Nuclear power not for Singapore

PM Lee rules out construction of reactors here
Loh Chee Kong Today Online 14 Dec 07;

UNLIKE for some of its larger neighbours, nuclear energy is not a feasible alternative energy option for land-scarce Singapore.

With this being the case, coupled with its lack of natural resources, the Republic's dependence on fossil fuels is unlikely to go away within the next decade.

Speaking to the Singapore media yesterday as he wrapped up his visit to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ruled out the construction of nuclear reactors in Singapore — which require a safety radius of 30km — and cited solar power as a possible additional energy source, provided the cost continues to decline.

Said Mr Lee: "We could have solar power as a possible additional source of energy but that, in terms of percentage, will remain small for a very long time to come. The cost is coming down but it is still more expensive than fossil fuels, and will be so for probably five, 10 more years."

Acknowledging that nuclear power is a realistic option for larger countries, Mr Lee said Singapore "cannot say no in principle" to its neighbours turning to nuclear power. But adequate safety precautions, regimes and inspection measures should be in place.

Said Mr Lee: "There are safety concerns that affect not just the country and the neighbourhood where the nuclear power station is, but even its neighbours, because if something goes wrong, a lot of people downwind will be affected."

The fact that Singapore has its hands tied, in terms of alternative energy options, has to be taken into account in the negotiations for the new green framework that the Bali conference has initiated, stressed the Prime Minister.

The UN aims to draw up the agreement by 2009 to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. Describing the deadline as "very challenging", Mr Lee said: "The actual discussions on what to do, how much to do, who to do it, I expect that to be very difficult … countries have very different perspectives and priorities."

After Australia became the latest country to ratify the Kyoto Protocol following Mr Kevin Rudd's election as Prime Minister, the United States remains the only major polluter yet to ratify the agreement. And while many have voiced their support for a binding agreement on reducing carbon emissions, the US is not budging.

Still, the situation could change after the US Presidential Elections next year, said Mr Lee, pointing to the case of Australia, where former Prime Minister John Howard was voted out partly for his refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.

"Whoever comes in after (the elections) will have to review the position because as climate change becomes more obvious and severe, public attitudes will change and governments, particularly in the West, will have to respond," said Mr Lee.

There are already caps on carbon emissions in American states such as California and Massachusetts and sentiments are building up for a nationwide limit.

Said Mr Lee: "American major manufacturers are now starting to say, 'It doesn't make sense. If you are going to have caps, it's better to have a limit which is nationwide and then we can operate efficiently'… So, I don't see the US position as being the last word."

Mr Lee added that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had accepted his invitation to attend a retreat in Singapore next year. The two leaders will discuss the progress of the Special Economic Zones in Batam and Bintan.

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Waves threaten Zanzibar paradise

Frederica Boswell, BBC News 13 Dec 07;

People living close to beaches on the Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar fear they will lose their homes to the encroaching waves.

"The tides in October were the worst. All the tables and umbrellas were washed away," says Abdullah, a regular at the Mnazini guest house on Matemwe beach.

With each spring and autumn equinox, the new and full moon tides have been getting higher and more damaging to Zanzibar's north-east coast.

"Last month, the waves were almost four metres high as they hit the shore," said Kahindi Kadogoh, a local building contractor who has been based on Matemwe beach for over 15 years.

Using three large steps, he marks out how much the shoreline has receded in this time.

"When I came, the shoreline was here, and now it has gone back nearly three metres."

Building defences

Recently, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme warned that Africa's coastline faces increasing danger of erosion from rising sea levels caused by climate change.

"By some projections of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change], global warming could affect one-third of Africa's coastal infrastructure by the end of this century," said Achim Steiner.

"We know that we are on a course of having sea levels rising between 20 and 60cm this century."

Zanzibar's Chief Environmental Officer Asha Khatib is very aware that sea erosion is a cause for concern on the island.

"People come to the department with their government representative and say that they are worried. We need money but we must find ways to protect the shoreline as best as we can."

For the moment, all they can do is warn people not to cut down trees, build too close to the beach, or remove sand.

Officials say they are studying the problem and promise that a plan will be put in place when the study is completed in 2009.

In the meantime, those who can afford it have started building up defences, using concrete, coral or coconut poles.

Mr Kadogoh points these out as he walks down the beach, past hotels and private houses.

Stopping at a concrete slope, he explains that the idea is for the waves to break against it, and then roll over, as it provides a barrier for any sand being washed away.

Evident cracks

In theory, it should work, but as the tides get higher, the waves roll over it completely.

A high concrete wall looming over six-foot tall seems a solid defence against the power of the sea, however its cracks are evident.

"Zanzibar's biggest wave in over 55 years hit this wall in October and caused big damage," he says.

"It cannot resist the big waves because the cracks make it weak."

Further along Matemwe beach, the cement wall merges with one made out of coral.

The jagged rocks jutting out of the sand in front of it suggest that this is not the owner's first attempt.

"This is the third wall he has built, and it will last six months. The tides are now so strong that it becomes temporary," says Mr Kadogoh.

Further along, a property's boundary is marked out along the shoreline by the trunks of coconut trees driven deep into the sand.

Planks of wood have been nailed across them, joining them together.

This is the most successful defence, according to Mr Kadogoh.

As the waves crash against the poles, the planks weaken their force and do not allow them to dredge the sand back to sea.

The problem with building defences is that they must run along an entire beach to be effective.

And to protect a boundary of 20 metres using coconut poles, costs between $500 and $600.

The sea's mercy

Most beach-front plots are now owned by foreigners, so residents of Matemwe village depend on them for their protection.

Haji Mkali Pili, a teacher at Matemwe School, says the village itself only opens up onto small areas of the shoreline.

And he says even these parts are too expensive for villagers to defend.

Another villager, Haji Khamisi Musa, believes mangroves are the answer.

"The roots of the mangrove trees extend like fingers, and grab hold of the land so it is not swept away. Where mangroves exist, the land holds," he says.

For Mr Pili, who feels such local defence attempts are futile, there is only one solution when your home is at the mercy from the sea.

"If the sea comes, move up further up from the beach. No problem," he says.

For the moment, he sees no urgency, but realises that Matemwe villagers should probably start moving further inland quickly before the land is snapped up by wealthy Zanzibaris in search of a second home.

With a new tarmac road being built in the area and electricity becoming available, he says: "Clever people from town are already spending millions of Tanzanian shillings to buy and build there".

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Indonesia gets US$33.3 million for coral reef management

Antara 13 Dec 07;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia has received funds amounting to US433.3 million for coral reef management under the Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI), an official said.

The funds were among other things received from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) (US$25 million), the United States (US$4,3 million), and the Asian Development Bank (US$2 million), Saut P Hutagalung, head of the data, statistics and information Center of the marine and fishery ministry, said here on Thursday.

Indonesia also got US$1.4 million from Australia, US$500,000 from the Nature Conservancy (TNC), as well as technical assistance, facilities and grants from Conservation International (CI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), he said.

"The commitment of funding support from several donor countries and institutions was agreed on at a senior official-level meeting of CTI in Bali last week," he said.

The CTI groups Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands and Timor Leste (CT-6).

The CT-6 covered a total area of 75,000 square km and had 500 species of coral reef which is habitat of more than 3,000 fish species.

"The coral reef area is also known as the Amazon of The Seas because it has the world`s richest biodiversity," he said.

The coral reefs in the area are food sources for 120 million inhabitants of the coastal areas, breeding areas for tuna, and a regional economic source with an estimated money circulation amounting to 2.3 million US dollars per year, he said.

The CTI agreement would be formally signed during the World Ocean Conference (WOC) which will be held in Manado in 2009, he said.

He said coral reefs had a number of crucial functions such as to support food sources for coastal areas` inhabitants, ecotourism and to protect coastal areas from tropical cyclones or tsunami.(*)

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Hundreds of dead Olive Ridley turtles litter Orissa beach

Hindustan Times 13 Dec 07;

Hundreds of endangered Olive Ridley turtles were found dead over the past one and half month in Orissa's Gahiramatha beach, a non-governmental organisation in Kendrapada said on Thursday.

"We have been conducting survey of turtles on the 35 km shoreline from Hukitola to Nasi Island of Gahirmatha, nearly 174 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar, since Nov 1," said Bijay Kabi, director of the NGO Action for Protection of Wild Animal (APOWA).

"We found carcasses of at least 400 turtles on the beach," he said, adding, "Many of them might have been killed by fishing trawlers that are operating illegally in the vicinity".

Gahirmatha is considered the world's largest nesting site of Olive Ridley turtles. "Every year during winter, nearly 800,000 turtles come to this beach for mass nesting," Kabi said.

Forest and police officials have seized at least 12 trawlers and detained 20 fishermen within a month for illegal fishing in Gahiramatha marine sanctuary.

Apart from Gahirmatha, the state has two other nesting sites -- Devi river mouth in Puri district and Rusikulya river mouth in Ganjam district.

At least 120 dead turtles were washed away from the beach near Devi river mouth, said Bichitra Biswal of another NGO, Orissa Turtle Trust.

"Forest and wildlife officials are hoodwinking the government and the people by providing wrong figures of dead turtles to the authorities to save their skin," alleged Biswajit Mohanty of the Operation Kachhapa, a voluntary organisation.

"The death of nearly 130,000 turtles over the past 13 years will adversely affect the numbers of Olive Ridleys," added Mohanty.

"The government and forest department are taking strict measures to save the Olive Ridleys," said Durgacharan Sahoo, the range officer of Bhitarakanika national park. The rookery at Gahirmatha was declared a marine sanctuary in 1997 by the state government.

The Indian Coast Guard and the forest department have set up 17 camps to guard the turtles and prevent entry of fishing vessels in the sanctuary.

"The forest staff have also spotted dead turtles, but the exact number would be only known later," Sahoo said.

"Besides preventing fishing in the prohibited zones, surprise raids are also being carried in the vicinity," he said.

Turtle causalities have also been reported from Devi river mouth, although in Rusikulya the turtles are in small numbers, the NGOs said.

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Sea Lice From Fish Farms May Wipe Out Wild Salmon

John Roach, National Geographic News 13 Dec 07;

The probability of extinction is 100% and the only question is how long it is going to take.

Four years from now wild pink salmon may vanish from Canada's Broughton Archipelago, a new study warns.

The killers, according to the research, are sea lice from fish farms.

Scientists previously demonstrated that juvenile wild pink salmon often catch lethal sea lice infestations when they swim through areas where salmon are raised in open-net farms.

Now for the first time researchers have used a data-driven model to calculate the impact on the wild salmon population.

"It's severe," said Martin Krkosek, a fisheries ecologist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, who led the study.


Extinction threat to wild salmon
Helen Briggs, BBC News 13 Dec 07;

Wild salmon on Canada's west coast are being driven to extinction by parasites from nearby fish farms, a study claims.

Wild pink salmon around the Broughton Archipelago are declining rapidly and will die out within 10 years if no action is taken, say researchers.

They say the data, published in Science, raises serious concerns about the global expansion of aquaculture.

Sea lice from farms are known to infect wild salmon, but until now the impact on wild populations has been uncertain.

"The impact is so severe that the viability of the wild salmon populations is threatened," said lead researcher Martin Krkosek from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Modelling studies

Dr Krkosek and colleagues compiled data on the numbers of pink salmon in rivers around the central coast of British Columbia.

They compared populations of salmon that had come into contact with salmon farms with those that had not been exposed, from 1970 to the present day.

Using a mathematical model of population growth rates, they show that sea lice from industrial fish farms are reducing the numbers of wild pink salmon - a Pacific salmon species - to the extent that the fish could be locally extinct in eight years or less.

Dr Krkosek said the population growth rate was "severely depressed".

"It means that the probability of extinction is 100% and the only question is how long it is going to take," he told BBC News.

Natural parasites

Scientists say commercial open-net salmon farms are a "haven" for sea lice - naturally occurring parasites that attach to the skin and muscle of salmon.

Mature fish can survive being infested by a few lice but tiny juvenile salmon are particularly vulnerable to attack.

They come into contact with sea lice when they swim past fish farms on their migratory routes from rivers to the sea.

"Salmon farming breaks a natural law," explained study co-author Alexandra Morton, director of the Salmon Coast Field Station, located in the Broughton Archipelago.

"In the natural system, the youngest salmon are not exposed to sea lice because the adult salmon that carry the parasite are offshore. But fish farms cause a deadly collision between the vulnerable young salmon and sea lice. They are not equipped to survive this, and they don't."

Scientists say there are a number of solutions to the problem, including moving farms away from rivers used by wild salmon or putting farmed salmon in pens that are completely sealed off from the surrounding environment.

"The most obvious thing to do is to move the farm out of the way of the wild fish," Dr Krkosek told BBC News.

"Don't put them on the migration route, and don't put them near the spawning rivers. Another option is to move to closed containment technology where the net pen is replaced with a physical barrier that prevents the exchange of parasites - that would solve the problem too."

National treasure

Dr Krkosek said the impact of fish farms on wild salmon has been "an emotionally, politically and economically charged debate" in Canada.



"Salmon are considered a natural treasure to Canadians, but salmon farming has a lot of economic opportunity - we really need economic activity to supplement coastal economies where fisheries and other resource centres are not doing as well," he explained.

"So there are economic benefits to having salmon farms, but the way that it is currently being done is very damaging to the environment and there are better ways of doing it."

The report in Science has implications for other parts of the world where salmon is farmed, such as Norway and Scotland.

Other species of salmon are known to become infected with sea lice, but they vary in their ability to withstand this.

Sid Patten, chief executive of the Scottish Salmon Producers' Organisation, said the Canadian research bore "little resemblance to the situation in Scotland".

He said fish farmers, wild fish interests and the Scottish government had been working together for many years around the north-west coast and islands to develop local area management plans "for the benefit of both wild and farmed salmon".

"I am delighted to report that there are very positive results coming from this process such as increased numbers of wild salmon returning to some rivers," he said.

"This summer, the Scottish government presented our work to the Canadians who were very interested in exploring a similar model for Canada."


According to the data, the current rate of decline will take the salmon from their historical abundance to extinction in eight years, or four generations. The decline started two generations ago.

"We're halfway there," Krkosek said. "There's only two generations left before these fish are gone."

But a fish-farming industry representative said the analysis is flawed, and a university scientist said the conclusion reaches too far.

The stakes for the industry are high, noted another university scientist independent of the study—the findings could shut it down.

Exposed vs. Unexposed

Sea lice are naturally occurring parasites that latch on to mature fish in the open ocean and feed on their skin and muscle tissue. Scaly armor protects most adult fish from serious harm.

When the adults swim past the fish farms en route to their spawning grounds upriver, some parasites jump ship and infect the farms. And there their numbers explode, Krkosek said.

The Broughton Archipelago, a group of islands about 260 miles (420 kilometers) northwest of Vancouver, British Columbia, is home to about 20 active fish farms, each raising between 500,000 and 1.5 million fish.

Later, as the finger-size juvenile salmon swim downriver past these farms and out to sea, the sea lice latch on to them, the researchers said. In younger fish the lice create lesions and open sores that often prove lethal.

According to the new study, which appears in this week's issue of the journal Science, sea lice have decimated as many as 80 percent of the annual pink salmon runs in the Broughton Archipelago since 1970.

Krkosek and colleagues collected data on the number of wild pink salmon that return to seven rivers in the archipelago and compared their results with data from 64 farm-free rivers just north of the islands.

They ran the data through a widely used fisheries model that calculates population growth rates.

A positive rate is a sign of a healthy population; negative means the population is declining and that extinction probability is 100 percent, Krkosek explained.

"All that's left to measure is how long that's going to take," he added.

Before the sea lice infestations, which began four years ago, both regions supported productive wild pink salmon populations and active commercial fisheries, the data revealed.

"When the sea lice infestations began in the Broughton, you see an immediate collapse in the pink salmon populations," Krkosek said.

In the area to the north the pink salmon population remains healthy today. The only difference between the two regions, Krkosek added, is the fish farms.

High Stakes

Rosamond Naylor is an aquaculture specialist at Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment in California. She was not involved in the study.

Despite the short time period of analysis, she said, "the results hold up well, and it is really a scary result."

Scott McKinley, an environmental physiologist at the University of British Columbia in West Vancouver, directed the scientific committee for the now disbanded AquaNET, a government-funded aquaculture research group.

According to McKinley, the analysis overstates the importance of the data.

McKinley noted that the Broughton Archipelago sits near the southern edge of the pink salmon distribution range, which means the population there is likely to fluctuate.

He also said the study fails to report infection rates from the fish farms, making it difficult to determine whether the sea lice infestations result from the farms or from parasites that occur naturally in the wild.

"Sea lice typically hover around the coastal areas, and I'm sure they've adapted to know when the salmon are coming on site," he said.

McKinley said a stronger cause-and-effect relationship needs to be developed before the industry is forced to change or close.

"You could end up costing somebody a lot of effort and money to do something about it when we could be going in the wrong direction," he said.

David Clare Backman is the environmental compliance director for salmon-farming company Marine Harvest Canada in Campbell River, British Columbia. He questioned the data used in the study.

For example, he said, the levels of pink salmon returning to the Broughton Archipelago as a whole in 2006 and 2007 were on par with normal returns over the last 30 years.

"But you wouldn't see that from the data they used," he said. For example, Backman questioned a river left out in the model.

Krkosek and colleagues excluded the river, which has a spawning channel that boosts productivity, to avoid confusing "our estimates of natural changes in abundance," the study authors wrote in Science.

But this river accounts for 40 to 90 percent of the fish that return to the Broughton Archipelago each year, Backman said.

"When you take it out, you're left with a lot of rivers that are understandably lesser contributors," he added.

And some of those rivers, he noted, may have lower pink salmon populations due to factors such as stream damage caused by landslides or debris jams from past logging operations.

Krkosek, however, says that sea lice are the one factor all declining populations share.

Wild salmon are dying out in the river excluded from the study too, but enhanced production from the spawning channel obscures the impact, he said.

Stanford University's Naylor added that the data indicate pink salmon populations start to recover in rivers where the fish farms have been idled.

"This is an important paper for the industry, because it's exactly the kind of study that could shut them down," she said.

Wild pink salmon are a vital link to the regional ecology and economy, supplying nutrients to eagles and bears and dollars to commercial fishers and the tourism industry, Krkosek said.

"Things are happening very fast," he said, "and some kind of change is needed to turn this around."

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Acid Seas Huge Threat to Coral Reefs - Study

Jim Loney, PlanetArk 14 Dec 07;

MIAMI - In less than 50 years, oceans may be too acidic for coral reefs to grow because of carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels by humans, according to research released on Thursday.

And unless still rising carbon dioxide emissions fall in the near future, existing reefs could all be dying by 2100, scientists said.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest coral expanse, and Caribbean reefs will be among the first casualties, according to the scientists who worked on a major coral project worldwide.

The study, to be published in Friday's issue of the journal Science, should serve as a warning to delegates to a UN climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, this week, the researchers said.

"We need rapid reductions in carbon dioxide levels," said Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, a marine science professor at Australia's University of Queensland and a lead author of the study.

"The impact of climate change on coral reefs is much closer than we appreciated," he said in a telephone interview from Australia. "It's just around the corner."

The study found emissions of carbon dioxide, the main "greenhouse" gas contributing to global warming, are boosting acidity so much that sea water covering 98 percent of all coral reefs may be too acidic by 2050 for some corals to live, and while others may survive they would be unable to build reefs.

"Unless we take action soon there is a real possibility that coral reefs, and everything that depends on them, will not survive this century," researcher Ken Caldeira said.

Coral reefs, delicate undersea structures resembling rocky gardens that are made by tiny animals called coral polyps, are important nurseries and shelters for fish and other sea life.

They are also considered valuable protection for coastlines from high seas.

Reefs are a critical source of food for millions of people and are important for tourism from Australia to the islands of the Caribbean and the Florida Keys.


MEDICAL TREASURE

They produce US$375 billion a year in economic value worldwide, according to The Nature Conservancy environmental group, and are considered a storehouse of potential 21st century medicines for cancer and other diseases.

The polyps secrete calcium carbonate to build the stony base of the reef. Corals grow slowly, as little as half an inch (one cm) per year and the fragile structures they create are easily damaged by ship groundings, storms and other threats.

The researchers, who based their work on computer simulations of ocean chemistry, said about one-third of carbon dioxide, or CO2, put into the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean, slowing global warming but polluting the sea.

The CO2 produces carbonic acid, the substance that gives soft drinks their fizz. The acid reduces concentrations of carbonate-ions, which are critical to reef building.

Current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere are 380 parts per million, researchers said, but rising quickly as humans increase their emissions by burning fossil fuels.

If trends hold, the concentration could rise to 880 ppm by 2100. But even if atmospheric CO2 stabilized at 550 ppm, which would take a concerted international effort, no existing coral reef could survive, the researchers said.

"We have the world at stake here. It's a global emergency," said Hoegh-Guldberg. "We've got to have (CO2) levels falling by 2015."

Australian and Caribbean reefs are at the greatest risk because they already have lower carbonate-ion concentrations and therefore would "reach critical levels sooner," he said.

The research should serve as a warning to those who look after reefs to ramp up the fight against other threats to them, which include overfishing, pollution from nearby land and a host of diseases, the researchers said.

"We need to think of this as the straw that broke the camel's back," said Peter Sale of the United Nations University. (Editing by Michael Christie and Richard Meares)

Increasing Acid Could Kill Most Coral by 2050
Andrea Thompson, LiveScience.com Yahoo News 14 Dec 07;

SAN FRANCISCO — The world’s coral reefs face almost certain death as increasing amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are absorbed by the oceans, acidifying the water in which corals live, a new study warns.

In the past few decades, corals have come under increasing pressure from warming ocean waters, overfishing and disease. A recent study found corals in Pacific ocean were disappearing faster than previously thought.

The new study, to be presented tomorrow at a meeting here of the American Geophysical Union, points to yet another factor plaguing these underwater bastions of biodiversity: carbon dioxide.

As carbon dioxide is emitted through the burning of fossil fuels, some of it is absorbed by the world’s oceans.

“About a third of the carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans,” said study team member Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, “which helps slow greenhouse warming, but is a major pollutant of the oceans.”

When the carbon dioxide is absorbed in the water, it produces carbonic acid, the same acid that gives soft drinks their fizz. This acid also makes certain minerals dissolve more readily in seawater, particularly aragonite, the mineral used by corals and many other marine organisms to grow their skeletons.

Caldeira and his colleagues ran computer simulations of ocean chemistry based on a range of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, from 280 parts per million (ppm) (pre-industrial levels) to 5,000 parts per million. (Present levels are 380 ppm and rising.)

Their findings, detailed in the Dec. 14 issue of the journal Science, show that if current emission trends continue, 98 percent of present-day reef habitats will be too acidic by mid-century for reef growth.

“Before the industrial revolution, over 98 percent of warm water coral reefs were bathed with open ocean waters 3.5 times supersaturated with aragonite, meaning that corals could easily extract it to build reefs,” said study co-author Long Cao, also of the Carnegie Institution. “But if atmospheric CO2 stabilizes at 550 ppm—and even that would take concerted international efforts to achieve—no existing coral reef will remain in such an environment.”

At greatest risk of these changes are Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef, the world's largest living structure, and the reefs of the Caribbean Sea.

To slow ocean acidification, Caldeira and Cao warn, will likely take more stringent and immediate reductions in carbon dioxide than would be needed to reduce the other effects of global warming.

“The science speaks for itself. We have created conditions on Earth unlike anything most species alive today have experienced in their evolutionary history,” said co-author Bob Steneck of the University of Maine. “Corals are feeling the effects of our actions, and it is now or never if we want to safeguard these marine creatures and the livelihoods that depend on them.”

Coral reefs threatened by rising CO2 levels: study
Yahoo News 13 Dec 07;

The survival of the world's coral reefs will be seriously threatened by 2050 if atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and the acidity of ocean waters continue to rise at the present rate, said a study published Thursday.

High acidity dissolves minerals in the water that speed up calcification of corals leading to their premature death, warned researchers of the Washington-based Carnegie Institution in their study in Science magazine.

Unless emissions of CO2 -- global warming's main contributor -- are stabilized and reduced, 98 percent of coral reef habitats will be immersed in excessively acid waters, said oceanographers and study co-authors Ken Caldeira and Long Cao.

Their estimates are based on computer models of the ocean water's changing chemical composition with rising CO2 levels in the atmosphere -- from pre-industrial 280 parts per million (ppm) to the current 380 ppm, all the way up to 500 ppm.

Carbon dioxide emissions are on the rise chiefly due to human activities, above all from the massive burning of fossil fuels, scientists said.

"About a third of the carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans, which helps slow greenhouse warming, but is a major pollutant of the oceans," said Caldeira.

The absorbed CO2 produces carbonic acid that dissolve certain minerals, especially argonite, which is used by corals to grow their skeletons, he said.

If atmospheric CO2 stabilizes at 550 ppm, said Cao, "no existing coral reef will remain in such an environment."

According to Bob Steneck of the University of Maine and another co-author of the paper, around one billion people in Asia depend on coral reef fisheries.

"Corals are feeling the effects of our actions and it is now or never if we want to safeguard these marine creatures and the livelihoods that depend on them," he added.

The authors will also present their study Thursday before the American Geophysical Union, in San Francisco, California.

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Pricing Indonesian forests: how to protect your carbon investment from being cut down?

Lucy Williamson, BBC News 12 Dec 07;

Trees in Setulang village are viewed the old-fashioned way - as building material for boats.

Tucked into the Borneo rainforest, there is not much debate about climate change here. No one reads about carbon stocks in the morning paper - there isn't one.

But a few months ago, something happened on Setulang's doorstep that brought this village face to face with the cutting edge of carbon trading.

A London-based company called Global Eco Rescue has begun setting up a project to offer companies carbon credits in return for protecting the forest.

Until now, carbon trading schemes have focused on replanting trees, rather than protecting those that already exist.

But it is an idea that makes a lot of sense to Setulang village head, Elisar Ipui.

"At first we had no idea what carbon was," he explained, "but we were told that there's carbon in the forest, and it can be sold, and the compensation given to the village. And that's how we're thinking right now."

Illegal logging

Like many of the communities here, Setulang could use some extra money.

Usually, the quickest way to get it is from plantation and logging companies.

Making money from keeping the forest intact is a new idea, but Elisar says he has seen other villages hand over their forest to outside investors, and he likes the idea of a scheme that leaves the forest intact.

Whether this works will depend on how much companies in the developed world are willing to pay for the carbon it holds - and also how much they are willing to invest in a remote, largely unpoliced patch of rainforest.

The river up to Setulang is scattered with logs - overspill from a bloated timber industry, much of which is illegal.

And with global demand for timber largely out-stripping supply, that is a powerful lobby to take on.

So how do you protect your carbon investment from people who want to cut it down?

Gabriel Eickhoff has been working on this problem for Global Eco Rescue.

The organisation's project covers 325,000 hectares - much of it surrounded by logging concessions.

"For the first time," he said, "there's a very solid partnership between the regional government, the local government and an organisation, whereby we are able to implement a project on the ground using local people, and also watch it from the sky using satellites."

Spreading awareness

There is little doubt the government here is on board, but getting the support of everyone on the ground is still a long way off.

A five-hour journey down river, in the provincial capital, the local forestry head, Gerard Silooy, is out planting trees.

It is part of a government drive to raise awareness of deforestation and climate change.

But spreading awareness of the new carbon project has not really taken off yet, and he admits that many of those living inside the area do not even know it is happening.

Setulang is taking a chance on this project - much like the companies who will invest in it.

There is little data as yet, and little idea of how the market will take to it.

But it could mean large amounts of money flowing to the government, and in a remote region like this, that is going to need careful accounting.

To make this scheme work, the rewards will need to be felt here, in Setulang, as well as Jakarta, London or New York.

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Fund Targets Emissions Cuts in Peatlands Conservation

Catherine Hornby, PlanetArk 14 Dec 07;

AMSTERDAM - Dutch company BioX Group and environment body Wetlands International launched a fund at a U.N climate meeting in Bali this week that aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by investing in restoration of peatlands.

Peat is formed when trees, roots and leaves rot, and is a natural carbon store. When burned or drained to plant crops such as palm oil, peat releases large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).

By preventing cultivation and draining of peatlands, the projects that the fund supports will generate voluntary emission reductions (VERs), Edgare Kerkwijk, managing director of the BioX Group said on Thursday.

The sale of the VERs will generate returns for investors while the remaining profits of the fund's operations will be invested in community development projects, he said.

BioX group has been developing renewable energy power plants in Europe run on palm oil products but has met opposition from environmental groups that said palm oil is not sustainable because it requires the burning of tropical forests to produce.

The company has said it worked only with Asian companies that could guarantee the sustainability of their palm products and one of its power plants gained the green light from the Dutch High Court in January.

"(Degraded) peatlands are one of the biggest contributors to C02 emissions in the world," Kerkwijk told Reuters, adding that about 11 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from cultivated or drained peatlands.

He said BioX Group was trying to make the palm oil industry more sustainable by reducing further expansion into peatlands.

"The impact is so high on climate change that companies should avoid this type of expansion," he said.

The focus of the fund will initially be in Indonesia, where non-governmental organisation Wetlands International has carried out peat swamp forest conservation and restoration projects.

The fund aims to restore and protect around 500,000 hectares (1.24 million acres) of these peat swamps by 2012.

Experts estimate Indonesia has 20 million hectares (50 million acres) of dense, black tropical peat swamps.

A 2006 Wetlands International report found Indonesia's peatlands emit 2 billion tonnes of CO2 a year, more than the annual greenhouse gas emissions from Japan or Germany.


LOW COSTS

Kerkwijk said conservation of tropical peat swamps presents one of the most cost-effective means to reduce carbon emissions.

"As long as you don't cultivate anything on it, you make sure there are no fires and that the water remains at a certain level the preservation costs per hectare are very low."

Under the Kyoto Protocol, developed nations can pay poor countries to cut emissions from activities such as the manufacture of refrigerants and fertilisers as well as capturing greenhouse gases from farm waste and rubbish dumps.

But emissions cuts from forest areas such as peatlands are not yet eligible for trade, because they were excluded from the Kyoto Protocol's first round which runs out in 2012.

A 190-nation UN climate meeting in Bali from Dec 3-14 is aiming to launch two years of formal negotiations meant to end with agreement on a broad new UN pact to fight global warming. (Reporting by Catherine Hornby, editing by Anthony Barker)

RELATED ARTICLES

Peatlands are Quick and Cost-Effective Measure to reduce 10% of greenhouse emissions
UNEP website 11 Dec 07;

Bog barons: Indonesia's carbon catastrophe
Fred Pearce, Telegraph 6 Dec 07;

Hidden colony of orang-utans is discovered in the forests of Borneo
Daniel Howden, The Independent 3 Dec 07

Indonesian Peat bog destruction emissions reached 40pc of global total
Thomas Bell Telegraph 28 Nov 07;

Greenpeace reports on what's 'cooking' the forests
Sheralyn Tay, Today Online 9 Nov 07;

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2007 Among Top 7 Warmest Years, Arctic Melts - World Meteorological Organization

Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 14 Dec 07;

NUSA DUA, Indonesia - This year will be among the seven warmest on record, with extreme events including a precipitous thaw of Arctic sea ice, UN data showed on Thursday on the sidelines of a UN climate conference.

The study also said that 1998-2007 was the hottest decade since reliable records began around 1850, in further evidence of what the UN Climate Panel calls "unequivocal" warming in recent decades.

"What we see is confirmation of this warming trend," Michel Jarraud, head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said during UN climate talks where 190 nations are deadlocked over how to step up action to slow climate change.

"This year was in the top seven," he said. The WMO says 1998 was the warmest year followed by 2005, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006.

Jarraud said it was not yet possible to rank 2007 exactly. The data are based on two sources -- the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says 2007 is fifth warmest while data from England's University of East Anglia places it seventh.

Among extremes, Jarraud noted that the Arctic ice shrank at the end of the northern summer to the smallest since satellite records began in the 1970s, opening the fabled Northwest Passage for a first time and eclipsing a 2005 low by 23 percent.

Signs of extreme weather this year include a cyclone in Bangladesh that killed 3,000 people in November, droughts in Australia and China, and floods in Bolivia. England had its wettest summer since records began in 1766.


DISASTERS

"Natural disasters are a major obstacle to development as they keep happening with increasing frequency," Jarraud said. He said people could not prevent cyclones, for instance, but could mute damage with better forecasting and preparation.

The Bali talks, due to end on Friday, are seeking to agree a "roadmap" to launch two years of talks on a new treaty to bind all nations, including the United States and developing nations, more tightly into combating warming.

The UN climate panel blames human activities, led by burning fossil fuels, for rising temperatures.

Jarraud also said that surface temperatures in the northern hemisphere were likely to be the second warmest on record in 2007 while temperatures in the southern hemisphere ranked ninth on record.

World temperatures are about 0.74 Celsius (1.2 F) higher than a century ago. "The difference between an Ice Age and an interglacial period like now is 6 Celsius (11 F)," Jarraud said. "We are adding to an already warm period."
(Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

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Japan Report Says 2007 Warmest for World Land Areas

PlanetArk 14 Dec 07;

TOKYO - The average global land surface temperature this year will be the highest since records began in 1880, partly due to greenhouse gas emissions, Japan's weather agency said on Thursday.

Natural climate fluctuations contributed to the temperature rises, said the report by the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The report coincided with the Dec. 3-14 international talks on the Indonesian island of Bali to discuss a new climate treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, but it was not presented there.

The average land surface temperature from January to November this year was higher than in the past in all regions except for southern South America, the report said.

It said the ocean surface temperature was higher in most areas except for the eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator.

The global average land surface temperature in 2007 was forecast to reach 0.67 degrees Celsius above the mean average temperature of the 30-year period from 1971 to 2000.

In 2005 and 2006, the global average land surface temperature was 0.58 degrees Celsius above the mean from 1971 to 2000.

Scientists say global average temperatures will rise by between 1.8 degrees to 4.0 degrees Celsius due to carbon emissions, likely increasing risks of melted ice caps, floods and famines. (Reporting by Yoko Kubota; Editing by Grant McCool)

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All 11 Hottest Years Were in Last 13 - UK Met Office

PlanetArk 14 Dec 07;

LONDON - The 11 warmest years on record have all occurred in the last 13 years, with 2007 set to be the seventh hottest since 1950, according to provisional global data from the UK's Met Office and the University of East Anglia.

The top eight hottest years since global records began are all this century, except the hottest of all, 1998, when the mean global temperature was 0.52 degrees Celsius above the long-term average for 1961-1990.

The announcement comes as the European Union clashed with the United States over Washington's resistence to settting global targets for fighting climate change at UN talks in Bali.

Scientists and politicians are in Indonesia to discuss how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for increasing global temperatures.

"The last few days have provided an important platform for debate and confirms the need for swift action to combat further rises in global temperatures because of human behaviour," Vicky Pope from the Met Office's Hadley Centre, who has been attending the conference, said in a statement on Thursday.

The last time annual mean global temperatures were below the long-term average was in 1985, the Hadley Centre, the UK's leading climate research body, said on Thursday. Mean surface air temperatures have continued on an upward trend ever since.

According to global temperature data for January to November, 2007 is on track to be 0.41 degrees Celsius above the long-term average and would probably have been even hotter had it not been for the cooling effect of the La Nina weather phenomenon.

"The year began with a weak El Nino -- the warmer relation of La Nina -- and global temperatures well above the long-term average," Phil Jones, director of UEA's Climatic Research Unit, said. "However, since the end of April the La Nina event has taken some of the heat out of what could have been an even warmer year." (Reporting by Daniel Fineren, editing by Anthony Barker)

11 Hottest Years Occurred in Past 13
Dave Mosher, LiveScience.com Yahoo News 14 Dec 07;

New climate data indicate this year might be one of 11 of the hottest years on record, all of which have occurred in the past 13 years.

Announced today at United Nations global climate change talks in Bali, Indonesia, the conclusion stems from global climate records dating back to 1850 and new data collected from January through November 2007. So far, 2007 has been the seventh hottest year on record.

The last few days have provided an important platform for debate and confirms the need for swift action to combat further rises in global temperatures because of human behavior," said Vicky Pope, head of climate predictions at the Met Office Hadley Center for Climate Change in England, from the Bali conference.

Scientists and politicians at the conference are discussing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which have been linked to rising global temperatures.

While 2007 is shaping up for seventh hottest in the worldwide category, different regions have seen more marked increases in temperature. The half of the planet north of the equator, for example, may be just shy of an all-time annual heat record.

2007 was warmer in the Northern Hemisphere, where the year ranks second warmest, than the Southern Hemisphere, where it ranks ninth warmest," said Phil Jones, a climatologist at the University of East Anglia in England. The year began with a weak El Nino -- the warmer relation of La Nina -- and global temperatures well above the long-term average. However, since the end of April the La Nina event has taken some of the heat out of what could have been an even warmer year.

Across the United Kingdom, 2007 is on course to break all previous warm temperature records.

Even if December's average temperature is 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) below the 1971-2000 long-term average, it would still be the area's third warmest since 1914. Of the UK's 94 years of local records, 2002 through 2007 are set to become the six warmest years ever for the region.

The top 10 hottest years globally, based on average temperatures, include:
1998 - 32.94 degrees Fahrenheit (0.52 degrees Celsius) 2005 - 32.86 degrees Fahrenheit (0.48 degrees Celsius) 2003 - 32.83 degrees Fahrenheit (0.46 degrees Celsius) 2002 - 32.83 degrees Fahrenheit (0.46 degrees Celsius) 2004 - 32.77 degrees Fahrenheit (0.43 degrees Celsius) 2006 - 32.76 degrees Fahrenheit (0.42 degrees Celsius) 2007 - 32.74 degrees Fahrenheit (0.41 degrees Celsius) 2001 - 32.72 degrees Fahrenheit (0.40 degrees Celsius) 1997 - 32.65 degrees Fahrenheit (0.36 degrees Celsius) 1995 - 32.5 degrees Fahrenheit (0.28 degrees Celsius)

As for the effects of an unusually hot 2007: This year has also seen sea-ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere below average in each month of 2007, with record [minimum] sea-ice reported in July, August and September," said climate scientist David Parker, also with the Met Office Hadley Center for Climate Change.

Sea-ice coverage in the Southern Hemisphere, however, has remained close to average, Parker said.

2007 data confirms warming trend
BBC News 13 Dec 07;

This year has been one of the warmest since 1850, despite the cooling influence of La Nina conditions, according to scientists.

The UK's Hadley Centre and University of East Anglia conclude that globally, this year ranks as the seventh warmest.

The 11 warmest years in this set have all occurred within the last 13 years. For the northern hemisphere alone, 2007 was the second warmest recorded.

The findings come as the UN climate summit discusses carbon emission cuts.

The Hadley Centre's head of climate prediction, Vicky Pope, who is at the Bali talks, said the data "confirmed the need for swift action to combat further rises in global temperatures because of human behaviour."

The data was presented to Bali delegates by Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which has partially overseen the landmark assessment published during the year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"What we are seeing is a confirmation of the warming trend seen by the IPCC reports," he said.

Pacific heights

At the beginning of the year, the same group of scientists said 2007 was set to be the warmest on record.

"The year began with a weak El Nino... and global temperatures well above the long-term average," said Phil Jones, director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia (UEA).


THE 10 WARMEST YEARS
1998 - 0.52C (above the 1961-1990 average)
2005 - 0.48C
2003 - 0.46C
2002 - 0.46C
2004 - 0.43C
2006 - 0.42C
2007 (provisional) - 0.41C
2001 - 0.40C
1997 - 0.36C
1995 - 0.28C

"However, since the end of April, the La Nina event has taken some of the heat out of what could have been an even warmer year."

El Nino and La Nina represent opposite ends of a periodic and natural variation in climatic conditions across the Pacific.

El Nino events see above-average ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific, while lower temperatures in the same regions are manifested during La Nina.

The 1998 El Nino event, one of the most powerful on record, was largely responsible for that year being the warmest documented since 1850, and warmer than any since.

The warmth of the years since 2000 is thought to be driving the thinning of Arctic sea-ice. Scientists forecast this week that the ice could melt entirely during summers by 2013.

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Process for new climate framework will be challenging: PM Lee

Channel NewsAsia 13 Dec 07;

"Our view is, if Singapore is to take on any commitment, if there are going to be any caps, it has to be taken into account that we are not quite favourably disposed as a country or favourably situated as a country, as compared to the resource-rich and energy-rich nations."

BALI, Indonesia: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the process to work out a roadmap for a new post-Kyoto Protocol framework will be a challenging one.

He gave this assessment on Thursday at the UN Climate Change Conference on the island of Bali in Indonesia.

For more than a week, representatives from some 190 countries convened on the island resort to try and work out a new climate change deal to replace the current one, which expires in 2012.

However, the process has been slow, with developed and developing countries taking diverging views on their responsibilities.

Although Mr Lee expects the road ahead to be a long one, he concedes the meeting in Bali is an important first step.

He said: "They will work out some agreement on the roadmap but the decision about what to do, how much to do, who to do it is expected to be very difficult. It's a complicated problem, but it's also one where the countries have very different perspectives and priorities."

One stumbling block, said Mr Lee, is the position that America has taken.

It is not part of the Kyoto Protocol and has not indicated that it will be part of a new framework.

But he added that this may change if there is a new administration after the US presidential elections next year.

"So I don't see the US position as being the last word," said the prime minister.

On Singapore's efforts to mitigate the emission of greenhouse gases, Mr Lee said the Republic will continue to look into alternative energy like solar energy.

But Singapore may still have to depend on fossil fuels in the meantime as solar energy is expected to be an expensive alternative, at least for the next five to ten years.

Mr Lee said: "Our view is, if Singapore is to take on any commitment, if there are going to be any caps, it has to be taken into account that we are not quite favourably disposed as a country or favourably situated as a country, as compared to the resource-rich and energy-rich nations."

While in Bali, Mr Lee met various leaders who are also attending the conference.

He described the meeting with Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd as "good", adding that he would like to strengthen relations with the new administration.

Mr Lee also said he had a good discussion with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has been invited for a retreat in Singapore next year to discuss the progress of the Special Economic Zone that is to be jointly developed by both countries.- CNA/so

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