Two new mammals found in Indonesian 'lost world': Conservation International

Yahoo News 17 Dec 07;

Two mammals believed new to science have been found on the latest expedition to a virtual lost world found in Indonesia's Papua in 2005, Conservation International (CI) said Monday.

Scientists from CI and the Indonesia Institute of Science (LIPI) visited the Foja Mountains in June 2007, following a first trip in late 2005 that saw them discover dozens of new plants and animals, CI said in a statement.

"During the June expedition, the team documented two mammals, a Cercartetus pygmy possum, one of the worldÂ’s smallest marsupials, and a Mallomys giant rat, both currently under study and apparently new to science," CI said.

The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat and visited the scientists' camp several times, lacking any fear of humans.

The team also recorded the mating displays of several rare and little-known birds for the first time, CI said.

"It'’s comforting to know that there is a place on earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature," CI vice president Bruce Beehler, who led the expedition, said in the statement.

"We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited."

The Fojas are part of the Mamberamo Basin, the largest unroaded tropical forest in the Asia-Pacific, and the Indonesian government has declared the region a wildlife sanctuary, CI said.

CBS News sent a camera crew with the team on their second visit and aired an account of the expedition on Sunday, CI said.

The crew obtained the first film documentation of several spectacular birds found in Foja, capturing the courtship displays of the golden-fronted bowerbird and of the black sicklebill bird of paradise, the group said.

CI and LIPI plan a third expedition back in late 2008 or 2009 that will seek to survey the summit forests of the highest peak, and the little-studied lower elevations. They expect to find more new species of frogs, mammals, butterflies and plants, CI added.

Activists have already warned that the forests in the area are under threat from large-scale deforestation.

Indonesia is losing its forests at the world's fastest rate, with some two million hectares (4.9 million acres) disappearing each year, according to environmental watchdog Greenpeace.

Giant rat discovered in Indonesia jungle
Yahoo News 17 Dec 07;

Researchers in a remote jungle in Indonesia have discovered a giant rat and a tiny possum that are apparently new to science, underscoring the stunning biodiversity of the Southeast Asian nation, scientists said Monday.

Unearthing new species of mammals in the 21st century is considered very rare. The discoveries by a team of American and Indonesian scientists are being studied further to confirm their status.

The animals were found in the Foja mountains rainforest in eastern Papua province in a June expedition, said U.S.-based Conservation International, which organized the trip along with the Indonesian Institute of Science.

"The giant rat is about five times the size of a typical city rat," said Kristofer Helgen, a scientist with the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. "With no fear of humans, it apparently came into the camp several times during the trip."

The possum was described as "one of the worlds smallest marsupials."

A 2006 expedition to the same stretch of jungle — dubbed by Conservation International as a "Lost World" because until then humans had rarely visited it — unearthed scores of exotic new species of palms, butterflies and palms.

Papua has some of the world's largest tracts of rainforest, but like elsewhere in Indonesia they are being ravaged by illegal logging. Scientists said last year that the Foja area was not under immediate threat, largely because it was so remote.

"It's comforting to know that there is a place on Earth so isolated that it remains the absolute realm of wild nature," said expedition leader Bruce Beehler. "We were pleased to see that this little piece of Eden remains as pristine and enchanting as it was when we first visited."

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Global warming may soon see Santa don shorts

Gael Branchereau, Yahoo News 17 Dec 07;

If the most dire climate forecasts come true the tourism industry in Europe's far north, already feeling the effects of global warming, may find itself promoting a Santa in shorts and a camel-drawn sleigh.

Each year at the end of autumn, residents, shopkeepers, travel agencies, reindeer herders and even politicians in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi -- home to Santa Claus' Village, one of the biggest tourist attractions in Finland -- look to the skies in the hopes of a snowy winter.

"Everyone working in tourism here is worried. The past three or four years have been difficult for us," says Jarmo Kariniemi, owner of the Santa Claus' Office in Rovaniemi which each year attracts 340,000 visitors eager to meet the "real" Father Christmas.

This December, with only a few weeks to go before Christmas, there are only 20 centimeters (seven-and-a-half inches) of snow on the ground, just enough for snowmobiles and dog- and reindeer sleighs.

But the rivers and lakes, which normally freeze over in winter and are used to take tourists on snowmobile or sleigh rides, have not turned to ice yet, and that's bad news.

Tourism generates some 235 million euros (345 million dollars) of direct and indirect revenue in Finnish Lapland, of which about 60 percent comes during winter.

It is an enormous amount of money for the region, hit hard by high unemployment and the rural exodus to bigger towns.

"The winter tourism period in the Nordic countries will be shorter and shorter, both at the beginning and towards the end, and it will go fast and it will be huge," climatologist Heikki Tuomenvirta told AFP.

Average temperatures in Finland will rise by three to six degrees Celsius in winter by 2050, and by four to eight degrees by 2080. The average winter temperature in Rovaniemi will rise from 15 degrees Celsius below zero (five degrees F) to eight below (18 F).

"Precipitation in winter will increase, with both rain and snow, and then there will be more rain," Tuomenvirta said.

More rain will melt the snow that normally covers the vast region from November to April, she added.

Towns further north of Rovaniemi are already making the most of the first effects of global warming to attract tourists.

"The amount of snow varies from year to year in Rovaniemi, while here the snow is guaranteed," said Carina Winnebaeck, a hotel manager in Enontekioe.

This village of 2,000 people, located a three-hour drive north of Rovaniemi, has already succeeded in persuading British tour operators to bring planefulls of holiday tourists seeking a winter wonderland to their town.

While global warming presents several short-term advantages -- lower energy bills, greater agricultural possibilities, a longer summer tourism season -- the long-term effects are dire for the region's fauna, flora and local population.

Reindeer herding, the traditional activity and main income for the 70,000 indigenous Sami people spread out across the Arctic, is also at risk.

"Last year we were in northern Russia following the reindeer migration, and it went from -28 degrees C to above zero (-18 to above 32 degrees F)," said Bruce Forbes, a biogeographist at Rovaniemi's Arctic Institute.

Then "it snowed and rained and went down to minus 40," he said, explaining that the temperature swings led to alternating layers of thick snow and ice which the reindeers could not break through to get to the lichen they eat to survive through the winter.

"The herders had to physically break the ice to help the animals," he said.

Sami Ruismaeki is one of Finland's 7,000 reindeer herders whose livelihood has become more and more precarious.

"When it doesn't rain, there are no mushrooms and the reindeer aren't able to build up their body fat before the long winter. Then the lichen disappears under the heavy layers of ice," he said.

The reindeer "have to be fed with grain or hay, and we have to bring water from home. It's not profitable anymore," he said.

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Mexico caps damaged Gulf oil well

Yahoo News 17 Dec 07;

Oil workers have capped a damaged oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico that spilled crude and natural gas for almost two months after a deadly high-seas collision, Mexico's state-owned oil company announced on Sunday.

At least 21 employees were killed in the Oct. 23 collision with a drilling rig during a storm.

Petroleos Mexicanos workers injected concrete into the well after installing a new valve assembly — blocking the well "definitively," the company said.

"The control of the well was carried out without any injury to the workers, despite risky conditions that prevailed throughout the entire process," Pemex said in a news release.

Roughly 420 barrels of oil per day spilled from the damaged platform since late October. Pemex said "the latest reports indicate that no oil has reached beaches in recent weeks."

The company faced a nightmarish combination of leaking crude, bad weather, a stubborn fire fueled by leaking natural gas, and the presence of other toxic gases emanating from the well.

Before the flames were controlled earlier this month, fireboats were stationed at the platform around the clock, pumping sea water to prevent further damage to the platform, much of it now dismantled.

External and internal company investigations are under way into the cause of the collision and the loss of life.

The company said it would continue to monitor and recover any spilled crude.

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 17 Dec 07

The one that got away
Video clip and thoughts about fishing at Tanjung Berlayar on the reddot blog

Daily Green Actions: 14 Dec
thoughts of transport and lomborg on the leafmonkey blog

More about Buloh
as shore guides get a sunny day out, on the discovery blog and manta blog

Thailand's hornbills
you can adopt one too on the bird ecology blog

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German ship fights climate change with high-tech kite

Erik Kirschbaum, Reuters 16 Dec 07;
HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Turning ocean winds into gold while cutting greenhouse emissions in the process might sound like some sort of alchemy for the 21st century.

But unlike futile earlier efforts to convert ordinary metals to gold, two fast-growing German companies have worked together developing a high-tech kite system to pull enormous ships across the oceans -- and save enormous amounts of money.

The 132 meter (433 ft) long MV "Beluga SkySails" will make its maiden voyage in January across the Atlantic to Venezuela, up to Boston and back to Europe. It will be pulled by a giant computer-guided 500,000-euro ($725,000) kite tethered to a 15-metre high mast.

It is a throwback to an earlier maritime age, harnessing the winds that fell out of favor over a century ago when sailing lost the battle for merchant shipping to modern steam power because it was seen then as primitive and unpredictable.

But now, in the age of climate change, wind power is making a remarkable comeback thanks to modern technology.

"This is the start of a revolution for the way ships are powered," Beluga chief executive Niels Stolberg said in an interview with Reuters on the windswept deck of his new ship MV Beluga SkySails. "It's a small but crucial step for the future."

To latch onto the powerful winds prevailing well above the surface, the kite attached to the high-tech steerage unit flies up to 300 meters high to tug the 10,000-tonne ship forward, supporting its diesel engines and cutting fuel consumption.

Under favorable wind conditions, the 160-square meter kite shaped like a paraglider is expected to reduce fuel costs by up to 20 percent or more ($1,600 per day) and cut, by a similarly significant amount, its carbon dioxide emissions.

Burning fossil fuels cause CO2 blamed for climate change.

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

A driving force for Beluga -- and other shippers already lining up to buy the system if it delivers on its promise -- is the fuel price, which has tripled for shippers in recent years.

While it might seem almost too simple -- or too good -- to be true, SkySails inventor Stephan Wrage and German engineers have spent more than five years perfecting the system and they will tell you that it is anything but pie-in-the sky technology.

"At the heart of this all for me, the real motivating factor is to get to the crossroads of ecology and economics -- and to prove it pays to protect the environment," Wrage said in an interview on the ship so new it still smells of fresh paint.

While some political and industry leaders complain about the financial burdens of fighting climate change and cite costs in resisting CO2 reduction efforts, Wrage said SkySails is proof that the opposite can be true: there's money to be made.

"If our calculations are right, our clients will not only have considerably greater earnings but also substantially reduce their CO2 output as well," the 35-year-old added after a ceremony to christen the new ship in Hamburg port on Saturday.

"To be able to make a contribution to fighting climate change makes us all proud," the SkySails managing director said as the sail made of ultralight synthetic fibre and as big as a medium-sized passenger jet unfurled in a breeze above the deck.

MUCH BIGGER KITES COMING

SkySails developed the kite propulsion system that Beluga Shipping only just finished installing on the new cargo ship. Both firms aim to prove on a commercial scale what years of testing on smaller vessels showed: you can turn wind into cash.

Wrage, who got the idea as a 16-year-old while flying kites and wishing he could tap their power to make a small sail boat go faster, is optimistic even greater savings can be achieved. He said larger kites should cut fuel usage by 30 to 50 percent.

Two 320-square meter kites will pull two more Beluga ships by 2009 and after that 600-square meter kites will be added.

"That's where the savings get really interesting," he said.

But the immediate impact on cutting CO2 caused by ships will be limited. Shipping carries more than 90 percent of the world's traded goods. There are more than 50,000 merchant ships carrying everything from oil, gas, coal, and grains to electronic goods.

They emit 800 million tonnes of CO2 each year -- 5 percent of the world's total. They emit high levels of sulphur dioxide.

Yet Wrage is confident the demand will take off. There are three orders in hand and if the savings achieved on a smaller 55-metre long prototype are confirmed by the "Beluga SkySails", he said others were lined up to buy systems.

"We're planning to equip four to eight ships next year, provided the first voyage turns out as well as the trials did," he said. "In 2009 we expect to sell at least 35 systems. After that, we want to at least double every year."

The target is 1,500 vessels equipped by 2015.

"I've had a lot of meetings where shippers have said to me 'If it works out on the Beluga SkySails we're going to buy one, two, four or 10 systems'," Wrage said. "Believe me. If we're successful now, it won't be hard to find buyers."

(Editing by Stephen Weeks)

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The green businessman: getting Singaporeans to use bio-degradable disposable cutlery

Today Online 17 Dec 07;

Aloysius Cheong shunned the corporate world after graduating from university in 2000 with an arts degree. He set up his own businesses right away — first a tuition centre and later a marine organism export firm.

But he was hit by what he called a "green wave" and after trawling the Internet for ideas, Aloysius and his wife invested US$20,000 ($29,000) in a business that manufactured bio-degradable disposable cutlery using corn and yam.

He spoke to Chen Siya about the challenges he faced in getting Singaporeans and the authorities to use more environmentally-friendly products.

How is your product different from others that use materials such as plastics?

My cutlery starts to biodegrade 90 days after usage. After 102 days, it will have completely become dust, whereas styrofoam may take about 300 years.

My products can also withstand heat of up to 150°C. Plastics can, but styrofoam can't.

When you burn plastics and styrofoam, you release toxins as well as carbon dioxide. My products are made of corn and yam. When these crops grow, they take in 10 units of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, when they are burnt, they also release 10 units of carbon dioxide. So, they are carbon-neutral.

Why did you start this business?

I was thinking of the waste generated by Singaporeans every day at hawker centres.

I thought it would be great if we had a biodegradable product that could replace petroleum-based plastics.

I know there are companies already doing this in Italy. But the costs were high, so I went to China to source for this particular product.

Do you see yourself as a greenie, environmental advocate or businessman first?

To be an honest, I am a business man first, then an environmentalist.

This is my chance to introduce a product to Singaporeans that can actually boost the image of Singapore.

Can you imagine tourists coming to Singapore and seeing styrofoam being so wantonly used at Newton Food Centre? Wouldn't it be great if we could switch to something made from such common materials instead? That's how I see it.

When you first tried marketing your products to hawkers, what was their initial response?

Terrible. They gave me a lot of negative feedback.

Firstly, it's not the usual transparent take-away pack, it's beige.

It's almost double the cost. So, their first reaction was: "This is so expensive, don't bother me."

They are aware of what's going on with the environment, but ultimately it's their costs that matter to them. But there were a few angels who were really nice. They have switched to using these boxes at their own expense, without charging the extra costs to consumers.

I also work with distributors who target schools and caterers.

What's your business strategy to survive?

I target catering companies — they use a blend of plastics and styrofoam.

Nobody else can replace disposable plastic forks and spoons, but I can.

Are you a very environmentally-conscious person?

I am still guilty of certain things. I drive — that's the part I feel most guilty about.

But I do recycle paper, plastics and metals. I try not to switch on the air-conditioner as far as I can help it. I also work closely with the National Youth Council, sponsoring their activities.

Have you tried lobbying the Government to do more for the environment?

In July, I sent reports about styrofoam usage and the environment, as well as legislation introduced by other countries, to our Ministers and Members of Parliament.

One of them is MP Ellen Lee of Sembawang GRC and she raised this topic in Parliament in October.

In my letter to the Ministers, I suggested that the Government follow in the footsteps of countries — such as the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Korea and the United Kingdom — that support biodegradable cutlery. In fact, New York is considering a ban on the use of styrofoam.

I believe that one of these days, the Government could make the switch here. It is a matter of time.

Do you have any regrets in taking the entrepreneurial path, instead of working for a large corporation?

One per cent of the time, when times are bad, when I'm alone in this. It's not like working in an office where you have colleagues to go out with for lunch.

When I was in junior college, I was convinced that I wanted to work in a multinational corporation, but when I entered National Service, my mindset changed.

All my family members and many of my relatives run their own businesses and I realised that I could get support and contacts from them.

I wouldn't say which path is the right one. It all depends on whether you are comfortable with your path.

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Cycling wardens keep footpaths safe in Tampines

Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 17 Dec 07;
170 volunteers ensure that cyclists using footways do not pose danger to pedestrians

A YEAR-LONG experiment in Tampines that allows cyclists to ride on footways is now at its halfway point.

And volunteers have been coming forward to help forge co-existence between cyclists and pedestrians: there are 170 cycling wardens.

Since the trial's launch on May 27, these volunteers have been dishing out safety tips to riders, such as giving way to those on foot, and pushing their bikes across pedestrian crossings.

About 1,000 residents have given their feedback.

MP for Tampines GRC Irene Ng said a proper assessment can be made only when the trial ends on May 30.

Behaviour on the paths will be studied, she said, before any changes to the law are considered to allow cyclists to share pedestrians' footpaths.

'While it is safer for cyclists to ride on footways, it is important that they keep pedestrian safety uppermost in their minds,' she said.

Cycling wardens say rider behaviour has been mixed.

The most senior volunteer on the team, Mr Philip Chua, 73, said exuberant young riders can be a concern.

'While most are good, some teens can be reckless, riding in a zigzag manner.'

Widened footpaths have helped the situation, he said.

Tampines GRC MP and deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport Ong Kian Min said such widening work has gone on annually, as part of efforts to encourage barrier-free access for everyone. More are planned.

'The more heavily utilised sections, like markets and neighbourhood centres, will be widened first. That's where cyclists tend to ride to most, but this work has been done regardless of the cycling project,' Mr Ong said.

Tampines Town Council's general manager, Mr Leong Shee Wing, said that the council expects to spend about $700,000 to develop two stretches of dedicated bicycle lanes, altogether 2.3km long. If heavily utilised, the Town Council could invest about $2 million into 7km-long bicycle lanes on HDB land.

These tracks would complement the Eastern Coastal Park Connector, a new 8km stretch of bike paths and greenery developed by the National Parks Board. It is part of a 42km network linking six parks in the east.

Eventually, said Ms Ng, cycling tours around Tampines may be launched.

'Maybe after tourists are done with Orchard Road they can go on bike tours in Tampines to understand how Singaporeans live,' she mused.

Read more!

Soaring energy needs, oil prices push South East Asia to nuclear power

Charlie McDonald-Gibson, Straits Times 17 Dec 07;

As oil prices and energy demand soar in tandem in Southeast Asia, many nations are turning to nuclear power -- to the horror of environmentalists who say it is not a safe option.

Thirsting for energy to fuel their growing economies, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam have all put in place nuclear power strategies, aiming to build the first plants by 2015 at the earliest.

Thailand's energy minister, Piyasvasti Amranand, said energy demand per capita in his country was rocketing, and with the kingdom currently importing 60 percent of its energy, new sources were needed to maintain growth.

"We have to look at nuclear, which is proven technology," he said in an interview with AFP in the run-up to key climate change talks in Indonesia.

Governments are also citing climate change as a reason for their switch to nuclear power.

Some hail it as a clean energy that will help lessen the world's dependence on the polluting fossil fuels, gas, oil and coal, which spew damaging greenhouse gasses into the air and drive global warming.

In September, US President George W. Bush said rich countries should help developing nations obtain "secure, cost-effective and proliferation-resistant nuclear power."

"Nuclear power is the one existing source of energy that can generate massive amounts of electricity without causing any air pollution or greenhouse-gas emissions," Bush said.

But green groups dismiss that argument, and the row spilled over at Bali, where environment ministers from nearly 190 nations last week grappled over a plan to tackle climate change.

"Nuclear power is neither a clean nor viable option for any of these countries," said Shailendra Yashwant, climate change head with Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

"The hazard of radioactive leaks, Chernobyl-like accidents, lack of safe waste disposal mechanisms or facility and finally the humongous costs of building a nuclear power plant make it the least attractive or viable option."

Activists from around the world staged a protest outside the Bali conference centre, urging the ministers to shun nuclear power.

"Promoting nuclear energy to countries which are exposed to extreme weather events, seismic activity and other natural catastrophes is irresponsible," said Sabine Bock, of green group Women in Europe for a Common Future.

But boundaries have recently blurred between nuclear friends and foes.

A number of gurus of the environmental movement, including Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore and scientist James Lovelock, have come out in favour of nuclear power.

The potential of nuclear energy to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions was mentioned in a May report by the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN's top scientific authority on the issue.

But the report also mentioned safety concerns, the threat of weapons proliferation and waste disposal as problems.

Energy security and oil prices are also key concerns for governments. Crude prices have more than tripled in three years, while countries across Southeast Asia are seeing breakneck economic growth.

Greenpeace's Shailendra said energy efficiency and renewable energy such as solar and wind can meet half of the world's energy needs by 2050 while cutting global carbon dioxide emissions by almost 50 percent.

Piyasvasti said that for Thailand, renewables were part of the plan but would not meet their requirement of 1,400 more megawatts of energy per year.

"I think that new projects in renewable energy (will produce) 1,400 megawatts over the next five years," he said, adding that Thailand aims to have their first nuclear plant up and running by about 2020.

Indonesia, meanwhile, said it plans to reduce its dependency on oil from 24 percent of total energy supply now to 3 percent in 2025, when it aims to generate 4 percent of energy from nuclear power.

So far, the only country in Southeast Asia that has built a nuclear power plant is the Philippines -- with chaotic results.

Its 2.3 billion dollar Bataan nuclear plant was closed in 1987 without generating one watt of electricity after it was declared unsafe and inoperable.

Shifting sceptical public opinion in favour of nuclear energy also remains a mammoth task, experts say.

"Public awareness of the nuclear risks seems to outweigh its awareness of the benefits," said Hans-Holger Rogner, of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

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Rising health fears over China's farmed seafood

Straits Times 17 Dec 07;

FUQING (CHINA) - DOZENS of enormous ponds filled with murky water and teeming with eels, shrimp and tilapia - much of it destined for markets in Japan and the West - lie at the foot of mountains in Fujian province.

Fuqing city, in south-eastern China's Fujian province, is one of the centres of a booming industry that over two decades has transformed the country into the biggest producer and exporter of seafood in the world, and the fastest-growing supplier to the United States.

But that growth is threatened by two environmental problems: acute water shortages and water supplies contaminated by sewage, industrial waste and agricultural run-off that includes pesticides.

The fish farms, in turn, are discharging waste water that further pollutes the water supply.

'There are simply too many aquaculture farms in this area. They're all discharging water here, fouling up other farms,' said Mr Ye Chao, an eel and shrimp farmer who has 20 giant ponds in western Fuqing.

Farmers have coped with the toxic waters by mixing illegal veterinary drugs and pesticides into fish feed. This keeps their stock alive, but leaves poisonous and carcinogenic residues posing health threats to consumers.

In recent years, the European Union and Japan have imposed temporary bans on Chinese seafood because of illegal drug residues.

The US blocked imports of several types of fish this year after inspectors detected traces of illegal drugs linked to cancer.

Last week, officials from the US and China signed an agreement in Beijing to improve oversight of Chinese fish farms as part of a larger deal on food and drug safety.

Fuqing is at the top of the list this year for rejected shipments of seafood, with 43 rejections to the end of last month, according to records kept by the US Food and Drug Administration. All of those rejections involved the use of illegal veterinary drugs.

By comparison, Thailand, also a major exporter of seafood to the US, had only two refusals related to illegal veterinary drugs.

Overall, China had 210 refusals for illegal drugs.

'For 50 years,' said Professor Wang Wu at Shanghai Fisheries University, 'we've blindly emphasised economic growth... and now we can see that the water turns dirty and the seafood gets dangerous.'

China began emerging as a seafood power in the 1990s as rapid economic growth became the top priority in the country.

China produced about 52 million tonnes of farmed seafood last year. The country produces about 70 per cent of the farmed fish in the world, harvested at thousands of giant factory-style farms that extend along its entire eastern seaboard.

In the 1980s, thousands of peasants struggling to earn a living began carving up huge plots, digging rectangular pits and filling them with water to create fish ponds.

As early as the mid-1990s, though, serious environmental problems began to emerge.

After electronics and textile manufacturing plants moved into central Fuqing, the south-eastern part of the city suffered water shortages, and some fish farmers say the water turned black.

The government this year rated large sections of the Long River, the major waterway in Fuqing, unfit for fish farming, swimming or even contact with the human body.

Said Professor An Taicheng of the Chinese Academy of Sciences: 'China has to go to the sea because it's getting harder and harder to find clean water. One day, no one will dare to eat fish from dirty water, and what will farmers do?'

Read more!

Monsoon rains in Malaysia: No let up till February

Straits Times 17 Dec 07;

KUANTAN - THE monsoon rains affecting Malaysia may not ease until February, according to the weather station.

'Malaysia, especially the east coast, is experiencing the peak of heavy monsoonal rains, which started on Dec 5,' said Mr Mohamad Helmi Abdullah, a weather forecaster at the Meteorological Department.

'There are likely to be several periods of heavy downpour between now and late January or early February,' he told AP.

And the flood situation in Pahang and Kelantan is also expected to get worse, with more rain expected for at least another four days.

The authorities in the two states have been put on 'red' alert - the highest alert - by the Meteorological Department.

As of 1pm yesterday, as many as 21,199 people have been evacuated from their homes, and were being housed in 199 relief centres.

In Kelantan, the number of displaced people increased to 4,112 yesterday morning, from 3,466 on Saturday, following rising water levels in Sungai Kelantan and Sungai Golok.

Flooding there also claimed its 13th victim, Bernama reported yesterday. A six-year-old girl was believed to have fallen into the flood waters while playing alone at her home.

Flood waters have receded in Johor and Terengganu, and reports said the number of evacuees in Johor has also fallen.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Rajak, who is chairman of the national disaster management committee, has urged parents to stop their children playing in flood waters.

He said many children regarded the flooding as a water carnival without realising the depth and the strength of the water currents.

Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat, Chief Minister of Kelantan, issued a similar caution.

'The death of one of the victims was not caused by the floods but because he jumped into the river for fun,' he was quoted as saying by the Malay-language Berita Harian newspaper.

Datuk Seri Najib said the local authorities had provided immediate aid to flood victims, and told security agencies to make all necessary preparations for possible rescue operations.

The government has been ferrying food and other essential items via airforce helicopters and boats to the badly hit areas, since supermarkets there are running out of supplies, the New Sunday Times newspaper said.

Malaysia has stepped up its flood mitigation efforts after suffering one of its worst monsoon floods last year, in which it suffered estimated losses of RM1.2 billion (S$523,000).

Flooding in Malaysia this year has so far left 21 people dead and made more than 29,000 others homeless.

The wet weather has also destroyed prawn and oyster farms worth at least RM150,000 in Johor .

Economists have warned that the rains could cause an increase in food and palm oil prices in Malaysia, one of the world's largest producers of the edible oil, which is used in products ranging from shampoo and ice-cream to biofuels.

Plantation officials say heavy rains have slowed down the harvest and transportation of palm oil.

Read more!

Seas Could Rise Twice as High as Predicted - Study

PlanetArk 17 Dec 07;

WASHINGTON - The world's sea levels could rise twice as high this century as UN climate scientists have predicted, according to researchers who looked at what happened more than 100,000 years ago, the last time Earth got this hot.

Experts working on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have suggested a maximum 21st century sea level rise -- a key effect of global climate change -- of about 32 inches (0.8 metres).

But researchers said in a study appearing on Sunday in the journal Nature Geoscience that the maximum could be twice that, or 64 inches (1.6 metres).

They made the estimate by looking at the so-called interglacial period, some 124,000 to 119,000 years ago, when Earth's climate was warmer than it is now due to a different configuration of the planet's orbit around the sun.

That was the last time sea levels reached up to 20 feet (6 metres) above where they are now, fueled by the melting of the ice sheets that cover Greenland and Antarctica.

The researchers say their study is the first robust documentation of how quickly sea levels rose to that level.

"Until now, there have been no data that sufficiently constrain the full rate of past sea level rises above the present level," lead author Eelco Rohling of Britain's National Oceanography Centre said in a statement.

Rohling and his colleagues found an average sea level rise of 64 inches (1.6 metres) each century during the interglacial period.

Back then, Greenland was 5.4 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit (3 to 5 degrees Centigrade) warmer than now -- which is similar to the warming period expected in the next 50 to 100 years, Rohling said.

Current models of ice sheet activity do not predict rates of change this large, but they do not include many of the dynamic processes already being observed by glaciologists, the statement said. (Editing by Xavier Briand)

Rising seas 'to beat predictions'
BBC News 17 Dec 07;

The world's sea levels could rise twice as high this century as UN climate scientists have previously predicted, according to a study.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change proposes a maximum sea level rise of 81cm (32in) this century.

But in the journal Nature Geoscience, researchers say the true maximum could be about twice that: 163cm (64in).

They looked at what happened more than 100,000 years ago - the last time Earth was this warm.

The results join other studies showing that current sea level projections may be very conservative.

Sea level rise is a key effect of global climate change. There are two major contributory effects: expansion of sea water as the oceans warm, and the melting of ice over land.

In the latest study, researchers came up with their estimates by looking at the so-called interglacial period, some 124,000 to 119,000 years ago, when Earth's climate was warmer than it is now due to a different configuration of the planet's orbit around the Sun.

That was the last time sea levels reached up to 6m (20ft) above where they are now, fuelled by the melting of ice sheets that covered Greenland and Antarctica.

'Robust' work

The researchers say their study is the first robust documentation of how quickly sea levels rose to that level.

"Until now, there have been no data that sufficiently constrain the full rate of past sea level rises above the present level," lead author Eelco Rohling, of Britain's National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, said in a statement.

Rohling and his colleagues found an average sea level rise of 1.6m (64in) each century during the interglacial period.

Back then, Greenland was 3C to 5C (5.4F to 9F) warmer than now - which is similar to the warming period expected in the next 50 to 100 years, Dr Rohling said.

Current models of ice sheet activity do not predict rates of change this large. However, they also do not include many of the dynamic processes already being observed by glaciologists, the researchers said.

"The average rise of 1.6m per century that we find is roughly twice as high as the maximum estimates in the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, and so offers the first potential constraint on the dynamic ice sheet component that was not included in the headline IPCC values," explained Dr Rohling.

Last year, a separate study found sea level rise projections could be under-estimating the impact of human-induced climate change on the world's oceans.

Stefan Rahmstorf, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany, and colleagues plotted global mean surface temperatures against sea level rise, and found that levels could rise by 59% more than current forecasts.

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Arctic sets records on all fronts

Jonathan Amos, BBC News 16 Dec 07;

"The further you go down this path, the harder it is to get back," observed Don Perovich from the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

"Things could come back, but basically it's the fourth quarter and we're down two touchdowns," he said, using an analogy from American football.

The big thin

The extent of the sea ice cover fell to a record minimum in September of 4.13 million sq km, beating the previous low mark, set in 2005, by 23%.

This was well publicised at the time, but some of the other "Arctic numbers" have not been so widely reported.

Scientists say they demonstrate the step changes in environmental conditions in the northern polar region.

Dr Perovich himself has a number of ice mass balance buoys dotted around the Arctic measuring ice thickness.

One of them, in the Beaufort Sea, saw a 3.3m-thick slab of perennial sea ice reduced to just half a metre. The slab lost some 70cm off the top and 2.2m off the bottom.

The ablation on the bottom is five times what one would normally expect.

Dr Peter Wadhams, an expert who studies thickness using sonar data from submarines, called this observation "unprecedented".

"It's incredible, amazing," he told BBC News. "Ice cover can't stand that for many years: it'll all go."

Dr Perovich told the meeting: "One of the major concerns is that there's less ice there than we think. Ice thickness is a really important component in all this."

Warmth from below

A big driver behind the melt is the current warmth of the waters in the Arctic. In the summer of 2007, Arctic Ocean surface temperatures hit new maximums.

In waters just north of the Chukchi Sea (above Alaska and Eastern Siberia), sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) were 3.5C warmer than the historical average and 1.5C warmer than the historical maximum. SSTs of 4C were recorded.

This warming was probably the result of having increasing amounts of open water that readily absorb the sun's rays, a phenomenon known as the ice-albedo feedback: less ice means less reflection and more absorption, leading to more warming and more melting.

Warm waters from the Pacific Ocean are also flowing into the Arctic basin through the Bering Strait.

"In 2007, we had off-the-charts warming," said Dr Michael Steele, from the Polar Science Center, Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington.

But it is not just at the surface. The warmth of Atlantic sub-surface waters (100-500m down) that move into the Arctic are also in "record territory", the AGU meeting heard.

Old snow

And this picture is reflected on land, where a new record was set on the Greenland ice sheet, with snowmelt for areas above 2,000m observed to be 150% above the long-term average for the period 1988-2006.

These high elevation areas melted for 25-30 days longer this year than the observed average in the previous 19 years.

At lower altitudes, the melt was still higher than average by 30%, but it did not break any record. This year can be put in fifth place over the observed average, behind 2005, 2002, 1998 and 2004.

Dr Marco Tedesco from the University of Maryland and the Nasa Goddard Space Flight Center said the increased melting was probably the consequence of extremely warm temperatures over the Greenland ice sheet.

"Another factor which we think might be one of the concurrent causes for the record we observe is the low accumulation [of snow] for these areas," he added.

"Low accumulation means that the older snow, which absorbs more solar radiation than young snow, was exposed earlier than previous years," he added.

Regional impacts

There has been much talk at the meeting of climate "tipping points", and, in the case of the Arctic, when precisely the ocean will be totally free of ice in summer months.

One group of modellers came to the AGU conference with a projection of 2013.

While a number of scientists thought that date a little early, they said ice-free summers would come sooner than many people thought possible.

"If I could take a different angle on that question, and rather than look at when the last piece of ice goes away, ask 'when does the ice cover change in summer in a way that affects people?'," Dr Perovich said.

"I think we're already headed in that direction. This past year, the Northwest Passage was open; there's more potential for exploration for resources; we're already seeing for coastal villages that erosion is a serious problem.

"So, we're already beginning to see impacts on people that, as the melt continues, will just become more obvious."

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