Low chance of haze in next few days: NEA

Channel NewsAsia 6 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE: The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) for the next 24 hours is forecast to stay in the Moderate range, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Tuesday (Sep 6).

As of 6pm, the 24-hour PSI was 52-58, in the Moderate range, and the 1-hour PM2.5 concentration reading fell within the Normal range across Singapore. No hotspots were detected in Sumatra on Tuesday as well, due to a partial satellite pass and cloud cover, NEA said.

NEA said thundery showers are expected in Singapore on Wednesday morning, adding that prevailing winds are forecast to blow from the south or southwest. The 1-hour PM2.5 concentration reading is expected to stay in the Normal band.

NEA added that given the air quality forecast for the next day, everyone can continue with normal activities, while those who do not feel well - especially the elderly and children, and those with chronic heart or lunch conditions - should seek medical attention.

"For the next few days, the prevailing winds are forecast to gradually shift to blow from the south or southeast. Showers are still expected over parts of central and southern Sumatra. The likelihood of Singapore being affected by transboundary haze is low," NEA said.

- CNA/dl

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ASEAN should prepare for possibly extended campaign against Zika: PM Lee

Justin Ong Channel NewsAsia 6 Sep 16;

VIENTIANE, Laos: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday (Sep 6) urged the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) to join hands in fighting a possibly extended campaign against the Zika virus.

Speaking at the 28th ASEAN Summit plenary in Laos, Mr Lee said that Singapore has immediately stepped up measures since the number of locally transmitted cases jumped in just over a week to 258 as of Sep 5.

"It is imperative for us to work together to combat Zika, but we should put Zika in the proper context," said Mr Lee. "Given the presence of the Aedes mosquito, Zika may become endemic in our region, just like dengue."

"We should prepare ourselves for a possibly extended campaign against Zika but ensure that the region remains open and connected for business and trade."

He added that Singapore will work with ASEAN and the international community to combat the disease.

NEXT STEPS FOR HAZE; ASEAN

At the plenary Mr Lee also touched on the transboundary haze issue - stating that with all 10 ASEAN member states having ratified a joint agreement on haze pollution, as well as adopted a roadmap towards a "Haze‐Free ASEAN" by 2020, the next moves would be to fully operationalise both the ASEAN Haze Monitoring System and ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control.

"This will send a strong signal to the errant companies that have been causing the haze pollution," said Mr Lee.

He also spoke on the need to review, update and streamline ASEAN's processes - including for meetings and summits. Said Mr Lee: "I'm happy that Laos is holding the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits back‐to‐back in September this year.

"It has freed up the capacity for ASEAN to have two very good standalone Summits with the US and Russia," he added. "We should task our officials to follow through with concrete recommendations expeditiously."

Mr Lee also acknowledged that the Philippines - which will hold the ASEAN chairmanship in 2017 - had proposed a review of the ASEAN Charter. "It is a good idea, but we should be very careful in going about it," he stated.

ASEAN UNITY, CENTRALITY

At the opening of his speech Mr Lee also spoke on the importance of working on strengthening ASEAN "unity and centrality". Reiterating a point he made at Singapore's National Day Rally last month, he said: "As individual countries, our voice carries limited weight but collectively, with more than 600 million people speaking as one, we will have a louder voice and stronger bargaining power."

"It can be difficult for ASEAN to speak with one voice on issues where we have different positions but we must not let such differences divide us," he added. "If we are divided, we will lose our relevance and value to our partners."

Mr Lee concluded: "The ASEAN community will always be a work in progress but if we stay united and work together, we can overcome our challenges and prosper together."

- CNA/dt


PM Lee warns region to prepare for extended campaign against Zika
ALBERT WAI Today Online 6 Sep 16;

VIENTIANE — Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Tuesday (Sept 6) that South-east Asia should prepare for a “possibly extended campaign” against Zika, while taking steps to ensure that the regional economy is not affected.

“The Aedes mosquito is endemic in our region and Zika may also be endemic in our region, just like dengue,” said Mr Lee during the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) Summit plenary session in Vientiane.

“We should prepare ourselves for a possibly extended campaign against Zika but ensure that the region remains open and connected for business and trade.”

He said Singapore will work with countries in the region, as well as the international community, to combat the disease, which has affected some 275 people in the Republic.

Mr Lee noted that 72 countries and territories have reported evidence of mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission since 2007, including some in South-east Asia.

“Since the recent detection of locally transmitted cases in Singapore, we have undertaken necessary immediate measures, for example, stepping up testing, intensifying mosquito control, expanding public education, and advising on extra precautions for pregnant woman,” said Mr Lee, adding that the Republic’s efforts have been affirmed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The WHO had stated that Zika transmission is present in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Malaysia has also announced Zika cases, including a man from Sabah who died over the weekend because of health complications.

In Thailand, the public health authorities have stepped up surveillance on the virus after reporting nearly 120 cases so far this year, compared with less than 10 annually previously.

Regional health experts believe Zika is significantly under-reported in South-east Asia as the authorities fail to conduct adequate screening and because of its usually mild symptoms.

A senior Indonesian official said this week that it cannot afford to thoroughly check for a possible Zika outbreak as it must focus on fighting dengue.

“At the moment, we cannot go out there and test everybody or every suspected case for Zika because it is too costly,” said Mr Muhamad Subuh, director-general for disease prevention and control at Indonesia’s Health Ministry. “There are other priorities, like dengue fever, which is more prevalent and more dangerous, and we have to allocate our resources accordingly.”

Mr Subuh said the ministry was actively monitoring for Zika, but experts said the authorities would struggle to identify patients as few hospitals offered Zika testing, and those that did expected patients to pay more than US$150 (S$203) for a test, putting it out of reach of many ordinary Indonesians.

“The biggest challenge right now is that we may miss Zika-infected patients because of the lack of facilities and testing,” said Dr Tedjo Sasmono, a scientist at Jakarta’s Eijkman Institute, one of only two facilities in Indonesia capable of diagnosing Zika. WITH AGENCIES

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Programme to detect infectious diseases like Zika set up as early as 2 years ago: Gan

Channel NewsAsia 6 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE: Authorities in Singapore have been working with general practitioners to detect infectious diseases like Zika under a surveillance programme that was set up two years ago, revealed Health Minister Gan Kim Yong in an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia on Monday (Sep 5).

The interview is reproduced below:

Q: MOH has been monitoring for Zika for more than a year now as part of the sentinel monitoring programme. Could you tell us a little bit more about this programme and what it aims to do?

A: As we have always expected Zika to come to Singapore sooner or later, it’s not a matter of whether it would come, but when it would come. Therefore, we have put in place a monitoring system about two years ago together with 200 GP clinics. We have also made Zika a reportable disease under the Infectious Diseases Act, so that even GPs who are not our partner GPs, they are also on the lookout for potential Zika cases, especially those with travel history to Zika-infected areas.

So over the last two years, these partner GPs of ours collected some 1,600 samples from those patients who have been to those affected areas, as well as those who have not been to these affected areas but have dengue-like symptoms, and they were tested not to have dengue and therefore we test them for Zika. And so far, all 1,600 cases were tested negative.

In addition to this system, we’ve also been working with all the GPs and all the clinics in Singapore to be on the lookout for unusual infections or unexplained trends, so that we are alerted to potential problems, including Zika. And this was actually how the first case of locally transmitted Zika was confirmed.

Q: When the local cases surfaced last week, there was some confusion over timelines and back-tracing among the general public. How did we go from one confirmed case to 41 confirmed cases the next day? Can you explain a little about how that actually works and what the point of back-tracing is?

A: Actually, this requires some explanation. It’s important to also clarify some of the misconception about the timeline of the emergence of these cases. The first case was a lady, a 47-year-old lady. She fell ill and approached the doctor on Aug 26 and we took her blood, tested it and it was confirmed on Aug 27 to be a positive case.

That was the first confirmed case of locally transmitted Zika. And on the night of Aug 27 itself, we made the announcement.

At the same time, we also had three other cases, suspect cases, results were still pending confirmation. We also made the announcement that they were preliminarily tested positive, pending confirmation.

But before that, before the first confirmed case, we had been alerted to unusual trend of infections, which they could not explain, and the GP alerted us and we have been discussing with the GP. That was on Aug 22 and once this first case of Zika case was confirmed, we decided to look back in time at the cases that emerged from this GP and to investigate further to see whether there were other cases of Zika transmission in the community.

That’s why we began to look back and we went back to the GP, took the data, contacted the patients, and we also noticed that many of the patients were construction workers. That’s why we went back to the construction site in the area, looked for the patients who were ill several weeks ago and tested them for Zika. And this all happened on Aug 27, 28 and we were able to confirm several cases of Zika - 36 of them.

And among these positive cases, we found that the first case, the earliest case that showed symptoms was Jul 31. So it did not mean that we knew about the Jul 31 case on Jul 31 and did not announce it. But because of the backward-looking test, we found that the first case started to have symptoms on Jul 31.

But the case was only confirmed on Aug 27. And that’s when we announced it the following day.

Q: Let’s come back to the sentinel programme. Could we say that the reason why the sentinel programme didn’t pick up more of these cases even before we first got to know about them, because the locations of the clinics – 200 of them – were not near where some of these clusters were developing?

A: I think one important factor that we have to bear in mind is that a lot of the Zika cases were actually asymptomatic. That means that they had no symptoms, which means that it is difficult to detect them. And those with symptoms also tend to be very mild and they also may not have travel history. So in addition to the Sentinel programme surveillance where we work with 200 GPs, we have also been working with all the other GPs, as I have mentioned, to be on the lookout for unusual trends of infection so that we can investigate further. So it is a multi-pronged approach in the surveillance system to look out for Zika as well as other emerging infectious diseases.

Q: You mentioned that a lot of these cases are actually quite mild. Do we expect more severe cases? Are there different strains of Zika we might see emerging? What should pregnant women do in the current situation? Who can they reach out to?

A: Zika is generally a very mild disease. Most of the symptoms are very mild; many of them do not have symptoms. This was the case in other countries which have Zika, and this has also been our experience so far.

Our main concern really is for pregnant women. A small number of pregnant women who infected with Zika, they may have developmental problems with their foetus, and therefore we are paying particular attention to these women who are infected by Zika.

Those pregnant women who are infected, we encourage them to discuss with their doctors, and our public hospitals will also refer them to a maternal foetal medicine specialist, so that they can provide appropriate advice.

We also have to bear in mind that not all infected patients of pregnant women will develop developmental problems with their foetus. Therefore it is important that we do counselling and support on a case-by-case basis, on an individual basis. So I would encourage these ladies to speak to their specialists, so that they can receive the appropriate counselling and support.

Q: Are you surprised that there doesn't appear to be a high number of Zika cases in neighbouring countries?

A: It’s difficult for me to comment on what happens in other countries. I would say that every country’s situation is different, the landscape is different. It is better for us to focus on Singapore, on what we can do and what we would like to do.

I think Zika is a disease that we need to come together as a people, as a government, as a society. So it’s a whole-of-government effort and a whole-of-society approach to tackling Zika. And the most effective way is to focus on vector control, where you and I can do our part in ensuring that we do not breed mosquitoes.

We eradicate all the potential breeding sites, so as to reduce the mosquito population and make transmission less easy.

Q: The idea of sequencing. Do you think sequencing work will help us in our fight of the disease?

A: I think the sequencing will allow us to have a better understanding of the disease – how it spreads and how it is transmitted and its behaviour. I think scientific knowledge is important for us to determine how best we can fight this disease. But I think it is still in early stage. There is still a lot of scientific work that needs to be done for us to better understand the virus and the disease.

- CNA

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Buildings have to disclose energy use in ‘coming years’: BCA

KENNETH CHENG Today Online 7 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE — To spur building owners to come up with innovative and cost-effective solutions to reduce their energy consumption, all buildings will be required to disclose their energy use in the future. In the run-up to that, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) will release such data in anonymised form from Wednesday (Sept 7).

At the opening of the Singapore Green Building Week 2016 on Wednesday, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong announced the release of anonymised energy performance data of buildings, an expansion of the annual building energy benchmarking report, and a revamped Green Mark scheme for residential buildings. These initiatives are part of BCA’s efforts to propel the greening of Singapore’s built environment and to improve user experience in green buildings.

Owners of commercial buildings are currently required to submit data on their energy use to BCA, and only the 10 most energy efficient commercial buildings in each category, such as hotels and retail buildings, are named with owners’ consent in the BCA’s annual building energy benchmarking report.

But in the “coming years”, the BCA will make such disclosures mandatory, although it did not reveal exactly when this will take place. Starting Wednesday, anonymised energy performance data for all commercial buildings will be released through channels such as the data portal, data.gov.sg.

BCA has been taking a “phased approach” towards mandatory disclosure, starting with mandatory submission of energy use data by commercial buildings in 2013. Last year, it has expanded to include data from healthcare and educational institutions. From next year, owners of sports and recreational facilities, civic and community institutions, and places of worship will also have to submit their data.

In the lead-up to moving away from anonymised data, the BCA will also invite commercial-building owners to voluntarily have their names published as part of the data disclosure. The first set of such data will be released next September.

In the latest energy benchmarking report, commercial buildings continued to fare well on the energy front, registering a 7-per-cent decrease in energy-use intensity — the yearly total energy consumed per unit floor area — between 2008 and last year. And commercial buildings under BCA’s Green Mark scheme — which rates buildings’ environmental sustainability — fared 9 per cent to 13 per cent better than non-Green Mark ones in energy-use intensity.

Educational institutions and healthcare facilities, however, consumed more energy. Tertiary and private educational institutions saw its energy-use intensity rise by about 7 per cent over the same period, while healthcare facilities recorded a 4-per-cent increase.

A revamped Green Mark scheme for residential buildings, to be piloted for a year, was also announced on Wednesday.

The new scheme targets buildings still in their design phase, and is geared towards a greater focus on “good passive design, facade performance, and effective natural ventilation”. It aims to encourage designers to consider features that promote “a more sustainable lifestyle to reduce the building’s impact on the environment”.

The BCA is in discussion with the Housing Board and private developers, such as Lend Lease, to explore and identify suitable projects. In the next few weeks, it will engage other developers, including CapitaLand, to confirm their participation. Currently, about one-third of the Republic’s built area is Green Mark-certified. BCA’s eventual goal is to have 80 per cent of all buildings certified by 2030.

Separately, the authority will join hands with the Rwanda Housing Authority on capacity-building and knowledge exchange with a memorandum of understanding (MOU). It will also lend its expertise to help raise the African country’s green building standards and the two agencies will share best practices.

This MOU will also herald business opportunities for Singapore’s green building players to take part in Rwanda’s development.

Finally, the BCA will also partner Microsoft to develop a new portal that will track the performance of chiller plants and offer insights to enable energy savings. The two-year Chiller Efficiency Smart Portal pilot initiative will mine chiller-plant performance data, including power and temperature, and detect deviations that could result in energy waste.

Irregularities will be fed back to building managers and owners via email or SMS, and reports generated by the system will help them act to optimise performance and save energy.

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Malaysia: Petronas expects $27 bln Pengerang complex to start operations early 2019

* Pengerang refining and chemicals project nearly 50 pct complete
* Downstream operations have become crucial -Petronas executive
* Plans aggressive expansion of lubricants business in Europe
* Expects new floating LNG plant to be running by early 2017
Giancarlo Navach and Stephen Jewkes Reuters 6 Sep 16;

MILAN, Sept 6 Malaysia's state-owned oil and gas company Petronas is on track to get its $27 billion refining and petrochemical complex in the south of the country up and running in 2019, the head of the group's downstream operations told Reuters.

Petronas has earmarked heavy spending cuts to contend with low oil prices that have sent profit tumbling, but the company remains committed to the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project it aims to turn into a regional oil and gas hub by 2035.

"By the end of the year we should have completed more than 50 percent of the complex and we're on track to start operations in the first quarter of 2019," said Md Arif Mahmood, Petronas downstream CEO and group executive vice-president.

The project, launched in 2012 at Pengerang in the southern state of Johor, will consist of a 300,000 barrel per day refinery and petrochemical complex with combined annual chemical output capacity of 7.7 million metric tonnes.

Other facilities include a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal.

"There are 4 billion people in southern Asia and future growth will be there as the number of middle-class income makers grows," Mahmood said.

TWEAKING THE FOCUS

Like other energy companies, Petronas has cut costs, laid off workers and deferred investments to offset the slide in crude prices.

It has earmarked more than 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion) of capital expenditure cuts over the next three to four years and is looking to maximise other revenue streams outside upstream exploration.

"With the new norm for crude at $40 to $50 a barrel, downstream has become a critical component, it flies the flag of the company," Mahmood said.

In Italy to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Monza (Petronas is sponsor of the Mercedes F1 team), Mahmood said that the company's growth in Europe would be focused on expansion of its lubricants business.

"We have an aggressive plan to grow in Germany, the UK, Ireland and Italy," he said.

Europe is one of the company's main lubricant markets, generating 28 percent of the group's total volumes. Italy is the biggest market, accounting for 48 percent of European sales.

In chemicals, Mahmood said the group would maximise benefits from its partnership with Germany's BASF, though a planned joint venture in synthetic rubber with Italian oil major Eni's Versalis has been abandoned.

"We've both decided not to go ahead because of market conditions," Mahmood said.

LNG PLANS

Besides the RAPID project, Petronas has ambitious plans in LNG and Mahmood said it hopes to gain long-awaited environmental clearance for a $35 billion LNG export terminal in western Canada by the end of the year.

Petronas has been waiting more than three years for a permit to start building the Pacific NorthWest terminal and some analysts have said that LNG oversupply and lower oil and gas prices now threaten to make the project unattractive.

"We are committed at the moment, but first we need to see what the conditions of approval are," Mahmood said.

The company, which is one of the world's largest LNG producers, is also on track with construction of a $12 billion offshore LNG plant that it touts as the world's first floating liquefaction facility.

"You'll see production at the end this year or early next," Mahmood said, adding that commissioning is also under way for a ninth production line at the group's Bintulu LNG complex in Malaysia. ($1 = 0.8970 euro)

(Editing by David Goodman)

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Malaysia: Hornbills put on IUCN's 'Red List'

FERNANDO FONG New Straits Times 6 Sep 16;

KUALA LUMPUR: HELMETED hornbills (Rhinoplax vigil) have been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

According to a Facebook posting by Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) technical specialist on conservation Yeap Chin Aik, MNS’s proposed motion to conserve the helmeted hornbills had been approved by IUCN, with minor amendment after members voted to support it in an e-voting process early last month.

“Big thanks to my co-architect, Vina, of this motion from the Nature Society Singapore (NSS) and several BirdLife partner organisations and allies that supported the tabling of this motion.

To all who voted YES, a big thank you, too,” he wrote while in Hawaii to attend the IUCN World Conservation Congress.

He said since it was now an international agenda, countries with helmeted hornbills must drive its conservation and protection.

According to IUCN, the hornbill has been uplisted from “near threatened” to “critically endangered”, with decreasing population trend owing to severe hunting for its casque and habitat loss from logging and agricultural conversion.

The helmeted hornbills are described as mostly dark brown and white, with long central tail feathers and a distinctive high red casque that is yellow at the front.

The species is listed as being confined to the Sundaic lowlands, from south Tenasserim in Myanmar; Thailand; Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia; Singapore; Kalimantan and Sumatra in Indonesia; and, Brunei.

Ecotourism and Conservation Society Malaysia chief executive officer Andrew J. Sebastian said that hornbills had been hunted for a long time, not only in Malaysia, but in other countries as well, notably in Thailand and Cambodia.

“Hornbill poaching had always been there. It’s just under the radar.”

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Toxic Algae Blooms Threaten People and Waterways in More Than 20 States in the U.S.

Jax Jacobsen EcoWatch Yahoo News 7 Sep 16;

More than 20 states have seen occurrences of toxic algae blooms this summer, which have had far-reaching environmental and human health impacts across the country. The algae blooms can also be found around the world, in all climates from Greenland to Oman.

Utah swimmers have been sickened by the toxins, while beaches in Florida have been closed to protect beachgoers. In California, complete ecosystems are under threat due to the toxic blooms, NPR reported.

Some beaches in South Florida have been covered by a toxic algae sludge for months prompting Florida Gov. Rick Scott to declare local states of emergency in St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Lee counties in June.

California has reported the blooms in at least 30 lakes and reservoirs, California Water Resources Control Board scientist Bev Anderson told NPR.

"There's no question that we are seeing more harmful blooms in more places, that they are lasting longer and we're seeing new species in different areas," University of Maryland researcher Pat Glibert told the National Geographic earlier this month. "These trends are real."

A similar trend happened last year, when algae blooms practically covered the West Coast. In summer 2014, an outbreak in Lake Erie forced Toledo, Ohio to cut off city water to almost half a million residents.

The levels of toxins in the toxic blooms are what's most concerning, Anderson said. Twenty micrograms per liter would cause concern, but these blooms are reporting readings as high as 15,000 micrograms per liter.

Though the quality of drinking water is unlikely to be impacted due to screening in water plants, bathers and boaters can be sickened by the toxins.

One boater in California has noticed the change this summer.

"We've been here since 2002," kayaker Dave Holmes said. "It is by far the worst we've ever seen."

Local resident Wade Hensley had to be hospitalized because of the toxins, after his body became numb from the waist down after he dove into Discovery Bay in the middle of July. He still hasn't recovered feeling in half his body.

"It was about three days of swimming," he said. "Not constant, but in and out. And they can't pinpoint exactly what it is," Hensley said.

The increase in algae and the change in its composition is likely due to warming temperatures, Anderson said.

"We're getting higher temperatures than we've seen ever in the past," she said. "California had an unprecedented drought for the last five years which [has left] the water levels very low in a lot of areas."

Toxins are unusual in algae blooms, she noted.

"Some areas have been monitoring and seeing blooms for decades, but they've never had toxins," she said.

Blooms are also appearing in places that are unusual­, including streams and mountain lakes.

Scientists are grappling with how to understand the impact of the blooms on local ecospheres.

"What emerged from last year's event is just how little we know about what these things can do," University of California-Santa Cruz toxic algae expert Raphael Kudela said.

Algae can have a variety of effects on nearby organisms, National Geographic noted. Some algae can alter the color of the waters around it and cause local air to be dangerous for humans to inhale. Other algae forms can cause fish and shellfish to die, and with them the humans that consume these fish and shellfish.

Other blooms can be so large that they deplete the local area of oxygen and force the death of other organisms.

"We expect to see conditions that are conducive for harmful algal blooms to happen more and more often," University of Maine's Mark Wells said. "We've got some pretty good ideas about what will happen, but there will be surprises, and those surprises can be quite radical."

Joaquim Goes, a researcher at Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, thinks an increased use of fertilizers and substantial population growth are creating the conditions for these toxic algae blooms. But rapid glacial melt in the Himalayas, and the ensuing changes to monsoon patterns, are also causing problems.

It's also unclear how long toxic algal blooms have been a problem, especially in sparsely populated regions such as the Arctic, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Fisheries Science Center scientist Kathi Lefebvre said.

"It's a weird thing," she said. "We saw domoic acid in every species we looked at, so they are all being exposed to it. It's pretty clear that if you change temperature, light availability and nutrients, that can absolutely damage an ecosystem. But is it just starting? Is it getting worse? Is it the same as always? I have no idea."

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Arctic Ocean shipping routes 'to open for months'

Jonathan Amos BBC 7 Sep 16;

Shipping routes across the Arctic are going to open up significantly this century even with a best-case reduction in CO2 emissions, a new study suggests.

University of Reading, UK, researchers have investigated how the decline in sea-ice, driven by warmer temperatures, will make the region more accessible.

They find that by 2050, opportunities to transit the Arctic will double for non ice-strengthened vessels.

These open-water ships will even be going right over the top at times.

And if CO2 emissions are not curtailed - if the aspirations of the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rise "well below two degrees" are not implemented - then moderately ice-strengthened vessels could be routinely ploughing across the Arctic by late century for perhaps 10-12 months of the year.

"The reduction in summer sea-ice, perhaps the most striking sign of climate change, may also provide economic opportunities," commented Reading's Dr Nathanael Melia.

"There is renewed interest in trans-Arctic shipping because of potentially reduced costs and journey times between Asia and the Atlantic. So far only a few commercial vessels have utilised these routes as they are not currently reliably open."

Arctic scenarios

The two maps above look at the possibilities come mid-century
Pink routes are those taken by moderately ice-strengthened vessels
Blue transits are those available to non-specialised shipping
By 2050, these open-water vessels are taking more central routes

Sea-ice is in a committed, long-term decline as the polar north warms.

The traditional September minimum extent is about to be set in the coming days, and this year looks on course to be the second lowest in the satellite record.

Researchers do not see this trend being reversed anytime soon.

"If we experience a 2-degree increase in global temperatures, we will get close to an Arctic that is effectively ice-free for part of the year; that's less than a million sq km of ice cover," said Reading's Dr Ed Hawkins.

"So, even if future emissions are consistent with the Paris agreement, it will of course mean shipping routes will be more open. Not every year, but more regularly than they are now."

"Open water vessels won't be hugging the Russian coast quite so much, and ice-strengthened ships will be going right over the pole," he told BBC News.

Saving time

The incentives are clear: if vessels can transit the Arctic, they will shave many days off their journey times between the Pacific and North Atlantic ports, and save fuel.

In addition, by plotting a more central course, they can avoid the fees they would otherwise be charged for going through Siberian waters.

The team has been looking at how the opportunities might evolve in the decades ahead.

The group used five prominent climate computer models and essentially trained them to better reflect the distribution of Arctic sea-ice as seen in current observations.

They then ran those models forward through the century under different emissions scenarios, to gauge where and how frequently shipping routes would become navigable.

For European shipping companies currently moving cargo through the Suez canal to and from East Asia to Rotterdam, say, the average journey time tends to take a minimum of about 30 days.

But under a Paris-style future, an Arctic shortcut could shave this to 23 days by mid-century and 22 days by late century for non specialised vessels.

And under a high emissions scenario, these transit times come down further to 20 days by 2050 and 17 days by 2100.

The gains are not so great for North Atlantic ports, such as New York, because a route through the fabled North West Passage is not so much shorter than using the Panama Canal - but the Reading team still finds several days' advantage in going by way of the Arctic.

Another key finding from the research is the way the shipping season in the far north will extend as the period of low-ice conditions grows.

The team says that, for a high emissions scenario, trans-Arctic shipping could be potentially commonplace by late century, with navigable routes available even to open water vessels for perhaps 4-8 months a year.

For a low emissions scenario, where global temperatures are stabilised at less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, the frequency with which open-water vessels can make the transits is much wider than today at 2-4 months.

The Reading scientists stress there will always be some sea-ice, especially in winter, and that year-to-year the conditions could be highly variable.

Shipping companies, they say, will weigh several factors before picking a route (e.g. fuel costs, weather, insurance, draft restrictions, cargo type, etc), and may well conclude on occasions that the time saved by going across the Arctic is still not worth it.

This will be especially so if they think there is a possibility of unprotected vessels running into free, fast-moving ice floes.

It is a point picked up by Rachel Tilling, who studies sea-ice using the Cryosat spacecraft. This European Space Agency mission produces quick-turn-around maps of floe thickness.

"Now there's evidence that Arctic shipping routes are opening, those wishing to use them will need to know how thick the ice is on a day-to-day basis. We provide this information through our near-real-time data service, which we launched to aid science and maritime activities in the Arctic," the University College of London researcher said.

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Beyond sushi wrap: Experts warn booming seaweed industry

Expanding number of valuable uses drives astonishing growth of seaweed farming
United Nations University Science Daily 4 Sep 16;

Reseachers have publish policy advice to the multi-billion dollar seaweed farming industry, warning that the rapidly growing industry could easily and needlessly drop into pitfalls previously experienced in both agriculture and fish farming. Seaweed farms now produce more than 25 million metric tons annually valued at US$6.4 billion (2014), exceeding the value of world lemon and lime crops.

A rising number of valuable uses being found for seaweed -- from food and fertilizer to pharmaceuticals and industrial gels -- is driving the rapid growth of an industry that could easily and needlessly drop into some of the same pitfalls previously experienced in both agriculture and fish farming.

Drawing on the expertise of 21 institutions worldwide, UN University's Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health, and the Scottish Association for Marine Science, a UNU associate institute, today published policy advice to the burgeoning, multi-billion dollar industry to help it avoid expensive mistakes and pursue best practices, backed by relevant case studies involving crops like bananas and shrimp.

The authors note that seaweed farms now produce more than 25 million metric tonnes annually. The global value of the crop, US$6.4 billion (2014), exceeds that of the world's lemons and limes.

Seaweed farming has grown from the late 1950s into an industry offering sustainable employment in developing and emerging economies, notably China (which produces over half of the global total of seaweed -- 12.8 million tonnes) and Indonesia (27% of global production -- 6.5 million tonnes). Other major producers include the Republic of Korea and the Philippines.

Among the industry's many wide-ranging benefits:

With fisheries stagnating, cultivating seaweed helps fill a gap and "is widely perceived as one of the most environmentally benign types of aquaculture activity, as it does not require additional feed or fertilisers," the authors say. Consequently, it has been actively promoted by government initiatives, particularly in many developing countries where communities have reduced access to alternative livelihoods or are involved in destructive fishing methods like dynamite fishing.

Increasingly, seaweed cultivation is also being integrated with intensive fish farming to provide nursery grounds for juvenile commercial fish and crustaceans, and to filter undesired nutrients, improve the marine environment and reduce eutrophication.

Indirectly, seaweed farming has reduced over-fishing in many regions, providing coastal communities with an alternative livelihood. In some places, women have become economically active for the first time.
Most of the seaweed produced is used for human consumption with much of the remainder used largely as a nutritious additive to animal feed or as a fertiliser.

In the last decade, seaweed cultivation has been rapidly expanding thanks to growing demand for its use in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and antimicrobial products, as well as biotechnological applications.

Seaweed today is used in some toothpastes, skin care products and cosmetics, paints and several industrial products, including adhesives, dyes and gels. Seaweed is also used in landscaping or to combat beach erosion.

Problems of rapid expansion

"The rapid expansion of any industry, however, can result in unforeseen ecological and societal consequences," according to the authors.

Communities that come to depend on a single crop for their livelihood become highly vulnerable to a disease outbreak, as happened in the Philippines between 2011 and 2013 when a bacteria that whitens the branches of a valuable seaweed species caused a devastating loss to the communities involved, estimated at over US$ 310 million.

The authors say the industry needs to guard against non-indigenous pests and pathogens, to promote genetic diversity of seaweed stocks and to raise awareness of mistakes in farm management practices (such as placing the cultivation nets too close together, making the crop more vulnerable to disease transfer and natural disasters).

"In addition, the illegal use of algicides / pesticides, with unknown but likely detrimental consequences for the wider marine environment, user conflicts for valuable coastal resources and rising dissatisfaction over the low gate prices for the crop can all result in negative impacts on the industry."

The experts note that increasing demands being placed on the marine environment and competition for maritime space (renewable energy, aquaculture, fisheries, et cetera) necessitates coordination and co-operation between different users, an ecosystem-wide management approach and marine spatial planning (MSP) for aquaculture, alongside regulation to protect the wider marine environment.

In a nutshell, the key points for the seaweed industry come down to:

Biosecurity -- preventing the introduction of disease and non-indigenous pests and pathogens
Investing in risk assessment and early disease detection
Building know-how and capacity within the sector
Cooperative planning to anticipate and resolve conflicts between competing interests in finite coastal marine resources, and
Establishing management policies and institutions at both national and international levels
Citation:

Cottier-Cook, E.J., Nagabhatla, N., Badis, Y., Campbell, M., Chopin, T, Dai, W, Fang, J., He, P, Hewitt, C, Kim, G. H., Huo, Y, Jiang, Z, Kema, G, Li, X, Liu, F, Liu, H, Liu, Y, Lu, Q, Luo, Q, Mao, Y, Msuya, F. E, Rebours, C, Shen, H., Stentiford, G. D., Yarish, C, Wu, H, Yang, X, Zhang, J, Zhou, Y, Gachon, C. M. M. (2016). Safeguarding the future of the global seaweed aquaculture industry. United Nations University and Scottish Association for Marine Science Policy Brief. ISBN 978-92-808-6080-1. 12pp.

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‘Low’ odds of haze in Singapore over next few days: NEA

Today Online 5 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE — The likelihood of Singapore being affected by transboundary haze is low over the next few days, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Monday (Sept 5).

This is because prevailing light winds are expected to continue blowing from the south-west or west, while showers are forecast over parts of Sumatra and the surrounding region.

Just one hotspot was detected in Sumatra on Monday, and there was no visible smoke plume or haze observed, said the NEA. However, the low hotspot count was due to a partial satellite pass and cloud cover, the NEA added.

As of 5pm on Monday, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Reading (PSI) reading was 63-78, in the moderate range, and the 1-hour PM2.5 concentration was 5-17µg/m3 in the normal band.

The PSI for the next 24 hours is forecast to be in the moderate range, said the NEA, with the 1-hour PM2.5 concentration expected to stay in the normal band over the same time period.

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16 new Zika cases confirmed on Monday, bringing total to 258

Channel NewsAsia 5 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE: 16 new cases of locally transmitted Zika were confirmed on Monday (Sep 5), the Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a joint statement. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Singapore to 258.

Of these, 11 cases are linked to the cluster spanning Aljunied Crescent, Sims Drive, Kallang Way and Paya Lebar Way. One case is linked to the Joo Seng Road cluster. The other four cases have no known links to any existing cluster.o

NEA added that it has been continuing with vector control operations and outreach efforts in Aljunied Crescent, Sims Drive, Paya Lebar Way and Kallang Way, as well as expanded operations and outreach efforts at the periphery of this cluster at Circuit Road, Geylang East Central and Geylang East Avenue 1.

The agency said that as of Sep 4, 63 breeding habitats – comprising 37 in homes and 26 in common areas or other premises – have been detected and destroyed.

NEA added that it is continuing with vector control operations and outreach efforts in Bedok North Avenue. As of Sep 4, 52 breeding habitats – comprising 42 in homes and 10 in common areas or other premises – have been detected and destroyed, it said.

It added that vector control operations and outreach efforts at Joo Seng Road are ongoing and no breeding habitats have been detected thus far.

Earlier on Monday, MOH announced that it would extend subsidies for Zika testing to all Singaporeans with symptoms of the infection, not just those who live, work or study in the affected areas. Suspected Zika cases will also no longer be isolated pending test results.

- CNA/dt


Subsidised Zika testing extended to all Singaporeans: MOH
Channel NewsAsia 5 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health (MOH) will extend subsidies for Zika testing to all Singaporeans with symptoms of the infection, not just those who live, work or study in the affected areas. Suspected Zika cases will also no longer be isolated pending test results.

In a media statement on Monday (Sep 5), MOH said: "As more cases are found in other parts of Singapore, testing will no longer be focused on the clusters only, and we will provide a subsidy for the test by the public sector laboratories". It gave details as follows:

- Subsidised patients at public healthcare institutions will pay a subsidised rate of $60 if they have Zika symptoms regardless of where they live, work or study. Patients who need the test but cannot afford it can approach medical social workers for assistance, such as from Medifund.
- Private patients at public healthcare institutions, as well as patients at private clinics and private hospitals will pay the full cost of S$150 for the Zika test.
- Doctors will continue to make the clinical judgment on whether it is necessary to test individuals for Zika.

The Zika virus has been linked to birth defects like microcephaly, and MOH added that pregnant women will remain a special group to whom it will make Zika tests more affordable and accessible.

MOH said doctors will continue to make the clinical judgment whether testing of Zika is necessary. For those who have Zika symptoms or whose male partner is Zika-positive, public sector laboratories will continue to extend free Zika tests to patients at the public healthcare institutions, as well as those at private hospitals and clinics, it said.

The Health Ministry added that for those who are not pregnant, confirming a Zika infection generally does not have an impact on the clinical management, which is currently focused on relieving symptoms. However, confirmation is useful in directing vector control efforts, it added.

- CNA/dt


Subsidised Zika testing extended to cover more
TAN WEIZHEN AND AMANDA LEE Today Online 5 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE — As more Zika cases emerge outside the current three geographical clusters, the Ministry of Health (MOH) tweaked its battle plan on Monday (Sept 5) by announcing subsidised tests for the virus for all Singaporeans and permanent residents, regardless of where one lives, works or studies.

Sixteen new cases were found as of noon yesterday — bringing the number of locally-transmitted cases to 258 — with four of these not linked to the Aljunied Crescent/Sims Drive/Kallang Way/Paya Lebar Way, Bedok North Avenue 3 and Joo Seng Road clusters.

From Wednesday, subsidised patients need only pay S$60 for Zika tests at public healthcare institutions. This is provided they have fever, rash, and one other symptom of joint pain, muscle pain, red eyes or headache. Private patients or those who visit private clinics or hospitals will pay the full S$150.

Pregnant women with symptoms or those with male partners who are Zika-positive will continue to get free tests everywhere. Mothers-to-be who wish to be tested regardless will pay a subsidised rate of S$60 at public healthcare institutions.

Doctors will continue to make the call for patients, pregnant or not, on whether testing for Zika is necessary, said the MOH. Patients who need the test but cannot afford it can approach their medical social worker for assistance, such as from Medifund, it added.

In a statement, the MOH said its considerations for testing hitherto were based on the assumption that most cases came from the affected areas. Hence, the free tests for those who live, work or study in these locations, while others pay the full charges. “However, as more cases are found in other parts of Singapore, testing will no longer be focused on the clusters only, and we will provide a subsidy for the test by the public sector laboratories,” it said.

From Tuesday, the MOH will also no longer require suspected Zika cases to be isolated while waiting for test results. Confirmed patients will also not be required to be hospitalised unless medically necessary. They can return home to await their test results.

“As more cases emerge, there is evidence that there is transmission in the community with the presence of infected mosquitoes. Furthermore, most of the patients do not display symptoms. Therefore isolation of patients with symptoms will have limited effect,” said the MOH.

Elaborating on the change in an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia yesterday, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said when the Zika cluster was first discovered, the MOH was not certain of the extent and whether there was already large-scale transmission. Therefore, it was important for them to isolate patients then to prevent further spread even as investigations were carried out, he said.

The ministry was also not sure whether the Zika cases in Singapore were likely to have very severe symptoms that will cause medical issues, so it decided to hospitalise them first, he added. Given that isolated cases have emerged in other parts of Singapore, Mr Gan said his ministry has to work on the basis that local transmission has spread outside the affected areas.

“Also bearing in mind that there are 80 per cent of our infected patients do not have symptoms and therefore they are not treated by our doctors. Just isolating 20 per cent of our symptomatic patients has very limited effect,” he added. “Therefore, isolation will no longer be very effective.”

Commenting on the move, Dr Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease specialist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital, said: “We have lost the opportunity to control the virus. In that case, why waste resources on isolation when we can actually (use) the resources to kill the mosquitoes?”

He added that a person may have the Zika virus in his/her blood for seven to 10 days before the onset of the fever, “so isolating after the onset of fever doesn’t make a lot of sense”.

Dr Wong Sin Yew, an infectious diseases physician at Gleneagles Hospital said patients with a Zika infection usually have the virus circulating in their blood for three to five days. “This is the period that they may be infectious when a mosquito bites them,” he said.

The need for isolation depends on risk assessment and isolating such cases will have limited effects, he added. “The patients should continue to rest at home, preferably in an air-conditioned room while awaiting for the results of their tests,” he added.


Challenge is to stop mosquito breeding in homes: MPs
KENNETH CHENG Today Online 6 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE — Despite stepping up public education since the Zika outbreak and more stringent enforcement, getting all residents to stem mosquito breeding at home remains a challenge, said Members of Parliament, acknowledging that the message has not sunk in fully.

Although a large proportion of mosquito breeding habitats that have been detected are in homes, not all residents are taking the necessary precautions seriously or need to be reminded to do so consistently, they added. While they have ramped up house visits, the MPs noted that up to 60 per cent of households are away during these walkabouts.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad (Chua Chu Kang GRC) said that many residents were unaware that their homes could be potential breeding sites, and there was a need for “sharper” messaging.

“The messaging today is not very explicit (in) saying that most of it (mosquito breeding) is in the homes — people don’t seem to get it,” he said. “The impression is always that it always comes (from) outside, it’s never from my home.”

Although the majority of their residents take precautions, including practising the Five-Step Mozzie Wipeout, some do so intermittently or overlook some spots, said MPs.

“There will be a handful who either don’t see the news, or don’t see the need to take action in their own homes,” said Dr Lee Bee Wah (Nee Soon GRC). “Some people might clear stagnant water after an outbreak, but it’s human nature to forget it after a while.”

Mr Zaqy added that those who followed the steps cannot rid their homes of breeding sites “100 per cent”.

For instance, some breeding sites are found in obscure spots, such as wet patches behind toilet bowls, which are not part of the wipeout, and they may “get blindsided”.

For others, it was a matter of carelessness. Sometimes, said Ms Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong GRC), residents may have left something but forgot to check on it, which can be dangerous.

“We need to keep repeating the message often,” she said.

Over the past few weeks, experts and government leaders have warned that Zika was here to stay and vector control was the most effective defence.

On Sunday, Senior Minister of State (Health) Amy Khor said Zika cases — like dengue, both of which are transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito — would continue surfacing over time. As of Sunday, 63 mosquito breeding habitats were found and eradicated in the Aljunied-Sims Drive cluster — 37 of them in homes and 26 in common areas or other premises.

At Bedok North Avenue 3, another Zika cluster, 52 breeding habitats — 42 of which in homes and 10 in common areas or other premises — were detected and removed. No breeding habitats have been detected in the Joo Seng Road cluster so far.

Residents from Aljunied Crescent said that the authorities were doing enough to combat Zika, and acknowledged that they were more focused on avoiding being bitten than on eliminating breeding spots.

Housewife Joyce Tan, 56, said: “Some people might think that since they are living their lives normally, (the outbreak) is purely due to external factors and may not be bothered to check their homes ... just as long as they take necessary precautions such as spraying and using patches, they think they will be fine.”

Given that the area has more elderly residents, retiree George Lee, 66, said family members need to chip in to spread the message about the seriousness of the Zika virus.

Another resident, 47-year-old drafter Ooi Tai Siong, added that elderly residents may need to be told directly, and in dialect, what needed to be done, since they may not understand the content in the flyers distributed. KENNETH CHENG AND ILIYAS JUANDA


Singapore should brace for long-term battle with Zika - experts
Channel NewsAsia 5 Sep 16;

SINGAPORE: Wealthy Singapore has the funds and expertise to fight Zika, but its warm, wet climate and one of the world's most densely packed populations mean the mosquito-borne virus may be controlled but not eradicated, at least for years, infectious disease experts say.

The tropical city-state, a major global financial and transit hub, is the only known place in Asia with active Zika transmission, according to the U.S. Centres for Disease and Prevention.

So far, the virus has been detected in 189 people since the first locally transmitted infection was reported six days ago, and the areas from where they have been reported are spreading.

In his first public remarks on the outbreak, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Thursday: "We must assume that Zika is elsewhere in Singapore."

Zika can cause serious birth defects when pregnant women are infected, a link discovered last year with the virus's arrival in Brazil, where its impact has been greatest so far. It is primarily spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito which also carries dengue, a potentially fatal virus that Singapore authorities have been battling for decades.

Hundreds of specialist workers conduct island-wide inspections for mosquito breeding grounds, spray insecticide and clear stagnant water. Residents of homes where water is allowed to stagnate in flowerpots or elsewhere can be penalised.

Entomologists and infectious disease specialists say Singapore's experience with dengue has primed authorities to contain Zika. A healthcare system ranked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as among the top 10 in the world is also in Singapore's favour.

Singapore, with a "very technologically advanced health system", was able to identify the disease "very early", David Heymann, chairman of the WHO's emergency committee on Zika, said on Friday. "But in other countries where it might enter at some time, that might not be the case."

But almost daily downpours, average temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit), large green areas and a population of more than five million people packed in a city that is half the size of Los Angeles, which has a population of 4 million, make Singapore a hospitable area for mosquitoes.

"As demonstrated by the inability to eradicate dengue, the same can be said for Zika virus," Cameron Webb, a medical entomologist at the University of Sydney, told Reuters.

"This is a mosquito that is not found in the swamps, it's found in the cities. Mosquito-borne disease is something that we are going to have to manage for many years to come."

Singapore health ministry officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on their outlook for Zika.

More than 11,000 cases of dengue have been reported in Singapore so far this year, with the authorities warning the number could exceed 30,000 by year-end, a record high. In 2013, about 22,000 cases of dengue were reported.

Wong Sin Yew, an infectious disease physician at Gleneagles Medical Centre in Singapore, said it was unclear for now whether Zika would become as widespread as dengue. "If we keep having more and more cases, and more and more areas affected, then unfortunately it would indicate the infection has become established," he said.

STRICT REGULATIONS

The pace at which the infection numbers have risen in Singapore highlights how fast Zika can spread but equally, it also shows the government's ability to detect the virus.

Such efforts, along with scientific research into possible vaccines and methods to eradicate mosquitoes, could help Singapore contain the disease, experts say.

Singapore already has strict "no breeding" regulations for outdoor areas. The health ministry, in a statement on Friday, said it will be introducing several measures to "enhance the surveillance of the disease and protection of Singaporeans". It did not give details.

"We also urge all Singaporeans to take the appropriate precautions to prevent mosquito breeding as vector control is critical in preventing transmission and reducing the risk of the virus from taking root in Singapore," the ministry added.

Even if Singapore could contain the spread of Zika, its status as an international trade and transit hub puts it at risk of further infections. More than 55 million people pass through the airport each year and tourism arrivals topped 8 million in the first half of this year.

"Even if this outbreak of Zika virus was to stop tomorrow, there is no reason why an infected traveller may not bring Zika virus back to Singapore," said entomologist Webb.

However, there are some indications that these risks could ease in the next few years.

A study published by British scientists in July said the Zika virus infecting countries in Latin America could burn itself out in two to three years, as people develop "herd immunity", which occurs when a high percentage of a population has become immune to an infection either through developing natural immunity or through vaccinations.

(Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Miral Fahmy and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

- Reuters

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