NatureScouter lands on Terumbu Pempang Tengah!
from NatureScouter Rambles
Sharing Cyrene with URA, June 2010
from Cyrene Reef Exposed! and Sharing Cyrene with JTC, July 2010
Fun with Jeff and Reefs at Singapore Scouts Association
from NatureScouter Rambles and NatureScouter hits Cyrene!
Odonata @ Lornie Trail
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature
Pacific Swallow family conflict
from Bird Ecology Study Group
Hoe Yeen Nie Today Online 21 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE - Recent flash floods have prompted MPs and some Singaporeans to ask if the Marina Barrage was doing its job.
And the PUB's reply is yes.
At a media briefing yesterday, the national water agency said data showed that during the two-hour storm on Saturday morning, the water level at the Barrage was within its capacity limits.
The range is determined by several factors, including sea levels during low and high tides.
PUB's director of Catchment and Waterways Tan Nguan Sen said if the water level in the reservoir exceeded its upper limit, water will be drained out, either by opening the flood gates, or by pumping the water out.
Data shows that at 5.30am that Saturday, the flood gates were activated. By then, it had been raining for an hour.
On the other side of the Barrage, the tide was also falling, and by 6am, the tide had fallen to below the water level in the reservoir. This allowed all eight gates to be opened fully so that the excess storm water could flow out.
Mr Tan added that the Barrage helped prevent severe flooding in the immediate downtown areas, though not in places that are further upstream, such as Orchard Road. Hoe Yeen Nie
July rainfall volume within Marina Barrage capacity: PUB
Hoe Yeen Nie Channel NewsAsia 20 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE: Recent flash floods have prompted Singaporeans to question if the Marina Barrage is doing its job.
At a briefing Tuesday, national water agency PUB explained it has done so - citing Saturday's downpour as an example.
The intensity of Saturday's early morning rain caught everyone off-guard.
When the two-hour storm ended, more rain had fallen than what the whole of July normally sees.
It was the third time in a month that severe rainfall had caused flash floods in parts of the island.
PUB data shows that despite the rising water level, the volume was well within the reservoir's capacity.
At 5.30am, the flood gates were activated.
By then, rain had been pouring for an hour.
On the other side of the Barrage, the tide was also falling, and by 6am it was below the water level in the reservoir.
All eight gates were then fully opened to let excess water out.
The decision to drain water out of the reservoir, and how much to drain away, depends on several factors. These include how fast water level in the reservoir is rising, and if the level remains within an acceptable range. PUB says it also has to ensure that there is enough water in the reservoir to meet Singapore's drinking needs.
Tan Nguan Sen, director of Catchment & Waterways, PUB, said: "The Marina reservoir was built for two main functions. One is to act as storage for fresh water, and the other one is for flood control purposes. For flood control purposes we want to keep the reservoir as low as possible, whereas as a storage for fresh water we want to keep it as high as possible."
PUB says if the level in the reservoir exceeded its upper limit, water will be drained out, either by operating the floodgates or the pumps.
But the Barrage may not release water every time it rains.
Mr Tan said: "Unless it is very sudden heavy rain, and we see that the water level is rising very much faster, we will as an added precaution release the water. We'll only release the water up till the lowest operating level that we have."
He also said the Barrage helped prevent severe flooding in the immediate areas downtown, though not in places further upstream, like Orchard Road.
- CNA/jm
Barrage 'won't affect Orchard Rd'
Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
THE Marina Barrage can prevent flooding only in low-lying areas, and not in places such as Orchard Road, which lies above sea level.
So suggestions that it was somehow responsible for the flooding along Singapore's premier shopping street recently are off-base, national water agency PUB said yesterday.
Mr Tan Nguan Sen, PUB's director for catchment and waterways, said: 'Orchard Road is very far upstream and 4m or 5m above sea level, and it cannot be affected by the barrage, which prevents the Marina area from being flooded by keeping out the high tide.'
In response to media queries, he explained that the barrage did not affect the way rain drained into the canals, which are built to slope down towards the Marina Reservoir.
Before the barrier was built, low-lying areas such as Little India were more flood-prone when a high tide coincided with heavy rain.
Mr Tan said the barrage did what it was supposed to do very well last Saturday, when Singapore was lashed by a storm and widespread flash flooding occurred over the central and eastern parts of the island. Without the barrage, things would have been much worse, he said, as the storm occurred just as a high tide was receding.
Explaining how the barrage works, Mr Tan said the level of the Marina Reservoir is kept between that of the high and low tides.
The barrage's nine gates and its seven pumps are used only when the level of the reservoir rises to the higher end of this range.
The gates are used when the sea level is lower than that of the reservoir, and the pumps, when the sea level is higher than the reservoir's.
Last Saturday morning, the reservoir was at its usual level, PUB said yesterday, but the sea level was much higher as the tide was high.
The storm began at 4.30am that day, and about 20 minutes later, the National Environment Agency issued a heavy rain warning. These warnings are issued if rainfall is expected to exceed 50mm over at least 20 per cent of Singapore, up to a duration of two hours.
About 10 minutes after the warning was received, PUB staff began to partially open eight of the barrage's nine flood gates - the last one was undergoing maintenance at the time - as the reservoir level was rising. The process took about 15 minutes.
Thirty minutes later, the gates were opened fully as the tide had receded, and the seawater level fell to below that in the reservoir.
Mr Tan said that although the volume of water coming into the reservoir from the various canals is not measured, the fact that the water drained quickly from the reservoir meant it was not overwhelmed by the deluge.
VICTORIA VAUGHAN
Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
THE process of widening and deepening the Bukit Timah Canal may be completed within two years.
Mr Chris de Souza, an MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, told The Straits Times that this is the tentative timeline after viewing the plans yesterday with officials from PUB, the national water agency.
It was also the news he gave to three representatives of residents of the Tessarina condominium off Bukit Timah at a closed-door meeting last night.
Said Mr de Souza, who was accompanied by two PUB engineers: 'The canal, which is currently V-shaped, will be converted to a broad U-shape, which will have incredible capacity to absorb a lot more water.'
But it will take some time. In the meantime, he encouraged residents to recommend to the condominium's management that interim measures such as crest protection be put in place.
Such protection makes use of shutter-like structures built on the ground level. When flooding occurs, the shutters will be activated so that water will be prevented from flowing into basements. Costs will be borne by the condominium.
Mr de Souza said he and PUB made this recommendation after Tessarina, which is along Wilby Road, was first hit by flooding in November last year. Then, some 100 cars in its 500-lot basement carpark were almost submerged after rainwater surged down the carpark entrance ramps.
But it was not put in place, and the early morning downpour last Saturday flooded the carpark again.
Said Mr de Souza, who initiated last night's meeting after residents e-mailed him: 'In dealing with this problem, it has to be work between the government and the private sector.'
Another possibility he is exploring is to raise the level of Wilby Road. He will meet Land Transport Authority officials next week to discuss this option.
Resident Tony Mok, 43, who was at last night's meeting, said it was a positive one. The head of training at a multinational corporation had to fork out $20,000 in car repairs after the flooding.
Of the time to widen the canal, he said: 'We have to be practical, it takes time. The only thing is that it should have been done five years ago.'
Mr de Souza was not the only MP out yesterday to meet constituents and soothe nerves.
Dr Ong Seh Hong, an MP for Marine Parade GRC, was getting feedback from afflicted residents and shopkeepers in Changi Road during a walkabout.
While flooding occurs annually in the low-lying area, this year's deluge ranked as 'the worst'. Water last Saturday rose to calf-level, destroying products and furniture. Some newer buildings on high ground were spared, but older shophouses were badly hit.
Still, some residents kept their humour. One asked him to 'tell the skies not to rain', Mr Ong recounted with a laugh.
But turning serious, he added: 'I think the drainage system can be improved. The drain is too shallow, so I am asking the PUB to see what they can do to deepen it.'
LI XUEYING
Sona Remesh Channel NewsAsia 20 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE: Strong winds and heavy rains Tuesday afternoon claimed the life of one driver.
A 32-year old man was killed when a tree fell and crushed the car he was in, at the junction of Thomson Hills Drive and Yio Chu Kang Road.
The tree was uprooted at the base, dragging along some parts of the drain by the roadside.
The tree was removed at around 4.45pm.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the car was badly damaged.
Rescuers took about 20 minutes to remove the victim's body with hydraulic spreader-cutters. The driver had suffered injuries to his spine.
Paramedics pronounced the victim dead at the scene. No one else was in the car
An NParks spokesperson said there were strong winds at the time of the accident.
According to NParks, the wind at the time of the accident today was as high as 65km/h.
The National Parks Board also added it will be inspecting other trees in the area - a move welcomed by residents.
One resident, businessman S L Chua, said: "It's sad (that) this incident has killed someone, I hope they have more stringent inspections and they look at the whole canopy of the tree. Because the canopy is so heavy, if its slanting to one side, sooner or later the whole tree will come down, especially with the strong and heavy winds nowadays."
CEO of NParks, Mr Ng Lang said the 35-40 year old raintree was last pruned in January, as part of routine pruning to reduce the weight of the crown.
He added that the tree was likely uprooted due to a weather phenomenon known as a microburst.
This is a localised, powerful descending air draft column that produces damaging winds at high speed, and is known to knock down fully grown trees.
"NParks is deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident. Our priority now is to extend assistance to the family of the deceased," he said.
In a separate incident, another tree fell at nearby Tagore Lane.
Police had to cordon off the section of Upper Thomson Road, after its junction with Yio Chu Kang Road.
No injuries were recorded.
Tuesday's incidents come after National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said some 240 trees fell in June alone.
This is about 170 per cent higher compared to the same month last year, due largely to the adverse weather.
Mr Mah said this in a written reply to a query by MP Baey Yam Keng on Monday, July 19.
- CNA/jm
Motorist, 32, killed as tree falls on car
Esther Ng and Leong Wee Keat Today Online 21 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE - A baby seat, a baby stroller. A brown soft toy, a black Harrods shopping bag. One by one, they were removed from a mangled metal wreck along Yio Chu Kang Road yesterday.
"Severe weather conditions" were blamed after a mature rain tree - said to be 35 to 40 years old - was uprooted and fell on a car, crushing its roof and killing the driver, Chua Loong Wai, 32. He was driving towards Upper Thomson Road and had just passed the Thomson Hills Drive junction when the tree landed on his car at about 2pm.
The wind speed then was reported to be as high as 65 kmh, accompanied by heavy rain.
NParks chief executive Ng Lang said an intense microburst - a powerful descending column of air which produces damaging winds at high speed - had occurred in the area around that time.
Mr Ng added: "Microbursts may last for only a few seconds, but are known to knock down fully grown trees."
While they had seen branches falling, residents at nearby Teachers' Estate said this was the first time in 15 years they had seen a tree being uprooted.
Singapore Civil Defence Force officers took 20 minutes to extricate Mr Chua from the crumpled vehicle. No other passengers were in the black Honda Freed.
"NParks is deeply saddened by this unfortunate incident," said Mr Ng, and its priority is to extend assistance to the family.
At Monday's Parliament sitting, Member of Parliament Baey Yam Keng (Tanjong Pagar GRC) had asked: How safe are roads from falling trees?
In a written answer, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said 240 "tree failures" were reported last month, 170 per cent more than in June last year.
Mr Mah had added: "Wind forces and sodden soil due to heavy rain ... can weaken the stability of all trees, even the healthy trees, and cause them to be uprooted. Such forces of nature are beyond NParks' control.
"NParks monitors the condition of each tree over time and takes preventive action where necessary to minimise risks of tree failure."
These include replacing roadside trees with hardy species and regular pruning to remove weak or overgrown branches. This has cut "tree failures" by nearly 70 per cent, from about 3,100 cases in 2000 to about 1,000 last year. The uprooted tree on Yio Chu Kang road was last pruned in January.
Mr S L Chua, 55, a resident at nearby Casuarina Walk, "was very concerned" about the big trees "slanting to one side toward the road" in the estate. NParks said it will be inspecting the trees.
Tree lands on car, killing driver
Strong winds and heavy rain caused tree to be uprooted
Kimberly Spykerman & Ted Chen Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
A MAN was crushed to death when a rain tree uprooted and smashed into the car he was driving, pinning him to his seat during yesterday's heavy downpour.
The motorist, 32-year-old Chua Loong Wai, who was alone when the accident happened, suffered injuries to his spine.
The accident occurred at the junction of Thomson Hills Drive and Yio Chu Kang Road at around 2pm.
Officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force took 20 minutes to extricate his body from the tangled wreck of twisted metal with hydraulic spreader cutters.
The National Parks Board (NParks) said it understood that there were strong winds and heavy rain - the result of an intense microburst. A microburst is a localised, powerful, descending air draft column that produces winds at high speed, and is known to knock down trees.
The wind speed at the time was as high as 65kmh. A spokesman added that NParks is assisting the family of the dead man and will be conducting an inspection of the trees in the vicinity.
When The Straits Times arrived at the scene, the black Honda Freed was smashed and a team of about 12 workers had begun taking the felled tree apart. Rain trees can reach between 15m and 25m in height.
Mr Chua's family arrived not long after. Accompanied by police officers, they inspected the wrecked car and took photos of the tree. One man, believed to be Mr Chua's brother, was seen gesticulating angrily at the tree. Things turned tearful when the family was led to a police tent nearby to identify Mr Chua's body. Mr Chua's brother began to sob loudly. The family declined to be interviewed when approached by reporters.
Most residents in the area said they were shocked that the rain had brought down the large tree. Businessman Robert Chia, 55, said: 'This is the first time I've seen any tree topple in the area. I've lived here for over 20 years, and this tree has always been here.'
He added that the trees are trimmed and maintained regularly.
An environmental engineer, who wanted to be known only as Mr Selvan, was in the area when he heard about the accident and he claimed the uprooted tree 'did not have deep roots'. The 27-year-old added that the soil 'is not compact and very loose'.
However, one resident, 55-year-old businessman Chua Siong Lee, said some neighbours had been writing to NParks about slanted trees near his Casuarina Walk home - 400m away from the accident site - since last year. 'Nobody seems to be doing anything' about it, he said. 'The canopy is too heavy. If it's slanting to one side, sooner or later something will happen.'
He cited an incident two months ago, when a tree toppled onto a neighbour's car. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Workers trimmed the branches of the tree next to the felled one yesterday. The felled tree was last pruned in January.
The deadly accident comes a day after Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan said, in a written response to MP Baey Yam Keng, that NParks would review its tree management programme and explore new technology to better assess tree conditions, so as to reduce the incidence of fallen trees.
Police have classified the case as an unnatural death and are investigating.
240 mishaps last month
Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
THERE were 240 incidents involving trees or branches which fell last month, largely due to bad weather.
The figure is more than double the 90 incidents during the same month last year.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan gave the figures in a written reply on Monday to Mr Baey Yam Keng, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, adding that 'forces of nature' such as the weather were beyond the control of the National Parks Board (NParks).
Mr Baey had asked how the ministry planned to minimise future disruptions after a spate of incidents.
In his reply, Mr Mah said: 'Wind forces and sodden soil due to heavy rain... can weaken the stability of trees... and cause them to be uprooted.'
He added that NParks is reviewing its tree management programme and is exploring new technology to better assess the condition of trees.
He said that despite the rise in tree failures, the number was down by about 70 per cent over the last 10 years, from 3,100 in 2000 to 1,000 last year.
NParks also conducts regular inspections, pruning weak branches and replacing trees with more resilient species when necessary, he said.
In response to queries yesterday, an NParks spokesman said it will be looking at new techniques in tree maintenance. including pruning a tree's crown, reducing its weight and stabilising it during storms.
Experts suggest green measures to combat floods
Alvina Soh, Lim Zhi Ying Channel NewsAsia 20 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE : Experts say the recent flooding has again shown why it is important to manage the environment and embrace green buildings.
One solution lies in the rooftop gardens that some buildings have.
They can function as catchment areas to store water and reduce the risk of flooding.
Experts say such features should be incorporated into the building designs.
Jason Pomeroy, director of Broadway Malyan Asia, said: "If we consider one square metre of ground coverage or rooftop coverage can actually hold 6 litres of water, that's considerable.
"So if we can start to see a greater embracing of rooftop gardens as well as gardens on the ground, what this can actually mean is that we're minimising the rainwater run off the buildings...
"We are mitigating the issue of hard surfaces within the tall building structures and therefore reduce the loading to the store water drainage. And that in essence basically means we are going to have less of a flood risk."
- CNA/al
Floods call for broad response
Rethink and action required before next flood brings casualties
Chua Mui Hoong, Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
I SURVIVED the 1969 floods.
Family folklore had it that my mother snatched me, a babe in arms, and scrambled up to the attic of our Bukit Timah kampung house to join my siblings, who had clambered to safety. The flood waters submerged the first floor.
'Your father swam around saving our belongings. And I remember a snake that climbed up the altar and twined itself on the pillar for safety,' my mother said.
That story about the December 1969 floods, Singapore's second worst, became part of our family mythology, bringing to life an old Singapore - poverty-stricken, flood-prone, messy - far removed from the efficient metropolis of today.
Then I saw on the front of The Sunday Times last weekend a picture of a car submerged in the basement carpark of Tessarina, a condominium in Bukit Timah where I had lived for some years. 'That could have been my car,' I thought.
So, has Singapore returned to another era of flooding in the remaining vulnerable areas? With three floods in just over a month, affected Singaporeans are asking if they should brace themselves for a new diluvian period. This sentiment draws from statements from government ministers that some flooding is inevitable in a tropical island city-state. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim have both said it is not realistic to expect a flood-free Singapore.
Of course, the question is what level of flooding is acceptable - now. Three or four decades ago, flooding was an accepted part of life here. The worst floods took place in 1978, causing the deaths of seven people. That was when the highest rainfall was recorded in Singapore over 24 hours: 512mm.
The second highest was 467mm in 1969, and the third worst was 366mm in 2006.
In the last month or so, there have been three floods. The June 16 shocker that saw Orchard Road in knee-high muddy water was the result of 100mm of rain within two hours over the Stamford Canal catchment area.
The June 25 flood occurred after a rainfall of up to 100mm within two hours. And then last Saturday, rainfall of more than 180mm fell in the central and eastern areas over two hours.
Singaporeans are mindful that the three worst floods in 1969, 1978 and 2006 all took place during the traditional rainy monsoon season in December.
If the drainage system in flood-prone areas is literally bursting at its seams in June and July, how would it function during the rainy season? Or should Singaporeans brace themselves for floods like those of 30, 40 years ago?
To be fair to the Government and the national water agency PUB, they have done a sterling job eradicating the flood menace, so much so that an overflowing longkang is more likely to cause excitement among children these days than fear of drowning. More than $2 billion has been spent to upgrade drainage, reducing flood-prone areas from 3,178ha to 66ha today.
Given this record, the PUB and its parent Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) might have let their guard down against floods in an area like Orchard Road.
The water agency has now acknowledged that drainage systems need to be reviewed and beefed up. No matter what is done, however, the fact is that weather is volatile. Throw in climate change, urbanisation and concretisation leading to the increase of run-off water into drains, canal diversions due to redevelopment, and even a rise in littering that clogs drains - and you get a recipe for unpredictable water flows.
The simple truth is that the PUB was caught off-guard by the recent spate of floods. To my mind, this is understandable. Indeed, the entire country was caught off-guard on June 16.
A clogged drain was fingered as the cause of the flood a few days after the event. But on Monday, PUB said further investigations showed that it was a capacity issue: The Stamford Canal simply could not cope with two heavy bouts of rain.
In this 'perfect storm' situation, could it be that Singapore's very competent water agency was not altogether on top of the issue initially? What matters now is Singapore's collective ability to deal with the bigger picture, as other novel situations might occur in the future.
The floods have become a larger problem that goes beyond the PUB and MEWR. A broader-based response is in order, in keeping with a state that prides itself on a whole-of-government approach to problems.
Citizens upset over delayed travel, ruined cars, furniture or goods want assurance that the floods are being tackled at the highest levels of government. There is no quick fix to prevent floods. But how can Singapore prepare better for the next one, which may be worse?
It is not enough to say floods are inevitable, and to ask PUB to conduct more dialogues with property owners and residents.
After three floods, Singaporeans are asking what level of flooding they should learn to cope with. Flood prevention, of course, involves costs and benefits.
Singapore might learn from the Netherlands, which developed a conceptual framework called the 'Delta norm' to ascertain if expensive flood prevention systems should be built. This identifies flood-prone areas, assigns a risk of catastrophic flooding and estimates the cost of such damage.
Is it worthwhile spending hundreds of millions of dollars to prevent a flood that may occur just once in 50 years? Perhaps the answer is 'yes', if there is a risk to many lives, damage to property in the millions of dollars and reputational risk.
More pertinently, what if that 'once-in-50 years' statistic is now outdated, and it is more like 'once-in-10 years'?
Typhoons and squalls that cause severe havoc elsewhere unleash relatively mild flash floods here. Three floods in 32 days causing property damage and a lot of inconvenience - and no loss of life - do not amount to calamities. But people falling into an open raging drain in the next flood could change that.
Floods call for fast-disbursing financial help
Business Times 21 Jul 10;
MORE than a month has passed since Orchard Road was hit by an intense storm that caused millions of dollars of damage to businesses and disrupted their operations.
Many are still struggling to get back on their feet. Some are unclear if - and how much of - their losses they will be able to recover through insurance claims. Others lament that their building's management committees have largely kept mum so far on possible compensation and measures to prevent a repeat of the ordeal.
Until then, retailers are bracing for the onset of more flash floods, with the popular shopping belt now a designated flooding hot spot. Orchard Road was not spared by another torrential downpour last Saturday, and another bout of heavy rainfall yesterday afternoon did little to soothe the nerves of worried retailers.
On Monday, the Environment and Water Resources Ministry rolled out some plans to tackle the problem, among them speeding up drainage work in various flood-prone areas, inviting businesses to participate in an early-warning-alert SMS system and increasing the number of water level sensors five-fold to 150 by next year. While these preventive measures are welcome, more could be done, especially to help businesses and retailers affected by the floods. The General Insurance Association of Singapore said on Monday that it estimated claims for the June 16 flood will be at least $8 million - a figure that is likely to rise as more people submit their claims in the coming weeks. How long they will have to wait for payouts, however, is unknown.
It is time to explore the feasibility of putting in place an emergency fund, which can provide immediate financial assistance to those affected in the event of future flash foods or other natural disasters. Such assistance would provide welcome relief for, especially, small businesses which need instant funds to carry out repairs or restock their inventories - which in some cases were washed away during the recent floods.
The fund could also be used to quickly help those in distress, such as the family of the unfortunate man who was killed along Yio Chu Kang Road yesterday when a tree fell and hit the car he was in during the heavy downpour. The amounts disbursed can later be adjusted against insurance claims or other forms of compensation when those are paid out. The great merit of such a fund would be its ability to disburse funds rapidly when they are most needed.
The government has shown it can act quickly when the situation warrants. Last year, for instance, it brought forward the annual Budget and rolled out a $20.5 billion stimulus package to help businesses and workers weather the downturn. And when Sars hit the region back in 2003, the Courage Fund was set up within weeks to provide relief to victims and healthcare workers.
Flooding problems are not new, but the intensity and scale of the recent floods have caught many off-guard. Providing quick financial assistance could make the vital difference in determining the well-being - and, in some cases, survival - of businesses that are affected.
All eyes on flood hot spot Orchard
Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
THE PUB pinpointed a culvert choked with debris as the cause of the June 16 flash flood in Orchard Road that shut down commerce in some sections. There was little reason to doubt the water agency's evaluation, although public mutterings hinted at serious shortcomings in the drainage capacity. This has turned out to be the case: Singaporeans now know it wasn't just a blockage but that the Stamford Canal could not drain away fast enough the runoff from two bouts of heavy rainfall that morning. From what was first diagnosed as a blockage, a process matter, to under-capacity, a design issue, is quite a traversal. Floodwaters subsided within an hour, an indication existing capacity could cope with normal rainfall but not storm surges. It is prudent to be prepared for severe rainfall patterns.
This implies occasional flash floods could still immobilise parts of the Orchard shops and hotels belt until the canal is widened or deepened. Either procedure will take time to execute. The engineers should consider designing into the improvements a surplus carrying capacity to take account of abnormal rainfall. Lack of a margin has been established as a deficiency of the canal as exists. Some may wonder where else might the PUB have put a foot wrong. It has been brilliant at increasing water production and imaginative at converting reservoirs into scenic recreational locations. Taking care of drains and canals is not glamorous work but a slip-up can be unsettling all round, as has been shown graphically in recent weeks.
The updated assessment that Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim gave to Parliament on Monday came with an assurance that the entire drainage network will be re-examined while planned flood alleviation works will be speeded up where feasible. The public and downtown businesses will expect nothing less. Shopkeepers in Lucky Plaza and Liat Towers, the worst affected spots, have been remarkably patient considering the business losses and goods damage endured. The owners should be helped with building platforms to keep floodwaters out. Early-warning systems that the PUB has arranged for shops and condominium managements and the proliferation of flood sensors and debris traps are welcome coping measures, but prevention to a practical extent possible is the chief target to focus on.
The minister's disclosure that Singapore's flood-prone area has shrunk by 98 per cent after three decades of engineering, from 3,200ha to 66ha, still leaves some prized areas exposed. If it wasn't Orchard that went sloshing twice in two months, there might not have been as much consternation.
Residents jittery over what the next storm will bring
Leong Wee Keat Today Online 21 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE - Three days after their basements were flooded, residents of this Bukit Timah development still do not have electricity supply to their homes.
Some frustrated households at Gentle Reflections have moved to hotels and serviced apartments for $700 to $1,000 a night.
Some tenants, like Mr Adre Volschenk, have had enough. The South African plans to move out of the townhouses at Gentle Road, off Dunearn Road, once his lawyer settles the lease agreement. He has lost two cars and $15,000 worth of personal items when the flood waters came on Saturday.
"I'm not comfortable living here. My family is traumatised. My maid almost drowned in this whole thing," he said.
Domestic helper Lalaine Suratos, 30, awoke that morning to find the basement filled with ankle-high water, which rose to her chest and kept rising. "I had to jump onto a chair to stay above the water," she said.
If not for Mr Volschenk, who pulled her to safety, the maid would have drowned in the rising waters. The 30-year-old Filipina was warded at Tan Tock Seng Hospital after she complained of stomach cramps. She has since recovered.
The flood was the second in a month at the development. In the first, the waters rose to around knee height and Mr Faiek Peck is fed up with the landlord. He said: "If the owner isn't prepared to do anything, we can't risk going through this again." He has lost a Honda Stream and close to $15,000 worth of personal items.
But not all residents want out. Swiss national Frank Hemm would like to remain if the drainage issues are resolved, as his daughter attends a school in the vicinity.
When contacted yesterday about the tenants' concerns, a spokesman for the property's management said it had "given enough help" to the residents.
As it began to rain yesterday, the residents' jitters were evident.
Mr Volschenk put aside his cleaning at home and tended to the development's underground drain, which was starting to fill up with rainwater. After 10 minutes of trying, the water pump finally kicked into life.
Mr Volschenk said: "I'm just frustrated because between PUB and the management of Gentle Reflections, nobody seems to be committed to solving the obvious problem that we have over here". Leong Wee Keat
Nightmare continues after the floods
Residents left with damaged cars and homes, with some even having to move out
Jalelah Abu Baker & Hoe Pei Shan Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
The basement carpark at Gentle Reflections was flooded during the torrential morning rain on Saturday. Residents have had to move out because power has been cut. -- ST PHOTO: RAJ NADARAJAN
ONE clap of thunder yesterday afternoon was all it took to get jittery residents of the Tessarina condominium dashing down to their basement carpark to drive their cars to higher ground.
Worried by the prospect of more flooding in the area, security personnel at the Wilby Road dwelling, off Bukit Timah Road, also brought out sandbags as a preventive measure.
There was relief all around when the gathering storm petered out, but the incident showed just how life has changed for those living in the Tessarina, a 443-unit, five-block condominium, and other developments in the area.
Call it a case of once bitten, twice shy.
Last Saturday, torrential morning rain left more than 100 cars in the Tessarina's basement carpark submerged. Similar incidents occurred at Gentle Reflections and Cluny Court.
For some developments - the Tessarina among them - it was the second time in eight months that floods have proved costly. Now, some are contemplating moving out altogether.
Others have had to make changes, such as parking their cars along external roads, instead of in the basement carpark.
For those living at the Gentle Reflections cluster of terrace houses in the Bukit Timah area, the problem is more immediate: Power to the development has been cut since Saturday, and they have had to move out.
The power supply problem is being worked on, and residents hope to move back into their homes over the next few days, but their worries do not end there.
There are still damaged cars and other possessions and big bills to worry about.
Said housewife Jennifer Tan, 47, who lives in the Tessarina: 'This is ridiculous. We are left scrambling in fear whenever there are signs of rain, and there are not that many parking spaces on higher ground for all of us, so it is a mad rush for dry spots.
'I have lived here for seven years and have never had this problem until last November's floods. What is going on, and why is nothing being done?'
South African Adre Volschenk feels much the same way.
The electrical engineer, who lives at the Gentle Reflections development, described Saturday's floods as an 'absolute nightmare'.
He has moved to a serviced apartment at Fraser Suites with his wife and two young children, but is not planning to go back to his old home, even though he has eight months left on his lease and could be made to pay $90,000 if his landlord puts her foot down.
Meanwhile, his bills are piling up:
The serviced apartment costs him $1,000 a night, said the 43-year-old, and '€4,000 (S$7,100) has gone down the chute because I have not gone to work, and I might have to spend $130,000 on a new car'.
Mr Volschenk lost two cars in the flood - his Honda CRV and another which he had leased for work.
A resident of the Tessarina who is equally disgruntled said she is turning her back on the development despite moving in just over a year ago.
The 44-year-old housewife declined to be named, but said the experience had been 'extremely horrible, even worse than last year's floods', and that repairs would cost her more than $10,000.
Meanwhile, others are calling for action.
Mr Leon Foo, who owns a unit in the condominium, said he has started a petition for the estate's perimeters to be raised, and there needs to be a 'sense of urgency' in tackling the problem.
When contacted, Tessarina's management declined to comment.
TGL Development, the developer of Gentle Reflections, has made plans to put up a temporary 'floodgate' made of acrylic sheets and sandbags, said Mr Jeff Chan, the company's director.
The short-term solution will ensure gaps in the front gate are filled so that water will not gush into the basement carpark if it floods.
Tessarina resident Mrs Tan just wants something done - and fast.
'When it started raining today, I called my husband to tell him not to come back after work until it is safe so his car would not get damaged,' she said.
'How can we keep living like this when we are avoiding our own homes? They should either build a ramp or some sort of gate, and fast, before another flood hits us.'
Close Shaves
Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
Ms Suratos in her basement room, which is now empty. Her belongings have been cleared out to dry, and her employer has asked her to sleep in another room upstairs for safety. She nearly drowned last Saturday when she was trapped in the room with flood water rising to her nose. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
Stuck in basement with water up to nose
MS LALAINE Suratos was hospitalised and lost almost everything she owned in the flood last Saturday, but all this pales in comparison to the Filipino maid's near-drowning experience, when water came up to her nose.
The 30-year-old recalled with horror the events that took place in the space of about half an hour at the Gentle Reflections condominium near Newton.
The flood waters gushed through the door of her basement bedroom, which is slightly bigger than a one-room HDB flat. The pressure then locked her in, and although she stood on a chair, the 1.6m-tall woman had to keep jumping to keep her nose out of the water.
Once she managed to open her room door, she made a beeline for the flight of stairs connecting her room to her employer's - but not before she swallowed some of the muddy water.
The normally calm woman said she could not recall how long her horror lasted. She only remembers it being pitch-black due to the power having been cut.
Ms Suratos, who has been working in Singapore for about three years, said she lost her valuables - jewellery, money and clothes.
'Everything is gone. I only have my life left,' said the mother of three daughters back in the Philippines. She has chosen to stay at her employers' residence while they are staying at temporary accommodation until repairs are made.
Another Filipino maid who lives opposite Ms Suratos was so desperate to escape the flash flood that she swung a hanger attached to a blanket to try to hook it around a tree outside her room. Ms Maria Teresa Memita, 32, was hoping to use it to climb up the wall and escape. She did not manage to, and was eventually pulled to safety by her employer.
Investor hit by wave, 'like tsunami'
RESIDENTS at cluster estate King's 8 near Farrer Road were not spared Saturday's deluge. One of them, Mr Jimmy Leong, had a nasty wake-up call at around 5.30am.
The 42-year-old investor woke up to a power outage and loud banging on his basement door that opens into a carpark on the same level.
Thinking it was a neighbour in distress, he made his way down, only to open the door to a roaring gush of water that threw him back against a table.
'It was like being hit by a tsunami - everything happened so fast and the rain was not letting up at all, as if there would be no end to the water,' recalled Mr Leong.
Panicking as waist-high water filled the entire basement floor of the house, he tried desperately to shut out the flood, but the force of the water broke the door and even fractured his right middle finger.
Fumbling in the water that rose to around 2.6m in less than half an hour, Mr Leong yelled to his wife to take their month-old baby girl upstairs to safety, and tried his best to salvage what he could from the basement.
But he soon gave up and clambered back to the first floor, watching in dismay as all their precious family pictures, videos and late family members' belongings floated out of the house.
Mr Leong's wife alerted the police and SCDF to the flood at about 6am, but the family was told the authorities were short-handed, and by the time help arrived, the entire basement level was filled to the ceiling, and the water was just inches away from the main floor.
Said Mr Leong, who estimates the flood caused about $2 million worth of damage, which includes two Audis: 'If I had been knocked out by the first impact, I could have drowned, or worse still, if my wife who was feeding our new baby at the time had been the one opening the door... Something has to be done. We can't live here anymore - there is no power, and we do not feel safe.'
HOE PEI SHAN & JALELAH ABU BAKER
Sharon See Channel NewsAsia 20 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE: Singapore's first hydrogen-powered public bus will hit the streets next month.
It'll be the first such bus in Southeast Asia and promises to help save the environment.
Called GreenLite, it does not emit carbon and is "low" on noise.
It's powered by a battery system and fuel cell technology that "converts" hydrogen into electrical energy and creates pure water as a by-product.
The bus is jointly developed by researchers from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and China's Tsinghua University over seven months.
Professor and associate dean (research) at the College of Engineering in NTU, Soh Yeng Chai, says: "This is a new concept in the sense that the standard fuel cell bus uses about 80 to 100 kW (kilowatt), whereas ours is only 40 kW.
"The whole idea is that we want to use the concept of combining hydrogen and battery system to co-power the bus. So under normal conditions, the fuel cell stack is strong enough to power the bus, and at the same time charges the battery. But in high-load conditions, we need to use both the hydrogen and the battery to power the bus.
Such eco-friendly technologies don't come cheap.
Hydrogen costs six times more than diesel.
Prof Soh says: "Currently to run 100 kilometres, we need about 10 kilograms of hydrogen; that translates to about $300."
Still, SBS Transit will be testing out this fuel cell bus, as well as a hybrid bus that runs on both diesel and electricity.
It has trained eight bus captains to operate these buses.
Gan Juay Kiat, CEO, SBS Transit, says: "We're in the early stages of this trial, and we have to consider the capital cost and the operation and maintenance costs of the bus. That's why we're embarking on this trial to understand it more before we make a decision, going forward as to having more hybrid buses in the fleet."
GreenLite will be used first as a shuttle bus for athletes and officials at the Youth Olympic Village next month.
After that, it'll be used for Service 179 and 199, while the hybrid bus will ply the route of Service 185 for a year. - CNA/jm
SBS goes green with new eco-friendly buses
Business Times 21 Jul 10;
SBS Transit has joined the drive toward environmental consciousness, with two new eco-friendly buses unveiled yesterday.
The buses run on fuel cell and diesel hybrid systems, reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
The fuel cell bus, GreenLite, was developed through a collaboration between Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Beijing's Tsinghua University, China's Higer Bus Company and SBS Transit.
GreenLite is powered by two sources of energy - hydrogen and lithium-ion batteries.
A fuel system aboard the bus acts as an 'energy converter', transforming hydrogen into energy that powers the vehicle and charges the batteries at the same time.
Since GreenLite does not run on fossil fuel, the bus has zero carbon emissions - it only discharges water.
The bus will be garaged at NTU, where there is a refuelling station, and will be used to provide shuttle services in the Youth Olympic Games Village, also at NTU.
Upon completion of the Youth Olympics, it will be deployed on an SBS Transit route that caters to the NTU community.
The hybrid bus, which runs on diesel and electricity, was brought in by ComfortDelGro Engineering in collaboration with Shanghai Sunlong Bus Company and Gemilang coachworks of Malaysia.
Fuel savings of up to 30 per cent result from using electricity to power the bus. Electricity is generated through brake energy and stored in lithium-ion batteries.
The energy in the batteries is then released to help the engine power the vehicle. As a result, fuel consumption decreases.
The bus employs a parallel hybrid system - developed by Eaton Corporation of the US - in which a motor is used to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy and vice-versa.
Two hybrid buses will be deployed on Service 185, which plies between Soon Lee Depot and Buona Vista Terminal serving residents in Jurong East, Jurong West and Clementi.
Both the fuel cell and hybrid systems will begin a year-long trial in August.
Year-long trial for green buses
Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
COMMUTERS from Jurong East, Jurong West and Clementi will be taking a greener bus route to Buona Vista from next month.
Bus operator SBS Transit is adding two hybrid buses to service 185 as part of a year-long trial.
This is the first time such a trial is being done here.
The green SBS Transit buses are powered by both diesel and electricity.
The use of electricity to power the bus reduces fuel usage by 30 per cent and decreases the amount of emissions released as well as the noise generated.
Also being tested out for a year is a zero-emission bus built by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and China's Tsinghua University.
The 72-seater will be used to ferry participants of the Youth Olympic Games around the NTU campus, where the Youth Olympic Village is situated.
After the Games, the bus will be used on services 179 and 199, which run from Boon Lay interchange to the university.
This hydrogen-electric hybrid bus has eight hydrogen tanks on its roof, which hold about 128kg of pressurised hydrogen.
It can run for about 150km without refuelling.
By using hydrogen instead of diesel or petrol, the bus emits no carbon dioxide, a contributor to global warming.
Instead, what comes out of its exhaust pipe is water.
In comparison, a normal diesel bus produces 1.39kg of carbon dioxide a kilometre.
But Professor Soh Yeng Chai from the NTU's college of engineering noted that while the environmental benefits of the green buses are tremendous, the cost of running, maintaining and building such a bus is much higher than that for a normal bus.
For example, it will cost 40 per cent more to buy a hybrid bus and 30 per cent more to maintain it. The cost of the fuel cell is six times that of a diesel engine and it requires about $300 worth of hydrogen to run 100km.
As to whether bus fares will go up if these new models are adopted nationwide, SBS Transit would not comment, but said it was holding the trial to see how cost-effective it would be to use such buses.
MARIA ALMENOAR
Mustafa Shafawi Channel NewsAsia 20 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE: Diesel hybrid buses could be a common sight on the roads if a trial by SBS Transit proves that the technology is suitable for Singapore's roads.
The initiative is a result of a collaboration between the bus operator and local and foreign academics, as well as foreign bus manufacturers.
Speaking at the launch of the trial, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Teo Ser Luck says transport is one of the largest greenhouse gas emitting sectors in the world.
It accounts for 23 per cent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
He says with population and economic growth, transport-related CO2 emissions in Asia alone are estimated to double between 2006 and 2030 to 2.3 billion tons.
Mr Teo says the challenge for the transport community he says is to develop sustainable strategies to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and limit greenhouse gases emissions.
Aside from the diesel bybrid bus, SBS Transit is also testing out a bus which makes use of fuel cells, which emits zero pollution.
It's not only green buses that are being put on trial.
Sembcorp Environment is testing out a new environmentally-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) waste collection truck.
It says the one year trial aims to test market response and customer demand for CNG vehicles in the municipal, industrial and commercial waste market.
Sembcorp Environment chief operating officer Goh Swee Ooi said the trial is in line with the company's effort to introduce promising new green technologies and solutions to serve its customers.
The truck is powered by GPlus CNG, which is marketed by Sembcorp's natural gas business.
It complies with the rigorous Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicle (EEV) standard.
Sembcorp Environment says the truck's carbon dioxide emissions are below the limits set by the Euro5 standard, the European emission standard for commercial vehicle.
It will also be 50 per cent quieter than a conventional diesel truck.
The company says these reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and noise will mean noticeable benefits for customers in areas which the new truck will be serving.
The truck's design also makes it easier and safer for the driver and crew members to get in and out of it.
- CNA/jm
Singapore not as perfect as it seems, according to urban planning expert
Tan Hui Yee Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE is often cited as one of the world's more liveable cities, but a stroll through Kampong Glam, Little India, Tanjong Pagar and other downtown areas led one visiting expert to a more muted conclusion.
Yes, there is much the Republic is doing right, much the rest of the world can envy, but the country is falling down in one key area - it is not thinking small enough.
Child-sized, to be precise, because cities must first be liveable for kids before they can be liveable for all, according to urban planning consultant Suzanne Crowhurst Lennard, who was in town recently for the World Cities Summit.
And while Singapore is clearly streets ahead in terms of its crime rate, the walks around town she undertook over four days showed up other problems.
She found that traffic in downtown Singapore is a tad too heavy and street- level crossings inadequate for children to wander around on their own.
In her view, a city needs to facilitate such independent access for children if it wants to be truly liveable.
Child-friendly cities thrive because everyone needs fundamentally the same things, like an accessible environment and rich social life. By focusing on meeting the needs of children - one of the most vulnerable and physically weakest groups in the community - the city can get its basics right.
But that does not mean ever more kiddie rides, cartoon murals or playgrounds.
'The ideal play area for children is the city itself,' says Dr Crowhurst Lennard, 65, the founder of the International Making Cities Liveable Council, which is based in Portland, Oregon.
Generally, it is a bad idea to relegate children to just children's facilities because they learn best when able to freely mingle with and observe adults in an everyday setting. And catering to children is not that hard.
'On a simple level, it is a matter of walkability. Children have to be able to get around safely on their own as early as possible and explore their environment.
'That means it has to be safe not only from traffic, but also a good socially safe environment where there are familiar adults along the way who recognise them and speak to them - people of different ages,' she said.
So, buildings, roads, parks and street furniture should be designed to inspire imagination, invite exploration and serve multiple uses.
For example, steps should be comfortable enough to invite seating, walls should be low enough to be 'climbed on, sat on, or walked along', and window ledges and planter ledges should be broad enough to double as seats. Meanwhile, public art should welcome children instead of being plastered with 'no climbing' or 'no touching' signs.
'All kinds of public art should be meaningful and understandable to children. They should tell children about the history and traditions of the city. And they should be able to be played on.'
She cites, as a good example, the bronze sculptures of The River Merchants by local artist Aw Tee Hong, which details the lives of traders by the Singapore River when the island was under colonial rule. Passers-by continually stop to touch the sculptures and clamber on to pose for photographs.
And our bright shiny malls, centre of much of Singapore life? They get a firm thumbs down.
Malls are increasingly becoming meeting spots and teenage hang-outs as they are being planned around transport nodes, but Dr Crowhurst Lennard says they are 'not ideal' as a public space given the restrictions on what can occur there.
Instead, an open, flexible public space does better at engaging young minds.
'It can be used as a market in the morning, for festivals in afternoon and on a quiet (evening), just for sitting out and relating to people...It can be used for a school performance or some kind of local community festival.'
She thinks child-friendly environments make everybody's lives - especially older folk - easier. This is because they have 'very similar needs to children' - like being within walking distance to cafes, shops and libraries or other social nodes where they can interact with people as their social circle shrinks with age.
Yet, the quality of social life is all too often overlooked by city planners too engrossed with the hardware of their cities. 'Liveability' is regularly confused with 'standard of living', she says.
The latter refers to better health care, educational standards and a more comfortable environment that comes with higher incomes.
Meanwhile, liveability 'has more to do with quality of everyday social life, the interactions that we have every day and the quality of those interactions'.
In her view, a poor neighbourhood with abysmal sanitation could have a socially richer quality of life than a wealthier one with its plumbing systems in order.
'The trick is to try to figure out how to reclaim that rich social life and still keep our high standards of living,' she says.
Some cities get it right, although the one she cited might surprise - the seething tourist hot spot of Venice. Yet she notes that the 'museum city' actually hosts rich social networks supported by gracious infrastructure.
'While some people are richer, some poorer, they live side by side, everyone takes the same public transit and walks the same streets,' she says.
These social networks are based on Venetians' own home campo - the square they grew up in or live in - rather than their job or status.
The networks are strengthened by their shared memories of the city as well as the stories that collect around its landmarks.
'A community exists only when people know each others' stories. I would have to know all about you, where you grew up, what your childhood was like, who your parents were and who you played with in order for me to feel that I were part of your community or you were part of my community'.
Parents expand this community when they share memories of the city with their children. But the task becomes 'much harder' when the cityscape changes very fast - as it does in Singapore. The loss of a social landmark, like a long-reigning coffee shop, would then feel like a 'death in the family'.
She feels cities must have continuity in some measure: '(You need) social life that children take part in as they get to know their city.'
Ideally, a city should also have mixed-use environments, old and young from all walks of life working and playing in the same district. Such an integrated concept is regaining currency as urban planners realise the fallacy of zoning regulations that create buzzing business districts by day and dead zones by night.
In the United States, where middle-class families spent decades fleeing the cities for the suburbs, people are 'realising they have to bring the population back to the downtown area, and people are beginning to move back'.
'(People) want to be within walking distance of cafes and restaurants and nightlife and the resources of the city,' she says. 'This will be a trend for the future.'
The growing complaint in Singapore that only the well-off can afford to live within or close to the city as homes are so expensive gets a sympathetic response.
'That is not a good solution,' she declares, as it creates a rather skewed environment.
She thinks housing quotas for different income groups could help right the balance in the same way the Housing Board sets quotas for ethnic groups in each block and precinct.
In such an inclusive environment - where young and old, rich and poor, different ethnicities live together - people learn to 'negotiate with each other...and appreciate each others' values'. And it is these environments that will best meet the social needs of children - and ultimately, society.
'We need to live in as equitable an urban environment as possible,' she says. 'We need to live in a district where we all experience the diversity of our society as much as possible.'
Building the perfect city for everyone
Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
# How is greenery child-friendly?
There is a lot of evidence that children need contact with nature. There are a lot of studies now saying children do much better if they are able to play in nature. If they do that, they calm down, and their play is much less aggressive.
Children playing on asphalt playgrounds tend to become more aggressive and start fighting. Children playing in a natural setting work with each other and collaborate with each other.
# You have talked about the need for retaining social landmarks in the community. How then should the authorities go about the business of redevelopment?
There is a movement called community architecture (also called community planning in the United States). Professors of schools of planning go out and work in the community. They have meetings over time with community members to try and help them identify their problems and find solutions to them.
They would go into very, very poor neighbourhoods, for instance, and train residents to fix up old buildings. They would help the community in negotiations to buy buildings if they were renting them. It is a very difficult job, but it helps community members to make more roots and make their own investment of time and energy to come up with a solution that answers their needs.
# What are some of your favourite cities and why?
Freiburg, Germany, is extremely liveable for people of all ages and backgrounds. It helps children to grow up with a high degree of self-confidence and independence, stimulates their interest in life and desire to explore and learn.
It does this by being extremely safe for pedestrians and bicyclists, and by offering excellent, integrated public transportation so children are free to explore on their own, go into town, meet friends and do interesting things together in the countryside.
Freiburg's city centre is safe because it is an extensive pedestrian zone, filled with people day and night, and because it is human scale.
Meanwhile, Portland (in the US) is a young, idealistic city. The central and western part is extremely walkable with short blocks, wide sidewalks, linear parks, tree-lined streets, roses and fine views of three snow-capped mountains. It is constantly improving public transit and bike networks.
The extensive Pearl District next to downtown was transformed from an industrial area to renovated warehouse lofts and new mixed-use residential buildings, mostly human scale.
# What are some of your worries for cities of the future?
There is this recent film called Babies, which tracks the life of four babies in Namibia, Mongolia, the US and Japan. The quality of life in that first year is so different for each baby that it raises a lot of questions.
Even though the standard of living may be the highest in Tokyo, its quality of life may not be as good for a baby as that in Namibia, in a mud hut.
I am worried about the effects on children if cities of the future grow vertically and become more compact.
In cities where people are living in high-rise environments, more young people are busy with their careers and don't want to get married and have children. So, maybe high-rise environments are not conducive to the idea of getting married and having children.
On a quest for better urban environments
Straits Times 21 Jul 10;
DR SUZANNE Crowhurst Lennard, 65, is the director of the Portland-based International Making Cities Liveable Council, which she founded with her late husband Henry Lennard in 1985.
The council, which has 3,000 members and several hundred volunteers worldwide, organises regular conferences for up to 400 politicians, professionals and academics to discuss how to create better urban environments.
The council uses an interdisciplinary approach which spans the fields of planning, urban design, health, paediatrics, social sciences, landscape architecture and even art.
She has written seven books, including The Forgotten Child: Cities For The Well-Being Of Children. Her most recent was the Genius Of The European Square, published in 2008.
The mother of three received her architecture degree with honours from Bristol University in Britain, and a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.
She has held positions at the University of California, Berkeley, and has been visiting professor at Harvard University, Washington University in St Louis and New York's City University.
She is working with the Washington-based National Town Builders Association to develop guidelines, standards and a certification system for child-friendly neighbourhoods, towns and cities.
Farik Zolkelpli The Star 21 Jul 10;
NUSAJAYA: There is no proof that sand is being smuggled out of Johor, unless the detractors can provide evidence to back their claims.
At the state assembly here yesterday, Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman challenged Ong Kow Meng (DAP – Senai) to hand over evidence of sand smuggling to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) if he had any.
Abdul Ghani said reports by the MACC showed there was no such activity in the state but Ong, or even a local daily, were welcome to come forward if they had proof.
He said the state Land and Mines Department as well as the state Customs Department had continuously nabbed those who tried to smuggle sand to Singapore.
“The law clearly prohibits the export of sand except silica and filtered sand,” he said during his adjournment speech.
“The state enforcement agencies have recorded 32 cases of suspected sand smuggling this year; of which 12 cases are currently on trial, 15 still being investigated and five have been charged.”
Abdul Ghani added that sand mining in Sungai Johor and Teluk Ramunia was only permitted for domestic use.
The usage of sand, meanwhile, was permitted for projects in Danga Bay and for the construction of a bypass at the Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) complex.
On July 7, during the state assembly sitting, Ong held up a copy of The Star’s front page of June 24 and said the state government needed to look into the illegal sand mining and smuggling activities.
He alleged it was embarrassing to deny the matter when the MACC had arrested and charged many people, including government officials, for bribery and sand smuggling.
On the alleged RM798mil water debt owed to the Federal Government, Abdul Ghani said the actual amount over the years was RM1.2bil, but most of it had been settled through privatisation of water management and assets by SAJH and, the latest by Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd (PAAB).
“As part of the privatisation agreements, the companies involved are required to settle the debt owed by the state government.
“After the latest deal between SAJH and PAAB was concluded, the state government’s water debt stands at RM150mil, which is the lowest in the country,” he said.
Abdul Ghani also took Ong to task for questioning the state’s finances.
“I recently explained in this assembly that the state government is not facing bankruptcy based on earnings that were not stated in the Auditor-General’s report 2008.
“If the assemblyman (Ong) continues to question my statement as if to imply that I am lying, then I feel it is too much,” he said, alluding to the state’s annual financial statement.
Raynore Mering The Star 20 Jul 10;
IT IS DIFFICULT to say how long Jerry has to be in rehab. How do you wean a rhinoceros hornbill of the affection and care that human beings have shown it for half its life?
For 15 years, Jerry was a pet of Beliang Mandang who bought it for RM35 in Tebedu. Home for Jerry was a longhouse in Sri Aman. When the time came for Beliang to part from Jerry, Beliang was heartbroken.
It seems tragic that the love of Beliang and his wife for Jerry had poisoned Jerry to the extent that it had to be rehabilitated.
When Jerry’s story and photo appeared on the front page of The Star last month, it caused quite a buzz. Not many people have seen a rhinoceros hornbill or burung kenyalang, much less one that is breathing.
You usually have a better chance of seeing one after a taxidermist has done his job, rather than in the wild. Not surprisingly, our reporter who wrote the story received several emails enquiring about Jerry and where it was now.
Jerry is at the Matang Wildlife Centre. It will be released into the wild when it can fend for itself, but the jungles today are not the same as when it was caught more than a decade ago.
Of the 12.4 million hectares in Sarawak, there is only 512,390ha where Jerry can be safe. Even then, the land is distributed over 18 national parks, four wildlife sanctuaries and five nature reserves, and not all the habitats are suitable for a rhinoceros hornbill, the largest species of hornbill.
Whether that tree with the hollow in which Jerry was hatched from an egg, and where its parents had cared for it, is still standing, nobody knows. What’s for sure is that Jerry and others like it are rare in Sarawak and desperately need human intervention to ensure their survival.
There are some who argue about whether Beliang was right in handing Jerry over to Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC). After all, he had cared for the bird for more than a decade and done a good job.
Beliang, however, did not have a choice. If he had not surrendered Jerry. a protected animal, he could have been fine RM25,000 or spent two years behind bars under the state’s Wild Life Protection Ordinance.
Let’s hope then, for Jerry’s sake, that the people at SFC will do a better job than Beliang.
The affinity of Sarawakians for the rhinoceros hornbill is expected.
We live in the Land of the Hornbill and the bird is in our state emblem. It is revered by ethnic groups in the state, particularly the Iban and Kayan.
Despite its obvious social and cultural importance, it seems peculiar that little attention is given to the bird these days compared to the orang utan or sea turtles, which are international animal superstars in the world of conservation.
Google rhinoceros hornbill and you will find 20,600 results but for orang utan you get 10.4 million results. This, however, should not be taken to mean that little is understood or known about the bird.
A cursory search on the rhinoceros hornbill on the Internet reveals some fascinating facts. Its beak and casque are naturally white, but during its lifetime, it constantly rubs its beak against a gland under its tail which secretes an orange-red fluid that gives it its distinctive colour.
Another interesting fact is that it is faithful to its mate for life and is usually seen in pairs on trees. Its lifespan in captivity is 35 to 40 years.
How many of them are left in the wild in Sarawak? Are they on the verge of extinction? These are questions Sarawakians should be concerned with.
The next question is: What can we do to protect them?
In answering that question, we cannot escape the debate between development and conservation.
As one Sarawakian minister, when faced with this debate many years ago, said: “To eat the egg you have to break the shell.”
He may be right, but no Sarawakian should allow the rhinoceros hornbill to live on only as a carving or in a dance or as a seal on a letterhead.
The state must certainly take the lead in ensuring the bird does not go extinct.
SFC and the Forests Department, then, have their work cut out for them. Protecting the hornbill is obviously more challenging than saving terrestial animals like the orang utan, but SFC seems up to the challenge.
In April this year, SFC CEO Datu Len Talif Salleh, who is also the Forests Director, announced that the corporation would intensify its hornbill conservation efforts and restructure its protection programmes. He pointed out that enforcement on the ground must be strengthened.
We eagerly await his plans.
In the meantime, it should be pointed out that the penalty under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance is much higher for a rhinoceros, orang utan or proboscis monkey compared to a rhinoceros hornbill.
That said, we all have a part to play in ensuring its survival.
As the Ibans believe it is a messenger of the gods, perhaps it is time for us to start listening to what Jerry has to tell us.
David Fogarty and Sunanda Creagh Reuters 20 Jul 10;
SINGAPORE/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia, one of the world's richest nations in terms of species, is losing hugely valuable resources and services through the destruction of forests, coral reefs and watersheds, scientists said on Tuesday.
The natural environment provides services critical to economies, from clean water, rich fishing grounds from coral reefs to clean air filtered by forests, services that aren't fully taken account of in modern economics.
But deterioration of these services through loss of species robs the planet of rich resources, scientists say, that can help ensure mankind can grow sufficient food as well as exploit a vast gene pool to make new drugs and even beauty treatments.
In Indonesia, the loss of biodiversity has reached crisis levels, scientists at a major tropical biodiversity meeting in Bali this week say.
"The reason Indonesia is going through such a major crisis is because the biodiversity of Indonesia is extremely rich. It's probably the second most important country after Brazil in terms of biodiversity," said senior scientist Terry Sunderland.
"The other great value of Indonesia's biodiversity is that many of the species that occur here are endemic," said Sunderland of the Centre for International Forestry Research based in Bogor, Indonesia.
"Because there are 17,000 islands, you have these unique ecosystems throughout the archipelago which combined have a huge number of species so the biodiversity value of the country as a whole is enormous."
But logging of forests and rapid expansion of pulp and paper and oil palm plantations has created vast monocultures with little resilience to disease or climate change.
Bronwen Powell, a PhD candidate and specialist on forests and nutrition who presented at the Bali conference, said deforestation could increase human exposure to diseases carried by primates and drive important medicinal plants to the point of extinction.
"A huge number of the world's pharmaceuticals were discovered as compounds in plants," she said. "As forests are lost, the knowledge that goes with those plants is lost as well. We are potentially losing the cure for cancer."
About half the country of 240 million people remains forested and the government has ramped up efforts to save the remainder, including an agreement on a two-year moratorium from next January on the clearing of natural forests.
The United Nations says annual losses from deforestation and damage to forests alone is estimated at between $2 trillion and $4.5 trillion globally.
Sunderland said the basic equivalent of the market value of biodiversity if you include pharmaceuticals, agriculture and food, health and beauty products was about $500 billion, roughly the equivalent to the petrochemical industry.
Slowing the loss of the planet's plant and animal species and putting a value of them has risen up the global political agenda, with 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity.
A major meeting in Japan in October is expected to agree new targets including a 2050 vision.
World leaders agreed in 2002 to achieve a significant reduction in biodiversity loss by 2010. But the United Nations has said the target hasn't been met and that current trends are placing the planet on a path to possible ecosystem collapse.
(Editing by Sugita Katyal)
Fidelis E Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 21 Jul 10;
Sanur, Bali. An international conference on wildlife conservation in Bali on Tuesday was told that two main portals were being used to smuggle out the country’s unique animal species.
The two gateways, also referred to as the red triangles, consist of the Medan-Palembang-Pontianak region for the western part of the archipelago and Manado-Ambon-Sorong in the east.
Wildlife traders were believed to use ports in these regions to smuggle Indonesian fauna to China, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.
In the western red triangle, traders mainly shipped large mammals from Sumatra to China, including tigers, elephantsand orangutans. Meanwhile, in the eastern red triangle, rare birds from Papua were the most smuggled wildlife.
Addressing the International Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in Sanur, Bali, Ani Mardiastuti, an ecologist at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said the red triangle regions were well known as gateways for trafficking, but not much was being done to stop the illegal trade.
She said it was difficult to stop the trafficking because both government officials and the general public lacked awareness about the scale of the problem. “For instance, I bet people don’t know that it’s not allowed to have parrots,” she said.
According to Ani, the illegal wildlife trade was second only to drugs and weapons in terms of cost to the state.
“Unfortunately, we have never counted how much we have lost because of this illegal trading,” she said.
Irma Hermawati, coordinator of the Wildlife Advocacy Institution, said the red triangle areas were exploited because they were close to porous borders with other countries in the region.
“Despite some animals and plants being considered not endangered, if people keep smuggling them in large quantities then they could become extinct someday,” she said, adding that based on ProFauna study, the country lost about Rp 9 trillion ($999 million) a year because of the illegal wildlife trade.
Smugglers who trade in endangered species face up to five years in prison and fines of up to Rp 100 million.
Ani said the trafficking not only covered endangered species, but also trade conducted without the necessary permits. She said the trade in insects and flowers was not restricted but were often smuggled out to avoid tax issues.
Six other cities were also deemed centers for the illegal wildlife trade — Surabaya, Denpasar, Balikpapan, Merauke, Makassar and Jakarta. “These areas are not just transit points, but also major suppliers of illegal wildlife,” Ani said.
The Star 21 Jul 10
The move to build culvert crossings to enable the animals to roam freely by a plantation company operating in the wildlife rich lower Kinabatangan region near the Sabah east coast district of Sandakan is beginning to pay off.
Wildlife footprints were recently spotted on soil covered culvert crossings that were built at Kinabatangan, an ecologically sensitive area.
Malbumi Group of Companies constructed nine concrete culvert crossings to connect drains and rivers within Lot 1 of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary to enable wildlife to cross from one side of the sanctuary to another.
“We felt sorry for disturbing their natural habitat when we proceeded with our plantations.
“To clear our conscience, we now hope to do our best in taking good care of them,” said Malbumi Group of Companies managing director Edward Ang.
He said when Malbumi first started clearing land in 1995, he noticed there was wildlife like orang-utans, proboscis monkeys and Borneo pygmy elephants on its land.
According to Ang, his company has helped to free a herd of 15 to 20 elephants trapped in a pool.
“With supervision from the wildlife authority, we managed to free the elephants using heavy machinery like bulldozers and excavators.
“Malaysia has been a major palm oil producer over the years and this is because we are situated in an environment that permits us to do so.
“We must continuously do our best to protect the environment so that we can continue to produce the best palm oil efficiently,” Ang said.
Malbumi has been studying the WWF-Malaysia ‘Kinabatangan–Corridor of Life’ project to learn how to best manage wildlife found within and close to its estates.
The estates cover about 5,200 hectares (13,000 acres) and is situated near Sukau and Sungai Tenegang which are adjacent to Lot 1 of the wildlife sanctuary, and is also close to Lokan that lies next to the Segaliud Lokan forest reserve.
Mr Ang said the palm oil industry has reaped good harvest in recent years, and it would be good for the planters along the Kinabatangan River to donate a small portion of their revenue to help the Sabah Wildlife Department and NGOs like WWF-Malaysia to sustain the viability of wildlife populations in the country.
“Malbumi is also considering becoming a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) once it ventures into palm oil mills with its partners,” said Ang said adding that a workshop on RSPO organised recently in Sandakan by WWF-Malaysia and the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) was informative.
Ang said the workshop gave him and his team better insight on how to set higher standards in tackling environmental issues and ways to improve protection of wildlife.
When asked what advice he had for other palm oil companies in Kinabatangan, he said, “Only humans have the power and ability to ensure the future of wildlife, so we need to start making that difference.”
Stan Lehman, Associated Press Yahoo News 20 Jul 10;
SAO PAULO – Hundreds of penguins that apparently starved to death are washing up on the beaches of Brazil, worrying scientists who are still investigating what's causing them to die.
About 500 of the black-and-white birds have been found just in the last 10 days on Peruibe, Praia Grande and Itanhaem beaches in Sao Paulo state, said Thiago do Nascimento, a biologist at the Peruibe Aquarium.
Most were Magellan penguins migrating north from Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands in search of food in warmer waters.
Many are not finding it: Autopsies done on several birds revealed their stomachs were entirely empty — indicating they likely starved to death, Nascimento said.
Scientists are investigating whether strong currents and colder-than-normal waters have hurt populations of the species that make up the penguins' diet, or whether human activity may be playing a role.
"Overfishing may have made the fish and squid scarcer," Nascimento said.
Nascimento said it's common for penguins to swim north this time of year. Inevitably, some get lost along the way or die from hunger or exhaustion, and end up on the Brazilian coast far from home.
But not in such numbers — Nascimento said about 100 to 150 live penguins show up on the beach in an average year, and only 10 or so are dead.
"What worries us this year," he said, "is the absurdly high number of penguins that have appeared dead in a short period of time."
Hundreds of dead penguins wash up on Brazil shores
Yahoo News 19 Jul 10;
SAO PAULO (AFP) – Hundreds of dead penguins and other sea animals have washed up on Sao Paulo state's shores and scientists are investigating the causes, environment officials told Folha Online news agency.
The Institute of Environment and Natural Resources said 530 penguins, numerous other sea birds, five dolphins and three giant sea turtles have been found in the coastal towns of Peruibe, Praia Grande and Itanhaem, with more likely on other nearby beaches.
Sao Paulo University biologists and a wildlife research center are looking into the possible reasons for the animal deaths, the institute said.
Praia Grande authorities have ruled out pollution, saying preliminary investigations point to starvation as the cause.
The most likely scenario for the penguin deaths is exhaustion and hunger during their long migration from the waters off Argentina's southern Patagonia region, said Andrea Maranho, a veterinarian for the Sea Animal Rehabilitation Center in Praia Grande.
Yahoo News 20 Jul 10;
BEIJING (AFP) – Authorities in China are using over 23 tonnes of oil-eating bacteria to help clean up an oil spill in the Yellow Sea caused by a pipeline explosion and fire at the weekend, state media said Tuesday.
Yang Jiesen, head of the research and development division of a Beijing biotechnology company, said the Maritime Safety Administration had placed its order for the bacteria on Saturday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Dozens of oil-skimming vessels and hundreds of fishing boats were working to remove the slick off the northeastern port city of Dalian, after the accident on Friday that spilled an estimated 1,500 tonnes of crude into the sea.
"The use of the oil-eating bacteria at the Dalian spill is the first time China has made major use of biotechnology to solve an environmental pollution problem," the report said.
The process, known as bioremediation, uses microorganisms to break down some toxic hydrocarbons present in crude oil into less harmful compounds. It was used to help mitigate the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
The Dalian incident has affected shipments of oil to southern China as the port has been partially closed, but refineries there are now processing inventories so oil prices are not expected to be impacted, Xinhua said.
Meanwhile, workers in Dalian are using oil barriers to prevent the slick from spreading, but are concerned wind and heavy rain could worsen the situation, it added.
So far, at least 460 tonnes of oil have been scooped up, according to the report, which gave no more details about the size of the spill.
According to previous news reports, the worst of the spill initially covered 50 square kilometres (19 square miles) but had been reduced to 45 square kilometres as of Monday.
But Xinhua reported then that a dark brown oil slick had stretched over at least 183 square kilometres of ocean.
Jeremy Hsu LiveScience 20 Jul 10;
Humans have survived ice ages and deadly pandemics to become the dominant species on Earth, even if our reign over the planet barely represents a blip in a geological record that has seen countless living organisms come and go. We have adapted to live almost anywhere, and have harnessed the power of nature by splitting atoms and splicing DNA to reshape the world. Yet those same technologies could also doom humanity to extinction if misused.
Can humans survive?
A few doom prophets say no. More experts say yes, but caution that humans must learn to wield technology more wisely to fend off natural threats such as asteroids. Wisdom can also teach humans to avoid destroying themselves with biotechnology or nanotechnology run amok. [10 Ways to Destroy Earth]
"As we move to a civilization that's so much more powerful in terms of controlling nature and manipulating nature, and becoming ever more powerful in our tools and capabilities, there's an inherent risk in that," said Benny Peiser, a social anthropologist and director of the Global Warming Policy Foundation in London, England.
Technology has given humans a better shot at long-term survival today than at any point in their history, Peiser said. He added the cautionary note that humans still face a risky transition before being able to responsibly use such technology.
People once faced extinction at their own hands during the Cold War, when the United States and the Soviet Union pointed hundreds of nuclear weapons at one another and stood ready for mutually assured destruction at a moment's notice. But nuclear doesn't represent the only double-edged technology around today.
From biotech to nanotech
"The biggest challenges we have are that technology is growing at an exponential rate, which means the ability to fundamentally affect the world and affect large populations has gone from something that only governments can do to something that individuals and small groups can do," said Peter Diamandis, chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation.
As a leading innovator and entrepreneur, Diamandis has supported both individual and collaborative solutions for some of the world's greatest challenges through the X Prizes. He noted that technology will enable almost anyone to change the world in the near future, for better or for worse.
"On the positive side, this means small DIY groups can develop and fly ships in space, or develop new medicines or drugs," Diamandis told LiveScience. "On the negative side, these same exponentially growing technologies enable terrorists to do incredibly powerful things."
For instance, digital maps of DNA sequences and ever-cheaper lab equipment could eventually enable so-called garage biologists to design new synthetic organisms that could revolutionize medicine and usher in a new era of clean energy.
But they could also allow individuals to unleash new, deadlier infectious diseases upon the world, such as a reengineered version of the 1918 influenza virus that killed 50 million people.
Peiser recalled the late science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke once telling him about the idea of putting a computer chip in people's brains to keep them from turning terrorist, so to speak. But Peiser pointed to political or cultural solutions as the more realistic way to keep technology in check.
"There is no technological fix [for super-tech]," Peiser said.
Biotechnology will pose the greatest challenges during the next decade, according to Diamandis. The following rise of nanotechnology and artificial intelligence, or AI, could also raise fresh challenges.
Nanotechnology's focus on manipulating molecules on the tiniest scales has evoked the apocalyptic "gray goo" vision of self-replicating creatures or robots running amok, at least in the popular imagination. Yet a likelier challenge may come from AI becoming self-aware and perhaps rivaling humans as a second intelligent species.
Rise of the robots
Military experts do occasionally warn of the so-called "Terminator" scenario, given the thousands of rolling, crawling and flying robots now roam the battlefields. But their concerns reflect a more practical view of how to get today's robots to avoid killing the wrong targets due to malfunction or system error.
Indeed, today's AI falls far short of sentience and still struggles to learn how to perceive and navigate the real world, not to mention detect the social behaviors and emotions necessary for complex interactions with humans.
Most AI outside of the labs has become the specialized brains behind certain technologies found in factories, homes and cars. That partnership may still serve humanity well in tackling future threats posed by rogue individuals.
Better AI could figuratively crawl across the Internet and search for unrelated pieces of data that may create a trail to would-be perpetrators such as bioterrorists, Diamandis said. They might also trigger automatic systems to prevent natural or man-made disaster, without the need for an error-prone human.
"We will soon have large sensor networks that are sensing the air and scanning for bacteria and viruses that you might breathe out, identifying those and shutting them down," Diamandis explained, referring to bioweapons.
But if AI does truly become an intelligent rival in the future, humans may end up facing a situation not unlike that of advanced extraterrestrials descending upon Earth - except AI would possibly already control the world by default.
They came from outer space
People ranging from science fiction authors to famed British physicist Stephen Hawking have long pondered the idea of Earth at the mercy of aliens. Researchers continue to fiercely debate about the widespread existence of extraterrestrial life in the universe, or lack thereof.
A more certain threat from outer space exists in the form of giant asteroids or comets. One such space rock spelled doom for the dinosaurs that ruled Earth for hundreds of millions of years, and scientists say it's only a matter of time before another planet-killer heads for Earth.
A loose coalition of ground and space-based observatories already watch out for incoming danger, even if astronomers still wish for better coverage of the sky. Better instruments placed farther out from Earth could also give the advanced warning necessary to prepare a response.
Diamandis remained more concerned about the man-made threats from technologies emerging over the next several decades. But he acknowledged the asteroid threat, and also pointed to the many benefits of humans spreading out beyond Earth.
"When I got a chance to talk with Stephen Hawking, Hawking said [he didn't] think humanity has a future if it doesn't get off the planet because of all the exponential dangers," Diamandis recalled. "I do believe it's a moral imperative for the human race to get off the biosphere."
Clearing the doomsday climate
Escaping the Earth could also ease the strain that energy-hungry humans have placed on the planet. Experts remain divided about whether humans have pushed Earth beyond its environmental and climate tipping points, but at least one scientist predicted last month that humans would go extinct within 100 years.
Frank Fenner, a microbiologist at Australian National University who helped wipe out the disease smallpox, told The Australian that he believed overpopulation, environmental destruction and especially climate change would seal humanity's fate.
His views deviate sharply from those of most experts, who don't view climate change as the end for humans. Even the worst-case scenarios discussed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change don't foresee human extinction.
"The scenarios that the mainstream climate community are advancing are not end-of-humanity, catastrophic scenarios," said Roger Pielke Jr., a climate policy analyst at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Humans have the technological tools to begin tackling climate change, if not quite enough yet to solve the problem, Pielke said. He added that doom-mongering did little to encourage people to take action.
"My view of politics is that the long-term, high-risk scenarios are really difficult to use to motivate short-term, incremental action," Pielke explained. "The rhetoric of fear and alarm that some people tend toward is counterproductive."
Searching for solutions
One technological solution to climate change already exists through carbon capture and storage, according to Wallace Broecker, a geochemist and renowned climate scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in New York City.
But Broecker remained skeptical that governments or industry would commit the resources needed to slow the rise of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, and predicted that more drastic geoengineering might become necessary to stabilize the planet.
"The rise in CO2 isn't going to kill many people, and it's not going to kill humanity," Broecker said. "But it's going to change the entire wild ecology of the planet, melt a lot of ice, acidify the ocean, change the availability of water and change crop yields, so we're essentially doing an experiment whose result remains uncertain."
Others seemed more sanguine about humanity maintaining a happier existence on Earth. For instance, X Prize founder Diamandis expressed confidence about humanity solving its energy and environment issues.
Similarly, social anthropologist Peiser called for a sober assessment of the risks ahead, but also kept an optimistic outlook.
"Obviously we need a little bit of luck in terms of time, where we can have perhaps a couple of centuries to prepare for big comet or asteroid impact," Peiser said. "But apart from that, I think it's really in our hands."
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