Smoking Wildfires Seen From Space

by JASON MAJOR on JUNE 29, 2012

Wildfires continue to rage across the western United States, burning forests and property alike, and even the most remote have sent up enormous plumes of smoke that are plainly visible to astronauts aboard the Space Station.

The photo above was taken by an Expedition 31 crew member on June 27, showing thick smoke drifting northeast from the Fontenelle fire currently burning in Wyoming. More plumes can be seen to the north.

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/96054/smoking-wildfires-seen-from-space/#ixzz1zNCNAZPg

Climate change could trip up China’s growth

http://www.bworldonline.com/weekender/content.php?id=45300

BEIJING -- Global warming threatens China’s march to prosperity by cutting crops, shrinking rivers and unleashing more droughts and floods, says the government’s latest assessment of climate change, projecting big shifts in how the nation feeds itself.

A GOVERNMENT report has acknowledged the costs of global warming for the world’s second biggest economy --www.wikimedia.org

The warnings are carried in the government’s “Second National Assessment Report on Climate Change,” which sums up advancing scientific knowledge about the consequences and costs of global warming for China -- the world’s second biggest economy and the biggest emitter of greenhouse gas pollution.

Global warming fed by greenhouse gases from industry, transport and shifting land-use poses a long-term threat to China’s prosperity, health and food output, says the report.

With China’s economy likely to rival the United States’ in size in coming decades, that will trigger wider consequences.

“China faces extremely grim ecological and environmental conditions under the impact of continued global warming and changes to China’s regional environment,” says the 710-page report, officially published late last year but released for public sale only recently.

Even so, China’s rising emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from burning fossil fuels, will begin to fall off only after about 2030, with big falls only after mid-century, says the report.

Assuming no measures to counter global warming, grain output in the world’s most populous nation could fall from 5% to 20% by 2050, depending on whether a “fertilization effect” from more carbon dioxide in the air offsets losses, says the report.

But that possible fall can be held in check by improved crop choice and farming practices, as well as increased irrigation and fertilizer use.

China is the world’s biggest consumer of cereals and has increasingly turned to foreign suppliers of corn and soy beans.

The report was written by teams of scientists supervised by government officials, and follows up on a first assessment released in 2007. It does not set policy, but offers a basis of evidence and forecasts that will shape policy.

Water, either too much or too little, lies at the heart of how that warming could trip up China’s budding prosperity.

Threat to food security

“Climate change will lead to severe imbalances in China’s water resources within each year and across the years. In most areas, precipitation will be increasingly concentrated in the summer and autumn rainy seasons, and floods and droughts will become increasingly frequent,” says the report.

“Without effective measures in response, by the latter part of the 21st century, climate change could still constitute a threat to our country’s food security,” it says.

Under one scenario of how global warming will affect water availability, by 2050 eight of mainland China’s 31 provinces and provincial-status cities could face severe water shortages -- meaning less than 500 cubic meters per resident -- and another 10 could face less dire chronic shortages.

In low-lying coastal regions, rising seas will press up against big cities and export zones that have stood at the forefront of China’s industrialization.

China’s efforts to protect vulnerable coastal areas with embankments are inadequate, says the report, noting their vulnerability to typhoons and flood tides that global warming could intensify.

There are sure to be shifts in Chinese crop patterns as well, says the report. More rice and other crops will probably grow in the northeast, thanks to warmer weather and possibly more rain. In the northwest cotton-growing region of Xinjiang, shrinking water availability could lead to a “marked decline in agricultural crop productivity”.

China, with 1.34 billion people, already emits a quarter of the world’s CO2, with the United States the world’s second largest greenhouse gas emitter.

China’s emissions, which grew 10% in 2010 according to BP, are likely to start falling only after 2030, the report says. It says China’s emissions reduction efforts up to 2020 will cost 10 trillion yuan ($1.6 trillion), including 5 trillion yuan for energy-saving technology and new and renewable energy. -- Reuters

Plastic industry: ‘Plastic bags better than paper bags’

By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer 5:34 am | Monday, March 19th, 2012 

MANILA, Philippines—The plastic industry has launched an offensive against the use of brown paper bags and recycled newspapers  to wrap food—environmentalists’ proposed alternatives to plastic bags that are known to pose a huge threat to the environment.

Crispian Lao, spokesperson for the plastic industry, on Sunday said wrapping food products in brown bags and newspapers posed health hazards to consumers as waste paper could contain chemicals from its production that could contaminate food.

Lao said the group was raising its objection to emphasize “the unintended and costly consequences of the plastic ban, which in most instances has denied the public a cheap food-grade wrapping material.”

“That is why you will notice that if you order french fries or pizza, they are packaged in such a way that they are not in direct contact with the brown paper or carton packaging,” he said.

Lao made the statement as local government units in Metro Manila have started to regulate the use of plastic bags in wet markets and other commercial establishments to reduce the rubbish that clog the waterways and cause floods during rainy days.

National agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have also called for a metro-wide ban on plastic bags and Styrofoam in packaging of food products and other goods.

According to the MMDA, the metropolis generates 8,400 to 8,600 tons of trash per day, accounting for about 25 percent of the country’s daily solid waste generation of some 35,000 tons.

Sen. Miriam Santiago has filed a bill that aims to eliminate the use of plastic bags regardless of their composition—either regular or degradable plastic bags—while promoting the use of reusable bags.

Lao said plastic bags were not to blame for the city’s trash problems.

“Our irresponsible ways of disposing of plastic and other waste is to blame, not the plastic. We are the problem; we are also the solution,” he said.

Local governments, he added, must instead enforce waste segregation. “Banning plastic misses the problem completely. It is an egregious mismatch between problem and solution.”

Meanwhile, the environmental group EcoWaste Coalition scoffed at Lao’s arguments for plastic use, calling them “inaccurate.”

Paeng Lopez, a campaigner for the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, said plastic bags were more dangerous to the environment than paper as they were made from petroleum, a dwindling natural resource requiring carbon-intensive extraction, transportation and refining.

The Plastic Problem

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:38:00 04/10/2011

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/editorial/view/20110410-330326/The-plastic-problem 

IT IS so simple in theory but complicated in application. We have been told so often and for some time that plastic bags have a negative impact on the environment. This is even more telling in a flood-prone country such as ours, where plastic bags clog our overtaxed sewage systems. The big problem isn't just that plastic bags take forever to disintegrate, it is the massive number of plastic bags Filipinos use, reuse and eventually throw away. The bags in clear, white, red, blue, yellow and other shades are choking the life out of the cities.

It is therefore elementary to expect that any step toward the complete eradication of plastic bags would be lauded and, more importantly, supported through action. Yet an environmentally conscious solution to the plastic bags problem may need the push of legislation to ever be effective in this country.

That is why Senate Bill 2759, authored by Sen. Loren Legarda, is most timely and even carries with it a sense of urgency, as does Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s Senate Bill 2749. Legarda's bill asks supermarkets, restaurants and retail stores to cease using plastic bags. As the problems of pollution, environmental degradation and severe weather shifts escalate, all sectors of society must act with dispatch. Individuals must make conscious efforts to change our daily routine and practices to produce a positive impact on our environment, Legarda said.

What is significant in Legarda's bill is that it not only calls on individual Filipinos to stop using plastic bags, it also calls on business establishments, which hand out plastic bags for almost every transaction, to take responsibility for the bags disastrous effect on our environment and surroundings. Companies must change their economic mind-set, wasteful production processes and packaging methods from the use of seemingly cost-effective plastic bags into investing in long-term reusable and recyclable bags which are more sustainable in the long run, Legarda explained.

Marcos bill takes that a step further by advocating the use of biodegradable bags to protect the land. Through this bill, consumers are encouraged to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of plastic bags, thereby saving the fragile life of the environment, he said. This may seem counter-intuitive, but the idea is to find a way to stop using plastic bags altogether, be it by the singular Filipino or by large corporations.

It sounds so easy to do. After all, isn't banning the use of plastic bags a universal idea we can all get behind? But you would be surprised; someone is already trying and it has proven to be far more difficult than expected.

In 2010, Muntinlupa City took a huge step forward when Mayor Aldrin San Pedro signed into law Ordinance 101-109 which banned plastic bags and containers made from polysterene and called for environment-friendly substitutes. It sounds like the kind of forward-thinking, metropolitan rule-crafting that constituents would wholeheartedly support. But Muntinlupa has met resistance after it began implementing the ordinance last January. Businesses, large and small, were a source of immediate defiance. An industry group, the Philippine Plastics Industry Association said that the problem wasn't the plastic, it was the lack of discipline. The Philippine Association of Supermarkets Inc. argued that paper bags were five times more costly than plastic bags.

Well, nobody says implementing laws protecting the environment was going to be easy. But does it really have to be so hard? It might be true that Filipinos need to exercise more discipline with the amount of trash they throw awayplastic bags or otherwise. But that doesn't make the move to ban plastics any less important. It doesn't have to be one or the other. In fact, if both could be done, then that would contribute the most serious effort thus far to curbing the serious threat of plastic bags. Instead of brickbats, Muntinlupa deserves a thumbs-up for daring to do what other cities only give lip service to. Now if only the rest of the country can follow the city?s brave example?and rid ourselves of this plastic menace once and for all.

The Philippines’ Response to Climate Change

By Agnes Paculdar and Melissa Parreño Climate change is the current crisis the world is experiencing today. It is an international issue that concerns all fields of research and expertise including politics and economics. A number of conferences and negotiations have been organized globally concerning this anthropogenic phenomenon and one of its active supporters is the Philippines. As a contribution to its awareness campaign, the Institute of International and Legal Studies of the University of the Philippines (U.P.) College of Law conducted a whole-day “experts dialogue” entitled Philippine Climate Change Policy: Mitigation and Adaptation Measures last July 31, 2008. Invited speakers were: Atty. Rommel J. Casis, Professorial Lecturer at the U.P. College of Law, and Program Director of the International Environmental Law Research Program; Atty. Antonio G.M. La Viña, Dean of the Ateneo School of Government, and Professorial Lecturer at the U.P. College of Law; Mr. Mark Richard Evidente, Master’s Candidate at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University; Ms. Ma. Gerarda Asuncion Merilo, Senior Environmental Management Specialist at the Environmental Management Bureau, Inter-Agency Committee on Climate Change; and Atty. Marvic M.V.F. Leonen, Dean of the U.P. College of Law. Understanding Climate Change Atty. Casis cited the definition of climate change by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): “a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to the natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.” A major evidence of climate change today is global warming. Global warming is the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG)—carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides in the atmosphere; these trap the sun’s heat energy thus resulting in increases in the average global temperature. It is caused by GHG-emitting human activities such as excessive burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and growing waste dumps. Other effects of climate change are increase in sea levels, increase in temperature and acidity of oceans, melting of ice caps, spread of climate-related diseases such as malaria, higher incidence of hurricane and forest fires, and destruction of crops. In the Philippines, according to Atty. Casis, the most affected sectors of climate change are agriculture, food security, and health. Global Actions Enforced Mitigation and adaptation are the main objectives of UNFCCC and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). By limiting the GHG emissions, enhancing sinks or processes that remove greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and learning to adapt to changes in the environment, we can survive the negative effects of climate change. The UNFCCC was established on March 21, 1994 to set an overall framework that will address issues on climate change. The convention aims to gather information on GHG emissions and national policies. It also intends to initiate strategies that will encourage GHG emission reduction and to contribute to the preparation for adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change. The UNFCCC classified countries into three categories: Annex I includes developing countries that are members of OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and countries with economies in transition (EIT); Annex II includes member countries of OECD in Annex I only; and Non-Annex I mostly includes developing countries. Developed countries are considered the major contributors to the currently high level of GHG in the atmosphere due to excessive industrial activities. Thus, a number of nations approved the addition of a legally binding measure called the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto protocol, which was put in force on February 16, 2005, is an international agreement that sets a target reduction of GHG emissions for 37 industrialized countries and European communities starting from 2008 to 2012. Specifically, it requires an average reduction of five percent from the GHG emission recorded in 1990. To aid the countries in achieving their targets, the Kyoto Protocol allows “emissions trading” or the selling of excess allowable emission of carbon dioxide of a country to another country that is still behind its target reduction of GHG emission. The protocol also offers the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) which allows Annex I countries to meet their targets by implementing emission-reduction projects in Non-Annex I countries. These projects can earn saleable credit emission reduction (CER) credits where each credit is equivalent to 1 ton of CO2 that can be accounted in attaining the Kyoto target. Through CDM, Annex I countries are able to not only meet their emission reduction target but also assist Non-Annex I countries in attaining sustainable development through partial profit from CER. Another mechanism implemented by the Kyoto Protocol is Joint Implementation where an Annex I country can earn emission reduction units (ERU), each unit equivalent to 1 ton of CO2, from emission reduction projects of another member country of Annex I. However, according to Atty. La Viña, the Kyoto Protocol is not a complete success because some of the member countries have failed to meet the agreed targets. A number of negotiations addressing climate change are on-going. The most recent plan presented was the Bali Road Map, which consists of decisions and future measures against climate change. The Bali Road Map includes the creation of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action, the long-term goal of emission reduction, mitigation actions, and adaptation funding and cooperations. The Philippines’ Response to the Problem of Climate Change As a manifestation of the country’s commitment to engage in multilateral efforts aiming to address the global problem of climate change and achieve sustainable development, the Philippines has participated in the discussions and negotiations leading to the ratification of various international agreements. These international agreements are geared towards the mitigation of the effects of climate change and the strategic adaptation to the conditions. The most important outcomes of these negotiations include the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) ratified on August 2, 1994 and the Kyoto Protocol, which was ratified on November 20, 2003. At the national level, the Medium Term Philippine Development Plan of 2004-2010 (MTDP) underscored the need to manage the environment more effectively in order for the country to address the problem of poverty particularly in the rural areas. As one of the first countries to sign the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, the Philippines expressed adherence to the principles of sustainable development and environmental preservation based on the notion of equity and the unique capabilities of the participating countries. More specifically, Article 3 of the UNFCC states that countries who have aligned themselves with the mandates set forth by the Convention “should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.” In 2000, the Philippines forwarded to the UNFCCC its Initial National Communication, the milestones of the country insofar as accomplishing the objectives of the Convention are concerned. More specifically, this report presented the gains made in the fields of greenhouse gas abatement and inventory. Also noted were gains significantly achieved in strengthening institutions and processes in relation to the mitigation, prevention and adaptation initiatives in the country. A lot of work still needs to be done though. Recommendations of the report include the institutionalization of the process of greenhouse inventory, particularly among the government agencies concerned and greater involvement of the academe through related studies. More studies on adaptation and vulnerability under climate change conditions are also suggested. Under the Kyoto Protocol, developing countries such as the Philippines are called to pass and implement national measures that shall advance the international community’s agenda pertaining to environmental preservation through the reduction of greenhouse emissions (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Pursuant to the provisions in this treaty, the Philippines passed national legislations to uphold the agreements embedded in the Kyoto Protocol. The Clean Air Act of 1999, otherwise known as Republic Act 8749, was enacted in order to arrive at an effective air quality management program that will mitigate the worsening problem of air pollution in the country. Reinforcing the country’s drive towards a healthier environment was the enactment of the Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 (RA 9003) that aimed at providing a comprehensive solution to the country’s garbage problem. At the institutional level, the Philippines was one of the earliest countries to recognize the importance of a systematic institutional response to the problem of climate change. Prior to the signing and ratification of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the creation of the Inter-Agency Committee on Climate Change (IACC) in May 8, 1991 under the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was a concrete manifestation of the Philippines’ attempt to promptly address the issue of climate change. Composed of representatives from government agencies as well as NGO representatives, IACC was created by virtue of Presidential Order No. 220 with the secretary of the DENR sitting as chair and the secretary of the DOST as co-chair. The ultimate aim of the committee is to harness and synergize the various activities being undertaken by the national government and civil society in response to the crisis posed by growing problem on climate change. The essential mandate of the IACC is to perform various coordinative, development and monitoring functions with respect to activities related to climate change in the county. As an organization that is at the forefront in advancing the government’s climate change agenda, the IACC likewise formulates policy actions and recommendations while at the same time assumes a very significant role in terms of shaping the Philippines’ national positions in the various international negotiations that aim to mitigate the effects of global climate change and prevent the worse possible consequences of this. The IACC therefore ensures the Philippines’ faithful compliance to the mandates and principles contained in the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol and sees to it that adequate public awareness campaign and initiatives are held to bring the issue to all the sectors of the country. References: Casis, R. J. (2008, July). The Climate Change Crisis: Global Legal Framework, Policy Initiatives and the Philippine Response, Philippine Climate Change Policy: Mitigation and Adaptation Measures. Experts Dialogue, University of the Philippines Law Center, U.P. Diliman. Evidente, M. (2008, July). A Philippine Response to Climate Change: Possible Strategies for Mitigation and Adaptation, Philippine Climate Change Policy: Mitigation and Adaptation Measures. Experts Dialogue, University of the Philippines Law Center, U.P. Diliman. La Viña, A. (2008, July). Addressing Climate Change in the Philippines: An Integrated Adaptation-Mitigation Approach, Philippine Climate Change Policy: Mitigation and Adaptation Measures. Experts Dialogue, University of the Philippines Law Center, U.P. Diliman. Leonen, M. V. F. (2008, July). The Limits of Law and Policy, Philippine Climate Change Policy: Mitigation and Adaptation Measures. Experts Dialogue, University of the Philippines Law Center, U.P. Diliman. Merilo, M. G. A. (2008, July). Philippine Initiatives on Climate Change, Philippine Climate Change Policy: Mitigation and Adaptation Measures. Experts Dialogue, University of the Philippines Law Center, U.P. Diliman. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [Internet]. August 2008.

Associated links

• http://ovcrd.upd.edu.ph

Environmental Laws and Policies

Laws and Policies

• Air Quality Management
• Chemicals Management
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• Hazardous Waste Management
• Solid Waste Management
• Water Quality Management

FPE 2010 Annual Report now available

The 2010 Annual Report of the Foundation for the Philippine Environment, is now available for download. The report is meant for public reading and covers activities in 2010 as well as the previous years. It also details FPE's Grant Projects and Institutional Updates as well as a number of interesting developmental insights on actual experiences drawn from the Foundation's various activities.

Philippines Environment

Overview
Natural Resource Degradation
Deteriorating Urban Environment
Water Pollution
Weak Institutional Capacity
Ozone Depletion & POPs

New tech turns ordinary windows into solar cells

A new thin-film technology has been developed that can turn an ordinary window into a power-generating solar cell.

Inside of film-deposition chamber (from Physorg.com)

The Norwegian company EnSol AS, in collaboration with scientists from theUniversity of Leicester Department of Physics and Astronomy in England, are developing a commercial process for large-scale, clean energy production, according to Physorg.com.

“The material has been designed by EnSol AS and is based on nanoparticlesthat can be synthesized in Leicester, Chris Binns, professor of nanotechnology at the University of Leicester said. “In fact, following some initial investment by the company, the equipment we have here at the University of Leicester is uniquely suited in the world to produce small amounts of the material for prototypes.”

These Hobbits are really, really old

The small, chinless “Hobbits” of Indonesia, cousins of modern humans also known as Homo floresiensis (“Flores Man”), turn out to be older than scientists had previously thought, according to a team of scientists at Australia’s University of Wollongong.

According to the university’s Web site, previous research by a joint Indonesian-Australian team in the Soa Basin of Flores in 2001 unearthed stone tools in ancient deposits dated to 880,000 years ago. This appeared to provide a maximum age for the arrival on the island of the ancestors of the so-called “hobbits,” who stood about three-and-a-half feet tall, had no chin and whose body types were characterized by a small brain and thick leg bones.

Climate change affecting fish stocks

JOHANNESBURG, 26 February 2008 (IRIN) - Climate change is emerging as the latest threat to the world's fast declining fish stocks, which could affect millions of people who depend on the oceans for food and income, says a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The report, In Dead Water, says climate change may slow down the global flow of ocean currents, which flush and clean the continental shelves and are critical to maintaining water quality, nutrient cycling and the life-cycle patterns of fish and other marine life in more than 75 percent of the world's fishing grounds.

"In developed countries, the degradation of traditional fishing grounds will have commercial effects on the fishing industry sector and fleets," said Stefan Hain of UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre. "The effects in developing countries and SIDS [Small Island Developing States] will be more direct, i.e. on coastal communities and populations, which depend on marine resources for sustenance and livelihoods."

Fifty million people could be at risk by 2080 because of climate change and increasing coastal population densities, according to a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) policy brief on the impact of climate change on fisheries. "Projections suggest that these combined pressures could result in reef loss and a decline in fish availability for per capita consumption of approximately 15 percent by 2015."Coastal fishing communities face a double whammy of reduced fisheries resources and increased risks of coastal flooding and storm surges, said the FAO brief, Building adaptive capacity to climate change: Policies to sustain livelihoods and fisheries. "Impacts of climate change are an additional burden to other poverty drivers, such as declining fish stocks, HIV/AIDS, lack of savings, insurance and alternative livelihoods."

The UNEP study, the first of its kind by UNEP scientists, was conducted in collaboration with universities and institutes in Europe and the United States, which found that the number of marine dead zones - oxygen deficient areas - have increased from 149 in 2003 to over 200 in 2006, mostly in coastal waters. These zones are linked with pollution and the projected growth in coastal development, and this number is expected to multiply in a few decades.

Christian Nellemann, editor-in-chief of the UNEP report, pointed out that the "impoverished will take the greatest toll both in terms of reduced food supply, but also breakdown in their economy and their primary opportunity to move out of poverty. This is an emerging catastrophe of an unprecedented scale, and the efforts in the next two decades will determine the lives of hundreds of millions for centuries ahead.

He said West Africa, where several million people live along the coast and the fisheries provide the primary income and food resource, could be among the worst affected by climate change and industrial overfishing - including bottom trawling - combined with coastal pollution. "Here, an increasingly larger portion, often exceeding 80 percent to 90 percent of the fishery harvest, is caught by non-local vessels, such as from the European Union.

The report also found that up to 80 percent of the world's primary fish-catch species are exploited beyond or close to their harvesting capacity: advances in technology, combined with subsidies, mean the world's fishing capacity is 2.5 times bigger than can harvest fisheries sustainably.

Higher sea surface temperatures in the coming decades threaten to bleach and kill up to 80 percent of the globe's coral reefs, which are major tourist attractions, natural sea defences and nurseries for fish.

There is also growing concern that carbon dioxide emissions will increase the acidity of seas and oceans; this in turn may negatively affect calcium- and shell-forming marine life, including corals, but also tiny ones such as planktonic organisms at the base of the food chain.

Impact on poor countries
The FAO paper noted the link between fisheries and poverty reduction. "The sector and its related activities are important for economic output and growth, and employs over 155 million people worldwide - 98 percent from developing countries."

It cited a recent study on the vulnerability of national economies and food systems to climate impacts on fisheries, which found that African countries were most vulnerable to the likely impacts of climate change on fisheries. "This is in spite of over 80 percent of the world's fishers being in south and Southeast Asia, and fish catches being greater in Latin America and Asia."

Climate change will change the distribution, conservation and use of the water of the earth and its atmosphere. African fisheries are particularly at risk because semi-arid countries with significant coastal or inland fisheries have high exposure to future increases in temperature, and the linked changes in rainfall and coastal current systems.

The high catches that currently allow exports may become a thing of the past, and a high dependence on fish for protein could threaten the health of many thousands as catches shrink. Low capacity to adapt to change due to their comparatively small or weak economies and low human development indices could set back development in countries like Angola, Congo, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

In African countries like Ghana, Namibia, Senegal and Uganda, the fisheries sector contributes over six percent of gross domestic product. Rift Valley countries such as Malawi, Mozambique and Uganda, and Asian river-dependent fishery nations, including Bangladesh, Cambodia and Pakistan, are also vulnerable.

Impact on freshwater fisheries
In the short term, climate change is expected to affect freshwater fisheries through changes in water temperature, nutrient levels and lower dry-season water levels. Dry-season flow rates in rivers are predicted to decline in south Asia and in most African river basins, leading to reduced fish yields, according to the FAO.

In the longer term, larger changes in river flows are anticipated as glaciers melt, reducing their capacity to sustain regular and controlled water flows.
Researchers found that lake fisheries have already begun to feel the impact of climatic variability, affecting fish production.

. In Lake Chilwa, Malawi, a 'closed-basin' lake, dry periods have become more frequent and fish yields are declining.

. In Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania, fish yields have dropped because of declining wind speeds and rising water temperatures, which have reduced the mixing of nutrient-rich deep waters with the surface waters that support fish production. This, along with overfishing, may be responsible for the declining fish yields from the lake.

. Lake Chad's area fluctuates extensively, but follows a declining trend. In 2005 it occupied only 10 percent of the area it was in 1963, with further decreases predicted in the coming century. Fish catches have not fallen to the same extent, but the overall productive potential of the lake is declining.

Upside of global warming
Snow and glacier melt in the Eurasian mountains, which stretch from the Caucasus Mountains to the Himalayas, may also result in changes in the flows of the Indus, Brahmaputra, Ganges and Mekong, which sustain major river and floodplain fisheries, as well as supply nutrients to coastal seas, the FAO paper said.

"Predictions for consequences of flow regimes are uncertain but increased runoff and discharge rates during this process may boost fish yield through more extensive and prolonged inundation of floodplains. In Bangladesh, a 20 percent to 40 percent increase in flooded areas could raise total annual yields by 60,000 tonnes to 130,000 tonnes.

"These potential gains may be counterbalanced by greater dry-season losses due to lower dry-season flows and greater demands on water resources for irrigation, threatening fish survival and making them more susceptible to capture. Damming for hydropower, irrigation and flood control may also offset any potential fishery gains," the FAO paper noted.

The FAO suggested policy action for mitigation and adaptation such as raising awareness of the impacts of climate change to ensure that the special risks to the fishery sector are understood and used to plan national climate change responses.

Mitigation targets should be set, using mechanisms like the Kyoto Protocol. Mangroves should be restored and coral reefs protected, which will contribute to carbon dioxide absorption, coastal protection, fisheries and livelihoods.

Poverty Is Poison

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: February 18, 2008

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/opinion/18krugman.html?em&ex=1203483600&en=d653cba52cd2e4d2&ei=5087%0A

“Poverty in early childhood poisons the brain.” That was the opening of an article in Saturday’s Financial Times, summarizing research presented last week at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

As the article explained, neuroscientists have found that “many children growing up in very poor families with low social status experience unhealthy levels of stress hormones, which impair their neural development.” The effect is to impair language development and memory — and hence the ability to escape poverty — for the rest of the child’s life.

So now we have another, even more compelling reason to be ashamed about America’s record of failing to fight poverty.

L. B. J. declared his “War on Poverty” 44 years ago. Contrary to cynical legend, there actually was a large reduction in poverty over the next few years, especially among children, who saw their poverty rate fall from 23 percent in 1963 to 14 percent in 1969.

But progress stalled thereafter: American politics shifted to the right, attention shifted from the suffering of the poor to the alleged abuses of welfare queens driving Cadillacs, and the fight against poverty was largely abandoned.

In 2006, 17.4 percent of children in America lived below the poverty line, substantially more than in 1969. And even this measure probably understates the true depth of many children’s misery.

Living in or near poverty has always been a form of exile, of being cut off from the larger society. But the distance between the poor and the rest of us is much greater than it was 40 years ago, because most American incomes have risen in real terms while the official poverty line has not. To be poor in America today, even more than in the past, is to be an outcast in your own country. And that, the neuroscientists tell us, is what poisons a child’s brain.

America’s failure to make progress in reducing poverty, especially among children, should provoke a lot of soul-searching. Unfortunately, what it often seems to provoke instead is great creativity in making excuses.

Some of these excuses take the form of assertions that America’s poor really aren’t all that poor — a claim that always has me wondering whether those making it watched any TV during Hurricane Katrina, or for that matter have ever looked around them while visiting a major American city.

Mainly, however, excuses for poverty involve the assertion that the United States is a land of opportunity, a place where people can start out poor, work hard and become rich.

But the fact of the matter is that Horatio Alger stories are rare, and stories of people trapped by their parents’ poverty are all too common. According to one recent estimate, American children born to parents in the bottom fourth of the income distribution have almost a 50 percent chance of staying there — and almost a two-thirds chance of remaining stuck if they’re black.

That’s not surprising. Growing up in poverty puts you at a disadvantage at every step.

I’d bracket those new studies on brain development in early childhood with a study from the National Center for Education Statistics, which tracked a group of students who were in eighth grade in 1988. The study found, roughly speaking, that in modern America parental status trumps ability: students who did very well on a standardized test but came from low-status families were slightly less likely to get through college than students who tested poorly but had well-off parents.

None of this is inevitable.

Poverty rates are much lower in most European countries than in the United States, mainly because of government programs that help the poor and unlucky.

And governments that set their minds to it can reduce poverty. In Britain, the Labor government that came into office in 1997 made reducing poverty a priority — and despite some setbacks, its program of income subsidies and other aid has achieved a great deal. Child poverty, in particular, has been cut in half by the measure that corresponds most closely to the U.S. definition.

At the moment it’s hard to imagine anything comparable happening in this country. To their credit — and to the credit of John Edwards, who goaded them into it — both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are proposing new initiatives against poverty. But their proposals are modest in scope and far from central to their campaigns.

I’m not blaming them for that; if a progressive wins this election, it will be by promising to ease the anxiety of the middle class rather than aiding the poor. And for a variety of reasons, health care, not poverty, should be the first priority of a Democratic administration.

But ultimately, let’s hope that the nation turns back to the task it abandoned — that of ending the poverty that still poisons so many American lives.

Asia's courts failing to enforce environmental laws--lawyers

By Michael Casey

Associated Press

First Posted 16:44:00 01/14/2008

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Corruption and a lack of political will are hampering efforts to enforce laws protecting the environment in the Asia-Pacific region, lawyers at a United Nations-sponsored conference said Monday.

While several countries such as Australia and India have set up courts to deal with environmental issues, political interference has blunted efforts to improve the environment, the lawyers said.

"It's a sad situation. We have the laws. Compliance is not there," said M. C. Mehta, an Indian attorney who works in India's Supreme Court.

Mehta and other lawyers spoke on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific environmental conference in the Thai capital, Bangkok, which runs through Wednesday. More than 85 judges, lawyers and government officials from 40 countries are attending.

Antonio Oposa Jr., a Filipino environmental lawyer, said the balance in the Philippines remains firmly on the side of economic growth with authorities looking for solutions "in terms of money."

"Not even one percent of the (200) environmental laws are being implemented," Oposa said of the Philippines. "Many local governments, if not all, are hardly aware of these laws. It's mainly because of ignorance. They don't even know what the law is."

Masa Nagai, a senior legal officer with the United Nations Environment Program, said he hoped the conference would boost efforts among judges in the region to improve environmental justice and raise awareness about the judiciary's role in protecting the environment.

"One of the weaknesses is enforcement at the national level," Nagai said. "We want to keep supporting efforts in countries to have better capacity and awareness at the national level."

The Philippines Water Situation Report 2006

Note: This is taken from the Executive Summary of the Report. The Project is implemented by the League of Cities of the Philippines and its Partner Institutions. You may contact LCP to request a copy of the full Report. You may also send me an email requesting for a soft copy.

Water is essential to life. Through the years, many studies have directly associated humanity’s access to clean water with the many indicators of human development, equality and security. Yet despite the amazing developments happening in the world today, Human Development Report 2006 reveals that more than 1 billion people (almost one-fifth) and about 2.6 billion people (around 40 percent, %) are still denied of their right to clean water and adequate sanitation, respectively. The ironic thing is that the world has plenty of total freshwater resources.

Water is also an economic good. With 2 out of 3 people living in areas with mounting water stress are those who survive on less than $ 2 a day, the state of water and sanitation provisions is dictated by public policies and governance. These components are eloquently discussed in Water Development Report 2006 and United Nation’s publication entitled “Water: A Shared Responsibility”.

Furthermore, water is equated to food security. In 1998, the International Water Management Institute said that water would be the single most important constraint to increased food production because agriculture is heavily dependent on water. Water use within agricultural systems, primarily in irrigation, accounts for almost 70% of global water withdrawals.

The situation in the developing world is not much different with that of the Philippines where nearly half of the population living below US $ 2 per day. As compared to other countries, the country appears to have abundant water supply since 70% of its land cover is considered as watershed areas. The Philippines is endowed with 421 river basins (19 are major basins having drainage areas of at least 1,400 km2) in 119 proclaimed watersheds; and has 59 natural lakes (16 of which have areas more than 400 hectares). It is also underlain by extensive groundwater reservoir covering approximately 50,000 km2 with an estimated storage capacity of about 251.1 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water.

Given an annual rainfall of 2,400 millimeters (mm), World Resources Institute estimates that the country is theoretically assured of 479 BCM[1] of total annual renewable water resources (ARWR) from surface runoff and groundwater resources. At the turn of the century it was estimated that water demand in the Philippines in 1996 was 30 BCM thus, the calculated water withdrawals-to-availability ratio was only 6%. Considering a population of 84.5 million in 2005, available water supply is 5,670 m3/person that year. This water resource potential is more than five times the threshold of 1,000 m3 per person per year, which is used for classifying global water scarcity.

However, the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) reports that the country has an annual dependable freshwater water supply of 125.8 BCM at 80% probability and 20.2 ARWR from groundwater recharge, the Philippines only has a total mean water supply of 146 BCM/yr. This translates to only about 1,907 m3/person in year 2000. This freshwater availability per capita is very low, compared with the average of 7,045 worldwide and 3,668 m3/person in Asia. This might be due partly by the fact that a mere 36% of the country’s river systems are classified as sources of public water supply.

The water problems associated with population explosion in urban centers is even compounded by the Philippines’ archipelagic nature. Islands are geographically isolated and distribution of rain is not even across the country, e.g., Southern Tagalog has the most freshwater available while Western Visayas has the least.

Sectoral demands for water also widely differ from one region to another. Among consumptive water users, the agricultural sector has by far the greatest surface water demand, using around 85% of the supply, which indicates the country's dependence on irrigation for agricultural production. Domestic and industrial sectors share 15%.

Water pollution, wasteful and inefficient use of water, saltwater intrusion, high rates of non-revenue water due to pipe leaks and illegal connections, and continued denudation of forest cover particularly in the watersheds are the main strains to water resources. With such threats and with growing population, it is becoming more difficult to provide basic water supply services. Based on a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 1998, the country’s water resources shall have reached a critical stage by 2025 or earlier if no water resources program management is in place.

The JICA study revealed that water demand in the Philippines will increase from 30 BCM in 1996 to 86.5 BCM by 2025. It also listed nine major cities considered as “water-critical” areas. These are Metro Manila, Metro Cebu, Davao, Baguio, Angeles, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga. Metro Manila (MM) will demand 1.9 BCM of water by 2010. The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) can only address 80% by that time. In fact, MWSS had already started reducing the water supply for households and businesses in MM in the latter part of 2006 as water level in Angat Dam, which supplies 97% of MM’s public water supply dropped to its lowest level due to El Niño.

While demand is increasing rapidly, fragmented management, weak enforcement and planning continues to affect supply, and in 1995, a national water crisis was declared, which prompted to the passage of special legislation called the Philippine Water Crisis Act. Among the more important features of the Act is the provision for a stronger private sector participation in the financing and operation of water supply services, in particular the MM area. This has lead to the opening of doors of MWSS to two major private concessionaires. One of these firms is the Manila Water Company, which is one of the most successful private ventures on water supply services in Asia.

It was estimated that in 2002, 85% of Filipino households have access to drinking water supply with about 44% having piped household connections. That fact that the 1990 coverage was 87% indicates that infrastructure coverage had not kept up with the population growth. In terms of sanitation, approximately 73-74% of households have access to sanitary facilities; only about 4-5% are connected to a sewerage system. Inequality of access to water and sanitation services between urban and rural communities are also apparent. For example, MWSS, through its two concessionaires, operates four sanitary sewerage systems, which covers 11.5% of MM’s population.

Limited government funding is allocated to sanitation improvements with only 0.05% of the 1999 gross domestic product (GDP) dedicated to sanitation and sewerage improvements. In 2004, President Arroyo has designated the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) to oversee the government’s commitment to provide safe water supply and sanitation services to the entire country. According to the NAPC, a total of PhP 5.6 billion will be needed to achieve these targets; PhP 2 billion and PhP 3.6 billion will be required for Metro Manila and for other municipalities, respectively. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported to the Philippine Senate that in its Comprehensive and Integrated Infrastructure Program (CIIP), the water resources sector will require 15% of the PhP 1.7 trillion investment requirement during the period 2006-2010.

If not solved in the near future, problems associated with uneven water distribution will aggravate with an expected increase in water demand from 30 BCM in 1996 to 86.5 BCM by year 2025, based on JICA findings. This projection might still be low because WRI revealed that the Philippines already actually withdraws 55.4 BCM of water in 1995.

The main components of water resources management in the Philippines have long been vested in the mandates of various government agencies and there are about 30 such agencies assigned for specific aspects of water resources development. This means that there are presently separate agencies dealing with each of the sectors of water supply, irrigation, flood control, pollution control, watershed management, etc. This complex institutional structure has actually been identified as one of the bottlenecks in implementing water resources management policies

The passage of the Clean Water Act in 2004 has been the first attempt to consolidate these numerous fragmented laws. This initial step is backed up by the various committees of policy-makers and agencies currently working on the different aspects of water management, in addition to noteworthy national initiatives on water and sanitation. For example, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Laguna Lake Development Authority have successfully institutionalized mechanisms that combine market- and regulatory-based approaches in protecting watersheds. Another is the National Water Resources Board’s preparation of its comprehensive Master Plan on Water Resources Management and the establishment of the National Water Information Network database for all water-related information.

These national agenda have been complemented with many significant local actions initiated by local government units, non-government organizations, people’s organizations, the academe and private sectors. Among such initiatives include afforestation/reforestation programs, putting up low-cost sewage treatment facilities, establishing piped-water supply systems, educational outreach, public-private partnerships in environmental investments, use of less water-intensive technologies, respect for customary water ownership and use by indigenous peoples, and adopting an integrated approach to water resources management.

It can be deduced from the Philippine experience that inter-agency collaboration and complementary implementation of policies and projects are key factors in the success of water resources management in the country. In addition, the growing assertion of the local governments of their roles in water and environmental governance is a good indicator of an effective bottom-up approach. After all, locally designed initiatives provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national and global sustainability objectives as it can immediately address local problems at the local level.

Still, the support and participation of the end-users of water should not be underestimated. Conserving water is still one of the most practical approaches to ensure sustainable water management programs. As stated in the UN publication entitled: “Water: A Shared Responsibility”, there are many challenges facing the world today. It is foremost essential and practical to raise awareness and advocate early action to tackle the world’s outstanding problem – poor water governance. This is just to remind the world that its water problems are not going away (UNESCO, 2006).

[1] The 479 BCM/year value is the sum of surface water produced internally (444 BCM) and the groundwater recharge (180 BCM), minus the overlap (145 BCM), which is the water shared by groundwater and surface water.