Best of our wild blogs: 13 Jan 19

Flew In Visitors (12 Jan 2019)
Beetles@SG BLOG

Butterfly of the Month - January 2019
Butterflies of Singapore

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Why Singapore is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world

Extreme heat, combined with the island’s high humidity, could be life-threatening, the programme Why It Matters discovers.
Desmond Ng and Tang Hui Huan Channel NewsAsia 13 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE: The recent spells of hot weather that Singaporeans have been experiencing may not be just temporary heatwaves.

The island is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the world - at 0.25 degrees Celsius per decade - according to the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS). It is almost 1 deg C hotter today than in the 1950s.

What is even grimmer news – Singapore’s maximum daily temperatures could reach 35 to 37 deg C by year 2100, if carbon emissions continue to rise at the same rate, warned Dr Muhammad Eeqmal Hassim, senior research scientist with the MSS Centre for Climate Research Singapore.

Other countries already experience hotter temperatures than this - but the reason this spells trouble for Singapore, is that humidity is high here all year round,

This could lead to potentially deadly situations, as the programme Why It Matters found out.

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Singapore needs to relook way it uses resources if it's to become a zero-waste nation: Masagos

Calvin Yang Straits Times 12 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE - Singapore has to relook the way it uses resources if it is to achieve its vision of becoming a zero-waste nation, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli on Saturday (Jan 12).

If done right, the country will also be able to create new economic opportunities for local businesses and jobs for Singaporeans, added Mr Masagos, who was speaking at the launch of Singapore's Year Towards Zero Waste at Our Tampines Hub.

The year-long campaign aims to raise awareness of waste issues here and the need to treasure precious resources.

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Wild boar killed in accident outside Waterway Point in Punggol

Channel NewsAsia 12 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE: A wild boar died after being run over outside Waterway Point in Punggol on Saturday (Jan 12).

Animal welfare group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) received a call at about 11.55am alerting them to two wild boars near Waterway Point.

One was reported to be in the car park, while the other had died after being run over.

When officers from ACRES arrived at the scene, they found only the carcass of the dead wild boar. The carcass was subsequently cleared by the National Environment Agency, ACRES said.

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2 Asian leopard cats abandoned at Bukit Batok, rescued by ACRES

Channel NewsAsia 12 Jan 19;

SINGAPORE: Two critically endangered Asian leopard cats were rescued by an animal welfare group after being found abandoned in a carrier at Bukit Batok West last month.

Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said it received a call at about 10am on Dec 20 from a member of the public, claiming to have found two Asian leopard cats abandoned in a carrier at Bukit Batok West Avenue 6.

The cats were picked up by ACRES in the afternoon.

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Indonesia: Riau resident accused of igniting forest fire after throwing cigarette butt

Rizal Harahap The Jakarta Post 12 Jan 19;

Dumai Police arrested a resident for allegedly starting a forest fire in Purnama subdistrict in Dumai, Riau, after he threw a lighted cigarette butt onto peatland.

Police chief Comr. Restika P. Nainggolan said the suspect, identified as 49-year-old Sabri, had attempted to put out the fire when the fire brigade arrived.

"Apparently he is one of the land owners," Restika said on Friday.

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