 There is further evidence that coral reefs can cope with the rising sea temperatures associated with climate change.
Researchers working on the Great Barrier Reef have found that the assembly of 2 900 individual reefs stretching 2 600km down Australia’s east coast can adapt to warmer waters. Emily Howells,from James Cooke University in Townsville,Queensland,set out to see whether it was right to assume that corals that flourished in warmer waters had different energy-producing algal cells from those that lived in cooler waters. She found that the cells,called zooanthellae,had different rates of adaptability to rising temperature and that this held true across those from cooler waters and those from warmer waters. Tourism “Previously we knew that it was different types of zooanthellae that vary in their temperature tolerations,so if a coral was going to be thermally tolerant through its zooanthellae it would have to be able to host different types,”she said. “Now,in the research that I did,also within one type of zooanthellae there are different levels of thermal tolerance and that’s because different populations have adapted to different thermal environments.” Her research,published in the journal Nature Climate Change,showed that the adaptability of zooanthellae “may assist corals to increase their thermal tolerance and persist into the future”. Over recent years,the research on the Great Barrier Reef has shown corals are hardier than scientists previously thought. This is important to Australia:The reef has two million visitors a year and underpins tens of thousands of jobs in tourism. “Overall,it’s good news for coral,but we need to keep it in context,”Howells said. “The overarching question is whether they can adapt at the same rate that the ocean temperature is rising. “It’s better to do research to quantify rates of adaptation than to have a guessing game on whether they can’t adapt and they are all going to die or whether they can adapt –and adapt at the rate the ocean temperature is rising.”  Heavy rains in Limpopo in the past week have damaged infrastructure and affected the water supply in and around Hoedspruit,a local official said on Thursday.
“There is a serious shortage of water in the Hoedspruit area as all the water is contaminated and undrinkable,”Maruleng Municipality spokesperson John Seokoma said. “Water is very urgently needed. Over 220 households were directly affected and that is excluding the farm workers and damage to farms.” Seokoma said the municipality and SA Red Cross Society volunteers were training communities in the area in water purification. “We have an indication that people use 20 000 litres of water daily…Any donation of bottled water will be needed and appreciated.” The municipality and its partners had started a disaster relief account and people could go to its website to find out how to donate,Seokoma said. Initial estimates showed that R6m worth of crops –such as avocados,citrus,mangoes,and maize –had been destroyed. Infrastructural damage of R21m –to fences,irrigation equipment,dams,and store rooms –was recorded in the preliminary report. “Following the first phase assistance with the hygiene packs and food parcels,there is serious necessity for clean water in these affected areas,”Limpopo provincial official George Mamabolo said in a statement. Mamabolo urged corporate citizens and communities to assist people by donating bottled water to the affected communities.  Agriculture is part of the solution to the world’s environmental challenge and must play a key role at next June’s Rio summit on sustainable development,the Brazilian head of the UN food agency said here on Tuesday.
“Agriculture ministers from the entire world must be present at the Rio+20 meeting [in June] so that agriculture commits itself to helping clean up the planet,”Jose Graziano da Silva,the new boss of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),said. “Agriculture contributes 30% of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming and we must raise the awareness of our farmers,”he added during an event organised by local authorities ahead of the opening of the World Social Forum (WSF) here later on Tuesday. The Rio+20 summit next June,the fourth major summit on sustainable development since 1972,will call on world leaders to commit themselves to creating a social and “green economy,”with priority being given to eradicating hunger. The WSF,which runs through Sunday,brings together tens of thousands of anti-capitalist militants opposed to the World Economic Forum,the annual gathering of the world’s economic and political elites being held at the same time in the Swiss resort of Davos. Forum participants are to mull alternative solutions to the global economic crisis and prepare the ground for a peoples’summit of social movements to be held in parallel to next June’s Rio+20 summit on sustainable development. “Agriculture is not just part of the problem,it is also part of the solution to the environment issue. It can contribute a lot to the planet’s sustainable development,by finding techniques less harmful to the environment,by helping with clean energy and with a better redistribution of production,”Graziano said. Graziano is a former Brazilian food security minister and the first Latin American to head FAO,a UN agency which battles hunger affecting over a billion people globally. Open doors He is internationally acclaimed for his role in designing and implementing Brazil’s “Zero Hunger”(“Fome Zero”) programme,which helped lift 24 million people out of extreme poverty. In his address,the 61-year-old professor,who was elected last June and took up his post early this month,pledged to open FAO doors to civil society. “FAO must open its doors to society. We are trying to create space for dialogue with society to break the monopoly of dialogue with governments,with some specific governments,as occurred over the past few years,”Graziano noted. Stressing that social movements were seeking reality,not utopia,he added:“Utopia is to think that solution exists on the margins of society,that there can be sustainable development without food security,that we can live in peace with nearly one billion starving people in the world.” He criticized what he called the “roulette”of world commodities prices. He said farm production would need to grow five times bigger and pointed out that 90% of this increase could be achieved with better productivity and not at the expense of the environment. And Graziano urged Brazil,now the world’s sixth largest economy,to “assume its international responsibility”in the fight against world hunger “with a new form of international co-operation”that respects developing countries.  A huge pool of fresh water in the Arctic Ocean is expanding and could lower the temperature of Europe by causing an ocean current to slow down,British scientists said on Sunday.
Using satellites to measure sea surface height from 1995 to 2010,scientists from University College London and Britain’s National Oceanography Centre found that the western Arctic’s sea surface has risen by about 150mm since 2002. The volume of fresh water has increased by at least 8 000km³,or about 10% of all the fresh water in the Arctic Ocean. The fresh water comes from melting ice and river run-off. The rise could be due to strong Arctic winds increasing an ocean current called the Beaufort Gyre,making the sea surface bulge upwards. The Beaufort Gyre is one of the least understood bodies of water on the planet. It is a slowly swirling body of ice and water north of Alaska,about 10 times bigger than Lake Michigan in the United States. Some scientists believe the natural rhythms of the gyre could be affected by global warming which could have serious implications for the ocean’s circulation and rising sea levels. Climate models have suggested that wind blowing on the surface of the sea has formed a raised dome in the middle of the Beaufort Gyre,but there have been few in-depth studies to confirm this. If the wind changes direction,which happened between the mid-1980s to mid-1990s,the pool of fresh water could spill out into the rest of the Arctic Ocean and even into the north Atlantic Ocean,the study said. This could cool Europe by slowing down an ocean current coming from the Gulf Stream,which keeps Europe relatively mild compared with countries at similar latitudes. “Our findings suggest that a reversal of the wind could result in the release of this fresh water to the rest of the Arctic Ocean and even beyond,”said Katharine Giles at UCL’s Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling and lead author of the study,published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The team plans to investigate further the relationship between sea-ice cover and wind changes.  A new technology that could potentially limit the impact of acid mine water has been invented in South Africa.
The CSIR has developed a new process to reclaim high-quality precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) from calcium-rich industrial solid waste. High-quality calcium carbonate is useful for various specialised industrial applications such as gastric acid treatment,tablet filling in pharmaceuticals,plastics,paint,adhesives and in pulp and papermaking. This technology may offer a solution to acid mine water in Gauteng. “We also foresee an increase in demand for calcium carbonate for treating acid mine drainage,”said biochemical engineer Dr Mlawule Mashego,who developed the technology with Jean Mulopo. The research group is focused on recycling technologies that would make extraction of effluent cost-effective. The method appears to be effective with streamed water,but is unlikely to be effective where groundwater is contaminated. “Some utilities responsible for waste treatment and management are moving away from regulatory compliance toward increased economic incentives in the process of recognising the value of waste and wastewater as a resource. “Such an approach includes the recovery of energy,nutrients,metals and other chemicals as part of the wastewater treatment process. We also look at further beneficiation of recovered by-products to enhance waste utilisation,”said Mashego. The CSIR has filed a patent for the technology would could also be exported to developing countries where issues of water contamination affect local populations.  Geothermal energy developers plan to pump 91 million litres of water into the side of a dormant volcano in Oregon to demonstrate new technology they hope will give a boost to a green energy sector that has yet to live up to its promise.
They hope the water comes back to the surface fast enough and hot enough to create cheap,clean electricity that isn’t dependent on sunny skies or stiff breezes –without shaking the earth and rattling the nerves of nearby residents. Renewable energy has been held back by cheap natural gas,weak demand for power and waning political concern over global warming. Efforts to use the earth’s heat to generate power,known as geothermal energy,have been further hampered by technical problems and worries that tapping it can cause earthquakes. Even so,the federal government,Google and other investors are interested enough to bet $43m on the Oregon project. They are helping AltaRock Energy of Seattle and Davenport Newberry Holdings of Stamford,Connecticut,demonstrate whether the next level in geothermal power development can work on the flanks of Newberrry Volcano,located about 30km south of Bend,Oregon. Green energy “We know the heat is there,”said Susan Petty,president of AltaRock. “The big issue is can we circulate enough water through the system to make it economic.” The heat in the earth’s crust has been used to generate power for more than a century. Engineers gather hot water or steam that bubbles near the surface and use it to spin a turbine that creates electricity. Most of those areas have been exploited. To tap that heat –and grow geothermal energy from a tiny niche into an important source of green energy –engineers are working on a new technology called Enhanced Geothermal Systems. “To build geothermal in a big way beyond where it is now requires new technology,and that is where EGS comes in,”said Steve Hickman,a research geophysicist with the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park,California. Wells are drilled deep into the rock and water is pumped in,creating tiny fractures in the rock,a process known as hydroshearing. Cold water is pumped down production wells into the reservoir,and the steam is drawn out. Similar to fracking Hydroshearing is similar to the process known as hydraulic fracturing,used to free natural gas from shale formations. But fracking uses chemical-laden fluids,and creates huge fractures. Pumping fracking wastewater deep underground for disposal likely led to recent earthquakes in Arkansas and Ohio. Fears persist that cracking rock deep underground through hydroshearing can also lead to damaging quakes. EGS has other problems. It is hard to create a reservoir big enough to run a commercial power plant. Progress has been slow. Two small plants are online in France and Germany. A third in downtown Basel,Switzerland,was shut down over earthquake complaints. A project in Australia has had drilling problems. A new international protocol is coming out at the end of this month that urges EGS developers to keep projects out of urban areas,the so-called “sanity test”,said Ernie Majer,a seismologist with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It also urges developers to be upfront with residents so they know exactly what is going on.  An additional 150 rangers will be deployed to the Kruger National Park this year in a bid to combat rhino poaching,Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa said on Sunday.
Molewa,addressing a National Press Club briefing in Pretoria,said that these would be in addition to the existing 500 rangers currently employed in the park. Molewa’s announcement follows the killing of 11 rhino in the country this year so far. Two poachers have been killed and another two have been arrested in connection with the rhinos poaching in the Kruger National Park this year. In 2011,448 rhino were killed in South Africa. “This ongoing poaching of our rhino population is a great source of concern to the government.”Some 232 people had been arrested for rhino poaching,Molewa said. Molewa said her department would meet the Department of Public Works about re-erecting a 150-kilometre stretch of fence along the border with Mozambique. SA National Parks (SANparks) chief executive David Mabunda,who was also at the briefing,said the fence,if approved,would cost an estimated R250-million to build. “We still have a fence or what used to be a fence. That part of the fence is in a bad state of repair,”said Mabunda. The proposed fence would be electrified,but would not be so strong as to electrocute people who crossed the border. Mabunda said it would operate more as an early warning system. He said most of those caught poaching were Mozambican nationals with some South Africans involved. Very few Zimbabweans were involved in poaching in the Kruger National Park. He said Mozambicans living across the border of the park were extremely poor and could therefore be enticed by organised crime. “We need an appropriate organised response.” Molewa said further meetings were planned with Mozambican officials. Fundisile Mketeni,the Water and Environmental Affairs deputy director general for biodiversity and conservation,said the fact that a recent auction to hunt a rhino in KwaZulu-Natal had raised R950 000 gave an indication of the value attached to rhinos and the associated poaching. “We are dealing with an economic crime,”he told the briefing. Molewa said she had decided not to effect a “blanket moratorium”on hunting. Following a recent meeting with provincial environmental MECs,a decision had been made to implement measures,including moratoriums,in “targeted areas,environments and/or provinces where such will be necessary”. South Africa has some 22 000 rhino,which according to Mabunda is about 80 percent of the world’s rhino population. Currently the country’s rhino population,22 percent of which is in private hands,was growing. However,he warned that if poaching levels continued to climb,from 2015 South Africa could see a fall in its rhino population. In the 1960s and 1970s Africa’s rhino population was being exterminated at the rate of and estimated 8000 animals per year. The horn of rhino is valued for dagger handles in Yemen while in China and Vietnam it is prized in traditional medicine to treat fevers. Molewa said she hoped that draft memorandums of understanding on wildlife trafficking would be signed with both Vietnam and China. She said it was envisaged that both countries would embark on campaigns to educate their populations.  Investigators need to do more to take down the kingpins of rhino poaching syndicates,the WWF urged on Monday.
CEO of WWF-South Africa,Dr Morné du Plessis,said rhino poaching is being conducted by sophisticated international criminal syndicates that smuggle horns to Asia. “Its not enough to bust the little guy –investigators need to shut down the kingpins organising these criminal operations,”he said. The syndicates have capitalised on an in increased demand for rhino horn in Asia,particularly Vietnam. Law enforcement officials in South Africa made 232 arrests related to rhino poaching in 2011. But,despite the increased efforts by authorities,poaching-related rhino deaths continue to rise. Last year the the number of rhino lost to poaching reached 448,up considerably from the 333 killed by poachers in 2010 (triple the 2009 figure). “The rate of poaching increase may appear to be faltering,but the bottom line is more rhinos than ever were poached in 2011,”said Dr Colman O Criodain,WWF’s wildlife trade policy analyst. “If left unchecked,poaching gangs could put the survival of these iconic species in jeopardy.” A large proportion of rhino deaths have occurred in the Kruger National Park,where 252 rhino were killed last year. Alarmingly,11 rhino carcasses have already been discovered in the park in 2012. On Wednesday,8 carcasses were found –all adults which had been shot and dehorned. The additional carcasses were found after an aerial search on Thursday morning.  The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) on Tuesday called for a complete ban of the trade in ivory after the seizure in Malaysia of an illegal ivory consignment shipped from Cape Town.
“The operations with Interpol are vital for saving elephants now,but ultimately we need a complete ban on ivory trade,if we are to stamp out the trade,”said Kelvin Alie,the director of Ifaw’s wildlife crime and consumption programme. Customs officers discovered elephant tusks,weighing 500kg and worth R6.1m,hidden in a container labelled “polyester and strand matting”in Port Klang,Malaysia. The port of origin was Cape Town. In mid-November a consignment of 33 rhinoceros horns,758 elephant ivory chopsticks and 127 ivory bracelets,with a street value of R140m was intercepted in Hong Kong in packages labelled “scrap plastic”from a vessel that had departed from Cape Town. The organisation Traffic said recently that 2011 was the worst year ever for ivory seizures globally,with 23 tons of ivory confiscated. There had also been a dramatic increase in the number of seizures weighing over 800kg. Most ivory is destined for Asian markets,the largest by far being China. “It’s too soon to label Cape Town the latest transit point for illegal ivory en route to Asia,but the seizures and arrests of the last eight weeks are large enough to be sufficiently worrying and demand the immediate attention of local authorities,”Ifaw’s Southern Africa director Jason Bell-Leask said.  South Africa’s first resource-saving “green street”was launched by the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA),the country’s official authority on green building,this past week.
The Cop17 legacy project involves thirty low income homes in a street in Cato Manor,Durban,which have all undergone a green refurbishment to demonstrate the range of possible social,economic and environmental benefits. Cato Manor is a ‘retrofit’,which means an upgrade of an existing home. The green interventions include adding solar water heaters,insulated ceilings,energy efficient lighting,rain-water harvesting systems,food gardens,trees,heat-insulation cookers and also efficient street lighting. Brian Wilkinson,the CEO of the GBCSA,says that with the world’s attention being focused on Cop17 and South Africa,the GBCSA and the World Green Building Council wanted to showcase the positive progress being made in the built environment,including the potential green buildings have for socio-economic benefits in lower income residential buildings. “South Africa has built over 2.5 million low-income homes in the past fifteen years,and is targeting a further three million by 2025. So far,green considerations such as passive design,energy/thermal efficiency and water efficiency have not generally been a priority. “However,this is something that needs to be addressed as living conditions can be improved in a way that minimises the drain on the earth’s resources,minimises the impact on the environment and avoids a ‘carbon intensive’ development path. This demonstration project thus will act as a positive legacy to inform policy and practice beyond Cop17.” Research worldwide has shown that a third of greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. “Green building can also improve the lives of residents by offering improved water and food security and creating opportunity for skills training and work opportunities.” The Cato Manor community was actively involved and consulted before the two-month retrofit and have named the street,“Isimosezulu (which means “climate”) Cop17 Place”. “With every 1kWh of electricity used in South Africa producing over one kilogram of carbon dioxide and using one litre of water,the benefits of efficiency interventions are very real. “While the residents are enjoying the dignity of hot water in their homes for the first time – via the solar-heated geysers –there will not be the cost implications of a traditional electric geyser,further strain on the already over-subscribed national power supply nor will it generate the emissions associated with the electricity usage.” The project is endorsed by the Department of Environmental Affairs and has been carried out in collaboration with the eThekwini Municipality. The main funder is the British High Commission in South Africa,with contributions from other organisations,including Ascas (LED street lighting),Cosmo-Dec (insulation roof paint to test on several houses),Eskom (energy efficient CFL light bulbs and research),Isoboard (insulated ceiling boards),Natural Balance (heat-insulation cooking apparatus,Wonderbags). Going forward,Property Point,an enterprise development initiative of Growthpoint property company,will provide training and business development support for the people who worked on this project,while the South African Botanical Society will be planting indigenous shade and fruit trees in association with Greenpop. The initiative was implemented by Carbon Programmes,the same team which conducted the award-winning energy efficiency retrofit in over 2300 houses in Kuyasa,Cape Town. They were supported by Durban-based Khanyisa Projects. | 
Water Rhapsody a WWF Green Trust award winner can save us up to 90% of our municipal water bills.” |
