Cattle, crop losses mount in Texas drought

Ed Stoddard, Reuters 20 Aug 09;

DALLAS (Reuters) - A vast swathe of Texas remains in the grip of a scorching drought, which has cost billions of dollars and is cleaving America's largest beef cattle herd.

One county has seen its entire cotton harvest wiped out and losses for cattle, crops and the state's fast growing game farming industry are seen mounting with no relief in sight. Texas is second only to California in U.S. farm production and the sector's sales for the state topped $21 billion in 2007.

The drought-stricken area straddles the central Texas hill country, near the capitol Austin, and stretches south through San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley on the U.S./Mexico border, which is a key citrus and cattle region.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor here, much of this area is experiencing exceptional drought conditions. That is the worst possible ranking and it is the only part of the country that currently falls into this category.

Other areas of south/central Texas are suffering extreme conditions. In most of the affected counties the rains began to taper off sharply around September of 2007. In at least nine counties, the drought is the worst on record.

According to the Climate Prediction Center, the outlook for the next three months over the region in question shows equal chances for above, normal or below average rainfall.

"But there is a good chance of higher than normal temperatures and so the drought will not likely abate soon," said John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State climatologist.

Texas AgriLife Extension Service, which is linked to Texas A&M University, said in July that it estimated that the losses to Texas agriculture since November of 2008 amount to $3.6 billion and counting. Almost a $1 billion of those losses were in livestock with the remainder in crops.

"If it doesn't rain soon, we expect this year to eclipse 2006, when we estimate drought losses were $4.1 billion," David Anderson, a professor at Texas AgriLife, told Reuters.

SHRINKING CATTLE HERD

Anderson said that in January 2009, United States Department of Agriculture surveys showed there were two million beef cows in the drought-stricken area, or 40 percent of the Texas herd and six percent of the U.S. total.

That number is expected to drop sharply this year as farmers are forced to sell or cull cattle in the face of soaring costs for supplemental feed needed just to keep meat on their ribs.

"In the most severe areas, I would say that anywhere from 12 to 18 percent of the cattle have been sold," said Dave Scott, president of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.

He said it just was not economical to maintain normal herd numbers when there was virtually no grass for grazing and the price of supplements like hay were going through the roof.

"All the hay is being shipped in from out of the state and the northern part of the state. It's not really economical. It's about $80 for a 1,200 pound (545 kgs) roll of hay. In normal times, it is somewhere around $30 to $35," he said.

The drought is also impacting on the state's exotic game industry, which one 2007 study Texas AgriLife estimated to be worth $1.3 billion. The study also found it to be the fastest growing sector of the state's farming industry.

Many of the state's exotic game ranches cater to the big game hunting industry and along with leases for native white-tailed deer is a huge supplement to the income of livestock farmers. Like cattle, such herds are also reeling from drought and ranchers need to provide them with additional feed.

"If things don't reverse, I don't know how exotic ranchers can keep holding out," said Charly Seale, Executive Director of the Exotic Wildlife Association.

Less exotic sectors have also been badly hit.

"For the first time in over a century ... drought has claimed the entire cotton production of Kleberg County," Texas AgriLife said last week.

In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, it said this week that irrigated crops had managed to weather the drought but dryland crop losses in the area for cotton, corn and grain sorghum could top $25 million this year.

The weather has been uneven across Texas. Other parts of the state have been under either mild drought conditions or have received ample rainfall.

(Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Read more!

U.S. prohibits expansion of commercial fishing in the Arctic

Commerce secretary approves Arctic fisheries plan
Mary Pemberton, Associated Press Yahoo News 20 Aug 09;

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The nation's secretary of commerce has approved a plan that would prohibit an expansion of commercial fishing in the Arctic, at least until more is known about the area.

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke on Thursday approved the Arctic Fishery Management Plan, which was prompted by changes in the Arctic that have come with global warming and the loss of sea ice.

Locke said the goal now is to come up with a sustainable fishing plan that will not harm the overall health of the fragile Arctic ecosystem.

"As Arctic sea ice recedes due to climate change, there is increasing interest in commercial fishing in Arctic waters," Locke said in a statement. "This plan takes a precautionary approach to any development of commercial fishing in an area where there has been none in the past."

A report released in April predicted that within 30 years the area covered by summer sea ice will decline from about 2.8 million square miles to 620,000 square miles.

Locke's decision came a day before Obama administration officials are scheduled to conduct a public hearing in Anchorage on the nation's ocean policy. A task force is developing a recommendation for a policy that officials say ensures protection, maintenance and restoration of oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees the management of fish in federal waters, adopted the Arctic Fishery Management Plan in February. The plan then underwent public review before Locke's approval.

The plan has been hailed by environmentalists and industry representatives alike.

Fishermen want to avoid what happened in the mid-1980s when it was every nation for itself and the pollock stocks were overfished in the Bering Sea and collapsed, said Dave Benton, executive director of the Marine Conservation Alliance, an industry group that represents the seafood, groundfish and crab industries in Alaska.

The plan will help the United States work more cooperatively with the Canadians and the Russians on a joint decision about fishing in the Arctic, Benton said.

"This time we want to get ahead of the curve," he said.

The plan would prohibit industrial fishing in nearly 200,000 square miles of U.S. waters in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas until researchers can gather sufficient information on fish and the Arctic marine environment. It identifies Arctic cod, saffron cod and snow crab as species that likely would be targeted by commercial fishermen.

The plan would govern all commercial fishing for all stocks of finfish and shellfish in federal waters in Arctic waters off Alaska, except Pacific salmon and Pacific halibut because they are managed under other authorities. It would not affect fisheries for salmon, whitefish and shellfish in Alaskan waters near the Arctic coastline. The proposed plan would not affect Arctic subsistence fishing or hunting.

The plan also outlines rules for any new Arctic fisheries that could be approved in the future. Among them is a provision that fishermen will be required to keep records to help determine catch, production, price and other information necessary for conservation and management.

Also under the plan, fishermen may be required to carry fisheries observers on board to verify catch and discard numbers, among other requirements.

Locke said the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Service will establish procedures before approving any future fisheries.

Chris Krenz, arctic project manager for the conservation group Oceana, said this is the first time a management plan has been put in place before fishing has been allowed in an area. The approach comes, he said, with the realization that fisheries have an impact.

"This is the type of approach that will lead to sustainability," he said.

Krenz said he expects the plan to be in place and enforceable by late this year or early next year.

____

On the Net:

http://alaskafisheries.noaa.gov/sustainablefisheries/arctic/

Read more!

Seaweed on French beaches 'emitting lethal fumes'

Yahoo News 20 Aug 09;

PARIS (AFP) – Mounds of rotting seaweed clogging beaches across northwestern France are emitting a toxic and potentially lethal gas, test results released by the government showed on Thursday.

Tests were ordered on the foul-smelling algae, which green groups blame on nitrates fertilisers used by local farmers, after a horse apparently died from inhaling fumes on a beach in Saint Michel de Greve in Brittany.

Results showed the seaweed in Saint Michel was giving off dangerous levels of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), sometimes referred to as "sewer gas" because it is produced by the breakdown of putrified waste material.

"Measurements carried out on site ... showed in several places that the gas released by sediment containing the decomposing algae could be dangerous," said France's national institute for environmental threats, INERIS.

Several points on the beach tested positive for hydrogen sulphide at a concentration of 1,000 parts per million, a level that "can be deadly in a few minutes," the report said.

INERIS recommended the area be cordoned off as a short-term precautionary measure, and for workers charged with clearing the algae be equipped with hydrogen sulphide detectors.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon and the ministers for health, agriculture and the environment visited the site in Saint Michel on Thursday to evaluate the situation and decide what safety measures to adopt.

The build-up of rotting weed on shores in more than 80 towns around Brittany has worried residents and threatened the region's lucrative tourist industry, with part of the coastline already declared off-limits.

Green groups blame nitrate pollution caused by intensive agriculture -- especially among pig farmers -- and have accused the government of turning a blind eye to an "environmental cancer."

The government was spurred to act after a horse and rider fell onto a patch of the algae on July 28.

The horse died immediately, while 28-year-old horseman Vincent Petit lost consciousness and was pulled to safety by nearby workers.

French government wades into noxious algae row
Sophie Louet, Reuters 20 Aug 09;

SAINT-MICHEL-EN-GREVE, France (Reuters) - France will clear thousands of tons of noxious seaweed from northern beaches after reports that it is emitting dangerous gases, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Thursday.

Environmental groups demanded action after a horse collapsed and died this month crossing a beach covered with washed-up algae at the resort of Saint-Michel-en-Greve in Brittany.

The horse's rider lost consciousness and had to be dragged from a meter-deep patch of rotting green sludge.

Fillon said the government would take charge of the issue, promising to reduce levels of the farm chemicals that environmentalists say make their way onto the beaches and lead to the emission of dangerous fumes.

"The state will assume all of its responsibilities and will take charge of the clean-up of the worst affected beaches, where there could be a public health risk," Fillon said while visiting Saint-Michel-en-Greve.

A report commissioned by Ecology Minister Chantal Jouanno revealed that levels of hydrogen sulfide recorded in the bay at Saint-Michel-en-Greve, produced by rotting algae, reached 1,000 parts per million.

Concentrations above 500 parts per million can potentially be fatal when inhaled, the report said.

The state agreed to foot the bill of the clean-up after some local authorities baulked at spending around 100,000 euros ($140,000) per year.

France also plans to clear weed from the sea at the end of the winter, Fillon said.

Environmentalists are demanding action to promote organic farming in the region, where 60 percent of French pigs are reared.

(Writing by Joseph Tandy; Editing by Victoria Main)

How algae turns the tide toxic
Judith Burns, BBC News 20 Aug 09;

The word 'algae' is a generic term which can cover anything from seaweed to microscopic organisms.

The type of seaweed causing problems along the Breton coast of France is called "Ulva" , often known as sea lettuce.

Along the south coast of the UK there are build ups of another algae called "Enteromorpha" . This is composed of thin filaments which mat together. It looks a bit like pond weed.

These incidents are being blamed on a process known as '"Eutrophication".

After heavy rain, nitrate based fertiliser from arable land and effluent from livestock and from the human sewage system can be washed into streams and rivers.

This 'run-off' ultimately flows into the sea where it boosts the growth of algae.

Dave Lowthion, marine team leader at the UK's Environment Agency said: "The things that make these weeds grow are a supply of nutrients; good light conditions so you are really looking for fairly clear water, the light shines through it to some depth; and the right tidal conditions."

Algal blooms are bad for biodiversity because they squeeze out slower growing plantlife and use up the available oxygen in the water both when they are alive and when they die and start to decompose.

Animals that rely on oxygen such as shrimps and worms will die. This has a knock on effect on the birds and fish that feed on them.

The two types of algae causing problems in Europe are not in themselves toxic. But when they die and rot they give off hydrogen sulphide.

In France, the top surface of the piles of rotting algae is baked hard by the sun and the gas is trapped underneath. When the surface is broken, it can give off enough of the gas to kill a larger animal like a horse.

The beaches along France's northern coast are particularly vulnerable to the build up of algae. This is because recent spring tides have dumped it in piles at the top of beaches. Recent hot weather has led to the algae starting to rot.

Off the coast of the UK and Ireland ocean currents are stronger. This means the algae is likely to be swept away before it can be dumped on shore in large quantities by the tides.

The seaweed building up along the south coast of the UK is in sheltered areas like harbours which are not subject to such high tides. So the algae stays spread out in the water rather than being piled up at the edge.

In the UK, The Environment Agency has warned that wetter summers will make the problem worse as heavier rain will increase run off from farmland into rivers and streams.

Last week, fish were killed by an algal bloom off the coast of Cornwall. This was caused by microscopic form of plankton called 'Karena Mikimotoi'.

Satellite images allow scientists to monitor the blooms.

Horse dies, France faces reality of toxic beaches
Elaine Ganley, Associated Press Yahoo News 29 Aug 09;

SAINT-MICHEL-EN-GREVE, France – It should have been a perfect day for Vincent Petit, finishing up an afternoon gallop on a wide expanse of beach along a pastel-colored bay. Instead, he and his mount were sucked into a hole of noxious black sludge.

The horse died within seconds, the rider lost consciousness and a dirty secret on the Brittany coast reverberated across France — decaying green algae was fouling some of its best beaches.

A report ordered by the government after the accident found concentrations of hydrogen sulfide gas emitted by the rotting algae were as high as 1,000 parts per million on the beach where the horse died — an amount that "can be fatal in several minutes."

There had been signs of a crisis for years in this idyllic corner of Brittany. But scaring away tourists was in no one's interest, including the farming industry — the region's economic backbone — whose nitrate-packed fertilizers power algae blooms.

So, while tongues wagged, folks whispered and acrimony grew, an official hush prevailed. It took the death of the horse to bring the problem into the open.

Decaying ulva algae threatens other beaches around France and the world, from the United States to China, experts say. Last year, the Chinese government brought in the army to remove the slimy growths so the Olympic sailing competition could be held.

In Brittany's Cote d'Armor region, conditions are perfect for its spread — sunlight, shallow waters and flat beaches. Chemical and natural fertilizers like pig excrement, loaded with nitrates and phosphorous, have saturated the land, spilling into rivers and the ocean, feeding the algae that then proliferate.

Harmless while in water, the algae form dangerous gases — notably hydrogen sulfide, with its characteristic rotten-egg smell — when they wash up on land and decay. A white crust forms and traps the gases, which are released when stepped on or otherwise disturbed. Over time, putrefied algae turns sand into a black silt muck, sometimes containing pockets of poison gas.

On July 28, Petit, a 28-year-old researcher in a state-run virology lab, had just finished riding his thoroughbred Sir Glitter, a retired racehorse, on the Saint-Michel-en-Greves beach, when the two were suddenly mired in muck as he led the horse on foot in search of a place to cross a stream running through the sand.

"The horse and I slid in," said Petit, who is also trained in veterinary studies. "A horse in that situation is in an enormous panic, but he didn't have time to struggle."

Petit said he watched horrified as his horse stopped breathing and died within about 30 seconds, then he himself passed out. Petit was pulled from the mire by a bulldozer shovel after a man who witnessed the accident gave the alert.

While locals are aware of the perils posed by the silt traps that lurk under the sand around streams that feed from the beach into the ocean, Petit did not sense the danger until the ground gave way and he and his horse were sucked into the noxious ooze up to the man's chest.

Police initially ruled the horse suffocated, but an autopsy showed the animal died of an acute pulmonary edema with symptoms "compatible with gaseous intoxication in a brutal manner," Petit said, quoting the report, which he paid for.

There was no foreign matter in the horse's throat, lungs or stomach and no sign of a heart attack, he said.

There have been local efforts to clear the blight. Mayor Rene Ropartz said Saint-Michel-en-Greve, a village of 480 people, collected 10,000 tons of algae from the mile-long beach by the end of July; several years ago they cleaned up 21,000 tons.

"This bay is magnificent and, unfortunately, this tarnishes the image," said Ropartz, adding that the horse's death shows the role of the algae "is no longer in doubt" and spurred the government into action.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon visited Saint-Michel-en-Greve last week, pledging measures to control the algae by next spring.

The horse is only the latest victim of the algae's noxious fumes. A man was found dead on the same beach two decades ago, his arm sticking out from a pile of algae. Another man fell into a four-day coma after cleaning algae 10 years later. And last year, two dogs died while romping on an algae-covered beach 60 miles to the east.

At Grandville beach, where the dogs died, putrefying algae has turned the sand to blackened silt, spotted with green swampland and white crusty clumps of algae in decay. The stench of hydrogen sulfide hangs heavy in the area, where people occasionally show up to gawk at the ruined beach.

"Once you could swim here. Now, it's no longer a beach, it's a garbage dump," said Andre Ollivro, a founder of Halt the Green Tide, one of several ecology groups that has warned of the algae peril as bad blood built with farmers.

After the dogs died, scientists at CEVA, a state-run institute that tracks algae in France, began protecting themselves with hand-held instruments to measure hydrogen sulfide, said agency official Sylvain Ballu.

Ballu said he found 500 parts per million of hydrogen sulfide in the area where the dogs died.

Solving the problem will take far more than cleaning algae from beaches.

Water in the affected region currently measures 32-33 milligrams per liter of nitrate — compared to a normal level of 5 milligrams, said Alain Menesguen, a biologist with the French Institute for Exploitation of the Sea. Some rivers reach 60-70 milligrams and the ground water in some areas reaches 100 milligrams, he said.

"We've reached saturation," he said. Returning to normal levels will require huge changes in the agricultural sector without seeing any immediate drop in the algae mass.

"This is very difficult for farmers and politicians to accept," Menesguen said.

Solange Le Guen, who raises 80 cows on a farm planted with corn, wheat and other crops in the hills behind Saint-Michel-en-Greve, says farmers aren't the only ones to blame.

Fault also lies with water purification plants located too close to the ocean, she said. She conceded, when pressed, that "people have abused" fertilizers. "We were badly advised," she said.

For Petit, it comes down to assuring some good comes from the tragedy and his scrape with death.

"I'm trying to do everything so that my horse didn't die for nothing, that this won't just end as a simple accident," he said. "It could have been worse, for me."

Read more!

In hot water: World sets ocean temperature record

Seth Borenstein, Associated Press Yahoo News 20 Aug 09;

WASHINGTON – Steve Kramer spent an hour and a half swimming in the ocean Sunday — in Maine. The water temperature was 72 degrees — more like Ocean City, Md., this time of year. And Ocean City's water temp hit 88 degrees this week, toasty even by Miami Beach standards.

Kramer, 26, who lives in the seaside town of Scarborough, said it was the first time he's ever swam so long in Maine's coastal waters. "Usually, you're in five minutes and you're out," he said.

It's not just the ocean off the Northeast coast that is super-warm this summer. July was the hottest the world's oceans have been in almost 130 years of record-keeping.

The average water temperature worldwide was 62.6 degrees, according to the National Climatic Data Center, the branch of the U.S. government that keeps world weather records. That was 1.1 degree higher than the 20th century average, and beat the previous high set in 1998 by a couple hundredths of a degree. The coolest recorded ocean temperature was 59.3 degrees in December 1909.

Meteorologists said there's a combination of forces at work this year: A natural El Nino system just getting started on top of worsening man-made global warming, and a dash of random weather variations. The resulting ocean heat is already harming threatened coral reefs. It could also hasten the melting of Arctic sea ice and help hurricanes strengthen.

The Gulf of Mexico, where warm water fuels hurricanes, has temperatures dancing around 90. Most of the water in the Northern Hemisphere has been considerably warmer than normal. The Mediterranean is about three degrees warmer than normal. Higher temperatures rule in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The heat is most noticeable near the Arctic, where water temperatures are as much as 10 degrees above average. The tongues of warm water could help melt sea ice from below and even cause thawing of ice sheets on Greenland, said Waleed Abdalati, director of the Earth Science and Observation Center at the University of Colorado.

Breaking heat records in water is more ominous as a sign of global warming than breaking temperature marks on land, because water takes longer to heat up and does not cool off as easily as land.

"This warm water we're seeing doesn't just disappear next year; it'll be around for a long time," said climate scientist Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria in British Columbia. It takes five times more energy to warm water than land.

The warmer water "affects weather on the land," Weaver said. "This is another yet really important indicator of the change that's occurring."

Georgia Institute of Technology atmospheric science professor Judith Curry said water is warming in more places than usual, something that has not been seen in more than 50 years.

Add to that an unusual weather pattern this summer where the warmest temperatures seem to be just over oceans, while slightly cooler air is concentrated over land, said Deke Arndt, head of climate monitoring at the climate data center.

The pattern is so unusual that he suggested meteorologists may want to study that pattern to see what's behind it.

The effects of that warm water are already being seen in coral reefs, said C. Mark Eakin, coordinator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's coral reef watch. Long-term excessive heat bleaches colorful coral reefs white and sometimes kills them.

Bleaching has started to crop up in the Florida Keys, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands — much earlier than usual. Typically, bleaching occurs after weeks or months of prolonged high water temperatures. That usually means September or October in the Caribbean, said Eakin. He found bleaching in Guam Wednesday. It's too early to know if the coral will recover or die. Experts are "bracing for another bad year," he said.

The problems caused by the El Nino pattern are likely to get worse, the scientists say.

An El Nino occurs when part of the central Pacific warms up, which in turn changes weather patterns worldwide for many months. El Nino and its cooling flip side, La Nina, happen every few years.

During an El Nino, temperatures on water and land tend to rise in many places, leading to an increase in the overall global average temperature. An El Nino has other effects, too, including dampening Atlantic hurricane formation and increasing rainfall and mudslides in Southern California.

Warm water is a required fuel for hurricanes. What's happening in the oceans "will add extra juice to the hurricanes," Curry said.

Hurricane activity has been quiet for much of the summer, but that may change soon, she said. Hurricane Bill quickly became a major storm and the National Hurricane Center warned that warm waters are along the path of the hurricane for the next few days.

Hurricanes need specific air conditions, so warmer water alone does not necessarily mean more or bigger storms, said James Franklin, chief hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

___

On the Net:

National Climatic Data Center on July 2009: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/?reportglobal&year2009&month7

NOAA's coastal water temperature guide: http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/dsdt/cwtg/all.html

Read more!

Global warming could change Earth's tilt

Rachel Courtland, New Scientist 20 Aug 09;

Warming oceans could cause Earth's axis to tilt in the coming century, a new study suggests. The effect was previously thought to be negligible, but researchers now say the shift will be large enough that it should be taken into account when interpreting how the Earth wobbles.

The Earth spins on an axis that is tilted some 23.5° from the vertical. But this position is far from constant – the planet's axis is constantly shifting in response to changes in the distribution of mass around the Earth. "The Earth is like a spinning top, and if you put more mass on one side or other, the axis of rotation is going to shift slightly," says Felix Landerer of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

The changing climate has long been known to move Earth's axis. The planet's north pole, for example, is migrating towards 79 °W – a line of longitude that runs through Toronto and Panama City – at a rate of about 10 centimetres each year as the Earth rebounds from ice sheets that once weighed down large swaths of North America, Europe, and Asia.

The influx of fresh water from shrinking ice sheets also causes the planet to pitch over. Landerer and colleagues estimate that the melting of Greenland's ice is already causing Earth's axis to tilt at an annual rate of about 2.6 centimetres – and that rate may increase significantly in the coming years.

Now, they calculate that oceans warmed by the rise in greenhouse gases can also cause the Earth to tilt – a conclusion that runs counter to older models, which suggested that ocean expansion would not create a large shift in the distribution of the Earth's mass.
Tracking sea levels

The researchers modelled the changes that would occur if moderate projections made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – a doubling of carbon dioxide levels between 2000 and 2100 – were to become reality.

The team found that as the oceans warm and expand, more water will be pushed up and onto the Earth's shallower ocean shelves. Over the next century, the subtle effect is expected to cause the northern pole of Earth's spin axis to shift by roughly 1.5 centimetres per year in the direction of Alaska and Hawaii.

The effect is relatively small. "The pole's not going to drift away in a crazy manner," Landerer notes, adding that it shouldn't induce any unfortunate feedback in Earth's climate.

But he says the motion is strong enough that it needs to be taken into account when interpreting shifts in Earth's axis. Tracking the motion of the poles could help place limits on the total amount of sea level rise over decades.

"The oceans take up at least 80 per cent of the heat that is added from greenhouse gases," Landerer told New Scientist. "They have a huge heat capacity, so this effect is going to be there for quite a bit."
Faster spin

Maik Thomas of the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, who was not affiliated with the study, says the new work overturns previous ideas. "Up to now, people had believed that height variations [from ocean temperature changes] gave no contribution to polar motion," he told New Scientist. "This is an effect that now has to be considered."

But Thomas notes that polar motion is unlikely to yield a good measurement of sea level rise, whose signal may be difficult to disentangle from a host of other factors that contribute to changes in Earth's tilt, from movements in Earth's crust and mantle to the periodic effects of El Niño, an oscillation of the ocean-atmosphere system in the Pacific.

And climate change can also affect the Earth's spin. Previously, Landerer and colleagues showed that global warming would cause Earth's mass to be redistributed towards higher latitudes. Since that pulls mass closer to the planet's spin axis, it causes the planet to rotate faster – just as an ice skater spins faster when she pulls her arms towards her body.

Journal reference: Geophysical Research Letters (in press)

Read more!

Putin calls for mass checks after dam tragedy

Alissa De Carbonnel Yahoo News 20 Aug 09;

CHERYOMUSHKY, Russia (AFP) – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for checks on all Russia's major infrastructure as hopes faded of finding any survivors of an accident at the country's largest hydroelectric plant.

His comments at a government meeting in Moscow came as concern mounted that the authorities had yet to pinpoint the cause of the flood that engulfed the turbine room at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant on Monday.

"There is a need to conduct serious inspections of all strategic and vitally important objects of infrastructure," Putin said at a government meeting in Moscow.

"The recent tragic events at the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric plant showed with all clarity how much more we should do to increase reliability of technical constructions on the whole and hydrotechnical ones in particular," he said.

"Technological discipline is very low," Putin added,

Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko echoed Putin's comments, saying the accident showed the need to upgrade all the country's power plants.

The death toll from the catastrophic flood that engulfed Russia's biggest hydroelectric power station rose to 17 on Thursday but 58 people were still reported missing, officials said.

Irina Butenko, a spokeswoman for the emergency situations ministry in the Khakassia region, scene of the tragedy, said rescue workers had managed to recover three more bodies.

She said the rescue workers had been working round the clock to clear the rubble and drain water but the chance of finding any survivors was fading.

"There is less and less hope," Alexander Kressan, who is leading rescue efforts, told Echo of Moscow radio.

Even though robots are being used in the rescue operation, some areas were not accessible to machinery, putting additional strain on rescuers, Butenko said.

"The divers have been sitting under water all night," she said.

Some 2,000 rescue experts were working on the search and salvage effort at the plant in southern Siberia, according to Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Work started early Thursday to drain the turbine hall which was flooded by a massive surge of water in Monday's disaster, he said, in a final effort to find survivors who could still be in air pockets amid the flooded wreckage.

"My job is not to lose hope," Shoigu told the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta in an interview, adding that the final toll would only be clear after two to three days.

There has been mounting anger among relatives of the missing that the authorities have yet to give further information on the fate of the dozens still unaccounted for, more than three days after the tragedy occurred.

Meanwhile, the actual cause of the flood that swamped the turbine hall at a time when around 100 people were working inside remains uncertain, with officials saying it is too early to draw conclusions.

Terrorism however has been ruled out as a cause of the disaster.

"Don't ask about possible causes. Some people have rushed to express their own opinions. Completely pointless," said Shoigu. "The (investigative) commission has to work everything out."

"It's a unique disaster. Its nature is not comprehensible, nothing like this has ever been seen in the world.

"There have been many enquiries from our foreign colleagues who want to carry out a check on their own (hydroelectric) facilities so that nothing of the sort happens to them."

The catastrophe is believed to have been triggered when a technical problem caused a massive surge of water to erupt into the turbine hall, engulfing around 100 workers.

Read more!

Germany's biggest solar park inaugurated

Yahoo News 20 Aug 09;

BERLIN (AFP) – Germany's largest solar park, and the world's second biggest, was inaugurated on Thursday on the site of a former Soviet military training ground in the east of the country.

The Lieberose park south of Berlin covers 162 hectares (400 acres), the equivalent of more than 210 football pitches, and is due to be fully operational later this year, organisers said.

German companies have been at the forefront of solar technology although this year they have begun to suffer heavily at the hands of Asian competitors, particularly from China, who can produce much more cheaply.

Germany is counting on renewable energies like solar and wind to meet its international commitments on reducing carbon emissions and to enable it to stop using nuclear power by 2020.

The amount of power produced at Lieberose shows the scale of the challenge -- it will produce enough for 15,000 homes, compared to the 6.5 million households supplied by the Biblis nuclear plant in western Germany.

The world's largest solar park is in Spain.

Read more!

World youth tell leaders to clean up

Reuters 20 Aug 09;

SEOUL (Reuters) - An international gathering of youth and children, billed as the largest ever of its type on climate change, Thursday pressed world leaders to do far more to curb damage to the environment.

"We young people -- 3 billion of the world population -- are very concerned and frustrated that our governments are not doing enough to combat climate change ... we feel that radical and holistic measures are needed urgently from us all," they said in a statement following their conference in Deajeon in South Korea, itself one of the world's fastest growing polluters.

"We now need more actions and less talking."

Organized by the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP), the some 700 people from 10 to 24 years old and from dozens of countries met to discuss their concerns ahead of the U.N. climate conference in December in Copenhagen.

That meeting will try to find an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol and set limits on emissions that are driving up global temperatures.

"We are the generation of tomorrow. The decisions that are made today will define our future and the world we have to live in. So we young people of the world urge governments to commit to a strong post-Kyoto climate regime. It is our lives we are talking about," UNEP quoted 23-year-old delegate Anne Walraven as saying.

The statement also urged governments to impose strict laws on polluters, develop independently-monitored carbon action plans and encourage greater use of green fuels.

"Make engaging environmental education mandatory in schools and universities and promote community environmental awareness -- an informed public is a powerful public."

And they called on ordinary people to use alternative transport, pressure businesses to come up with environmentally-friendly products and push their own governments to act to improve the environment.

UNEP said they pledged to stage large rallies across 100 capitals to urge global leaders to take action on climate change under the U.N.'s "Seal the Deal!" campaign.

(Reporting by Jonathan Thatcher; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Less Talk, More Action on Climate Change, Young People urge World Leaders
UNEP 20 Aug 09;

Daejeon (Republic of Korea), 20 August 2009 - Young people from around the globe today called on world leaders to take radical measures against climate change.

At the largest-ever truly global youth gathering on climate change, some 700 young people, ranging from 10 to 24 years of age, honed in on their governments' track record in addressing climate change, emphasizing the need for strong vision and leadership.

In a statement, the young delegates - representing three billion of the world's population - expressed their "concern and frustration that their governments are not doing enough to combat climate change", adding that "we now need more actions and less talking".

The declaration was finalized and adopted by the young participants at the Tunza Children and Youth Conference in Daejeon (Republic of Korea), as part of the global UN-wide 'Seal the Deal!' campaign spearheaded by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to galvanize political will and public support for a comprehensive global climate agreement.

"It is very important to include the voice of children and youth in every environmental decision. It is our request to all politicians that they please take this statement into consideration in Copenhagen," said 13-year-old Yugratna Srivastava from India.

The children and youth also addressed the citizens of the planet and urged them to push their governments to create a global green economy. Other recommendations included a call to pressure businesses, producers and governments to promote environmentally friendly products and eco-labeling policies.

"We are the generation of tomorrow. The decisions that are made today will define our future and the world we have to live in. So we young people of the world urge governments to commit to a strong post-Kyoto climate regime. It is our lives we are talking about," said youth delegate, 23-year-old Anne Walraven from the Netherlands.

The statement is the culmination of eight-week-long discussions between young people across the planet using the power of the worldwide web. It was finalized at a Global Town Hall on 20 August in Daejeon, where the 600 participants were joined by over 200 young people in 15 cities around the world including Cuernavaca (Mexico), Nairobi (Kenya), Canberra (Australia), Bangkok (Thailand), Vancouver (Canada) and Athens (Greece), among others.

The Climate Change Statement, entitled 'Listen to Our Voices: The Future Needs Strong Vision and Leadership', comes just four months before the critical climate talks that will take place in Copenhagen in December this year, and just four weeks ahead of the High-Level Summit on Climate Change convened by the UN Secretary-General at the end of September in New York City.

"This global Youth and Children gathering under the Seal the Deal! Campaign is the largest international gathering of young people this year advocating for climate change action. Their voices will and must be heard because they will inherit the outcomes of our actions," said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The children and youth are asking governments around the world to:

* Agree on a more fair, just and action oriented post-Kyoto agreement adopted and implemented by all countries

* Have strict laws and enforcement against those who pollute and degrade the environment, coupled with education and incentives to protect the environment

* Develop and implement clearly defined carbon action plans and climate response strategies, which can be monitored and reviewed by an independent multi-national climate facility

* Transition toward a green economy based on renewable energies and offer more incentives for people to buy affordable energy efficient products

* Reduce the number of vehicles and traffic density on our roads, including improved and affordable public and pedestrian transport systems

* Make engaging environmental education mandatory in schools and universities and promote community environmental awareness - an informed public is a powerful public

* Pay attention to the conflicts that have developed throughout the world and the negative impact it has had on the environment and develop conflict resolution strategies

* Make it mandatory to include carbon and ecological footprint information in products

* Implement green energy and industry, including sustainable food production

* Support youth efforts to make a change in the world

The young delegates at the conference pledged they would soon stage large rallies across 100 capitals to urge global leaders to take action on climate change under the banner of the Seal the Deal! campaign.

"In many ways this process of coming to an agreement on this final text mirrors what will take place in December in Copenhagen. This statement is the fruit of a diversity of views and voices from young people of different ages and cultures. We very much hope the spirit set by these young people will be reflected in the negotiations that will take place in December," said Achim Steiner, Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

All the worlds leaders, from President Barack Obama Chinese premier Wen Jia Bao will over the coming days receive a personal letter from representatives of the globe's three billion young people urging them to Seal a meaningful Deal on climate change in just over 100 days time. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia were on the delegates' mailing list, along with leaders in countries like Zimbabwe, Colombia, Venezuela, Lebanon, Haiti, Pakistan, Georgia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Mongolia, Japan and Germany.

Read more!

Global pact to push China to low-carbon economy: Blair

Yahoo News 20 Aug 09;

BEIJING (AFP) – China's efforts to build a low-carbon economy would accelerate if world powers agree to a "practical" global climate change pact later this year, former British prime minister Tony Blair said Thursday.

Blair was speaking ahead of key UN talks in Denmark in December aimed at securing a new global climate change pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

"What we need is getting a solution in Copenhagen that is practical, realistic and objective," Blair told journalists in Beijing.

"If we get an agreement that actually launches the world on a new path, then I think we will find that progress (in China and elsewhere) in developing the science and technology accelerates."

Blair -- who is working with the non-profit Climate Group to try to push for an agreement in Copenhagen -- helped unveil the group's new report on Thursday entitled "China's Clean Revolution II".

He said China, which is competing with the United States for the title of world's top emitter of greenhouse gases, has made great strides in its efforts to develop clean fuel technology in recent years.

The country has become a world leader in electric vehicle production, with homegrown manufacturers aiming to produce 500,000 such cars by 2011, he said. China is Asia's largest wind power generator, and ranked fourth in the world.

The world's most populous nation is on track to meet goals to cut energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent from 2006-2010 and is preparing new targets for 2011-2015, the former British leader said.

Blair welcomed a recent report by a government panel of experts that said China's carbon emissions could slow by 2020 and begin to fall in or about 2030, all while the country maintains economic growth, if reduction targets are set.

"That is what people want to see, the (emissions) peaking as soon as possible," Blair said.

"I expect China will come out with its position, America will come out with its position and so on ... the agenda for (Copenhagen), I think, is on a completely different level of credibility than previous negotiations."

As a developing nation with low per-capita emissions, China is not required to set emissions cuts under the UN Framework on Climate Change, and it has so far appeared reluctant to accept any formal caps for the future.

China seen looking to bigger climate change steps
Reuters 20 Aug 09;

BEIJING (Reuters) - China appears committed to stronger steps to contain swelling greenhouse gas emissions, the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said after meetings in Beijing, urging practical hopes of climate treaty negotiations.

Blair said on Thursday that his talks with Premier Wen Jiabao indicated that climate change had moved closer to the heart of Chinese policy-setting.

China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases from human activity, is starting to explore goals for its next five-year development plan starting from 2011. Blair said China was likely to adopt stronger measures to rein in emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from burning fossil fuel.

"I think the single most important thing is to understand that in its development plans -- in other words, how the Chinese economy grows over the coming years -- low-carbon growth is at the heart of those plans," Blair told a news conference.

The former British leader's comments add to recent signs that Beijing wants to seize some initiative in negotiations for a new global climate change treaty.

With its fast-rising greenhouse gas emissions, China's stance will be crucial in efforts to create a successor to the current Kyoto Protocol, which expires at the end of 2012.

Western nations have pressed Beijing to set specific goals on slowing emissions growth in coming years, leading to early cuts in absolute volumes as part of a new pact that governments hope to seal in Copenhagen by the end of 2009.

But Beijing says rich countries must lead the way with big emissions cuts, since they are responsible for most of the greenhouse gases from human activity that have accumulated in the atmosphere, retaining rising amounts of solar radiation.

China has already set a domestic goal of cutting energy intensity by 20 percent over the five years to 2010.

Some Chinese experts have said the nation should also set goals for improving carbon intensity, cutting the amount of carbon dioxide emitted to create each unit of economic value.

A recent study by some of the nation's top climate change policy advisers also said China should set targets to limit greenhouse gas emissions so they peak around 2030, a departure from Beijing's reluctance to discuss specific peaks and goals.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ken Wills)

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 20 Aug 09

Scene City: Singapore - Wednesdays 8.30pm on Channel News Asia from Deadpoet's Cave

East Coast - Worms in the walls
from Singapore Nature and wild shores of singapore and wonderful creations and the annotated budak blog

Tiny Beauties @ UPR
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Someone Dumped Bullfrogs Into The Stream
from Life's Indulgences

Nesting Laced Woodpecker
from Bird Ecology Study Group

Hunters & Collectors – The Origins of The SouthEast Asian Collection from My Itchy Fingers

Read more!

Otters just out to have fun

Jogger spots otters frolicking in sun at Pasir Ris Park
Teh Jen Lee, The New Paper 20 Aug 09;

HE HAD never seen wild otters before but jogger Dawson Lee knew what they were, thanks to nature documentaries on TV.

Mr Lee, 50, a cafe owner, was jogging with his brother at Pasir Ris Beach Park yesterday morning at about 10am when he spotted a group of otters sunbathing on the sandy bank of Sungei Api Api.

The river is one of the two that cut through the park.

He said: 'From the bridge across the river, I often look at the water and see monitor lizards as there are many of them there.

'When I saw the otters, I recognised them immediately because I like to watch (nature documentary) Animal Planet.

'There were six to seven of them. When I took a closer look, they went into the water and swam to the other side.'

He watched them for about 15 minutes, mesmerised by their playful antics.

'I wonder if the Government could gazette the place as protected for them to stay there because it's quite interesting.

'I think people who fish and have barbecues there may frighten them away,' said Mr Lee, who is married with two children.

'I will probably take my family to see the otters.'

Mr Lee, who lives in Tampines and jogs at the park three times a week, called The New Paper about his rare wildlife encounter.

Mr N Sivasothi, a lecturer at the National University of Singapore's department of biological sciences, looked at our photographs and identified the species as the smooth otter (Lutrogale perspicillata).

The International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the species vulnerable because of habitat loss, poaching and contamination of waterways by pesticides.

Seen elsewhere

Mr Sivasothi had received a photo of a smooth otter spotted at Pasir Ris Park early last year from a friend who works there, but it is not known whether the photograph is of one of the otters spotted yesterday.

The National Parks Board (NParks) said smooth otters have also been seen at Chek Jawa and Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

There have been regular sightings of these mammals at Sungei Buloh since 2000.

Mr Sivasothi, 43, who used to study otters, said otters have also been seen at Punggol.

He said: 'It's not uncommon but it is the luck of the draw. In protected parks (like Pasir Ris), people can't go into the water and interfere with them so they may ignore the presence of people up to a certain distance.

'There's a better chance of seeing them now than in the past, say in the late 1990s, because they have returned to several areas.'

And with more people visiting nature areas, the chances of spotting otters are higher.

Thanks to better camera equipment and the prevalence of blogs, more people are also communicating about these animal encounters, said Mr Sivasothi.

'It's great that people are seeing this because when they realise we have this rich biodiversity, the motivation to help protect natural habitats will increase,' he added.

Mr Nick Baker, 51, from the Singapore Nature Society vertebrate study group, said otters are indicators of a healthy ecosystem.

He said: 'They feed on fish mainly so if there's a lot of fish there, there will be top-level predators like crocodiles and otters.

'These otters are quite wide-ranging and will move along the coast a lot. One sighting doesn't mean it has taken up residence.

'They could just be passing through.'

Otters are not known to be a nuisance and they play a crucial role as predators in maintaining the health of ecosystems.

As for Mr Lee's suggestion of restricting human activities, Mr Baker thinks it's more important to preserve the mangrove system at the park so that there are healthy fish populations to attract the otters.

A spokesman for NParks said the smooth otter has been sighted in Pasir Ris Park since last year.

Said the spokesman: 'We are pleased that our efforts to conserve the mangroves in Pasir Ris Park are bearing fruit.

'We seek the cooperation of the public not to disturb the animals.'

Read more!

Green week gets pedal power

Liaw Wy-Cin, Straits Times 20 Aug 09;

EAST will meet West on Saturday when about 100 cyclists push off from opposite ends of the island to meet in the city.

The riders, starting from East Coast Park and West Coast Park, will converge on the Singapore Management University campus in Bras Basah, to kick off this year's Green Transport Week.

The campaign, organised by the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), will be launched by Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Amy Khor.

First launched in 2006, the campaign aims to encourage people to form a car pool and to use public transport, green cars and alternative means of transport such as walking or cycling, said SEC executive director Howard Shaw.

Since then, more people have taken to environmentally friendly hybrid cars - from about 300 to more than 1,000 now, he added.

The focus on public transport will give individuals the power to make a difference in fighting climate change.

Said Mr Shaw: 'Many people think climate change is such a big problem - 'I'm so small, Singapore is so small'. People become apathetic and lose hope. But transport is something we have to do on a day-to-day basis.'

He added: 'If you take the train to work instead of a private car, you use 12 times less energy. And if you form a car pool to work, you reduce your carbon footprint by half.'

This year's launch will feature a concert and a showcase of hybrid and compressed natural gas (CNG) cars, as well as electric scooters.

Singapore's two major public transport operators are also taking part.

SMRT will hold an exhibition at the launch, showcasing its CNG-powered taxis. It will also hold a lucky draw where participants stand to win one year's worth of free travel on SMRT trains, LRT and buses.

SBS Transit will give away a limited supply of free bags at its North East Line's Dhoby Ghaut MRT station and the Toa Payoh bus interchange tomorrow at 8am and 12.30pm.

It's time to go public
Esther Ng, Today Online 20 Aug 09;

DITCH that car, take a bus or a train and help save the environment.

This is one of several ways to show your support for the Green Transport Week - back after a three-year break due to funding issues - which kicks off on Saturday.

The campaign began in 2000 as Car-Free Day, in which Singaporeans were encouraged to not use their cars for a day.

Over the years, the message has evolved to encourage Singaporeans to look at all the transport options available, such as car pooling and public transport, including taxis.

"The taxi service is green in the sense that it provides an alternative to private car ownership," said Mr Howard Shaw, executive director of the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), the campaign organiser.

When asked if the SEC has compromised its green message over the years, Mr Shaw disagreed: "I wouldn't call it compromise but adaptation. When we first did Car-Free Day, it was a simple message. What we did learn is that Singaporeans do love their cars and there is no one silver bullet for Singapore's urban transport system to be sustainable."

Instead, a more effective way, he argued, is a balanced mix of different transport solutions. "Since motor vehicles can't be eliminated, the solution would be to encourage responsible use in order to minimise their environmental impact," Mr Shaw said.

So, consider walking or other modes of transport if you're travelling less than 2km and choose a fuel-efficient model if you have to own a car, he suggested. Mr Shaw hopes Singaporeans will not use their cars at least one day during this year's Green Transport Week, which is backed by some 20 sponsors, including SMRT.

Financial consultant Melissa Wang, 28, will not use her car during the campaign. She will take a train to Orchard Road or the Central Business District to meet clients.

But property agent Freddie Teo, 48, said it would be too "troublesome" as he has to meet clients all over the island.

The Green Transport Week will be launched at the Singapore Management University with an exhibition of green cars and a rock concert. Those who pledge to go green on www.greentransportweek.sg can win $1,000 and a Biomega bicycle.

Those who make their pledge on the SMRT website can win a year's free travel on its network.

Meanwhile, SBS Transit will hand out eco-bags at Dhoby Ghaut Station and Toa Payoh Interchange tomorrow from 8am to noon.

More about the event on the Green Transport Week website and wildsingapore happenings.

Read more!