Fever outbreak linked to climate change

Maria Cheng, Associated Press, Yahoo News 29 Nov 07;

An outbreak in Europe of an obscure disease from Africa is raising concerns that globalization and climate change are combining to pose a health threat to the West.

Nearly 300 cases of chikungunya fever, a virus that previously has been common only in Africa and Asia, were reported in Italy — where only isolated cases of the disease had been seen in the past.

"We were quite surprised," said Stefania Salmaso, director of Italy's Center for Epidemiology at the National Health Institute. "Nobody was expecting that such an unusual event was going to happen."

While the outbreak was largely the result of stronger trade and travel ties, some experts believe it is a sign of how global warming is creating new breeding grounds for diseases long confined to subtropical climates.

Officials at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the particularly mild winter in Italy allowed mosquitoes to start breeding earlier than usual, giving the insect population a boost.

"This outbreak is most important as a warning signal," said Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, a climate change expert at the World Health Organization. "Climate change affects the breeding of every mosquito on earth."

More mosquitoes will mean more disease. With warmer temperatures in the future, Europe and North America might be hit by outbreaks of diseases usually confined to southern continents.

"With more movement of people and a changing climate, there will be shifting patterns of disease," Campbell-Lendrum said. "We need to be prepared for more surprises like this in the future."

Italian officials first grew suspicious in July, when dozens of people in the country's northeast complained of fevers, joint pain, headaches and rashes. Local doctors thought they had been bitten by sandflies, but lab tests confirmed chikungunya fever, a disease spread by mosquitoes.

Officials believe the virus arrived when a tourist from India brought the virus to the Italian province of Ravenna. The Asian tiger mosquito, which can spread the disease, had reached Italy nearly two decades earlier.

Experts are also nervous because the Asian tiger mosquito might be capable of spreading more dangerous diseases like dengue fever and yellow fever.

"Dengue would certainly be more worrying than chikungunya," said Dr. Denis Coulombier, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's head of preparedness and response. "It is something we need to keep an eye on, because the possibility is there."

Most scientists think Europe's advanced health systems and high living standards will help avert widespread disease. Malaria was once endemic in much of Europe but disappeared once the swamps that bred mosquitoes were replaced by buildings and medicines to treat malaria became widely available.

But development doesn't deter all mosquitoes. Certain species prefer artificial breeding sites like rain-filled gutters and plastic containers. "If the climate gets suitable enough, then even very high living standards won't necessarily protect you," Campbell-Lendrum said.

Although Italy's chikungunya outbreak has been contained, "the big question is what is going to happen in the spring next year," said Coulombier.

Other European countries should pay attention: France also saw a few dozen cases of chikungunya last year.

"Italy is not the only country that needs to prepare for another outbreak," said Dr. Evelyn Depoortere, a chikungunya expert at the European Centre. "Southern European countries around the Adriatic coast like Greece, France and Spain are also at risk."

As long as temperatures keep rising, health officials say disease detection and response systems need to be reinforced.

"Climate change is one more factor pushing us in the direction of more disease," said Campbell-Lendrum. "With warmer weather, it is very likely we will have diseases popping up in Europe that no one had ever expected to see."

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Indonesia starts planting 79 million trees

Reuters 28 Nov 07;

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia, which has been losing its forests at a rapid pace in recent years, launched a campaign on Wednesday to plant 79 million trees ahead of next month's U.N. climate change conference in Bali.

"We have been negligent in the past, now we have to get our act together," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was quoted by state news agency Antara as saying as he planted saplings on the outskirts of Jakarta.

The drive is part of a global campaign to plant one billion trees launched at U.N. climate change talks in Nairobi last year.

Forestry ministry officials said 79 million saplings were collected from local governments around the archipelago and they planned to complete the planting in one day.

According to Greenpeace, Indonesia had the fastest pace of deforestation in the world between 2000-2005, with an area of forest equivalent to 300 soccer pitches destroyed every hour.

Yudhoyono said that illegal loggers and their financers were "common enemies" and must be brought to justice.

Southeast Asia's biggest economy is also among the world's top three greenhouse gas emitters because of deforestation, peatland degradation, and forest fires, according to a recent report sponsored by the World Bank and Britain's development arm.

Environmental groups are concerned that rapidly expanding palm oil plantations, partly driven by ambitious plans for biofuels, are damaging the country's rainforests.

Participants from 189 countries are expected to gather in Bali in next month to discuss a new deal to fight global warming. The existing pact, the Kyoto Protocol, runs out in 2012.

(Reporting by Ahmad Pathoni; Editing by Sugita Katyal and Sanjeev Miglani)

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More than 1 billion trees planted in 2007: U.N.
Alister Doyle, Reuters 27 Nov 07;

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Climate change deals another blow to orangutans

Reuters 28 Nov 07;

"A longer dry season will reduce the abundance of fruits and will negatively impact orangutan populations because females are more likely to conceive during periods when food resources are not limited," the WWF report said.

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Climate change will hurt Indonesia's orangutan population, already under threat from the rapid rate of deforestation, by reducing their food stock, a leading conservation group said on Wednesday.

Dubbed as the last of Asia's great apes, orangutans once ranged the region but a recent UN environment program estimate said only between 45,000 and 69,000 orangutans remained in Borneo and 7,300 in Sumatra. The WWF said climate change would add to the pressure already caused by human-induced activities such as rampant illegal logging and massive conversion of forests into plantations.

"A longer dry season will reduce the abundance of fruits and will negatively impact orangutan populations because females are more likely to conceive during periods when food resources are not limited," the WWF report said.

"Climate-change induced fire will also negatively impact orangutan populations by fragmenting their habitat and reducing the number of fruit bearing trees, which can take many years to mature and fruit." Environmentalists say rampant illegal logging, lethal annual forest fires and the massive conversion of forests into plantations for palm oil and pulp wood have helped place orangutans on the world's list of endangered species.

"We have seen an example in East Kalimantan, where there was once an abundance of fruits at the beginning of the year followed by a long period of massive shortage," WWF conservationist Chairul Saleh told Reuters at the launch of the report.

"This affected migration patterns and reproduction," he said, "It has hurt the population of orangutans there."

A United Nations report in 2002, which raised alarm about the plight of the apes, had projected that most of the habitat suitable for orangutans would be lost by 2032. In February, UNEP had put the date at 2022.

Saleh warned that a combination of rising temperature and deforestation would drive thousands of orangutans out of the forests into villages and plantations to look for food.

"It's happening. Already orangutans are invading plantations to eat palm oil seedlings and get killed for it," Saleh said.

"But what should they do? Their living space is shrinking and there is simply no food."

(Reporting by Adhityani Arga; editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Asia, Mideast should work more closely in energy field: SM Goh

Channel NewsAsia 28 Nov 07;

SINGAPORE: Asia and the Middle East depend on each other, according to Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Speaking at the Middle East and Asia Energy Summit on Wednesday, he said the two regions should work more closely together and suggested four ways to do so.

Asia's economic boom is being fuelled in a large part by one key ingredient – oil, which is supplied mainly by countries in the Gulf.

That is why the destinies of the Middle East and Asia are increasingly intertwined – economically, socially and politically.

Mr Goh said: "What happens in the Middle East will affect Asia. What is less obvious is that the Middle East too has a strategic stake in Asia's stability and prosperity. It has been estimated that between 2000 and 2006, Asia accounted for 60 percent of the increase in exports of Middle East oil.

"Therefore, just as Middle East stability ensures an uninterrupted flow of oil and gas to Asia, Asia's stability and economic growth also ensure that demand for, and hence price of, oil remains high. If Asia catches a cold, it will quickly spread to the Middle East through reductions in oil revenue."

Mr Goh said Asia can continue to grow only if it is not overwhelmed by rising oil prices and inflation. He said rising oil prices have economic and political ramifications for governments that subsidise energy use.

In Singapore's case, it does not have fuel subsidies. But it has been estimated that every US$10 increase in oil prices would shave 0.4 percentage points off Singapore's annual GDP growth.

Mr Goh suggested four ways for the two regions to work together on energy cooperation.

Firstly, there could be co-investment by the Middle East and Asia in energy infrastructure.

Secondly, they could join forces in energy research and development on renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and green technology to mitigate global warming.

And thirdly, the two regions can work together to ensure security in energy transit routes.

Mr Goh said the Straits of Malacca and Singapore are especially important energy sea lanes for Asia.

About 60 percent of China's imported oil – as well as 90 percent of Japan's and 80 percent of Korea's – passes through the Straits from the Middle East, so any disruption would have far-reaching consequences for the global economy.

To improve navigational safety and environmental protection in the Straits, a co-operative mechanism between the littoral states and user states was launched in September this year.

Mr Goh noted that some Middle Eastern countries, such as the UAE, have committed to contributing to the mechanism and he hoped this would spur others to follow suit.

Lastly, the senior minister also called for the two regions to encourage inter-regional energy dialogue through conferences such as the Middle East and Asia Energy Summit.

Deepening ties between the Middle East and Asia was also a theme for Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister, Ali Al-Naimi.

He said his country supplies Asia with more than 4.5 million barrels of oil per day. This is equivalent to approximately half of all the oil Saudi Arabia produces and about 25 percent of total Asian imports.

Saudi's non-oil trade with Asia is expanding rapidly. Last year, this was estimated to be more than US$50 billion, compared to just a few billion dollars in the early 1980s.

Mr Ali Al-Naimi said Saudi Arabia is committed to being a reliable oil supplier for Asia's economic growth.- CNA/so

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More than 1 billion trees planted in 2007: U.N.

Alister Doyle, Reuters 27 Nov 07;

OSLO (Reuters) - The world has surpassed a U.N. goal of planting 1 billion trees in 2007 to help slow climate change, led by huge forestry projects in Ethiopia and Mexico, the U.N. Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Wednesday.

The global tree-planting drive, inspired by Kenyan environmentalist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, is meant to counter deforestation from logging and the burning of forests to create farmland.

"An initiative to catalyze the pledging and the planting of one billion trees has achieved and indeed surpassed its mark," UNEP head Achim Steiner said in a statement on plantings by governments, companies and individuals.

"It is a further sign of the breathtaking momentum witnessed this year on the challenge for this generation -- climate change." Trees soak up carbon dioxide, the main gas blamed for stoking global warming, as they grow.

UNEP said Ethiopia appeared to be the runaway leader with 700 million trees planted in a national reforestation drive. Only 3 percent of Ethiopia is now forested, down from 40 percent centuries ago.

Other top planters were Mexico with 217 million trees, Turkey 150 million, Kenya 100 million, Cuba 96.5 million, Rwanda 50 million, South Korea 43 million, Tunisia 21 million, Morocco 20 million, Myanmar 20 million and Brazil 16 million, it said.

The billion-tree target was set in Nairobi in November despite criticism that it would be impossible to verify. It was declared passed less than a week before the start of a Dec 3-14 meeting of the world's environment ministers in Bali, Indonesia.

"You responded beyond our dreams," said Maathai. "Now we must keep the pressure on and continue the good work for the planet. Plant another tree today in celebration."

China, Guatemala and Spain were expected soon to announce new plantings of millions of trees, UNEP said.

Indonesia plans to plant 80 million trees in one day before the Bali conference, which is meant to launch two years of talks to work out a new international deal to fight global warming.

UNEP says it checks planting pledges, which now cover 1.5 billion trees, to see if they sound credible but does not ensure all are planted. It said the totals were still being collated.

More than a billion trees planted in 2007: UN
Bogonko Bosire Yahoo News 28 Nov 07

More than one billion trees were planted around the world in 2007, with Ethiopia and Mexico leading in the drive to combat climate change through new lush forest projects, a UN report said Wednesday.

The Nairobi-based UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said the mass tree planting, inspired by Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai, will help mitigate effects of pollution and environmental deterioration.

"An initiative to catalyze the pledging and the planting of one billion trees has achieved and indeed surpassed its mark. It is a further sign of the breathtaking momentum witnessed this year on the challenge for this generation -- climate change," UNEP chief Achim Steiner said in a statement.

"Millions if not billions of people around this world want an end to pollution and environmental deterioration and have rolled up their sleeves and got their hands dirty to prove the point," he added.

UNEP said the total number of trees planted is still being collated, but developing countries top the list with more than 700 million and 217 million planted in Ethiopia and Mexico respectively.

Ethiopia's high demand for fuel wood and land for cropping and grazing has slashed its forest cover from about 35 percent of its landmass in the early 20th century to just 4.2 percent by 2000, environmentalist say.

Others planters include: Turkey 150 million, Kenya 100 million, Cuba 96.5 million, Rwanda 50 million, South Korea 43 million, Tunisia 21 million, Morocco 20 million, Myanmar 20 million and Brazil 16 million.

Maathai's Green Belt Movement planted 4.7 million trees, double the number it had initially pledged, according to UNEP. The army has participated in re-afforestation drives in Kenya and Mexico.

Indonesia, which will next month host the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is expected to plant almost 80 million trees in one day alone in the run up to the Bali climate meeting.

UNEP said China, Guatemala and Spain are expected soon to announce new plantings of millions of trees.

Experts says that trees help absorb carbon contained in the heat-trapping gases blamed for climate change, which are largely generated by human activity and are one of the most perilous environmental challenges in the modern world.

The UNEP report sends a powerful message ahead of the December 3-14 meeting in Bali of the UNFCCC, a panel charting the path for negotiating pollution cuts to be implemented after 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol pledges run out.

"We called you to action almost exactly a year ago and you responded beyond our dreams," said Maathai, who won the 2004 Nobel Peace prize for her campaign to plant tens of millions of trees to counter tree-loss and desertification in Africa.

"Now we must keep the pressure on and continue the good work for the planet," Maathai said in the statement.

The Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), which co-organised the campaign, said the success indicated that environment can be rescued by afforestation.

"This milestone shows clearly that the global community has the spirit and the substance to unite in achieving ambitious targets to create a better environment for all," said ICRAF Director General Dennis Garrity.

The UNEP, citing its credible tracking system, said 1.56 billion trees have been planted around the world, but had so far received pledges of 2.24 billion trees.

The mass planting, carried by governments, communities, corporations and individuals, will continue despite surpassing the one billion mark, the agency said.

UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttall was asked why the most enthusiasm for the worldwide initiative seemed to have occurred in developing countries.

"There is no clear answer, however it may be that communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America recognise more clearly the impact of climate change already on the way," he told AFP.

"Perhaps also they more intimately understand the wider benefit of the forests from stabilising water supplies and soils up to their importance as natural pharmatives as well as the importance of trees in combatting global warming."

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Nov 07

Tuas after two years
more about the recent trip on the tidechaser blog

Yellow Glassy Tiger
its life cycle on the butterflies of singapore blog

Too close for colugo's comfort
after another taxi adventure on the budak blog

Nothing to see in the woods?
Dispelling yet another myth on the budak blog

Opilionids on the prowl
Long-legged horrors? on the budak blog

Heron Chick not so harmless?
on the bird ecology blog

Discovery at the National Orchid Garden
Wonderful blooms on the discovery blog

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Japanese company offers whale curry in bento boxes

Today Online 28 Nov 07;

TOKYO — A Japanese company said yesterday it would start offering whale curry in its takeaway business lunches, as the country pursues its controversial whale hunt in the Antarctic.

Asian Lunch, which says it sells 1,000 to 1,500 lunch boxes daily in Tokyo's business districts, will offer the meat once a week, starting tomorrow with a South Asian-style keema, a curry.

"I hope many young women will want to have it as it's healthy with high protein and low fat. It's also rich in iron," a company spokesman said.

The firm is also hoping to attract young men who have never tasted the meat before, she said, adding that 600 servings had been prepared for its debut at a cost of 650 to 700 yen ($8.70 to $9.30).

This month, Japan infuriated its Western allies, particularly Australia and New Zealand, when it launched its annual whale hunt — which for the first time will also kill humpbacked whales.

Critics argue that the hunt is unnecessary, as most Japanese do not eat a lot of whale.

However, the government is trying to promote the meat, which is now served mostly in specialist restaurants.

The whale hunts are permitted via a loophole in the 1986 global moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals. Environmentalists charge it is simply commercial whaling in disguise. — afp

Whale curry, anyone?
Straits Times 30 Nov 07;

A vendor packing whale meat curry in a lunch box to customers from a van in Tokyo yesterday. Whale meat curry made its debut at a takeaway business in Tokyo, attracting curious customers who seldom have the meat amid an international row over hunting the giant mammals.

Asian Lunch, which says it sells up to 1,500 lunch boxes daily in Tokyo's business districts, offered South Asian-style keema curry with ground whale meat in its first trial. Dozens of customers ordered the curry sold from a van at a cost of up to 700 yen (S$9).

Few Japanese have eaten whale since an international moratorium on hunting the mammals was imposed in 1986. But Japan still hunts the whales using a loophole that allows 'lethal research' on the animals.

This month, Japan angered its Western allies by launching its biggest whale hunt that will target humpbacks for the first time.

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US Wildlife refuges generate some $1.7B

Ben Evans, Associated Press, Yahoo News 28 Nov 07;

National wildlife refuges more than make up for their cost to taxpayers by returning about $4 in economic activity for every $1 the government spends, according to a federal study released Tuesday.

Overall, the refuges drew some 35 million hunters, anglers, birders and other visitors in 2006, supporting about 27,000 jobs, the study found.

Advocates of the system pounced on the results as evidence that budget cuts under President Bush have been ill-advised.

"Refuges are economic engines in local communities. There's no doubt about it," said Desiree Sorenson-Groves, vice president for government affairs at the National Wildlife Refuge Association. "The budget cuts have an impact .... You have people who are going to refuges and there's no staff, or a wildlife drive is closed because it can't be maintained."

Under an ongoing restructuring, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to cut 565 jobs from refuges by 2009 — a 20 percent reduction. The plan would leave more than 200 refuges unstaffed.

Tuesday's report, issued by Fish and Wildlife economists, said the areas created some $1.7 billion in economic activity and $185 million in tax revenues.

Fishing and hunting accounted for almost 20 percent of the economic activity. The Southeast region drew the most visitors — 9.4 million.

The more popular refuges boasted far greater economic returns, the report said. The Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia created about $155 in economic activity for every $1 in federal spending. The Don Edwards San Francisco refuge returned almost $44, while the Bombay Hook refuge in Delaware returned $23.

The national system encompasses 548 refuges and more than 96 million acres in all 50 states.

The refuge budget grew rapidly after Congress passed a landmark improvement bill in 1997. With new land acquisitions and a clearer mandate, the system's funding jumped from $178 million in 1997 to $391 million in 2004.

Recent years have seen stagnant or declining budgets, even as refuge officials say they need $15 million increases just to keep pace with inflation, and a much larger amount to chip away at an estimated $2.5 billion backlog for maintenance and operations.

Fish and Wildlife Director Dale Hall said the budget challenges are "fairly significant" and that "we'd be naive to think that we wouldn't lose some visitation" as a result of eliminating staff and restricting access in some areas.

He said the agency would do its best to explain to decision-makers "that we get a tremendous return on the taxpayer's dollar."

National Wildlife Refuge System: http://www.fws.gov/refuges/

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Indonesia's corals threatened by climate change

Sugita Katyal and Adhityani Arga, Reuters 27 Nov 07;

JAKARTA (Reuters) - It is a country with some of the world's richest coral reefs.

But scientists fear many of Indonesia's psychedelic reefs, already significantly damaged by blast fishing and pollution, now face an even graver threat: global warming.

Over the years, rising sea temperatures have led to severe coral bleaching in some of the most spectacular reefs off the palm-fringed islands of Sulawesi and Bali that are home to exotic fish like the brightly colored clown fish and scorpion fish.

And environmentalists say if quick steps are not taken to stop the destruction, many reefs across the sprawling archipelago of about 17,000 islands could disappear in the next few decades.

The state of coral around the world will be part of the discussions at next month's U.N. climate talks on the Indonesian resort island Bali where about 190 countries will gather to try to hammer out a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, a global pact aimed at fighting global warming.

"Even the lower end of temperature change, even 1-2 degrees, will lead to significant coral die-off for a variety of reasons such as bleaching and submersion," Glenn Prickett, an official from Conservation International, told Reuters.

"You already have the impact of the assault on coral from destructive fishing practices and pollution. It will become worse with global warming."

Indonesia, with a coastline of some 57,000 km (35,420 miles), has at least 2.6 million hectares (6.425 million acres) of coral reefs, or about 25 percent of coral reefs in the region and 8 percent of the world's coral reefs, according to the World Bank.

DELICATE ECOSYSTEM

Millions of people make a living from Indonesia's coastal and marine sector, and in particular the small-scale fisheries supported by coral reef ecosystems.

"Indonesia is at the centre of the coral triangle. The possibility of coral bleaching is so big. If you have (an increase of) 5 degrees up, corals will be gone," said Jatna Supriatna, director of Conservation International Indonesia.

"And that will impact the economy."

The Coral Triangle -- known as the Amazon of the sea -- stretches from the central part of Indonesia to the Solomon Islands, and up from the Indian Ocean across the Philippines to the Pacific Ocean.

Coral reefs around the world are in peril with people damaging the delicate marine ecosystems and endangering some 1 million species of animals and plants that call the coral home.

Scientists estimate over 27 percent of the world's coral has been permanently lost. They estimate that another 30 percent will disappear over the next three decades.

Experts say 16 percent of the world's coral was wiped out in 1998 when global warming and the "El Nino" weather phenomenon combined to cause the highest sea temperatures ever recorded.

Reefs depend on algae called zooxanthellae to give them nutrients and brilliant color. The coral can recover by taking up new algae from surrounding water but if temperatures stay high and the coral stays "stressed," it can become vulnerable to disease and die.

Indonesia's corals -- some of them described as "species factories" -- were hit by the El Nino phenomenon and the higher sea temperatures which caused severe bleaching and coral death.

About 75 percent of the West Bali National Park, home to some 110 coral species, has been affected with many soft corals disintegrating altogether.

Several areas around a small island off the northern coast of Java, where colorful coral reefs filled with butterfly and angel fish used to leave divers in awe, never recovered from the massive bleaching caused by El Nino.

CORAL TRIANGLE

The Coral Triangle Center -- set up by the U.S.-based Nature Conservancy in Bali to protect Indonesia's coral reefs -- works in many marine areas, including the Raja Ampat Islands in Papua and the Komodo Island in the east of the country.

The islands of Raja Ampat, or Four Kings, have been described as a biodiversity gold mine, and at least for now remain an unspoilt example of the richness of the coral ecosystem.

Located off the northwest tip of Bird's Head Peninsula near the remote island of Papua, the area's pristine reefs consist of mile after mile of vivid red, pink, yellow and purple coral.

Named after the four sultans who presided there, it is home to more than 1,000 fish species such as wobbegong sharks and giant clams.

Faced with the rapid degeneration of coral, in the late 1990s some North Sulawesi villagers set aside six hectares of degraded coral reefs and mangroves as the first community-run marine sanctuary in the country.

As part of efforts to protect the region's fragile corals, Indonesia proposed a Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) under which six Asia-Pacific countries -- Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and East Timor -- will work jointly to preserve marine resources in the area.

The sprawling area is the global centre of marine biodiversity with more than 3,000 fish species and 600 coral species, which makes up 75 percent of the world's coral species.

"The current condition of Indonesia's coral reefs is in a worrying state," Abdul Halim, policy manager of Nature Conservancy's Coral Triangle Center in Bali, told Reuters.

"Only 10-20 percent of the total reefs are in excellent condition, the majority has been damaged, degraded or completely destroyed."

(Editing by Ed Davies and Megan Goldin)

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Indonesia Losing Crops, Fish Stocks to Global Warming

PlanetArk 28 Nov 07;

The report quoted a study by a local research institute which said that Indonesia had lost 300,000 tonnes of crop production every year between 1992-2000, three times the annual loss in the previous decade.

JAKARTA - Indonesia is losing tonnes of crop production each year and its fish stock is dwindling as a result of global warming, a UN report said on Tuesday, putting the greatest pressure on the nation's poor.

Millions of poor Indonesians will suffer loss of livelihoods, undermining the government's efforts to fight poverty, the report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.

The report was launched ahead of the UN climate change talks next week on the tourist island of Bali, where delegates from 189 countries will hammer out a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, a pact against global warming which runs out in 2012.

Shifting weather patterns have made it increasingly difficult for Indonesian farmers to decide when to plant their crops, and erratic droughts and rainfall have led to crop failures, the report said.

The report quoted a study by a local research institute which said that Indonesia had lost 300,000 tonnes of crop production every year between 1992-2000, three times the annual loss in the previous decade.

Millions of fishermen are facing harsher weather conditions, while dwindling fish stocks affect their income.

Indonesia's 40 million poor, including farmers and fishermen, will be the worst affected due to threats including rising sea levels, prolonged droughts and tropical cyclones, the report said.

"No one can escape from climate change. But the effects will be felt more acutely by the poorest people, who are living in the most marginal areas that are vulnerable to drought, for example, or to floods and landslide," the report said.

"Already one of the world's most disaster-prone countries, Indonesia faces increased exposure to droughts, floods and storms as well as disruption in agricultural production," the UNDP said in a press statement.

Developed countries are responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions which cause global warming, said UNDP's Country Director Hakan Bjorkman at the launch of the report.

"The poor walk the earth with very light carbon footprint," Bjorkman said, but "they are set to suffer the most from the actions of a few." (Reporting by Adhityani Arga; editing by Sara Webb and Sanjeev Miglani)

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Honey price to rise after low yields in Argentina

Harry Wallop, Telegraph 27 Nov 07;

The price of honey is set to soar as a result of a global shortage caused by bad weather.

Industry experts say it will mean an increase of 25 per cent, which will push a 100g pot of honey from about £1.79 to £2.24. The price rise is expected to come into force early next year.

Argentina, the biggest exporter of honey to Britain, suffered a drought earlier this year which has prevented the flowers from which bees collect pollen from blooming. The situation has been exacerbated by an unusually cold summer.

Bees would normally be gathering nectar throughout daylight hours at this time of year, which is summer in Argentina, but low temperatures in its honey-producing regions mean they are only working for three hours before returning to the hive.

This means Argentina has produced only half its usual honey yield, according to the Grocer magazine.

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Temperature peaks killing off flying foxes in Australia

Charles Clover, Telegraph 27 Nov 07;

Scientists say that mass die-offs of Australian flying foxes, among the most dramatic recorded, show how the survival of whole species could be affected by climate change.

On Jan 12 2002, when temperatures exceeded 108ºF (42.9ºC) in New South Wales, 3,500 flying foxes or fruitbats in nine colonies were found dead. Most of these were the tropical black flying fox.

Since 1994 some 30,000 flying foxes have been killed by 19 similar events, with most of these being the temperate grey-headed flying fox, according to Dr Justin Welbergen of Cambridge University.

There was little evidence for die-offs before 1994, the scientists found. Temperatures have risen on average by 0.74ºC on average over the past 100 years.

The higher susceptibility of females and young to higher temperatures can have a serious effect on breeding populations, according to the paper published in the journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Stefan Klose, co-author of the paper, said: "In a very dramatic way we see the outcome of extreme climate events that are predicted to increase as a result of climate change by the Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change.

"These animals are simply not able to cope with higher temperatures and so they die. They are the seed dispersers for Australia's rainforest so the ecosystem effects could be very considerable."

Climate change makes bats drop dead: study
Yahoo News 28 Nov 07;

Scorching heatwaves linked to climate change have caused thousands of Australian bats to drop dead after flapping their wings in a desperate bid to cool off, according to a study published Wednesday.

On one day alone in 2002, up to six percent of the flying foxes in a nine colonies in New South Wales died when temperatures hit 42 degrees Celsius (107.5 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the study.

Most alarming, said the biologists, was the mortality rate among young bats, as high as 50 percent.

"The effects of temperature extremes on flying foxes highlight complex implications of climate change for behaviour, demography and species survival," says the study, published by the Royal Society, Britain's de-facto academy of sciences.

The fruit-eating, winged mammals play a critical role in local ecosystems, helping to pollinate wild and cultivated crops and disperse seeds, the researchers point out.

Besides an increase in extreme weather, flying foxes, are also threatened by human encroachment of their habitat. They are often killed outright as pests.

The two species most affected by heatwaves, Pteropus alecto and Pteropus poliocephalus, are listed as "vulnerable" on the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act, adopted in 1995.

The UN's climate change panel said in an authoritative report on global warming this year that rising average temperatures have already begun to provoke more intense and more frequent heatwaves.

Humans are subject to the effects of such extremes as well: 15,000 deaths were attributed to a month-long hot spell in 2003 in France alone, the panel said.

Exploring the impact of high temperatures on flying foxes, a team of British and Australian researchers led by Justin Welbergen of Cambridge University staked out several mixed-species colonies in Dallis park, in southeast Australia.

On January 12, 2002, in the middle of the Australian summer, the scientists observed how the bats -- hanging from exposed canopy trees -- reacted to the heat.

First the animals sought shade and began "wing fanning" to cool themselves, they reported. Within a couple of hours the flying foxes were panting, and soon they were drooling saliva.

Finally, "individuals began falling from the trees ... and died within 10-20 minutes," the study found.

The researchers estimate that over 30,000 flying foxes have died due to heatwaves since 1994 during 19 similar events.

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