22 August 2005:
China
Climate warning as Siberia melts
The world's largest frozen peat bog is melting. An area stretching for a million square kilometres across the permafrost of western Siberia is turning into a mass of shallow lakes as the ground melts, according to Russian researchers just back from the region.
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China
Students Get Close-up Views of Pandas
This was meant to be an exciting and exotic summer vacation for Huang Chung Ying, a graduate student from Taiwan University, and it did not disappoint. She attended a special panda camp, called "knowing and loving the panda."
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China
Dalian Volunteer Divers to Clean up Seabed
Believe it or not, scuba diving, now a fashionable sport, can be used to serve environmental purposes as well.
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China
Tibetan Antelope Should Not Be Raised in Captive: Expert
Chinese experts oppose the suggestion of raising Tibetan antelope in captivity as a way to protect this rare wild species from extinction.
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China
China Strives to Cut Damage to Cultural Heritage in Water Diversion Projects
When modernization meets ancient relics, the balance of favors leans to the former in today's China, a country where problems such as poverty and shortages of energy seem more urgent than protecting cultural heritage.
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China
Chinese, Americans Truly See Differently, Study Says
Chinese and Americans literally view the world differently, according to a new study, which found that the two groups tend to move their eyes in distinctly different patterns when looking at pictures.
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Malaysia
Correspondents Report - Forests of South East Asia face bleak future
HAMISH ROBERTSON: Last week's television pictures of a smog-shrouded Kuala Lumpur can't have done much for Malaysia's tourism industry, which likes to project an image of clear skies and a pristine natural environment.
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Malaysia
Malaysia chokes on Indonesia's smoke
Malaysia wants crisis talks with Indonesia.
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Malaysia
Winds to change course on Monday
PETALING JAYA: Be prepared for the return of the haze as early as Monday.
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Philippines
Bayer building wins international award
The Bayer building in Canlubang was adjudged 2nd runner-up in the ASEAN Energy Awards 2005 (representing the Philippines), under the category Energy Efficiency and Conservation New and Existing Building. Singapore’sNational Institute of Education Building and Malaysia’ßs Telecom Malaysia Berhad Building won 1st prize and 1st runner-up honors, respectively.
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Philippines
The importance of tree planting
Tree planting, contrary to popular notion, is not just a simple task of putting seedlings into a vacant area in the forest or any land. The tree species should always be considered before planting on a target reforestation site while planting exotic trees must be avoided since most of them are invasive, dominant and might actually bring more harm than good to our country’s biodiversity.
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Philippines
Guidelines for air quality project funding issued
DENR Secretary Michael Defensor has signed a memorandum circular that sets the criteria in the selection of projects and activities that may qualify for grants for the Air Quality Management Fund.
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Philippines
Future air quality management projects ready for funding
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Michael Defensor issued recently the implementing rules of Republic Act 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999.
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Philippines
‘Tree of life’ is living up to its name
AT LAST, the coconut, our “tree of life,” is getting the recognition it deserves. Its oil is now being considered, or so I’m told, as an alternative fuel source. Let’s hope this is not wishful thinking on our part.
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Viet Nam
New species found in protected cave
QUANG BINH — New species of flora and fauna have recently been discovered at the world natural heritage site of Phong Nha-Ke Bang cave in the central province of Quang Binh.
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Climate Change
Climate change marks dawn of man
Complex variation of the East African climate may have played a key role in the development of our human ancestors.
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Climate Change
Animals Going Awry as Earth Warms, Scientists Say
The world on average is about 1ºF (0.6ºC) warmer today than it was a century ago. That may not sound like a lot, but it's enough to concern some scientists.
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Climate Change
The business of climate change
This commentary on the recent agreement by six countries (India, China, the United States, Australia, Japan and South Korea) to co-operate in a pact to combat climate change - outside the Kyoto Protocol - is by Darryl d’Monte, founder President of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists.
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Fisheries
Scientists Review History, Trends of World Fisheries
“Many lay people believe that widespread ‘pollution’ endangers ocean life, perhaps a lingering impact of books such as ‘The sea around us’, and the pronouncements of Jacques Cousteau. Fisheries, by contrast, have long been seen as benign, and their growth not related to the decline of their target species, which is usually attributed to ‘environmental change’ or some form of ‘pollution’.”
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General/World
First kittens for cloned wildcats
A conservation institute in the United States has produced wildcat kittens by cross-breeding cloned adults.
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General/World
"March of the Penguins" Too Lovey-Dovey to Be True?
Ever since Walt Disney immortalized interspecies friendships and talking teapots, anthropomorphism (attributing human traits and emotions to animals or objects) has been a movie staple.
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General/World
Ocean bug has 'smallest genome'
Small but perfectly formed, Pelagibacter ubique is a lean machine stripped down to the bare essentials for life.
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General/World
Spare wind turbine power to fuel hydrogen cars
Giant wind turbines will be used to power a new breed of environmentally friendly cars that run on hydrogen gas under a pioneering scheme by Scots scientists
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General/World
A chance to buy relics from ancient shipwrecks
the “Treasures of the Nanhai” exhibition next month promises a lot of excitement for artefact collectors, who, for the first time in Malaysia, will get a chance to buy a piece of history.
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General/World
Oil search at Tañon Strait unauthorized -- environment exec
OIL exploration work by two foreign firms at Tañon Strait, a protected seascape off Negros and Cebu, has no clearance from the Protected Areas Management Council (PAMC) in the region, an environment official said Monday.
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General/World
Search is on way to trap planet-heating carbon dioxide
With the world poised to generate huge volumes of carbon dioxide in the next 25 years, experts say the need to capture the planet-heating gas and store it in safe places is becoming urgent and increasingly feasible. Using available technologies, carbon dioxide (CO2) can be captured and pumped into geologic formations deep underground, scientists say.
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General/World
Urine Battery Turns Pee Into Power
Before you next flush the toilet, consider this: Scientists in Singapore have developed a battery powered by urine.
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Global warming
The World's "Multimillion" Environmental Clean Up Kicks Off Next Month
Sydney, Australia – A massive environmental clean up operation involving millions of volunteers from across the globe will take place on 16-18 September 2005, Clean Up the World Chairman and Founder Ian Kiernan announced today from the campaign’s Sydney headquarters.
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Tsunami
Lessons from the tsunami: protect the coast and it will protect you
Coastal populations and ecosystems are more likely to bounce back from extreme coastal disasters by protecting local environments and building on local knowledge, according to a report published in Science.
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Tsunami
Carbon emissions threaten sea life
(CNN) -- Excessive carbon in the atmosphere is already causing irreparable environmental damage to the Earth's oceans and drastic cuts in emissions are necessary to prevent further devastation, a panel of leading scientists has warned.
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Tsunami
Beach Pollution Worse During Full Moon
The Full Moon has been blamed for a lot of things, most often falsely or without solid evidence.
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09 August 2005:
China
Senior Citizens' Bicycle Ride Highlights Wildlife Protection
Fifteen senior citizens have just concluded a 5,700-kilometer bicycle ride to promote public awareness of wildlife protection.
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China
Giant Panda Gives Birth
Giant panda Fei Fei gave birth to a cub on Saturday night in the China Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Sichuan Province, the center announced Sunday.
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China
WWF Pearl River Delta Program Launched
A three-year research and education program was launched by WWF (World Wildlife Fund ) Hong Kong yesterday aiming to help prevent further degradation of the Pearl River Delta, which lies between Macao and Hong Kong.
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China
Recycling Paper - More Than Just a Business
Feng Ning, an environmentalist and businessman in Beijing, is doing his bit for the country's trees by manufacturing and popularizing recycled paper. Feng runs the Beijing Golden Pecker Energy-saving and Environmental Center.
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China
US$5.5 Bln Invested on Natural Forest Protection
China spent over 44.89 billion yuan (US$5.5 billion) in the past seven years on protecting natural forests, said sources with the State Forestry Administration in Beijing Sunday.
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Indonesia
Indonesia sanctuary puts the beast back into animals
CIKANANGA, Indonesia. — Looking irritated, Indonesian animal trainer Alen tries to ignore the loud shrieks of "good morning" coming from white cockatoos in an outdoor cage.
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Philippines
New tech can pinpoint location of schools of fish
A technology that can locate schools of fish through the color of the ocean’s surface continues to excite the interest of the country’s fisheries sector.
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Philippines
DENR acts to prevent repeat of past mistakes
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is regularly monitoring the Boac-Makulapnit River to check that water quality to ensure that the tragic Marcopper incident will not be repeated.
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Philippines
Tariffs cut on wood pulp, aerosol can ends
MALACAÑANG has ordered a reduction of Most Favored Nation tariffs on wood pulp and aerosol can ends to help industries that use these products become more competitive.
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Philippines
Pinakbet Town is ‘vegetable bowl of Pangasinan’
VILLASIS, Pangasinan – It was a dream come true.
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Philippines
Regions now prioritizing aggie, fisheries R&D projects
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — Three regions have now prioritized agriculture and fisheries projects that they will pursue to boost development in the countryside.
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Philippines
Asian environmental network for enforcement launched
Environment Secretary Michael Defensor said stricter environmental law compliance would be in place as the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Networks (AECEN) Workshop was launched last Tuesday.
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Philippines
Paco estero mapping for Pasig cleanup
Unilever Philippines and La Sallian Institute for the Environment (LIFE) signed recently a pioneering Barangay Profiling Project for six barangay communities in the Paco Market area in Manila.
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Philippines
Bamboo museum in Las Piñas
The DENR and the offices of Sen. Manuel Villar and Rep. Cynthia Villar have launched the Bambusetum, a bamboo museum stretched along the city’s riverbanks boasting of 28 varieties of the country’s 32 bamboo species.
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Viet Nam
2,000 world bird species endangered
BirdLife International’s annual evaluation of how the world’s bird species are faring shows that a total of 1,212 species are in danger of becoming extinct, which when combined with the number of near threatened species gives a total of exactly 2,000 – more than a fifth of the planet’s remaining 9,775 species.
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General/World
Keeping our waters clean
Everybody is aware of the basic need for clean water free of noxious chemicals and harmful microorganisms. Health and environment authorities have come up with standards of water quality according to use. Thus drinking water, which immediately becomes part of our bodies, has the strictest standards. Other waters (fresh and marine) used for washing, swimming, culture of organisms, and industrial purposes have their own standards. Water quality should be regulated by government.
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General/World
Safe after 76 hours trapped on seabed
AFTER 76 hours entombed at the bottom of the Pacific, the young Russian mini-submarine commander allowed himself a faint smile as he emerged from an ordeal that had a nation and the world holding its breath.
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General/World
Washington’s baby panda is a boy
WASHINGTON. — It’s a boy — a quick peek at the baby panda born last month at Washington’s National Zoo showed it is a male, the zoo said on Tuesday.
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General/World
2005 Hurricane Season Will Be Stronger Than Projected
U.S. coastal residents already on edge because of two powerful and unprecedented July hurricanes are getting bad news today—the 2005 hurricane season is probably going to be worse than expected.
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General/World
Hurricane Spawned Biggest Waves Ever Measured, Study Says
Hurricane Ivan, which struck U.S. shores September 15, 2004, kicked up the tallest, most extreme waves ever measured, scientists announced today.
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General/World
Fuel Cell Motorbike to Hit U.S. Streets
A sleek, almost silent, nonpolluting fuel cell-powered motorcycle is set to begin gliding down U.S. streets by the end of 2006.
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General/World
More Daylight Savings: Energy Boon or Scheduling Snafu?
This week the U.S. Congress is expected to pass a mammoth new energy bill that includes subsidies to oil and gas companies and encourages nuclear power. Yet the bill's most controversial aspect may be its monthlong extension of daylight saving time.
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General/World
Study: Atlantis Sinking Has Scientific Basis
Aug. 8, 2005 — Plato's account of how the fabled city of Atlantis sank below the surface of the ocean does have scientific grounding, according to a seafloor survey of an island west of the Straits of Gibraltar.
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General/World
The Tenth Planet?
It might just be a lump of rock and ice. Or, it might be our solar system's 10th planet. Astronomers, or scientists who study space, stars, and planets, are trying to figure out which it is.
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Global Warming
Ice collapse, global warming link
THE collapse of a huge ice shelf in Antarctica in 2002 has no precedent in the past 11,000 years, according to a study to be published today that points the finger at global warming.
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Global warming
G8 still divided on global warming, climate change
IN EARLY July, leaders of eight of the world’s most developed countries, known as the Group of Eight (G8), met in Gleneagle, Scotland, to discuss global warming, climate change and other issues of international importance. G8 is composed of the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
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Tsunami
Andamans 'Phuket' plan sparks row
Leading Indian environmentalists have opposed a plan to bring in tourists to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands from the Thai resort of Phuket.
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Whale Rescue
Whale rescue mission abandoned
RESCUERS have abandoned a search for a whale entangled in fishing lines off the remote West Australian coast after losing track of the distressed mammal.
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Tsunami
Tsunami-Surviving Tribe Threatened by Land Invasion
Indian Ocean islanders who used ancient lore to escape last year's tsunami are facing a new threat that could extinguish their traditional way of life: modernization.
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