Global pollution kills millions and threatens 'survival of human societies'

Landmark study finds toxic air, water, soils and workplaces kill at least 9m people and cost trillions of dollars every year
Damian Carrington The Guardian 19 Oct 17;

Pollution kills at least nine million people and costs trillions of dollars every year, according to the most comprehensive global analysis to date, which warns the crisis “threatens the continuing survival of human societies”.

Toxic air, water, soils and workplaces are responsible for the diseases that kill one in every six people around the world, the landmark report found, and the true total could be millions higher because the impact of many pollutants are poorly understood. The deaths attributed to pollution are triple those from Aids, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

The vast majority of the pollution deaths occur in poorer nations and in some, such as India, Chad and Madagascar, pollution causes a quarter of all deaths. The international researchers said this burden is a hugely expensive drag on developing economies.

Rich nations still have work to do to tackle pollution: the US and Japan are in the top 10 for deaths from “modern” forms of pollution, ie fossil fuel-related air pollution and chemical pollution. But the scientists said that the big improvements that have been made in developed nations in recent decades show that beating pollution is a winnable battle if there is the political will.

“Pollution is one of the great existential challenges of the [human-dominated] Anthropocene era,” concluded the authors of the Commission on Pollution and Health, published in the Lancet on Friday. “Pollution endangers the stability of the Earth’s support systems and threatens the continuing survival of human societies.”

Prof Philip Landrigan, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, US, who co-led the commission, said: “We fear that with nine million deaths a year, we are pushing the envelope on the amount of pollution the Earth can carry.” For example, he said, air pollution deaths in south-east Asia are on track to double by 2050.

Landrigan said the scale of deaths from pollution had surprised the researchers and that two other “real shockers” stood out. First was how quickly modern pollution deaths were rising, while “traditional” pollution deaths – from contaminated water and wood cooking fires – were falling as development work bears fruit.

“Secondly, we hadn’t really got our minds around how much pollution is not counted in the present tally,” he said. “The current figure of nine million is almost certainly an underestimate, probably by several million.”

This is because scientists are still discovering links between pollution and ill health, such as the connection between air pollution and dementia, diabetes and kidney disease. Furthermore, lack of data on many toxic metals and chemicals could not be included in the new analysis.

The researchers estimated the welfare losses from pollution at $4.6tn a year, equivalent to more than 6% of global GDP. “Those costs are so massive they can drag down the economy of countries that are trying to get ahead,” said Landrigan. “We always hear ‘we can’t afford to clean up pollution’ – I say we can’t afford not to clean it up.”

Children with respiratory diseases receive treatment at a hospital in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China.
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Children with respiratory diseases receive treatment at a hospital in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. Photograph: China Daily/Reuters
The commission report combined data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and elsewhere and found air pollution was the biggest killer, leading to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and other illnesses. Outdoor air pollution, largely from vehicles and industry, caused 4.5m deaths a year and indoor air pollution, from wood and dung stoves, caused 2.9m.

The next biggest killer was pollution of water, often with sewage, which is linked to 1.8m deaths as a result of gastrointestinal diseases and parasitic infections. Workplace pollution, including exposure to toxins, carcinogens and secondhand tobacco smoke, resulted in 800,000 deaths from diseases including pneumoconiosis in coal workers and bladder cancer in dye workers. Lead pollution, the one metal for which some data is available, was linked to 500,000 deaths a year.

Low-income and rapidly industrialising countries are worst affected, suffering 92% of pollution-related deaths, with Somalia suffering the highest rate of pollution deaths. India, where both traditional and modern pollution are severe, has by far the largest number of pollution deaths at 2.5m. China is second with 1.8m and Russia and the US are also in the top 10.

In terms of workplace-pollution related deaths, the UK, Japan and Germany all appear in the top 10. The report was produced by more than 40 researchers from governments and universities across the globe and was funded by the UN, the EU and the US.

“This is an immensely important piece of work highlighting the impact that environmental pollution has on death and disease,” said Dr Maria Neira, the WHO director of public health and the environment. “This is an unacceptable loss of lives and human development potential.”

The editor-in-chief of the Lancet, Dr Richard Horton, and the executive editor, Dr Pamela Das, said: “No country is unaffected by pollution. Human activities, including industrialisation, urbanisation, and globalisation, are all drivers of pollution. We hope the commission findings will persuade leaders at the national, state, provincial and city levels to make pollution a priority. Current and future generations deserve a pollution-free world.”

Richard Fuller at Pure Earth, an international pollution clean-up charity and co-lead of the commission, said: “Pollution can be eliminated and pollution prevention can be highly cost-effective, helping to improve health and extend lifespan, while boosting the economy.” Since the US clean air act was introduced in 1970, levels of the six major pollutants have fallen by 70% while GDP has gone up by 250%, said Landrigan: “That puts the lie to the argument that pollution control kills jobs and stifles the economy.”

Gina McCarthy, former head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, criticised the rollback of pollution controls under the Trump administration: “Now is not the time to go backwards in the US,” she said. “Environmental protection and a strong economy go hand in hand. We also need to help other countries, not only for the benefit it will bring them, but because pollution knows no boundaries.”

Rolling out new regulations, ending subsidies for polluting industries and deploying technology like smokestack filters could tackle pollution, the researchers said. But more research on the impact of pollution is also urgently required, said Fuller: “Available data does not include lead’s impact from toxic sites like Flint, in Michigan, US, or Kabwe, Zambia. Yet these populations experience enormous health impacts.”

Landrigan said his biggest concern was the unknown impact of the hundreds of industrial chemicals and pesticides already widely dispersed around the world: “I worry we have created a situation where people are exposed to chemicals that are eroding intelligence or impairing reproduction or weakening their immune system, but we have not yet been smart enough to make the connection between the exposure and the outcome, because it is subtle.” On Wednesday, a horrific plunge in the abundance of vital insects was reported, with pesticides a possible cause.

“Pollution has not received nearly as much attention as climate change, or Aids or malaria – it is the most underrated health problem in the world,” he said.

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Best of our wild blogs: 19 Oct 17

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Soil tests for MRT line in nature reserve mostly complete

Works done to determine if Cross Island Line can run under it
Audrey Tan Straits Times 19 Oct 17;

A major part of works to determine whether the Cross Island MRT Line can go under Singapore's largest nature reserve has been completed.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) told The Straits Times this week that soil tests for the 16 boreholes drilled within the Central Catchment Nature Reserve were finished last month.

The works, which will help engineers determine the soil and rock profile under Singapore's largest nature reserve, started in February and have been watched closely, especially by environmental groups who are urging the Government not to build the MRT line under the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.

Other than the drilling of boreholes - each about 10cm wide to extract soil samples - the soil investigation works also included geophysical surveys.

These involve surveyors going off-trail into the forest to collect data using handheld equipment. Such surveys are needed to supplement data, as LTA had reduced the number of boreholes drilled in the nature reserve from 72 to 16, in a bid to reduce impact within the sensitive habitats. "Geophysical works and post-site investigation fauna monitoring activities are still ongoing," said the LTA spokesman.

The works are expected to be completed by the end of this year, the authority had said earlier.

Expected to be ready in 2030, the 50km Cross Island Line will stretch from Changi to Jurong.

The authorities are considering two paths for the line - a 4km route, half of which would be under the nature reserve, and a "skirting alignment" that would take a 9km route around it.

While the latter option is expected to tack on $2 billion to the cost of constructing the line, it could allow for an additional station to serve Thomson residents.

It would also satisfy nature groups which have raised concerns about the environmental impact of running an MRT line under the reserve, which is a treasure trove of biodiversity and home to critically endangered animals such as the Sunda pangolin.

The LTA spokesman said that findings from the site investigation works will be used in the next phase of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which will assess the impact of the construction and operations for both alignments.

The Love Our MacRitchie Forest volunteer group said it appreciated the authorities' engagement with the nature groups, and hoped that it would continue.

"We would like to see the results of the monitoring activities made available for the public to view," said its spokesman Chloe Tan.

"Should the findings of the soil investigation works recommend that the Cross Island Line be aligned through the CCNR, we hope that Phase 2 of the EIA and monitoring activities will be conducted with the same (or even more) rigour to ensure that wildlife will not be affected by the construction works."

The first phase of the EIA, announced in February last year, had looked at the soil works and how to reduce their impact.

A key finding was that the works would have a "moderate" impact on plants and animals there, but only if measures to reduce impact are strictly implemented.

For the alternative route around the reserve, the impact of soil investigation works along Lornie Road was deemed to be "negligible", and "minor" for areas near Venus Drive and a golf course.

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Straw-free Tuesdays get youths started on plastic-lite journey

KELLY NG Today Online 18 Oct 17;

SINGAPORE — In a bid to get youngsters to use less plastic, an environmental activist has teamed up with four schools in northwestern Singapore to do without drinking straws once a week.

Ms Aarti Giri, 38, is expecting more schools to come on board next year. Five have already signalled their interest to join the initiative at the start of the new school year.

Since last month, the drinks stalls at Regent Secondary, Nan Chiau High, Pei Hwa Secondary and Nan Chiau Primary schools have gone straw-free on Tuesdays.

Ms Giri, who founded the non-profit group Plastic Lite Singapore last year, said she targeted straws because they made for a simple way to start cutting back on plastic. "Even without a straw, the taste of the drink itself doesn't change," she said. "Cutting straws is a habit that people can easily (adopt) ... Unlike, for instance, (doing without disposable) spoons."

The entrepreneur, who runs a business selling bags woven from a durable vegetable fibre called jute, started giving talks in schools to raise environmental awareness in February this year. She has reached out to about 16 primary and secondary schools so far, mostly with the help of North West Community Development Council.

The straw-free initiative was a way to "bridge what was taught with action", she said.

Although some may say the actual amount of plastic waste reduced through her effort is small, Ms Giri said it would plant a seed in the minds of the younger generation.

Elsewhere in the world, straw-free campaigns are a popular way to raise awareness of the growing problem of plastic waste, which blights beaches and oceans and causes harm to marine life such as sea turtles. According to a Guardian report in June, an estimated four to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic end up in the ocean each year.

Teachers overseeing the effort in their schools agree the "small step" makes a difference. Regent Secondary's Ms Celia Loong, who teaches Chinese language, said the school plans to increase the number of no-straw days from next year.

Chemistry teacher Ms Leow Shie Hui, who oversees Nan Chiau High's Green Club, said: "There is a possibility of even phasing out straws ... This is a simple change in habit. Every individual has to make a small step."

The school's students are hoping to go completely straw-free next year.

Ms Giri wants to extend the movement by working with food and beverage outlets to serve straws only on request — another measure that has gained ground in countries like the United States. According to a global alliance called Plastic Pollution Coalition, about 1,800 restaurants, organisations and schools worldwide have eliminated plastic straws or implemented a straws-on-request policy.

Eateries that are "straw-lite zones" will provide opportunities to talk about reducing plastic use, she said. Anchorvale Community Club in Sengkang is planning to team up with eateries in Seletar Mall and coffeeshops in the area to eliminate straws.

Straws make up 3 to 12 per cent of litter collected at coastal cleanups here, according to data collected by the International Coastal Cleanup, Singapore.

"As with all single-use plastic products, straws are economically and environmentally unsustainable ... It is something that can easily be let go (of) and we can play a part in that," said Ms Giri.

She also hopes to introduce Bounce Bag, a reusable bag-sharing initiative at supermarkets. With the help of volunteers, she has collected over 600 reusable bags from residents and is currently in discussions with supermarkets and several grassroots organisations.

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Malaysia: Federal govt to spend RM17.5 million to restore Kelantan beaches ravaged by erosions

Sharifah Mahsinah Abdullah New Straits Times 18 Oct 17;

KOTA BARU: The government will carry out recovery projects of two beaches in Kelantan which have been seriously affected by erosion over the decades.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the projects covering 3km of beaches were expected to cost RM17.5 million and would start early next year.

"Following the success of the Pantai Cahaya Bulan (PCB)'s project which cost about RM20 million, the government will use the same method for Pantai Mek Mas and Pantai Pulau Kundur here.

"With the same patterns of waves, weather and sea in PCB, the projects will likely be carried out smoothly at Pantai Mek Mas and Pantai Pulau Kundur," he told reporters after visiting the beaches here today.

Wan Junaidi said the PCB's project proved to be a success in two years time by using the “beach nourishment and rock revetment” systems.

"The new projects in Pantai Mek Mas and Pantai Pulau Kundur are expected to complete between 12 and 18 months.

"Once completed, the government hopes that the problems faced by the villagers there can be solved.

"It can also bring back tourists to the sites as well as the local traders can resume their business along the beaches," he said.

Wan Junaidi said the government started to trace erosion in the three main beaches in Kelantan in 2013 and the problem had persisted.

"The changes in weather as well as high tides and strong waves have contributed to this," he said.

Earlier, Wan Junaidi attended a briefing on beach erosion at a resort.

Also present at the one-hour meeting were Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) deputy director-general (business sector) Datuk Dr Md Nasir Md Noh and state DID director Kamal Mustapha.

It is learnt that more than 400 villages at the beaches have been affected and houses in the areas are at risks of being destroyed by erosions.


Powerful winds wreaking havoc on Sabah's west coast
ruben sario The Star 18 Oct 17;

KOTA KINABALU: Winds packing speeds of up to 50km per hour uprooted trees and snapped off branches making driving hazardous amid driving rains along Sabah’s west coast, northern and interior districts.

Firemen were kept busy responding to 110 calls of trees and branches falling on houses, roads and vehicles since Oct 16.

Sabah Fire and Rescue Services Department operations room chief Khatizah Rahaban said there were however no casualties reported in those incidents.

She said there were 72 reports of trees or branches falling on roads while there were also 23 calls of houses being damaged in similar incident.

There were also another four reports of vehicles hit by the falling trees.

Fallen trees also damaged chalets on Manukan island near here while roofs of vegetable stalls popular among visitors in Kundasang were blown off by the strong winds.

Also blown off were sections of roofing at the Kian Kok secondary school here.


Strong winds, rough seas warning
Bernama New Straits Times 18 Oct 17;

KUALA LUMPUR: Strong winds and rough seas are expected to occur over waters off Sulu until Saturday, Oct 21.

According to a statement by the Malaysian Meteorological Department today, the southwesterly winds at 50-60 km per hour with waves of up to 4.5 meters would be dangerous to small boats.

Meanwhile, strong wind warnings and rough seas (first category) are also expected in the waters off Reef North, Layang-Layang and Palawan until Saturday, Oct. 21.

The southwesterly winds of 40-50 km per hour and waves of up to 3.5 meters high are expected to occur over the period.

The conditions were dangerous to small boats, sea recreation and sea sports.–BERNAMA

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Thailand: Trang fishermen deny dugong-hunting claims

Kanita Seetong The Nation 18 Oct 17;

Conservationists and fishermen in Trang province have denied claims that dugong hunters are active in their area. They have demanded that Thanya Netithammakun, who heads the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, either substantiate these claims with evidence or provide further explanation.

These claims, they said, tarnished their credibility despite their ongoing and serious efforts to protect wildlife and the environment in the area. Earlier, Thanya said dugongs were hunted and killed for their meat, tusks and bones. Dugong meat is sold as food at Bt150 per kilogram, and tusks and bones are used for amulet making, he said. Thanya also claimed that dugong meat was available on Libong island, upsetting the network of conservation groups and local fishermen in Trang.

These locals say that dugong hunting has not existed in their areas since 1993. “We have strongly opposed such hunting. During the past 20 years, we have never seen anyone hunting dugongs in our province’s seawaters,” a local conservationist said.

He said that local dugong population had been shrinking in recent years only because of illegal fishing tools. According to him, more than five dugongs sustained fatal wounds from fishing tools each year in Trang. If Thanya really had evidence to support his claims, the locals wanted him to take action against those involved in dugong hunting, he said.

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Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers

Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years, with serious implications for all life on Earth, scientists say
Damian Carrington The Guardian 19 Oct 17;

The abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years, according to a new study that has shocked scientists.

Insects are an integral part of life on Earth as both pollinators and prey for other wildlife and it was known that some species such as butterflies were declining. But the newly revealed scale of the losses to all insects has prompted warnings that the world is “on course for ecological Armageddon”, with profound impacts on human society.

The new data was gathered in nature reserves across Germany but has implications for all landscapes dominated by agriculture, the researchers said.

The cause of the huge decline is as yet unclear, although the destruction of wild areas and widespread use of pesticides are the most likely factors and climate change may play a role. The scientists were able to rule out weather and changes to landscape in the reserves as causes, but data on pesticide levels has not been collected.

“The fact that the number of flying insects is decreasing at such a high rate in such a large area is an alarming discovery,” said Hans de Kroon, at Radboud University in the Netherlands and who led the new research.

“Insects make up about two-thirds of all life on Earth [but] there has been some kind of horrific decline,” said Prof Dave Goulson of Sussex University, UK, and part of the team behind the new study. “We appear to be making vast tracts of land inhospitable to most forms of life, and are currently on course for ecological Armageddon. If we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse.”

The research, published in the journal Plos One, is based on the work of dozens of amateur entomologists across Germany who began using strictly standardised ways of collecting insects in 1989. Special tents called malaise traps were used to capture more than 1,500 samples of all flying insects at 63 different nature reserves.

When the total weight of the insects in each sample was measured a startling decline was revealed. The annual average fell by 76% over the 27 year period, but the fall was even higher – 82% – in summer, when insect numbers reach their peak.

Previous reports of insect declines have been limited to particular insects, such European grassland butterflies, which have fallen by 50% in recent decades. But the new research captured all flying insects, including wasps and flies which are rarely studied, making it a much stronger indicator of decline.

The fact that the samples were taken in protected areas makes the findings even more worrying, said Caspar Hallmann at Radboud University, also part of the research team: “All these areas are protected and most of them are well-managed nature reserves. Yet, this dramatic decline has occurred.”

The amateur entomologists also collected detailed weather measurements and recorded changes to the landscape or plant species in the reserves, but this could not explain the loss of the insects. “The weather might explain many of the fluctuations within the season and between the years, but it doesn’t explain the rapid downward trend,” said Martin Sorg from the Krefeld Entomological Society in Germany, who led the amateur entomologists.

Goulson said a likely explanation could be that the flying insects perish when they leave the nature reserves. “Farmland has very little to offer for any wild creature,” he said. “But exactly what is causing their death is open to debate. It could be simply that there is no food for them or it could be, more specifically, exposure to chemical pesticides, or a combination of the two.”

In September, a chief scientific adviser to the UK government warned that regulators around the world have falsely assumed that it is safe to use pesticides at industrial scales across landscapes and that the “effects of dosing whole landscapes with chemicals have been largely ignored”.

The scientists said further work is urgently needed to corroborate the new findings in other regions and to explore the issue in more detail. While most insects do fly, it may be that those that don’t, leave nature reserves less often and are faring better. It is also possible that smaller and larger insects are affected differently, and the German samples have all been preserved and will be further analysed.

In the meantime, said De Kroon: “We need to do less of the things that we know have a negative impact, such as the use of pesticides and the disappearance of farmland borders full of flowers.”

Lynn Dicks at the University of East Anglia, UK, and not involved in the new research said the work was convincing. “It provides important new evidence for an alarming decline that many entomologists have suspected is occurring for some time.”

“If total flying insect biomass is genuinely declining at this rate – about 6% per year – it is extremely concerning,” she said. “Flying insects have really important ecological functions, for which their numbers matter a lot. They pollinate flowers: flies, moths and butterflies are as important as bees for many flowering plants, including some crops. They provide food for many animals – birds, bats, some mammals, fish, reptiles and amphibians. Flies, beetles and wasps are also predators and decomposers, controlling pests and cleaning up the place generally.”

Another way of sampling insects – car windscreens – has often been anecdotally used to suggest a major decline, with people remembering many more bugs squashed on their windscreens in the past.

“I think that is real,” said Goulson. “I drove right across France and back this summer – just when you’d expect your windscreen to be splattered all over – and I literally never had to stop to clean the windscreen.”

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Best of our wild blogs: 18 Oct 17

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Algae at Kranji Reservoir turns waters a murky green, PUB says no cause for alarm

Lydia Lam Straits Times 17 Oct 17;

SINGAPORE - Green algal growth was spotted in Kranji Reservoir on Tuesday (Oct 17), but water agency PUB has assured the public that such growth is not uncommon and poses no danger.

Photos sent in by a reader of The Straits Times, taken on Tuesday, show murky waters at the reservoir coated with a thick green hue.

A spokesman for PUB confirmed with ST that the photos show algal growth.

Singapore's weather creates favourable conditions for such growth, and the appearance of algae depends on weather conditions.

According to PUB, nutrients from sources in water catchments such as from pet waste, food waste, fertilisers, detergents and sediments, are food for algae, which are microscopic aquatic organisms.

"When these nutrients are available and when conditions are favourable, such as (when there is) warm water and sufficient sunlight, algae may grow rapidly," said PUB in an advisory on its website.

The green tint created comes from the chlorophyll, a photosynthetic pigment in algal cells which they use to make food.

This is why algae is more visible from the early morning to the mid-afternoon, when sunlight is plentiful.

Algae tends to concentrate on the surface of calm waters, and can often appear as a concentrated green layer known as scum at certain reservoir shores or canal edges due to wind directions.

PUB assured the public in its advisory that it monitors water quality closely with real-time water quality sensors in reservoirs and major waterways, collecting samples to analyse algae and chlorophyll levels.

PUB removes algal scum in reservoirs and works with the National Environment Agency's Department of Public Cleanliness to clean waterways daily.

It is also working on an improved algal management plan, including enhanced monitoring tools and ways to manage algal growth.

The waters from the reservoirs undergo several layers of treatments, removing algae effectively, PUB said.

Earlier this month, parts of the Singapore River turned green because of algal overgrowth, startling several passers-by.

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Indonesia: Authority foils attempt to smuggle endangered hornbills in Makassar

Antara 17 Oct 17;

Makassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - The Security and Law Enforcement Agency (BPPH) of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for Sulawesi has foiled an attempt to smuggle four endangered knobbed horbills (Rhyticeros Cassidix) to Makassar, capital of South Sulawesi province.

"We handed over the four Sulawesi wrinkled horbills to BKSDA of Central Sulawesi to take care. These birds are protected species. Local people call them Alo birds," Head of BPPH Muhammad Nur said here on Monday.

One female and three male hornbills were confiscated.

The birds were transported using a rented car from Buol District to Palu City in Central Sulawesi.

The exotic birds were hidden inside two cardboards and said as if they were poultry to the driver.

The car transporting the hornbills was intercepted by local law enforcement officers who were conducting a raid on street in Palu.

No address was written on the cardboard, but only a cellphone number of the package receivers has been collected by the officers.

Nur said that the Sulawesis wrinkled hornbill is considered one of the most beautiful species of all 54 species of hornbill worldwide.

However, Nur said that the population of hornbill in Indonesia, especially in Sulawesi, has declined due to deforestation and lost habitat.

"The decline in food supply and nesting places as well as poaching on the hornbill are the other causes of the declining population of hornbill," Nur said.

The Government of Indonesia has included the Sulawesi wrinkled hornbill as a protected species under Law no.7/1999.

The wrinkled hornbill, also known as the knobbed hornbill, is a colorful hornbill native to Indonesia. It is the fauna symbol of South Sulawesi Province.

This large black hornbill has a yellow bill, white tail feathers, pale blue skin around the eye, blackish feet and bare dark blue throat.

Endemic to Indonesia, the knobbed hornbill is found in Sulawesi, Buton, Lembeh, Togian and Muna Island.(*)

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Indonesia: Two elephants die of electrocution in Sumatra

Antara 17 Oct 17;

Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - Two Sumatran elephants were found dead due to suspected electrocution in East Aceh District of Sumatras Province of Aceh on Sunday.

"The carcasses of the elephants were found completely with their tusks. The elephants were suspected to have died after they came in contact with an electric fence installed by local residents," Head of Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of Aceh, Sapto Aji Prabowo said here on Monday.

The dead elephants were found by the locals in Semedang Jaya Hamlet, Seumanah Jaya Gampong, Rantau Peuruelak, East Aceh, on Sunday at around 11.00 a.m. local time. They then reported the incident to Leuser Conservation Forum and to the BKSDA of Aceh.

The elephants were a 10-year-old male and a 20-year-old female.

A joint team of BKSDA of Aceh, Environment and Forestry Law Enforcement Agency of Sumatra, East Aceh Police, and Leuser Conservation Forum has been deployed to the location to conduct autopsy of the elephants.

"The autopsy was done by taking samples from organs to be tested in laboratory. The result of the autopsy and the temporary conclusion showed that the elephants died due to electrocution," Prabowo revealed.

The autopsy result showed that the elephants died on Saturday night (Oct 14).

BKSDA has filed a report with the local police of East Aceh.

"We hope the law is enforced in this case. We also call on residents not to install electric fence around their garden as it not only threatens wildlife but also humans themselves," Prabowo remarked.

The degradation of natural habitat due to deforestation has become a major problem in Indonesias Sumatra Island. This often leads to conflict between wild life and human as animals are driven from their forest habitats, which are fast disappearing.

Sumatra Island is home to several endemic species such as Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), orangutan (Pongo abelii), and sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), all of which are threatened species.(*)

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Plant more trees to combat climate change: scientists

Alister Doyle Reuters 17 Oct 17;

OSLO (Reuters) - Planting forests and other activities that harness the power of nature could play a major role in limiting global warming under the 2015 Paris agreement, an international study showed on Monday.

Natural climate solutions, also including protection of carbon-storing peat lands and better management of soils and grasslands, could account for 37 percent of all actions needed by 2030 under the 195-nation Paris plan, it said.

Combined, the suggested “regreening of the planet” would be equivalent to halting all burning of oil worldwide, it said.

“Better stewardship of the land could have a bigger role in fighting climate change than previously thought,” the international team of scientists said of findings published in the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The estimates for nature’s potential, led by planting forests, were up to 30 percent higher than those envisaged by a U.N. panel of climate scientists in a 2014 report, it said.

Trees soak up heat-trapping carbon dioxide as they grow and release it when they burn or rot. That makes forests, from the Amazon to Siberia, vast natural stores of greenhouse gases.

Overall, better management of nature could avert 11.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year by 2030, the study said, equivalent to China’s current carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use.

The Paris climate agreement, weakened by U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision in June to pull out, seeks to limit a rise in global temperature to “well below” two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times.

Current government pledges to cut emissions are too weak to achieve the 2C goal, meant to avert more droughts, more powerful storms, downpours and heat waves.

“Fortunately, this research shows we have a huge opportunity to reshape our food and land use systems,” Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, said in a statement of Monday’s findings.

Climate change could jeopardize production of crops such as corn, wheat, rice and soy even as a rising global population will raise demand, he said.

The study said that some of the measures would cost $10 a ton or less to avert a ton of carbon dioxide, with others up to $100 a ton to qualify as “cost-effective” by 2030.

“If we are serious about climate change, then we are going to have to get serious about investing in nature,” said Mark Tercek, chief executive officer of The Nature Conservancy, which led the study.

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