Philippines birdwatching site is newest ASEAN Heritage Park

The Inquirer 23 Jan 09;

A POPULAR birdwatching site, the Mt. Kitanglad Range Protected Area (MKRPA), has been declared as the 28th Association of SouthEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Heritage Park. The park is home to Mt. Kitanglad, a dormant volcano touted as the fourth highest peak in the country. Also known as the mystical mountain, it has a thickly populated forest where some of the country’s well-known medicinal herbs grow.

The pronouncement was made at the 11th Annual Meeting of ASEAN ministers of environment where the participants reviewed the regions’ efforts on a number of issues, particularly those relating to environmental sustainability of the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint.

“Coming at a time when the world is celebrating the year of ecological biodiversity, this recognition pushes us to strive even harder in preserving our natural wealth, and imbibe a ‘green’ consciousness,” said Tourism Secretary Ace Durano.

The country’s protected ecotourist area is also the abode of the endangered Philippine Eagle and rare winged creatures such as the McGregor’s Cuckoo Shrike, Elegant Tit, Streak-breasted Rhabdornis and Black-and-Cinnamon Fantail.

Following the objective of the ASEAN group of nations, the ASEAN Heritage Park ‘aims to establish a regional network of national protected areas conserving critical representative ecosystems in the said region.’

According to Eduardo Jarque, Jr., Undersecretary for Tourism Planning and Promotions, “Mt. Kitanglad truly highlights the unique balance of having different cultures coexisting in an ecologically abundant area.”

The site is the ancestral domain of several tribes such as the Higaonon, Manobo, and Talaandig.

Accessible via plane or boat through the Cagayan de Oro terminal/port, the newly named ASEAN Heritage Park in Bukidnon is open to tourists, the deparment said.

Attorney Victoria Jasmin, Director for Tourism Standards, shared, “We have a 10-days/9-nights birdwatching package that includes a late afternoon camping in the area to see the rare Philippine Eagle.”

The Lower Eagle View Point and Higher Eagle View Point also offer sightings of the White-cheeked Bullfinch, Cinnamon Ibon, and Mountain White-Eye, Jasmin added.

Other adventure packages for Mt. Kitanglad include a three-day hike up its peak – a popular must-climb site of seasoned trekkers.

The MKRPA is the third ecotourist spot to become an ASEAN Heritage Park, joining two others which are Mt. Apo in Davao, the country’s highest peak and Mt. Iglit-Baco in Oriental Mindoro, the domain of the endangered Tamaraw.

The list includes 28 other destinations namely Tasek Merimbum in Brunei Darussalam, Preah Monivong National Park, and Virachey National Park in Cambodia; Leuser National Park, Kerinci Seblat National Park, and Lorentz National Park in Indonesia; Nam Ha National Biodiversity Conservation Area in Lao PDR; Kinabalu National Park, Mulu National Park, and Taman Negara National Park in Malaysia; Alaungdaw Kattapha National Park, Indawgy Lake Wildlife Santuary, Inlay Lake Wildlife Sanctuary, Khakaborazi National Park, and Meinmahla Kyun Wildlife Sanctuary in Myanmar; Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in Singapore; Ao Phangnga – Mu Koh Surin – Mu Koh, Similan Marina National Parks, Kaengkrachan Forest Complex, Khao Yai National Park, Tarutao National Park, Ba Be National Park in Thailand; Chu Mom Ray National Park, Hoang Lien Sa Pa National Park and Kon Ka Kinh National Park in Vietnam.

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Call to preserve environs at Indonesia-Malaysia-Brunei border areas

Roy Goh, The New Straits Times 23 Jan 10;

INDONESIA, Malaysia and Brunei need to find a common ground to preserve the environment along border areas on the island of Borneo.

East Kalimantan Governor Awang Faroek Ishak said it would be pointless for any of the countries to set aside forests for conservation when their neighbours did not.

"In our case, the Mentarang Forest Reserve, located north of the province, borders Malaysia in Sabah and Sarawak.

"On our side, we preserve our forests but on the other side of the borders, the connecting areas are commercial forests.

"That would defeat the purpose of preserving the forests because it would surely have some sort of effect on the eco-system," he said, adding that the Malaysian side was near Lawas in Sarawak and Sipitang in Sabah.

"We brought it up before at government-to-government forums and I believe there are efforts under way towards finding a solution to this," said Faroek, when meeting a delegation of businessmen and journalists from Sabah, led by former Chief Minister Datuk Harris Mohd Salleh.

He said Kalimantan was also part of the "Heart of Borneo" programme initiated by the respective countries in Borneo, including Brunei, together with international organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund.

"These are avenues where we can discuss and find ways on how best to preserve our environment," he said while emphasising that on the part of East Kalimantan, his government had introduced a "zero-burning" policy for companies to set up or replant at their plantations.

Stressing that his administration took the global warming warning seriously, Faroek said the haze problem which had also affected Malaysia was not from East Kalimantan.

"We do not have peat soil here at all, which is the cause of haze almost every time," he said.

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Malaysia leads green agenda

Datuk Wira Ismail Saleh, The Star 24 Jan 10;

Our readiness to reduce carbon emissions by 40% shows our seriousness in combating climate change.

MUCH has been said about the recently concluded UN Cli­mate Change Conference.

The two week-long “carnival” in Copenhagen ended with a bare minimum agreement, falling short of the original goals. Prolonged negotiations failed over differences on “common but differentiated commitments”.

Only the United States, China, India, Brazil and Malaysia announced a non-binding statement of intent.

Almost all countries participating in the conference indicated that they would “take note” of the so-called Copenhagen Accord.

Our readiness to reduce carbon emissions from 187 million tonnes in 2005 to 74.8 million tonnes in 2020 – a 40% cut – showcases our seriousness in combating the climate change issue, which is closely associated with palm oil and timber-related issues.

This voluntary pledge will silence critics who have often adversely commented on how Malaysia has handled its commodity sector, particularly palm oil, rubber, timber, cocoa, pepper and tobacco.

Despite the criticisms, our commodity sector had recorded commendable export performance in 2008.

This sector contributed 16.94% (RM112.43bil) to total exports in the same year (RM663.51bil).

As far as green efforts are concerned, the palm oil industry has already embarked on initiatives to reduce carbon emissions. This is done through initiatives that trap biogas, which includes methane, to be used to generate electricity by fuelling steam turbines.

Methane has 21 times global warming potential compared to carbon dioxide. Its use for power generation will further reflect the environmental friendliness of the palm oil industry as well as reduce the impact towards global warming.

Methane is generated from the biological breakdown of empty fruit bunches (biomass) and other organic matters such as manure, sewage and domestic waste.

Methane and other gases emitted from this process are called biogas. Amongst all the biogases, methane is the most potent greenhouse gas which has high potential to cause global warming.

But these processes have had their challenges. The distance of the mills to the national grid has resulted in poor connectivity of electricity, where only 18 out of 417 mills are equipped with methane trapping devices.

The other stumbling block is the high cost of installing methane trapping devices and steam turbine generators, estimated at between RM4mil and RM6mil.

This explains why 96% of the mills are still without the methane trapping facilities.

A concerted effort is needed to ensure Malaysia will be able to deliver our commitment of 40% carbon reduction by 2020.

Some portions of the RM1.5bil Green Technology Fund could be channelled for the development of methane trapping activities.

This is in line with the Natural Resources and Environment Mini­stry’s plan to cut 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per annum with 20% to be contributed by energy efficiency projects and renewable energy sources. Methane trapping falls under this category.

In addition, research is being undertaken to promote the use of waste in the form of biomass into possible growth areas in line with the policy on “creation of wealth from waste”.

These include the use of fibre from oil palm trunks and fronds for the production of medium density particle board and bio-composite.

The development of second generation biofuel using biomass as a feedstock holds much potential given that 30 million tonnes of palm oil biomass annually is available for utilisation.

This is also in tandem with the National Green Technology Policy launched by the Prime Minister on July 24 last year.

The policy outlines the framework for the development of environmentally friendly and sustainable forms of energy, in addition to promotion of this sector as a new growth area.

Given the security of fossil fuels globally, the switch to an alternative form of energy is inevitable.

Renewable energy is not limited to source of production. Even though initial investments in renewable energy power plants require a significant amount of capital, companies can mitigate this through multiple business model strategies which allow for growth without excessive demands on capital resources.

This is an area Malaysia must focus much of its public and private sector brains and resources on.

Intensive efforts are being pursued to ensure the midstream rubber industry achieves a green industry status through adoption of more environment-friendly processing tech­­nologies, especially in minimising waste discharge and an enhanced sludge treatment to overcome malicious odour (malodour).

The adoption of these kinds of technologies will further boost the environment-friendliness of the rubber downstream industry.

Perennial tree crops are known to function as natural “sponges” for absorbing carbon from the atmosphere.

Rubber trees being a perennial tree crop is one of the most efficient species that can function as efficiently as forest trees in carbon sequestration.

The economic potential for soil and plant carbon sequestration and trading based on the cultivation of rubber plantations is beneficial to the country when the planting of rubber trees is carried out in line with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry is exploring this avenue aimed at obtaining optimum benefits for the nation, especially when Malaysia’s emission reduction potential could be further enhanced if sequestered carbon by rubber plantations is taken into account.

As a major producer of commodity products, Malaysia will continue to ensure green and sustainable practices continue to be an important pillar in its development.

The development of the commodity sector will be guided along the lines of international sustainable practices.

In the longer term, this will ensure the supply of commodity-related products for food and non-food purposes are sustainable and environmentally friendly.

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Indonesia wants UN to raise ocean issues at talks

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 23 Jan 10;

Indonesia will once again raise ocean issues at the upcoming UN conference in Bali, to press for world recognition of the role of oceans in climate change.

The Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry said the country's delegation would push the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) to include oceans in its program of work to help protect the oceans from the impacts of rising temperatures.

"We hope UNEP will adopt the ocean as its main mandate in its program of work," senior official Hendra Yusran Siry told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

He added that once UNEP had done so, it would be easier to promote ocean issues at upcoming climate talks.

More than 120 environmental ministers are scheduled to meet at the Global Ministerial Environment Forum in Bali, organized by UNEP.

The meeting will discuss, among others, green economies, biodiversity and ecosystems. The UNEP has named 2010 its Biodiversity Year.

A draft decision on oceans, proposed by Indonesia, calls on UNEP to mainstream marine and coastal strategy into its program of work to improve the protection of maritime ecosystems.

The draft also requests UNEP and other UN agencies to support the implementation of the Manado Ocean Declaration in addressing the current state of the world's oceans.

It also asks UNEP to support the capacity of developing countries in terms of technology to sustainably manage marine and coastal ecosystems.

The draft also calls on other countries to achieve long-term marine conservation and reduce marine and coastal pollution.

Hendra said Indonesia would also call on governments and international organizations to exchange information on climate change impacts to the marine ecosystem.

Last month's Copenhagen climate summit failed to include the ocean issues at the Copenhagen accord.

The World Ocean Conference (WOC) hosted by Indonesia in Manado, North Sulawesi, last year adopted the Manado Ocean Declaration (MOD), which called for prioritizing ocean issues in negotiations at the Copenhagen talks.

The MOD calls for adaptation funds and technology transfers to help ocean countries - including Indonesia - deal with climate change.

A UNEP study unveiled at the Copenhagen conference said ocean acidification levels could increase by 100 times by 2050, which would lead to massive coral bleaching, destroying thousands of reefs that act as key feeding grounds for most of the world's fish species.

The study added that by 2100, about 70 percent of cold-water corals would be exposed to corrosive waters.

It also pointed out seas and oceans absorbed a quarter of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activities.

As more CO2 is pumped into the atmosphere, the oceans have absorbed greater amounts at increasingly rapid rates, it said.

This increased absorption of atmospheric CO2 has resulted in changes to the chemical balance of oceans, causing them to become more acidic.

State Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said it had been difficult to include the issue of oceans in climate talks, mainly because of the dearth of studies on the subject.

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High-Tech Energy "Oasis" to Bloom in the Desert?

Christine Dell'Amore, National Geographic News 22 Jan 10;

A renewable-energy "oasis" slated to be built in 2010 may serve as a proving ground for new technologies designed to bring green living to the desert.

The planned research center is part of the Sahara Forest Project—but that doesn't mean it'll be built in Africa. Sahara means "desert" in Arabic, and the center is meant to be a small-scale version of massive green complexes that project managers hope to build in deserts around the globe.

Experts are now examining arid sites in Australia, the U.S., the Middle East, and Africa that could support the test facility.

"The Sahara Forest Project is a holistic approach for creation of local jobs, food, water, and energy, utilizing relatively simple solutions mimicking design and principles from nature," said Frederic Hauge, founder and president of the Norwegian environmental nonprofit the Bellona Foundation.

For instance, special greenhouses would use hot desert air and seawater make fresh water for growing crops, solar energy would be collected to generate power, and algae pools would offer a renewable and easily transportable fuel supply.

In addition, planting trees near the complex would trap atmospheric greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide while restoring any natural forest cover that has been lost to drought and timber harvesting.

"From my perspective as an environmentalist, this could be a game changer in how we produce biomass for food and energy, and how we're going to provide fresh water for the future," Hauge said. "I've never been so engaged and fascinated as I am now."

But not all experts are as enthusiastic about the project.

In terms of the reforestation plans, "trying to grow trees in the Sahara desert is not the most appropriate approach," said Patrick Gonzalez, a forest ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley's Center for Forestry. After all, even though it was literally green in the past, the Sahara was never heavily forested. (See an interactive Sahara map.)

"I can imagine that this scheme and type of technology in limited cases might work in certain areas like Dubai, where they're used to making palm-shaped islands and 160-story-tall buildings," Gonzalez said.

If the goal is restoring a desert's natural ecosystem, however, "it would be more effective, but less flashy, to work with local people on community-based natural-resource management."

From Mirage to Reality

The Bellona Foundation's Hauge counters that replanting trees—even in a desert—is an uncontroversial measure for stopping desertification and combating climate change.

In fact, tree-planting is one of the strategies that the foundation and its partners have carefully studied as part of their efforts to make the Sahara Forest Project more than a mirage.

The project's members are conducting feasibility studies in several countries, the initial results of which were presented in December 2009 at the Copenhagen climate conference.

And the testing center slated for imminent construction should provide even more data on how well the project's suite of green technologies might work in real life.

So-called seawater greenhouses, for example, are basic and cheap, making them a cornerstone of the project.

Hot desert air going into a greenhouse is first cooled and humidified by seawater. This humid air nourishes crops growing inside the greenhouse, then passes through an evaporator, where sun-heated seawater flows. When the now warm humid air meets a series of tubes containing cool seawater, fresh water condenses as droplets on the outsides of the tubes and can be collected.

The process mimics a natural process: Sun-heated seawater evaporates, cools to form clouds, and then falls as precipitation.

Only 10 to 15 percent of the humid air gets condensed into fresh water. The rest flows outside to water surrounding trees, so that the "greenhouse will create a large area around it that will be become green," according to Hauge.

The center will also test the use of concentrated solar power, which uses mirrors to focus sunlight on water pipes and boilers. The concentrated light creates superheated steam inside the pipes that can power conventional steam turbines, generating electricity.

Any power not used to run the complex can be sent to local communities.

Likewise, biomass-based fuel from the center's photobioreactors would be easy to export, Hauge said.

The ponds would cultivate algae through photosynthesis in open, shallow saltwater pools. The algae's fatty oils could then be harvested as energy-rich biofuel.

Lab-grown algae have been shown to generate up to 30 times more oil per acre than other plants used to make biofuels, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. And farming algae in pools doesn't take up valuable agricultural land, Hauge said.

Local People Key to Success

Hauge said he has gotten "fantastic response" from some governments, and he hopes to build the first full-scale facility within the next couple years.

UC Berkeley's Gonzales noted that in Africa, at least, there are already programs across the continent that are battling green issues in the desert by giving local people rights to existing natural resources.

Such programs have proven effective at sustainable-resource management and ecosystem restoration—without complex technological fixes.

The Sahara Forest Project's Hauge agrees that local community involvement is key, noting that the project would rely on local people to maintain the complexes.

"Working in developing countries, you need technology that is easy for local people" to operate, he said. "We are very aware of how this is approached from the local communities."

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Strongest Hurricanes May Triple in Frequency, Study Says

Mason Inman National Geographic News 21 Jan 10;

The U.S. Southeast, Mexico, and the Caribbean will be pounded by more very intense hurricanes in the coming decades due to global warming, a new computer model suggests.

Warmer sea surface temperatures—which fuel hurricanes—and shifting wind patterns are expected to strengthen the storms, the study says.

At the same time, rising temperatures should result in fewer weak or middling hurricanes in the western Atlantic.

The study considered what would happen if people kept emitting more greenhouse gases until about 2050 and then started cutting emissions.

"Some refer to this as a middle-of-the-road scenario" for tackling greenhouse gas emissions, said study co-author Thomas Knutson, a research meteorologist with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

In this scenario the world became about 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit (2.5 degrees Celsius) warmer than today.

In turn, the western Atlantic Ocean—from Mexico and the Caribbean Sea up to the Carolinas—saw a doubling of category 4 and 5 storms, the most powerful kinds, by 2100. The number of these very intense hurricanes jumped from 24 per decade to 46.

Category 4 storms have sustained wind speeds of 131 to 155 miles (211 to 249 kilometers) an hour. Category 5 hurricanes have winds exceeding 155 miles (249 kilometers) an hour.

"I was quite surprised," said Morris Bender, also a NOAA research meteorologist and the lead author of the new study, to be published tomorrow in the journal Science.

"I didn't expect a doubling. I didn't expect we'd see this much response."

What's more, the most intense hurricanes—category 5 storms—tripled by 2100 in the model.

"Unprecedented Results"

The new model is perhaps the most sophisticated yet to predict how hurricanes will change as the world warms, study co-author Knutson said.

The researchers combined state-of-the-art global climate simulations with "the hurricane prediction models used by weather forecasters and the [U.S.] Navy," he said.

Combining three models into one tool, the scientists were able to simulate the entire Earth's climate, with realistic hurricanes of all categories romping across the Atlantic.

The modeling method is a first, according to Judith Curry of the Georgia Institute of Technology, who was not involved in the study. "This is an important paper," she said.

Kevin Trenberth of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder, Colorado, said there's still a lot of room for improvement in how all of today's climate simulations represent hurricanes and the oceans.

Even so, the new study does bolster an emerging consensus on how climate change will affect hurricanes, added Trenberth, who also was not involved in the research.

"The best information we have now supports the view that tropical storms will likely decrease in number," he said. "But the risk of category 4 and 5 storms could increase."

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Copenhagen 'fails forest people'

Mark Kinver, BBC News 22 Jan 10;

A multi-billion dollar deal tabled at the Copenhagen climate summit could lead to conflicts in forest-rich nations, a report has warned.

The study by the Rights and Resources Initiative said the funds could place "unprecedented pressure" on some areas.

Six nations offered $3.5bn as part of global plans to cut deforestation, which accounts for about 20% of all emissions from human activity.

Campaigners warn the scheme fails to consider the rights of forest people.

The money - tabled by Japan, Norway, Australia, France and the US and UK - was made available under the UN's Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (Redd) scheme.

However, delegates in the Danish capital failed to reach agreement on the mechanisms needed to monitor and manage the framework.

Decision time

"One of the things that the world has learned over the years is that Redd is far more difficult than many people imagined," said Andy White, co-ordinator of RRI, a US-based think-tank, and one of the report's lead authors.

"The forested areas of the world - by and large - have very high levels of poverty, low levels of respect for local rights, and a very low level of control among local people to shape and control their destiny.

"So the rather simplistic notion that money from the rich North can control or limit deforestation was unrealistic."

Redd was developed as a global concept that would provide developing countries with a financial incentive to preserve forests.

The Copenhagen conference was expected to finalise an international Redd finance mechanism for the post-2012 global climate change framework.

The RRI's report, The End of the Hitherlands, said that there would be "unparalleled" attention and investment in forests over the coming year.

It asked: "But who will drive the agenda and who will make the decisions?"

The authors said studies showed that there was the potential for "enormous profits", but this would lead to increased competition for forest resources between governments and investors on one hand, and local communities on the other.

Dr White told BBC News that the UN-Redd scheme still had "tremendous potential".

"It requires, from our perspective, that the governments who tabled the $3.5bn quickly get together and decide on the standards and mechanisms that they will set up," he suggested.

"This would send the necessary signals to the private sector, as well as forest-rich nations, about what is expected from them in order to comply with the policy.

"Sorting out the institution arrangements in developing nations in order to manage the forest market is a huge undertaking."

But the report said that the "unprecedented exposure and pressure" on forest regions was being met by a rise in local groups setting up co-operatives and representative bodies.

The authors added that it gave "nations and the world at large a tremendous opportunity to right historic wrongs, advance rural development and save forests".

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UN panel chief won't quit for Himalayan melt error

Ashok Sharma, Associated Press Yahoo News 23 Jan 10;

NEW DELHI – The head of a panel of United Nations climate scientists said Saturday he would not resign despite a recent admission that a panel report warning Himalayan glaciers could be gone by 2035 was hundreds of years off.

The claim, made in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's voluminous, Nobel-winning report, came in a paragraph with several errors. Data indicates the ice could melt by 2350. The assertion went virtually unnoticed until The Sunday Times said the projection seemed to be based on a news report.

The scientists are investigating how the forecast got into the report and apologized Thursday for the mistakes, adding that they were not intentional. But the errors have opened the door for attacks from climate change skeptics.

But Rajendra Pachauri, who heads the panel, said no action would be taken against the authors of the report and he would not resign.

"I have no intention of resigning from my position," Pachauri said on Saturday, adding the errors were unintentional and not significant in comparison to the entire report. The mistakes also do not negate the fact that worldwide, glaciers are melting faster than ever, he said.

He added that such mistakes must be avoided because effective climate change policy depends on good, credible science. He said he is now working on the fifth IPCC assessment report dealing with sea level rise and ice sheets, oceans, clouds and carbon accounting. The report is expected by 2014.

On Sunday, the environment ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China are scheduled to meet in the Indian capital New Delhi to discuss how they will fight global warming. The four nations, which brokered a political accord with President Barack Obama at last month's climate summit in Copenhagen, will play a key role in shaping a legally binding climate deal that the U.N. hopes will be completed by the end of 2010 in Mexico.

Pachauri said it was "a practical necessity" to postpone a Jan. 31 deadline set by the Copenhagen accord for developing countries to present their nonbinding carbon-curbing actions, and for rich nations to submit economy-wide emissions targets for 2020.

Glacier alarm 'regrettable error': UN climate head
Rupam Jain Nair Yahoo News 23 Jan 10;

NEW DELHI (AFP) – The head of the UN's climate science panel said Saturday a doomsday prediction about the fate of Himalayan glaciers was "a regrettable error" but that he would not resign over the blunder.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said the mistake arose from "established procedures not being diligently followed."

"I am not resigning from my post. There has been an error but we will ensure greater consistency in every (future) report," he said.

"I am not brushing anything under the carpet," he added.

Pachauri was referring to a forecast which featured in a benchmark 2007 report on global warming that the probability of glaciers in the Himalayas "disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high."

The IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report was a 938-page opus whose warning that climate change was on the march spurred politicians around the world to vow action.

Earlier in week, the panel apologised for "the poor application of well-established IPCC procedures."

In the latest statement on what the media have dubbed "Climategate," Pachauri said the report's general conclusions that Himalayan glaciers were retreating due to global warming were "robust, appropriate, and entirely consistent with the underlying science."

"The world is on the path of unsustainable development and we will have to change our lifestyle," he told reporters.

He said the forecast that the glaciers could disappear by 2035 may have "genuinely alarmed" some people.

But he said there had been a benefit in that it created a "heightened awareness about the real threat to Himalayan glaciers."

The IPCC co-won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for bringing climate change to the world's attention.

The glacier error came to light after four prominent glaciologists and hydrologists wrote a letter to the prestigious US journal Science. They said the paragraph's mistakes stemmed from a report by the conservation group WWF.

WWF had picked up a news report based on an unpublished study, compounded by the accidental inversion of a date -- 2035 instead of 2350 -- in a Russian paper published in 1996.

"These errors could have been avoided had the norms of scientific publication, including peer review and concentration upon peer-reviewed work, been respected," according to the letter to Science.

Pachauri defended the panel's overall work, a position shared by other scientists, who say the core conclusions about climate change are incontrovertible.

He added he would finish the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Reports.

The reports, due out in 2013 and 2014, will focus on sea level changes, the influence of periodic climate patterns such as the monsoon season and El Nino, and forge a more precise picture of the regional effects of climate change.

"Rational people continue to repose faith in IPCC and are seeing the larger picture," Pachauri said.

India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said following revelation of the gaffe he felt "vindicated" after repeatedly challenging the IPCC's work on glaciers.

Ramesh has said he believes there is no "conclusive scientific evidence" linking global warming to the melting of glaciers.

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Best of our wild blogs: 23 Jan 10

Some Common Butterlies @ Ubin
from Beauty of Fauna and Flora in Nature

Subadult Large Hawk Cuckoo
from Bird Ecology Study Group

A species a day!
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

Baya Weaver and animal prey
from Bird Ecology Study Group

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Readers' response to 16 ways to cut 16 per cent of carbon emissions

Your Insights, Straits Times 23 Jan 10;

More than 20 readers responded to last week's Insight feature on 16 ways to cut 16 per cent of carbon emissions. Many offered tips on how to lead a low-carbon lifestyle, while others made suggestions on how public amenities could be more carbon-efficient. Here are some ideas and views:

'THE multi-storey HDB carparks must be among the most polluted places. Some vehicles have their engines running, and their air-conditioning on, with their occupants taking a nap inside or missing, presumably running errands or having a meal. The worse culprits are taxis and delivery vans. I have never seen the police booking a motorist for air pollution. I can understand that vehicles delivering frozen food like ice cream and tourist buses need to keep their vehicles cool. But other vehicles that are not on the road should switch off their engines. Can our lawmen be more vigilant in policing this?'

LAURENCE LEONG via e-mail

'ONE way to cut the carbon footprint of this country is for the Government to stop encouraging the scrapping of cars unnecessarily. Do you know how much carbon emission is created to manufacture one car?'

LEON YUEN via e-mail

'USING a dishwasher may save up to 40 per cent more water than washing dishes by hand. But the cost of electricity in operating the washer far exceeds the cost savings in water usage.'

LEE HWEE HOON via SMS

'AIR-CONDITIONING large bus interchanges will lead to huge carbon emissions. The average traveller in transit typically spends less than 20 minutes waiting for the bus. So it doesn't make sense to air-condition the entire interchange.'

CHARLES TAN via SMS

'TO REDUCE carbon emissions on the roads, please ask the public bus companies to increase the air-conditioning temperatures in their buses. Hospital wards should switch off their air-conditioning during the night. Use ceiling fans and open the windows for fresh air. This saves electricity and reduces transmission of airborne viruses.'

ALLEN KOH via SMS

'HERE are my tips:

a) Reuse old clothes as rags, or donate them to charity.

b) Besides Bring Your Own Bag Day, restaurants and food vendors can have a Bring Your Own Tupperware Day for customers who wish to purchase takeaway food. Or better still, eco-conscious customers can do so on any day.

c) Newspapers can include a daily 'green column' with various tips on how to reduce, reuse and recycle.

d) Reduce the number of vending machines that consume so much electricity 24/7 as there are so many neighbourhood shops and shopping centres.'

NORMARLINA MD TAIB via e-mail

'MEATLESS Mondays, or any other day of the week, are a tasty way to fight climate change. The Vegetarian Society of Singapore's website has a list of more than 400 vegetarian eateries. Both supermarkets and wet markets sell so many vegetarian ingredients. I paid to plant a tree in Pasir Ris last year. This year, I'm trying to do less flying.'

GEORGE JACOBS via e-mail

'THE Meat-Free on Monday petition has more than 300 signatories, of which many are foreigners. We have our own Facebook group 'Meat Out For 1 Day A Week Singapore' which has 961 members, of which most are Singaporeans. In this Facebook group, we encourage members to exclude meat from their diet at least once a week at their convenience.'

EDMOND CHUA via e-mail

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Mandarin oranges to cost 10% more due to weather in Taiwan, China

Lian Cheong/Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 22 Jan 10;

SINGAPORE: It may be a more expensive Lunar New Year this year. Suppliers expect prices of Mandarin oranges and some vegetables to go up by about 10 per cent.

They said the recent cold spell has resulted in a smaller supply.

Singapore's supply of mandarin oranges comes mainly from China and Taiwan. But extreme weather, like the hurricane in Taiwan in August last year, has reduced mandarin orange supply by about a third.

Rising freight charges have added on to the costs as well.

A cold spell in the Chinese provinces of Shantung and Fujian has also reduced supply of vegetables like cabbages, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and spring onions.

The vice-chairman of the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, a major supplier, said prices of these vegetables will go up by 10 per cent from Monday, with prices expected to stabilise only after the Lunar New Year period.

- CNA/sc

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Waste not... when making new roads

The Science of Surfaces is a four-part weekly science series that looks at the surfaces we walk on so often but know so little about. In this third part, we look at the material used to make our roads anti-skid. Next week, we look at sand.
Maria Almenoar, Straits Times 23 Jan 10;

WASTE from steel factories is what keeps a tight grip on car tyres in wet weather conditions.

Road pavers have found that steel slag, or a by-product from making steel, provides a better anti-skid property than conventional materials such as granite.

Increasingly, the Land Transport Authority (LTA), which oversees road paving, is adding recycled or waste materials into Singapore's roads.

The aim is to increase the composition of these recycled materials in roads to 70 per cent, up from the current 25 per cent.

LTA's acting manager for road infrastructure management, Mr Yoong Chin Chong, said: 'In the old days, all four layers of the road were made from granite stone but nowadays, we are looking at using recycled material which can do the same or even a better job.'

Recycled materials minimise Singapore's dependence on imports from neighbours Indonesia and Malaysia, reduce the rate at which landfills pile up and save the authorities millions of dollars.

Steel slag is one waste material, for example, that is being used in the top layer of roads, called the asphalt wearing course.

Different sizes of granite stones and steel slag are heated at about 170 deg C to remove any moisture before being mixed with a dark sticky liquid called bitumen, or what is commonly known to motorists as tar.

The steel slag with its grooves gives the road surface a honeycomb texture and makes melding with the bitumen easier and, in turn, the surface stronger.

The use of steel slag also helps to reduce the price of the top layer, which with the quality of the granite aggregate being used is now about the same as that for the bottom layers - about $11 per sq m - despite being about one-sixth the thickness.

On the top two layers, the LTA is testing the use of some of the 'old roads' or roads dug up during resurfacing.

'Old road' surfaces are processed into reclaimed asphalt, which is then crushed and screened into various sizes.

Said pavement specialist Kelvin Lee from Samwoh Corporation, one of the four asphalt production factories in Singapore: 'The field test results of using asphalt with the reclaimed asphalt pavement have been encouraging and we envisage that it will be approved for usage in the near future.'

For the bottom two layers, which need to be between 200mm and 300mm thick, the LTA is testing using processed incinerated waste from landfills.

This is made up of mostly discarded household items and contains mainly silica, glass, ceramic and metal.

The waste is exposed to weather for three months to dry before it is screened to remove unwanted materials.

It is then sieved to the required sizes before being treated by chemicals.

Already, for the bottom two layers, the LTA uses discarded blocks of concrete from construction sites when, for example, buildings are demolished.

The steel reinforcement rods are removed and the concrete is treated before it is used as road-building material.

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