate stabilization.
The group, which includes 19 Nobel laureates, said a key to the "new era of cooperation is a change in the U.S. government's orientation toward international affairs brought about in part by the election of (U.S. President Barack) Obama."
Nuclear physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy at news conference held at the New York Academy of Sciences overlooking the World Trade Center site, said there had been "a shift in world opinion" recognizing that nuclear weapons are "no longer useful to fight wars and are not effective as deterrence."
BAS board member Lowell Sachnoff added, "Global warming is more of a threat than nuclear war."
When the clock was created in 1947, it was set at 7 minutes to midnight. It has been adjusted only 18 times before Thursday' move. The last was in 2007, when the BAS moved it forward by two minutes citing North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions and a renewed U.S. emphasis the military utility of nuclear weapons.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Doomsday Deferred: End-of-World Clock Set Back 1 Minute
livescience.com Yahoo News 14 Jan 10;
The Doomsday Clock has been set back 1 minute for the first time in its 63-year history. In moving the clock from 5 minutes before midnight to 6 minutes before midnight, scientists expressed optimism for humanity's future.
This end-of-the-world clock, set up in 1947, is meant to convey how close we are to the end of the world via catastrophe caused by nuclear weapons or climate change, among other factors.
The Haiti earthquake was not a factor in today's decision.
A news conference announcing the change took place this morning at the New York Academy of Sciences Building in New York City. The actual clock is housed at the Bulletin of Atomic Sciences (BAS) office in Chicago, Ill., and so a representation of the clock was shown at Thursday's news conference.
"We moved it back by just one minute, and what that means is there's great potential for it to move in either direction," Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist on the BAS Board of Sponsors, said at the news conference. Krauss added that for both nuclear weapons and climate change threats there has been "a sea change in attitude, an opening up of possibilities, but not yet a lot of action."Krauss is also at Arizona State University.
The last time the Doomsday Clock minute hand moved was in January 2007, when it was pushed forward by two minutes, from seven to five minutes before midnight. The change was meant to reflect two major sources of potential catastrophe that could bring us closer to "doomsday," according to the board of "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists," a magazine focused on warning the world of the dangers that the invention of the atomic bomb helped to unleash.
According to the board, the looming dangers included: the perils of 27,000 nuclear weapons, 2,000 of them ready to launch within minutes; and the destruction of human habitats from climate change.
State of the world
Today's announcement focused on both the positives and negatives surrounding ways to stem nuclear weapons and global warming, while not mentioning much about biosecurity, another threat that has come into play when determining which way to move the clock's minute hand.
"For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material," BAS scientists said in a statement. "And for the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable."
These unprecedented steps are signs of a growing political will to tackle the two gravest threats to civilization - the terror of nuclear weapons and runaway climate change."
Clock history
In December 1945, University of Chicago scientists who had helped to develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project created "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists." The Bulletin's board of directors then in 1947 came up with the idea of a Doomsday Clock to symbolize these threats. The message is that humans are "a few minutes to midnight," where midnight represents destruction by nuclear weapons, climate change and emerging technologies in the life sciences.
The hands of the clock move in response to changing world events, marching forward or back depending on the state of the world and the prospects of nuclear war.
When the Doomsday Clock debuted in 1947, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was occurring, with the time showing seven minutes to midnight. The time has since changed 18 times.
The closest approach to Doomsday occurred in 1953, when the clock was changed to two minutes to midnight after the United States and the Soviet Union each tested thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another.
And the biggest jump occurred in 1991 when the minute hand moved seven minutes, from 10 minutes to 17 minutes before midnight, to reflect the end of the Cold War when the United States and Russia were making deep cuts to their nuclear arsenals.
Since the "clock is ticking," BAS scientists urge various actions, including:
* Completing negotiations, signing and ratifying the new U.S.-Russia treaty providing for reductions in deployed nuclear warheads and delivery systems.
* Adopting and fulfilling climate-change agreements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
* Transforming the coal power sector of the world economy to retire older plants and to require in new plants the capture and storage of the carbon dioxide they produce.'
The Bulletin scientists also encourage much greater investment in developing alternatives to carbon-emitting energy sources, such as solar and wind, and in technologies for energy storage, and sharing these results worldwide.
Scientists praise Obama as Doomsday clock reset
Yahoo News 15 Jan 10;
NEW YORK (AFP) – International scientists nudged back the minute hand of the symbolic Doomsday clock Thursday, as they praised President Barack Obama for helping to pull the world back from nuclear or environmental catastrophe.
"It is six minutes to midnight," the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS), which created the Doomsday clock in 1947 as a barometer of how close the world is to an apocalyptic end, said in a statement read out as the clock's countdown to midnight was turned back by one minute.
"For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material," the statement by the panel of international scientists, including 19 Nobel laureates, said.
"For the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable."
A key player in the new, global era of cooperation was Obama, whose election in 2008 ushered in "a change in the US government's orientation toward international affairs," said Lawrence Krauss, co-chair of BAS's board of sponsors, speaking at the ceremony to turn back the hands of the symbolic clock.
Obama brought with him to the White House "a more pragmatic, problem-solving approach" than his predecessor, George W. Bush, the scientists said.
"Not only has Obama initiated new arms reduction talks with Russia, he has started negotiations with Iran to close its nuclear enrichment program, and directed the US government to lead a global effort to secure loose fissile material in four years," Krauss said, reading from the BAS statement.
Since it was created by scientists who helped to develop the world's first atomic weapons, the Doomsday clock has come to be seen as a measure of what progress, if any, the world has made in moving away from the risk of nuclear, climate-caused or bio-warfare catastrophe.
Midnight on the clock signifies the apocalypse, and the minute hand symbolizes the countdown to disaster.
The last time the minute hand was moved was in 2007, when Bush was president. Then, the clock was bumped two minutes closer to midnight.
In resetting the clock this year, the scientists said they were encouraged by recent developments, but had chosen to put back the clock by only one minute to show they were "mindful that the clock is ticking," said Krauss.
"By shifting the hand back from midnight by only one additional minute, we emphasize how much needs to be accomplished" while at the same time recognizing that global cooperation has moved forward, he said.
Putting back the clock by only one minute also meant that "there's great potential for it to move again, in either direction," said Krauss.
Which way the hands of the clock are moved next time was up to scientists, world leaders and ordinary people, said Krauss, urging them all to seize the "unique opportunity we have right now to begin to free ourselves from the terror of nuclear weapons and slow drastic changes to our shared global environment."
"We are now poised at a unique time, with hope and opportunity. Let's not blow it," he said.
NEW YORK - Scientists pushed back the hands on the symbolic Doomsday Clock by one minute citing hopeful developments in nuclear weapons and climate changes.
The symbolic clock that shows how close mankind is to self-annihilation was moved back to six minutes before midnight from five minutes on Thursday.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which maintains the clock and puts an illustration of it on its cover, attributed the move to efforts by world leaders to reduce their countries' nuclear arsenals and collaborate on climate stabilization.
The group, which includes 19 Nobel laureates, said a key to the "new era of cooperation is a change in the U.S. government's orientation toward international affairs brought about in part by the election of (U.S. President Barack) Obama."
Nuclear physicist Pervez Hoodbhoy at news conference held at the New York Academy of Sciences overlooking the World Trade Center site, said there had been "a shift in world opinion" recognizing that nuclear weapons are "no longer useful to fight wars and are not effective as deterrence."
BAS board member Lowell Sachnoff added, "Global warming is more of a threat than nuclear war."
When the clock was created in 1947, it was set at 7 minutes to midnight. It has been adjusted only 18 times before Thursday' move. The last was in 2007, when the BAS moved it forward by two minutes citing North Korea's test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions and a renewed U.S. emphasis the military utility of nuclear weapons.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Doomsday Deferred: End-of-World Clock Set Back 1 Minute
livescience.com Yahoo News 14 Jan 10;
The Doomsday Clock has been set back 1 minute for the first time in its 63-year history. In moving the clock from 5 minutes before midnight to 6 minutes before midnight, scientists expressed optimism for humanity's future.
This end-of-the-world clock, set up in 1947, is meant to convey how close we are to the end of the world via catastrophe caused by nuclear weapons or climate change, among other factors.
The Haiti earthquake was not a factor in today's decision.
A news conference announcing the change took place this morning at the New York Academy of Sciences Building in New York City. The actual clock is housed at the Bulletin of Atomic Sciences (BAS) office in Chicago, Ill., and so a representation of the clock was shown at Thursday's news conference.
"We moved it back by just one minute, and what that means is there's great potential for it to move in either direction," Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist on the BAS Board of Sponsors, said at the news conference. Krauss added that for both nuclear weapons and climate change threats there has been "a sea change in attitude, an opening up of possibilities, but not yet a lot of action."Krauss is also at Arizona State University.
The last time the Doomsday Clock minute hand moved was in January 2007, when it was pushed forward by two minutes, from seven to five minutes before midnight. The change was meant to reflect two major sources of potential catastrophe that could bring us closer to "doomsday," according to the board of "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists," a magazine focused on warning the world of the dangers that the invention of the atomic bomb helped to unleash.
According to the board, the looming dangers included: the perils of 27,000 nuclear weapons, 2,000 of them ready to launch within minutes; and the destruction of human habitats from climate change.
State of the world
Today's announcement focused on both the positives and negatives surrounding ways to stem nuclear weapons and global warming, while not mentioning much about biosecurity, another threat that has come into play when determining which way to move the clock's minute hand.
"For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material," BAS scientists said in a statement. "And for the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable."
These unprecedented steps are signs of a growing political will to tackle the two gravest threats to civilization - the terror of nuclear weapons and runaway climate change."
Clock history
In December 1945, University of Chicago scientists who had helped to develop the first atomic weapons in the Manhattan Project created "The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists." The Bulletin's board of directors then in 1947 came up with the idea of a Doomsday Clock to symbolize these threats. The message is that humans are "a few minutes to midnight," where midnight represents destruction by nuclear weapons, climate change and emerging technologies in the life sciences.
The hands of the clock move in response to changing world events, marching forward or back depending on the state of the world and the prospects of nuclear war.
When the Doomsday Clock debuted in 1947, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was occurring, with the time showing seven minutes to midnight. The time has since changed 18 times.
The closest approach to Doomsday occurred in 1953, when the clock was changed to two minutes to midnight after the United States and the Soviet Union each tested thermonuclear devices within nine months of one another.
And the biggest jump occurred in 1991 when the minute hand moved seven minutes, from 10 minutes to 17 minutes before midnight, to reflect the end of the Cold War when the United States and Russia were making deep cuts to their nuclear arsenals.
Since the "clock is ticking," BAS scientists urge various actions, including:
* Completing negotiations, signing and ratifying the new U.S.-Russia treaty providing for reductions in deployed nuclear warheads and delivery systems.
* Adopting and fulfilling climate-change agreements to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
* Transforming the coal power sector of the world economy to retire older plants and to require in new plants the capture and storage of the carbon dioxide they produce.'
The Bulletin scientists also encourage much greater investment in developing alternatives to carbon-emitting energy sources, such as solar and wind, and in technologies for energy storage, and sharing these results worldwide.
Scientists praise Obama as Doomsday clock reset
Yahoo News 15 Jan 10;
NEW YORK (AFP) – International scientists nudged back the minute hand of the symbolic Doomsday clock Thursday, as they praised President Barack Obama for helping to pull the world back from nuclear or environmental catastrophe.
"It is six minutes to midnight," the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists (BAS), which created the Doomsday clock in 1947 as a barometer of how close the world is to an apocalyptic end, said in a statement read out as the clock's countdown to midnight was turned back by one minute.
"For the first time since atomic bombs were dropped in 1945, leaders of nuclear weapons states are cooperating to vastly reduce their arsenals and secure all nuclear bomb-making material," the statement by the panel of international scientists, including 19 Nobel laureates, said.
"For the first time ever, industrialized and developing countries alike are pledging to limit climate-changing gas emissions that could render our planet nearly uninhabitable."
A key player in the new, global era of cooperation was Obama, whose election in 2008 ushered in "a change in the US government's orientation toward international affairs," said Lawrence Krauss, co-chair of BAS's board of sponsors, speaking at the ceremony to turn back the hands of the symbolic clock.
Obama brought with him to the White House "a more pragmatic, problem-solving approach" than his predecessor, George W. Bush, the scientists said.
"Not only has Obama initiated new arms reduction talks with Russia, he has started negotiations with Iran to close its nuclear enrichment program, and directed the US government to lead a global effort to secure loose fissile material in four years," Krauss said, reading from the BAS statement.
Since it was created by scientists who helped to develop the world's first atomic weapons, the Doomsday clock has come to be seen as a measure of what progress, if any, the world has made in moving away from the risk of nuclear, climate-caused or bio-warfare catastrophe.
Midnight on the clock signifies the apocalypse, and the minute hand symbolizes the countdown to disaster.
The last time the minute hand was moved was in 2007, when Bush was president. Then, the clock was bumped two minutes closer to midnight.
In resetting the clock this year, the scientists said they were encouraged by recent developments, but had chosen to put back the clock by only one minute to show they were "mindful that the clock is ticking," said Krauss.
"By shifting the hand back from midnight by only one additional minute, we emphasize how much needs to be accomplished" while at the same time recognizing that global cooperation has moved forward, he said.
Putting back the clock by only one minute also meant that "there's great potential for it to move again, in either direction," said Krauss.
Which way the hands of the clock are moved next time was up to scientists, world leaders and ordinary people, said Krauss, urging them all to seize the "unique opportunity we have right now to begin to free ourselves from the terror of nuclear weapons and slow drastic changes to our shared global environment."
"We are now poised at a unique time, with hope and opportunity. Let's not blow it," he said.
Investors urge governments to act on climate change
Reuters 14 Jan 10;
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Global investors representing $13 trillion in assets called on the United States and other countries on Thursday to adopt policies to fight climate change they said would unleash a potential flood of private money into renewable and efficient energy.
"Without policies that create a stable investment environment our hands are tied," Anne Stausboll, chief executive of the California Public Employees Retirement System, a pension fund with more than $205 billion in assets, said at a meeting called the Investor Summit on Climate Risk.
"We are ready and willing to up the ante to finance the transition to a low carbon global economy but you need to have the courage to act," said Mindy Lubber, the president of Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmentalists which was hosting the meeting.
More than 20 countries, including China and the United States, agreed to a non-binding Copenhagen Accord at a U.N. climate summit last month. They are hoping at least 100 countries sign on to the accord by pledging carbon cuts or action on climate in order to show the momentum needed to form a binding global agreement, a Western diplomat said.
But the United States, the world's second-largest emitter, has not formed a national plan to cut emissions as climate legislation has stalled in the Senate. And major developing countries want the United States to act first before agreeing to take binding action.
Opportunities for investing in the low carbon economy have been proven, investors said. A Deutsche Bank report released on Thursday found companies that specialize in renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal power and energy efficiency outperformed peers across the wider global economy last year and expected that to continue in 2010.
"Until the U.S. Congress passes climate regulation, America will be at a competitive disadvantage in the development of renewable energy and other climate change industries," said Kevin Parker, the bank's head of global asset management, which had $695 billion in assets as of September 2009.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Todd Eastham)
Investors Representing $13 Trillion Call on U.S. and Other Countries to Move Quickly
to Adopt Strong Climate Change Policies
UNEP 14 Jan 10;
"Cannot Wait for a Global Treaty," Investors Tell Congress and other Government Policymakers at United Nations Investors Climate Summit
New York, 14 January 2010 -On the heels of international climate treaty talks in Copenhagen, the world's largest investors today released a statement calling on the U.S. and other governments to move quickly to adopt strong national climate policies that will spur low-carbon investments to reduce emissions causing climate change.
Private-sector investors will likely be responsible for financing more than 85 percent of the global transition to a low-carbon economy.
Saying "we cannot wait for a global treaty," U.S., European and Australian investor groups representing $13 trillion in assets called on U.S. Congress and other global decision-makers "to take rapid action" on carbon emission limits, energy efficiency, renewable energy, financing mechanisms and other policies that will accelerate clean energy investment and job creation.
Investors made clear today that there are competitive advantages for countries with comprehensive climate and energy policies.
The investor statement was announced at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk, a meeting of 450 global investors at the United Nations that included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, United States Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, billionaire investor George Soros and former Vice President Al Gore.
"Investors are poised and ready to scale up investments in building the low carbon economy, but without policies that create a stable investment environment our hands are tied," said Anne Stausboll, chief executive officer of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation's largest public pension fund with more than $205 billion in assets. "U.S. leadership is critical in this regard, including U.S. Senate action to limit and put a price on carbon emissions."
"What investors need most from national and state legislatures are transparency, longevity and certainty," said Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Asset Management and member of Deutsche Bank's Group Executive Committee. "Until the U.S. Congress passes climate regulation, America will be at a competitive disadvantage in the development of renewable energy and other climate change industries."
The Investor Statement on Catalyzing Investment in a Low-Carbon Economy was endorsed by four groups representing more than 190 investors. The groups are the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). The statement is available at www.ceres.org
The financing commitments made at the recent climate change negotiations in Copenhagen focused major attention on the importance of catalyzing public and private investment at the scale required to effectively address climate change. Studies show that trillions of dollars of additional investments are needed globally over the next 20 years to curb greenhouse gas emissions - and that more than 85 percent of those investments will likely have to come from private investors such as those attending today's summit.
To catalyze such investment, the investor statement calls on national governments to immediately adopt or support:
* Short- and long-term carbon emission reduction targets;
* An effective price on carbon emissions that helps shift investment towards low-carbon solutions;
* Energy and transportation measures to vastly accelerate deployment of energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean vehicles and fuels;
* New financing mechanisms that can mobilize private-sector investment on a large scale, especially in developing countries.
* Measures and financing to support climate-related adaptation in developed and developing countries.
* Requirements for full corporate disclosure of material climate-related risks and strategies to manage those risks.
Investors made clear today that there are competitive advantages for countries with comprehensive climate and energy policies. "Germany's comprehensive policies, for example, have sparked significant private investment in industries focused on addressing climate change, leading to eight times more renewable energy jobs per capita than the United States," the investor statement says.
While emphasizing the importance of national policy action, the statement also calls on international negotiators to adopt a legally binding agreement this year with comprehensive long-term measures for carbon reductions; forest protection, adaptation to warming temperatures, finance and technology transfer.
Today's climate investor meeting was hosted and organized by Ceres, the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships. A webcast of the summit and press conference can be found at www.un.org/webcast
Participants at today's all-day summit at the UN offered strong support for the investor statement.
"As powerful as these investors are, they can't underwrite a clean energy transformation at the critical scale needed without clear rules only government can provide," said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk. "Government policy can make clean energy costcompetitive by leveling the playing field with fossil fuels. Only government policy provides the long-term certainty that can turbo-charge private investment in clean energy, address the climate change threat and protect our planet."
"Nations that address the energy challenge most effectively will quickly realize huge global economic opportunities. The race is on and there's a need for speed," said Pennsylvania State Treasurer Rob McCord, who joined Lubber and other leading investors in announcing the investor statement at the UN today.
"Many of the most immediate impacts from global warming are affecting the poorest countries, which are least responsible for the problem and least prepared to adapt," said Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation. "To keep the rise in global temperatures to acceptable levels, the world will require a huge increase in capital investment for low-carbon infrastructure in developing countries (where most of the global energy growth will occur in the next 50 years). Most of this investment will have to come from the private sector - financial leaders like those participating in today's summit."
"Some 85 percent of the financial resources needed to cope with climate challenges must come from private sources. In effect, the battle over climate change will be won - or lost - in the hands of private investors," said Bjarné Graven Larsen, Chief Investment Officer, ATP, Denmark's largest institutional investor. "In order to play this role effectively, strong, stable and credible policy frameworks are crucial. We are waiting for policymakers to deliver."
"Given that Copenhagen was a missed opportunity to create one fully functional international carbon market, it is more important than ever that individual governments implement regional and domestic policy change to stimulate the creation of a low carbon economy," said Peter Dunsombe, chairman of the IIGCC, a network of European investors. "Time is of the essence and world leaders from both developed and developing countries need to act now to compensate for the lack of progress at an international level."
"Investors have a critical role in helping drive the new clean energy economy forward," said Amir Dossal, executive director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships. "National governments can provide an enabling environment, including sound climate and energy policies, to encourage investors to use their capital to advance large-scale solutions for a low-carbon economy, leading to sustainable development. We must develop innovative public-private partnerships to bring about this change."
"Sustaining the momentum on combating climate change and delivering a legally-binding treaty in 2010 represent two of the big challenges of the year in terms of achieving sustainable growth and poverty reduction," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director. "This statement underlines that investors, representing trillions of dollars of assets, remain firmly focused and resolved on realizing a lowcarbon, resource-efficient green economy.
Governments should swiftly act on the pledges and promises made at the meetings in Copenhagen in respect to emissions reductions and finance."
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Global investors representing $13 trillion in assets called on the United States and other countries on Thursday to adopt policies to fight climate change they said would unleash a potential flood of private money into renewable and efficient energy.
"Without policies that create a stable investment environment our hands are tied," Anne Stausboll, chief executive of the California Public Employees Retirement System, a pension fund with more than $205 billion in assets, said at a meeting called the Investor Summit on Climate Risk.
"We are ready and willing to up the ante to finance the transition to a low carbon global economy but you need to have the courage to act," said Mindy Lubber, the president of Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmentalists which was hosting the meeting.
More than 20 countries, including China and the United States, agreed to a non-binding Copenhagen Accord at a U.N. climate summit last month. They are hoping at least 100 countries sign on to the accord by pledging carbon cuts or action on climate in order to show the momentum needed to form a binding global agreement, a Western diplomat said.
But the United States, the world's second-largest emitter, has not formed a national plan to cut emissions as climate legislation has stalled in the Senate. And major developing countries want the United States to act first before agreeing to take binding action.
Opportunities for investing in the low carbon economy have been proven, investors said. A Deutsche Bank report released on Thursday found companies that specialize in renewable energy like wind, solar and geothermal power and energy efficiency outperformed peers across the wider global economy last year and expected that to continue in 2010.
"Until the U.S. Congress passes climate regulation, America will be at a competitive disadvantage in the development of renewable energy and other climate change industries," said Kevin Parker, the bank's head of global asset management, which had $695 billion in assets as of September 2009.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; editing by Todd Eastham)
Investors Representing $13 Trillion Call on U.S. and Other Countries to Move Quickly
to Adopt Strong Climate Change Policies
UNEP 14 Jan 10;
"Cannot Wait for a Global Treaty," Investors Tell Congress and other Government Policymakers at United Nations Investors Climate Summit
New York, 14 January 2010 -On the heels of international climate treaty talks in Copenhagen, the world's largest investors today released a statement calling on the U.S. and other governments to move quickly to adopt strong national climate policies that will spur low-carbon investments to reduce emissions causing climate change.
Private-sector investors will likely be responsible for financing more than 85 percent of the global transition to a low-carbon economy.
Saying "we cannot wait for a global treaty," U.S., European and Australian investor groups representing $13 trillion in assets called on U.S. Congress and other global decision-makers "to take rapid action" on carbon emission limits, energy efficiency, renewable energy, financing mechanisms and other policies that will accelerate clean energy investment and job creation.
Investors made clear today that there are competitive advantages for countries with comprehensive climate and energy policies.
The investor statement was announced at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk, a meeting of 450 global investors at the United Nations that included UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, United States Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern, billionaire investor George Soros and former Vice President Al Gore.
"Investors are poised and ready to scale up investments in building the low carbon economy, but without policies that create a stable investment environment our hands are tied," said Anne Stausboll, chief executive officer of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the nation's largest public pension fund with more than $205 billion in assets. "U.S. leadership is critical in this regard, including U.S. Senate action to limit and put a price on carbon emissions."
"What investors need most from national and state legislatures are transparency, longevity and certainty," said Kevin Parker, global head of Deutsche Asset Management and member of Deutsche Bank's Group Executive Committee. "Until the U.S. Congress passes climate regulation, America will be at a competitive disadvantage in the development of renewable energy and other climate change industries."
The Investor Statement on Catalyzing Investment in a Low-Carbon Economy was endorsed by four groups representing more than 190 investors. The groups are the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). The statement is available at www.ceres.org
The financing commitments made at the recent climate change negotiations in Copenhagen focused major attention on the importance of catalyzing public and private investment at the scale required to effectively address climate change. Studies show that trillions of dollars of additional investments are needed globally over the next 20 years to curb greenhouse gas emissions - and that more than 85 percent of those investments will likely have to come from private investors such as those attending today's summit.
To catalyze such investment, the investor statement calls on national governments to immediately adopt or support:
* Short- and long-term carbon emission reduction targets;
* An effective price on carbon emissions that helps shift investment towards low-carbon solutions;
* Energy and transportation measures to vastly accelerate deployment of energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean vehicles and fuels;
* New financing mechanisms that can mobilize private-sector investment on a large scale, especially in developing countries.
* Measures and financing to support climate-related adaptation in developed and developing countries.
* Requirements for full corporate disclosure of material climate-related risks and strategies to manage those risks.
Investors made clear today that there are competitive advantages for countries with comprehensive climate and energy policies. "Germany's comprehensive policies, for example, have sparked significant private investment in industries focused on addressing climate change, leading to eight times more renewable energy jobs per capita than the United States," the investor statement says.
While emphasizing the importance of national policy action, the statement also calls on international negotiators to adopt a legally binding agreement this year with comprehensive long-term measures for carbon reductions; forest protection, adaptation to warming temperatures, finance and technology transfer.
Today's climate investor meeting was hosted and organized by Ceres, the United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships. A webcast of the summit and press conference can be found at www.un.org/webcast
Participants at today's all-day summit at the UN offered strong support for the investor statement.
"As powerful as these investors are, they can't underwrite a clean energy transformation at the critical scale needed without clear rules only government can provide," said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres and director of the Investor Network on Climate Risk. "Government policy can make clean energy costcompetitive by leveling the playing field with fossil fuels. Only government policy provides the long-term certainty that can turbo-charge private investment in clean energy, address the climate change threat and protect our planet."
"Nations that address the energy challenge most effectively will quickly realize huge global economic opportunities. The race is on and there's a need for speed," said Pennsylvania State Treasurer Rob McCord, who joined Lubber and other leading investors in announcing the investor statement at the UN today.
"Many of the most immediate impacts from global warming are affecting the poorest countries, which are least responsible for the problem and least prepared to adapt," said Timothy E. Wirth, president of the United Nations Foundation. "To keep the rise in global temperatures to acceptable levels, the world will require a huge increase in capital investment for low-carbon infrastructure in developing countries (where most of the global energy growth will occur in the next 50 years). Most of this investment will have to come from the private sector - financial leaders like those participating in today's summit."
"Some 85 percent of the financial resources needed to cope with climate challenges must come from private sources. In effect, the battle over climate change will be won - or lost - in the hands of private investors," said Bjarné Graven Larsen, Chief Investment Officer, ATP, Denmark's largest institutional investor. "In order to play this role effectively, strong, stable and credible policy frameworks are crucial. We are waiting for policymakers to deliver."
"Given that Copenhagen was a missed opportunity to create one fully functional international carbon market, it is more important than ever that individual governments implement regional and domestic policy change to stimulate the creation of a low carbon economy," said Peter Dunsombe, chairman of the IIGCC, a network of European investors. "Time is of the essence and world leaders from both developed and developing countries need to act now to compensate for the lack of progress at an international level."
"Investors have a critical role in helping drive the new clean energy economy forward," said Amir Dossal, executive director of the United Nations Office for Partnerships. "National governments can provide an enabling environment, including sound climate and energy policies, to encourage investors to use their capital to advance large-scale solutions for a low-carbon economy, leading to sustainable development. We must develop innovative public-private partnerships to bring about this change."
"Sustaining the momentum on combating climate change and delivering a legally-binding treaty in 2010 represent two of the big challenges of the year in terms of achieving sustainable growth and poverty reduction," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director. "This statement underlines that investors, representing trillions of dollars of assets, remain firmly focused and resolved on realizing a lowcarbon, resource-efficient green economy.
Governments should swiftly act on the pledges and promises made at the meetings in Copenhagen in respect to emissions reductions and finance."