Freshwater losses pose risks for food,health: U.N.

Reuters AlertNet 22 Oct 10;

TOKYO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Damage to rivers, wetlands and lakes threatens to destabilise the diversity of freshwater fish species, posing risks for food security, incomes and nutrition, a U.N.-backed report said on Friday.

Rivers and lakes are the source of 13 million tonnes of fish annually, which in turn provide employment to 60 million people, the study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Fish Centre showed.

Fish from inland waters is also important for nutrition, especially in Africa and parts of Asia, by supplying micronutrients such as vitamin A, calcium, iron and zinc, the report added.

It said such factors highlighted the risks to humans from the destruction of freshwater ecosystems and the urgency to protect them from pollution, climate change, overfishing and construction of dams.

The report was released on the sidelines of an Oct 18-29 U.N. meeting in Nagoya, Japan, aimed at pushing governments and businesses to do more to fight accelerating losses in animal and plant species. [ID:nTOE69L09O]

While fish production had grown in Asia and Africa over the past 40 years, catch in other regions had levelled off and in some cases, fallen, with environmental damage cited as a factor, the report said.

Fisheries in the Volga River in Europe have declined because of dams, while fisheries in Lake Malawi and Lake Malombe in Africa have fallen from overfishing and environmental degradation.

"It takes a concerted effort to protect and maintain these so-to-speak 'free' ecosystem services around the world," Yumiko Kura of the World Fish Center told a news conference on the sidelines of the Nagoya meeting.

"It is important to maintain these natural ecosystem services from human destruction because it is very costly to replace these ecosystem services once they are lost." (Reporting by Chisa Fujioka; Editing by Sugita Katyal)

Warming 'destabilises aquatic ecosystems'
Mark Kinver BBC News 23 Oct 10;
Future warming could have "profound implications" for the stability of freshwater ecosystems, a study warns.

Researchers said warmer water affected the distribution and size of plankton - tiny organisms that form the basis of food chains in aquatic systems.

The team warmed plankton-containing vessels by 4C (7F) - the temperature by which some of the world's rivers and lakes could warm over the next century.

The findings appear in the journal Global Change Biology.

"Our study provides almost the first direct experimental evidence that - in the short-term - if a [freshwater] ecosystem warms up, it has profound implications for the size structure of plankton communities," said lead author Gabriel Yvon-Durocher from Queen Mary, University of London.

"Essentially, what we observed within the phytoplankton (microscopic plants) community was that it switched from a system that was dominated by larger autotrophs (plants that photosynthesise) to a system that was dominated by smaller autotrophs with a lower standing biomass."

Dr Yvon-Durocher added that a greater abundance, but lower overall biomass, of smaller phytoplankton had "very important implications for the stability of plankton food webs".

"This meant that the distribution of biomass between plants and animals changed from a... situation where you had a large amount of plants and a smaller amount of animal consumers to an 'inverted pyramid' where you have a smaller quantity of plant biomass and a larger amount of animal biomass," he told BBC News.

"Systems that tend to have larger consumer biomass relative to the resource biomass tend to be less stable over time."

Dr Yvon-Durocher explained that phytoplankton played a key role in the food webs of oceans, rivers and lakes.

"An inordinate amount of the primary productivity and carbon draw-down in ocean and freshwater ecosystems are carried out by microscopic planktonic organisms."

Because the tiny plants are able to produce their own food by using energy from sunlight, they are an important food source for zooplankton - microscopic animals that are not able to synthesise their own food.

The zooplankton are also a vital food for other creatures higher up the the food chain.

"Understanding the dynamics of these communities is going to be crucial in understanding how marine and freshwater ecosystems will respond to changes in temperature."

Fresh insight

For their experiment, the team of UK and Spanish researchers used 20 mesocosms, which are containers that allow scientists to study freshwater ecosystems in a controlled environment.

"We were able to, in a relatively small plot of land, have 20 replicated ecosystems - half of which we warmed, and the other half we kept at an ambient year-round temperature," explained Dr Yvon-Durocher.

"The great advantage of using the mescosm set-up is that it allows the manipulation of an entire ecosystem.

"There is an absolute wealth of literature on the effects of warming and climate change on single species, but we understand very little about what happens at a community level."

Commenting on their results, the team said: "These findings could provide some novel insights into how future warming might change the distribution of organism size and biomass in freshwater ecosystems.

"The size structure of plankton communities is a key driver of rates of carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling."

They added that warming waters could have an impact on a global scale.

However, Dr Yvon-Durocher said that it did not mean that the future for aquatic ecosystems was looking bleak.

"What it means is that the make-up of ecological communities are likely to profoundly change as a result of warming," he suggested.

"It may mean that the species' composition might change, but what we don't understand is how those changes are going to affect the functions of the ecosystems.

"That is the next step."

River and lake fish 'neglected but essential'
Richard Black BBC News 22 Oct 10;

Inland fisheries provide employment for more people than their marine equivalents, as well as being a vital source of nutrients, a study concludes.

The UN-backed Blue Harvest study says that in Africa alone, fish from rivers and lakes are a key source of protein and minerals for 100 million people.

However, dams and other kinds of water management have drastically reduced yields, particularly in Europe.

Properly valuing these fisheries could lead to better forms of management.

The study was launched at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting here.

It puts the yield of fish from these predominantly freshwater sources at 13-30 million tonnes per year.

In terms of quantity, that is dwarfed by the amount coming from the oceans and aquaculture, which produce in the region of 50 million tonnes annually.

But because inland fishers generally deploy low-tech methods and use the fish for local consumption, the employment benefit is somewhat higher.

The UN Environment Programme (Unep) says this is the first study to bring together inland fisheries data from across the world.

"This fascinating report has brought to the fore the often neglected subject of inland fisheries," said Unep's executive director Achim Steiner.

"While marine fisheries are under increasing scrutiny, those based on river and lake systems rarely engage the international community - an oversight of potentially profound implications."
End of the line

That scrunity is one of the factors that have led to governments, and fishing communities themselves, to take action to conserve marine fish stocks.

But in inland fisheries, the situation can be more complex.

Dams and other modifications of waterways can have big and unintended consequences for these fisheries, while communities and industries alongside can also disturb them with pollution.

"If you look at Japan, or countries around Europe that used to have commercial inland fisheries, they now don't exist," said Yumiko Kura of the WorldFish Center, a UN-supported research institute based in Malaysia.

"The level of modification done to freshwater lakes and rivers has a lot to do with the productivity of those systems - many freshwater species are migratory, and connectivity between river systems and betwen rivers and the sea is very important."

Where inland fishing is possible in industrialised countries, she noted, it is usually for recreation rather than staple food, and often supported by the regular release of juvenile fish.
Basin cut

To illustrate the point, Blue Harvest compares the health of the salmon populations in two of North America's largest river systems, the Fraser and Columbia, which both supported major fisheries until the early 1900s.

Since then, nearly 150 dams have been built on the the Columbia and its tributaries; the Fraser has just a handful.

The Fraser is recognised as the biggest salmon-producing river basin in the world, while on the Columbia, most populations are under government protection, and have to be supported by hatcheries, the addition of measures such as fish ladders, and the regular transportation of fish between different parts of the basin.

The report warns that unless modifications in major developing world rivers such as the Mekong are carried out in ways that allow fish to flourish, there will be a decline in catches essential for millions of people.

This does not mean that dams and other infrastructure should not be built, it concludes - but that development must be appropriate, and decisions made only after properly assessing the economic, nutritional and social benefits of the fisheries.

A related concern, said Ms Kura, was preserving the diversity of inland water systems such as the Mekong, where fishers catch on the order of 500 different species.

"When you look at the fisherman's net, there are countless species in it - they don't rely on any particular one, but on all of them," she said at the launch here.

"In some years, certain species might not be available but other ones are, because different species have different ways of responding to environmental changes - so biodiversity is key to sustaining the vitality of the fishing industry."

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Secret life of birds may give info on climate change

Reuters AlertNet 21 Oct 10;

SYDNEY, Oct 21 (Reuters Life!) - The secret life of seabirds at the bottom of the world may yield valuable clues about global climate change, scientists say.

Australian researchers plan to learn more about the ecosystem of the southern ocean, including how it is changing, by attaching tiny tracking devices to the legs of snow petrels, one of only a handful of birds that breed exclusively in Antarctica.

"The information will tell us where the birds go and which marine habitats they use during the long winter months," said Colin Southwell, Australian Antarctic Division Ecologist on the "Aurora Australia" research ship.

Speaking to Reuters by phone on Thursday shortly before sailing for the Antarctic, he added:"If we know where they go in the southern ocean to forage for food, we are much more likely to focus and look for the kinds of environmental drivers that might be driving the population."

The tracking devices are about the size of an adult's thumb and weigh only 1.5 grams. Plans are to track about 150 birds between three Australian-maintained Antarctic stations.

"We know several places where they breed so all we need to do is simply hold their beak and carefully remove them from their nest and put a tag on - it takes about a minute or two," said Southwell.

The project is part of a wider long term collaborative study of Antarctic animals, including Adelie and Emperor penguins, using a variety of methods such as tracking, population surveys and automated cameras to monitor breeding colonies in East Antarctica.

(Reporting by Pauline Askin; Editing by Elaine Lies)

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Mediterranean nations agree to combat climate change

Yahoo News 22 Oct 10;

VOUGIAGMENI, Greece (AFP) – Some 15 Mediterranean countries, including Israel and the Palestinian Authority, agreed Friday to work together to combat the effects of climate change that threaten the region.

The countries signed a declaration at a climate change conference near Athens in Greece which called for "contributing to the emergence of low carbon, resource efficient and climate resilient economies."

"Climate change threatens our way of life as people of the Mediterranean," said Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who initiated the conference attended by his counterparts from Turkey, Libya, Malta, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority and environment ministers from some 15 countries.

The Mediterranean Climate Change Initiative also aimed "at developing common Mediterranean positions on climate change demonstrating leadership and strong commitment to action in the international arena," a text of the declaration in English said.

The Mediterranean initiative comes about a month before the United Nations conference on climate change which will be held in late November in Cancun, Mexico.

The agreement among the Mediterranean nations to address the problem of global warming, despite political conflicts between some of them, was hailed by some as a diplomatic breakthrough.

"It is a new way of doing diplomacy because all these countries have a lot of problems to deal with -- economic crises, political instability and other issues -- and the conflicts between them," said a diplomat from one of the participating countries who requested anonymity.

"However, they sat around the same table realising that they all face the same threat to their culture and their way of life."

Some of the problems the Mediterranean region faces from the effects of climate change centre on access to water, energy, and desertification.

"If we do not decide to manage the planet together... there will be conflicts over the problems" created by climate change, said Papandreou, who would like to create a Mediterranean fund to finance green projects.

The declaration noted that the Mediterranean region "has an unrivalled potential to become a major hub of renewable energy generation for domestic and neighbouring markets."

While not among the world's most polluting nations, the Mediterranean countries nonetheless face an increase of four degrees in average temperatures and a 70 percent drop in precipitation in the coming years, participants at the conference said.

Climate change also could reduce the harvests of the Mediterranean's key crops such as olives and grapes, Rajendra Pachuauri, the head of the UN intergovernmental group of climate experts, told the conference in a video message.

It could also affect a key economic sector in the region, namely, tourism.

"Tourism is expected to decline globally, especially during the summer months," Pachauri said.

A study released Tuesday by the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) said regions bordering the Mediterranean could see "almost unprecedented" drought conditions within the next 30 years unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut.

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China greenhouse gas growth "daunting": U.S. envoy

* U.S. underscores China's challenge on emissions
* Envoy says talks with Chinese counterparts positive
* Outlook for Cancun climate talks mixed
Chris Buckley Reuters AlertNet 22 Oct 10;

BEIJING, Oct 22 (Reuters) - China's push to reduce growing greenhouse gas pollution is impressive but the "juggernaut" nonetheless faces a daunting rise in emissions, the top U.S. climate change envoy said after what he called helpful talks.

The United States' chief climate change negotiator Todd Stern was in Beijing seeking to narrow rifts over the building blocks of a proposed new pact to fight global warming driven by greenhouse gases from fossil fuels and other human activity.

China is the world's biggest total emitter of such greenhouse gases, having surged past the United States, the world's second biggest emitter and long the world's largest.

China's efforts to slow greenhouse gas emission growth by encouraging cleaner energy and more efficient production deserved praise, but its projected rise will be testing, said Stern.

"China's got a juggernaut of an economy, and it's no criticism that the emissions trajectory that China faces is a daunting one," he told a news conference after his talks with Chinese negotiators.

"The trajectory is tough because of the power and success of the (Chinese) economy, so it's going to be an ongoing challenge."

The veteran U.S. negotiator's comments underscored how important China will be to the success or failure of climate change negotiations.

China's greenhouse gas emissions rose about 9 percent last year, faster than any other major economy.

Likely rapid economic growth will push its emissions of the main greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, to between 9.6 and 10.1 billion tonnes of CO2 per year by 2020, compared with 5.2 billion tonnes in 2005, according to a study from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. [ID:nLDE68L23Z]

Governments hope to settle on the elements of a new global deal to fight climate change at U.N. negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, late this year. Cancun is intended to be a stepping stone to a binding global deal late next year.

Stern has led the U.S. push for China to accept firmer international emissions goals and monitoring, while Beijing has countered that Washington has failed to take serious steps against climate change and is instead scapegoating China.

China rejects an internationally binding limit on its greenhouse gas emissions as unfair, because it contributed less to the problem historically, its emissions per-capita are still relatively low and it needs leeway to grow its economy.

Stern said he had "quite positive" talks with China's top climate negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, and other officials that had made some progress towards a possible deal in Cancun, but a successful outcome there was not assured.

He declined to give details of those talks.

"I think that there is a deal to be had. I think it's also possible that it won't come together," Stern said of Cancun. (Editing by David Fogarty)

Read more!

Best of our wild blogs: 22 Oct 10

18-20 Oct: Singapore Aquatic Heteroptera Workshop
from Raffles Museum News

28 Oct: Cleaning up the ‘Bigmessidae’ (reef-building corals from four families) and other marine taxonomic disorders: A small contribution to uncover marine biodiversity
from Raffles Museum News

This diminutive bird keeps us coming back for more
from Life's Indulgences

Ongoing massive coastal works
from wild shores of singapore: Dredging at Kusu and near Cyrene and reclamation near Labrador

Green dollars to save the planet?
from BBC NEWS blog by Richard Black

Read more!

Flood aleviation: Orchard Road to be raised by up to 50cm

$26m effort, starting next month, will raise 1.4km low-lying stretch
Grace Chua Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

A LOW-LYING stretch of Orchard Road will be raised by an average of 30cm in a $26 million bid to stave off future floods.

The 1.4km stretch of road that will be affected runs from Orchard Parade Hotel to Cairnhill.

In some areas, such as at the junction with Scotts Road, the road and its surroundings may be raised by as much as 50cm to prevent rainwater from overflowing onto the roads.

The works will also include the re-tiling of pedestrian malls at crossings, and raising existing bus shelters and other facilities like ERP gantries and traffic lights.

Work will begin next month and is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.

The plans were announced by national water agency PUB yesterday. To minimise disruption, most of the work will be carried out between midnight and 5am.

'With Orchard Road being Singapore's prime shopping and tourism belt, it is important that we give this iconic area an additional protection measure against such flash floods,' said Mr Yap Kheng Guan, senior director at PUB.

The improvement works are among a slew of measures being adopted to prevent a recurrence of the floods that deluged parts of the iconic shopping district in June and July this year.

The floods occurred after a bout of unusually intense rainfall over a few hours. The basements and carparks of buildings like Liat Towers, Delfi Orchard and Lucky Plaza were flooded. Retailers suffered millions of dollars in damage.

The capacity of the 4km-long Stamford Canal, which runs just beneath Orchard Road, was pegged as a key factor in the floods. But widening or deepening the canal was not feasible because the area is already heavily built-up. Raising the road is an alternative.

Increasing the road level by an average of 30cm will put it above the level of the canal, said Mr Yap. That will prevent water from overflowing onto the road.

Although flood levels rose above the half-metre mark in some areas in June, the 30cm average should be sufficient as the flood water will be contained within the drainage canals.

As long as water keeps flowing in those canals, it will not collect in pools of greater than 30cm, said PUB officials.

As an additional measure, the top of the canal will be sealed off along the sides so that water will be contained inside, to be conveyed towards Marina Reservoir.

PUB did not say where precisely the works will start. But it said roads and pedestrian walkways would be kept fairly smooth as the work will be done in stages.

For instance, where a part of the road is higher than the surrounding carriageway, temporary ramps can be put in place for cars to cross. Temporary bus stops may also be set up, and planks will be laid to allow pedestrians to use crossings while work is in progress.

PUB also assured the public that there would be 'minimal disruption' during the festive light-up period from Nov 20 to Jan 2. It added that it would stop work during occasions such as New Year's Eve if necessary.

In the longer term, PUB is studying measures such as water-retention ponds, or diversion canals like the one currently being constructed in Bukit Timah.

Civil engineering professor Cheong Hin Fatt of the National University of Singapore said raising the road level was one way to mitigate flooding.

'First, you must remove the water as fast as possible,' he said. 'It has to drain away somewhere.'

He explained that such a project was complex, and that engineers needed to study the entire landscape in detail before deciding by how much to raise the road.

'Factors such as the terrain, what is around you, whether the areas are paved or not, how big you have to size openings to collect water and take it to the drains, all affect it,' he said.

As part of its measures to cut flood-prone areas in Singapore, the PUB has planned some 16 drainage improvement projects in places like Bukit Timah, Little India and Telok Kurau. By 2013, these are set to reduce flood-prone areas to 40ha, down from 62ha this year.

About $150 million is spent each year on upgrading drainage infrastructure and, over the last 30 years, the Government has spent $2 billion on such works.

The annual maintenance budget for Singapore's 7,000km of drains and canals has also been doubled to $23 million since 2007.

Precautionary measures

# A 1.4 km stretch of Orchard Road will be raised by an average of 30 cm

# This will serve as an added layer of protection against future floods since it will be elevated higher than Stamford Canal

# In some places, such as the low-lying Scotts Road junction, the road level will be raised by half a metre

# Bus stops, pedestrian crossings, manholes, traffic lights, lamp-posts and other road facilities will also be raised

# Most work will be done between midnight and 5am

# The entire project will cost $26 million

# It will start in November and end in the second quarter of next year

# For the long term, PUB is studying other measures like constructing diversion canals and retention ponds

# For information and steps to take during a flood, members of the public can call PUB's 24-hour call centre at 1800-284 6600 or visit its website at www.pub.gov.sg

Retailers pleased but worry about impact
Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

ORCHARD Road retailers and shoppers welcomed the PUB's project to raise road levels announced yesterday but were concerned about how it would affect traffic and business.

Mr Steven Goh, executive director of the Orchard Road Business Association, said: 'We see this as a necessary enhancement to protect against future floods, even though there's no solution that's 100 per cent certain (to succeed).'

But the association did anticipate some inconvenience to visitors and stakeholders during the $26 million project to raise road levels and their surroundings by an average of 30cm.

'The PUB has to work with us and stakeholders to minimise impact, noise and dust and ensure that the shopping experience is not compromised,' Mr Goh said.

For instance, shopping malls along the 1.4km stretch of road that will be affected may be concerned over whether cars could enter and exit carparks smoothly, he said.

The Singapore Marriott Hotel, situated at the Scotts Road junction of Orchard Road, welcomed the improvement works, but expressed concern about noise from the work affecting guests.

Retailers in the area also wanted clear communication channels with national water agency PUB, to keep them informed of the sequence of work as well as what to expect and when.

The PUB contract to raise Orchard Road, however, has not yet been awarded.

Fast-food chain Wendy's, whose Liat Towers basement outlet was wrecked by floods earlier this year, was worried that the work might block shop frontage.

Mr Chik Hai Lam, supervisor at Goldvein, which owns Liat Towers, said the management had not heard from the PUB yet about details of the new measures.

As for Orchard Road shoppers and those who work in the area, they largely welcomed the road-raising as long as it did not affect traffic.

More will receive flood alerts
Victoria Vaughan Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

RESIDENTS in flood-prone areas will be alerted to prepare for the north-east monsoon, due to arrive next month.

Over the next few weeks, national water agency PUB will hand out 200 flood advisories to residents living in flood-prone areas, such as Fort Road and Mountbatten Road in Katong.

The advisory, like those handed out in previous years, will detail high-tide times which, when coinciding with heavy rain, can lead to flash floods in low-lying areas.

This year, more residents will receive the advisory as the list of flood-prone areas has grown to 71 in August from 52 in July. New areas identified include Arab Street and Jalan Boon Lay.

The PUB has also added to its website a new 'managing flash floods' microsite which includes an interactive map showing the water levels in canals across Singapore at 10-minute intervals. The site went up at the end of August following flooding in June and July.

When a drain hits 75 per cent full, there is a high risk of flooding. By the end of the year, a further 60 sensors will be added to the 32 already in operation to improve water-level monitoring in canals and drains.

The site also includes advice on how to react in the event of a flood, such as preparing to evacuate by turning off the mains and disconnecting electrical appliances. In addition, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will issue heavy rain warnings on its website and in the media.

The north-east monsoon begins in mid-November and ends in mid-March, with most rain falling in December and January. The most recent monsoon was drier than usual with only 67.6mm rainfall recorded in January, compared to the monthly average of 244mm.

But some people are not taking any chances. Mr Sunny Giam, 81, who lives in Opera Estate, has sandbags provided by PUB permanently stacked around his doorway. He is constantly on the alert, after having to replace his bed and fridge following the June flood.

'When I saw the rain yesterday, I took four or five sandbags to fill up the gap left in the sandbag wall so I can get in and out of my house,' he said.

National University of Singapore climatologist Matthias Roth said the north- east monsoon season is characterised by consistent winds from the north-west with cloudy periods and extensive rainfall. 'The north-east monsoon period is typically the wettest period of the year. The coming monsoon period could bring above-average rainfall because the current La Nina event is predicted to persist into spring 2011,' he said.

La Nina refers to cooler-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean which brings wetter weather to the region.

This weather phenomenon has been blamed for the wetter weather seen in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore from June to August.

Average rainfall is 255.5mm in November, 288.9mm in December and 244mm in January.

PUB to elevate part of Orchard Rd
It will be raised 30cm on average to prevent flooding
Zul Othman Today Online 22 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE - The flash flood that affected Singapore's prime shopping belt earlier this year will, hopefully, be consigned to memory as the national water agency PUB said yesterday it will be raising a low-lying stretch along Orchard Road.

The approximately 1.4km stretch between Orange Grove Road and Cairnhill Road will be raised by an average of 30cm to prevent a repeat of the June 16 flood that severely disrupted business and traffic.

Apart from elevating the road, other measures include the re-tiling of pedestrian malls at crossings, and raising existing bus shelters and affected road facilities such as ERP gantries, traffic lights, lamp posts, signs and manholes.

The massive $26-million project is scheduled to begin next month and is expected to end by the second quarter of next year.

Orchard Road saw one of the worst floods in Singapore's history in June. Roads and buildings were inundated following multiple intense rain showers, and the adjacent Stamford Canal overflowed and flooded the road, especially at the junction with Scotts Road.

Once Orchard Road is raised, water will be contained within the 4km Stamford Canal and carried towards Marina Reservoir, said the PUB.

If a storm similar to the one in June were to hit Singapore again, "we would be okay", said Mr Yap Kheng Guan, PUB director for the 3P (public, private and people) Network Department, at a media briefing yesterday.

Adding that the bulk of the upgrading work will be done at the Scotts Road junction, Mr Yap said: "By raising the road, we will be keeping the road higher and above the water level."

The PUB sought to allay fears of snarled traffic and disruption to business once construction gets underway.

Mr Yap said that the road work will be "carried out at night, during non-peak hours, and in stages to ensure that the roads remain accessible to pedestrians and impact on traffic flow is kept to a minimum".

"A lot of care and planning has gone into the planning to minimise the inconvenience to businesses here," added Mr Yap.

To that end, the PUB is working closely with agencies including the Land Transport Authority, National Environment Agency and Singapore Tourism Board, as well as the Orchard Road Business Association.

Retailers, who lost millions of dollars in the flood, are keeping their fingers crossed.

Said an employee at Liat Towers: "Even though they said they are doing the work at night, will it prevent disruptions in the day?"

Customers might want to avoid the hassle of all the construction activity and stay away, he added.

Ms Lina Lim, 30, a sales executive, agreed. "I am sure there will be road diversions so I might give the area a miss."

Still, a Lucky Plaza shop owner, whose premises was damaged by the flood, said he was "certainly looking forward" to the road work. In fact, the PUB "should have done (it) a long time ago", he said.

While the road work will help prevent flooding, the authorities said that building owners will still need to install measures like barriers to protect their premises.

According to the PUB, another 16 drainage improvement projects - in flood-prone areas like Bukit Timah, Upper Aljunied Road, Geylang and Syed Alwi Road - are in the pipeline. It aims to reduce flood-prone areas from 62 hectares to 40 hectares by 2013.

Members of the public can call the PUB hotline 1800-284-6600 for queries pertaining to the road work.

PUB to raise road levels in Orchard
Imelda Saad Channel NewsAsia 21 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE: A 1.4 kilometre low-lying stretch in Orchard Road will be raised to protect it against flash floods.

On June 16, Singapore's premier shopping belt was hit by one of the worst floods in recent history when the Stamford Canal, designed to discharge excess water to the sea, could not cope with two successive bursts of intense rainfall, causing rainwater to overflow onto the roads.

National water agency PUB said the problem does not lie with the canal as it is serving its purpose.

The authorities decided to raise the level of Orchard Road by an average of 30 centimetres to prevent rainwater from overflowing onto the roads.

Some parts will be raised up to 50 centimetres.

The decision to raise the level by 30 centimetres is based on the water level which overflowed during the flash floods in June.

The road raised will start from the junction opposite the Heeren and stretch to Orchard Parade Hotel after the Scotts Road junction.

Works on the $26 million project will start in November and is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2011.

The works will also include the re-tiling of pedestrian malls at crossings, raising existing bus shelters and other affected facilities like ERP gantries and traffic lights.

Works will be carried out only at night to minimise disruption

The PUB said raising road levels is a tried and tested solution on Singapore.

Yap Kheng Guan, Senior Director, PUB, said: "On 16 June, the canal overflowed [and] the water spilled out on the roads and stayed on the roads. By raising the road, we will be keeping the road higher than the top of the canal level and above the water level in the canal. The water will be confined in the canal and move along and be discharged that way".

Retailers in Lucky Plaza who were affected by the floods welcomed the move.

"I hope it will help the situation and prevent any further flooding and really solve the problem," said a retailer.

PUB said that there is not guarantee that the flash floods will never happen again.

Authorities said while the latest improvement works will help prevent water from overflowing onto the road, building owners will still need to install measures such as barriers to protect their premises against flash floods.

One of the affected buildings, Liat Towers, has already started works to install flood water barriers.

The building management hopes the installation will be completed by November.

PUB said flood prone areas in Singapore currently cover about 62 hectares and the target is to reduce the areas to 40ha in 4 to 5 years' time. - CNA/fa

Orchard Rd to get $26m road-raising to prevent floods
Emilyn Yap Business Times 22 Oct 10;

(SINGAPORE) National water agency PUB is spending $26 million to raise a low-lying stretch of Orchard Road and other facilities to keep the area from flooding.

The height of a 1.4 km section of Orchard Road - from Orange Grove Road to Cairnhill Road - will increase by a range of 20-50 cm, or an average of 30 cm.

Some adjoining roads, basement carpark entrances and facilities such as bus stops and traffic lights will have to be raised correspondingly. Pedestrian walkways at certain road crossings will also have to be re-tiled.

When works are completed, the road will be at a higher level compared with Stamford Canal. This keeps rainwater from overflowing from the canal onto the road, PUB said.

Road-raising is a 'tried and proven' method of preventing floods in Singapore and was used for Kim Seng Road and other areas, said PUB senior director Yap Kheng Guan at a briefing yesterday.

The agency believes that the project will prevent future flash floods brought on by intense rainfall similar to that seen on June 16. That day, more than 100 mm of rain - exceeding 60 per cent of the monthly average for June - fell between 9 am and 11 am.

Liat Towers, Lucky Plaza, Delfi Orchard and Tong Building were badly hit as water surged into their stores or basements.

Mr Yap pointed out that it would be unrealistic to say that Orchard Road would be entirely flood-proof. According to him, the works should 'take care of a storm event of the likes of June 16', but 'we can't predict what the sky will bring'.

He added that the canal system has generally worked well. 'If we want to go for a higher level of protection, obviously we will have to look at options that will maybe require even larger trade-offs, bigger investments and so on.'

Widening the canal was not a feasible option because the surroundings are heavily built-up, Mr Yap also said.

PUB will start raising Orchard Road next month and expects to finish the project by the second quarter of next year. To minimise disruption, it will carry out works in stages, from midnight to 5 am. There will be no need to close Orchard Road, Mr Yap said.

In the meantime, PUB is studying longer term measures to protect the area from floods. These include the creation of diversion canals and retention ponds. 'The feasibility of these options has to be evaluated against cost effectiveness and competing land use,' it said.

Mr Yap said that PUB is also working with the building managements of the four properties affected by the flood in June to help them implement flood protection measures. Liat Towers' barrier system against floods should be ready in December, he said.

PUB expects to spend $150 million annually for the next five years to upgrade drainage infrastructure.

Read more!

Haze in Singapore

Braving hazy days and smoggy skies
Visitors make hay though the sunshine is obscured
Jeremy Au Yong Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

IT WAS Alan and Sylvia Wilson's last day in Singapore. The retirees in their 60s were to fly home to England that very night.

So, haze or not, they were going up on the Singapore Flyer.

'It's something we had wanted to do, and fortunately it's still a pleasant ride. It's just a pity about the pictures. I took one of Marina Bay Sands - it was completely grey,' said Mr Wilson yesterday.

While the worsening air quality here kept many Singaporeans indoors, tourists seemed determined not to let it wreck their holiday plans.

It was business as usual at the Singapore Flyer and the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Skypark, with those manning the counters reporting no drop in business.

One Fullerton was similarly teeming with hundreds of tourists gamely taking pictures against the greyed-out backdrop of the Merlion and the Singapore skyline.

The river cruise boats passing by the area were also mostly full.

For a lot of visitors, it was a case of making hay, even while the sunshine was obscured by smog.

Mr Les Elekes, 56, from Australia went up to the MBS Skypark with his wife hoping for the best.

'I saw a programme on the Discovery Channel on this building so I originally came here expecting a great view. Of course it's disappointing. But since we've flown here to see the building, we thought we'd just come here. At least our holiday on ground level was nice,' he said.

At 6pm, the haze was so bad that those standing on the Skypark could barely make out the giant logo of the National Trades Union Congress on its building a few kilometres away.

At the Universal Studios theme park in Resorts World Sentosa, tourists were also seen braving the hazy air.

Said Ms Kitty Choi, 24, from Hong Kong: 'Singapore's all about clear views and an amazing skyline, so we're really disappointed. I didn't want to bring my kids to Universal Studios today, but its our last day, no more chance.'

Thai tourist Ploy Ratna, 28, went around asking gift shops for masks for her elderly mother, while Korean tourist Kim Soo Hyung, 37, was seen applying eye drops for herself and her children at the park.

She said she regretted coming out to the park.

'Our eyes are dry and we feel tired,' she lamented.

Indonesian Utty Pramastutty Alham, 29, started having second thoughts about going into the park at the gate.

'We can't see far, so we're not sure if we want to pay to go in. Maybe we'll just take a picture at the entrance and leave,' she said.

But there were some tourists who thought nothing of the haze.

Ms Isabelle Meek, 61, a retiree from England, actually had nothing but good things to say about the weather.

'In Britain, when it rains, you can't see a thing. And next week they are forecasting snow. So by comparison, this is wonderful,' she said.

Asked then if the pollution was a concern, she replied simply: 'Well, I've just come from China.'

Professor P.K. Imbrie, 52, an academic from the United States, was also not overly fussed by the weather while taking pictures at One Fullerton.

He said: 'I've been stuck in a conference all day, so I'm just happy to be out.'

It was the same story for Mr Jeeju Sreenivas, 25, from India. He stepped off the Singapore Flyer and decided he would then head over to the MBS Skypark.

'In pictures, the background is a bit hazy but I'm not going to let it stop me,' he said.

But if many tourists were not about to let some smog spoil their fun, Singaporeans were certainly fed-up with it. Many grumbled about the haze and recalled the bad old smoky days back in 1997 and 2006 when the haze hit PSI levels of 226 and 150 respectively.

Retiree Henry Kwa, 78, broke a five-year routine when he decided not to make his daily trip to Bedok market.

'I'm afraid I won't be able to see properly, the haze is making my head ache,' he said.

Student Sheila Eng, 20, tried her best to stay indoors yesterday. 'It felt very hot, and the weather was horrible. I started to get a headache from it. All my friends are feeling unwell with coughs and headaches as well.'

Unsurprisingly, parents were the most worried.

Administrative officer Heryani Abdullah, 43, took urgent leave from work to take care of her son, Hakim, who suffers from asthma. 'He complained of breathing difficulties last night, so I'm very worried it might get worse today. Better to play it safe,' she said.

Playing it safe was also the approach Mrs Caroline Wong took when she made her sons Michael, nine, and Jonathon, 11, put on face masks for their commute to school.

Said the 37-year-old: 'The haze is so bad it smells like second-hand smoke. Tonight when they are back I'm keeping the windows closed and the humidifier on.'

It meant last minute cancellations for people like swimming instructors and tennis coaches.

Swimming instructor Jenny Stewart, 43, said that during her swimming lesson yesterday, a parent came running down to ask if her daughter could be taken out.

'If the haze continues like this, it will definitely affect my swim classes, because people don't want to send their kids out when this could affect their heart and lungs,' she said.

Tennis coach Julian Wong, 26, had to cancel a whole class for adults yesterday after his students pulled out.

He said: 'They were worried they would contract respiratory ailments from the haze. I hope it will all blow over in a matter of days.'

Schools ready to axe outdoor activities
Leow Si Wan Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

STUDENTS at Ngee Ann Secondary School were supposed to spend today at Changi beach but instead, they will be visiting the Newater plant in Bedok and the air force museum in Paya Lebar.

Both are indoors and the school had changed its plans because of the haze.

Schools have said they will cancel all outdoor activities if the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) continues to stay within the unhealthy range of 101 to 200.

Several secondary schools and junior colleges are in the process of returning examination scripts, carrying out post-exam activities or having project work presentations.

Primary school pupils, meanwhile, are not in school this week because of the ongoing Primary School Leaving Examination marking exercise. They will be back to school next week.

School holidays will start next month for primary and secondary schools here.

Secondary schools such as River Valley High, Beatty and Ngee Ann said that they would either stop conducting outdoor activities or move them into indoor sports halls if the haze level shows no sign of improvement, or worsens.

Ngee Ann's principal Adrian Lim said: 'The safety of students is most important when we plan activities.

'And reading that the haze situation has become more severe, we took the decision to change our plans so students can still benefit from our post-exam programmes.'

River Valley's principal Koh Yong Chiah added that the school would make full use of all its air-conditioned classrooms to conduct lessons.

Over at the Singapore Sports School, training for outdoor sports such as sailing and swimming will cease if PSI levels remain in the unhealthy range.

The schools are following the Education Ministry's guidelines, which say that outdoor lessons and sports can continue when the PSI reading is within the moderate range of 51 to 100 and must stop once it exceeds this level.

Tampines Primary's principal Wong Bin Eng said: 'The well-being of children and staff is most important so if PSI levels remain high next week, we will move our outdoor activities into our multi-purpose hall.'

The two largest preschool operators here - PAP Community Foundation (PCF) and NTUC First Campus - will also cancel outdoor activities or move them indoors if PSI levels continue to rise.

The principal of Sparkletots PCF in Eunos, Ms Wendy New, said: 'We will also monitor children closely for difficulties in breathing and switch on more fans if the situation worsens.'

Tertiary institutions such the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) said they would monitor the haze situation closely.

A spokesman for NTU said that the university was currently in recess. 'We will also advise our student bodies not to conduct any mass outdoor activities.'

Asthma and allergy cases up as haze worsens: Docs
Those with respiratory and heart ailments should reduce exertion
Fiona Low Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

DOCTORS here are seeing more patients with haze-related health problems.

Most of them have pre-existing lung conditions such as asthma or have throat and nose conditions.

The haze, which has blown over from forest fires in Sumatra, has brought Singapore's air pollution to its highest level in four years.

Doctors are echoing the National Environment Agency's (NEA) advice, asking those with existing heart or respiratory ailments to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activity for now.

Dr Chng Eng Soon from Chng Clinic and Surgery in Toa Payoh said that he has seen about 20 per cent increase in the number of patients coming in with respiratory problems likely caused by the haze. Most are patients with asthma.

Particulate matter in the air, caused by the haze, is inhaled into airways. A high concentration of this could cause inflammation in the lungs, said Dr Hui Kok Pheng, a former president of the Asthma Association of Singapore.

The haze, which drifted into Singapore last week, worsened on Tuesday when the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) surged to 84. The PSI has now hit the unhealthy range, which falls between 101 and 200.

Doctors said that at this range, children and the elderly are most likely to be affected as their lungs tend to be weaker.

According to an NEA health advisory, sneezing and coughing can be expected among healthy people, while those with underlying conditions could see their symptoms worsen by a bit.

If PSI levels rise to between 201 and 300 - what is termed the very unhealthy range - there will be widespread symptoms of irritation among healthy people. Those with chronic and lung diseases will be moderately affected.

When the reading hits more than 300 - the hazardous range - those who are sick will be significantly affected while healthy people too will find it hard to tolerate the pollutants.

People would be advised to avoid all unnecessary outdoor activities.

Should the PSI rise above 400, the pollution could be life-threatening to the sick and old.

Specialist clinics here are also seeing patients who are coming in with haze-related health problems.

Dr Ong Kian Chung, a respiratory specialist at Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre, saw a total of five patients on Wednesday and yesterday, who said that their existing conditions have worsened. All five had either asthma or nose and sinus conditions.

Doctors said, however, that the situation now is still manageable and people should not panic.

'People should try to avoid rigorous exercise outdoors now that the PSI is above 100, but there is no need for the general public to worry too much yet,' said Dr Ong.

What the PSI means; how it's measured
Amresh Gunasingham Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

SINCE 1991, Singapore has measured air quality using the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), a standard developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Eleven monitoring stations located around the island measure five air pollutants - sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide and particulate matter called PM10.

These are dust-like particles of 10 microns, which is a unit of measurement, or smaller.

Doctors say that consuming such pollutants in excess can cause respiratory and cardiovascular ailments.

The pollutant with the highest reading of the five measured pollutants over a day is taken as the PSI reading for the day.

Often this is the PM10, said climatologist Matthias Roth from the National University of Singapore.

Malaysia uses the Air Pollutant Index (API), which measures the same five pollutants but differs from the PSI in the standards used to measure the various pollutants, namely sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone.

According to Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA), the standards used to compute for PM10 and carbon monoxide, which are the main pollutants in haze, are identical for both indexes.

Added Associate Professor Roth: 'The difference is that Malaysia reports hourly values, whereas Singapore reports only 24-hour values and since recently, three-hour values for PM10.'

The PSI is also used in places such as Hong Kong, Brunei, Indonesia, Britain, France and Belgium.

Some Singaporeans have pointed out that although PSI readings on Wednesday hovered in the moderate range for much of the early afternoon, the pollution on the ground was strong.

On the apparent disparity between PSI readings and what people are experiencing, the NEA pointed out that the three-hour PSI reading, for example, measures the air quality at any one time for the preceding three hours.

This means that the figure may not always correspond with what is observed at any moment.

NEA added that poor visibility does not necessarily mean there is more pollution in the air, as it can be explained by other factors such as the presence of mist and the sun's reflection.

Changi Airport flights unaffected by haze
Channel NewsAsia 21 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE: The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) has said flights at Changi Airport are not affected by the haze which reached unhealthy levels on Thursday.

The three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading rose to 108 at 6pm. A PSI reading between 101-200 is considered unhealthy.

Responding to media queries, CAAS pointed out that Changi Airport is equipped with facilities and procedures to allow safe landing of aircraft in low visibility conditions.

This is in accordance with international standards.

The airport is equipped with an Instrument Landing System (ILS) which provides guidance to pilots for their landing on the runway.

CAAS said the pilot's decision to land is based on the Runway Visual Range, which is the range over which the pilot can see along the runway.

This can be reduced if the haze is severe.

CAAS said that flights can still land at Changi Airport safely even when the Runway Visual Range is below 500 metres.

The visibility reading at Changi Airport on Thursday is between 1,500 and 1,800 metres.

From past experience, the visibility at Changi Airport due to haze has not gone below 550 metres.

During the prolonged haze period in 1997, the lowest visibility reading at Changi Airport was about 800 metres.

Asked about the haze situation, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "It is a matter of very serious concern as a health hazard that has not just affected Singapore but also the southern part of West Malaysia."

He said Singapore's Ambassador in Jakarta has been instructed to inform the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry that Foreign Minister George Yeo would like to speak to his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa on Friday.

Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Minister, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, has also contacted his Indonesian counterpart to register the Republic's concerns.

Separately, Channel NewsAsia has learnt that Indonesia is the only ASEAN member that has not ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

The news network also understands that the Indonesian State Minister for the Environment, Prof Dr Gusti Muhammad Hatta, did not attend the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in Brunei on October 13.

Indonesia will be assuming the ASEAN Chair next year.

- CNA/ir/al

Haze in Singapore hits unhealthy range
Channel NewsAsia 21 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE: The haze enveloping Singapore reached unhealthy levels on Thursday, with the PSI recording hitting a high of 108.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) says the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading rose to 108 at 6pm, after crossing over the 100-mark at 5pm.

The highest three-hour PSI recorded for Singapore was 226 on 18 September, 1997.

A PSI reading of 0-50 means the air quality is in the good range; 51-100 moderate range; 101-200 unhealthy range; 201-300 very unhealthy; and above 300 hazardous.

NEA says that when the air quality is in the unhealthy range, those with underlying conditions such as chronic heart or lung ailments may experience a mild aggravation of their symptoms.

Those without underlying conditions may also experience eye irritation, sneezing or coughing.

It advises those with underlying conditions to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities.

But since the haze started clouding the skies on 16 October, the number of people visiting the polyclinics for upper respiratory tract infections has not risen.

Figures provided by SingHealth showed that some 1,300 patients visited its polyclinics with such complaints on Monday, some 1,000 on Tuesday and 940 on Wednesday.

The figures were similar to last week's attendance.

NEA said on Wednesday that Singapore can expect more hazy days ahead. It also said that hot spot activities in Sumatra are expected to persist or escalate.

The NEA also said Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim had on Thursday expressed "deep concern" about the haze to his Indonesian counterpart Gusti Muhammad Hatta.

"Minister expressed his deep concern that the haze situation would further deteriorate if Indonesia does not put in place immediate and enhanced measures to curb the hotspot situation in Sumatra," it read.

"He urged Indonesia to allocate the necessary resources, and implement timely and effective measures to solve the haze situation."

Minister Yaacob also reiterated Singapore's offer of assistance to augment Indonesia's efforts to combat the haze problem, including helping to put out the fires in Sumatra.

The problem has also affected Malaysia, where schools in the coastal town of Muar have been closed since Wednesday after the air quality reached dangerous levels.

The haze came less than a week after an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting in Brunei on how to deal with the problem. Channel NewsAsia understands the Indonesian minister did not attend that meeting but was at other meetings the next day.

Meanwhile, Singapore's inter-agency Haze Task Force - comprising representatives from government agencies and chaired by NEA - has also drawn up a set of action plans to mitigate the haze impact.

The task force met on Thursday afternoon to prepare for the activation of the Haze Action Plan to deal with the deteriorating smoke haze situation. The Haze Action Plan spells out the measures that each agency would take to minimise the impact of the haze on the public at different levels of PSI.

The haze was a hot discussion topic on the Internet.

"OMG... No wonder I'm feeling so terrible today," said candycetoh in a message on the social messaging site Twitter.

Eunicekohh tweeted: "I'm already tearing and can't breathe properly."

In a Facebook post, Farin Jaffar said he was "super irritated" with the haze.

"I can feel my eyes getting watery," he wrote.

Haze caused by the fires in Indonesia builds up during the dry season when farmers clear their land by burning, affecting tourism and contributing to health problems across the region.

Indonesia's government has outlawed land-clearing by fire but weak law enforcement means the ban is largely ignored.

- CNA/AFP/ir/al

Haze hits unhealthy levels
Esther Ng Today Online 22 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE - Visibility dropped and the air quality fell further yesterday, as the haze hit unhealthy levels.

At 6pm yesterday, the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) stood at 108.

While the PSI was some way off the highest recorded in Singapore on Sept 18, 1997- that day, the PSI hit 226 - it was enough for the inter-agency Haze Task Force (HTF) to swing into action, and for two Ministers - Minister for Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim and Foreign Minister George Yeo - to register their concerns with their respective Indonesian counterparts.

The haze has forced Malaysia to shut down more than 200 schools in southern Johor, after air quality reached hazardous levels. Here, the repercussions are, for now, less severe. But the haze is already taking its toll on some Singaporeans.

A worried parent, Ms Grace Chng, 36, who has two children, told MediaCorp she will not be letting them go outdoors because of the haze. She is concerned about her one-year-old son who suffered from bronchitis last December.

"He's all right now, but I'm not going to take any risks. When the sky got hazier, I stopped my kids from playing on the balcony and closed all the windows and doors," said Ms Chng.

Businesses such as the Singapore Flyer continued operations but a patron said: "There's nothing to see in this haze."

According to figures provided by SingHealth, the number of patients visiting polyclincs for upper respiratory tract infections in recent days did not show any discernible spike, compared to last week.

Hazy conditions are expected over the next two days in the absence of heavy rains. And prevailing south-westerly to westerly winds from Sumatra will bring the smog to Singapore, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement.

Latest satellite images showed six hotspots in southern Sumatra, although there were likely to be more.

"Due to cloud cover, hotspots and smoke haze in Riau Province could not be detected by the satellite," the it said.

According to the NEA, the HTF met yesterday afternoon to prepare for the activation the Haze Action Plan, which spells out the measures that each agency would take to minimise the impact of the haze on the public at different levels of PSI.

The NEA added that Dr Yaacob has contacted Indonesia's State Minister for the Environment Gusti Muhammad Hatta to register Singapore's concerns.

It said: "(Dr Yaacob) expressed his deep concern that the haze situation would further deteriorate if Indonesia does not put in place immediate and enhanced measures to curb the hotspot situation in Sumatra."

Dr Yaacob also reiterated Singapore's offer of assistance to augment Indonesia's efforts to combat the haze problem, including helping to put out the fires in Sumatra.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) also issued a statement to express its concern.

Said an MFA spokesman: "It is a matter of very serious concern as a health hazard that has not just affected Singapore but also the southern part of West Malaysia."

The spokesman said Singapore's Ambassador in Jakarta has been instructed to inform the Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry that Mr Yeo would like to speak to his Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa today.

Indonesia is the only Asean member that has not rectified the Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

Asked about Indonesia's efforts in tackling the haze, social entrepreneur and orang utan conservationist Willie Smits, a Dutch-born Indonesian, noted the lack of enforcement.

Said Dr Smits, who was in Singapore to give a talk: "Dealing with the haze situation has actually only to do with one thing - law enforcement ... The rules and regulations are all there, we know what needs to be done.

"Once it's burning you cannot stop it, so you have to prevent it." Additional reporting by Neo Chai Chin, Wayne Chan And Satishkumar Cheney

Read more!

Haze in Malaysia and Indonesia

Muar’s air quality better
The Star 22 Oct 10;

PUTRAJAYA: Muar residents breathed easier with the drastic improvement in air quality there, but precautionary measures are still kept in place to weather any sudden change in conditions.

All 204 schools, including 170 primary schools, will re-open today following the Air Pollutant Index (API) reading falling to only 77 yesterday morning.

The reading at 11am was a huge drop from the previous day’s 432 obtained at the same time.

Natural Resources and Environ-ment Minister Datuk Seri Douglas Uggah Embas said there was concern when the API reading reached 437 on Wednesday, but the readings started to steadily reduce during the night, registering a reading of 101 at 5am yesterday and 90 at 7am.

“There has also been a drastic reduction in the number of hotspots in Indonesia,” he told reporters after launching the National Level Environment Week yesterday.

The satellite report released by the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre stated that the number of hotspots in Indonesia on Wednesday reduced to 61 from 202 the previous day, although there was still a visible movement of smoke plumes from Riau, Southern Sumatera and Jambi.

Douglas Uggah said steps to be taken if the air quality started to deteriorate again, had already been listed out to the agencies concerned and the plan for action was ready.

He said Malaysia too had taken action to overcome problems with peat fires by building check dams, tube wells and lookout towers. These had helped to control the situation especially in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Separately, Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman said the government had no intention to issue a note of protest to Indonesia over the haze.

“We hope Indonesia will take immediate action before the haze gets worse,” he said adding that Malaysia was prepared to work together with the neighbouring country to solve the issue.

In Muar, the district office distributed 10,000 face masks to schools.

District officer Mislan Karmani said bottled mineral water would also be distributed to the schools.

A 24-hour hotline 06-9521021 has been set up for those wanting the latest information on the haze situation.

Checks done by The Star at pharmacies in Johor Baru revealed that many people were buying masks for protection.

Flights in Batam not affected by haze yet
Antara 22 Oct 10;

Batam, Riau Islands Province (ANTARA News) - Airline flights at Batam`s Hang Nadim Airport have so far not been affected by haze from Sumatra forest fires, an airport official said.

"All flights are being conducted normally. They have not been affected by the haze yet," Tevi Amir, head of Hang Ngadim airport`s Air Traffic Control, said here Thursday.

The thick haze had reduced visibility for pilots but not yet to an extent that it was disturbing flights because the haze still allowed a minimum degree of visibility, he said.

Visibility on Thursday remained at five kilometers, while the minimum visibility for flights was at two kilometers, he said.

The haze had been blanketing the sky above Hang Nadim Airport since a few days ago.

The head of the information center of the Meteorology Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) of Hang Nadim airport, Agus Salim, said the haze came from burning Sumatran forests.

The Batam BMKG had detected 42 hot spots in Jambi, 36 in Riau, 13 in West Sumatra, 16 in North Sumatra, 66 in South Sumatra, two in Bangka Belitung, and two in Lampung.

The haze might have come from local land, forest and field burning in Batam, Rempang and Galang islands, in addition to Sumatran forests, he said.

"I am worried the haze will affect people`s health," a resident of Tiban village, Sumairoh, said.

Sumairoh urged the local administrations and the government to overcome the problem to prevent further loss and disadvantages especially for the health of the affected people. (*)

Read more!

Indonesia Faces Heat for Slow Action Over Haze

Nurfika Osman & Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 22 Oct 10;

Jakarta. Haze is nothing new for Indonesia. It is now an annual phenomenon after affecting the country and the region for nearly three decades. Yet Indonesian officials on Thursday said data was still being gathered to detect the sources of the smog that this week began to blanket skies in the region.

Singaporean and Malaysian authorities have in the past two days lashed at Indonesia, blaming fires burning on Sumatra island for sending a thick smoke haze over their countries.

But officials at the Environment Ministry here appeared unfazed. “We haven’t received any official complaints from neighboring countries.

They can complain that the haze is originating in Indonesia.

However, it’s still a one-sided complaint. We still haven’t determined the source of the haze yet,” Ilyas Asaad, deputy minister for environmental communication and people’s empowerment, said at a press briefing.

Singapore’s Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim has told local media that the island republic was demanding that Indonesia deal with the recurring problem of forest fires on Sumatra.

The smoke haze has blanketed the sky over Singapore and some parts of the western coast of Malaysia.

Ibrahim was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying that Singapore was ready to offer Indonesia help to handle forest and bush fires widely blamed for the haze.

But he also said that if the situation worsened, environment ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations member states would have to meet to decide on what steps to take.

Yet, Agus Salim Lacuda, who heads the meteorology office at the Hang Nadim International Airport on Batam island just south of Singapore, told Antara that visibility was still at 6,000 meters and was not hampering flights.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Kuala Lumpur was seeking “more cooperation” from Jakarta in tackling the haze problem, state news agency Bernama quoted him as saying.

“We want action before the haze spreads and becomes more detrimental to Malaysia,” he said.

The haze has prompted Malaysia to warn vessels in the Malacca Strait of poor visibility as short as 2 nautical miles and shut many schools.

Singapore, covered in thick smoke this week, saw its air pollution index hit the highest level since 2006 on Wednesday.

Ilyas said that haste in determining the source of the haze was out of the question because of the multitude of possibilities for the source of the smoke.

He said they could come from plantations’ land clearing operations, from slash and burn agriculture or even from natural causes, such as burning peat soil or underground coal seams.

The country had first come under the international glare after massive wildfires in Kalimantan and Sumatra were compounded by the El Nino weather phenomenon in 1982-83 and again in 1997-98, sending a thick choking smog that hung over the region for months, causing traffic and health hazards.

Ari, an official of the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency, or BMKG, said there were currently 83 hotspots detected in the country, 61 of them in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo island, and the remainder on Sumatra.

“Most of the hotspots are in Riau province [Sumatera] and in West Kalimantan province,” Ari said, adding that the number of fires was decreasing as on Wednesday it had been at 202, all in Kalimantan.

“The number is fluctuating and sometimes we are helped by the rain,” he said.

“The winds are blowing to the east until October 23, which means that Malaysia and Singapore will still experience haze from Indonesia,” Ari added.

Forest fire, haze links are ‘hazy’: Government
Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post 22 Oct 10;

The Indonesian government said Thursday it was unclear if the haze that has blanketed Singapore and Malaysia over the last two days originated in Indonesia — despite statements from the countries blaming the haze on fires in Riau province.

The Environment Ministry said it found no significant increase in fire hot spots in Riau or in any other Indonesian province this week.

“We have not determined if the source is from fires in Riau. We still need to check,” Environment Ministry deputy minister for environmental communication and people’s empowerment Ilyas Asaad told reporters at a press conference.

“It is still a one-sided complaint from Singapore or Malaysia,” Ilyas said, in response to statements that the haze had come from Indonesia.

Reuters reported from Kuala Lumpur that haze prompted Malaysian authorities to alert vessels in the Malacca Strait of poor visibility and to order school closures.

Singapore has been covered in thick smoke this week while its three-hour Pollutant Standards Index recorded a rise to an “unhealthy” range of 108 as of 6 p.m. (1000 GMT), much higher than 80 on Wednesday, which was the worst since 2006, as reported by Reuters.

However Singapore’s port and Singapore Changi Airport were still functioning as normal, according
to reports.

According to a ministry report on fire hot spots in Riau issued on Thursday, in the first week of October there were 97 hot spots in Riau.

The number jumped to 251 in the second week of October and declined to 219 in the third week before further declining on Oct. 17, when 65 hot spots were recorded in the Rokan Hilir regency.

Illyas added that the ministry had not received any official complaints from either the Malaysian or Singaporean governments.

The Malaysian government said it had ordered the closure of more than 200 schools in southern Malaysia on Thursday after a drop in air quality due to the haze from fires in Indonesia, the Associated Press reported.

Singapore environment and water resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim also expressed disappointment on the haze and told Jakarta to deal with the recurring fires.

The Forestry Ministry rejected claims that haze originated in Indonesia, saying fire hot spots were also detected in other countries, including in Malaysia, on Oct. 19.

Ministry spokesperson Masyhud said there were only 37 hot spots detected on Oct. 19 in Riau, and less than 10 hot spots were recorded in forests.

“We also recorded fire hot spots in other countries, namely 13 hot spots in Serawak [in Malaysia], 10 in the Philippines and 19 in Myanmar, so the haze in Singapore and Malaysia cannot not simply be blamed on Indonesia,” Masyhud said.

“The source of haze in the two countries would depend on wind patterns,” he added.

Forest and land fires have long been annual events in Indonesia during the dry season.

PSI crosses 100; Govt urges Jakarta to act
Malaysian officials also demand answers
Jeremy Au Yong Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

AS HAZE blanketed the island yesterday and air quality deteriorated sharply into the unhealthy range, the Singapore Government urged Indonesia to act.

The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI), measured in three-hourly slots, hit 108 at 6pm yesterday - breaching the unhealthy threshold of 100 for the first time since 2006.

The worsening situation prompted Environment and Water Resources Minister Yaacob Ibrahim and Foreign Minister George Yeo to register Singapore's concerns with their Indonesian counterparts.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said Dr Yaacob had contacted his Indonesian counterpart Gusti Muhammad Hatta and expressed his deep concern that the haze would deteriorate if Indonesia did not put in place 'immediate and enhanced measures' to put out the hot spots in Sumatra.

Singapore also repeated its earlier offer to assist in fire-fighting efforts.

Singapore's ambassador in Jakarta was also instructed yesterday to inform the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Mr Yeo wished to speak to his counterpart Marty Natalegawa.

Singapore was not the only one urging Indonesia to act. Malaysian officials also wrote to the Indonesians demanding answers. Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying that the haze came from Indonesia. 'We are not simply making accusations, but we want action before the haze spreads and becomes more detrimental to Malaysia,' he said.

Latest satellite images show that the haze-causing forest fires are continuing to burn. Prevailing south-westerly to westerly winds are still bringing the smoke haze to Singapore and the NEA expects this to continue today and tomorrow. It said the Inter-agency Haze Task Force comprising representatives of various government agencies met yesterday to prepare to gear up if the haze worsened.

Even as Singaporeans continued to cope with the effects of the haze, MPs and observers were more concerned about directing their concern at the source. Mr Michael Palmer, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs, said it was key now for Singapore to continue engaging its Asean partner, Indonesia. 'We just need to keep pressure on them,' he said.

Asean countries have been trying to solve the haze problem since the region was hit severely by the smoke pollution in 1997. That year, the PSI peaked at 226. In 2006, the highest reading was 150 over a three-hour period. Both years saw a total of 15 days when the haze was in the unhealthy range.

The current situation is likely to see intensified calls for Indonesia to ratify the 2002 Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. Indonesia is the only Asean country yet to do so.

It is understood State Environment Minister Gusti did not attend an Asean meeting on the haze pact in Brunei last week even though he was there for the environment ministers meeting. Indonesia assumes the chairmanship of Asean in January.

The reaction from Jakarta yesterday was muted. Officials insisted it was up to the local authorities to enforce the no-burn policy on the ground.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan told The Straits Times his ministry's officials were closely monitoring the hot spots in Riau province, but had delegated the work to the local authorities.

Much of the burning was taking place on peat land, including land marked for oil palm plantations, he said.

'The provincial and district governments are in charge of this,' he said.

Despite being banned, the practice of burning to clear land still goes on.

In comments likely to upset those affected by the haze, an Indonesian government spokesman told The Straits Times yesterday: 'There are also hot spots in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. So it is premature to say that the haze is always from Indonesia.

'It has been only a week of smoke but people are already making so much noise. What about all the oxygen that (Indonesia) supplies to them during the rest of the year?'

In Singapore, people retreated indoors as the day wore on and the PSI rose. Tourists tried to make the best of it, snapping pictures against greyed-out backdrops. The Education Ministry said all physical education lessons, sports and games are to be cancelled once the PSI reading is in the unhealthy range.

Athletes training for the upcoming Asian Games said they were prepared to cut down training or move indoors.

Two S-league soccer matches due to be played last night would also be rescheduled. Defence Ministry spokesman Desmond Tan said that once the PSI crossed 100, the SAF would reduce physical activities and outdoor training.

The NEA advised those with existing heart conditions or respiratory ailments to reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities.

Additional reporting by Amresh Gunasingham

Limit to what Jakarta can do about haze
Up to the local authorities to enforce no-burn policy, but resources lacking
Lynn Lee, Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

JAKARTA: Even as government officials here gave assurances yesterday that the fires on Sumatra island causing the haze were under control, they stressed that it was up to the local authorities to enforce the no-burn policy on the ground.

But activists said the local governments also lack resources to enforce the law. There is also still a lack of clarity about who is really responsible for clamping down on burning.

This, they said, underscores the difficulty in combating Indonesia's annual forest and land fires. With lax enforcement on the ground and a limit to what Jakarta can do, plantation owners are testing their luck and continuing to start fires to clear the land.

Yesterday, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan told The Straits Times that his ministry officials were monitoring the hot spots - the areas on fire - closely in Riau province, but had left the local authorities to extinguish the fires.

Much of the burning was taking place on peat land, including land marked for oil palm plantations, he said.

'The provincial and district government is in charge of this,' he said. 'The fire has also reached the border of land owned by the timber industry, and they are also helping to put out the burning.'

Separately, the Environment Ministry's head of land and forest fires, Mr Purwasto Saroprayogi, said he had been told by Riau provincial officials that they had sent out people to control the fires.

'They are now investigating whether the fires were caused deliberately and who is to blame,' he said.

Officials from Jakarta, he added, would visit the province to check if matters got worse.

Despite it being banned, the practice of burning to clear land still goes on, resulting in a blanket of haze that gets carried to neighbouring countries - including Singapore and Malaysia - every year.

Asked why it was still taking place, Mr Purwasto said: 'Perhaps there was a slip-up in monitoring this year, and some people took advantage of this.'

Activists suspect that plantation owners have 'commissioned' the burning, which is a cheap, quick way to clear land for cultivation.

'The plantation owners will just pay the locals to do it,' said Mr Fitrian Ardiansyah, an adviser to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Indonesia.

'For the people, there is no incentive to say no, as they can see that there is poor enforcement of the law and they are not likely to be punished.'

Former environment minister Rachmat Witoelar said the central government has consistently encouraged the local authorities to be pro-active in preventing slash-and-burn activities.

But enforcement, he added, is fraught with difficulties.

'We are talking about a large area, with so many people. The ownership of the land is also not clear,' he said.

It was not just Indonesian companies, he added, but also Singapore companies that had business interests in the area.

Other activists added that it was still unclear whether the local or central government is in charge of clamping down on the fires. If it is the sole purview of the local authorities, they said, then they need more financial and technical support.

Fires and the resulting haze have occurred in Sumatra yearly for the past decade, but Indonesia remains the only country that has yet to ratify an Asean-wide agreement on cutting out transboundary haze pollution. The law has been jammed at Parliament for the past few years.

WWF's Mr Fitrian said legislators were reluctant to pass the law because they believed Indonesia would be saddled with large obligations but gain little from it. They also think the country can fight the haze problem without a regional haze pact, he said.

Officials in Indonesia have from time to time also passed the buck to their neighbours, saying that the burning of land also takes place elsewhere.

A government spokesman told The Straits Times yesterday: 'There are also hot spots in Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. So it is premature to say that the haze is always from Indonesia.'

Echoing comments made on online news sites about the current situation, he added: 'It has only been a week of smoke but people are already making so much noise. What about all the oxygen that (Indonesia) supplies to them during the rest of the year?'

Additional reporting by Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja

KL seeks answers and action plan from Jakarta
Elizabeth Looi, Straits Times 22 Oct 10;

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia moved to seek answers from Indonesia as haze continued to shroud parts of two states along the Malacca Strait, keeping some schools closed.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Uggah Embas said that he has contacted his Indonesian counterpart to ask for action to be taken, while a Department of Environment official has also written to her counterpart.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said that Kuala Lumpur was seeking 'more cooperation' from Jakarta and was also prepared to provide help, including in the form of logistics, to tackle the problem.

'According to the reports we've received, the haze originates from there (Indonesia),' he was reported as saying by Bernama. 'We are not simply making accusations, but we want action before the haze spreads and becomes more detrimental to Malaysia.'

The pressure from the Malaysian government came as the haze shrouded parts of Johor and Malacca on Tuesday and Wednesday, forcing schools to be closed in Johor's coastal town of Muar.

The air quality in Muar reached hazardous levels on Wednesday, with the air pollutant index (API) hitting 432.

An API reading that exceeds 301 is considered hazardous. A 0-50 reading is healthy; 100-200, unhealthy; and 210-300, very unhealthy.

Yesterday, the air quality over Johor and Malacca improved, with the API dropping to moderate levels of below 100 in the two states.

The government, however, is playing it safe, and has ordered schools in Muar to remain closed until the situation is safe. It also distributed 10,000 face masks in Muar yesterday, and has alerted ships in the Malacca Strait of the poor visibility.

Other parts of Malaysia - including Kuala Lumpur - have not been affected so far.

Every year, Malaysia and Singapore are affected by the haze caused by the burning of forests in neighbouring Indonesia, especially during the dry spell, prompting them to press Jakarta for action.

Datuk Douglas noted that Indonesia had presented an action plan to counter the open burning at an Asean ministerial-level meeting on haze in Brunei last month.

Department of Environment director-general Rosnani Ibrahim also told The Straits Times that she had on Tuesday and Wednesday written to her Indonesian counterparts, both at official and ministerial levels.

Indonesian officials have yet to respond, however.

The apparent lack of action has angered Malaysians, who also blame their own government for not pushing the Indonesian authorities harder.

'We are frustrated that we have to suffer every year, but all the government and other countries do is just talk, there is no real action,' lamented a Malacca resident who wanted to be known only as Mr Foo.

Worst haze from Indonesia in 4 years hits neighbors hard
Nopporn Wong-Anan Reuters 21 Oct 10;

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Illegal forest clearing fires in Indonesia's Sumatra Island are sending haze across the Malacca Strait to neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, causing the worst air pollution since 2006, officials said on Thursday.

Despite pledge among governments to deter fires, the haze prompted Malaysia to alert vessels in the Malacca Strait of poor visibility as short as 2 nautical miles and shut many schools.

Singapore, covered in thick smoke this week, saw its air pollution index hit the highest level since 2006 on Wednesday. The port and international airport are still functioning as normal.

"The suspicion is that this is coming from forests that have been opened up for plantations. We think it may be for palm oil," Purwasto Saroprayogi, head of the land and forest fires department at Indonesia's Environment Ministry, told Reuters.

Saroprayogi said the haze was caused by fires lit to clear land illegally in Dumai and Bengkalis districts in Riau province, in the north of Sumatra island.

Indonesia has a long history of weak forestry law enforcement and illegal land clearing by palm oil developers is not uncommon.

Fires clear land quickly and reduce the acidity of peatland soil, but release vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the air.

The haze returned to the region less than a week after environment ministers in Southeast Asia met in Brunei to address land and forest fires, which drew immediate flak from neighbors.

"This is not the first time that we have informed the Indonesians that they should pay attention to hotspots in Sumatra and Borneo," Singapore's Environment Minister Yaacob Ibrahim told reporters on Wednesday.

Yaacob said if the haze worsened, "we will register our concerns again, perhaps on even stronger terms, to our Indonesian colleagues," adding Singapore may seek to reconvene another meeting to find "additional measures" to mitigate the problem.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said Kuala Lumpur was seeking "more cooperation" from Jakarta in tackling the haze problem, state news agency Bernama quoted him as saying.

"According to the reports we've received, the haze originates from there (Indonesia). We are not simply making accusation but we want action before the haze spreads and becomes more detrimental to Malaysia," he said.

Muhyiddin, also education minister, said schools in Muar town in southern Johor state had been closed and about 5,000 masks were distributed after air quality hit hazardous levels, the Star newspaper reported on Thursday.

The worst haze hit the region in 1997-98, when drought caused by El Nino led to major Indonesian fires. The smoke spread to Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and cost more than $9 billion in damage to tourism, transport and farming.

(Additional reporting by Sunanda Creagh in Jakarta and Niluksi Koswanage in Kuala Lumpur; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Haze From Indonesia Disturbs Neighbouring Countries
Bernama 21 Oct 10;

JAKARTA, Oct 21 (Bernama) -- Forest fires burning in Indonesia began to affect neighbouring countries, spreading thick clouds of smoke and haze to Malaysia and Singapore, news agencies reported Thursday.

Speaking to China's Xinhua news agency, Head of Weather Monitoring Unit of Sumatra's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency Marzuki said despite the number of hot spots has decreased after rains, the feasibility is still low in Riau province.

This is also not a favorable condition for flights and one small airport in Dumai district was closed on Wednesday due to the haze, said a weather observer at Riau province Tarman Sembiring to Xinhua on Thursday.

In MALAYSIA, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin on Wednesday advised schools in Muar to temporarily close as the haze enveloping the district has reached a hazardous level.

Indonesian news wire Antara reported that the skies over Singapore were slightly hazy on Saturday, attributing this to the smoke haze from the fires in Sumatra brought in by the prevailing southwesterly winds.

Although rains have decreased the hot spots, on Oct 20, some 61 hot spots were detected mainly in the Riau Province in Sumatra. The previous day, Riau detected 202 hot spots.

Officials said that the haze is resulted from land clearing, which is enveloped frequently in Sumatra, Borneo islands of Indonesia up to some Asean neighbouring countries, which causes billions of dollars financial loss.

-- BERNAMA

Singapore offers help to douse Sumatra forest fires
Antara 21 Oct 10;

Batam, Riau Islands (ANTARA News) - Singapore has offered to help extinguish forest and bush fires in various parts of Indonesia`s Sumatra island that had now begun to affect the city state.

The neighboring country`s offer was made by its minister for environment and water resources, Yaacob Ibrahim, according to a Channelnews Asia report on Thursday.

As a result of the ongoing hot spots in Sumatra Island, haze had blanketed the sky over Singapore over the past three days.

Ibrahim said the border crossing smoke could not be regarded as a small problem. Therefore, Singapore was ready to offer help to Indonesia to work together to handle forest and bush fires as the cause of the haze, he said.

If the situation got worse, the environment ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states need to hold a meeting for talks about necessary measures taken for resolving the problem, he said.

Ibrahim said a warning that possible forest fires could happen despite the ongoing wet weather condition this year had actually been underlined at a meeting in Brunei Darussalam recently.

On Wednesday afternoon, Singapore`s air pollution standard index was at 72 percent or lower than that of the day before.

Besides blanketing Singapore, the haze of forest and bush fires on various parts of Sumatra Island also covered the sky of Batam Island in Riau Islands Province on Wednesday.

The smoke also blanketed the sky above the areas near Batam, such as that of the islands of Rempang and Galang, a local climatologist and meteorologist said.

The haze was likely caused by the forest fires, and slash and burns on certain parts of the Sumatra Island, Agus Salim Lacuda said.

Despite the cloudy sky as a result of the haze, flights were not yet hampered due to clear enough visibility, he said.

"The pilots` visibility from Wednesday morning to mid day remains at six thousand meters. So this is still good for airplanes," said Lacuda, head of the Hang Nadim International Airport`s Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics office.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration`s (NOAA) satellite has detected 202 hot spots on Indonesia`s Sumatra Island on Tuesday.

The Pekanbaru-based Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency`s analyst, Slamet Riyadi, said that most of the hot spots were found in South Sumatra Province with 66 hot spots.

The remaining hot spots were detected in the provinces of Jambi, Riau, Bangka Belitung, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Aceh, and Lampung with 42, 36, 24, 16, 13, 3 and 2 hot spots respectively, he said.

On Monday, the imagery data released by NOAA satellite showed 358 hot spots throughout the island. But the number decreased to 202 thanks to rainfalls in some provinces, he said.

The presence of hot spots in Riau and other provinces in Sumatra Island was one of the indications of forest and bush fires.

In extinguishing the forest and bush fire, the Riau provincial government was recommended to make artificial rain to halt the spread of fire, he said.

"We are going to ask the central government (through forestry ministry) to provide us with funds for making artificial rain," he said.(*)

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Plants Clean Air Pollution Better Than Expected

Deborah Zabarenko PlanetArkPlants 22 Oct 10;

Plants, especially some trees under stress, are even better than expected at scrubbing certain chemical pollutants out of the air, researchers reported on Thursday.

"Plants clean our air to a greater extent than we had realized," Thomas Karl of the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research, a federally funded research center based in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement. "They actively consume certain types of air pollution."

Scientists have long known that plants take in carbon dioxide, a naturally occurring gas that can build up in the atmosphere and trap heat beneath it. But they did not know that some plants excel at sucking up a class of chemicals known as oxygenated volatile organic compounds, or oVOCs.

These compounds, which can have long-term health and environmental impacts, form in the atmosphere from hydrocarbons and other chemicals from natural and human-made sources, including plants, vehicles and construction materials.

Because oVOCs can combine with nitrogen oxides to form ozone, they can contribute to lung inflammation and swelling and asthma attacks, according to the American Lung Association.

Karl, lead author of the study published in the journal Science, worked with other scientists to determine that deciduous plants -- those that seasonally shed their leaves -- appear to take in these compounds as much as four times more quickly than was previously thought.

Plants are especially good at doing this in dense forests, and this process is most evident at the top of the forest canopy, where as much as 97 percent of the uptake of oVOCs was observed, the researchers said.

Looking specifically at poplar trees, the researchers found that when these trees were under stress -- due to a physical wound or exposure to an irritant like ozone pollution -- they sharply increased their uptake of oVOCs.

That appeared to show that the uptake of oVOCs is part of a larger metabolic cycle, the scientists found.

The uptake of oVOCs is the kind of service provided by nature that is being discussed this week in Nagoya, Japan, at an international meeting aimed at setting targets for 2020 to fight losses in biological diversity.

(Editing by Will Dunham)

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