January 25, 2012
As the reality and the impact of climate warming have become clearer in the last decade, researchers have looked for possible engineering solutions – such as removing
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or directing the sun’s heat away from Earth – to help offset rising temperatures.
New University of Washington research demonstrates that one suggested method, injecting sulfate particles into the stratosphere, would likely achieve only part of the desired effect, and could carry serious, if unintended, consequences.
The lower atmosphere already contains tiny sulfate and sea salt particles, called aerosols, that reflect energy from the sun into space. Some have suggested injecting sulfate particles directly into the stratosphere to enhance the effect, and also to reduce the rate of future warming that would result from continued increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
But a UW modeling study shows that sulfate particles in the stratosphere will not necessarily offset all the effects of future increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Additionally, there still is likely to be significant warming in regions where climate change impacts originally prompted a desire for geoengineered solutions, said Kelly McCusker, a UW doctoral student in atmospheric sciences.
The modeling study shows that significant changes would still occur because even increased aerosol levels cannot balance changes in atmospheric and oceanic circulation brought on by higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
“There is no way to keep the climate the way it is now. Later this century, you would not be able to recreate present-day Earth just by adding sulfate aerosols to the atmosphere,” McCusker said.
She is lead author of a paper detailing the findings published online in December in the Journal of Climate. Coauthors are UW atmospheric sciences faculty David Battisti and Cecilia Bitz.
Using the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Community Climate System Model version 3 and working at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, the researchers found that there would, in fact, be less overall warming with a combination of increased atmospheric aerosols and increased carbon dioxide than there would be with just increased carbon dioxide.
They also found that injecting sulfate particles into the atmosphere might even suppress temperature increases in the tropics enough to prevent serious food shortages and limit negative impacts on tropical organisms in the coming decades.
But temperature changes in polar regions could still be significant. Increased winter surface temperatures in northern Eurasia could have serious ramifications for Arctic marine mammals not equipped to adapt quickly to climate change. In Antarctic winters, changes in surface winds would also bring changes in ocean circulation with potentially significant consequences for ice sheets in West Antarctica.
Even with geoengineering, there still could be climate emergencies – such as melting ice sheets or loss of polar bear habitat – in the polar regions, the scientists concluded. They added that the odds of a “climate surprise” would be high because the uncertainties about the effects of geoengineering would be added to existing uncertainties about climate change.
Image Caption: A polar bear walks along an expanse of open water at the edge of Hudson Bay near Churchill, Manitoba, in 2011. The bears need pack ice to hunt for food, primarily seals, but climate change brings open water more often than it used to. Polar bears have been listed as a threatened species.
Image Credit: Cecilia Bitz
Source: University of Washington / Vince Stricherz
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January 21, 2012
The University of California is saving $32 million a year on energy and remains the leader in higher education for adopting green building standards.
Those achievements and others are outlined in the 2011 UC Annual Report on Sustainable Practices at the Board of Regents meeting today (Jan. 18) at UC Riverside.
The UC system added 38 LEED-green certified facilities during 2011 and now has 87, which continues to be the most of any university in the country, according to the annual report.
Much of UC’s $32 million in annual savings in energy use, up from $21 million in 2010, comes from participation in an Energy Efficiency Partnership with the California State University, California Community Colleges and the state’s investor-owned utility companies.
Since the partnership’s inception in 2004, UC has received $47.5 million in grants, which it coupled with more than $150 million in campus contributions and some external financing to fund energy efficiency projects. The projects include retrofitting lighting, heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to be more energy efficient.
"Energy efficiency is a cornerstone of UC’s sustainability efforts," said Nathan Brostrom, UC’s vice president for business operations, who is presenting the annual report to the regents. "Going green is the smart thing to do. These projects reduce energy use and cut costs while improving the comfort, health and safety of UC facilities."
UC’s energy conservation efforts are among the key UC Working Smarter administrative efficiency initiatives.
The energy reductions achieved have kept roughly 168,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases from being released, equal to approximately 10 percent of UC’s 2010 carbon footprint.
UC’s Policy on Sustainable Practices guides campuses in the areas of green building, clean energy, sustainable transportation, climate protection, sustainable operations, waste reduction and recycling, environmentally preferable purchasing and sustainable foodservice. In 2012, UC is studying the possibility of adding water conservation and storm-water management as a ninth area of coverage for its sustainability policy.
Early adopter
UC recognized that using LEED guidelines could help cut energy use and the carbon footprint of its buildings and was an early adopter, serving as a pilot site for evaluating the certification process in university settings.
"The UC system serves as a role model, not just from a policy standpoint but also in the way it motivates and engages people across its campuses and communities in the conversation," said Kristin Ferguson, higher education associate for the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, which first issued LEED guidelines in 2000. "The culture of sustainability that the UC system has been able to create is admirable and gives peer institutions a model to replicate on their campuses."
Over its lifespan, a LEED building will have lower operational costs because it’s built to use less energy and water while creating an environmentally friendly and healthier space for its occupants, said Jordan Sager, who is the LEED project manager at UC Santa Barbara.
A building or renovation built to LEED specifications can cost about 2 percent more than standard construction, but universities typically expect decades of use from facilities, Sager said.
"It makes sense for organizations like us to build the best building we can up front," he said. One of the best ways to do that, Sager explained, is by employing LEED guidelines to make buildings greener and cheaper to operate.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the industry standard third-party certification program created by the U.S. Green Building Council that incorporates a whole-building approach to sustainability by rating environmental impact and performance in such areas as location and planning, sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
LEED provides a common framework for building designers to document features in a way that avoids "green washing," or unsubstantiated claims of sustainability, said Gary Dahl, the director of project management for major capital projects at UC Davis.
"This is third-party verification, not just the building owner or operator claiming something is green," Dahl said. "You have to prove it through peer review."
LEED rating systems generally are based on a 100-point scale with four levels of certification: scores of up to 49 points are Certified, 50-59 are Silver, 60-79 are Gold and 80 or more are Platinum. UC campuses have seven new and renovated facilities rated Platinum.
In 2004, UC’s sustainability policy mandated LEED equivalency for new construction or renovations. Projects approved after July 1, 2009 (except medical center acute care facilities) must go through LEED certification.
Aiming for net-zero
LEED facilities contribute to the major goals of UC’s sustainability policy: to reduce energy use to 10 percent below 2000 levels by 2014 and cut greenhouse gas emissions to 2000 levels by 2014. By 2020, UC has committed to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels, to achieve zero waste sent to landfills and have 20 percent of the food served on campuses come from sustainable sources. After meeting its 2020 goals, UC plans to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint as soon as possible.
The sustainability report cited UC Davis West Village, which opened in 2011, for its innovative design as the largest zero-net energy community in the country.
West Village produces as much energy onsite as it consumes and could serve as a vision for future sustainable development at UC and elsewhere. It includes student, staff and faculty housing; commercial space and the just-opened Sacramento City College Davis Center.
The village’s photovoltaic system is expected to provide enough power for its first 1,980 apartments and commercial spaces. But the heart of West Village’s zero-net energy strategy is cutting use.
Technologies at the village, such as highly efficient lighting with occupancy sensors and daylighting — using sunshine as much as possible — are expected to cut energy use by 60 percent when compared to standard lighting. In fact, UC Davis has committed to a 60 percent reduction in the entire campus’s lighting energy consumption by the end of 2015. Once energy use is drastically reduced, renewable energy production can make the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality feasible.
Another major goal of UC’s sustainability policy is reducing waste through recycling, reuse, composting and other means. Nine UC campuses have met the goal of diverting at least 50 percent of waste from landfills. Four campuses and the UC Davis Medical Center have achieved a 65 percent diversion rate.
Even as more colleges and universities embrace sustainability, UC continues to be recognized as a national leader. In 2011, UC campuses and facilities received 12 national and state awards and continue to be recognized in the top tiers of national campus sustainability rankings. UC also has received national media acclaim in publications such as New York Times, Forbes, and in television and radio news broadcasts.
Source: University of California, Harry Mok
Image Caption: Gross Hall, UC Irvine
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January 13, 2012
A better understanding of how algae can be used to make biofuels is the aim of a new joint project between UC Davis and the University of Tokyo, Japan. It is one of four new grants, jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Japan Science and Technology Agency, to develop environment-friendly fuels and reduce pesticide use.
The four grants, totaling $12 million (960 million Yen), will be divided between the Japanese and U.S. laboratories. UC Davis’ share will be about $1.5 million over three years, with the possibility of renewal for another two years.
“These grants and this mutually beneficial partnership between UC Davis and the University of Tokyo will drive biofuel innovation for years to come,” said Congressman Mike Thompson (D-California). “Biofuels are not only good for our environment, they also reduce our dependency on foreign oil and help our economy by spurring green job creation.”
All four projects are based on metabolomics, an approach that uses high-tech analysis to understand all the chemicals involved in a living cell’s metabolism.
“This is a great example of international collaboration that will use state-of-the-art analytical and computational approaches to dissect metabolic networks and address bioenergy — a major priority for campus,” said Richard Michelmore, professor of plant sciences and director of the UC Davis Genome Center.
“We want to understand all the metabolic pathways, which are used under which conditions, and understand the traffic through the cell,” said Oliver Fiehn, professor at the UC Davis Genome Center and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, who will lead the UC Davis project with Masanori Arita of the University of Tokyo.
Currently, scientists can identify only a small fraction of the 10,000 to 15,000 chemical metabolites that exist in any given plant. The ability to identify and characterize these compounds could lead to entirely new and potentially breakthrough approaches for increasing biofuel production and reducing pesticide use.
Many compounds made by algae have potential for making biofuels. For example, glucose from the cell wall could be used to feed yeast to make ethanol, Fiehn said. Lipids or oils might have potential as biofuels in their own right.
The team will separate the complex mixtures of sugars, other carbohydrates, fats and oils made by the algae. Then they will develop software to identify the thousands of compounds and put them into a database run by Arita’s research group in Japan.
Other UC Davis investigators on the project are: Jean VanderGheynst, professor of biological and agricultural engineering; John Labavitch, professor of plant sciences; and Tobias Kind and William Wikoff, both project scientists at the UC Davis Genome Center.
Fiehn and Arita’s team will also collaborate with another grant funded under the joint program, led by Lloyd Sumner of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Okla., and Kazuki Saito of the RIKEN Plant Science Center, Japan, studying biomass and oil production in plants.
Source: University of California, Davis
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January 13, 2012
In a breakthrough paper published in Science, researchers from the University of Manchester, the University of Bristol and Sandia National Laboratories report the potentially revolutionary effects of Criegee biradicals.
These invisible chemical intermediates are powerful oxidizers of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide, produced by combustion, and can naturally clean up the atmosphere.
Although these chemical intermediates were hypothesized in the 1950s, it is only now that they have been detected. Scientists now believe that, with further research, these species could play a major role in off-setting climate change.
The detection of the Criegee biradical and measurement of how fast it reacts was made possible by a unique apparatus, designed by Sandia researchers, that uses light from a third-generation synchrotron facility, at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Advanced Light Source.
The intense, tunable light from the synchrotron allowed researchers to discern the formation and removal of different isomeric species – molecules that contain the same atoms but arranged in different combinations.
The researchers found that the Criegee biradicals react more rapidly than first thought and will accelerate the formation of sulphate and nitrate in the atmosphere. These compounds will lead to aerosol formation and ultimately to cloud formation with the potential to cool the planet.
The formation of Criegee biradicals was first postulated by Rudolf Criegee in the 1950s. However, despite their importance, it has not been possible to directly study these important species in the laboratory.
In the last 100 years, Earth’s average surface temperature increased by about 0.8 °C with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades.
Most countries have agreed that drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are required, and that future global warming should be limited to below 2.0 °C (3.6 °F).
Dr Carl Percival, Reader in Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Manchester and one of the authors of the paper, believes there could be significant research possibilities arising from the discovery of the Criegee biradicals.
He said: “Criegee radicals have been impossible to measure until this work carried out at the Advanced Light Source. We have been able to quantify how fast Criegee radicals react for the first time.
“Our results will have a significant impact on our understanding of the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and have wide ranging implications for pollution and climate change.
“The main source of these Criegee biradicals does not depend on sunlight and so these processes take place throughout the day and night.”
Dudley Shallcross, Professor in Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Bristol, added: “A significant ingredient required for the production of these Criegee biradicals comes from chemicals released quite naturally by plants, so natural ecosystems could be playing a significant role in off-setting warming.’
Source: University of Bristol
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January 13, 2012
A study by a large international team of scientists says that relatively cheap, simple measures to cut two common pollutants could substantially reduce global warming and improve human health and
agriculture in coming decades. Instead of focusing on carbon dioxide—the main culprit in climate change–they target specific ways to cut methane and soot from industrial and farming processes, using proven existing technologies. They estimate this would shave nearly one degree Fahrenheit off warming projected to occur by mid-century. The cuts would also avert premature deaths from air pollution, and boost yields of crops, they say. The new study, which builds on a report last year from the UN Environmental Programme and the World Meteorological Organization, appears this week in the leading journal Science.
Carbon dioxide, a product of human fossil-fuel and biomass burning, is the major long-term driver of global warming. But the political, economic and technological challenges to reducing emissions are huge, and once in the air, CO2 remains for centuries. Methane and soot contribute to warming too, but they naturally cycle out of the air much faster—and there are already immediate ways available to deal with them, say the authors. Methane, a flammable constituent of natural gas and natural byproduct of decay and digestion processes, is a greenhouse gas similar to CO2, but pound for pound far more potent; it also reacts with other gases to form ground-level ozone, a major pollutant that damages both crops and human health. Soot (technically known as black carbon) comes from incomplete combustion of wood, dung, coal and other fuels. It absorbs radiation from the sun, warming the air when it is aloft, and warming land when it alights there; as a side effect, it can also cause rainfall patterns to shift. It also worsens cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.
“Ultimately, we have to deal with CO2, but dealing with these pollutants is more doable, and it brings fast benefits,” said lead author Drew Shindell, a researcher at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and Columbia University’s Earth Institute. “We have identified practical steps we can take with existing technologies. Protecting public health and food supplies may take precedence over avoiding climate change in most countries, but knowing that these measures also mitigate climate change may help motivate policies to put them into practice.”
Shindell and 23 colleagues from North America, Europe, Africa, the Mideast and Asia looked at some 400 possible existing pollution control measures that might cut global warming. Then they used computer models to zero in on 14 that would have the most immediate effects. All turned out to involve cuts in methane or soot.
To reduce methane, key strategies targeted by the study are capturing gas currently escaping from coal mines and oil- and gas-producing facilities; reducing leakage from long-distance pipelines; preventing emissions from landfills; updating wastewater treatment plants; draining rice paddies more often; and limiting emissions from manure on farms. For black carbon, strategies include installing more filters on diesel vehicles; taking the worst-polluting vehicles off the road; upgrading family cookstoves with cleaner-burning models; building more efficient brick kilns, boilers and coke ovens; and banning the routine burning of agricultural lands now common in many parts of the tropics.
The researchers estimated that if all recommended measures were taken, it would reduce global warming by about 0.5 degree Centigrade (0.9 Fahrenheit) by 2050. (Projections of future warming vary, but the mean forecast is about 1.34 degrees C hotter by 2050 than now.) The researchers say the measures would also avert 700,000 to 4.7 million premature deaths from outdoor air pollution per year, and increase annual crop yields by 30 to 135 million metric tons, due to ozone reductions by 2030 and beyond. The scientists valued the overall benefits of methane reduction alone at $700 to $5,000 per metric ton, while the typical cost of abatement would be less than $250 per ton.
Some regions would benefit more than others. These would include regions with large amounts of snow and ice cover, where soot landing on reflective surfaces has been shown to hasten melting and expose underlying ground, which then soaks up more heat and feeds back into even more warming. In the Himalayas and the Arctic, soot reductions might reduce projected warming over the next 30 years by two thirds, according to the study. Among nations, this would give Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia the greatest buffer against warming. Meanwhile, the south Asian countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and India would see the biggest reductions in premature deaths, due to reductions in soot. Methane is more evenly distributed in the global atmosphere than soot but it forms ozone more rapidly in hot, sunny places; partly due to this, the study projects that Iran, Pakistan and Jordan would see some of the biggest improvements in agricultural production due to reduced ozone. Southern Asia and the Sahel region of Africa would see the most benefits to farming from better seasonal rainfall patterns, brought about mainly by an overall reduction in atmospheric heating by soot. The scientists used computer models developed at GISS and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany, to model the impacts of the emissions reductions.
“The scientific case for fast action on these so-called ‘short-lived climate forcers’ has been steadily built over more than a decade, and this study provides further focused and compelling analysis of the likely benefits at the national and regional level,” said Achim Steiner, executive director of the Nairobi-based UN Environmental Programme. Some other institutions involved in the study include the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission; Stockholm Environment Institute; Harvard School of Public Health; Scripps Institute of Oceanography; the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Source: Columbia Earth Institute.
Image Caption: Eliminating leaks from energy-producing facilities would remove large amounts of the greenhouse gas methane from the air. Here, natural gas explodes from a pipe in Middletown, Conn., January 2010
Image Credit: U.S. Chemical Safety Board
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March 16, 2010
A study published 16 March 2010 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP) finds that many
developing countries have high long-term levels of aerosol air pollution. The study is the first to use satellite data to estimate long-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations across the entire globe.
PM2.5 consists of particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers (the size of many bacteria) or smaller and comes from such sources as forest fires, power plants, cars, industry, and in many countries, home heating and cooking. These particles pose a health concern because of their ability to penetrate deep into the lungs once they are breathed in.
The study found that 80 percent of the global population lives in places where concentrations of PM2.5 exceed the ultimate air quality guideline set by the World Health Organization (WHO) of 10 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3). The WHO has set several interim targets, the highest of which is 35 µg/m3, and even that is exceeded over central and eastern Asia for 38% and 50% of the population, respectively. Eastern China showed high levels of pollution; large regions showed an annual average of more than 80 µg/m3.
The study used satellite data gathered over a span of six years, providing some of the first long-term measurements of average PM air pollution concentrations for many regions with significant sources of air pollution but few if any ground-level sampling stations to substantiate the extent of human exposures—including many developing countries.
The methods described and validated by the study can be applied to further studies of health effects caused by exposure to PM air pollution around the world. These methods include combining data from different satellite instruments with a chemical-transport model to relate observations of the entire air column beneath the satellite to air quality near the surface. The authors validated this approach by comparing their estimates to those derived from ground-based sampling and found a significant level of agreement. However, they note additional research is needed to reduce uncertainty due to non-uniform satellite sampling, cloud cover, and other factors that may limit the accuracy of the satellite-based estimates.
The study is the first to combine data from two particular satellite instruments—MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and MISR (Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer)—on a global scale.
Authors of the article are Aaron van Donkelaar, Randall V. Martin, Michael Brauer, Ralph Kahn, Robert Levy, Carolyn Verduzco, and Paul J. Villeneuve. This work was supported by Health Canada and by graduate fellowships from the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Killam Trust.
Source: Environmental Health Perspectives
More information about aerosols: http://www.sflorg.com/space_weather/ato_multimedia/flvato_11
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March 12, 2010
The University of Sydney will lead a new project to improve existing methods of detecting a fish disease which is causing substantial
setbacks to the barramundi industry.
Thanks to a quantum leap in DNA-detection technology in 2009, a new test is available for the nervous necrosis virus—a serious disease affecting more than 35 species of fish worldwide. In Australia, the disease has primarily affected the production of barramundi, with losses of up to 100 per cent occurring in some hatcheries.
Principal Investigator Professor Richard Whittington, Chair of Farm Animal Health in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney, says the disease has prevented the expansion of the industry and hampered productivity. It has also reduced options for restocking wild fisheries due to fears the disease may spread.
In the past, the gel-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was the validated test used in laboratories to find signs of the nervous necrosis virus.
"The old test was not very sensitive, and in many cases, infection was present yet still turned up negative," Professor Whittington explains.
"For that reason, the result of the test did not really predict the likelihood of an outbreak occurring."
The new PCR method was first achieved at the University of Sydney through research and development funded by the Australian Research Council, and will allow researchers to concentrate the genome from the virus so that it can be detected in a very sensitive laboratory procedure.
The new study will also improve detection by developing and applying serological tests to complement the PCR method. This will provide the information as to whether the antibody status should be used as an indicator of infection in a fish population.
Launched after the largest consultative meeting in Australia in 2007, the project is a major national collaborative research program to control the disease. The meeting included State Departments of Primary Industries, CSIRO, representatives from the Australian Barramundi Farmers Association as well as the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
Working with Professor Whittington, will be Dr Joy Becker and Alison Tweedie at the University of Sydney as well as team members listed below:
- Mark Crane, the fish health project leader, from the Australian Animal Health Laboratory at CSIRO;
- Jane Frances, Manager of Aquatic Biosecurity & Risk Management at the New South Wales Industry and Investment;
- Dr Peter Kirkland at Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, New South Wales Industry and Investment;
- Dr Edla Arzey, at Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, New South Wales Industry and Investment;
- Dr Kitman Dryting, from Aquatic Animal Health Northern Territory State Government;
- Dr Ian Anderson, the principal Veterinary Pathologist (Fish Disease) at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries.
Image Caption: Barramundi (Lates calcarifer)
Source: University of Sydney
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March 11, 2010
Under Embargo Till: 19:00 UTC March 11, 2010
Posted: 19:00 UTC 03/11/2010
An international convention will meet next week to decide whether to grant requests from Tanzania and Zambia to lower the protection
status of their elephants, allowing them to conduct one-time sales of stockpiled ivory.
An international team of 27 conservationists, writing in the March 12 edition of Science, says allowing the sale could lead to increased slaughter of elephants for their ivory throughout Africa. The team says there was a sharp increase in poaching even before 2007, when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species approved a lower protection status for elephants in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
However, uncertainty about whether that action would further escalate poaching led the convention to impose a nine-year moratorium on ivory sales, but it was modified at the last minute so the moratorium only applied to those four countries.
The conservationists say Zambia and Tanzania are major sources and trafficking corridors for Africa’s illegal ivory, demonstrated by tons of contraband ivory seized in 2002, 2006 and 2009. DNA sampling on the 2002 and 2006 seizures traced the majority of that ivory back to those two nations.
"These two countries are at the center of the illegal ivory trade in Africa. It’s kind of unbelievable that their requests have gotten this far," said Samuel Wasser, a University of Washington conservation biologist and lead author of the paper published in the Policy Forum section of Science urging that the sale not be allowed.
In the last 30 years African elephants have declined to about 35 percent of their original numbers, and their population today stands at less than 500,000.
An international ban on ivory trade was enacted in 1989, and for four years the elephant poaching level dropped dramatically. But largely because of that success, money for enforcement dwindled. In the meantime, ivory demand from China, Japan and Thailand led to a sharp increase in poaching since 2000.
"More than 8 percent of the elephant population is being poached annually," Wasser said. "That rate of illegal take derails the laws of supply and demand, and makes it critical to maintain the moratorium until we have a better understanding of the impact of illegal trade and how it is affected by legal ivory sales."
The international convention begins meeting Saturday (March 13) in Doha, Qatar, to consider, among other things, the petitions from Zambia and Tanzania for one-time sales from their national ivory stockpiles.
The convention imposes two levels of protection for elephants. The strictest level, which currently applies to both Zambia and Tanzania, does not allow any sales of ivory. To be allowed limited trade, the countries are supposed to demonstrate that their elephant populations are secure, that law enforcement is effective in combating poaching and that the ivory sales will not be detrimental to elephants.
However, neither nation has met any of the criteria, Wasser said. In addition, China and Japan, the only nations approved to import ivory, are among the largest consumers of illegal ivory and have done little to ensure the ivory they sell was obtained legally. That means they also have not met the convention’s standards for taking part in legal ivory trade.
"We’re making decisions that have a huge impact on the world’s ecosystems and we’re not relying on the best available science," Wasser said. "This is a problem with the convention’s decisions in general, even the potential long-term impacts of those decisions is immense."
Source: University of Washington
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March 10, 2010
In a discovery of consequence for efforts to save Tasmanian devils in the wild, scientists have found some devils from north-west
Tasmania are genetically different and potentially resistant to the deadly cancer threatening the species.
The discovery by University of Sydney and University of Tasmania researchers will have implications for efforts to contain the spread of Devil Facial Tumors Disease (DFTD) which has decimated 70 per cent of the devil population since the first diagnosis in east Tasmania in 1996.
Results from the collaboration, published in the latest edition of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, describe levels of diversity in key immune genes in Tasmanian devils.
Lead author, University of Sydney Associate Professor Kathy Belov, from the Faculty of Veterinary Science, said the identification of a small number of genetically different devils in the north-west population opened exciting new research opportunities.
"The majority of devils in Tasmania are immunological clones and therefore susceptible to DFTD. This study has identified a group of devils that are genetically different. We think these devils may be able to see the cancer cells as foreign and mount an immune response against them," Associate Professor Belov said.
"We think more animals might survive in the wild than we initially thought."
DFTD is a transmissible cancer that affects only Tasmanian devils and is spread by biting. It is characterized by large facial tumors which often spread to internal organs. The disease has decimated populations on the east coast where the disease was first detected, because of a lack of genetic diversity at key immune genes.
A decade ago the Tasmanian devil was regarded as common but now it is listed as endangered at both a state and national level and extinction in the wild is considered to be a real possibility within 25-35 years.
Associate Professor Belov said the identification of the genetically different devils, may have implications for captive breeding if these devils are resistant to DFTD.
She said the long term aim of the breeding program however, should still be to maintain as much genetic diversity as possible for future generations and that the insurance breeding program should continue unchanged.
"Once we have a handle on the disease, we want to put the healthiest animals back into the wild. For this reason, we need to continue to breed both eastern and north-western devils in captivity. The possibility of breeding and releasing resistant devils into the wild would be an added bonus".
Save The Tasmanian Devil Program manager Andrew Sharman said it has been known for a while that there are populations of devils that appear to be responding differently to the disease, whether there are resistant individuals or not is still unclear at this stage.
"However, this work supports the idea that there may be some inherent resistance associated with these "genetically different devils". Every new piece of research that sheds light on the relationship between the devil genetics, the environment and the disease helps us develop strategies and tools to ensure the long term survival of the species."
This project has been funded by the Australian Research Council; the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program; an Eric Guiler grant; the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industry, Water, Parks and the Environment; Veterinary Science Foundation and the Elizabeth Gabler Charitable Trust.
The work of the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program is also supported by donations through its fundraising arm, the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal.
Visit: Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal
More Information: Breakthrough Could Save The Tassie Devil
Image Caption: Diseased Tasmanian Devil
Image Credit: Sydney University
Source: Sydney University
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February 16, 2010
In an innovative effort to save endangered quolls from extinction, University of Sydney biological scientist Stephanie O’Donnell is feeding
them poisonous cane toad sausages.
The sausages, made from minced cane toad legs, are laced with a chemical designed to make the quolls feel sick. After their unpleasant experience with the sausages, quolls are likely to avoid eating poisonous cane toads in the wild. Research has suggested that a quarter of quolls will avoid eating a cane toad if they have sampled one of these sausages.
O’Donnell is a researcher for The University of Sydney’s Shine Lab, which focuses on evolutionary ecology in reptiles. According to ARC Federation Fellow and head of the Shine Lab, Professor Rick Shine, O’Donnell’s research is invaluable to the ensuring the future of Australia’s quolls.
"Quolls have largely disappeared from the areas where cane toads occur," he explains. "We know from Stephanie’s work that if you don’t train quolls to leave toads alone they’re very likely to eat the first toad they encounter and die as a result."
Cane toads, which use poisonous glands in their back as a defense against predators, are rapidly spreading across the quoll’s natural habitat. O’Donnell’s research for the Shine Lab (in co-operation with the Territory Wildlife Park and the Federal Government’s Caring for our Country initiative) aims to tackle the threat of cane toads to quolls by training their predators rather than controlling the cane toad population.
"The big picture story is that in trying to save the wildlife from cane toads just about all of the effort has gone into controlling the cane toad population," Professor Shine says. In contrast, O’Donnell’s research employs a more feasible strategy of training quolls before cane toads arrive, allowing them to colonies the area before the new threat is introduced.
"We have to come up with something we can do immediately that doesn’t rely on getting rid of every toad. Changing the behavior of the predators is the new approach and so far the results are really encouraging," says Professor Shine.
Image Caption: Quoll
Source: University of Sydney / Katie Szittner
Posted by Scientific Frontline under Endangered Species, Univ. Environmental News | Comments (0)
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