We can't stop climate change in a deforesting world

If forest and peatland destruction continues unabated, we will never be able to prevent a rise in global temperatures
Ben Caldecott, guardian.co.uk 26 Aug 08;

Forests and peatlands have a unique role to play in the battle against climate change. Living forests and peatlands can sequester carbon emissions, while dying ones release previously stored carbon. Every year the annihilation of these two habitats generates more greenhouse gas than every car, truck, train and plane on earth. This is roughly the same as the amount of CO2 that is emitted by the United States or China each year.

Politicians and policymakers too frequently ignore this critical area. Yes, it is vital that we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, by changing behaviour, improving energy efficiency, investing in renewables and bringing forward new low-carbon technologies. But, it is impossible to prevent dangerous climate change by doing this alone. If forest and peatland destruction continues unabated, we will never be able to stop climate change.

In our report published by Policy Exchange and entitled, The Root of the Matter: Carbon Sequestration in Forests and Peatlands, we argue that preventing deforestation and stopping peatland destruction are some of the cheapest and most effective ways of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. These methods of reducing emissions are dramatically cheaper than all other mitigation options currently available – as low as US$0.1 per tonne of CO2.

Fortunately, stopping their destruction can be done comparatively quickly and cheaply. Moreover, the prevention of deforestation and peatland destruction requires no technological development and little capital investment. These are important factors as we enter a prolonged economic downturn.

The economics is startling – if developed countries spent the same amount of money on preventing deforestation and the destruction of peatlands as they do on biofuel subsidies (US$15bn), this would halve the total costs of tackling climate change. In addition, the protection of these habitats yields a plethora of valuable ecosystem services, particularly in the poorest countries.

In the UK alone, biofuel subsidies cost £550 million annually. In 2005, a similar investment in preventing deforestation and peatland destruction could have offset the equivalent of up to 37% of all UK CO2 emissions. Yet current government policy places no value on protecting forests and peatlands.

In our report, we propose the introduction of market mechanisms that can ensure investment is directed into forest and peatland conservation, as well as a strategy to make this happen as quickly as possible. To be truly effective, a global response is needed, but the UK has an opportunity to lead the way. All this can be done within our current budget, by ending wasteful and damaging biofuel subsides. For the sake of our future prosperity we can and must achieve massive emission reductions. Forest and peatland conservation is one of the few methods at our disposal, where we can do this now and at low cost.

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Scrapping Fuel Subsidies Can Help Climate - UN Study

Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 27 Aug 08;

ACCRA - Abolishing subsidies on fossil fuels could cut world greenhouse gas emissions by up to 6 percent and also nudge up world economic growth, a UN report showed on Tuesday.

Subsidies on oil, gas or coal are meant to help the poor by lowering the price of energy but the report, issued on the sidelines of a 160-nation UN climate meeting in Ghana, said they often backfired by mainly benefiting wealthier people.

The study estimated that energy subsidies, almost all for fossil fuels, totalled about US$300 billion a year or 0.7 percent of world gross domestic product (GDP).

"Cancelling these subsidies might reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 6 percent a year while contributing 0.1 percent to global GDP," it said.

People forced to pay higher prices for energy would likely cut back on use of fossil fuels, the main source of greenhouse gases from human activities.

"Governments should urgently review their energy subsidies and begin phasing out the harmful ones," said Achim Steiner, head of the Nairobi-based UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

"Many fossil fuel subsidies are introduced for political reasons but are simply propping up and perpetuating inefficiencies in the global economy," he said in a statement.

Subsidies were biggest in Russia, with about US$40 billion a year spent mainly on making natural gas cheaper, ahead of Iran with US$37 billion. China, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia, Ukraine and Egypt also had big subsidies on fuels.

"Some countries spend more on subsidies than on health and education combined ... they stand in the way of more environmentally friendly technologies," Kaveh Zahedi, climate change coordinator at UNEP, told a news conference.


POOR

The report said liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) subsidies in India, aimed at getting fuel to poor households, totalled US$1.7 billion in the first half of 2008. But the report said: "LPG subsidies are mainly benefiting higher-income households".

Smarter subsidies such as tax breaks, financial incentives or other market mechanisms could generate benefits for the economy and environment if properly targeted, it said. It pointed to subsidies to promote wind energy in Germany and Spain aimed at helping to shift from fossil fuels.

Well-devised subsidies in Chile had spread rural electrification to 90 percent of the population from 50 percent in 12 years, it said.

Governments in Accra are working on the building blocks of a new climate treaty meant to be agreed at the end of 2009 to help slow warming temperatures that may bring more heatwaves, more powerful storms and disruptions to water and food supplies.

UNEP also said Africa was starting to benefit from a UN project to help investments in clean technologies such as wind or geothermal power. Nations such as China, India and Brazil have so far won almost all of the 3,500 projects.

New projects had been registered in recent months in Mozambique, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mali and Senegal, UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttall said.

And a UNEP study projected that Africa might get 230 such projects by 2012, generating up to US$1 billion in credits. (Additional reporting by Daniel Wallis in Nairobi, editing Mary Gabriel)

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Africa Has "Golden Opportunity" on Climate - UN

Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 27 Aug 08;

ACCRA - Africa has a "golden opportunity" in UN climate talks to ensure that the world's poorest continent gets help to cope with global warming, the head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat said on Tuesday.

Yvo de Boer said Africa was still lagging in attracting investments in green technology to help slow rising greenhouse gases and in getting help to adapt to the effects of droughts, floods, rising seas and less predictable rains.

Speaking during 160-nation Aug. 21-27 climate talks in Accra, de Boer urged African nations to insist on their interests regarding a new UN climate treaty due to be agreed by the end of 2009 in Copenhagen.

"I really tried to emphasise here that this process up to Copenhagen is a golden opporutnity for African countries to make sure that the next regime does meet their needs in a much better way," he said.

"They need to formulate what is essential to them to act, both to limit emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change," he said.

"Africa has to know what's to the liking of Africa."

African nations are among those that have done least to stoke climate change, blamed mainly on emissions of gases from burning fossil fuels since the Industrial Revolution, and yet is among the continents most vulnerable to a changing climate.

A UN Climate Panel report last year, for instance, projected that up to 250 million people in Africa would be living in areas of stress on water supplies by 2020.


LAGGING

And China, India and Brazil have attracted far more investments than Africa under a UN project that lets rich nations invest in developing world projects to cut greenhouse gases -- such as wind farms or destruction of industrial gases -- and claim credits back home.

"Africa is still not profiting from the instruments we have," de Boer said.

But a separate UN report on Tuesday said things may be changing -- clean energy projects were emerging in nations including Mali, Mozambique and Madagascar. In Kenya, for instance, one project involved a geothermal scheme.

De Boer said the Accra meeting had made progress in defining how to help slow tropical deforestation -- a source of up to almost 20 percent of greenhouse gases from human activities.

"Countries have developed a better understanding here of how they want to deal with deforestation, how they want to reward people for forest conservation," he said.

And there was a feeling that sectoral targets, such as goals for maximum emissions from producing a tonne of aluminium, steel or cement, were useful within nations but not as part of a binding international system.

"I think there's a strong sentiment in the room, especially among developing countries, that a decision to address a sector is something you decide at the national level," he said.

"It's not something that you could or should try to impose at the international level," he said. Many poor nations fear that sectoral targets are a prelude for trade barriers on less efficient industries.(Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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UN Climate Talks Advance on Forests, Industry

Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 27 Aug 08;

ACCRA - UN climate talks in Ghana are making progress on ways to help developing nations slow deforestation and have eased disputes over use of greenhouse gas targets for industrial sectors, delegates said on Monday.

"It's moving pretty well now," Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, told reporters of the Aug. 21-27 talks which are defining the building blocks of a new UN global warming pact meant to be agreed by the end of 2009.

"We're getting beyond some of the rhetoric," he said of the 160-nation meeting among about 1,500 delegates. "People are beginning to understand each other better."

The Accra meeting is the third session this year under a plan to agree a broad new climate treaty by the end of 2009 to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, which sets greenhouse gas targets for just 37 developed nations.

Accra is focusing largely on ways to encourage tropical developing nations to slow the rate of deforestation and debating whether industries such as steel, aluminium or cement should have international benchmarks for efficiency.

"The Accra meeting has been very successful so far," said Luiz Figueiredo Machado, a Brazilian expert chairing talks on new ways for countries ranging from the United States to China to curb emissions.

Accra is not meant to end with any firm agreements.

Many delegates left the last session, in Germany in June, saying the talks were lagging in an assault on climate change that could drive more species to extinction, bring more desertification, floods, heatwaves and rising seas.


TREES

"The chances that it (a new UN scheme to slow deforestation) will go ahead, in my mind, are much higher," Machado told Reuters. He said that there was an "overwhelming consensus" on the importance of the project.

Trees soak up carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, as they grow and release it when they are burnt, often by poor farmers clearing land for farming. UN data suggests it accounts for 20 percent of greenhouse gases from human sources.

Cash to slow deforestation is widely seen as an incentive to get poor nations to start slowing their rising emissions of greenhouse gases, mainly from burning fossil fuels.

Emily Brickell, forest campaigner with the WWF environmental group, said it might cost between US$20 to $30 billion a year to set up a system to safeguard tropical forests, perhaps using a mixture of carbon markets or donor funds.

The talks are also seeking to bridge differences over whether to impose sectoral targets for industries, an idea championed this year by Japan.

Some developing nations, smarting from the collapse of world trade talks last month, fear such benchmarks could be a backdoor way to impose trade barriers on their less efficient producers of metals or cement.

But Japan clearly stated during the talks that it did not favour imposing common international standards. "What I saw and heard in our debates on sectoral actions and approaches was a very fruitful debate," Machado said. "It clarified the issue."

Ghana Climate Talks Make Progress to Save Forests
Alister Doyle, PlanetArk 28 Aug 08;

ACCRA - The world has made progress on ways to save tropical forests as part of a planned new UN pact to slow global warming, the UN's top climate official said at 160-nation talks in Ghana ending on Wednesday.


"We are still on track, the process has speeded up," Yvo de Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said of the Aug. 21-27 negotiations. "There is a growing sense of urgency."

He said the meeting expressed widening understanding of a need to protect forests and came up with many ideas of how to do it. Burning of forests to clear land emits about 20 percent of greenhouse gases from human activities.

"We cannot come to a meaningful solution on climate change without coming to grips with deforestation," he said. Plants soak up carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, as they grow and release it when burnt down or when they rot.

Governments are trying to find a deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, binding 37 developed nations to curb greenhouse gases until 2012. Neither the United States nor China, the top two greenhouse emitters, have limits under Kyoto.

Accra is the third meeting in a marathon meant to end with a new UN accord by the end of 2009 to slow rising temperatures that the UN Climate Panel says will bring more heatwaves, droughts, rising seas and more powerful storms.

Countries came up with proposals to raise tens of billions of dollars in funds for forest protection -- such as a Saudi Arabian call for a levy on the logging industry or a proposal by the Pacific island of Tuvalu to tax air tickets and shipping.

RAILS LAID

De Boer said a highlight of Accra was agreement that a text on possible new actions to fight global warming would be drawn up before the next meeting in Poznan, Poland, in December.

"We may have something in Poznan pretty close to a negotiating text," he said.

But many delegates cautioned that a deal was still way off, with deep splits about how far rich and poor nations should share out future burdens of cutting greenhouse gases, mainly emitted by burning fossil fuels.

Brice Lalonde, representing France which holds the rotating European Union presidency, likened the talks to a railway journey. "We have laid the rails," he told Reuters. "Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed".

Environmental group Greenpeace said the meeting lacked urgency and accused Japan, Canada, Russia and Australia of doing too little. "In Accra there have been some positives and negatives but progress has not been enough," said Bill Hare of Greenpeace.

De Boer said the talks made some progress in ironing out disputes over the use of sectoral approaches for industry, for instance the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by making a tonne of cement, steel or aluminium.

Japan favours such sectoral benchmarks but many poorer nations fear it could be a prelude to international trade barriers on inefficient, polluting producers.

"The talks here have made it clear that sectoral approaches are not about imposing targets. Sectoral approaches are something that a government may or may not choose to do on a national level," de Boer said.

"The meeting has helped to crystallise some ideas, said Angela Anderson of the Washington-based Pew Environment Group.

But she said many delegations were waiting to see who would succeed US President George W. Bush in January 2009. Both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCai (Editing by Dina Kyriakidou)

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Best of our wild blogs: 26 Aug 08

FUN: Finding Urban Nature
a new guidesheet on the raffles museum news blog

Hantu blog adopts a Cyrene sea star
more behind the name and the stars on the hantu blog

Does Singapore have Coral Reefs?
video clip of Jeffrey Low's talk on the sgbeachbum blog

Southern Haunt
video clip of Debby Ng's talk on the sgbeachbum blog

What’s Wrong with Tree-Hugging?
from Champions of the Environment blog

Ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean
on the the Pulau Hantu blog

We adopted Nudistarré!
more about the a naked knobbly lovingly adopted by the naked hermit crabs

Oriental Pied Hornbill in comfort behaviour
on the Bird Ecology Study Group blog

Read more!

'Best Hope At Sustainable Fisheries' Short-changed By Conservation Efforts, Researchers Argue

ScienceDaily 26 Aug 08;

Small scale fisheries produce as much annual catch for human consumption and use less than one-eighth the fuel as their industrial counterparts, but they are dealt a double-whammy by well-intentioned eco-labelling initiatives and ill-conceived fuel subsidies, according to a University of British Columbia study.

Small-scale fisheries are characterized as fishers operating in boats 15 metres or shorter.

“They are our best hope at sustainable fisheries,” says Daniel Pauly, Director of the UBC Fisheries Centre and co-author of a study published in the current issue of the journal Conservation Biology.

The study shows the amount of subsides large-scale, industrial fisheries receive versus small-scale, coastal fisheries. For instance, the average large-scale fisherman receives nearly 200 times the fuel subsidy that the average small-scale fisherman receives.

“This is because small scale fisheries employ more than 12 million people world-wide, compared to half a million in the industrial sector,” says Jennifer Jacquet, study co-author and a PhD Candidate in the UBC Fisheries Centre. “And because small-scale fisheries use less fuel to catch fish.”

“Small-scale fisheries use fishing gear that are more selective and far less destructive to deep sea environments,” says Jacquet. “As a result they discard very little unwanted fish and almost all of their catch is used for human consumption.”

Large-scale fisheries, on the other hand, typically do not target species for direct human consumption and discard an estimated 8-20 million tonnes of unwanted dead fish each year and reduces another 35 million tonnes of their annual catch to fishmeal.

Over the past decade, market-based sustainable seafood initiatives such as eco-labelling have been the predominant strategy for curtailing demand of dwindling fish stocks. The U.S. conservation community alone invested $37 million between 1999 to 2004 to promote certification and “wallet cards” to encourage consumers to purchase seafood caught using sustainable practices.

“For the amount of resources invested, we haven’t seen significant decrease in demand for species for which the global stocks are on the edge of collapse,” says Pauly. “Market-based initiatives, while well-intentioned, unduly discriminate against small scale fishers for their lack of resources to provide data for certification.”

Furthermore, small fishers simply can’t compete on the open market with large fleets. Rashid Sumaila, also of the UBC Fisheries Centre, estimates that governments worldwide subsidize $30-34 billion a year in fishing operations, of which $25-27 billion go to large-scale fleets.

“It’s an unfair disadvantage that in any other industry would have had people up in arms,” says Jacquet. “But small-scale fishers are often in developing countries and have very little political influence.”

Pauly and Jaquet say eliminating government subsidies is the most effective strategy towards significantly reducing pressure on vulnerable global fish stocks.

“Without subsidies, most large-scale fishing operations will be economically unviable,” says Jacquet. “Small scale fishers will have a better chance of thriving in local markets, and global fish stocks will have an opportunity to rebound.”

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Fishing Technology Letting Turtles Off the Hook

WWF 26 Aug 08

Alternative fishing technology has been shown to save turtles while not affecting fish catches, according to a report released by WWF and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).

The report demonstrates how changing from the classic J hook to circular hooks, providing adequate training and tools to release turtles accidentally hooked and enhancing sustainable fishing practices, can dramatically reduce incidental catch (bycatch) of marine turtles without impacting fishing activity.

“The results keep demonstrating that changing to circular hooks is the right choice, since it favours turtle conservation without having an impact on the economy of artisanal fisheries," said Moises Mug, Coordinator of the WWF Bycatch Initiative for the Eastern Pacific. "Together with fishermen we are building a culture for sustainable fishing practices that will guarantee fish stocks in the long term.”

The report - Bycatch Initiative: Eastern Pacific Program, A Vehicle Towards Sustainable Fisheries - is a comprehensive analysis of data collected during four years of work in eight different countries in the Eastern Pacific - Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

“Our goal is to reduce the incidental catch of marine turtles from the long-line fishing operations without affecting the fisheries activity which is a main source of food and income for local communities,” explained Martin Hall, Principal Researcher for the IATTC.

Data gathered showed an overall significant trend of bycatch reduction, with a reduction of up to 89 per cent in the marine turtle bycatch per thousand hooks. Ninety-five per cent of all turtles caught in long-line fishing were recovered alive, while circle hooks performed as well as J hooks in the catch rates of tuna, billfishes and sharks fishery.

“This programme is going beyond an initial focus of saving sea turtles from bycatch, and is creating the groundwork toward sustainable artisanal long-line fishing in the eastern Pacific,” said Amanda Nickson, Global Leader of WWF’s Bycatch Initiative.

“By working co-operatively, collecting data and learning how to improve practices, this programme is living proof that conservation and industry can work together for sustainability.”

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13 more down with chikungunya

Straits Times 26 Aug 08;

A NEW cluster of chikungunya cases has sprung up in the Lim Chu Kang farming area, with five workers falling ill, the Health Ministry said yesterday.

Eight more cases have been discovered elsewhere on the island. The 13 new cases bring the toll so far to 150 this year.

The first two cases that cropped up in Lim Chu Kang involved a 25-year-old Bangladeshi and a 41-year-old Singaporean. Both worked in the vicinity of Lim Chu Kang Agro Technology Park, which is along Lim Chu Kang Lane 2.

Through the screening of 30 workers there last Friday, three others - a Malaysian, a Chinese national and a Myanmar national - tested positive for the virus, which generates symptoms that include fever, rashes and pain in the joints.

Up to 20 National Environment Agency (NEA) officers have been deployed to carry out search- and-destroy operations against mosquito breeding there, according to a statement from the Health Ministry.

The team discovered mosquito breeding in all four farms it has inspected so far and enforcement action will be taken against the owners.

The authorities have found that the best way to stave off chikungunya fever is to prevent mosquito breeding.

The other eight cases around the island included two from Singapore's largest cluster at Kranji Way, where 35 cases have been logged to date.

Four others worked in two other known clusters: Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre and Sungei Kadut.

NEA officers have also discovered and destroyed 82 mosquito breeding sites so far on premises at these three clusters.

The other two new victims were isolated cases. One is a 61-year-old housewife living in Yishun Street 72 while the other is an automation engineer, aged 47, who works at Tuas Link 1. Both have no recent history of travelling overseas.

Seventy of the 150 cases so far have been 'imported cases' mainly concerning people who had visited Malaysia, while the locally-acquired infections can be traced to 18 locations in Singapore.

TEH JOO LIN

5 new cases of chikungunya fever found at Lim Chu Kang area
Lynda Hong, Channel NewsAsia 26 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: A new cluster of chikungunya fever has been identified in the Lim Chu Kang area.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the index cases are a 25-year-old Bangladeshi and a 41-year-old Singaporean.

They were working in the vicinity of the Lim Chu Kang Agro Technology Park, located at Lim Chu Kang Lane 2.

Thirty workers were screened as part of active case detection and three more workers were tested positive for the chikungunya virus.

They are a 23-year-old Malaysian, a 21-year-old Chinese national and a 31-year-old Myanmar national.

The ministry said the total number of cases linked to Lim Chu Kang now stands at five. Investigations are continuing.

Separately, one new case was identified at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, two at Kranji Way, three at Sungei Kadut, and one each at Yishun and Tuas.

To date, a total of 150 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported to MOH this year.

MOH has advised persons who develop symptoms of chikungunya to consult their doctors immediately. These include fever, joint pain and rashes.

Chikungunya fever, like dengue fever, is a mosquito-borne disease. Persons infected with chikungunya fever should be isolated from further mosquito bites so as to reduce the risk of further transmission of the virus. - CNA/vm

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MINDEF says leaked radioactive water from navy ship will not affect public safety

May Wong, Channel NewsAsia 25 Aug 08;

SINGAPORE: During a routine maintenance check this year, the USS Houston, a nuclear-powered US submarine was found to have been leaking trace amounts of radioactive water since June 2006.

The submarine had berthed at Changi Naval Base for five days in September 2006 and Singapore could also have been exposed to the leak.

But Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean explained in Parliament on Monday that the amount of radio activity leak, measured at 0.095 micro curies, was very minimal.

He said: "The US indicated that this was less than the amount of radio activity found in a common smoke detector and would not have any adverse effect on human health, marine life or the environment."

Assurance also came from the Ministry of Defence's (MINDEF's) 24-hour integrated environment monitoring system (IMES) at Changi Naval Base. This checks air quality, water and sea bed samples and can detect any abnormal levels of radiation.

Mr Teo said: "The safety limits are set by our national environmental agency centre of radiation protection and nuclear science. While the USS Houston was in Singapore in 2006, the IMES did not show any abnormal readings."

The defence minister said the US Navy has assured Singapore that their nuclear-powered vessels are designed to extremely stringent standards. These standards include being able to operate in a combat shock environment.

Mr Teo added that Singapore will also continue to look at its own integrated environment monitoring system to ensure that it remains up-to-date. - CNA/vm

No radiation worries: Chee Hean
Straits Times 26 Aug 08;

THE leak of radioactive water into Singapore waters by a visiting US submarine was 'less than the amount of radioactivity found in a common smoke detector', says Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Citing the view of experts, Mr Teo yesterday assured Singaporeans the incident posed no danger to their safety.

The incident took place two years ago, in September 2006, but came to light only last month when the US Navy discovered the leak during routine maintenance of the USS Houston in Hawaii.

Yesterday, Mr Teo detailed in Parliament the steps Singapore subsequently took to establish the risks involved.

He was replying to Mr Michael Palmer (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Defence and Foreign Affairs), who was concerned about the impact of the leak on public safety.

Mr Teo said the US initially alerted only Japan, saying on Aug 1 that the vessel could have contaminated a Nagasaki port, where it had berthed in March.

On Aug 4, Singapore asked the US about the leak. The US Navy said tests found it was at a rate 'slightly above' the vessel's 'stringent' design standards.

However, a US government nuclear laboratory found the amount of the leak was so low even the submarine's monitoring systems could not detect it.

At 0.095 micro curies, the US assessed the amount 'would not have any adverse effect on human health, marine life or the environment', Mr Teo said.

Meanwhile, records of the Defence Ministry's monitoring system show no abnormal radiation levels were detected from Sept 22 to Sept 26, 2006, when the vessel had berthed at Changi Naval Base.

The system provides 'independent verification that public safety was not compromised at any point'', Mr Teo said.

Singapore's defence scientists, on examining the US Navy's figures, judged the potential exposure from the leak was 100,000 times less than exposure from natural radiation in a year.

GOH CHIN LIAN

Radiation leak‘less than that in smoke detector’
Today Online 26 Aug 08;

THE amount of radioactivity that could have leaked from a United States nuclear-powered submarine, during a port call here in September 2006, would have been “less than the amount found in a common smoke detector”, said Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.

Responding in Parliament to concerns, Mr Teo said he is “confident that there was no adverse impact on public health, marine life or the environment” as scientists here had assessed the “potential exposure to the reported leak is 100,000 times less than exposure from natural radiation in a year”.

To MP Michael Palmer’s question of why Mindef’s own radiation monitoring system at Changi Naval Base did not show any abnormal readings when the USS Houston was berthed here, Mr Teo said the reported leak was “so low that it was below the threshold that it was designed to detect”. Even the vessel’s own monitoring system did not pick up the leak, he added.

The US Navy has assured Mindef its nuclear-powered vessels are designed according to “extremely stringent standards” and suited to “operate in a combat shock environment”.

A leak is unlikely as the radioactive materials are unlikely to escape from the fuel rods, containment vessel, the compartment in which the reactor is mounted and the hull of the ship. TEO XUANWEI

US sub could have leaked radiation in Singapore: Government
Yahoo News 25 Aug 08;

A US nuclear-powered submarine could have leaked radioactive water during a Singapore stop in September 2006, Singapore's Minister for Defence Teo Chee Hean said Monday.

Speaking in parliament, Teo said the United States informed Singapore this month that the USS Houston had been leaking trace amounts of radioactive water since June 2006.

"This suggested that the USS Houston could have been leaking during her port call at Changi Naval Base in September 2006," Teo said in response to a parliamentary question.

Singapore had asked the United States for information after reports in early August said the USS Houston could have been leaking radioactive water during a port call in Japan in March this year, he said.

US tests showed the amount of radioactivity that could have leaked from the submarine during its Singapore stop was too small to pose any risk to public health, said Teo.

"To put things into perspective, the US indicated that this was less than the amount of radioactivity found in a common smoke detector, and would not have any adverse effect on human health, marine life or the environment," the defence minister said.

Singapore also conducted its own investigations which also showed public safety had not been affected by the leak at Changi Naval Base, he said.

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NASA Tool Helps Track Whale Sharks, Polar Bears

John Roach, National Geographic News 25 Aug 08;

Photos of giant whale sharks snapped by vacationing scuba divers and snorkelers are helping scientists track the elusive marine creatures across the oceans.

And the same technique may soon also help researchers track polar bears in Canada, giant Eurasian trout in Mongolia, and ocean sunfish in the Galápagos Islands.

Biologists have adapted a complex algorithm developed by scientists working for NASA. The original algorithm mapped stars. The new one analyzes photos of whale sharks, identifying each animal's unique pattern of white spots. The program determines if a particular shark has been seen before by other database users.

The participatory tracking technique is already lending new insight into the biology of whale sharks, according to Brad Norman, a research scientist from Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.

The tourist-collected tracking information is helping researchers learn more about where and when the fish migrate and their rate of return to particular areas, Norman said.

For example, at Ningaloo Marine Park in Western Australia, where the tracking technique was first tested, researchers found some sharks remain near the reef for up to three months.

And the global database of whale shark pictures indicates that some of the giant fish migrate between Mexico, Honduras, and Belize.

"We can use these data to highlight the need for international agreements to protect this threatened species," said Norman, who is a National Geographic Society emerging explorer, as well as the recipient of funding from the Rolex Awards for Enterprise.

(National Geographic News is owned by the National Geographic Society.)

Tracking Whales and Stars

Whale sharks are the world's largest living fish species, growing more than 40 feet (12 meters) long. They are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the World Conservation Union (IUCN), though little is known about their basic biology, ecology, breeding and migration patterns, and worldwide population size.

In 2000, Norman formed ECOCEAN, a nonprofit marine conservation organization based in Perth, to develop the participatory tracking system to facilitate whale shark studies.

The concept is based on an algorithm originally developed in 1986 to help NASA scientists match disparate images of stars made with instruments such as the Hubble Space Telescope.

Each giant whale shark is covered in a unique pattern of white spots, making them hard to miss when they swim by.

"We just adapted that from white spots on a black night sky to white spots on the flank of a whale shark," said ECOCEAN information architect Jason Holmberg, who lives in Portland, Oregon.

Zaven Arzoumanian, an astrophysicist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, led the algorithm's development.

Now, scientists and tourists can upload their whale shark pictures to www.whaleshark.org, an online photo identification database, along with information on where and when each giant fish was sighted.

The algorithm searches through the thousands of whale shark images in the database—currently 16,000 reported from 40 countries—for a match.

If one is found, the submitter will receive an email with a link to the identified shark and a history of its sightings.

So far, more than 1,300 whale sharks have been identified.

"Citizen science," or involvement by the public, "provides the opportunity for thousands of nonscientists to become involved and make a meaningful contribution to wildlife conservation," Norman said.

Applied to Other Species

Now that that the technique has been proven with whale sharks and is yielding results, the ECOCEAN team wants to extend it to other species.

In theory, the algorithm is adaptable to any creature with a telltale spot pattern that stays consistent over time. Think cheetahs, manta rays, spotted penguins.

This fall, biologists Jane Waterman and James Roth of the University of Central Florida will begin using the technique to track polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba.

The bears, which were recently listed as a threatened species in the U.S., have unique spots at the base of their whiskers. The algorithm is being tweaked to account for the size and placement of each spot.

(Related: Polar Bears Listed as Threatened Species [May 14, 2008])

Churchill is considered the best polar bear viewing site in the world and hosts hundreds of photo-snapping tourists each year.

"We can identify bears from year to year, so we can start looking at 'Do things change with the bears?'" Waterman said of the possibilities with the citizen-tracking technique.

"Are we seeing the same individuals coming into the area year upon year? Do we see a change in how long they stay in the tourist area? There are a lot of questions you can ask, if the technology works," she said.

National Geographic Emerging Explorer Tierney Thys has expressed interest in adapting the technique to her research on ocean sunfish, also known as mola.

One population of mola, the world's heaviest bony fish, resides in the Galápagos Islands and is photographed nearly every week by an underwater camera on a cruise ship.

Thys has secured access to those images and with Norman plans to look for identifiable markers that can be used for tracking.

"It would be a noninvasive way of answering questions about the sunfish in the Galápagos. For example, we could start to decipher if this is a resident population or not," she said.

Another emerging explorer, Zeb Hogan of the Megafishes Project, thinks the technique could be useful for tracking giant Eurasian trout.

"They have spotting on their head that doesn't appear to change as they age, which is the necessary requirement to use the technique," he said.

Catch-and-release fishing is thriving in Mongolia, where tourists flock to hook giant trout. Upon success, the tourists pose for a photo with their fish before releasing it.

Hogan and colleagues plan to compile a database of ten years' worth of snapshots of people holding their catch.

"Rather than having people diving with these giant sharks, we have people fishing for giant trout," he said. "It's pretty much exactly the same thing."

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Komodo dragon conservation efforts prove dangerous and controversial in Indonesia

mongabay.com 25 Aug 08;

Efforts to conserve the world's largest lizard — the Komodo dragon — are proving controversial, and potentially dangerous to villagers, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Locals on the Indonesian island of Komodo say regulations pushed by environmentalists have increased conflict between dragons and people, putting both at greater risk.

The paper reports that on the advice of Putri Naga Komodo, a local subsidiary of The Nature Conservancy, authorities have banned the hunting of deer — the primary food source for dragons — and prohibited the ownership of dogs, which traditionally keep dragons away from villages. Meanwhile the park officials have yet to build protective fences around villages.

Villagers blame these factors for last year's death of a 9-year-old boy. The child was killed by a dragon lurking near a village.

While attacks on humans are rare and not unprecedented, the villagers complain that conservation measures have "destroyed Komodo's age-old symbiosis between dragon and man," writes Yaroslav Trofimov. A taboo on hunting of dragons — which are believed to be reincarnations of relatives — may be a large part of why the dragons have survived on Komodo and a few neighboring islands but not elsewhere. As part of their tradition, villagers regularly left deer parts and goats tied to a post as a sacrifice to dragons (and to attract tourists), but the practice was banned by the new park rules. Although dragons lost a source of food, the ban on hunting will have a bigger impact: depletion of deer on Komodo is probably the biggest threat to dragon populations other than disease. Rapid population growth on the island has put people in greater conflict with the giant reptiles over land and resources. Further, until the dragon feedings were banned, the booming tourism industry may have encouraged dragons to associate people with food, thereby bringing them down from their hillside habitat into villages.

For its part, The Nature Conservancy's Chief Communications Officer James R. Petterson says its program is still evolving and that "any concern expressed by the villagers will be taken seriously."

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Fussy cats threatening fish supplies

news.com.au 25 Aug 08;

CATS with a fondness for gourmet meals are threatening fish supplies, an Australian scientist says.

Deakin University scientist Dr Giovanni Turchini has discovered an estimated 2.48 million tonnes of forage fish - a limited biological resource - is consumed by the global cat food industry each year.

"That such a large amount of fish is used for the pet food industry is real eye-opener," Dr Turchini said.

"What is also interesting is that, in Australia, pet cats are eating an estimated 13.7 kilograms of fish a year which far exceeds the Australian average (human) per capita fish and seafood consumption of around 11 kilograms.

"Our pets seem to be eating better than their owners."

Wild forage fish, which includes sardines, herrings and anchovies, are an important link in the marine food chain, as part of the diet of larger fish like tuna and swordfish.

Overfishing of marine resources is a concern to conservationists and the fishing industry.

"While much of the criticism has been on the grounds that forage fish could be better used for human consumption directly, particularly amongst the poorer nations of the world, rather than in the production of food for farmed fish, little attention has been paid to the amount of forage fish used by the pet food industry," Dr Turchini said.

She said she believed the pet food industry was moving towards marketing premium and super-premium products.

"These gourmet pet foods contain a significant amount of fish that may be suitable for direct human consumption."

Different raw material, such as by-products of the fish filleting industry, would be better used in pet food.

A more objective and pragmatic approach to the use of decreasing fish stocks was needed, she said.

Cats eating into world fish stocks
Chee Chee Leung, The Age 25 Aug 08;

GOURMET meals dished up to pampered pets could be threatening world fish supplies, Victorian scientists have warned.

Calculations by Deakin University researchers show an estimated 2.48 million tonnes of forage fish are used each year by the global cat food industry.

Leading this fishy business is the US, where more than 1.1 million tonnes of small forage fish, including sardines, herrings and anchovies, go into cat food.

Across Europe the figure is close to 870,000 tonnes, while almost 34,000 tonnes of the increasingly limited biological resource was imported into Australia each year to satisfy feline appetites.

Fish nutrition researcher Giovanni Turchini described the findings as "a real eye-opener". They reveal the extent to which fish suitable for human consumption goes into cat food.

Each cat in Australia eats 13.7 kilograms of fish a year, while humans on average consume about 11 kilograms of fish and seafood each.

"Australian pet cats are eating better than their owners," Dr Turchini said.

With ongoing debate about how to manage marine resources, the Deakin scientist said more research was needed to determine how much of the fish in cat food could be replaced by fish offal and other meat byproducts.

"I think giving a nice chunk of fish to a pet is important to satisfy the personal hedonistic needs of the owner, not the nutritional need of the cat," he said. "Cats will be very happy to eat the offal from a trout."

Dr Turchini's paper, co-written with colleague Professor Sena De Silva, is published online by the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics.

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