Malaysia: 80pc decrease in dengue cases in hotspots

VEENA BABULAL and TEOH PEI YING New Straits Times 4 Mar 19;

KUALA LUMPUR: THE government’s bid to battle dengue using Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes appears to be on the right track, with seven dengue hotspots recording an 80 per cent decrease in dengue cases.

This was the outcome of a pilot study undertaken since March 2017 in neighbourhoods in Keramat here and in Shah Alam, Selangor, where three million Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were released.

The project aims to assess the effectiveness of using Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes to block the ability of the mosquito population to transmit dengue to human beings.

Speaking to the New Straits Times, Institute for Medical Research (IMR) director Datuk Dr Fadzilah Kamaludin said once the “invasion” of the Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes reached its peak, more than 90 per cent of dengue transmission would be interrupted.

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Indonesia: Land fires trigger haze in several areas in North Kalimantan

Antara 5 Mar 19;

Tanjung Selor, N Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - Forest and land fires continue to haunt North Kalimantan, as they have occurred daily in the province over the last several weeks.

The fires began to produce haze, Muhammad Fandi, head of the North Kalimantan disaster mitigation office, confirmed here, Tuesday.

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Indonesia: Endangered orangutans 'doomed to extinction' as Chinese-built hydro dam set to rip through habitat

The Tapanuli orangutan was discovered in 2017 and fewer than 800 are believed to exist
Harry Cockburn The Independent 4 Mar 19;

A critically endangered species of orangutan which lives in one forest in Indonesia is in danger of rapid extinction after a court ruled construction of a new hydro-electric dam can go ahead, despite a legal challenge by environmental groups.

The Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) was discovered by scientists in 2017, and just 800 individuals are believed to exist, making it the rarest great ape species on the planet.

But the construction of the Batang Toru Dam in North Sumatra, backed by the Bank of China, as part of the country’s “Belt and Road” infrastructure project, will rip through the orangutan’s habitat.

The state administrative court in North Sumatra’s capital, Medan, ruled construction can continue despite critics of the hydro dam providing evidence that its environmental impact assessment was deeply flawed.

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Vietnam calls for 'drastic measures' to fight African swine fever

Reuters Yahoo News 5 Mar 19;

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's prime minister has called for "drastic measures" to fight the spread of African swine fever in the Southeast Asian country, state media reported on Tuesday.

The highly contagious disease, which is incurable in pigs but harmless to humans, has spread rapidly across neighboring China since August, and has been found in seven areas in Vietnam, the state-run Vietnam News Service reported.

"We should combat the epidemic as if we are fighting against the enemy," Phuc said in a meeting with regional officials on Monday, according to Tuesday's report, which said Phuc had called for "drastic measures" from the "whole political system" to fight the disease.

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Ocean heatwaves devastate wildlife, worse to come

Marlowe HOOD, AFP Yahoo News 5 Mar 19;

Paris (AFP) - Invisible to people but deadly to marine life, ocean heatwaves have damaged ecosystems across the globe and are poised to become even more destructive, according to the first study to measure worldwide impacts with a single yardstick.

The number of marine heatwave days has increased by more than 50 percent since the mid-20th century, researchers reported in the journal Nature Climate Change.

"Globally, marine heatwaves are becoming more frequent and prolonged, and record-breaking events have been observed in most ocean basins in the past decade," said lead author Dan Smale, a researcher at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, Britain.

Above the ocean watermark, on Earth's surface, 18 of the last 19 years have been the warmest on record, leading to more severe storms, droughts, heatwaves and flooding.

"Just as atmospheric heatwaves can destroy crops, forests and animal populations, marine heatwaves can devastate ocean ecosystems," Smale told AFP.

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Some Great Barrier Reef coral suffering lasting effects from mass bleaching events

Several reefs have not recovered from back-to-back bleaching, surveys have found, but others remain in good condition
Lisa Cox The Guardian 4 Mar 19;

Coral reefs in the far north of the Great Barrier Reef are showing lasting effects from the mass bleaching of 2016 and 2017 and in some cases their health has declined further, according to fresh surveys by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Preliminary results of surveys by Aims scientists in January show several reefs have not recovered from the back-to-back bleaching, although the agency said some reefs they surveyed were in good condition.

Researchers undertook a 25-day expedition to remote far northern reefs, at a cost of $1.4m, partly funded by the Great Barrier Reef Foundation from money it was awarded in a record grant by the government last year.

Some of the reefs examined had not been surveyed before.

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Best of our wild blogs: 4 Mar 19

Shore fun for kids during the March school holidays
Celebrating Singapore Shores!

When a Gymnodoris loses its spots
Hantu Blog

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Only one in 10 young Singaporeans recycles electronic waste: Survey

Cheryl Teh Straits Times 3 Mar 19;

SINGAPORE - Only one in 10 young Singaporeans recycles electronic waste, and 34 per cent of these do it wrongly, according to latest survey results.

This is a trend that should be reversed to help save and extend the lifespan of Singapore's only landfill on Pulau Semakau, said Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli on Sunday (March 3) at an event to raise awareness on electronic waste, or e-waste.

He said toxic materials in e-waste, such as heavy metals and mercury, contaminate the incinerated ash that is dumped into the Semakau landfill.

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Malaysia: Hot weather a normal phenomenon - MET dept

Bernama New Straits Times 4 Mar 19;

KUALA LUMPUR: The public has been urged not to be overly concerned about the hot and dry weather as it is a normal phenomenon that occurs every year, said Meteorological deputy director-general (Operation), Jailan Simon.

However, he advised the public to drink a lot of water and reduce outdoor activities to avoid being exposed to heat strokes and other health problems.

Jalian said the hot weather, which occurred between February and mid-April, was the end of the northeast monsoon that caused low rainfall.

“At this time the sun is hot, with it approaching the equator. We experience this situation every year, but we do not have to be overly worried as we do not expect to have extreme hot weather.

“However, the weather will not be as hot by the end of April. This is because we have a monsoon transition period going into the end of March and the hot weather will decline by the end of April,” he told Bernama News Channel (BNC) here.

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Indonesia: BNPB spokesperson laments theft of wildfire warning tools

Kharishar Kahfi The Jakarta Post 3 Mar 19;

National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho has lamented the theft of a forest and land fire early warning system in South Sumatra, a province prone to wildfires.

On Feb. 28, National Peatland Restoration Agency (BRG) education task group head Suwignya Utama said at least five Sipalaga (wildfire early detection systems) had gone missing since 2018, as reported by Antara. Each was valued at around Rp 100 million (US$7,091).

Responding to the news, Sutopo took to his Twitter @Sutopo_PN on Saturday evening to say: “Not only a tsunami early-warning buoy but also forest fire detection units [....], seismographs [and] tsunami warning sirens were stolen. We barely have enough, yet they were stolen.”

He said the theft was a “non-structural problem that is not easily solved, similar to littering”.

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Record Australian heat brings fire to a scorched land

Alison Bevege, Reuters Yahoo News 3 Mar 19;

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Firefighters battled 25 blazes across the Australian state of Victoria on Sunday as a record-breaking heatwave delivered the hottest start to March on record for the southern third of the country.

The continent is prone to deadly blazes thanks to its combination of remote terrain, high summer temperatures and flammable eucalyptus bush.

A severe four-day heatwave has brought fire weather across the southern parts of Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania over the weekend.

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Indonesia: Joint team has put out 80 percent of peatland fires in Nagan Raya

Antara 4 Mar 19;

(File Photo) - Peatland fires in Aceh. A joint team of the Indonesian military, police and regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) has put out some 80 percent of peatland fires in Nagan Raya District, Aceh Province.(ANTARA FOTO/SYIFA YULINNAS)

Nagan Raya, Aceh (ANTARA) - A joint team of the Indonesian military, police and regional disaster mitigation agency (BPBD) has put out some 80 percent of peatland fires in Nagan Raya District, Aceh Province.

"The joint team has put out some 80 percent of the fires," Commander of Nagan Raya district military command (Dandim 0116) Lt.Col Kav. Nanak Yuliana said in a statement here on Sunday.

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