tagged w/ Southeast Asia
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Before everything got complicated - vice-President Johnson reporting back on a Fact-finding mission to Southeast Asia.Before everything got complicated - vice-President Johnson reporting back on a... more
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International marine scientists say that a huge coral death which has struck Southeast Asian and Indian Ocean reefs over recent months has highlighted the urgency of controlling global carbon emissions.
Link : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/10/101020091903.htmInternational marine scientists say that a huge coral death which has struck Southeast... more
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![[CNN] | Scientist: "Human-Induced Global Warming" Killing Corals](http://i2.crtcdn1.net/images/spacer.gif)
October 20th, 2010
02:51 PM ET
Scientist: 'Human-induced global warming' killing corals
Photo: Reefs on Sumatra, Indonesia, on May 31, 2010 show the effects of bleaching.
Coral reefs are dying around the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia at rates that may be the worst ever recorded, scientists said this week.
Death rates as high as 80 percent have been recorded for some species, according to the study performed by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University.
“It is certainly the worst coral die-off we have seen since 1998. It may prove to be the worst such event known to science,” said Andrew Baird, a principal research fellow for James Cook University in Australia.
The coral bleaching extends from the Seychelles in the middle of the Indian Ocean to the Philippines in Southeast Asia and encompasses much of the Coral Triangle, an area scientists refer to as the “Amazon rainforest of the seas” or the most diverse marine ecosystem on Earth.
A mass of abnormally hot water which moved into the Indian Ocean several months ago is behind the bleaching, according to the ARC report. The hot water caused the corals to shed microscopic algae which help nourish them. The algae also give color to the corals, so when the algae are gone, the corals starve and appear white or bleached.
Dive operators reported water temperatures were 4 degrees Centigrade higher than average during the die-off, according to the ARC report.
The scientists said coral coverage in the affected areas could drop from 50 percent to 10 percent, hurting fishing and tourist industries over the long term as dead reefs support less marine life than live ones. And with that loss of diversity, they attract fewer fishermen and fewer divers.
“While it may take up to two years for some fish species to be affected by the loss of coral habitat, fisheries yields will decline and this combined with a drop in the number of scuba divers visiting could have major long-term effects on the local economy,” Baird said in a statement.
Baird blamed “human-induced global warming” for the decline of the corals and said action must be taken to reduce carbon emissions that help retain heat in the atmosphere.
“This is not just about warmer temperatures: it is also threatening the livelihoods of tens of millions of people and potentially the stability of our region,” Baird said in a statement.October 20th, 2010
02:51 PM ET
Scientist: 'Human-induced global warming'... more
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Over the years, I’ve worked on a number of environmental stories that have taken me from one part of the globe to another -- from Madagascar to China and all the way to Greenland.
For me, this entire journey has been a bit accidental. I’d never really considered myself to be truly “green” in any one way, but when I came to Current, I committed myself to doing stories of large global import. As I began mapping out the big stories that I felt needed to be told, many of them have happened to point back to the health of our planet.
This led me to the realization that everything is somehow tied to the environment. By simply paying attention, we can see and understand how most every action we take, nearly every product we consume, has an effect somewhere else in the world. That reaction may not be within sight – conveniently, it often isn’t – but somewhere, you can bet there’s a cost.
I began tossing around ideas about how best to illustrate that idea. Examples abound – like plastics accumulating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, electronic trash burning in an e-waste wasteland in China, or sushi’s acceptance as a global cuisine leading to an emptying of our oceans. My colleague found an unexpected, nearly grotesque example.
Ecstasy.
A few months ago, Joanne Shen and I traveled to Cambodia to see how the global demand for ecstasy was helping drive the destruction of what was amongst the most pristine, intact rainforests in Southeast Asia. It’s a great example of how the demand for various goods can, and often has, massive, reverberating effects halfway around the world. These ‘ecstasy hunters’ are burrowing deep into the forest to obtain safrole oil, the precursor to MDMA, or ecstasy. This is the crucial ingredient for the drug.
In “The Forest of Ecstasy” you’ll see me trudge through the rainforest in search of a rare tree that’s being cut down for its high quantities of the essential oil. And we came across safrole oil ‘factories’ in the middle of the forest, extracting and refining the oil before it’s sent out to become the ecstasy pill. The damage doesn’t end there. As the guys create roads into the forest, they’re paving the roads open for poachers looking for the wildlife bounty inside. It’s a chain reaction caused by club kids looking for a good time.
I’m not suggesting we stop doing all the things we do in any given day, or stop consuming the things that have become ‘necessities’ in our lives. But a greater level of awareness just might make you think a bit more about the choices you have to make.
The world is far more connected than you might imagine.
The "Forest of Ecstasy" airs tonight Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 10/9c on Current TV. For more information, visit Vanguard on Current.com.Over the years, I’ve worked on a number of environmental stories that have taken... more
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Lagodaxnian sends cultural theme videos from his home in the East. This one is America's heritage too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzsdVUEYzu4Lagodaxnian sends cultural theme videos from his home in the East. This one is... more
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Here is a poetic journey through some heavily flooded areas of Phnom Penh, Cambodia after a short hard rain storm.Here is a poetic journey through some heavily flooded areas of Phnom Penh, Cambodia... more
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An internal audit found that the World Bank did not follow environmental and social standards in its interactions with Indonesian palm oil plantations.
The audit comes on the heels of reports regarding another threat to Indonesia's rain forests. According to MongaBay.com, a developer overseeing construction of a hydroelectric project in Borneo is planning to burn a large area of rainforest where the dam is being built.An internal audit found that the World Bank did not follow environmental and social... more
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Southeast Asia will be hit particularly hard by climate change, causing the region's agriculture-dependent economies to contract by as much as 6.7 percent annually by the end of the century, according to a study released Monday.
The Asian Development Bank study identified four countries as especially vulnerable: Indonesia and the Philippines with large coastal populations facing rising sea levels, and Thailand and Vietnam where rice yields could drop 50 percent due to water shortages.
"You have to think about developing countries' capacity," ADB Senior Economist Tae Yong Jung said. "They are not really well prepared. Their capacity to handle extreme events is much lower than the developed world."
He said globally climate change would cost the equivalent of 2.6 percent of gross domestic product each year by the end of the century.
If nothing is done to combat global warming, the report said that by 2100 the four Asian countries would see temperatures rise an average of 8.6 Fahrenheit (4.8 Celsius) from the 1990 level. They would also likely suffer drops in rainfall leading to worsening droughts and more forest fires, more destructive tropical storms and flooding from rising seas that could displace millions of people and lead to the destruction of 965 square miles (2,500 square kilometers) of mangroves.
The economic cost, according to the report, would be 6.7 percent of gross domestic product by 2100.
The key for Southeast Asia would be protecting its remaining tropical forests which have fallen victim in recent years to widespread illegal logging and the expansion of palm oil plantations, the report found. Deforestation represents as much as 75 percent of the four country's emissions.Southeast Asia will be hit particularly hard by climate change, causing the... more
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JAKARTA—(UPDATE) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations took a major step towards becoming an EU-style community Monday with the passing into force of a new charter setting benchmarks for democracy.
"This is a momentous development when ASEAN is consolidating, integrating and transforming itself into a community," Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said.
"It is achieved while ASEAN seeks a more vigorous role in Asian and global affairs at a time when the international system is experiencing a seismic shift," he added, referring to climate change and economic upheaval.
The charter will give ASEAN, often dismissed as a talking shop, greater clout in international negotiations but critics argue that some member states will continue to get away with gross human rights abuses.
ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.JAKARTA—(UPDATE) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations took a major step... more
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SINGAPORE : Sixty—eight mothers took part in a mass breastfeeding session on Saturday.
The Breastfeeding Mothers’ Support Group organised the event to encourage more mothers to breastfeed their children for at least six months, and provide complementary food with continued breastfeeding for two years and beyond.
That is the standard recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Less than 1 per cent of Singapore mothers exclusively breastfeed their babies.
The event was also held to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week.
Guest of Honour Yu—Foo Yee Shoon, who is Minister of State for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said, "A lot of us, mothers, don’t have (the) knowledge...So I think the first few weeks are very important, because we would struggle in whether we have enough milk...so I think in the hospital, the nurse can give the parents advice, especially the mother.
"The nurse told me that nutrition wise, mother’s milk is 200 times more (nutritious) than a cow’s milk...so I think it’s a good thing we need to promote for the health of the children. I (also) understand that kids who (are) breastfed are less prone to sickness..." — CNA/msSINGAPORE : Sixty—eight mothers took part in a mass breastfeeding session on... more
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Police arrested more than 100 protesters in the Indonesian capital Saturday after some burnt tyres and threw molotov cocktails during a rally over fuel price rises, police said. Indonesia hiked the cost of fuel by nearly 30 percent from Saturday in response to soaring global oil prices, and a ballooning subsidy bill, leaving hard-pressed households facing even more economic woes.
“More than 100 people have been detained for questioning,” a police officer identified only as Ari told AFP.
He said that hundreds of students staged the rally early Saturday in front of the National University in South Jakarta over the price rise decision.
“Protesters have thrown small fuel bombs (molotov) towards the police and burned tyres on the streets,” he said.
Police also arrested about 26 protesters who rallied outside the presidential palace at midnight on Friday, when the price rise came into effect, Detikcom News Website reported.
A police officer said protesters had no permit to stage a rally there.
In Bandung city in West Java, 1,000 protesters from hardline Muslim group Hizbut Tahrir held a protest Saturday morning to condemn the government’s move on prices, local ElShinta radio reported.
Many ordinary Indonesians say higher fuel prices combined with the recent surge in the cost of food will put an intolerable strain on family budgets.
The price hike sparked protests across the sprawling archipelago of 234 million people when it was flagged earlier this month by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The government defended the decision on Friday, saying in a statement that even with the hike, fuel was still subsidised and “lower than in poor countries such as East Timor.”
Police arrested more than 100 protesters in the Indonesian capital Saturday after some... more
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This Thai village has a tradition of eating those flying creatures.
The youth, are not that into it though.
Would you eat a bat?
This Thai village has a tradition of eating those flying creatures.
The youth, are... more
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Indonesian police were questioning a man today on suspicion that he murdered his lover and at least four other people, a police detective said. Verry Henyanksyah was arrested last week after a dismembered male body was found in a suitcase in the capital, Jakarta, said police Colonel Carlo Tewu. He said Henyanksyah allegedly said the victim was his lover and confessed to the murder. He then led police to four other bodies buried outside his parents' home in east Java, Tewu said.
Henyanksyah told police all the victims were male and that one was a Dutch citizen, he said. The bodies, which were unearthed yesterday, were too decomposed to immediately identify them or establish their sex. Tewu said he feared Henyanksyah may have killed more people, and urged residents to inform police if they knew anyone who had contact with Henyanksyah and then disappeared.
Over the past month, Indonesia has executed four people convicted for murder, two of whom were serial killers.Indonesian police were questioning a man today on suspicion that he murdered his lover... more
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"Cambodia and Thailand further increased their forces in the fifth day of a tense standoff on disputed land near an ancient Hindu temple on the border, officials said on Saturday.
More than 500 Thai troops and well over 1,000 Cambodian soldiers are stationed around a small Buddhist pagoda on the slope of a mountain leading to the ruins of 11th century Preah Vihear temple...
...The standoff nearly erupted into violence late Thursday, when witnesses said troops twice pointed their guns at each other during 10 tense minutes at the pagoda when 50 Cambodian troops entered the pagoda compound to protect food supplies for dozens of monks.
Officials from both countries plan to meet Monday to resolve the standoff. But Premier Hun Sen and told his Thai counterpart in a letter Thursday that the dispute was worsening and harming their relations."
(End of excerpt)
Full article at link.
"Cambodia and Thailand further increased their forces in the fifth day of a tense... more
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"Myanmar's cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta and Indonesia's Sumatra island face high risks of arsenic contamination in groundwater that could cause cancer and other diseases in residents, according to a new study.
Using a digitalized model that examines geological features and soil chemistry in Southeast Asia, researchers writing in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Geoscience mapped several likely hot spots that had never been assessed for arsenic risks.
"Obviously, there is concern," said Michael Berg, one of the five authors, who is a senior scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology in Dubendor, Switzerland. "If you look at our data, there is risk of arsenic in the ground water."
Arsenic, especially in drinking water, is a global threat to health, affecting more than 70 countries and 137 million people. The country worst affected is Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of people are in danger of dying from cancers of the lung, bladder and skin.
Odorless and tasteless, arsenic enters water supplies from natural deposits in the ground or from agricultural and industrial practices. Arsenic is poisonous when consumed in high doses, but even smaller amounts can cause cancer, skin problems and abnormal heart rhythms ..."
By Michael Casey, Associated Press"Myanmar's cyclone-devastated Irrawaddy delta and Indonesia's Sumatra... more
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Poverty and underemployment drive much of the population out of the Philippines, where the number one export is people. There are about 11 million overseas Filipino workers around the world who send back over $20 billion in remittances a year, which keeps the Philippine economy afloat...sort of. This is a look at those families left behind and those longing to leave. Their destination? Anywhere.Poverty and underemployment drive much of the population out of the Philippines, where... more
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Aung Kyaw San, editor of the Myanmar Tribune, was arrested on June 15 along with 16 other people who had volunteered to help bury the cyclone dead,Aung Kyaw San, editor of the Myanmar Tribune, was arrested on June 15 along with 16... more
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Residents from a coastal village have said only the passenger ferry's bow was visible above the waves, after a typhoon caused it to capsize leaving 700 people on board feared dead. A search for survivors is being carried out today.
The company which owns the vessel, Sulpicio Lines, says it lost contact with the ferry at around 5.30am British time yesterday. It had been en route to the island of Cebu from Manila, the capital. A rescue mission was forced to abort yesterday due to high seas.
The bodies of two women and some children's slippers were washed ashore from the boat, the Princess of Stars.
Recent flooding in nearby Capiz is said to be 'massive', with more than 2,000 houses destroyed in the provincial capital alone. Officials are still said to be struggling to make contact with communities further afield.Residents from a coastal village have said only the passenger ferry's bow was... more
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