Research wonders Down Under: Water, Weather and more

Richard Lim, The Star 21 Jun 09;

Innovation and technology are at the forefront of Australia’s quest to move forward.

IF panorama could bring a man to verse, my recent trip to Australia would probably result in a number of volumes.

Coupling the surreal landscape with four seasons, fresh floral-scented breezes and an accent which is quintessentially Australian, it seemed like I had the perfect getaway to free my mind.

But as far as freeing my mind went, I was in for a twist that recalibrated my perspective.

And if my 10-day sojourn across Perth, Adelaide and Tasmania with other Thai and Malaysian journalists taught me a thing or two, it was that although shops close by 6pm – or before – the Aussies aren’t quite as laidback as far as research is concerned.

Liquid assets

Being the driest continent on earth behind Antarctica, it is an understatement that effective water management is a big thing Down Under.

“Research on water quality and conservation has become increasingly popular over the years and even more so for us in Perth – the driest part of Australia,” says Prof Keith Smettem of the University of Western Australia (UWA).

“With erratic rainfall and worldwide pollution, water is fast becoming the new oil and there is a need to predict the future of water resource so we can adjust accordingly.”

The head of UWA’s School of Environmental Systems Engineering, Smettem explains that UWA offers many integrated programmes incorporating water resource, engineering and the environment.

And he says that the research conducted is vital not just for Australia, but also the region.

“We’ve done studies on tsunamis and other ocean disturbances to analyse their impact on the environment,” he continues. “We also track current flows offshore and we’ve been refining our flood and drought prediction techniques.

“The Australian climate has been affected by droughts in an extreme way and this is not an exclusive problem as driving atmospheric circulation patterns affect Malaysia and other Asian countries through the Indian and Pacific Ocean oscillation systems.”

And it isn’t just water per se as the school is involved in unearthing the intricate links between water management and the agriculture sector as well.

Waste produced by agricultural activities could lead to the degradation of coastal waters and research is being done to see how nature can be better preserved.

The school’s reputation has made waves in Malaysia and several government-sponsored students are in UWA to upskill themselves.

Among them are first-year PhD student Azra Numirah Mat Daud, 31, and her second-year counterpart Som Cit Si Nang, 26, who are conducting research on contaminant dynamics in lakes and wetlands and cyanobacterial toxin in fresh water, respectively.

Sponsored by the Higher Education Ministry, the duo agree that they’ve benefited from their time in Oz and look forward to solving Malaysia’s problems – especially when drinking water is concerned.

“It’s a great experience studying here as we have access to many resources and receive great supervision,” says Som Cit. “There is also strong industrial linkage and we are exposed to real life problems. Bringing a theoretical understanding to technical problems is an invaluable experience.”

Flying fish and weed busters

Those links become evident as Smettem proceeds to explain UWA’s work with Slocum Ocean gliders.

Named after Nova Scotian Joshua Slocum – the first person to sail around the world alone in 1898 – the gliders first pass as an odd yellow fish. The A$100,000 (RM278,500) price tag per unit, however, prices them out of many a market.

“The gliders we’re working on have the capability to change their buoyancy constantly,” explains Smettem.

“We use them to monitor ocean currents and we can keep abreast of any changes over the seasons. It provides us with data regarding the productivity of marine plant life in any part of the ocean and we can then analyse how things are evolving vis-à-vis climate change.”

As ocean life often exhibits different characteristics during the day and night, the gliders provide much-needed 24-hour surveillance.

Traditional oceanography readings are only done during the day and with that in mind, the gliders are worth their weight in gold.

The impact of currents on offshore structures can also be studied and this is vital to Australia’s oil and gas industry.

The same industrial relevance applies to agriculture.

Although he is no botanist by trade, Edith Cowan University research fellow Dr Sreten Askraba has designed a prototype that could revolutionise the industry.

Combining laser optics and nanotechnology, Dr Askraba’s prototype generates multiple laser beams that detect the presence of weeds and other unwanted plants.

“If 10% of a crop field is infested by weeds, farmers normally use herbicides on the entire crop but this will have adverse effects on the environment,” he explains.

“This system is unique because it enables farmers to do selective spraying. If equipped on farming machines, this system detects weeds and selected nozzles will then spray herbicides on the small infected areas.

“The process is more environmentally friendly and farmers can cut costs on herbicides.”

With each laser separated by a mere 15mm, thorough sweeps through crops can be conducted easily and Dr Askraba’s prototype is set to go on a trial run in August.

The testing ground is a sugar cane plantation in Queensland where farmers are keen on eradicating Guinea grass and Johnson grass.

Although he is still in the process of marketing the still-unnamed system, Dr Askraba is already envisioning a day where his prototype will be used not only in fields but also in golf courses.

Are you watching closely?

And his dream could well come true as the teenage fantasy of getting paid to be a couch potato has become a reality!

At Murdoch University’s Interactive Television Research Institute (ITRI), 4,000 lucky viewers in Perth are paid for taking part in experiments that seek to understand viewer behaviour towards advertisements, movies and programmes.

“We’re looking at the future and with television going online, we are in an amazing digital age,” enthuses ITRI executive director Prof Duane Varan.

“Our studies have shown that once people make a choice, they develop a bias and they subsequently try to reinforce their decisions.”

But with overt participant observation, how does the ITRI minimise the Hawthorne effect – unauthentic participant behaviour due to the knowledge that they are being observed?

They make their labs as homely as possible. Each lab – especially the large lounge for couple and group study – is equipped with plush sofas, plasma TVs, potted plants, lamps, candles, ornamental shelves, a coffee table and a ‘window’ with blinds to give a comfortable and realistic feel. The ‘window’ is actually a one-way mirror and enables observation while recording is done via the cameras hidden in the TV cabinet and on the roof. Meanwhile, strategically placed microphones record the sound footage.

“The homely décor strengthens research validity and with specialised and non-intrusive equipment, we can isolate each variable,” continues Varan

“For example, the two small cameras hidden in the coffee table in front of the viewer allow us to record head position and orientation, gaze direction, blink rate, saccade rate and eye closure.”

The data provides estimates of attention and fatigue, as well as information about where the viewer is looking on screen – ensuring that the slightest glance at the lady in red does not go unnoticed.

Respiration, heart rate and muscle tension can also be tracked and by placing two small electrodes on a finger, ITRI staff can analyse the viewer’s state of psychological arousal when they watch the television.

With much support from its many industrial collaborators such as NBC, BBC, BSkyB and ESPN, among others, the ITRI is even taking its research to shopping malls and primary schools using portable audience research centres – vans that bring the viewing lounges to the masses.

The Iceberg Cometh

The human anatomy isn’t the only thing under such detailed scrutiny and technology is also at the forefront of Australia’s quest to master the waves.

“Australia is very much a maritime nation and we believe in providing the best training before students actually set sail,” opines Australian Maritime College (AMC) National Centre for Ports and Shipping director, Captain John Lloyd.

The result? A whopping A$7mil (RM19.5mil) simulation facility that mimics actual sailing conditions at the AMC campus in Tasmania.

Involving three or four students per session, the simulation is seen as a litmus test for ship handling and seafaring.

“It’s like flight school,” continues Lloyd. “You can’t crash your plane and you certainly can’t wreck the ship. Sessions are engaging as we can manipulate day and night settings, weather effects, ocean currents and even different boat and engine types.’’

More complex conundrums require students to navigate high density traffic in low visibility conditions. And with a databank capable of giving up-to-date renditions of the world’s busiest ports, things are kept fresh.

As he speaks, the floor of the facility bobs up and down, resulting in a few journalists getting seasick – but not yours truly – and with such attention to detail, the training is bound to be better than the real thing at times.

That said, all the AMC now needs is an eulogy-inducing simulation that prepares potential sailors for the Gulf of Aden.

And should it ever boil down to a case of sink or swim – literally – most AMC students will fancy their chances. Shipboard safety and other survival courses provided train students in vessel abandonment, fire fighting and even sea evacuation via helicopter.

The AMC also excels in maritime machine design at its Centre for Engineering and Hyrodynamics.

Researchers are able to gauge how many people will get seasick on any given vessel by measuring vertical acceleration and its frequency at the centre’s hydrodynamic test facility.

The margin of error is a remarkable 0.5% and the centre’s findings go far in influencing ship design.

Meanwhile, the AMC’s Centre for Maritime Conservation focuses on the study of the natural sciences with policy and management.

“With climate change, sustainable aquaculture is becoming a new buzzword and we’re looking into better ways of conducting marine husbandry,” explains aquaculture lecturer Louise Ward.

“We’re also studying how the changing ocean climate affects the migration patterns of marine species and we welcome international students as they give us the opportunity to impart our knowledge – and learn from them in the process.

“The ocean is shared by all and it will take a concerted effort to manage the marine environment for future generations.”

Final Musings

Although Ward may sound a tad sentimental, her views sum up the global outlook that is adopted by Australian education.

Essentially recognised as an important business, education Down Under is constantly evolving. The only constant seems to be the emphasis on quality.

And with so much going on in Oz, a journalist’s job could not be harder (pun intended).

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Using Weather Satellites To Predict Epidemics?

NPR 20 Jun 09;

The swine flu outbreak caused a minor panic all over the world, but swine flu's got nothing on the great Rift Valley fever epidemic of 2006. Don't remember that epidemic? That's because it never actually happened. Scientists at NASA and the Department of Agriculture used some high-flying technology to help stop the outbreak.

Scientists can use weather satellites to track things like sea surface temperature and cloud cover, which are good indicators of heavy rainfall. But what does that have to do with Rift Valley fever?

It turns out that rainfall is the key to the disease. Dr. Ken Linthicum, director of the USDA's Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, once did fieldwork in east Africa, where the disease is common, and noticed that outbreaks seemed to follow heavy rains.

"We eventually figured out that when it rains to a very large extent … and areas start to flood, that eggs of a certain kind of mosquito start to hatch — and those eggs actually contain the virus," he says.

Dr. Assaf Anyamba tracks climate data at NASA's Goddard Earth Sciences Technology Center. In September 2006, his group predicted heavy rainfall over east Africa. The first human case of fever followed in mid-December, Anyamba says, "so there were four months during which response measures could be taken, including vaccination, mosquito control, public education."

So predicting rainfall helps predict Rift Valley fever outbreaks — and that makes weather satellites a powerful tool in curbing the spread of disease.

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Disaster Request for a Drought-Hit County in California

Solomon Moore, The New York Times 20 Jun 09;

LOS ANGELES — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made an unusual request Friday, asking President Obama to declare Fresno County a federal disaster area because of a three-year drought that is straining California’s agricultural industry and worsening unemployment in the hard-hit Central Valley.

Mr. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, announced his request on a visit to the county, the state’s breadbasket, where unemployment is near 17 percent.

Tough new environmental regulations to protect endangered freshwater fish are also hindering California’s huge agricultural industry, which provides about half of the nation’s fresh produce.

Government statistics released Friday showed California’s unemployment rate at 11.5 percent in May, the highest since World War II, compared with 11.1 percent in April, representing a loss of 68,900 nonfarm jobs.

Requests for a presidential disaster declaration are rarer for droughts than for other natural disasters. In 2007, the governor of Georgia requested a declaration because of a prolonged drought, but President George W. Bush declined to make one.

The White House did not respond immediately to Mr. Schwarzenegger’s request.

Should Mr. Obama grant the request, California would qualify for direct aid, low-interest loans and other resources offered by the federal government.

Without the declaration, drought relief is usually handled through the Department of Agriculture’s crop insurance program, which subsidizes underwriters of agricultural concerns and provides direct payments to farmers and ranchers.

The governor also signed an executive order to provide about $3 million a month in food assistance and unemployment insurance in the Fresno area.

“These are dire circumstances,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said at a stop in Mendota. “Here in the Central Valley, no water means no work. And no work means people cannot feed their families.”

About 450,000 acres across California are fallow this year because of water shortages, state officials say. Fewer planted acres means fewer jobs in agriculture and higher prices at supermarkets across the country, said Victoria Bradshaw, the governor’s deputy chief of staff.

“Last month, agriculture lost 29,000 jobs” in the state, Ms. Bradshaw said.

“That has huge impact not only on California’s economy but on the nation’s food supply,” she said. “If we can’t keep our agricultural communities together, then we’re going to be more dependent on foreign food supplies.”

California had only 53 percent of its normal rainfall in 2007, and 58 percent in 2008, and has had only 77 percent this year, said Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources. Federal and state reservoirs that collect rainwater and melting mountain snowpacks in Northern California remain critically low, Mr. Snow said.

Also, a recent federal court ruling on the Endangered Species Act requires the water authorities to restrict severely the operation of pumping stations in the San Joaquin River Delta because they were destroying endangered smelt populations.

Mr. Schwarzenegger’s visit to the Central Valley came at the suggestion of Mayor Robert Silva of Mendota, a hard-hit rural town of cantaloupe farms and 10,700 people where unemployment is about 41 percent.

“We’ve been having food giveaways every two weeks,” Mr. Silva said. “We had another one yesterday where we gave away 1,200 boxes of produce. The crime rate has gone up because a lot of people around here are desperate, and a lot of people are traveling to other places for work.”

Todd Allen, 46, a wheat and cotton farmer from the Fresno County community of Firebaugh, said he was angry that the government seemed to be more concerned about “bait fish” than about his livelihood.

“I’ll be damned if I’ll let a little fish take all my water away,” Mr. Allen said. “I will sue for everything and make sure that I get a bunch of farmers together and people who have lost jobs to fight the government to the end.”

Most of Mr. Allen’s 600 acres are a tangle of dead wheat stalks and weeds because he lacked enough water to irrigate his crops. And his finances are a jumble of bank debts, he said, adding that he had begun taking pills for high blood pressure.

“I’ve been out there weeding it myself because I can’t afford any employees,” Mr. Allen said. “It’s going to be a disaster in the supermarkets when people have to pay $4 for a cantaloupe. You got people sleeping in cars out here. I’ve seen people getting turned away from food lines.”

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Tibet drought worst in 30 years: Chinese state media

Yahoo News 20 Jun 09;

BEIJING (AFP) – A drought in Tibet has intensified into the region's worst in three decades, leaving thousands of hectares parched and killing more than 13,000 head of cattle, China's state media said Saturday.

The report by Xinhua news agency follows a warning by China's top weather official last month that the Himalayan region faced a growing threat of drought and floods as global warming melts its glaciers.

Drought conditions have hit five of Tibet's six prefectures since last year, affecting 15.3 percent of the remote plateau, Xinhua said, quoting the regional drought relief and flood control headquarters.

It also said 13,601 head of cattle had died, but did not say over what time frame the deaths occurred.

Some weather stations had not received significant rainfall in 226 days, the report said.

"The drought has also been worsened by higher than normal temperatures. Tibet has experienced temperatures 0.4 to 2.3 degrees Celsius (0.7 to 4.1 Fahrenheit) higher than normal years," it said, quoting a top Tibetan weather official.

The head of the China Meteorological Bureau, Zheng Guogang, last month was quoted by Xinhua as warning that global warming was accelerating glacial shrinkage, causing Tibet's lakes to swell.

"If the warming continues, millions of people in western China will face floods in the short term and drought in the long run."

Experts have repeatedly warned of catastrophic consequences downstream if global warming continues to melt the snows and glaciers of mountainous Tibet, source of many of Asia's mightiest rivers.

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Best of our wild blogs: 20 Jun 09

SPICE up your life!
from Garden Voices

How I Tricked A Sea Lion
from Tony Wu's Underwater Photography

Blue-throated Bee-eater casting pellet
from Bird Ecology Study Group

#58, SBG
from NaturallYours

Large-tailed Nightjar’s failed nesting
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Riau BMKG says global warming is here

The Jakarta Post 20 Jun 09;

Irregular rain patterns, more thunderstorms and higher temperatures are heralding the advent of global warming that Riau is now experiencing, says the provincial Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

“Our analysis over the past 25 years, between 1980 and 2005, shows that Riau has experienced a rise in the minimum temperature, from 21.5 to 23.5 degrees Celsius, as well as irregularities in rainfall patterns in the past five years,” BMKG head Blucher Doloksaribu said Monday at a press conference in Jakarta.

Increases in the minimum temperature are closely related to the greenhouse effect. The temperature is measured when there is no direct solar radiation, according to the BMKG.

Blucher also pointed out the significant irregularities in rainfall of more than 100 millimeters in the area over the past 20 years.

“There were four rains of this kind between 1986 and 1990, three between 1991 and 1995, seven between 1996 and 2000, and 12 between 2001 and 2005,” he said.

Such showers are not common in Indonesia, he said.

“For this kind of rainfall, many large cumulonimbus clouds are needed, and clouds of this type are linked to higher temperatures.”

Riau has also seen an increase in high temperatures, Blucher went on. At the height of haze caused by forest fires between May 1 and June 11 this year, high temperatures in Riau ranged from 33.2 to 34 degrees, peaking at 36 degrees on two days.

“Despite May and June being the hottest months in year in the region, we’ve never gone above 33 degrees Celsius,” he said.

“The smoke from forest fires caused by deforestation helped push the temperature higher.”

Blucher added the more frequent and unpredictable heavy showers had directly impacted agriculture, with farmers unable to predict the weather, thus affecting harvests.

“Irrigation systems can no longer retain rain water as previously; farmers will experience more failed harvests,” he said.

He added the only easy way to counter this was to plant more trees.

“Only trees can absorb the carbon dioxide in the air,” he said.

Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said, “Deforestation is the largest contributor to the greenhouse effect in the country, whose gas emissions are the third-highest in the world.”

Data from the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) shows there are currently 2,643 hotspots nationwide. Many of these forest fires are set illegally to clear-cut forests for oil palm or pulp and paper plantations, Bustar said.

Deforestation occurs all over the country, but the condition in Riau is worse because it has the deepest peatlands in the world, he said.

Peatlands are rich in CO2. Setting them on fire releases huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.

“Deforestation also leads to community violence,” Bustar said.

Also at the press conference was National Commission on Human Rights member Nurkholis, who revealed 5 percent of the 4,900 cases reported to the commission last year were related to conflicts between communities and corporations in plantation areas.

Last April, Greenpeace questioned the new pulpwood concessions for 2009-2014 granted by the Forestry Ministry to companies suspected of illegal logging.

In January, the government issued a policy extending the pulp and paper industry’s period to use natural forest timber until 2014, while in March, the ministry, through a decree, took over the authority to issue logging permits from the Riau administration. (iwp)

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Saving The Seahorses and Cambodian sand to Singapore

Ron Gluckman, Far Eastern Economic Review
The Wall Street Journal 19 Jun 09;
Cambodia's shoreline rapidly recedes behind waves of white foam as our boat roars out of Sihanoukville port, bound for what have long been uncharted waters. Across the border in Thailand, the coast long ago shifted from Robinson Crusoe retreats to a grand esplanade of beach huts, banana pancakes and Jack Johnson music. Yet Cambodia's palm-fringed beaches still look like a sepia photograph from half a century ago.

Credit, if you call it that, belongs to decades of war and the world's worst genocide. But growth and stability has swept these shores in recent years, bringing adventurous investors to this longtime Asian backwater, like Rory and Mel Hunter, an Australian couple guiding me to a pair of islands where they are building a small, upscale resort.

At least, that was the plan before the meltdown burst Cambodia's bubble; in recent years growth had been among the heartiest in the region, reaching 13% per annum. Now, it's reeling, and investors have fled or melted away, like Hong Kong's Millennium Group, which trumpeted a $10 billion development on Koh Rung, Cambodia's largest island. Millennium wanted to add roads, resorts, residential estates and an airport in a scheme modeled on Thailand's Phuket. The Hunters have modest plans for Koh Ouen and Bong, two tiny isles near Koh Rung, cuddled so close together locals call them Song Saa -- the Sweetheart Islands. But as boom became bust, Millennium closed its Cambodian offices leaving Koh Rung in the raw. Longtime Cambodian residents, the Hunters will stay and scale down from $1,000-per-night villas to a more ecological and affordable resort.

"In some ways, this may be a good thing," Mr. Hunter reflects on the slowdown. Many with a stake in Cambodia's tourism growth feel much the same, that the boom was too sudden, threatening the pristine environment. As we pass a Koh Rung beach, stretching for miles without a single footprint, Mr. Hunter adds: "Now, we all have a chance to rethink things, and maybe plan better."

Better planning would not only help a tourism industry that topped two million visitors for the first time in 2007 -- an astonishing 50-fold increase in 15 years -- it could benefit every sector. Transparency International ranks Cambodia among Asia's most corrupt countries; only Burma gets worse grades. It's also among Asia's poorest nations, and wealth disparity has widened despite the boom. Land evictions have become epidemic -- greedy developers partnered with corrupt officials have swept aside entire villages in real-estate scams. All of Cambodia's islands have been leased to foreign investors in the last few years. "Country for Sale," was the title of a scathing report from watchdog Global Witness, detailing rampant corruption that reached across every sector.

The response was typically Cambodian. The report was banned, and Global Witness barred from returning. "If they come to Cambodia, I will hit them until their heads are broken," said Hun Neng, a provincial governor and brother of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Originally welcomed to Cambodia to help monitor its resources, London-based Global Witness has become a recurrent thorn in the side of the administration, detailing illegal exploitation of forests, gems and, invariably, people. So the latest news from Cambodia comes as a complete shocker. Global Witness and the government agree on an issue.

In May, Cambodia banned the export of sea sand. Sucked from the seabed by massive dredgers, it has increasingly filled the cement and landfill needs of expanding countries-mainly Singapore. Already banned across Asia, dredging rips up reefs and destroys marine environments, as detailed by Global Witness. "The government hasn't exactly agreed with us, but this certainly draws a lot of attention to the problem," says researcher Eleanor Nichol. "We welcome the ban and hope it is effectively enforced."

Hailed as a rare victory by environmentalists, and welcomed by the fledgling resorts and dive shops that are starting to attract tourists to Cambodia's coast, the ban's biggest boost comes to a small and largely silent local population -- seahorses.

Harvested to the brink of extinction around the world, seahorses have surely benefited from Cambodia's decades of turmoil. As tourists flocked to Thailand and later Vietnam, Cambodia's lost coast was the scene of fierce fighting from the 1970s through the 1990s. Bullet and mortar holes are still visible in seaside villas in Kep, which was a charming coastal resort called La Perle de la C&GBP 244;te d'Agathe in the 1960s. Soon after, the only idyll in these parts was underwater, among the thick grasses filled with seahorses around Koh Rung.

"We have seen groups of 50 together at one time," says Paul Ferber, a British dive instructor who moved from Phuket to the more remote and rich waters around Koh Rung. Such sightings are exceedingly rare, only reported in a handful of sites around the world, according to the international group Project Seahorse.

There are 33 known species of seahorses, which are actually fish, akin to tuna and salmon, all listed as endangered by international treaty or believed threatened. America is the largest market for seahorse tropical pets, but this is a sliver of sales. Some 20 to 24 million seahorses are taken from the seas each year, mainly by exporters from India, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Practically all are shipped to China, and ground up for medicine. Chinese believe the tiny creatures help male virility. Seahorse activists say consumption in China is still growing by about 10% per year.

Some believe global seahorse stocks have declined by 50% or more in recent decades, despite the almost universal appeal of the unique creatures. They mate for life, and the female impregnates the male, injecting eggs into his pouch, where they are incubated, kangaroo-style. Seahorses are incredibly fragile -- life spans range to four years and few reach adulthood. Death results from practically any disruption to their environment. Mr. Ferber reports that they have been decimated by dredging, dynamite and net fishing. Sightings are down to about 10 per dive, he says.

The sand wars swept into Cambodia in 2007, after Indonesia enacted its own ban on dredging due to disastrous impacts on islands where fisheries were destroyed and sinking reported. Most of that sand was shipped to Singapore, which has expanded almost 15% in size since 1960. To serve its growing population, the island state plans to add another 100 square kilometers to its borders by 2030. "They don't have much coast, so they have been taking ours," a resident of Sihanoukville quips.

Singapore isn't the only recipient of Cambodia's sand, prized for its coarseness and purity. "It's from coral reefs," notes Mr. Ferber, "so it's high grade." China has also mined and traded the sand. "Cambodian coast for sale," read one posting on Alibaba.com, China's leading business-to-business e-commerce Web site. Even after the ban, sellers still tout Cambodian sand. Under a listing for "700 millions [sic] cubic meters of Sea Sand from Cambodia" a current vendor notes: "We are looking for a serious buy from Singapore or other countries. We have more than 700 millions [sic] cubic meters of sea sand for exploiting."

Global Witness estimated that the sand exports on the southern coast might total $35 million annually, based on exhaustive undercover investigations and a lot of extrapolation. Even to a poor country, that is shortsighted, as Cambodia is essentially selling its pristine shoreline for low-value landfill.

The hope, from the main beaches of Sihanoukville to the quiet cove of Kep, where a new sailing club recently opened at the stylish Knai Bang Chatt resort, is that the ban can slow growth to the peaceful pace that brought Europeans to this Riviera of Asia.

Cambodia's coastal growth is central to government plans to shift tourism from the temples of Angkor Wat in the north to promote longer stays in the country. The old Chinese-built airstrip at Sihanoukville was expanded two years ago into an international airport, but no regional carrier has added the route. Operators note that there are still too few hotels and tourist services in the area to make flights viable.

Seahorses could help put the area on the map, and perhaps convince Cambodia to make protection permanent. Environmentalists fret that the ban remains temporary and doesn't apply to domestic dredging. Divers report that Chinese and Vietnamese ships continue to operate while Global Witness worries that enforcement will be lax.

Still, Mr. Hunter is optimistic, noting the enthusiastic local support for his resort's privately funded marine preserve. When the resort opens next year, a resident marine biologist will be on hand to suggest ecological trips. "Imagine Thailand from 40 years ago," he says, "and you get an idea of the potential of Cambodia's islands."

For seahorses, the odds seem long the world over. But one bright spot on the horizon glimmers near Bohol, in the Philippines, another nation known for bad governance. A rare luminous variety of seahorses are protected in the Handumon marine sanctuary, which draws divers and tourists from around the globe. It's proof that with planning and the right protection, this needn't be the last roundup for seahorses.

---

Mr. Gluckman is a free-lance writer. He divides his time between Bangkok and Phnom Penh.

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NUS centre taps top satellite

New facility to access high-resolution data for research projects
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 20 Jun 09;

Professor Peter Ng, the director of TMSI, said the institutes are working together on a study on the state of the marine environment in Pulau Semakau. He said researchers will work on a long-term conservation plan for the island, using the razor-sharp satellite imaging to study the growth patterns of mangrove and coral reefs there.

A SATELLITE dish at the top of a new $9 million building at the National University of Singapore (NUS) can allow scientists to pick up satellite images of objects as small as 50cm in size.

This level of precision means that the satellite can pick out a man walking, although he will appear as only a speck. For bigger objects, such as a car, the satellite can keep track of where the vehicle is heading.

Researchers in Singapore have previously depended on satellite imagery with a resolution of 1m.

The Sea-to-Space centre, which was opened by Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim yesterday, will tap data from the US$500 million (S$730 million) GeoEye-1 satellite - the world's highest-resolution remote sensing satellite available for civilian use.

More than $5 million worth of state-of-the-art equipment is currently housed at the 1,830 sq m facility, where over 80 researchers from two research institutes - the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (Crisp) and the Tropical Marine Science Institute (TMSI) - will come together to engage in projects covering a range of disciplines.

Established 17 years ago, Crisp currently operates a ground station which tracks, receives and processes data from remote sensing satellites. It monitors hot spot regions over parts of Indonesia during the haze season.

TMSI has a large portfolio of projects in the field of environmental science.

At the opening ceremony, Professor Barry Halliwell, deputy president (research and technology) at NUS, said: 'The coming together of these two research bodies under one roof is in tandem with the university's drive towards high quality research over a broad range of cross-disciplinary projects.'

Professor Peter Ng, the director of TMSI, said the institutes are working together on a study on the state of the marine environment in Pulau Semakau. He said researchers will work on a long-term conservation plan for the island, using the razor-sharp satellite imaging to study the growth patterns of mangrove and coral reefs there.

'This will be a test site where we can bring our different skills together,' he said.

Mr Kwoh Leong Keong, director of Crisp, said: 'The new technology really provides a close-up view...We can now see intricate details such as the lines along a tennis court on top of a building.'

The new satellite imaging system also has a part to play in the humanitarian relief operations that Singapore participates in. 'With this technology, we can see the actual activity on the ground - the layout of roads, canals, and even trees,' he said.

The ability to see very fine features improves mapping capabilities.

'This is important in conducting relief operations during disasters such as typhoons,' said Mr Kwoh. 'We need to know such details to know exactly where to go.'

He highlighted the example of Crisp's role during the 2004 tsunami in providing high resolution imagery of areas in Indonesia's Aceh province stricken by the disaster as something that can be improved upon. 'The roads were broken, so evacuation teams needed to map out alternative paths to rescue people. Previous satellite imaging could not provide such detail,' said Mr Kwoh.

The centre is the only ground station in the region to be able to receive and process data from the GeoEye-1 satellite.

The facility's capabilities will be further boosted later this year when it gains access to another 0.5m resolution satellite - the WorldView.

This will make Crisp the first station in the world to receive data from two 0.5m resolution satellites at the same facility, said Prof Halliwell. This means satellite images can be received in a shorter amount of time.

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Haze may return to Singapore

Desmond Wong, Channel NewsAsia 19 Jun 09;

SINGAPORE: Drier conditions as a result of possible El Nino effects later this year could see the haze returning to Singapore.

The best way for Singapore to mitigate this danger is to work with its partners in Indonesia, said Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim.

He said: "This year, for example, we're a bit worried, because there are indications...you could see El Nino coming back. El Nino conditions are drier than usual, and that is a cause for concern for us because the haze situation could worsen."

Singapore has been working with Indonesia's Jambi province to reduce slash-and-burn activities by farmers there.

The minister also said that the sharing of information and co-operation across governments is critical to avoid disrupting events like the Formula One (F1) race as the dry season heats up.

Dr Yaacob said: "The dry season is starting now - July, August, September. If you look back at 1997 and 2006...September, October...was really the peak. I do not know if that will happen, but if it does, it will affect our (hosting of) F1. So there are many things we should be concerned about and we have informed the Indonesians that they have to do something about it."

The minister was speaking at the opening of the Sea to Space building, home of the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing or CRISP.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) is on its guard against the increase of forest fires in Indonesia, and CRISP will be lending the abilities of its new GeoEye ground station to help NEA monitor hot spots.

- CNA/ir


Back to the hazy days of 2006?
by Lin Yan Qin, Today Online 20 Jun 09;

THE winds have been in Singapore’s favour so far, but that luck may not hold.

With Malaysia already feeling the effects of the haze from forest fires in Indonesia, the likely return of El Nino - which brings dry weather to the region - and a change in wind direction could mean a return for Singaporeans to the hot, haze-filled days of 2006.

And that is especially a cause for concern, with the Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix in September - one of the worst months during the 2006 haze - and a H1N1 community outbreak threatening.

Noting that thus far, winds have kept the smoke at bay, the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources warned Singaporeans to nonetheless “prepare for the worst”.

“This year, we are a bit worried because you could see El Nino coming back, and El Nino conditions are dryer than usual,” said Dr Yaacob Ibrahim. “This is a cause of concern for us because that means the haze situation could worsen.” Looking back at 1997 and 2006, he added, “September, October was really the peak” and should the same scenario recur, “it will affect our (hosting of) F1”.

Experts agree the signs are there - the region is now in the “neutral” period that follows last year’s La Nina and usually precedes the El Nino, said Associate Professor Matthias Roth from the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Department of Geography.

And if El Nino brings dry weather here, the lack of rain to wash haze particles away means they will accumulate.

Doctors said they would expect to see an increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for respiratory problems exacerbated by the haze. Could those stricken with H1N1 have their condition worsened? “Certainly they would feel more irritated and cough more, but I don’t think there is a clear link to pace of recovery. The cause of H1N1 is viral and the treatment is targeted as such,” said Dr Chong Yeh Woei, president of the Singapore Medical Association.

Political will vs the weather

On the political front, Singapore will be meeting with its neighbours to discuss the situation. Said Dr Yaacob: “We may need to have a meeting ahead of time to gather the ministers and make this point to our Indonesian colleagues.”

He was speaking at the opening of the Sea-to-Space building at NUS, where the Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processing (Crisp) - which provides images of hotspots in Indonesia to the Government - is located. The number of such forest fire zones has not gone up, and it is important that Singapore had engaged Indonesia early.

The situation in 2006
Today Online 20 Jun 09;

For over two months in 2006, Singaporeans woke up to hazy skies, as forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan made worse by dry weather pushed the haze situation to its worst since 1997.

Pollutant Standards Index levels hit the unhealthy range of 101 and above for three days in October, and those with existing heart or respiratory ailments were advised to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activity. The public was told to reduce vigorous outdoor activity.

The haze had been exacerbated due to a weak El Nino effect that year which prolonged the dry season, causing forest fires to further burn and spread. The monsoon that year was also delayed as a result; hence there was little rainfall to ease the situation until November.

Severe haze likely to hit Singapore
El Nino set to return this year, bringing hotter and drier weather
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 20 Jun 09;

SMOKE haze from Indonesia could make an unwanted comeback this year as an El Nino weather phenomenon develops, bringing hotter and drier weather, Minister for the Environment & Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday.

Though slight now, the haze could worsen in the coming months, and peak in September, deep into the dry season.

Yesterday, 32 hot spots were detected in Sumatra, and 50 in Borneo. Meteorologists are watching as an early-stage El Nino develops over the Pacific Ocean.

'It is cause for concern because it means the haze situation could worsen,' said Dr Yaacob. 'We are already seeing some signs of it.'

In fact, all it would take now for haze to blow by is for the wind to change, said experts. It has already blanketed parts of neighbouring Malaysia.

The pollution standards index (PSI) peaked at an unhealthy 136 in areas such as Port Klang, Shah Alam and Cheras last week, as visibility and air quality deteriorated rapidly.

In Singapore the PSI is in the good range for now.

But similar hot and dry weather in 1997 and 2006 fuelled fires in Indonesia, and south-westerly winds sent the smoke onwards.

The haze lasted three months in 1997, with the PSI reaching an all time high of 226 in September. People stayed indoors, health-care costs soared and tourism was disrupted.

According to a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report published in 1998, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia suffered losses of more than $2.1 billion in the toll to their economies.

A bad haze year would also have a worrying impact on the prize event in the tourism calendar, the F1 Grand Prix race held in September, the minister said yesterday.

'These are things we should be concerned about and we have informed Indonesia that they need to do something about it,' he said.

Singapore will continue to work with Indonesia by providing it with the latest up-to-date information of where hot spots are, so that it can do its part, said Dr Yaacob.

He was speaking to reporters at the launch of a new $9 million satellite ground station, which will assist Indonesia in the haze fight by providing more razor-sharp satellite imaging of hot spot areas.

Indonesia has managed to reduce the number of hot spots but has yet to meet its target of 50 per cent this year, he said.

At a meeting in April for the Asean Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution, it assured its neighbours it would step up efforts to meet the target.

Dr Yaacob said officials from the National Environment Agency (NEA) and his ministry are due to travel to Jambi province next week and would impress upon government officials there of 'the need to do more'.

The next ministerial committee meeting, set for October, may also have to be brought forward to before September, he said.

'Let's plan for the worst and hope for the best.'

But Dr Yaacob also paid tribute to a collaboration between Singapore and Jambi province as evidence of progress on Indonesia's part in tackling the problem.

Singapore has committed $1 million to help the provincial government implement various programmes designed to prevent or mitigate the incidence of fires.

Air quality monitoring stations set up in the province now feed information about what is going on there. The hope is for such a network of monitoring stations to be extended throughout Indonesia.

NEA's Meteorological Services Division said a 'marked warming in this part of the Pacific Ocean in recent months points to the early stage of a potential El Nino'. Warming conditions need to be sustained over the coming months for a full-fledged El Nino to develop.

Associate Professor Matthias Roth, from the department of geography at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said the odds for haze in Singapore are high, as the south-west monsoon season, which has just begun and lasts till end-October, would blow any smoke this way.

Early start to El Nino this year
Warmer waters in Pacific herald trouble for region
Michael Wilner, Straits Times 20 Jun 09;

EL NINO is back, and much earlier than expected.

Occurring once every two to seven years, the weather phenomenon almost always begins in September. But experts are saying that unusually high Pacific Ocean surface temperatures this year could mean the risk of it hitting next month has increased substantially.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has calculated the risk at nearly double the average probability - with the likelihood of it forming now put above 50 per cent.

'However, it is still possible, though increasingly less likely, that the recent trends may stall without El Nino thresholds being reached,' it said in a fortnightly update.

US weather forecasters agree that surface temperatures in the ocean are rising, and this might be related to the strong El Nino effect forming for the first time in more than five years.

It has happened unusually quickly, Mr Kelly Redmond of the Western Regional Climate Centre in Reno, Nevada, was quoted as saying.

'It is kind of impressive,' he told the Reno Nevada Gazette. 'It formed quickly. It kind of took me by surprise.'

Mr Redmond also said the fact that it would be an early El Nino could mean that it could be a strong one.

The Pacific Ocean waters began to warm last month, with conditions shifting towards an El Nino this month - a trend projected to continue at least into August, say US weather forecasters.

A strong El Nino event would be cause for concern in this region for several reasons.

The temperature rise would hurt crop production and likely increase the likelihood of a worsening haze situation, particularly for Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Crops will suffer because rainfall will decline during the critical monsoon season, said Mr Drew Lerner, the president of Kansas City-based World Weather Inc. Monsoon rains are pivotal for farm production in India, the world's fifth-biggest grower of soyabeans and third-largest producer of rapeseed.

'Rainfall in India is going to be poor,' Mr Lerner told Bloomberg. 'The oilseeds are all in the reproductive states in September and October, and if they don't have rain in those two months, there could be some problems.'

Australia, which will also suffer from drier weather, is the world's fourth-largest wheat exporter.

Furthermore, officials fear the phenomenon is likely to worsen the haze situation in South-east Asia, bearing in mind that during the 1997-98 period, drought caused by El Nino led to major fires in Indonesia.

Forest fires are a regular occurrence during the dry season in areas such as Sumatra and Borneo, but the situation has been aggravated in recent decades as timber and plantation estates, as well as farmers, start fires to clear land.

The fires in turn cause smoke that, because of regional weather patterns, often blows into nearby countries, particularly Singapore and Malaysia.

Some areas in Sumatra and Malaysia have already been affected by haze.

A top official in Sarawak yesterday said the state government would begin cloud seeding operations next week, in view of the long dry spell.

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What will life be like with 6 million people?

Letter from John Lucas, Today Online 19 Jun 09;

With the 5.5 per cent increase in population for 2008, the population density of Singapore is now 17,650 people per square mile -- making it the third most densely populated country in the world.

In comparison, the United States has a population density of 80 people per square mile. If the US had the same population density as Singapore, its population would be 65.6 billion people.

I’m sure I am not alone when I say Singapore’s malls, parks, highways, carparks, trains, buses, and restaurants are already overcrowded during weekends.

Will adding more people improve the quality of life? I just can’t imagine what life in Singapore will be like when the population is pushed another 23.96 per cent from 4.84 million to 6 million.

The next time you are waiting in a long queue, or crammed into a train, think about being there with an additional 24 more people. It will help pass the time.

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Keeping the energy-water relationship alive and pumping

Heiner Markhoff, Straits Times 20 Jun 09;

IT IS often said that an economy runs on oil, but it could just as easily run on water. Simply put, electricity is needed to power the economy, and power cannot be generated without water. Conversely, electricity is needed to treat water.

It is therefore critical that we consider the nexus between water and power.

A large amount of water - up to 90 per cent - is used in any power plant for cooling purposes. This water can be recycled. Water is also used to produce steam for power generation.

In a world where water is an increasingly scarce resource, policies supporting its conservation and recycling for power generation must be an urgent priority.

It is estimated that 15 per cent of freshwater worldwide is used for industrial purposes. And as this sector grows, so will demand for power and water.

In the United States, water demands related to electricity production have almost tripled since 1995, and nearly 90 per cent of all industrial water is used for the generation of power.

In France, power generation has become the largest water guzzler.

Singapore's non-domestic sector uses about half the treated water supply. The country has become a champion of water conservation and recycling to support its industrial growth and other water uses.

The Republic is already reusing 15 per cent of its waste water and plans on doubling this to 30 per cent by next year.

Australia reuses about 8 per cent of its waste water and has set a national target of 30 per cent by 2015. The US reuses only about 6 per cent. In many other parts of the world, the ratio is even smaller.

It is clear that water reuse is not as prevalent as it is should be.

One effective way to achieve water savings is to co-locate water-treatment facilities and power plants.

A US Department of Energy-sponsored study looked at 110 new proposed power plants in 2007. It found that municipal waste-water treatment plants located within a 40km radius of the proposed power plants could satisfy 97 per cent of the power plants' cooling-water needs.

Incentives to co-locate municipal waste-water treatment plants and power generation plants would go a long way towards reducing freshwater withdrawal.

Moreover, reusing water often reduces energy consumption in and of itself. A 1,000MW power plant with a water-reuse system for cooling-tower water recovery will reduce the energy otherwise needed to produce, distribute and treat fresh water by a net 15 per cent - enough to power some 350 homes for a year.

However, while advanced water reclamation technologies already exist, the motivation to deploy them often does not.

Today, it is often less expensive for plant operators to get water from a river or well, or even use potable water, than to treat and reuse it.

Policy incentives have been primary drivers for growth in renewable energy capacity. Similar legislation and incentives to jump-start the widespread use of new water recycling technologies are needed.

Incentives are particularly important since new technologies are often more expensive compared with current technologies that have developed infrastructure and economies of scale.

Singapore, for example, has already established a water efficiency fund to provide up to half of the capital costs of water recycling facilities for companies.

The Singapore International Water Week that begins on Monday will be a meeting of minds and a good platform for global leaders to consider such forward looking strategies.

The proposed federal Energy and Water Integration Act of 2009 in the US calls for a study on how energy development affects the nation's water supplies.

It would also be beneficial for the federal government to identify best available technologies to minimise the use of water in the production of electricity.

There are significant energy and water savings to be gained in the area.

The opportunity to achieve these goals is within reach: The cost of new technologies has fallen. Also, new generation membranes and better management practices have contributed to reducing the energy cost of seawater desalination to one- third of what it was a decade ago.

Global water use is expected to rise by up to 30 per cent in developing countries and more than 10 per cent in industrialised countries by 2025.

By 2030, two-thirds of the world's population may experience moderate to high water-supply concerns. And global electricity demand is expected to double.

Energy and water truly are co-dependent resources, critical to the functioning of modern economies and to life itself.

We must respect this inter-dependent relationship so that we can better manage the ways we acquire and use these resources. Only then can there be sustainable growth in the years ahead.

The writer is president and chief executive officer of water technologies developer GE Water.

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More firms save costs by going green

But many others still not tapping incentives, notes Amy Khor
Amresh Gunasingham, Straits Times 20 Jun 09;

MORE companies are taking advantage of green incentives such as subsidised energy audits, which allow them to save energy and cut costs.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) is giving out $4 million to 143 companies under such a scheme.

These companies can expect to save $35 million by investing in measures such as more efficient chillers and lighting systems, said the NEA.

Dr Amy Khor, Senior Parliamentary Secretary (Environment and Water Resources), highlighted the example of Causeway Point shopping centre, which had achieved savings of $82,000 a year simply by making its air-handling and cooling units more energy-efficient.

She was speaking at a symposium this week organised by the Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce. It attracted 250 researchers, government officials and industry representatives who came together to discuss collaboration between Germany and Singapore in developing energy-efficient technology.

The industry and building sectors are Singapore's top two energy-guzzling sectors, accounting for three-quarters of national energy consumption here, noted Dr Khor.

'The prudent use of energy is particularly pertinent during this period of economic uncertainty,' she said, adding that many companies were still not capitalising on opportunities due to a lack of incentives, capabilities and awareness.

Germany is well placed to work with Singapore in the field.

Its renewable energy sector was the fastest growing sector in its economy last year, generating around €30 billion (S$61 billion) in revenue and creating 280,000 jobs. This figure is expected to swell to 500,000 by 2020.

In Singapore, the Government hopes a green economy will pay off by creating 18,000 more jobs and adding $3.4 billion to the nation's gross domestic product by 2015.

Germany is also Singapore's largest trading partner in the European Union, with bilateral trade topping $21.2 billion last year.

Said Professor Rolf Buschmann, director of EnEd Asia, a company offering clean tech solutions for buildings here: 'Singapore is ideally positioned to serve as a platform for the provision of expertise and technologies to feed the growing demand for energy-saving facilities in the region.'

Other companies here are already enjoying the benefits of going green.

Last week, Ascendas, Asia's leading provider of business-space solutions, announced that it had invested $3.5 million in installing power-saving chiller systems at its headquarters in the Singapore Science Park in Buona Vista.

The project is expected to save about 5,300 megawatt-hours of electricity and reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by 2,500 tonnes a year.

This is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by 200,000 trees in a year. Ascendas expects the new chiller systems to save the company up to $1 million a year.

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