World’s tropical forests declining

James Cook University Science Alert 28 Jun 13;

The world’s primary forests have declined by almost four per cent in the past ten years with the vast majority of these losses in the tropics.

However, in it’s latest interim report, the State of the Tropics grouping of 12 leading research institutions in 11 countries says the rate of loss in the tropics is slowing.

The report was released today (June 26 Costa Rica time) at the Association for Tropical and Biology and Conservation (ATBC) and the Organisation for Tropical Studies (OTS) meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, by Professor Liz Losos, President and CEO of OTS.

OTS is a non-profit consortium that has grown to include 63 universities and research institutions from the United States, Latin America and Australia, while the ATBC is the world’s largest scientific organisation promoting research, conservation and the wise use of tropical ecosystems, with more than 1200 members from more than 80 nations.

Dr Susan Laurance from James Cook University has been elected President of the ATBC for 2014 when the organisation’s annual conference will be held in Cairns. JCU Distinguished Professor William Laurance was president in 2006

The full State of the Tropics Report is expected to be published later this year and will shine a light on the critical importance of the people and issues of the tropical world, and contribute to efforts to improve the lives of the peoples of the tropics and their environment.

Professor Losos said that the latest report from the group showed that human exploitation of forests has been at the expense of biodiversity and the natural regulation of ecosystem functions.

“Our tropical forest ecosystems host at least two-thirds of the Earth’s terrestrial species and provide significant local, regional and global human benefits,” she said.

Primary forests, in particular tropical moist forests, include some of the world’s most species rich, diverse terrestrial ecosystems and around 7.8 million square kilometres (or 57%) of global primary forest is estimated to be in the tropics.

The tropics accounted for 60% of forests reserved for the conservation of biodiversity in 2010, or 2.8 million square kilometres.

Brazil accounts for 35% of primary forests globally, and 60% of primary forests in the tropics.

Professor Losos said the report revealed that the world’s area of primary forest decreased by about 420,000 square kilometres in the ten years to 2010, reducing the total area of primary forest by 3.7%.

“The vast majority of losses in this period were in the tropics, with South America accounting for almost 70% of losses in the tropics.

“But available data suggest the rate of loss of primary forests is slowing in the tropics.”

Professor Sandra Harding, the Vice Chancellor of Australia’s James Cook University which initiated the State of the Tropics project, said that over the past half-century the tropics has emerged as an increasingly critical region.

More than 40% of the world’s population now lives in the tropics and this is likely to be close to 50% by 2050. The region generates around 20% of global economic output and is home to some 80% of the world’s biodiversity.

“However, the resources to sustain larger populations and economic growth are imposing ever-increasing pressures,” she said.

Issues of concern include relatively poor health outcomes, with more than one billion people suffering from tropical diseases, unacceptable levels of infant mortality and reduced life expectancy; extreme poverty; poor educational outcomes; environmental degradation; and, in some cases, political and economic instability.

“The key objective of the State of the Tropics project is to enable a better understanding of the tropical world, the key challenges of the region as well as the opportunities it provides,” Professor Harding said.

“In Australia, we do have scientific assets, businesses, and population in the tropics that can speak to the challenges and opportunities of the tropics.

“The idea of the tropics has geopolitical, economic and strategic importance - and this importance will be plain as a result of the full State of the Tropics report. Sooner or later, we will have to take this seriously,” Professor Harding said.

It is intended that the State of the Tropics Report will be published every five years with an annual State of the Tropics paper focusing on a key issue.

The paper on Primary Forests can be found here.
http://www.stateofthetropics.org/

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World Bank Sees ‘Vulnerable’ Food System on Climate Change

Isis Almeida Jakarta Globe 28 Jun 13;

Immature corn plants are surrounded by standing water in a field outside Wyanet, Illinois, on May 28, 2013. Corn jumped to a record in August after the worst U.S. drought since the 1930s left limited supplies. (Bloomberg Photo/Daniel Acker)

Immature corn plants are surrounded by standing water in a field outside Wyanet, Illinois, on May 28, 2013. Corn jumped to a record in August after the worst U.S. drought since the 1930s left limited supplies. (Bloomberg Photo/Daniel Acker)

The global food system will remain “vulnerable” in the years to come as a growing population boosts demand for crops and climate change makes weather disruption more frequent, according to the World Bank.

The world will need to produce 70 percent more food by 2050 to feed a global population expected to grow to more than 9 billion from 7 billion now, the United Nations’ Rome-based Food & Agriculture Organization estimates. The three biggest annual gains in food prices in the past 20 years occurred since 2007, with the FAO’s food prices index of 55 items climbing to a record in February 2011.

“Although we are having some good crops, we continue to expand our consumption, so our ability to replenish stocks is challenged,” Marc Sadler, practice leader at the agriculture and environmental services unit of the World Bank, said in an interview in London today. “Demand continues to grow and a lot of that has been driven by emerging, new middle-income consumers who change their dietary patterns.”

Global demand will continue growing as increasingly wealthy consumers in developing economies eat more meat. The world’s food-import bill is expected to remain stable this year as cheaper sugar and cooking oils compensate for higher dairy, fish and meat costs, according to the FAO. Countries will spend $1.094 trillion buying food this year from $1.092 trillion in 2012. Food-import costs rose to a record $1.26 trillion in 2011.

Corn record

Wheat and soybeans led commodities gains last year and corn jumped to a record in August after the worst US drought since the 1930s left limited supplies. Frosts in Brazil helped cut the sugar cane crop in the country’s main producing region for the first time in a decade in the 2011-12 season, data from industry group Unica showed. Disruptive weather events are increasing in frequency and amplitude, Sadler said.

“The real challenge for agriculture is that the environment, the production system, the variables that surround us, are increasingly volatile,” he said. “It will continue to be a challenge to raise agricultural productivity in a resilient way in the face of climate change and this is the reality we face.”

While food production is increasing, a large proportion of stockpiles are in countries that won’t export them, Sadler said. About 50 percent of global grain supplies are in India and China, he told the Agriculture Investment Summit in London. Global cereals production will be a record 2.46 billion metric tons this year, the FAO estimates.

Better crops

“The reality is we have better crops, but when we look at available liquid stocks for the global export market as a percentage of stocks to disappearance, it’s pretty low,” Sadler said. “The good news is, food continues to move around the planet, that trade continues to be relatively free. Last year we had two big problems in the US and in Russia and yet we saw very little in the markets in terms of barriers to trade, so a huge improvement, an important improvement and a difference from what happened in 2008 and 2010.”

Countries from India and Egypt to Vietnam and Indonesia banned exports of rice, a staple for half the world, during the 2008 food crisis. Russia in 2010 banned cereal exports after the country’s worst drought in at least half a century destroyed crops and cut production.

“Sudden changes to trade policy certainly in many previous circumstances have had a negative impact on price, by that I mean pushing prices up,” Sadler said. “That has had an impact not only in consumers in middle-income countries but it’s had a severe impact on the highly vulnerable and the poor and developing countries.”

In a separate report, the US Department of Agriculture said today the number of people experiencing food insecurity, defined as consuming less than 2,100 calories per person per day, in 76 low- and middle-income countries will rise 23 percent to 868 million by 2023. In 26 of the nations studied, more than 40 percent of the population faces hunger, with the biggest concentration in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Bloomberg

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Malaysia: Water crisis imminent in Klang Valley

Sukhbir Cheema New Straits Times 28 Jun 13;

SHORTAGE: Six million to face problem

KUALA LUMPUR: WITH water reserves at an all-time low, water disruption is imminent for nearly six million consumers in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) yesterday warned that with low water reserves in almost all of its 34 treatment plants -- they stand at less than one per cent rather than the required 10 per cent -- consumers from Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Gombak and Hulu Langat can experience water shortage at any moment.

"The current water reserves in the treatment plants are at their all-time low, leading to the possibility of huge-scale water disruptions.

"If water disruptions take place, Syabas will only have enough water reserves to cater to 40,000 households," Syabas Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department assistant general manager Priscillia Alfred revealed to the New Straits Times yesterday.

Priscillia cited the high rate loss of non-revenue water (NRW) and a 3.5 per cent increase in demand annually as chief reasons for a potential water crisis on an unprecedented scale.

"As at June 20, the average demand for water had increased to 4,689 million litres per day (MLD) compared with water treatment plants' supply capacity of 4,661 MLD.

"We need at least 10 per cent of water reserves as a guarantee that there will not be any water disruption."

Priscillia said there were frequent breakdowns at almost all the water concessionaire's water treatment plants which had been operating at their maximum capacities of 180MLD.

"Each treatment plant has about four to five pumps."



"However, due to the high rate loss of NRW, many pumps have been clocking more than 220MLD. This is absolutely worrying."

Despite Syabas having implemented mitigation works that include upgrading water treatment plants, these had not alleviated the problem as obvious from the spate of water disruptions in the Klang Valley recently.

"With the rise in demand and population in Selangor, we can't even possibly meet the target of having 10 per cent water reserve," she said, adding that the short-term mitigation projects would take place until 2016.

The Statistics Department of Malaysia's decennial Population and Housing Census of Malaysia (Census 2010) showed that Selangor was the most populous state in the country with about 5.46 million people while Kuala Lumpur was seventh at 1.67 million.

With an annual two per cent growth rate along with rapid development, Priscillia described the situation as "alarming" despite Syabas having emergency contingency plans.

"We've spent RM10 million this year alone to upgrade 66 tankers, 750 static tanks and pump houses, but all these will not solve the problem in the long run."

The lack of treated water supply had forced Syabas to put on hold several approvals for new housing development in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya, a move supported by the National Water Services Commission (SPAN).

"As of Dec 31, last year, about 450 projects which collectively needed 304.72MLD had been put on hold. We have had to also put on hold 656 approvals for requests to supply 526.11MLD as of June this year."

Priscillia urged householders to use water wisely and suggested rain water harvesting for daily household use.

She also encouraged consumers to report burst pipes and leakages.

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India floods: a man-made disaster

When the rains came in Uttarakhand, it was runaway building projects, dams and official failures that made them catastrophic
Praful Bidwai guardian.co.uk 28 Jun 13;

The terrible floods in India's tiny north Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, which killed more than 1,000 people, left 70,000 stranded for days and destroyed livelihoods, have been officially termed a natural calamity caused by cloudbursts and unprecedented heavy monsoon rainfall.

However, the true causes of the epic tragedy lie in the grievous damage recently wrought on the region's ecology by the runaway growth of tourism, unchecked proliferation of roads, hotels, shops and multistory housing in ecologically fragile areas, and above all mushrooming hydroelectricity dams that disrupt water balances. Underlying the disaster are multiple governance failures, too.

These man-made factors turned an extreme weather event into a social catastrophe. True, the region experienced heavy rainfall of 340-370mm within 24 hours on June 16-17, leading to flash floods. But such precipitation isn't unprecedented. Uttarakhand has recorded single-day rainfall in excess of 400mm several times, including 450mm in 1995 and 900mm in 1965. Cloudbursts, floods and rapid swelling of fast-flowing rivers aren't uncommon.

But this time the floodwaters, laden with tens of thousands of tonnes of silt, boulders and debris from dam construction, found no outlet. The routes they took in the past, including ravines and streams, were blocked with sand and rocks. The waters inundated scores of towns and villages, submerging some buildings under several feet of mud, smothering life.

Aggravating the devastation were two downpours of water and rocks from the higher mountain ranges, in all probability caused by glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs), which deluged the Kedarnath temple, a major Hindu pilgrimage centre. GLOFs, or the explosive bursting of glacier lakes, are thought to be a consequence of human-induced climate change, which is causing rapid melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, themselves warming at twice the global rate.

Such a massive loss of life could have been greatly reduced if an early warning system, effective evacuation plans and a responsive disaster management system were in place. They weren't. In fact, as the comptroller and auditor general pointed out in April, the Uttarakhand Disaster Management Authority, formed in October 2007, has never met or formulated "rules, regulations, polices or guidelines". Modestly priced radar-based technology to forecast cloudbursts would have saved lives. But it wasn't installed. Nor were emergency evacuation plans drawn up.

There was local-level governance failure, too. Haphazard, unregulated construction of roads and bridges was allowed on crumbling, landslide-prone ridges and steep slopes, ignoring the region's fragile geology and high earthquake vulnerability. Forests were destroyed on a large scale. Hundreds of buildings were constructed in the flood plains of rivers, their "natural" terrain, which should be no-go areas. Riverbeds were recklessly mined for sand. As construction debris accumulated, land contours and flows of streams and rivers changed.

Indiscriminate building of hydroelectric dams was the worst culprit. These involve drilling huge tunnels in the hills by blasting rocks, placing enormous turbines in the tunnels, destroying soil-binding vegetation to build water channels and other infrastructure, laying transmission lines and carelessly dumping excavated muck. Many dams have been built on the same river so close to one another that they leave no scope for its regeneration.

Dams steal water from local people. They alter the hydrological cycle and natural course of rivers. Uttarakhand's 70 completed large dams have diverted more than 640km, equivalent to half the length of its major rivers. They have profoundly destabilised its ecology. Yet another 680 dams are reportedly in various stages of commissioning, construction or planning, mainly by private companies, which would be largely unaccountable.

A 2009 CAG report complained that the government was "pursuing hydro-power projects indiscriminately", ignoring the damaging "cumulative effect" of multiple run-of-the river dams. Technically, India's environment ministry follows an environmental impact assessment process, but that's badly compromised by the Indian elite's insatiable appetite for electricity and promoters' pressure.

When I was on the expert appraisal committee (EAC) on river valley projects in the 1990s, none of the dozens of projects we examined had adequate documentation on the impact on forests, wildlife, hydrology or rehabilitation. All were rejected. The present EAC has approved all 262 projects placed before it over six years, without seriously evaluating their impact or the rivers' carrying capacity. This is a recipe for yet more Uttarakhands.

Indians question how far flash-flooding disaster was manmade
Boom in religious tourism and hydroelectric projects may have contributed to disaster in Uttarakhand
Maseeh Rahman in Delhi guardian.co.uk 28 Jun 13;

As India picks up the pieces from the worst-ever flash floods in the Himalayas, the nation is beginning to wonder how far manmade causes – specifically religious tourism and hydroelectric projects – contributed to the disaster.

So far about 1,000 people have been confirmed dead in Uttarakhand state from last week's flooding, though with an unknown number still missing state authorities have speculated that the actual death toll could be three to five times higher.

The Himalayas are a young mountain range with a fragile geology prone to landslides. After the 17 June deluge destroyed towns, villages, roads and bridges for more than 60 miles (100km) along the banks of the Mandakini and the Alaknanda, two important tributaries of the Ganges river, Indians are asking whether the disaster was inevitable, or whether human intervention made things much worse.

The origin of the disaster is beyond dispute. A glacier ruptured under the pressure of water from a severe cloudburst, raining tonnes of ice, water and rock on the Hindu pilgrimage town of Kedarnath, on the left bank of the Mandakini.

Uttarakhand has experienced flash floods in the past. The latest calamity though occurred at the peak of the pilgrim season, dramatically increasing the number of casualties.

But it is the boom in religious tourism that has put a severe strain on the state's shaky infrastructure. The region is blessed with some of Hinduism's most sacred pilgrim destinations. Domestic tourist traffic has shot up by 300% in just a decade to more than 30 million a year. This number is expected to double by 2017.

"There's a spurt in religiosity across India," said the sociologist Arshad Alam. "After two decades of rapid economic growth, the middle class has expanded, and has more money to spend. So pilgrimages have become very popular."

As a result, hundreds of new, multistorey hotels, apartment blocks and religious centres have sprung up in Uttarakhand, often on the flood plains of the capricious Mandakini and Alakananda rivers, in total defiance of building regulations. Several were washed away last week.

"There has to be a check on the mindless, uncontrolled religious tourism in the Himalaya," said Maharaj K Pandit, director of Delhi University's centre for interdisciplinary studies of mountain and hill environment.

But most analysts believe restricting the number of pilgrims would be political suicide. "The desire to worship at Kedarnath is almost like an irresistible force," said Pavan Srinath of the Chennai-based thinktank Takshashila Foundation. "Despite the tragedy, people are already talking about when they will undertake the sacred journey. No government can bar the devout from the Himalayas."

Pandit acknowledges it's a "ticklish issue", but points out that the tourist boom is putting unbearable strain on the Himalayan ecosystem. During the season, for instance, there is bumper-to-bumper traffic spewing diesel smoke on badly constructed mountain roads. "I once counted 117 buses go over a bridge in eight minutes," he said.

In recent years Uttarakhand has also seen a boom in hydroelectric projects. Seventy projects are up or under way in the mountain state, some of nearly 300 planned by Delhi for the entire Himalayas. A few come with dams, but a majority are run-of-the-river projects requiring tunnelling through the mountainside. A recent official audit revealed that in some parts of the upper Ganges basin, there is a hydroelectric project planned for every three to four miles (5-7km) of river.

There are reports of serious damage to some of these projects in last week's deluge, with the debris causing havoc to the neighbouring environment, both natural and manmade. One of the worst-hit was Shrinagar town, located downstream from a newly constructed dam on the banks of the Alaknanda tributary. Much of the low-lying town was buried under thick sludge three metres (10ft) high, destroying even large government buildings and warehouses.

A recent article in Science magazine – "Threats from India's Himalaya dams" – warned against damage to the ecosystem from badly planned, poorly monitored projects. The region is known for its biodiversity, and is famous for its flowers, its butterflies and its Mahseer fish. Science estimated that "habitat degradation from dam building" in the Himalayas could lead to the disappearance of 29 species of flowering plants, and terrestrial and aquatic life.

"Nobody is saying there should be no dams," said Pandit, the article's co-author. "But the emphasis should be on securing the Himalayan landscape after understanding its fragility, not on uncontrolled development."

Not all experts are in agreement. Srinath maintains that the devastation would have been even more widespread if the reservoir of the region's biggest dam at Tehri had not contained a significant volume of the deluge. "Dams can also prevent disasters," he said. "The critical issue is not dams, but proper dam management. In India, we just don't have a culture of public safety."

Pandit is not convinced. "Dams do hold water, but once they reach their maximum capacity they become ticking bombs," he said. Tehri Dam is dangerously full, even though the monsoon has just begun. Next month a million pilgrims are expected in Uttarakhand for the annual "Kanwar Yatra" at Haridwar, downstream from Tehri.

"The Himalaya is an earthquake-prone zone, so God forbid, if a major dam ever bursts the destruction it will cause will be unimaginable," said Pandit.

Hindu revenge?

For the devotees of Dhari Devi, a local avatar of the fierce Hindu goddess Kali, the flash flooding might seem preordained.

Dhari Devi's tiny shrine in Shrinagar was to be submerged by the water systems of a local reservoir the Shrinagar dam's reservoir, and national Hindu leaders had appealed to the prime minister against its relocation. According to local lore, the goddess protected Uttarakhand from calamities, so her shrine could not be touched. But the power company moved the black stone idol on the night of 16 June to save it from the swollen dam reservoir. Within hours, disaster struck.

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Global Warming Worsened Australia's Record Hot Summer

Megan Gannon LiveScience.com Yahoo News 26 Jun 13;

Human-caused global warming played a role in making this past summer Australia's hottest on record, a new study suggests.

The summer of 2012-2013 probably won't retain its title for long; researchers say record-breaking scorching summers are five times more likely to occur now in Australia due to climate change.

"Our research has shown that, due to greenhouse gas emissions, these types of extreme summers will become even more frequent and more severe in the future," study author Sophie Lewis of the University of Melbourne said in a statement.

Australia's summer occurs from December to February, during the Northern Hemisphere's winter. In those three months between 2012 and 2013, the country's average temperature was 83.5 degrees Fahrenheit (28.6 degrees Celsius), 2 degrees F (1 degree C) above normal, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology. It broke the previous summer temperature record, set in the 1997-1998 season, by 0.18 degree F (0.1 degree C).

Unusually high temperatures gripped nearly the entire country, with just three percent of Australia experiencing below-normal temperatures. Bush fires and flooding, combined with the extreme heat, prompted Australians to call it the "angry summer."

Lewis and colleagues looked at climate observations and more than 90 climate model simulations of summer temperatures in Australia over the past 100 years. They found that human influences likely stoked the record heat during a summer when Australians may have otherwise expected cooler temperatures.

"This extreme summer is not only remarkable for its record-breaking nature but also because it occurred at a time of weak La Niña to neutral conditions, which generally produce cooler summers," Karoly said. "Importantly, our research shows the natural variability of El Niño Southern Oscillation is unlikely to explain the recent record temperatures." The El Niño Southern Oscillation is a climate cycle that can impact weather and cliamte systems around the globe; it's El Niño phases features warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, while the La Niña phase features cooler-than-normal temperatures.

Climate describes weather that occurs over long periods, such as decades, centuries or millennia, and scientists are typically quick to point out that no individual storm, heat wave or unusual season can be directly blamed on climate change. But researchers have said that global warming can make some events, on average, more severe and more frequent than they would have been in the past.

The research has been accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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Best of our wild blogs: 27 Jun 13

Back at colourful shores of East Coast
from wonderful creation

Special shrimp and parchment worm at Changi
from Peiyan.Photography and wild shores of singapore

Urban Wild Red junglefowls in Singapore
from Everyday Nature

Bukit Brown, Our roots, Our future (An exhibition)
from Rojak Librarian

Lorong Halus Wetland Reserve
from Nikita Hengbok

Indonesian NGOs demand inquiry into natural resource graft
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

Smoke over Sumatra: Why Indonesia's fires are a global concern
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

Wind, not big increase in forest fires, driving haze in Singapore
from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

Cause of haze? Up to 87% of recent deforestation in fire zone due to palm oil, timber from Mongabay.com news by Rhett Butler

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Air quality not so good even without haze?

Straits Times Forum 27 Jun 13;

THE haze problem has drawn attention to the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings released by the National Environment Agency.

Previously, only PM10 readings were released (as part of the PSI), but people have become increasingly aware of PM2.5's impact on health as these smaller particles are more toxic.

The World Health Organisation sets down guidelines of a maximum PM2.5 level of 25 micrograms per cubic m over a 24-hour period, and 10 micrograms per cubic m averaged over a year.

Looking at the historical data starting from 2009, Singapore's average PM2.5 levels have been consistently above these levels, even without the haze.

Is the air quality in Singapore not as good as what we have believed it to be?

Has our growing population, with the resulting increase in vehicle numbers and reduced green spaces, been a factor? Perhaps we should look at the impact a growing population has on air quality.

Yeo Chee Kean

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Singapore prepares for more hazy days

Govt, businesses looking ahead even as air quality is good for now
Feng Zengkun Environment Correspondent & Amelia Teng
Straits Times 27 Jun 13;

FOR a brief spell yesterday, Singapore's skies were the cleanest they have been in two weeks.

Between 3pm and 6pm, Singaporeans breathed "good" air as the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) dipped below 51. It hit a low of 38 at 4pm, before climbing again.

Even so, despite the better quality air and the reprieve from the haze the past five days, the Government yesterday continued to roll out preparation plans as it cautioned that the respite could be short-lived.

"Our latest meteorological assessment is that the haze in this region is likely to persist for quite some time more, and Singapore remains at risk," Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday.

Visiting cleaners and a water treatment plant, he outlined how cleaning and waste collection services could be slowed if the haze returned with a vengeance, and urged Singaporeans not to let their guard down.

However, he also gave the assurance that the country's clean water supply was not in danger, as its treatment and distribution process is largely automated.

"Whatever happens, your water is going to continue to flow from your taps, and your water is going to be good and safe to drink," he said.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said in a statement yesterday that it is working with manufacturers and suppliers to replenish its stocks and to ensure there are enough masks here.

To date, it has released a total of 4.15 million N95 masks from its stockpile. This includes one million masks which have gone to the People's Association for distribution to low-income families, and the balance to retailers.

"The cost of the masks, including transport and storage, is recovered from the retailers," the ministry said in a reply to queries from The Straits Times.

It warned the public against counterfeit masks, and advised consumers to buy masks from major supermarkets and pharmacies.

People are also advised to approach the manufacturers or distributors if they doubt the authenticity of the masks.

Yesterday, the Education Ministry said it is also monitoring the haze situation closely, ahead of the start of the school term next week.

It will refer to the authorities' health advisories and will work with schools to "put in place appropriate measures to ensure the well-being of our students and staff", said a spokesman.

Those expecting the spell of better quality air to last may be disappointed: The National Environment Agency (NEA) predicts a slight haze today and tomorrow, though thundery showers are forecast over the two days.

This is because low-level winds blowing from the south or south-west may bring the pollution from raging fires in Indonesia back here.

NEA added that the 24-hour levels of smaller, toxic particles called PM2.5 are also expected to remain slightly higher than usual today.

It said that for this reason, pregnant women, the elderly and children should continue to minimise prolonged outdoor activity, while those with chronic lung and heart diseases should stay indoors if possible.

MOH reveals contingency plans for haze
Olivia Siong Channel NewsAsia 27 Jun 13;

SINGAPORE: Health Minister Gan Kim Yong on Thursday announced his ministry's contingency plans if the haze gets worse.

The contingency plans will focus on three areas. They are how to ensure patient safety, how to meet demand if there is a surge in the number of patients seeking help, and how to minimise disruption to services should haze conditions worsen.

In terms of ensuring patient safety, Mr Gan, who was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a visit to the Toa Payoh Polyclinic on Thursday morning, said polyclinics have implemented a triage system to identify those more vulnerable, like those with respiratory problems.

To meet a possible surge in demand, Mr Gan said besides the government subsidy scheme for vulnerable groups seeking medical attention for haze related ailments, which would help divert some patients from polyclinics to GPs, manpower will also be redeployed.

In the hospital setting, Mr Gan said plans to convert spaces to accommodate more beds have already started.

However, Mr Gan added that for now, the demand at the hospital end is still manageable as most patients still visit polyclinics first.

Mr Gan also said that some 2,000 polyclinic patients have tapped into the government subsidy scheme for vulnerable groups seeking medical attention for haze related ailments.

Those in the vulnerable groups, which include the elderly and children, will only need to pay S$10 under the scheme if they visit the polyclinic.

Mr Gan said more than 550 general practitioner (GP) clinics have also signed up under the scheme, and he hopes more will come on board.

Those who visit a GP will receive a S$30 subsidy for their bill from the Health Ministry.

The number of those who have tapped into the scheme for visits to GPs is not available yet.

- CNA/fa

Quality of drinking water unaffected by haze: Vivian
Grace Chua And Feng Zengkun Environmental Correspondents
Straits Times 27 Jun 13;

DESPITE the particles swirling in the haze, the quality of Singapore's drinking water remains intact, unaffected by the rain of the past two days, Environment and Water Resources Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said yesterday.

The reason: The particles would have been filtered out when the water is being treated at the reservoir, he said.

The assurance was given by Dr Balakrishnan during his visit to a water treatment plant, when he also stressed that whatever happens, water will continue to flow from the taps, and it will "be good and safe to drink".

He said: "PUB has been monitoring water quality quite obsessively over the past couple of weeks and... there has been absolutely no impact on the quality of our water both in terms of raw water and treated water which we are putting out to the public."

Agreeing, Mr Chong Kee Sen, vice-president of the Institution of Engineers Singapore, reiterated that local tap water is safe to drink.

"In the treatment of water, particulates that are smaller than 2.5 microns are filtered out," he said.

Yesterday, the National Environment Agency (NEA) also said the rain that fell in the past two days was not toxic.

Neither was Tuesday's rainfall acid rain, it added.

Acid rain, said NEA deputy chief executive officer Joseph Hui in response to queries on Tuesday, results from sulphur dioxide that reacts with water to form sulphuric acid. Haze particles do not produce such a reaction.

But studies have shown that rain does not fully wash the microscopic PM2.5 particles from the air, unlike PM10 particles.

Smaller, lighter particles linger in the air and take longer to be removed, the NEA said. What is more, new pollution could arise as burning in Indonesia continues.

Beyond putting to rest people's fears, the NEA also announced measures it will take should the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index reading cross 300, which indicates hazardous air.

The cleaning of public areas, rubbish collection and recycling services may have to be scaled back to protect workers, it said.

Outdoor dengue inspections may also have to be reduced, but there will be no let-up on checks on homes because the epidemic shows no sign of slowing.

As for school attendance, Dr Balakrishnan said it was too early to tell if schools should reopen as scheduled on Monday.

His ministry is monitoring the situation and would work with the Education Ministry, he said.

Water quality won’t be affected by haze: Balakrishnan
Woo Sian Boon Today Online 27 Jun 13;

SINGAPORE — If the haze reaches hazardous levels, some of the National Environment Agency (NEA)’s services, such as waste collection, public cleaning and even dengue inspections, may be affected by manpower shortfalls.

Nevertheless, the country’s water supply and the quality of drinking water will not be affected, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan yesterday assured as he laid out his ministry’s haze contingency plans.

He said: “As far as PUB is concerned, there’s no such thing as a stop-work order. Whatever happens, your water is going to continue to flow from your tap … (and) is going to continue to be good, safe to drink.”

Speaking to reporters after a visit to PUB’s Chestnut Avenue Waterworks, Dr Balakrishnan explained that the water agency’s seven water treatment plants are “highly automated” and have stockpiles of fuel and chemicals to produce drinking water.

PUB Deputy Director of Water Supply Plants Ooi Keat Guan said the agency has been monitoring water quality over the past couple of weeks and quality standards are “normal”, as per before the haze crisis.

Allaying fears that micron-sized particles that are present in the haze might be found in drinking water, Mr Ooi explained that PUB uses a multi-barrier treatment process in its waterworks that is able to remove these particles.

First, coagulants are added to “lump” particles together in raw water. These larger and heavier particles are removed in a sedimentation tank.

Next, the water is passed through membranes that can filter particles of up to 0.02 microns in size.

Lastly, the filtered water is disinfected with chlorine to remove bacteria and viruses before being pumped into the distribution system.

As for dengue inspections, Dr Balakrishnan said there was no let-up in the operations of the NEA’s vector-control team despite the hazy conditions last week as Singapore “is still in the danger period” for dengue.

Sending his condolences to the family of the 86-year-old man who died from dengue on Monday, he said the situation “illustrates that we are having to deal with two crises simultaneously”.

Yesterday, the authorities reported a fourth dengue death in five weeks— that of a 68-year-old Indonesian man who was being treated for dengue here.

Separately, NEA Chief Executive Andrew Tan said plans remain underway for Mr Ronnie Tay, 49, to take over the agency on July 1.

He added that Mr Tay — who was previously Chief Executive of the Infocomm Development Agency — had been understudying him for the past two weeks.

Mr Tan, 46, who has headed the NEA since 2009, will be attending an Advanced Management Programme overseas prior to his next posting.

A clear gaze at haze through the years
Bruce Gale Straits Times 27 Jun 13;

IT ALL began on the evening of Oct 13, 1972. "Everything was perfect here until about 7pm. Then, suddenly, large clouds of white smoke formed all over our housing estate."

The caller to The Straits Times newsroom in Kim Seng Road was from Toa Payoh, but it soon became clear that the problem was island-wide. "Can you please tell us what is going on?"

Some callers complained of being "suffocated" in their flats. Others said the "fog" was affecting their eyes. The haze had appeared in earlier weeks, but it was not nearly as bad.

With no regularly updated air pollution measure in place then, it is impossible now to assess how serious the situation was. But with callers complaining that they could barely see adjacent blocks of flats, the haze was almost certainly very thick.

Singapore is fortunate in that it does not experience the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and destructive typhoons that periodically strike other parts of the region.

But for the past four decades, it has had to contend with increasingly serious bouts of air pollution caused by forest fires in Indonesia's Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Back in 1972, Singapore already had laws to control air pollution from vehicles and factories. The establishment of the Environment Ministry in 1970 also meant that there were officials specifically charged with enforcing them.

Official measurements of air quality samples of industrial smoke from local factories quickly determined that the source of the problem was external.

This led Singapore's Meteorological Service to assess the haze over the island as coming from fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra. Confirmation came later from satellite images and Singaporean air crews flying over the region.

The problem recurred intermittently throughout the 1970s. One report in May 1979 quoted Bedok residents as complaining that they could not even see neighbouring blocks of flats 400 metres away.

With no widely-agreed term used to describe the phenomenon, words like "fog", "smoke" and even "mist" were far more likely to be used to describe the haze than they are today.

But memories also appear to have been short, perhaps because the problem was not as deeply engraved on the national consciousness as now. In April 1983, in response to yet another haze-filled month, the Meteorological Service said the previous four weeks had been the haziest in Singapore for 30 years. It said that visibility had never before dropped below five km except when it rained.

The potentially negative effects on public health were also less widely recognised. In 1983, when local media reported cases of eye irritation and respiratory problems, government spokesmen responded that the air pollutant levels were within World Health Organisation standards.

But by October 1991, when the haze got so bad that the 73-storey then Westin Stamford Hotel was barely visible from the Fort Road flyover of the East Coast Parkway, Singaporeans had an objective measurement to refer to.

The newly introduced Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) peaked that year at 97.

Thinking ahead, the government announced in 1993 that Singapore's semi-automatic air quality monitoring network would be replaced by a computerised telemetric system. The system eventually made possible the regular air quality updates we receive today.

But while many regard 1997 as the year the haze really entered the national consciousness, the turning point for officialdom was probably September 1994, when the PSI hit 142. It prompted the government to acknowledge for the first time that air pollution levels were a threat to public health.

This was also the year an inter- ministerial task force was set up to examine what could be done if pollution levels rose further. Responding to requests from the public, the Environment Ministry also began releasing additional air pollution updates, at 9pm and 7am, in addition to its 4pm reading.

In 1995, Asean environment ministers met in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the haze. It was to be the first of many such regional meetings designed to tackle a problem that just would not go away.

In September 1997, thick smog caused by forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan blanketed the entire region. There were flight delays and cancellations at Changi Airport. The PSI hit a record 226 - in the "very unhealthy" range.

The government responded by providing three-hourly PSI updates on TV and radio. Emergency medical centres were set up in housing estates. Other air pollution sources were closely controlled, with penalties on smoky vehicles raised considerably.

After much discussion, in September 1998, Asean adopted a plan to deal with the annual forest fires causing the problem. Malaysia was to oversee preventive measures; Indonesia was given responsibility for fire-fighting resources and deployment; and Singapore had a regional monitoring role.

Back home, the government was continuously refining its approach. In 2002, the National Environment Agency was set up as a statutory board under the Ministry of Environment (now Ministry of Environment and Water Resources). In October of that year, with the PSI going no higher than 79, it almost appeared as if the problem might soon be resolved.

This seemed confirmed in 2003, when Asean members agreed to sign an environmental treaty in a bid to control the recurring haze issue. Sadly, however, Indonesia has not ratified it.

In subsequent years, observers began to learn just how intractable the problem was. In 2005, when fires in Indonesia again spread the haze throughout the region, Singapore was lucky. Favourable winds kept the worst of it away. The PSI stayed below 95.

In October 2006, the PSI reached 150, its highest in the new millennium. In a letter to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, (later released to the press), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed his disappointment that the problem had not been resolved.

Increasingly, the government was concerned about the economic cost and public health implications. In June 2009, Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim expressed concern that hazy conditions could affect the Formula 1 race.

This year, the haze has returned with a vengeance. At noon on June 21, the three-hour PSI surged to a new high of 401, surpassing the previous record of 371 at 1pm the day before. Both readings were well within the hazardous range.

Air purifiers are sold out in local stores, and the government has begun distributing N95 masks to vulnerable and needy groups.

Diplomatic talks on the haze are again in motion. The Indonesians have identified companies responsible. Singaporeans hope that this time, the talks will translate into action to alleviate the haze for the rest of this year - and prevent it in future.

Read more!

Don't expect problem to go away in next few months: Experts

Feng Zengkun Environment Correspondent
Straits Times 27 Jun 13;

THE regional outcry over the haze may make companies in Indonesia wary of starting more fires, but Singaporeans cannot expect the problem to go away in the next few months, say experts.

The reason is twofold: The dry season there is expected to last until September, and the raging fires so far have been on peatland which can defy firefighting efforts.

"During the dry season, even a cigarette can start a fire on peatland," said Mr Bustar Maitar, head of environmental group Greenpeace's forest campaign in Indonesia.

"Peatland is organic material that is supposed to be always wet. To develop their plantations, companies have been draining the land to bring the water level down."

Peatland fires also tend to smoulder underground even after they have been put out, and can start burning again.

"Every time we think that we have put out the fire, it resurfaces," said Mr Jaafar Arit, head of a disaster management agency in Riau, which is ground zero for the fires causing the haze.

Firefighters had extinguished several fires there five times, only to see them rise from the ground again, he said.

Even Indonesia's attempts to artificially create rain and douse the fires depend on favourable weather, said Dr Benjamin Grandey of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology.

"Any attempt at cloud-seeding requires the presence of a cloud," he said.

He added that the science behind cloud-seeding to create rain is inconclusive.

"I am sceptical that anyone can really say how exactly cloud-seeding will impact any given cloud's development," said Dr Grandey.

Still, the historically bad haze this year, which saw the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index hit a record level of 401 at noon last Friday, could lead to change in the long run, said academics.

Said Ms Khor Yu Leng, a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas) who does research on palm oil agri-business: "The mood seems different nowadays. Plantations have quickly reiterated zero-burn policies and corporate owners started to be named within two days of the record (PSI) readings.

"The word 'negligence' has been mentioned by Mr Hadi Daryanto, general secretary of Indonesia's Forestry Ministry.

"This should scare the corporate sector."

She also said more advanced technology can now finger errant companies quickly.

"Technology such as satellite imagery has matured and its usage expanded," she said.

"Proof can be a lot more easily established as satellite images of fires can be overlaid on concession maps."

Daily or more frequent images can even show where fires start and how they spread.

"Bad news can no longer be so easily contained and inconvenient truths obscured," she said.

Iseas senior fellow Lee Poh Onn, who specialises in environmental management issues, believes that the record pollution may exert pressure on Indonesia to ratify the Asean agreement on transboundary haze pollution.

"Indonesia will also need to restructure its current forest management practices so that there will be a centralised body given more power and resources to manage oil palm plantations and the issue of open burning," he said.

Read more!

Indonesian Official: Haze to Clear in a Week as Heavy Rains Fall on Indonesia

Jakarta Globe/AFP 26 Jun 13;

The fires raging in Riau began to subside on Wednesday after heavy rains fell on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, aiding fire fighters and promising an end to the worst levels of haze recorded in more than a decade, an official said.

The number of fires detected in Riau fell from 264 to 54 on Wednesday as disaster response agencies continued to seed the clouds above Sumatra in an effort to create artificial rain, said Heru Widodo, a researcher with the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT). The fires, which started on palm oil and pulp plantations, have burned in Riau for more than a week, blanketing neighboring Singapore and Malaysia in unhealthy levels of smog and igniting a diplomatic dustup over who was to blame.

Disaster response crews and the Indonesian Military (TNI) have been flying cloud-seeding missions over Sumatra every day since Saturday while thousands of fire fighters battled the blaze on the ground, Heru said. After several unsuccessful days of drizzle, heavy rains began to fall on the affected areas of Pekanbaru, Bengkalis and Rokan on Tuesday.

“We also expect heavy rain today and even heavier rains tomorrow,” Heru said. “If rain continus to fall every day we can expect the situation to return to normal in a week.”

The news came as a report said the crisis had claimed its first victim with the death of an asthmatic woman in southern Malaysia, which has been badly affected.

The smog from slash-and-burn agricultural fires on Sumatra island pushed haze levels to a record high in Singapore last week, shrouding residential buildings and downtown skyscrapers.

Favorable winds have since cleared the air over the city-state but southern Malaysia remains choked by smoke.

Indonesian officials said on Wednesday that the end was in sight.

“The rain has definitely helped our efforts,” national disaster agency official Agus Wibowo told AFP from Riau. “With the improving weather on our side, we are taking the opportunity to quickly fight the blazes on land.”

The fires have been hard to put out as they are burning under the surface of carbon-rich peat, meaning hoses need to be pushed into the ground to douse the flames.

Conditions had improved dramatically in the badly-hit city of Dumai, in Riau, on Wednesday after a storm broke at dawn, according to an AFP reporter.

“We were so hoping for rainwater because our water supply for bathing and washing clothes had run out,” said Lisa Rahmawati, a 25-year-old secretary.

In Malaysia, pollution has spiked to hazardous levels in some places in recent days, with the south seeing its worst air quality in 16 years last weekend.

The smog had eased Wednesday but continued to hang over some areas including the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The Sun newspaper said Li Cai Ling, a resident of the southern town of Muar — which saw intense air pollution at the weekend — died on Sunday with a medical report blaming the polluted air.

The situation has also forced newly-promoted English Premier League side Cardiff City to cancel a Malaysia visit that was set to begin this week.

The club said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday that it has abandoned the scheduled week-long trip to Malaysia — home of its billionaire owner Vincent Tan — “due to the current poor air quality in the region.”

Haze is an annual problem during drier summer months, when westerly monsoon winds blow smoke from forest fires and slash-and-burn land-clearing on the huge island of Sumatra, which lies across the Malacca Strait.

But this summer’s recurrence has been the worst in years.

Malaysia’s environment minister travelled to Indonesia on Wednesday morning to meet his counterpart in the hopes of resolving the problem, which earlier sparked a testy exchange between Indonesia and Singapore.

In 1997-1998, a severe bout of haze cost Southeast Asia an estimated $9 billion from disruptions to air travel and other business activities.

JG/AFP

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Malaysia: Haze situation improving with change in wind patterns and rain helping to clear smog

Reports by MUGUNTAN VANAR, NELSON BENJAMIN, FLORENCE A. SAMY, DERRICK VINESH, TEH ENG HOCK, EILEEN NG, KIATISAK CHUA and ISABELLE LAI
The Star 27 Jun 13;

A clear view of the coastline along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu expressway in Penang after the rain. A clear view of the coastline along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu expressway in Penang after the rain.

PETALING JAYA: A change in wind patterns has helped clear the haze that has choked most of the nation for the past few days.

This followed a drizzle in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday evening which helped reduce the thickness of the smog.

There was a significant improvement in the Air Pollutant Index (API) readings yesterday, with 42 areas around the country registering “Moderate” as of 5pm.

Only three areas are categorised as “Unhealthy” – Malacca City (101), Bukit Rambai (107) and Nilai (153).

API readings between 0-50 are considered “Good”; 51-100 as “Mode­-rate”, 101-200 as “Unhealthy” and 201-300 as “Very Unhealthy”. Any reading above 300 is “Hazardous”.

Port Klang, which recorded a high of 495 on the API at 8am on Tuesday, recorded a much healthier reading of 115 at noon yesterday.

Petaling Jaya, meanwhile, registered an API reading of 82 (Moderate) at 5pm yesterday, as opposed to 181 (Unhealthy) a day earlier.

The Department of Environment (DOE) said the south westerly winds, which were currently at a speed of less than 10kph and blowing from various directions, had dispelled the haze to a wider area.

It said the rain had also helped to reduce haze particles, which resulted in improved air quality.

“The current weather condition is expected to continue until Friday and during the period, the air quality is expected to stabilise and improve if the haze at hotspots in central Sumatra continue to lessen,” it said in a statement.
A much-needed downpour in Klang to clear the smoggy skies. A much-needed downpour in Klang to clear the smoggy skies.

DOE added that the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) had also reported that the number of hotspots in Sumatra had dropped drastically to 174 on Tuesday compared with 437 on Monday.

DOE also said the number of complaints related to open burning from June 14 until yesterday were at 293.

DOE advised the public not to conduct open burning and urged them to put out small fires and report such cases to the Fire and Rescue De­­partment at 999 or the DOE’s toll-free number at 1-800-88-2727.

In George Town, despite the cloudy skies, the haze had cleared up and visibility improved, offering clear views of the 65-storey Komtar building from the mainland.

After a spell of rain on Tuesday night, the API as of 11am yesterday stood at a moderate level with visibility recorded at 8km.

The northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu also recorded an improvement in their API readings, falling under the moderate and good air status.

In Kota Kinabalu, the visibility and air pollutant levels dropped to 65 from 71 for Kota Kinabalu at 2pm yesterday following a brief shower.

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Consumers can influence firms to engage in sustainable farming practices: Experts

Woo Sian Boon Today Online 27 Jun 13;

SINGAPORE — With greater awareness and more information available, consumers can play a bigger role in influencing palm oil companies to engage in sustainable clearing practices, said experts, although some of them noted that consumers are “too far” down the supply chain and it may be “a long time” before their efforts bear fruit.

The Consumers Association of Singapore, for one, is studying how it can play a greater advocacy role on this issue, said its President Lim Biow Chuan. “If we can signal strongly to the companies that buy palm oil (to manufacture their) products that we are extremely unhappy and they are risking the wrath of consumers, then they can signal to the palm oil companies,” he said. Products which contain palm oil include chocolates, cookies, soap and shampoo.

With the haze having engulfed Singapore last week and still blanketing parts of Malaysia as a result of illegal forest fires in Central Sumatra, environmentalists and business associations have called for the enforcement of legislation against slash-and-burn tactics and support for whistle-blowing to exert pressure on palm oil companies to clean up their act.

The Singapore Manufacturing Federation, for instance, issued a statement earlier this week urging their members not to have business transactions with errant organisations and their subsidiaries.

Singapore Environment Council Executive Director Jose Raymond felt consumers have “full capabilities to exert pressure on companies and enact changes in market trends and consumption patterns”.

Given more information, they can avoid products from companies involved in causing the haze, he said.

He pointed out that many products certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil as being made from sustainable palm oil are available in major convenience stores.

According to Ms Guan Chong, a marketing lecturer at SIM University’s School of Business, a recent survey found that 48 per cent of 1,000 respondents indicated it was “important” for a trusted brand to be environmentally-friendly in its business practices.

“This shows that Singaporean consumers are also playing an active role in advancing sustainability through their lifestyle choices and buying decisions,” she said.

Mr Lim stopped short of calling for a boycott of errant companies, noting that it might affect the livelihoods of some who “may not be quite involved”.

However, Professor Ang Peng Hwa from Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information believes that a consumer boycott can effect change. He started the Haze Elimination Action Team in 2007 in his own capacity to raise funds for an educational effort against slash-and-burn tactics in Indonesia’s Jambi province.

It has been revived “to mobilise anyone in the region interested to join; to mount an education campaign for farmers; to boycott companies identified as offenders; to raise funds for the above effort”.

Said Prof Ang: “I am hoping that we can target the brands and products of the offending companies. It is alien to us in Singapore because we have not done it, we see ourselves as moderates and we prefer to leave things to the Government to solve.”

However, Senior Marketing Lecturer Siok Kuan Tambyah from the National University of Singapore Business School cautioned that consumers are at the bottom of a “long chain”, which may cause their power to be “diffused”.

“Vigilance and the monitoring of business practices take time and effort, and sometimes consumers are not prepared to invest their personal resources,” she said. “In this instance, it will help if third-party agencies are willing to step in to be the watchdogs.”

Read more!