Best of our wild blogs: 4 Jan 13

Aglow
from The annotated budak and Straight and blue

十一月双溪布洛华语导游 Madarin guide walk@SBWR November(XXXV)
from PurpleMangrove

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Resorts World Sentosa dolphin died of 'bacteria poisoning'

Adrian Lim My Paper AsiaOne 4 Jan 13;

SINGAPORE - The dolphin which died when it was transported from the Philippines to Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park on Nov 22 "succumbed to an acute bacterial infection", the resort said in a blog post yesterday.

Revealing the findings of a final pathology report, the resort said no evidence could be found to pinpoint the source of the infection.

Thorough medical examinations done before the dolphin, called Wen Wen, and others were transported showed that they were all healthy.

Wen Wen, a male dolphin about 10 years old, was one of 11 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins flown from Subic Bay in a three-hour flight.

Less than an hour before the plane landed in Singapore, it "died suddenly", said a Marine Life Park spokesman that day.

Another batch of 14 dolphins had arrived here on Nov 19.

The Agri-food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore gave approval for the 24 dolphins to be released from quarantine on Dec 24.

Resorts World Sentosa added yesterday that "based on the close observation and medical status of our dolphins, and the successful completion of the quarantine assessment, we believe the infection was an isolated incident".

The resort did not reveal a date when the public would be able to see the animals, but said it would be in the "very near future, through progressive stages of introduction".

The dolphins are expected to be part of an interactive programme at Marine Life Park.

Since they were acquired in 2008 and 2009, the wild- caught dolphins have been a source of controversy between the resort and animal-welfare groups, which have called for them to be released back to the wild.

Twenty-seven dolphins were initially acquired, but two died in Langkawi in October 2010, reportedly due to a water-borne bacterial infection.

Mr Louis Ng, executive director of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), said it does not add up how Wen Wen, who was found to be healthy before the flight, got the infection and died in a few hours.

He said Acres is still waiting for the resort to reply to an invitation to a public debate it plans to hold later this month regarding the dolphins.

Tests show dolphin died from bacterial infection: RWS
Ng Kai Ling Straits Times 4 Jan 13;

A DOLPHIN that died in transit to Singapore last November was killed by an acute bacterial infection of unknown origin, said Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) on its blog yesterday.

It said the remaining 24 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins bound for its marine attraction had been approved by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) for release from quarantine on Christmas Eve.

Dolphin Wen Wen was among a batch of 11 being flown from the Philippines to Singapore on Nov22, but it died en route. The first 14 had arrived three days earlier.

RWS issued a statement about the death on the same day.

It said on its Marine Life Park blog that the final pathology report indicated the male dolphin, estimated to be 10 years old, a prime age for the species, had succumbed to infection.

"The laboratory tests yielded evidence that infection was bacterial in nature, but there was no evidence of the causative bacteria," said a company spokesman.

The tests were conducted by the University of Illinois' College of Veterinary Medicine in the United States and the AVA in Singapore.

RWS added that there was "no evidence of the origins of the infection", but that all the dolphins had been cleared for export.

They were caught in the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, and had been kept at a facility in Subic Bay in the Philippines since 2008 while the Marine Life Park was being constructed.

"Based on close observation and the medical status of our dolphins, and the successful completion of the quarantine assessment, we believe the infection was an isolated incident," RWS said.

Dolphin experts said it would be difficult to ascertain where or how Wen Wen had caught the bacteria, but it is rare for dolphins to die in transit.

Biologist Elizabeth Taylor of the National University of Singapore's Tropical Marine Science Institute said bacteria can be found everywhere in the environment, but not all lead to sickness or death. She said it was not likely that the dolphin had caught the bug on the plane. "I would think that this company would take the best precautions to keep the animals healthy," she said.

Ms Courtney Vail, the campaigns manager at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, said research shows that transporting dolphins produces a change in stress hormone levels similar to what occurs in humans during stressful situations.

"It is well-established that chronic stress can lead to immuno-suppression and susceptibility to disease," she added.

The dolphins are not yet on show at the 8ha Marine Life Park, which opened on Nov 22.

Animal rights groups are calling for the rehabilitation and release of the dolphins back to the wild.

Dolphin 'died of bacterial infection'
All animals were healthy prior to move and infection is an isolated incident, says RWS
Today Online 4 Jan 13;

SINGAPORE - Wen Wen, the male dolphin that died en route to Resorts World Sentosa's (RWS) Marine Life Park, was killed by an acute bacterial infection, according to results of laboratory tests carried out here and in the United States.

However, the origins of the infection could not be determined, RWS said in a post on the oceanarium's blog yesterday.

"The final pathology report indicates that Wen Wen succumbed to an acute bacterial infection. There was, however, no evidence on the origins of the infection," RWS said.

It concluded that the infection was "an isolated incident" and reiterated that the dolphin, as well as the 24 others transported here in November last year, were given a clean bill of health prior to the flight from the Philippines.

"Medical examinations prior to the transport, including full haematology and chemistry profiles as well as cytology and body examinations, indicated that all animals were healthy prior to the move," RWS said.

"Based on the close observation and medical status of our dolphins, and the successful completion of the quarantine assessment, we believe the infection was an isolated incident."

The dolphin died mid-flight on Nov 22, a day after Marine Life Park was opened to the public.

RWS' acquisitions of 27 dolphins from the Solomon Islands in 2008 and 2009 for its Marine Life Park had stirred some to call for the animals to be rehabilitated into the wild.

The calls intensified when Wen Wen became the third dolphin to have died, after two dolphins died in 2010, also from bacterial infections, while they were in a holding area in Langkawi, Malaysia.

The remaining 24 dolphins could be available for public viewing "in the very near future" after the park said it had received the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore's approval for them to be released from quarantine.

"Our dolphins are healthy and have adjusted well to their new home through the diligent care of our marine mammal staff and veterinary professionals," it said.

"We look forward to letting the dolphins meet the public in the very near future through progressive stages of introduction."

Marine Life Park dolphins released from quarantine
Saifulbahri Ismail Channel NewsAsia 3 Jan 13;

SINGAPORE: The dolphins at Resorts World Sentosa's Marine Life Park have been released from quarantine and are expected to meet the public soon.

The park said the 24 dolphins have received the Agri-food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore's (AVA) approval for their release.

It added the mammals have adjusted well to their new home through the care of its staff and veterinary professionals.

The park looks forward to let the dolphins meet the public through progressive stages of introduction.

It also gave updates on the laboratory tests on the male dolphin that died on the flight to Singapore from the Philippines.

The final pathology report indicated that Wen Wen had succumbed to an acute bacterial infection.

There was, however, no evidence on the origins of the infection.

Medical examinations prior to the transport indicated that all animals were healthy prior to the move.

The park believes the infection was an isolated incident.

Recently, the park attracted controversy for its import of dolphins.

- CNA/xq

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Malaysia: Dolphin rescued on Boxing Day dies from injuries

The Star 4 Jan 13;

KOTA KINABALU: The injured dolphin that was rescued on Boxing Day has died, despite the best care from animal lovers here.

Sabah Wildlife Department senior veterinarian Dr Sen Nathan said the animal was found to have severe lung injuries.

An immediate post-mortem on the dolphin on Monday showed that the lung injuries it suffered were caused by massive infection and a very high parasitic load, he added.

The spinner dolphin or Stenella longirostris died while being treated at Universiti Malaysia Sabah's Borneo Marine Research Institute (BRMI).

BRMI director Prof Dr Saleem Mustafa said the 70kg dolphin was estimated to be about seven years old.

Wildlife experts did their best to save the creature that was found stranded in waters off the northern Kudat district.

Dr Saleem had been cautious about the dolphin's prognosis following its rescue by the Wildlife Department's Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) on Dec 26.

He had said that there was a possibility the dolphin had consumed contaminated organisms.

Wildlife experts could not tell whether the dolphin belonged to the resident population in Sabah or that it had migrated from other areas.

Stranded dolphin dies
Olivia Miwl New Straits Times 4 Jan 13;

INTERNAL INJURIES: Mammal could not be saved despite efforts

KOTA KINABALU: THE dolphin which was found stranded on Pulau Gandang in Tuaran near here on Dec 26 has died on New Year's Eve at the Borneo Marine Research Institute of Universiti Malaysia Sabah.

The institute's director, Prof Dr Saleem Mustafa, said despite efforts to keep it alive, the mammal could not be saved.

Earlier, the seven-year-old spinner dolphin of the Stenella longirostris species was reported to have been stabilised and was able to eat and spray water from its blowhole.

"There were signs of bacterial infection on its fin and inflammation on the lateral side of itsbody.

"The Sabah Wildlife Department veterinarians had administered antibiotics to the dolphin, while scientists from our institute had isolated the bacteria and conducted a detailed study on the bacteria's nature."

Saleem said despite the dolphin's improvement, the institute was sceptical that the mammal was going to survive.

"We are now waiting for a post-mortem report from Sabah Wildlife Department personnel who treated the dolphin."

The department's senior veterinarian, Dr Sen Nathan, said the possible cause of death was internal injuries.

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Indonesia: Fish production must be controlled

Antara 3 Jan 13;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The People`s Coalition for Fisheries Justice (Kiara) has urged the government to control fish production in 2013 to prevent over-fishing like in 2012.

"In line with Law Number 45 of 2009 on fisheries, the main purpose of fishery management is not increasing the volume of fish production and to deplete the resource," Kiara secretary general M Riza Damanik said here on Thursday.

Riza said the ministry of fisheries and marine resources has reported fish catch production in 2012 at 5.81 million tons or 89.1 percent of the country`s total fish potentials.

He deplored the boasting of the production as an achievement saying that the main purpose of the management of fisheries and marine source sectors was assuring preservation of the resources and increasing the supply and consumption of fish protein.

"The maximum rate of fishing is 80 percent of the total potentials based on the FAO regulation," he added.

He meanwhile said that the decision of the minister of fisheries and marine resources number 45 of 2011 on estimates on fish potentials in Indonesia`s fish exploitation area states that Indonesia`s total fish potentials is 6.5 million tons.

So, the volume of fish catch production in 2012 had already surpassed the sustainability level namely by around nine percent or 600,000 tons, he said.

"In view of that fish exploitation in 2012 was not sustainable and could help cause a fish crisis in the future," he said.

To overcome the problem he said production of fish in 2013 must be returned to the sustainable level by limiting the issuance of fishing licenses especially in the waters of Aru, Timor, Java, Malacca Strait and the Indian Ocean.

"It is then followed by serious efforts in eradicating fishing crimes and stopping exports of non-processed fish products," he said.
(Uu.H-YH/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH

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Outrage over Hong Kong's 'shark fin rooftop'

Channel NewsAsia 3 Jan 14;

HONG KONG: Hong Kong conservationists expressed outrage Thursday after images emerged of a factory rooftop covered in thousands of freshly sliced shark fins, as they called for curbs on the "barbaric" trade.

The southern Chinese city is one of the world's biggest markets for shark fins, which are used to make soup that is an expensive staple at Chinese banquets and viewed by many Asians as a rare delicacy.

Activist Gary Stokes who has visited the site estimated there are 15,000 to 20,000 fins being laid to dry on the rooftop on Hong Kong island ahead of an anticipated surge in demand over Lunar New Year in February this year.

"This is shocking," the Hong Kong coordinator for conservation group Sea Shepherd told AFP, saying it was the first time that he has spotted such a massive hoarding of shark fins in one place in the Asian financial hub.

"This is the most graphic, brutal and barbaric part of the industry -- the element of chopping a shark's fin off and throwing it back into the water is horrific and inhumane," he added.

Stokes believed the large amount of shark fins were destined for China, and that traders moved to dry the shark fins on secluded rooftops instead of sidewalks -- as they have done in the past -- to avoid public anger.

Campaigns against consuming shark fins have gained ground in Hong Kong in recent years, after major hotel chains decided to drop the soup from the menus, and home carrier Cathay Pacific said in September it would stop carrying unsustainable sourced shark products on its cargo flights.

"The demand in Hong Kong is definitely decreasing but unfortunately, the demand in China is growing," Stokes said.

"As long as there is no protection for the sharks, the (demand) will just keep going on and on," he added, urging Hong Kong authorities to ban the trade.

Environmentalists say the sustainable shark fin industry is tiny and most of the products are harvested in a way that threatens scores of shark species deemed vital for healthy oceans.

About 73 million sharks are killed every year, with Hong Kong importing about 10,000 tonnes annually for the past decade, according to environmental group WWF. Most of those fins are then exported to mainland China.

The number of threatened shark species has soared from 15 in 1996 to more than 180 in 2010, mainly due to the growing Chinese demand for fins.

It was not immediately clear who owns the thousands of unprocessed fins on the rooftop, which was unguarded when visited by an AFP journalist Thursday.

A spokeswoman from the government's conservation department told AFP that authorities could not act because the fins were on private property.

"This is a real disaster and it is just a tip of the iceberg," Silvy Pun, the Hong Kong director for US-based Shark Savers said.

She criticised the Hong Kong government for not acting to protect the dwindling shark population, after neighbouring Taiwan banned shark finning this year while China plans to stop serving the soup at official banquets.

"Hong Kong is a major shark fin capital, the government must do something. The government is being very laid-back and trying to avoid confrontation with the shark fin traders," Pun said.

Trade in shark fins is not regulated in Hong Kong except for three species -- basking shark, great white shark and whale shark -- where the trade is restricted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which Hong Kong is a signatory.

A kilogram of premium dried fin can fetch up to HK$10,000 (US$1,290) in Hong Kong, while a bowl of the soup sells for over HK$1,000.

-AFP/fl

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Best of our wild blogs: 3 Jan 13

Stalking a Blue-tailed Dartfish
from Compressed air junkie

A Close Look at the Critters of Pulau Hantu
from Pulau Hantu

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Scientists find new uniquely Singaporean species in our waters

The New Paper AsiaOne 3 Jan 13;

THE waters off Pulau Ubin are teeming with life, and scientists are just beginning to catalogue uniquely Singaporean species.

More than 10,000 specimens were discovered during the Singapore Marine Biodiversity Workshop at Pulau Ubin between Oct 15 and Nov 2 last year.

The specimens were found in waters around Pulau Ubin, mostly from the East Johor Strait. Some were also found in waters in the West Johor Strait.

Of the new discoveries, Dr Tan Koh Siang of the Tropical Marine Science Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS) said: "We are certainly excited about the specimens we have collected since quite a few are either new records for Singapore, or are 're-discovered' after many decades. "Some may eventually prove to be new science. "

About 200 participants were involved in the recent expedition, which was led by the National Parks Board (NParks) and NUS. The participants included 20 scientists from 10 countries, local scientists, conservation officers and volunteers.

The expedition to collect these never-before seen creatures was part of the Comprehensive Marine Biodiversity Survey, which began in 2010 and is led by NParks.

The five-year study is supported by universities, non-governmental organisations and a small team of volunteers.

The average depth of the Johor Straits ranges from 5m to 20m, and the creatures discovered, which live in a variety of habitats, were collected from the intertidal shore or dredged from the seabed.

In response to The New Paper's queries about the 12 new discoveries featured here, Dr Tan said: "They remain undetermined and have no assigned scientific names at the moment."

SMALL CLAM

This small animal belongs to a unique group of bivalves that have extended their skin to cover the shell. The skin bears club-like protrusions that may have a deterrent function against predators.

BRITTLESTAR

Brittlestars are related to starfish, and grow between 1cm and 10cm long. They crawl beneath the surface of the seabed using flexible arms. They are scavengers that feed on organic particles and are common in Singapore waters.

SEA CUCUMBER

Sea cucumbers are marine animals with spines or spicules embedded in their skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. They are found on the sea floor worldwide.

STONEFISH

Stonefishes have venomous spines that can inflict a lot of pain though it is rarely fatal to humans. They are very common in Singapore waters, both in the Johor and Singapore Straits.

MARINE FLATWORM

The flatworms are bilaterians, which means they have bilateral symmetry. But unlike other bilaterians, they have no body cavity, and no specialised circulatory and respiratory organs. They can often be seen in tidal pools on mudflats, mangroves and coral reefs.

MANTIS SHRIMP

Mantis shrimps are marine crustaceans. Some species can exceed 30cm long. They are common animals around Pulau Ubin.

MARINE BRISTLE WORM

Bristle worms are mostly marine. They are segmented worms, generally less than 10cm long.

CRUSTACEAN

Crustaceans include familiar creatures like crabs, crayfish and shrimps. They are mostly free-living aquatic animals, but some are terrestrial, living in either marine or freshwater environments.

VOLUTE SNAIL

A family of predatory sea snails that are 9mm to more than 50cm long. Some species are harvested as food in Malaysia and Singapore. They feed on other molluscs like clams and snails.

SQUID

Squids have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle and arms. Many species are popular as food and the type found in Pulau Ubin waters is edible.

SEA ANEMONE ON CRAB

Sea anemones are a group of water-dwelling, predatory animals. In this case, it is likely that the sea anemone and the crab have a mutually-beneficial relationship.

SEA SPIDER

Sea spiders are not related to true spiders. They are found across the tropics to the poles. There are more than 1,300 known species, ranging in size from 1mm to over 90 cm in some deep water species.

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Patrolling a way to beat poachers

Nuradilla Noorazam New Straits Times 3 Jan 13;

LIFELINE: More people entering forests will boost efforts to conserve elephants

KUALA LUMPUR: REGULAR patrolling in high-risk areas will provide a much needed lifeline for elephant conservation efforts.

Management and Ecological of Malaysian Elephants conservationist Steven Lim Boon Hock said creating presence in high-risk areas would intimidate poachers.

"If more people enter the forest to hike, document and preserve its treasures, poachers will think twice about entering the area and setting up snares for fear of being caught," said Lim, who is stationed at the Royal Belum and Temenggor forests.

He said Malaysian elephants were under threat from relentless poaching and human-animal conflicts.

"Elephants are not just hunted for their ivory but also their meat and organs.

"People sell small ivory as trinkets and jewellery while the feet are made into stools.

"It is sad to see these animals dying in big numbers just because some people want to make money. It makes you wonder, what is the real value of life?"

Lim, 49, used to have a high-flying job in the corporate world, earning a five-figure salary.

But his love for nature and wildlife was too strong to be kept as a hobby during the holidays. A few years ago, he quit his job to be a full-time conservationist.

"Compared with our neighbours, the number of Malaysian elephants is rapidly decreasing. The World Wide Fund for Nature estimated in 2010 that there were only 1,700 wild elephants left in the country.

"In Sri Lanka, there are more than 7,000 wild elephants while India is home to 20,000 wild elephants."

Lim added that elephants used to be very important in the lives of people in then Malaya.

During the sultanate era, monarchs used elephants as part of their entourage.

"During wars, elephants were used as the first line of defence. However, as time passed, elephants started to lose their significance in local culture.

"Now, you hear stories of elephants being poisoned by farmers when the animals trampled on their plants. Elephants are also being killed and dismembered by individuals trying to make a quick buck."

International Southeast Asia senior programme officer Kanitha Krishnasamy said poor planning of land use, such as converting forest land for plantations, was also causing conflicts between wildlife and people.

"When these animals are found encroaching on villages or plantations, it will create conflict and harm."

For example, the Gerik-Jeli highway that passes through both Belum and Temengor forests is one of the reasons for such a conflict.

Conservationists said road users could easily spot wild elephants at night when they came out from the forest to forage for food by the roadside.

This, however, exposed them to danger. Tales of accidents involving elephants and sounds of gunshots near the highway at night are common to the locals.

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Politics Is Key to Avoiding Global Warming Catastrophe

Stephanie Pappas LiveScience.com Yahoo News 3 Jan 13;

Delaying global action on climate change by 20 more years will put the goal of keeping the world relatively cool out of reach forever, no matter how much money humanity later spends to try to solve the problem, a new study finds.

Since the 1990s, scientists and international negotiators have aimed to keep global temperatures from warming more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), but little progress has been made so far in concrete steps toward that goal. The most recent climate talks, in Qatar in December, ended with only modest steps that fail to address growing greenhouse gas emissions, climate scientists said.

It's these delays that ultimately make dealing with climate change more expensive and perhaps eventually impossible, according to a study published this week (Jan. 4) in the journal Nature. While it's true there are still uncertainties about how the climate will respond to specific strategies, these uncertainties are nothing compared with potential disaster caused by delay, said study researcher Joeri Rogelj of Switzerland's Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science in Zurich.

"The uncertainties about how the climate system will respond have been previously used as an argument to postpone action until we have learned more," Rogelj told LiveScience. "We show that such a delay strategy is unsupported and that the most important factor for staying below 2 degrees C is the timing of when we start tackling this problem at a global scale."

2-degree world

Many researchers have attempted to weigh the costs and benefits of climate-change strategies ranging from a carbon tax on emissions to requirements for sequestering carbon underground rather than releasing it into the atmosphere. What Rogelj and his colleagues did differently was to rank the importance of "the known unknowns." These are the uncertainties that keep scientists from predicting exactly how the future of climate will unravel. They include geophysical uncertainties — how the climate system of our planet will respond to specific strategies — as well as social uncertainties, such as future growth and energy demand. Technological uncertainties include what innovations will be available for lowering emissions. And finally, there are the political uncertainties: When will the world decide to act to prevent further warming? [8 Ways Global Warming Is Already Changing the World]

For the first time, Rogelj and his colleagues quantified and ranked the importance of each of these uncertainties. They found that politics dominated.

Delay hurts

In other words, the timing of climate-change action plays a more important role in keeping the planet from possibly catastrophic warming than social, geophysical or technological hurdles. If humanity delays in taking action, even the best-case social, geophysical and tech scenarios will do little good.

"When delaying action by two more decades, chances to stay below 2 degrees C become very low and we find that they cannot be improved later on, no matter how much money we throw at the problem in the future," Rogelj said.

Without drastically reducing energy demands, two decades of delay will mean only a 20 percent chance of staying below 2 degrees C, Rogelj said. A move toward a highly energy-efficient society would increase those odds to 50 percent. [The Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted]

In fact, conservation and energy efficiency (social and technological uncertainties) play big roles in making mitigation strategies such as carbon taxes or carbon capture more effective, the researchers found. For example, if carbon emissions were immediately taxed at $40 a metric ton, there would be an 80 percent chance of staying below 2 degrees in an energy-efficient world. The same carbon price would give only a 66 percent chance of hitting that temperature goal in an intermediate-demand world. In a future with a high demand for energy (20 percent greater than the intermediate scenario), carbon would have to cost $150 per metric ton just to reach that same 66 percent likelihood.

A low-energy future has upsides beyond climate mitigation, Rogelj said.

"If one can continue to prosper in the future and deliver the same services with less overall energy, this will in the first place save you money, but also very significantly improve your national energy security situation," he said. "It seems to me that such benefits should be appealing to any decision-maker who cares about the long-term development and prosperity of his or her country."

Fixing climate

Even though the study examined more than 700 future climate scenarios, there are some limitations to its analysis. The research didn't take into account the cost of disasters such as coastal flooding if climate change is not mitigated. Nor did it consider "runaway climate change" scenarios. For example, if the melting of the permafrost releases trapped methane stores into the atmosphere, that gas could trap heat even more efficiently than carbon dioxide, sending temperatures soaring faster than expected.

The researchers' middle-of-the-road predictions for economic growth and population growth are also "somewhat optimistic," according to Steve Hatfield-Dodds of Australian National University, who was not involved in the study. That could mean that the estimated likelihoods of climate-mitigation success are also optimistic, Hatfield-Dodds wrote in an editorial accompanying the study in Nature.

Nevertheless, "the findings should help to make risks and consequences more transparent, and thereby support better-informed economic and political decisions," Hatfield-Dodds wrote.

Cost of combating climate change surges as world delays - study
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 3 Jan 13;

An agreement by almost 200 nations to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 will be far more costly than taking action now to tackle climate change, according to research published on Wednesday.

Quick measures to cut emissions would give a far better chance of keeping global warming within an agreed U.N. limit of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F) above pre-industrial times to avert more floods, heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels.

"If you delay action by 10, 20 years you significantly reduce the chances of meeting the 2 degree target," said Keywan Riahi, one of the authors of the report at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.

"It was generally known that costs increase when you delay action. It was not clear how quickly they change," he told Reuters of the findings in the science journal Nature based on 500 computer-generated scenarios.

It said the timing of cuts in greenhouse gases was more important than other uncertainties - about things like how the climate system works, future energy demand, carbon prices or new energy technologies.

The study indicated that an immediate global price of $20 a ton on emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, would give a roughly 60 percent chance of limiting warming to below 2C.

Wait until 2020 and the carbon price would have to be around $100 a ton to retain that 60 percent chance, Riahi told Reuters of the study made with other experts in Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia and Germany.

And a delay of action until 2030 might put the 2C limit - which some of the more pessimistic scientists say is already unattainable - completely out of reach, whatever the carbon price.

"The window for effective action on climate change is closing quickly," wrote Steve Hatfield-Dodds of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization in Australia in a separate commentary in Nature.

Governments agreed to the 2C limit in 2010, viewing it as a threshold to avert dangerous climate change. Temperatures have already risen by 0.8 degree C (1.4F) since wide use of fossil fuels began 200 years ago.

ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN

After the failure of a 2009 summit in Copenhagen to agree a worldwide accord, almost 200 nations have given themselves until 2015 to work out a global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions that will enter into force in 2020.

Amid an economic slowdown, many countries at the last U.N. meeting on climate change in Qatar in December expressed reluctance to make quick shifts away from fossil fuels towards cleaner energies such as wind or solar power.

Each U.S. citizen, for instance, emits about 20 tons of carbon dioxide a year. There is no global price on carbon, only regional markets - in a European Union trading system, for instance, where industrial emitters must pay off they exceed their CO2 quotas, 2013 prices are about 6.7 euros ($8.83) a ton.

The report also showed that greener policies, such as more efficient public transport or better-insulated buildings, would raise the chances of meeting the 2C goal.

And fighting climate change would be easier with certain new technologies, such as capturing and burying carbon emissions from power plants and factories. In some scenarios, the 2C goal could not be met unless carbon capture was adopted.

(Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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Best of our wild blogs: 2 Jan 13

changeable hawk eagle (pale morph) @ bukit brown - 01Jan2013
from sgbeachbum

Random Gallery - Black Veined Tiger
from Butterflies of Singapore

New fish record, rediscovered treasures and more!
from Celebrating Singapore's BioDiversity!

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Big parties... and big army of cleaners too

Staff work through the night to clear countdown party venues of rubbish
Lim Yi Han Straits Times 2 Jan 13;

AS PARTYGOERS geared up to celebrate the new year, an army of cleaners were painstakingly picking up litter.

At the Marina Bay Singapore Countdown 2013, preparations, such as placing of bins, began as early as 3pm on Monday. The big cleanup continued through the night to 11am yesterday, said Mr Edy Tan, 38, operations manager of cleaning firm Chye Thiam Maintenance.

About 350 cleaners were deployed at the event, which was the island's biggest party with some 260,000 people turning up.

But there was less litter than the year before because the rain meant fewer people came, said Mr Tan. At the previous event, some 300,000 partygoers turned up.

"The emcees were also telling the crowd to take care of their own rubbish, so that helped," he added. More bins were put out this year - 257, up from 247 the last time around.

Still, clearing the mess was no easy job.

One 24-year-old cleaner, who wanted to be known only as Mr Wu, said in Mandarin: "There's a lot of rubbish, especially after the fireworks when many people start to leave."

Countdown parties tend to leave a bigger mess than other events, such as the National Day Parade and Formula One race, as they attract larger crowds.

At Marina Bay, more than 40 National Environment Agency officers were on the lookout for litterbugs and illegal hawkers.

They were among the 157 officers at 10 major countdown events across the island - 20 per cent more than last year. In total, 59 litterbugs were booked, mostly for throwing cigarette butts, down from 70 the year before.

Meanwhile, the Siloso Beach Party, with its 19,000 revellers, needed 50 cleaners to help keep the sand as spotless as possible. "Green ambassadors" also walked around collecting plastic cups from partygoers for recycling.

They were part of an initiative by four students from Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. Called "Project Bin&Go", it aims to promote stronger recycling habits among Singaporeans.

Team leader Nurkhairah Sumarto, 23, said they wanted to raise awareness of recycling among partygoers because "we have frequently heard of and witnessed for ourselves the large amount of trash generated from mega outdoor events and concerts".

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Malaysia: Corridor allows study of jumbos' migratory path

New Straits Times 2 Jan 13;

KOTA KINABALU: A wildlife corridor is being established between Segaliud Lokan-Deramakot and the Malua Forest Reserve to allow easier access and movement of elephants in the area.

A study had found that the Segaliud Forest Reserve, which is home to more than 300 pygmy elephants, had sufficient food sources for the pachyderms.

Experts, who discovered the unique movement patterns of these elephants, had called for the setting up of an ecological corridor between these forest reserves.

Borneo Conservation Trust's conservation and research programme head Raymond Alfred said a 10-month study concluded that the riverine forest was the key habitat for elephants in Sabah.

The study was conducted by a research team from KTS Plantation Sdn Bhd and Borneo Conservation Trust, which saw the two organisations looking into the movement patterns of elephants in Malua via satellite tracking.

"The study had found that the elephants move from northern Malua to the east of the Danum Valley at central Ulu Segama Malua.

"We had installed a radio-satellite collar on a female elephant named Segaliud. She represents between 290 and 310 elephants in the Segaliud Lokan Forest.

"The movement patterns of the elephants are unique, emphasising the importance of the riverine forest and a logging road as their main migratory path, from one forest compartment to another."

He said the corridor was developed by Kwantas Plantation Sdn Bhd and located at the northern part of the Malua Forest Reserve.

Alfred also said the Segaliud Lokan Forest Reserve had the highest orang utan density in Sabah.

Most of the primates were concentrated at the southeast of the forest reserve.

"The research team had found that the main tree species used by the orang utans (either for food sources or shelter) are pioneer species, or hardy species which are the first to colonise previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems.

"Thus, the restoration programme that is being carried out in this area will also improve the density and diversity of the tree species."

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