Asia's tigers could get big boost from small changes

Small changes to the management of wildlife reservers in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal could dramatically boost endangered tiger populations, reports a new study published in the journal Biological Conservation.

Examining 157 reservers throughout the Indian subcontinent, the study found that 21 protected areas meet the criteria needed to support large healthy tiger populations. The research suggests that these protected areas could potentially support 3,500 to 6,500 tigers, up from the current estimate of 1,500 to 4,000 cats.

"We were happy to find that the most important reserves identified in the study already have made tiger conservation a priority," said the lead author Dr. Jai Ranganathan of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.

The study recommends increased funding and staff support, restoring tiger habitat, and cracking down on poaching of tigers and their prey. It notes that conservation efforts within the 21 most suitable reserves "should focus primarily on the reserves themselves" while "tiger conservation in the remaining reserves can succeed only with additional management of the unprotected landscapes that surround them." Conservationists estimate that around 5,000 tigers exist in the wild today--down from 100,000 a century ago.

CITATION: Jai Ranganathan, Kai M.A. Chanb, K. Ullas Karanth, James L. David Smith (2007). Where can tigers persist in the future? A landscape-scale, density-based population model for the Indian subcontinent. Biological Conservation, doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2007.09.003

China successfully cut pollution during Olympics finds NASA

China's efforts to clean up Beijing's skies during the Olympics seemed to have worked, reports NASA. To reduce airborne particulate matter during the high-profile sporting event, the Chinese goverment shuttered factories, banned construction, and strictly controlled traffic. Now NASA scientists report the measures had an "unmistakable impact" with levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) — a noxious gas resulting from fossil fuel combustion -- falling nearly 50 percent during the two months when restrictions were in place. Levels of carbon monoxide (CO) dipped 20 percent.

When authorities relaxed regulations, pollutant levels increased significantly.

"After the authorities lifted the traffic restrictions, the levels of these pollutants shot right back up," said Jacquelyn Witte of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, speaking at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. The left image shows the change in carbon monoxide concentrations over the North China Plain as observed by the Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) sensor on NASA’s Terra satellite in August 2008. Areas that are green indicate a decrease in carbon monoxide compared to average values observed during the month of August in 2005, 2006, and 2007. Brown areas show where carbon monoxide concentrations were higher than average. Unlike a ground-based sensor, which records the make-up of the air immediately around it, the satellite sensor measures wide swaths of the atmosphere at a time. In this case, each square represents an area about 100 kilometers across.

Clearly, carbon monoxide concentrations decreased most in the area immediately around Beijing. According to the researchers, led by atmospheric scientist Jacquelyn Witte, carbon monoxide concentrations over Beijing decreased by 20 percent. A drop in carbon monoxide would decrease smog formation and improve human health. Carbon monoxide affects people by limiting the amount of oxygen the blood can carry to organs like the heart and brain.

Nitrogen dioxide concentrations fell by 50 percent, as shown in the image on the right. The image was made with data collected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the Aura satellite. The image compares average nitrogen dioxide concentrations observed in August 2008 to the average value observed in August 2005, 2006, and 2007. Higher-than-average concentrations are red, while lower concentrations are blue. The squares in this image measure approximately 25 kilometers across. Again, the drop in nitrogen dioxide concentrations is centered around Beijing, where restrictions were greatest.

The decrease in nitrogen dioxide concentrations likely also contributed to brighter skies. Nitrogen dioxide is the reddish brown haze that often hangs over a city. Noxious on its own, the gas is also a precursor to ground-level ozone, which is the primary constituent of smog and causes respiratory problems.

The research shows how satellite measurements of pollutants can help scientists find more accurate ways to monitor the effectiveness of efforts to reduce emissions, says Kenneth Pickering, a researcher who collaborated on the project.

The researchers say China's pollution experiment will help climate scientists refine their emissions models.

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1218-nasa_china.html

Clinton, Obama botch opportunity on climate, forest conservation

The Obama administration squandered a chance this week to show U.S. leadership on climate and forest conservation issues, when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, during a visit to Jakarta, failed to bring up a new Indonesian government decree allowing conversion of carbon-rich peat forests to oil-palm plantations.

Scientists say the decree, which apparently met the approval of Indonesia's Ministry of the Environment on Wednesday, will result in massive greenhouse gas emissions from the degradation and destruction of peatland ecosystems, which in some years can be the source of up to 8 percent of global CO2 emissions. Draining peat soils to a depth of 60-80 cm as allowed under the decree will release 60-75 tons of carbon per hectare per year, according to Alex Kaat of Wetlands International. Some 2 million hectares of peatlands across Indonesia qualify for conversion, indicating that if fully converted, the decree could result in annual emissions 120-150 million tons of CO2 — the equivalent of adding another Netherlands or Pakistan. Planting the land with oil palm will make only a small dent in the carbon deficit since plantations sequester far less carbon than natural forests. Dr. Susan Page of the University of Leicester estimates that one ton of palm oil produced on peatland results in 15 to 70 tons of emissions over the 25-year lifecycle of a plantation.

At this point it is still unclear whether the decree is meant to actually boost palm oil production and appease political interests ahead of elections or simply a ruse to increase Indonesia's potential earnings under a carbon finance mechanism that rewards countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (to "reduce emissions" a forest needs to be imminently threatened — i.e. concessioned). Regardless, the Obama administration, with the President's popularity in Indonesia, missed a golden opportunity to show the U.S. is serious about its commitment to addressing climate change.

The United States and Indonesia are respectively the second and third largest greenhouse gas emitters. More than 80 percent of Indonesia's emissions result from deforestation and destruction of peatlands rather than the burning of fossil fuels.

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0220-obama_clinton_indonesia.html

Loss of genetic diversity hurts agriculture

Agriculture has long been dependent on the ability of plant species to adapt to varying environmental conditions — without this diversity agriculture development would not have been possible. But human activities are putting this diversity at risk through habitat destruction and introduction of alien species, especially in parts of the world where such diversity is particularly critical: tropical developing countries. This threat has spurred increased efforts to find and conserve plants with special traits adapted to the marginal farming systems of tropical smallholders.

In light of this, Bettina Heider, Elke Fischer, Tanja Berndl, and Rainer Schultze-Kraft report in the March 2009 issue of Tropical Conservation Science on their research on legumes in Southeast Asia, an area recognized as one of the most important centers of diversity for legume species. The authors used a molecular marker technology, random amplified polymorphic DNA marker (RAPD), to investigate the genetic relatedness among seed samples of four Desmodium and allied genera collected in Bac Kan province, Northeast Vietnam. They indicate that these legume plant species naturally occur in tropical and subtropical Asia, Australia, and Oceania, and possess a potential as forage or medicinal plants.

Heider and colleagues say their study provides baseline data for future seed collecting and gene bank conservation strategies. "Since conservation in gene banks is a cost-intensive endeavor, studies are required to describe the given diversity and ensure that the maximum of the genetic diversity of certain areas or plant species is stored in gene bank collections,” they write.

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0323-heider_et_al_tcs.html

Territorial disputes and conservation

Political drivers such as those related to territorial disputes between tropical countries can result in direct and indirect ramifications negatively impacting conservation of native ecosystems report Arlenie Perez, Chuang Chin-Ta and Farok Afero in the March issue of the open access journal Tropical Conservation Science.

Arlenie Perez and colleagues document the historical and political base of the territorial disputes between Belize and Guatemala and its consequences for ecosystem conservation and management and people’s well-being. The still unresolved territorial disputes between these two countries has lead to loss of biodiversity resulting from illicit settlements, illegal logging, unregulated hunting and fishing, unsanctioned land subdivision, and illegal harvesting of forest and marine products. Further consequences have been the loss of property and threat to human life. Both countries continue to work on a bilateral agreement through the Organization of American States and other international agencies for a peaceful settlement.

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0323-perez_et_al_tcs.html

Traditional practices and conservation of medicinal plants

Traditional practices contribute to conservation of medicinal plants in West Usambara Mountains, Tanzania, report Tuli S Msuya and Jafari R Kideghesho in the March issue of the open access journal Tropical Conservation Science.

These practices include domestication; beliefs on sacredness of trees; beliefs on sacred forests; respect of cultural forests; protection of plants at the burial sites; selective harvesting; secrecy; collection of dead wood for firewood; and use of energy saving traditional stoves. But medicinal plants are increasingly vanishing, not only because they are highly demanded for primary health care, but also because they cater for several other purposes such as trade, food, timber, firewood and building poles. Land clearing (for agriculture, settlements and other developments) and accidental and deliberate fires also contribute to loss of these species.

Msuya and Kideghesho conclude by underscoring the role of traditional management practices in enhancing conservation of biodiversity and as a tool for ensuring primary health care in rural communities.

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0323-msuya-kideghesho_tcs.html

Step towards global warming emissions

The Obama Administration is reviewing a finding by the Environmental Protection Agency that carbon dioxide emissions — and associated impact on climate — are a danger to public health, reports the Associated Press.

The move is the first step towards regulating CO2 and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The agency's finding was send to the White House office of Management and Budget Friday.

In 2007 the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA must review whether greenhouse gases endanger public health or welfare. If they are found to be a threat then they must be regulated.

The United States is the world's second largest greenhouse gas emitter after China.

The Obama Administration has said it favors a cap-and-trade system for limiting greenhouse gas emissions.

A climate bubble forming?

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0323-epa.html

Ocean fertilization and CO2 levels

A controversial 'ocean fertilization' experiment suggests seeding the seas with iron to boost carbon-absorbing phytoplantkon will not sequester much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Some — including researchers and private companies — had hoped iron fertilization might be an easy fix for climate change.

The Lohafex experiment, conducted by Indo-German team of scientists from the National Institute of Oceaonography and the Alfred Wegener Institute earlier this year, dumped 20 tons of iron sulphate into the Southern Ocean and measured the carbon uptake by plankton. Fertilization stimulated a short burst of phytoplankton growth which was negated by increased predation by crustaceans known as amphipods.

"As a result, only a modest amount of carbon sank out of the surface layer by the end of the experiment," said the Alfred Wegener Institute in a statement.

The experiment found that blooms of diatoms, a silica-based algae important in earlier carbon sequestration experiments, were limited by natural blooms that had already extracted all the silicic acid needed for shell building.

A second fertilization experiment three weeks after the first had no further effect on plankton "indicating that the ecosystem was already saturated with iron.

" By the end of the experiment phytoplankton had stabilized at its original levels. The experiment found that "concentrations of gases other than CO2 produced by the plankton either did not change or increased negligibly in the bloom".

"Some of these gases such as nitrous oxide and methane are potent greenhouse gases, others such as halogenated hydrocarbons contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion," noted the Alfred Wegener Institute. "The cooperative project Lohafex has yielded new insights on how ocean ecosystems function," the statement continued. "But it has dampened hopes on the potential of the Southern Ocean to sequester significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and thus mitigate global warming."

Other research has produced similar results, suggesting that iron fertilization of oceans will not be an effective climate change mitigation strategy.

"Ocean iron fertilization is simply no longer to be taken as a viable option for mitigation of the CO2 problem," Hein de Baar, an oceanographer at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research in Texel, told Nature News in January.

Other studies have also looked at the introduction of calcium hydroxide (i.e. lime) as a way to reduce ocean acidification and its capacity to absorb CO2.

Source:http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0324-oceans.html

Dam bursts outside Indonesian capital, killing at least 50

A dam burst on the outskirts of Jakarta before dawn Friday, sending a flash flood into a crowded residential neighborhood in the Indonesian capital, submerging hundreds of houses and killing at least 50 people, officials said.
Rescuers predicted the death toll would climb, as most people were sleeping when the dam exploded.
The failure of the decades-old dam, which burst at around 2 a.m. local time following hours of torrential rain, completely destroyed some houses and inundated at least 400 others, Health Ministry crisis centre chief Rustam Pakaya said. Floodwaters were up to 2.5 metres deep in some areas, police and witnesses said.
Water levels reached rooftops in some places. Metro TV footage showed several bodies floating amid chairs, clothing and other debris. Telephone lines were toppled and cars swept away, some as far as hundreds of metres.
At least 50 people died, Pakaya said. It is not immediately clear what caused the dam to break.
"A flash flood came suddenly and was horrifying," said Seto Mulyadi, whose car was washed nearly 100 metres from his driveway into a public park. "My house is in a dreadful mess.... Thank God my family is safe."
Mulyadi said he heard a siren sound at the dam before the water smashed out all the windows and doors and inundated his home. His wife and four children were all sleep upstairs and were unharmed, Mulyadi said.
A rescue worker identified only as Toni told El Shinta radio that another 19 people were being treated at nearby hospitals.
It was unclear what caused the failure of the 10-metre-high dam, which was holding back around two million cubic metres of water at the Pesanggrahan River, according to South Jakarta police Chief Makmur Simbolon.

Ecological Balance and Sustainable Development

From molds to man, the entire living world lives off just a thousandth of all the energy that pours down to the earth from its central star, the Sun. This tiny fraction of the Solar energy is trapped by the green plants in the most massive of biochemical reactions, photosynthesis, and foods are elaborated. The-foods so built sustain the myriad variety of the living species.
Some of them straight draw their sustenance from the green plants so benefited by the Sun and others, indirectly. The earth itself supplies the water and the mineral requirements of the living world, contributing to the framework as well as the working of the body. In other words, the biological and the physical worlds from an inextricable integrated whole.
This understanding of Nature has led biologists to look for the inter-relationships that ramify through the different forms of life: the increase in numbers within one species has its own impact upon the numbers of other species. As long as Nature worked unmolested by man, proper balance among the constituents of the living world was maintained.
But when man began to bend Nature to satisfy his needs and, worse still, his fancy, he introduced an element of imbalance into its working. When forests yielded place to farms, it was not the landscape alone that suffered. The trees no doubt disappeared but with them also disappeared the deer, the tiger, the beetles, the birds, the lichens, the mosses, the mushrooms and a host of other forms of the living world.
Rodents and sparrows that feed upon the grains found a new haven in this new set-up. And that is not all. With the large trees also disappeared the great up-take of the soil water and its release into the atmosphere through transpiration. Consequently, rainfall suffered.
Subtle changes in the climate set in. Where in the beginning, the land yielded rich crop, over the years the farmer found to his chagrin his land was not as good a proposition as it used to be. He found it increasingly necessary to augment the water and mineral supplies. Pests that he did not suspect appeared and began to reap his harvest.
The tragic part of it was that it was all his own doing. Not that he was not aware of the great danger that was building up but he was too pre-occupied with his immediate gains to pay heed to the warnings. It took the disappearance of several species of animals and the near extinction of quite many others for him to wake up. The frightening increase in this depletion in the numbers of other species lent a new perspective. Ecology, the environmental science, acquired a new importance.
What is Ecology? The word, ecology, is coined from two Greek words, oikos, meaning home, and logos, meaning science. Understanding of the home environments of each plant and animal species is the subject-matter of ecological studies.
Understanding the mutual impact of the various species living in a given locality is also the subject-matter of ecological studies. It is hoped that with this understanding, there would grow a greater consciousness which would bring man and his technological civilisation in tune with Nature’s schemes.
The ecologist protests against the release of factor effluents into a nearby stream for it is not the fish alone that is affected but also the cattle and the men that drink this water and eat that fish. At Malapadu in Andhra Pradesh, the cattle-heads suffered initially paralysis of limbs and finally death due to the lead-poisoning caused by the effluents led into a nearby stream from a factory that extracted copper from the rich copper ore of a neighbouring hillock. It is feared that men living in the area are in real danger of suffering a similar fate if they continued to draw their water supply from this stream.
The stately palmyrah palms of Ennore in Chennai have almost disappeared, thanks to the sulphurous fumes that keep pouring out of the chimney of the fertiliser factory there. So often, the effects are not this visible. They tend to be subtle and insidious. The ecologist warns us against these and his warnings can be ignored only at the peril of the human species.
Nature works in ecosystems. An ecosystem comprises a group of living organisms and their physico-chemical environment. A system is an entity in its own right.
Disturbance at one point is sure to have repercussions all over the system and if not repaired on time, the system is liable to disintegrate. In every ecosystem, there is a balance naturally attained in which each component is in perfect harmony with the rest. When man clears a forest or builds a dam, he interferes with the ecological balance that has been there.
Without intending it, he disturbs the ecological balance of the area and is seeking to establish a new ecosystem. A new system can come only in the place of an old one. In the bargain, the component inhabitants of the old system disappear. When older ecosystems are upset over a large area, the migratory, the adaptive and such other limitations cause the total disappearance of a few species.
This is undesirable not only because the richness of the flora and fauna suffer but more so because in the new dispensation, there might be unforeseen and disastrous consequences. For instance, the rich American’s fancy for money purses made of snakeskin let loose a ruthless rampage “on rat snakes in south India”.
The near elimination of this variety of snake has caused a burst in the numbers of field rats in our paddy areas and I wonder what it cost the Indian exchequer! It occurs to me that the acute frog-hunting indulged in by our money-crazy exporters is responsible for the resurgence of malaria, for with the diminishing numbers of frogs that feed on them, the mosquitoes multiplied and that may be the reason why we have a National Malaria Eradication Programme again on our hands. Far fetched, you might say, but quite probable, I say!
All this, however, is not to say that man should give up his technology orientation or that he should go back to primeval conditions fighting his inter-specific battle with the rest of the living world, unaided by adjuncts of civilisation. It is only to remind ourselves that much as we might wish we were not, we are part and parcel of a natural ecosystem and that our survival, if it should be comfortable, depends very much on the preservation of this ecosystem. We disturb this ecological balance that Nature worked out through ages and handed down to us, only at our own peril.

This caution administered, I would like to wind up narrating to you a natural chain that Julian Huxley mentioned. He was talking to an audience on how England fought to the last man and woman, including widows and old spinsters, in that catastrophic war of 1939-1945.
Those old ladies were considered non-essential and ordered to villages where they moved along with the kittens. The kittens roamed in the surrounding fields for their nocturnal predations, feeding upon field rats. With the decline in the population of field rats, there was a spurt in the bumble bee population and with that there was increased pollination in clover, the fodder for the English cattle. Well-fed, the English cattle yielded more beef and the English soldier who had more beef to eat, grew stronger and fought better. You may not believe it but I would like to think that the Second World War was won on the strength of this ecosystem!

Source:http://archives.chennaionline.com/columns/variety/variety231.asp

"Sex Work in Nepal*

Debates on prostitution in Nepal have been dominated by the issues of trafficking and the migration of females from Nepal’s middle hills to north Indian brothels but comparatively little research has been done on prostitution in Nepal itself.
The subsistence nature of large parts of the rural economy meant that there was no mass market for commercial sex until comparatively recently. Economic development and urbanization and the increasing integration of Nepal within global consumer cultures has altered this so that there is now an expanding domestic sex market in all parts of the country.
There is also a small but expanding trade catering to sex tourists and expatriates. Sex work sites tend to concentrate in urban areas of the Kathmandu Valley, Pokhara and in the cities and towns of the Terai where there are dense sexual networks linking the Indo-Nepal border areas.
There are many sex work sites along the main north-south transport routes and along porterage routes. Sex work sites can also be found in the bazaars of the hills. Usual sex work sites include ‘drinking pubs’, hotels, restaurants and lodges, the worker’s own home, roads, bus parks and jungle areas. Much of the trade is underground and FSW tend to be extremely mobile.
Women of all castes and classes become sex workers, although those who are trafficked or migrate to India come primarily from ethnic minority groups in the hills.
Contrary to popular belief not all females working in the Indian or Nepali sex industries have been trafficked as a result of abduction, drugging or deception. Many young women and girls are sent into sex work because they can earn relatively high wages that can be remitted back home to support families in impoverished villages.
Confusingly prostitution is neither legal nor illegal in Nepal - although sex workers are subject to police harassment and arrest. The estimated number of sex workers is over 25,000 with about 5,000 based in the Kathmandu Valley. Around 5,000 children are thought to be exploited in prostitution and around 35% enter sex work by the time they are fifteen. Around 100,000 Nepali women and girls are believed to work in the Indian sex industry although this figure is open to question with some estimates being significantly higher.

Source:WHO report sex work in Asia, 2001

Government of Nepal focus on South Asian tourists

Amid dwindling numbers of western tourists visiting the country as a result of the financial crisis, the government is now to concentrate on Asian visitors, according to a senior minister.

The number of tourists visiting Nepal has dropped by a whopping 16 percent in first two months of 2009 as compared with the same month last year.

“It would be unwise to highly depend on western countries, Europe and America, as they are battling a deepening financial crisis. So we have to focus on potential tourists from Asian countries, especially South Asian and Chinese,” said Hisila Yami, minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation said at a press conference on Sunday in the capital.

Yami informed the press that the government had been in coordination with local hoteliers and tour operators to prepare special package offers for Indian tourists under the North India Sales Mission 2009 in four Indian cities —Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Amritsar and New Delhi.

Nepal has witnessed a decline in the arrival of tourists from SAARC countries and India by 8 percent and 11 percent respectively during the first two months of this year as compared with the number during the same period last year. Yami said pilgrimage tourism focusing on Indian and Chinese tourists would be a high priority in coming days. “Our next target for tourism promotion will be China after India, keeping in view the high potentiality of Chinese pilgrims,” Yami said.
New tourism policy approved

With the objectives of promoting the tourism sector, the government has formulated a new tourism policy.

Highlighting the tourism policy approved in a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, Yami said the policy has incorporated the government’s priority on promoting the home-stay accommodation system in rural areas, adventure tourism, health tourism and education tourism in the country.

In a bid to address the wide concern about the safety of lives of workers in the tourism sector, the policy has enshrined the provision of insurance of the workers.

Keeping in mind the frequent bandas and strikes in tourism industries, the government has decided to put under the concept of Special Economic Zone (SEZ).

Source:http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=3037

'Ending impunity is Nepal's foremost priority'

Nepal´s Ambassador to Geneva Dr Dinesh Bhattarai told the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday that ending impunity and healing the wounds of the past are among the government´s foremost priorities.
In his statement to the ongoing 10th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Dr. Bhattarai also said the topmost priority of the government is the writing of new constitution.
"I take this opportunity to reiterate Nepal´s total commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms," said Bhattarai. "Ending impunity, strengthening national human rights institutions, creating an equitable, just and democratic society, healing the wounds of the decade-long conflict, and creating a peaceful, democratic and forward-looking society constitute the foremost priorities of the government."
In her report dated February 28, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay had accused the government of having failed to meet its commitments to end impunity and enforce the rule of law.
While making special mention of the controversial ordinance on disappearance introduced last month, the envoy also said Nepal remains determined on addressing the issue of transitional justice. "The ordinance that was issued after lengthy and extensive consultations with all relevant stakeholders, including the OHCHR (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights), will be presented to the parliament for its approval," he said. "Government is also working to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission through the process of the widest consultations."
Earlier on Wednesday, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang had tabled a 26-page report of High Commissioner Navi Pillay, on the human rights situation and the activities of her office in Nepal, at the Human Rights Council session. While tabling the report for discussion, Kang argued that OHCHR-Nepal´s term should be extended by a further three years (as requested by Pillay during her Nepal visit last week) "so that human rights can be fully integrated into the basis of a peaceful and democratic country for the Nepalese people".

Source:http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=3032

'Crunch year' for world's forests

Efforts to mitigate climate change could be hampered if nations do not agree to protect the world's forests by the end of the year, warn researchers.
Earthwatch says it is vital for leaders attending a key UN summit in December to find a way to halt deforestation.
Deforestation accounts for about 20% of the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities, UN data shows. The environmental charity will outline its concerns during a public lecture in central London on Thursday evening.
"This year is the crunch time for forests and climate change," Earthwatch's head of climate change research Dan Bebber told BBC News. "We are hoping for big things from the Copenhagen climate summit at the end of 2009," he added, referring to a much anticipated UN gathering.
"Unless we tackle the question of forests as a mitigation method for climate change, then we will really have lost the battle to keep greenhouse gas concentrations below levels that many people would consider to be dangerous."
Raising awareness
Despite the measures introduced by the UN's Kyoto Protocol on climate change, global emissions of CO2 have continued to rise as a result of increasing energy consumption and the loss of forest cover.

The reason why deforestation accounts for about 20% of CO2 emissions from human activities is primarily a result of old growth tropical forests being felled or burned in order to convert the fertile land into farmland.
The issue is one of the key topics on the agenda at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, which will consider how the global climate strategy will look when Kyoto expires in 2012.
"This year is going to be critical and we feel we need to raise public awareness about this issue as much as possible," Dr Bebber said.
"There have been some very strong pressures to use forests in an unsustainable way, particularly in the tropics.
"You could probably make a thousand times more money by converting tropical forests to agricultural land to grow, for example, soya beans than you could managing it in a sustainable way. "It is this imbalance that needs to be addressed at a global level."
Growing money on trees
Gro Harlem Brundtland, the UN secretary general's climate change envoy, said that emissions from deforestation were comparable to total annual CO2 emissions of the US or China.

"Deforestation therefore has to be included in the new climate change agreement," she told delegates at a UN Committee on Forestry meeting in Rome earlier this month.
"While forests were left out of the Kyoto Protocol, it must now find its place within the broader solution."In order to tackle deforestation effectively, Dr Brundtland said it was necessary to develop a regime that "creates the necessary incentives for developing countries to act in the broader interest of... the planet".
In October 2008, the Eliasch Review - commissioned by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown - concluded that an international deal to protect forests would reduce the cost of tackling climate change by up to 50% in 2030.
The report by Swedish businessman Johan Eliasch said cash put aside for carbon saving in rich countries could be transferred to nations with rainforests in need of protection.
Such a scheme could reduce deforestation rates by up to 75% in 2030, Mr Eliasch concluded.
The leading contender to cut the loss of tree cover is a scheme called Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).

It first came to light during negotiations at the 2007 UN climate summit, hosted by the Indonesian island of Bali. The resulting "Bali Action Plan" called for "policy approaches and positive incentives on issues relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries".
This led to the formation of REDD, which states that nations "willing and able to reduce emissions from deforestation should be financially compensated for doing so". Supporters of the scheme say it will offer the necessary financial incentive to halt large areas of tropical forests being felled. However, critics of the scheme are sceptical about how the system of carbon credits will be regulated.
Whatever scheme is favoured, Dr Bebber, who will be one of the speakers at the Earthwatch Lecture on Thursday evening, says it is vital that delegates at the Copenhagen climate summit reach an agreement on a way to curb deforestation.
He warned: "If these types of schemes do not get up and running shortly, then we will have really missed the boat."

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk

Tata Nano: rock star or eco-monster?

Unless you've been hiding under a stone, there is no way you can have missed the much-heralded arrival of Indian manufacturer Tata's new car, the Nano. Looking a bit like a cross between a biscuit tin and a shopping trolley, this tiny five-seater has been greeted in its native land with something bordering on hysteria.

Why? Well, it's the world's cheapest new car, retailing at an affordable 100,000 rupees (£1,366). For many Indian families it represents the transition from the indignity of the ubiquitous moped to the stately luxury of four wheels and a cabin to call your own. It's robustly basic, lacks standard European features like air bags and has a pokey two-cylinder engine, but is apparently nonetheless 'an amazing car'.
But a car all the same. Despite the Nano's claim to green credentials - it coughs up less CO2 than many motorbikes - the mere thought that it could shift as many as a million units a year in India alone (it won't hit the UK until 2011) has left many environmentalists choking on its tiny emissions.
The Nano provides a neat insight into one of the key issues of the climate change debate: who are the 'haves' who have reaped all the benefits of a fossil fuel economy to tell the 'have nots' they can't enjoy those same benefits? It's an argument neatly summed up in one user comment on 'We all love our country and its various offerings of nature and we would like to preserve them. But we would also like to continue on the path of progress that we have taken and create new chapters in the development of our country.'

Source:http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/climatechange/

Climate Change and Economy

By Graham Dawson

When we talk about the economic impact of an event or a process, we normally mean ‘putting a monetary value on its costs and benefits’. There is good reason for this approach in that economists often advise governments on how best to spend money. Will the benefits outweigh the costs? That question requires a common unit of measurement and it tends to be what is being spent – money.
From this perspective estimating the economic impact of climate change is linked to the question: how much should we pay to abate climate change? The answer depends on how much it will cost us to do so and what the costs will be if we do nothing. The benefits of climate change abatement are the costs of climate change that will thereby be avoided. The analysis of the costs and benefits of climate change abatement has been very influential but it is controversial and may fail to reflect accurately the full economic impact of climate change.
The standard approach
Assessing the economic impact of climate change is fraught with great uncertainty even before using any specifically economic methodologies. What assumptions do you make about how severe and rapid climate change is going to be? There is a broad range of predictions of greenhouse gas emissions and then a further range of predictions about the physical effects of a given rate of emissions.
Most studies of the economic impact of climate change assume a doubling of carbon dioxide emissions and calculate the costs of its expected physical effects. They estimate that the costs of climate change will be 1-2 per cent of world gross domestic product (GDP), that is, the monetary value of world output of goods and services.
Much of this research has been undertaken by American economists assessing the impact of climate change on the US economy. Their results have been extrapolated to other economies to arrive at that estimate of its economic impact on the global economy.
That climate change could cost the world 1-2% of its output may not seem a very serious problem. But most industrial economies grow at about 2.5% a year, so if this estimate is even approximately correct, climate change comes close to stopping economic growth.
Most people in industrial economies are better off in terms of material possessions than their parents were 20 or 30 years ago. It is widely taken for granted that future generations will be better off again. Climate change will upset that comfortable assumption.
Problems with the standard approach
There are major difficulties with this approach to evaluating the economic impact of climate change. These are particularly damaging when trying to extend it to low income countries.
How do you quantify non-market effects?
In industrial nations the existence of market prices makes it easy to quantify many of the economic effects of climate change. For example, if agricultural land is lost to rising sea levels, we can refer to its previous market value to calculate the cost of its loss.
But even in industrial nations many of the effects of climate change are not marketable. The flooded land might have had cultural value for its beautiful landscape. If the agricultural land was owned by a community where land tenure is traditional and where there is no market for land, flooding will prevent farmers from making a living.
Can you put a price on animal or plant life?
Another problem arises when you try to assess the damage inflicted on ecosystems over and above their value as resources for economic activities. Monetary values have been put on the loss of biodiversity through species extinction. However, if animal and plant species are thought to possess intrinsic value or dignity that ought to be respected, their degradation is a loss that cannot easily be evaluated.
How do you evaluate long term effects?
For most people £100 is worth more today than £100 next year because there is a degree of uncertainty about what might happen between now and next year. They would prefer to spend £100 rather than postpone consumption to an uncertain future. This insight underlies the idea that the expected future costs, and benefits, of an event or activity should be discounted or reduced in value.
Many economic impacts of climate change are not expected to occur until decades into the future and economists therefore reduce their costs. There is no agreement about the appropriate rate of discount to use. You could argue that using any discount rate is unfair to future generations.
How much is human life worth?
For many people in poorer countries the impact of climate change will be much more severe than the lack of continually rising living standards. Climate change will cause the deaths of many people. How should we weigh these deaths against the sacrifices that will have to be made to lessen climate change?
The standard economic approach measures the value of a human life in financial terms. A person’s expected lifetime earnings provides an estimate of the monetary value of their life. But this means that the lives of people in rich industrial nations are worth much more than those of people in poorer countries. For some researchers this is reason enough to find another way of evaluating the economic impact of climate change.
Another approach
An alternative approach is the ‘capabilities approach’ initiated by Nobel prize winning economist Amartya Sen. This has already been influential in shaping the way international organisations assess human progress. What matters for this approach is not a constantly increasing material standard of living, but the degree to which people are able to do things that most people would regard as valuable. In the context of human development, life expectancy, literacy rates and gender inequality as well as income have emerged as central concerns.
Using this approach to estimate the economic impact of climate change involves considering evidence about different aspects of human well-being directly, without converting every dimension of human well-being a financial equivalent. Some basic capabilities (for example being able to be adequately nourished or live in a clean and safe shelter) are directly dependent upon ecosystems for supplies of food, building materials and fuel. These ecosystems are vulnerable to climate change.
So people living in low income countries that are heavily reliant on agriculture and forestry will lose basic capabilities as the climate changes. Inhabitants of low lying coastal areas or small islands vulnerable to flooding will also lose these important opportunities. Similarly, as arid zones become deserts, the people who live there will lose out. The populations of such areas will become environmental refugees.
Major cities such as London, New York, Sydney and Shanghai could also be at risk of flooding. The rise in oil prices in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed oil facilities near New Orleans, illustrates the economic impact that storm surges could have on low lying cities. It is possible that climate change may make hurricanes more severe.
Regional impact assessments suggest that desertification already threatens many millions of people in developing countries with the loss of capability to support themselves. It is estimated that there could be 80 million refugees from flooding caused by sea level rise, while 50 million people are already under pressure from desertification to migrate to overcrowded cities with uncertain employment prospects.
The cost of lessening climate change
The question that drives the standard approach to estimating the economic impact of climate change is how the costs of that impact compare with the costs of reducing climate change. Against a loss of 1-2% of world GDP from climate change, the costs of abatement are estimated to be 1-3% of GDP, which seemingly calls into question the wisdom of climate change abatement as a strategy. However, both estimates are subject to deep uncertainty.
In any case, from a capabilities perspective weighing the financial costs of climate change against those of its abatement is not a sound basis for policy decisions. The economic impact of climate change is a humanitarian disaster or sets of disasters stretching many years into the foreseeable future. The magnitude of these disasters can only be understood in terms of widespread loss of life and loss of capabilities among survivors. It is not clear that anything is added to an appreciation of the scale of the problem by trying to place monetary valuations on these impacts.
Estimating the economic impact of climate change ultimately rests on an ethical judgement. On one side we have moderate disturbance to the upward trend of comfortable living standards for industrial countries. Weighed against this is the loss of usable land, and the consequent loss of life and basic capabilities, for millions of people in low income countries. It is a matter of evaluating inconvenience for mainly rich populations against catastrophic loss and upheaval for millions of people whose normal standard of living is already much lower.
Further reading
American Heat: Ethical Problems with the United States’ Response to Global WarmingDA Brown, published by Rowman and Littlefield
Global Warming: The Complete BriefingJ Houghton, published by Cambridge University Press

Deciding Upon The Right Age For Drinking

Many college officials have made it clear that they don’t believe that the legal drinking age of 21 is working. These officials wish to start a debate even though there are clear facts stating that the current drinking age has saved numerous lives.
Nevertheless, there are more than 100 college presidents and chancellors from top universities such as Duke and Johns Hopkins who believe that it’s time to rethink the drinking age. They are of the opinion that the current drinking age has led to a culture wherein dangerous “binge-drinking” is seen as “socially acceptable.” Many of these people believe that the legal drinking should be lowered to the age of 18.
On the other hand, health and safety experts have reacted with dismay. This is because they have conducted several studies that show that raising the drinking age has actually saved numerous lives. However, they do agree with the college presidents that binge drinking is a real problem. In fact, 1,700 college students die from binge drinking each year. This doesn’t include the numerous injuries and sexual assaults that binge drinking also leads to. However, they do not see that lowering the drinking age is going to solve these issues.
Health and safety experts believe that stronger steps need to be taken in order to enforce the legal drinking age and better educate their students. They say that this is the only real way in which to fix the problem since lowering the drinking age would only shift the problem from the college campuses to the high schools. These experts also believe that college officials also need to stop turning a blind eye to fraternity bashes, which make students desire even more to go to college.

Source:http://worldhotnews.com/deciding-upon-the-right-age-for-drinking/7/#more-7

What do you get if you divide science by God?

A prize-winning quantum physicist says a spiritual reality is veiled from us, and science offers a glimpse behind that veil. So how do scientists investigating the fundamental nature of the universe assess any role of God, asks Mark Vernon.
The Templeton Prize, awarded for contributions to "affirming life's spiritual dimension", has been won by French physicist Bernard d'Espagnat, who has worked on quantum physics with some of the most famous names in modern science.
Quantum physics is a hugely successful theory: the predictions it makes about the behaviour of subatomic particles are extraordinarily accurate. And yet, it raises profound puzzles about reality that remain as yet to be understood.

The bizarre nature of quantum physics has attracted some speculations that are wacky but the theory suggests to some serious scientists that reality, at its most basic, is perfectly compatible with what might be called a spiritual view of things.
Some suggest that observers play a key part in determining the nature of things. Legendary physicist John Wheeler said the cosmos "has not really happened, it is not a phenomenon, until it has been observed to happen." D'Espagnat worked with Wheeler, though he himself reckons quantum theory suggests something different. For him, quantum physics shows us that reality is ultimately "veiled" from us.
The equations and predictions of the science, super-accurate though they are, offer us only a glimpse behind that veil. Moreover, that hidden reality is, in some sense, divine. Along with some philosophers, he has called it "Being". In an effort to seek the answers to the "meaning of physics", I spoke to five leading scientists.
1. THE ATHEIST
Nobel-prize winning physicist Steven Weinberg is well-known as an atheist. For him, physics reflects the "chilling impersonality" of the universe.
He would be thinking here of, say, the vast tracts of empty space, billions of light years across, that mock human meaning.
He says: "The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it seems pointless."
So for Weinberg, the notion that there might be an overlap between science and spirituality is entirely mistaken.
2. THE SCEPTIC
The Astronomer Royal and President of the Royal Society, Martin Rees, shows a distinct reserve when speculating about what physics might mean, whether that be pointlessness or meaningfulness.
He has "no strong opinions" on the interpretation of quantum theory: only time will tell whether the theory becomes better understood.
"The implications of cosmology for these realms of thought may be profound, but diffidence prevents me from venturing into them," he has written.
In short, it is good to be humble in the face of the mysteries that physics throws up.
3. THE PLATONIST
Cambridge physicist Roger Penrose differs again. He believes that mathematics suggests there is a world beyond the immediate, material one.

Ask yourself this question: would one plus one equal two even if I didn't think it? The answer is yes.
Would it equal two even if no-one thought it? Again, presumably, yes.
Would it equal two even if the universe didn't exist? That is more tricky to contemplate, but again, there are good grounds for a positive response.
Penrose, therefore, argues that there is what can be called a Platonic world beyond the material world that "contains" mathematics and other abstractions.
4. THE BELIEVER
John Polkinghorne worked on quantum physics in the first part of his career, but then took up a different line of work: he was ordained an Anglican priest. For him, science and religion are entirely compatible.
The ordered universe science reveals is only what you'd expect if it was made by an orderly God. However, the two disciplines are different. He calls them "intellectual cousins".
"Physics is showing the world to be both more supple and subtle, but you need to be careful," he says.
If you want to understand the meaning of things you have to go beyond science, and the religious direction is, he argues, the best.
5. THE PANTHEIST
Brian Swimme is a cosmologist, and with the theologian Thomas Berry, wrote a book called The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era.
It is avidly read by individuals in New Age and ecological circles, and tells the scientific story of the universe, from the Big Bang to the emergence of human consciousness, but does so as a new sacred myth.
Swimme believes that "the universe is attempting to be felt", which makes him a pantheist, someone who believes the cosmos in its entirety can be called God.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7955846.stm

Obama pledges economic recovery

Barack Obama has told Americans he sees signs of economic recovery, but urged them to be patient and look beyond their "short-term interests".
The US president said his draft budget would build a stronger economy which would mean America did not face a repeat crisis in 10 or 20 years. "We will recover from this recession," he told a prime-time news conference in Washington DC.
His $3.6tn (£2.5tn) budget faces its first tests in Congress this week. Mr Obama said his economic strategy, and his new budget which was now being prepared, was based on creating new jobs, rejuvenating the housing market, and creating new liquidity and lending by the banks.

He stressed that immediate action was necessary, and urged both Congress and Americans in general to support his plan.
Opposition to the package, which features increased health care coverage, higher education spending and a new "cap-and-trade" system on greenhouse gas emissions, is coming from his own Democratic Party as well as the Republican opposition.
In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session that touched on the environment, the drugs trade and stem-cell research, Mr Obama said he expected "steady progress" in resolving disputes with Iran. He said the status quo in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was unsustainable, adding that it was critical for the US to advance a two-state solution.
'Signs of progress'
In an eight-minute address at the start of the hour-long session, Mr Obama said his administration had "put in place a comprehensive strategy designed to attack this crisis on all fronts".

"And we are beginning to see signs of progress," he said. "The budget I submitted to Congress will build our economic recovery on a stronger foundation, so that we do not face another crisis like this 10 or 20 years from now." "We have made the tough choices necessary to cut our deficit in half by the end of my first term - even under the most pessimistic estimates," he argued.
Mr Obama urged US citizens to be patient.

"It will take time, it will take patience, and it will take an understanding that when we all work together, when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have to each other, that's when we succeed," he said.
Asked about the flow of illegal drugs into the US, Mr Obama said his administration would go beyond the $700m plan announced on Tuesday to support Mexico in its fight against the powerful drugs cartels.
He also praised his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon, for his efforts against the cartels.
Budget fight
The stage is set at Congress for a tough fight over the budget with Mr Obama, who has been in office for barely two months, correspondents say. On Wednesday, he is due to meet Senate Democrats in a bid to rally support for an increased deficit, reckoned to be $1.4tn for next year.
The House budget committee will begin writing its version of the budget plan the same day, and on Thursday the Senate budget committee will begin crafting its budget plan for 2010 and the four subsequent years. Republicans complain that the draft budget expands government and raises taxes on the rich and some small businesses.
"There is little or no Republican support for this budget," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told Reuters news agency. A Congressional budget office analysis released last Friday estimates that President Obama's budget would generate deficits totalling $9.3tn over the next decade.
"If these plans are carried out, we run the risk of looking like a Third World country," Mr McConnell was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.
Kent Conrad, the Democratic chairman of the Senate budget committee, is preparing to slash Mr Obama's 11% increase for non-defence appropriations to perhaps 6%. "We cannot have debt pile on top of debt," he said.
"In the short term, yes, we have got to have added deficits and debt to give lift to this economy, but longer term, we have got to pivot." Mr Obama is also preparing for a European trip next week that includes the London G20 summit on the global economic crisis.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7962532.stm

Wildlife flee Kenyan forest fires

Hundreds of thousands of flamingos and other wildlife are at risk after five forest fires erupted in Kenya on Saturday, say wildlife officials. Police say they suspect some of the still-raging blazes were started by communities to make space for farmland.
The fires have had an adverse effect on the Masai Mara and in Tanzania on the Serengeti national park, officials say. Other wildlife reserves are under threat, including Lake Nakuru, which is home to almost a million flamingos.
According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), all the rivers that drain from south-western Kenya's Mau forest into the lake have dried drastically. Nearly 60 species of wildlife, including white rhino, depend on the lake.
By Sunday an estimated 200 hectares (500 acres) of woodland had been razed in Mau - East Africa's largest indigenous forest. KWS communications manager Paul Udoto told the BBC: "We now have to pump water from underground bore holes to shallow pans to water the animals in the park otherwise they will all die. This is costing us a lot of money."
Members of communities opposed to government plans to move them out of the Mau forest are suspected, say police, and several people have been arrested, accused of arson.
Another blaze nearby has destroyed about a quarter of the 52 sq km (20 square miles) Mount Longonot National Park, an extinct volcano in Kenya's Rift Valley, said officials.
Zebras, buffaloes, antelopes, gazelles and giraffes have fled the fires, crossing roads and residential areas to reach safety, said witnesses.
But some wildlife experts said snakes and smaller animals, like rabbits and mongooses, may not have managed to escape. Kenya is suffering a drought this year that has contributed to hunger the government says is affecting 10 million people.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7959230.stm

Next decade 'may see no warming'

The Earth's temperature may stay roughly the same for a decade, as natural climate cycles enter a cooling phase, scientists have predicted.
A new computer model developed by German researchers, reported in the journal Nature, suggests the cooling will counter greenhouse warming. However, temperatures will again be rising quickly by about 2020, they say. Other climate scientists have welcomed the research, saying it may help societies plan better for the future.
The key to the new prediction is the natural cycle of ocean temperatures called the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), which is closely related to the warm currents that bring heat from the tropics to the shores of Europe.
The cause of the oscillation is not well understood, but the cycle appears to come round about every 60 to 70 years. It may partly explain why temperatures rose in the early years of the last century before beginning to cool in the 1940s.
"One message from our study is that in the short term, you can see changes in the global mean temperature that you might not expect given the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)," said Noel Keenlyside from the Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences at Kiel University. His group's projection diverges from other computer models only for about 15-20 years; after that, the curves come back together and temperatures rise. "In the long term, radiative forcing (the Earth's energy balance) dominates. But it's important for policymakers to realise the pattern," he told BBC News.
Deep patterns
Modelling of climatic events in the oceans is difficult, simply because there is relatively little data on some of the key processes, such as the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) - sometimes erroneously known as the Gulf Stream - which carries heat northwards in the Atlantic.
Only within the last few years have researchers begun systematically deploying mobile floats and tethered buoys that will, in time, tell us how this circulation is changing.

As a substitute for direct measurements of the MOC, the Kiel team used data going back 50 years from the Labrador Sea, where warm water gives up its heat to the atmosphere and sinks, before returning southward lower in the ocean.
Combining this ocean data with established models of global warming, they were able to generate a stream of model results that mimicked well temperatures observed in the recent past over the north Atlantic, western Europe and North America.
Looking forward, the model projects a weakening of the MOC and a resulting cooling of north Atlantic waters, which will act to keep temperatures in check around the world, much as the warming and cooling associated with El Nino and La Nina in the Pacific bring global consequences.
"We have to take into account that there are uncertainties in our model; but it does suggest a plateauing of temperatures, and then a continued rise," said Dr Keenlyside.
'No distraction'
The projection does not come as a surprise to climate scientists, though it may to a public that has perhaps become used to the idea that the rapid temperature rises seen through the 1990s are a permanent phenomenon.
"We've always known that the climate varies naturally from year to year and decade to decade," said Richard Wood from the UK's Hadley Centre, who reviewed the new research for Nature.
"We expect man-made global warming to be superimposed on those natural variations; and this kind of research is important to make sure we don't get distracted from the longer term changes that will happen in the climate (as a result of greenhouse gas emissions)."

Dr Wood cautions that this kind of modelling is in its infancy; and once data can be brought directly from the Atlantic depths, that may change the view of how the AMO works and what it means for the global climate.
As with the unusually cold weather seen recently in much of the northern hemisphere - linked to La Nina conditions - he emphasises that even if the Kiel model proves correct, it is not an indication that the longer-term climate projections of the IPCC and many other institutions are wrong.
Michael Schlesinger, the US scientist who characterised the AMO in 1994, described the new model as "very exciting".
"No doubt we need to have more data from the deep ocean, and we don't have that at present," the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researcher told BBC News.
"But imagine the payoff of knowing with some certainty what the next 10 years hold in terms of temperature and precipitation - the economic impacts of that would be significant."

Souece:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7376301.stm#map

Himalayan glaciers 'melting fast'

Melting glaciers in the Himalayas could lead to water shortages for hundreds of millions of people, the conservation group WWF has claimed. In a report, the WWF says India, China and Nepal could experience floods followed by droughts in coming decades.
The Himalayas contain the largest store of water outside the polar ice caps, and feed seven great Asian rivers. The group says immediate action against climate change could slow the rate of melting, which is increasing annually.
"The rapid melting of Himalayan glaciers will first increase the volume of water in rivers, causing widespread flooding," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the WWF's Global Climate Change Programme. "But in a few decades this situation will change and the water level in rivers will decline, meaning massive eco and environmental problems for people in western China, Nepal and northern India."
'Catastrophe'
The glaciers, which regulate the water supply to the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Thanlwin, Yangtze and Yellow rivers are believed to be retreating at a rate of about 10-15m (33-49ft) each year. Hundreds of millions of people throughout China and the Indian subcontinent - most of whom live far from the Himalayas - rely on water supplied from these rivers. Many live on flood plains highly vulnerable to raised water levels.
And vast numbers of farmers rely on regular irrigation to grow their crops successfully. The WWF said the potential for disaster in the region should serve to focus the minds of ministers of 20 leading industrialised nations gathering in London for two meetings on climate change.
"Ministers should realise now that the world faces an economic and development catastrophe if the rate of global warming isn't reduced," Ms Morgan said.
Temperatures rising
She added that a study commissioned for the WWF indicated that the temperature of the Earth could rise by two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in a little over 20 years. Allowing global temperatures to rise that far would be "truly dangerous", Ms Morgan said.
Nepal, China and India are already showing signs of climate change, the WWF report claims. Nepal's annual average temperature has risen by 0.06 degrees Celsius, and three snow-fed rivers have shown signs of reduced flows. Water level in China's Qinghai Plateau wetlands has affected lakes, rivers and swamps, while India's Gangotri glacier is receding by 23m (75ft) each year.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4346211.stm

Cordyceps sinensis Is A Fungus Supplement For Endurance An More

Cordyceps sinensis is а pаrаsitic fungus thаt belongs to the mаjor clаss of fungi which аre cаlled Ascomycetes. This fungus is found growing on cаterpillаr lаrvаe of butterflies аnd moths. Hаd you purchаses some Cordyceps sinensis from а Chinese аpothecаry before 1985, you probаbly would hаve been told tаke nine grаms а dаy of dried cаterpillаrs. People аctuаlly did get results from this type of unpurified source. Becаuse of its limited аvаilаbility, Cordyceps is somewhаt expensive, with its prices being considerаbly higher thаn mаny forms of ginseng. In recent yeаrs, its аvаilаbility hаs improved in mаrkets in Southeаst Asiа, Jаpаn, аnd the U.S., however, demаnd still outweighs the supply.

Thаnks to technologicаl аdvаnces, Cordyceps cаn now be cultivаted in the lаborаtory. The fungus not only contаins аn аbundаnce of nutrients, but it аlso hаs аctive ingredients such аs polysаcchаrides. The Chinese government hаs successfully cultivаted Cordyceps in tissue culture since 1985. Todаy it is not аbnormаl to find commerciаl prepаrаtions with hundreds of milligrаms of pure myceliаl extrаcts. This form is аctuаlly the best source by fаr, аs it is most likely to hаve the lаrgest therаpeutic effect on the body. The lаborаtory cultivаtion of cordyceps hаs been so successful thаt it will most likely completely replаce other forms of cordyceps in supplement form.

If the cordyceps product you аre looking аt purchаsing is listed therаpeutic with TGA, this is even better. Under these circumstаnces, you аre аssured of the mаnufаcturing process аnd thаt the Cordyceps source meets аn аcceptаble quаlity аnd purity. Recent reports of cordyceps thаt аre аvаilаble from Chinese аpothecаries were heаvily contаminаted with toxic trаce metаls such аs leаd аnd cаdmium which hаs leаd to poisoning in severаl cаses. But with todаy’s processing аnd аnаlyticаl equipment, cordyceps on the mаrket аre found to be pure аnd toxin free.

There аre а vаriety of complimentаry herbs thаt cаn be tаken with cordyceps sinensis in order to provide the best heаlth results. Pаnаx ginseng, аnother herb used for centuries in trаditionаl medicine in Chinа, hаs been reported to enhаnce stаminа аnd increаse the аbility to cope with stress аnd fаtigue. Pаnаx ginseng аppeаrs to hаve а number of properties thаt could benefit endurаnce аnd stаminа, but the mаjor problem thаt exists is thаt it is not eаsy to obtаin stаndаrdized, аuthentic ginseng root prepаrаtions. Cordyceps hаs been referred to аs а ginseng even though it is а fungus becаuse it exhibits the sаme effects аs pаnаx аnd other stаminа promoting herbs.

The most publicized аnd trendy endurаnce аnd stаminа enhаncing herbаl supplement found on the mаrket todаy is а stаndаrdized extrаct of cordyceps. Cordyceps is similаr in properties to herbs such аs а ginseng; cordyceps hаs come down in price аnd is now considered а substitute due to its lower cost аnd wide аvаilаbility. The glycosides hаve powerful ginseng-like effects, аs it stimulаtes the ACTH-cortisol system, lowers blood pressure аnd blood glucose levels, enhаnces mаle sexuаl function, hаs а trаnquilizing effect on the Centrаl Nervous System, аnd relieves stress.

As you cаn see, cordyceps hаs а broаd spectrum of uses. Cordyceps extrаcts cаn help to protect аgаinst reperfusion thаt is induced by аrrhythmiаs, fibrillаtion, аnd tаchycаrdiа. These extrаcts hаve аlso been shown to be а powerful inhibitor of histаmine releаse, which is аn importаnt feаture in relаtion to performаnce injury. Mаny studies hаve аlso shown thаt cordyceps is extremely effective in protecting аgаinst exhаustion. Cordyceps hаs аlso been shown to give off а number of beneficiаl effects thаt mаy be useful in the treаtment of CFS.

Source: http://artico.co.za

An Autobiography of Mt. Everest's Height by T B Pradhanang

The exact date of my birth is unknown to me, but people say that my emergence on the earth was pretty recent. It is believed that I am younger than all other Himalayas, mountains and hills of this world. Nowadays, the son is taller than the father, the younger brother taller than the elder, in short the young are taller in height than their elders are. Maybe that is the reason why I am the tallest mountain in the world. The Himalayas, which are around 2,400 kms in length and 150 - 400 kms in width, are also mentioned in the ancient religious texts and it is believed that Lord Shiva's celestial abode is located somewhere on the Himalayas. Even now a lot of people are curious about me and have made many historical, geographical, and scientific researches about me. Among the 25 summits in the world which are over 8,000 m, 5 fall in Pakistan, 1 falls in China, and 1 in Bhutan. The rest are all situated in Nepal and one-third of all Himalayan ranges also fall within Nepal's boundaries. Among all the summits of Nepal, I am the most favored one. The reason for this is that if someone succeeds to reach me they will be forever remembered. If they find out something new about me they will achieve prominence, and their name will be written in the Hall of Glory .For all this, people even put their lives at risk and try to reach me. And since hundreds of years, mankind has competed amongst themselves to measure my height.

Although the task of measuring mountain summits had been going on for a long time, my first complete assessment along with that of my fellow friends was only done in 1850 from India. Due to their ignorance of my local name, I was named XV during thisprocess and it was only after later evaluations that people were to know me as the tallest mountain in the world. For a long time afterwards, no one seemed to care about me. Even the few who tried to measure me did not gain anything worthwhile. As soon as people tried to scale me the number of persons who wanted to know more about me grew fantastically. Isn't it amazing? So many people from different places have tried to estimate my height through so many methods but they are yet to be successful and the task of measurement still continues. I have no idea how many times and till when this saga will continue, and I think even the wise and all-knowing Lord Shiva residing on my crest does not know the answer to this.

The British, who infiltrated India in the name of the East India Company and established their rule out there, became increasingly attracted to the Himalayan ranges lying in the northern part of their colony and started to show their mounting interest in us. Maybe because of this, the British announced an official war on Nepal on
November 1, 1824 which ended on March 4, 1826 and which resulted in the loss of 2341 square mile territory of Nepal as recorded in the " SUGAULI TREATY". It was only nature of the British to be fascinated by us, surrounded as they were by water on all sides. In the beginning they were not aware of my existence, as they believed I was hidden from their view. But, they did not spare my fellow friends and tried unsuccessfully to measure their height through the 'Horizontal Distance' and 'Vertical Angle' .In 1810, Col. Crawford came to Nepal and tried to measure the Himalayan summits through his own methods. He came to the conclusion that the height of the Himalayan summits varies according to the different hours of the day. He also gave a statement on this. Likewise, in 1812, Captain Webb measured the height of Mt. Gongotri and Mt. Banderpunj as 25,000 ft. and 22,800 ft. respectively. But due to incorrect measurement of the sea level, a miscalculation of 4,000 ft. and 1,100 ft. took place.

It was many years after 1767 (when the Survey of India was born) that in order to make the maps of India the 'Great Trigonometrical Survey of India base points' was created. In 1823, Sir George Everest was appointed to measure all the Himalayan summits falling within the Indian sub-continent. He started his survey by creating triangulation lines to go through all the summits. In 1830, he was appointed the Survey General. Even after Everest left India in 1843, his project continued. The EVEREST SPHEROID, which is a necessity when making maps of this area was also, invented by him. His work was carried on by his successor Sir Andrew Waugh, who wrote in a letter that the tallest Himalayan peaks had been seen somewhere in the northern region of Nepal and that it was hoped to prove a challenge to Geology (which was proved true later on). "

Even though we were not allowed to enter Nepal, we tried to estimate the Himalayan ranges from South Bihar, which is only 160 kms away from the border, by climbing 20-30 ft. tall towers. In the early morning we calculated the horizontal distance and at around 8 a.m. - 10 a.m. the vertical angle was observed". In this way, the British, who were not allowed to enter Nepal and who could only barely distinguish our peaks had a tough time completing their survey. According to the surveyors, there was a difference of about 500 ft in all of our measurements. This was due to the distance and the difference in the daily refraction. Because of this, Sir Waugh with the help of his main assistant Radha Nath Sinkhdar tried to improve the atmospheric refraction through various researches. Among the summits, which were measured in 1850, Nandadevi was declared the highest peak with the height of 25,650 ft., but later on Dhaulagiri won the coveted title with a height of 26,800 ft. Some years later, claims were made that Mt. Kanchunjunga, observed from Darjeeling, was the tallest among all. No one even imagined that I could be the tallest mountain in the world.

In reality, J.W. Armstrong had already measured me in 1847 and even named me "V". But he had not completed my evaluation. If he had done so, my height would have been 28,800 ft. Between 1849-1850, J.O.Nicholson tried to estimate me by using 24'' Thodolite machines from a distance of 175- 190 kms, situated on six different places. He named me "H". But after reaching the main station my former name "XV" was used. In this way, a lot of measurements had been taken of me and my friends, but to complete a total evaluation would involve a lot of time and effort, and it was only natural to expect numerous discussions and debates. All the debates subsided with the release of Radhanath's evaluation. In this evaluation, I was declared as the tallest peak in the world. After improving the refraction, he evaluated my height at 29,000 ft. Finally, in 1852, my height was made public and as no one knew my local name, I was christened "MOUNT EVEREST" after the great geologist and surveyor George Everest.Thereafter, I became famous as Mt. Everest- the tallest mountain in the world. The people of Nepal called me SAGARMATHA (meaning the highest point of the earth or the body) and the people of the North gave me the name of KABBULANGMA. Pakistan's Mt. K2 with a height of 28,225 ft was adjudged the second tallest and eastern Nepal's Mt. Kanchenjunga with a height of 28,145 ft was declared as the third Highest Mountain of the world.

After the first survey to estimate my height, people got busy with the task of improving the atmospheric refraction; although a lot of politics went on to measure my height no fruitful study was done. During 1880-83 and 1902, a survey was done from six different places of Darjeeling to measure the vertical angle, but nothing was gained from this project.

In 1905, Sir Burrad started a survey to estimate the heights of a few Himalayan Summits. He measured the Vertical Angle from Dehradun by using new and improved refraction methods and fixed my height as 29,141 ft. Even on this a few shortcomings were found on the GEOID and VERTICAL DEFLECTION as necessary data had not been available on them. Since 1910, Hunter, a team advisor of 'Survey of India', had started a detailed study and research on atmospheric refraction. In 1913, Hunter, the new Survey General, published an article describing a source through which atmospheric refraction could be improved. In 1928, he again published a table on atmospheric refraction improvement. Similarly, he had also done praise worthy work on ground surveys like creating methods like the H.S.V etc. Even Hunter did not leave the task of finding my new height alone. Keeping all the disadvantages and difficulties in mind, he fixed my height at 29,080 ft. Later on, geologist Bomford also acknowledged this. But people still debated on the absence of complete data on the Geoid and Deflection of Vertical. In other words, people never tired of debating on my height. In 1940, the British team, which came to Nepal in order to perform a survey on the 'Koshi Barrage Plan' also, started a venture to measure my height. B.L.Gulatee, a director of the G & R branch of the Survey of India, played a vital role in this. In order to get a more accurate and clear Geoid and Deflection of Vertical, he performed a number of additional tasks such as atmospheric survey, level survey from nearby places such as - Diwanganj, Chatara, Mayam, Rauje, Namchhe Bazaar etc. and thus, completed a survey on me.
In 1952-1953 an accurate Vertical Angle was calculated from 8 mountain peaks, which were at a distance of 47 kms to 76 kms from me and whose height ranged from 8,670 ft. to 14,760 ft. According to this last evaluation my height was recorded at 29,028 ft. This included the depth of the snow that was covering me. Mr. Gulatee added in his presentation that all other surveys done on me previously were good and the height given to me was not exactly wrong, but that surveys done later were always better and more correct than the earlier ones. In this survey mistakes had been reduced, as the atmospheric refraction used had been more correct. Measurements had been taken from other tall peaks and from a closer range. Even the final evaluation had been done with a lot of care. Similarly, a more accurate Geoid and Deflection of Vertical had been used. Because of all these reasons, this important survey was released only in 1954. It had been only a few weeks back that the first human feet had tread on my head.

Oh! I got so engrossed telling you about the projects, which measured me from the north, that I completely forgot about all the southern expeditions. In 1949, Leonard Cleark made a claim that my neighbour Mt. Aanchimakbun was 193 m. taller than I was. America's Washburn wanted to verify this claim, but due to China's internal war he was unable to do so. There was no way of reaching me through independent Tibet. In 1966, when China had already occupied Tibet, a Chinese team headed by Wang Wangchuk undertook the task of estimating my height as well as that of Mt. Aanchimakbun. My height was found out to be 8,848 m and they started to call me Chomolungma.

But the height of Mt. Aanchimakyun was estimated at 6,282m. only. Furthermore, a nearby Mt. Aanchimakbun was recorded to be at 6,268m. The Chinese team deducted that these two mountains must be Sister Mountains and that Leonard Cleark had most probably measured the mountain measuring 6,268 m. i.e. Mt. Aanchimakbun. There were a lot of mistakes even in this measurement. Anyway, people's curiosity just grew.
In 1955, a British expedition tried to scale me. But they relinquished their ascension when they were only 1,000m. away from my summit. After the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1960, a Chinese team successfully ascended me from my north face. Their desire to measure my height from the north continually increased. Accordingly, they thought up a very extensive plan. There were two teams involved in this survey- a research team and an expedition team.

They started their survey in 1973. The correct spit level from the Yellow Sea was brought to the nearest summit i.e. only 13.6 km away from me, by their National Level Bench Mark and for the other summits trigonometrical methods were used to assess the height. Similarly, for the Planemetric Control, second-degree triangulation chains were made and from points which were at a distance of 600 km the survey was completed. When near me, they added up my height by going through me using third degree chains and traverse points. For this, they found out the horizontal distance and vertical angle from 13 km. Away and through the Electronic Distance Measurement method they. Thus, they made trigonometric survey, gravity survey from 20 points, atmospheric survey from 15 points were completed from camps constructed as high as 6,300 m.

To stay at this altitude just to measure the Deflection of Vertical was indeed very admirable. The survey done from summits as far as 8.5 km to 21.2 km was successful. Their ascension team which scaled me put up a flag made from a mixture of different metals, which stood on three 3.5 m. long legs, wrapped up in cords and painted in red, on my apex. In spite of strong winds and heavy snowfall, it remained intact for 3 years. This team also measured the 0.92 m level of snow on my crest. To find out how the angles and distance measurements are affected by atmospheric variation, they took the temperature arc of different places. The middle portion was measured with the help of a balloon.Through this survey the accurate angles, geodes and quasi - geodes were discovered and the correct evaluation calculated. Finally, in 1975, my height was officially declared as 8,848.113+0.35m (29,029+1.1 ft). This height was accurate as every kind of improvement was implemented and the mistakes were countable. The main reason was impeccable work done by the survey team. Their brave and hard work really is praise worthy. The amazing thing is that this height and the height given to me in 1954 were one and the same. In 1987, after a long time, some interesting news about me came to light. In March of the same year, Prof. Wallerstein, an atmospheric scholar of the Washington University and a mountaineer himself, measured the height of MOUNT K2 and me with the help of satellites. His survey came to the result that Mt K2 was 11m taller than me. This news was also published in the 20-10- 1989 edition of 'The New York Times'; '06-11-1989' edition of 'THE Rising Nepal' and also in the 2-11-1989 edition of 'TIME ' magazine. As this survey had been done only once and on top of all with a weak battery, it was not taken as correct. For the refutation of this, Italy's Prof. Ardite Desio, from the Milan University, started his own survey. In August 1987, he proved Wallerstein's statement wrong by using two GPS receivers which measured our individual heights from a distance of 1300 km. He fixed my height at 8,872m and Mt K2 's at 8,615m. Respectively, which proved that I was 256 m taller.

In this way, it was proved that the earlier American Geological Survey had been correct in their assumption of calling me the taller one between us. Eventhough, the people acknowledged me as the tallest mountain, they were still not sure about my exact height. The reasons for this doubt were: the surface's geodetic points had not been joined and the local Geoid had not been calculated. Because of all these reasons and for various other scientific studies and researches, RONAST (Royal Nepal Science and Technology) and Italy's National Research Council came to an agreement in September 1989 whereby they would study the Himalayan Ranges unitedly. A news item revealed that the Italian team would perform various experiments to prove Prof. Desio's claim. Firstly, they built a triangular shaped house in Nobuchhe and fixed it up with all kinds of scientific instruments. RONAST disclosed that they would study the climate, geology, environment as well as the speed of increment in the Himalayan's height. But on 22 April 1993, a very surprising news was published in 'The Kathmandu Post' - a press release published in Geneva reported by Prof. A. Desio claiming that the height of Sagarmatha was shorter 2.06 m (88,846 m) than before and that this survey was done with the same GPS satellites using the latest technology and hence was devoid of mistakes present in the previous survey. The only thing that did not satisfy me was that the vertical deflection of some places had been calculated without the local Geoid.The sea -level was also not taken from a nearby area, but from satellite survey. My height was calculated through a detailed and expansive process from the north, and until and unless nearby regulation points are not taken and all kinds of aerial data are not calculated, my correct height will never be assessed from the south side. Another thing is that the height of the Indian Ocean and the Yellow Sea should be added and compared with me from a near distance only then a correct assessment of my Height can be done from the south side.

In 27 th Kartik 2056 edition of "The Kantipur Daily", another surprising item was published. According to an article published by the associated press, Washington it was discovered that the height of Sagarmatha was actually 2 m more On hearing this, I did not whether to laugh or cry, as an article published in "The Kathmandu Post" had according to the GPS method, listed the height of Sagarmatha as 8,846m.Similarly, the news published in "The Kantipur Daily" had also been based on the GPS method. "89-year old Bradford Washburn, the director of the Millineam expedition who were the last team to ascend Sagarmatha in this century, published this measurement in the National Geographic Society. According to his Society's Cartographer Ellen Carol,"This is the most correct and accurate measurement of the world's highest point". But how can this be when the Daily Newspaper of Nepal reported ' the Survey Department of Nepal is still unsure about Sagarmatha's new height". If it wants to know my correct height than it has to calculate my height based on high resulution geoid.

It has been reported that even this new method based on the Earth satellites is not accurate and that there is usually a difference of 2m. According to the American scientist Prof.Roger Bilham, the accuracy and depth of the snow level as well as the geoid have not been mentioned in the latest publication on my height.
To dishonor me through foreigners who give different and contrasting heights to me is very unfair. It has become a necessity to make a law to forbid all random claims on my height. Until a through and detailed study is not completed, people have to consider my height as 8,848 m. keeping Lord Shiva, who resides on my head, as a witness I would like to ask from all those who want to study and research on me not to make any random judgements. The work of one team should always be cross-checked by another team; nothing should be done without a legal permit; and until there is no true fact people should not resort to false propaganda. The news of my height should not vary on a daily basis. The work of one country should not be baselessly refuted by another country, thus causing embarrassment to me. False stories should not be published. This is my pray to all of you, I think I can do nothing besides asking, can I ?

Source:http://www.nepalhomepage.com/himalaya/sagarmatha.html