Live Science (US): Serengeti's Great Migrations May Be on Road to Ruin

Live Science (US): Serengeti's Great Migrations May Be on Road to Ruin

1 September 2010

A proposed road through the Serengeti could jeopardize one of the largest migrations of land animals in the world, conservationists warn.

The proposed Arusha-Musoma highway would slice through the northern portion of one of the world's best- known wildlife sanctuaries, Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.

Conservation groups are pleading with the Tanzanian government to look at other routes to meet the transportation needs of the region, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).

As planned, the highway would cut through the annual migration routes of large mammals such as wildebeest and zebras. The road would affect nearly two million animals, including many threatened species such as cheetahs, lions, leopards, wild dogs, elephants and rhinos, the groups say.

"The Serengeti is the site of one of the last great ungulate migrations left on Earth, the pre-eminent symbol of wild nature for millions of visitors and TV viewers, and a hugely important source of income for the people of Tanzania through ecotourism," said James Deutsch of the WCS. "To threaten this natural marvel with a road would be a tragedy.

"We implore the Tanzanian government - known around the world for its commitment to conservation - to reconsider this proposal and explore other options," Deutsch added.

While the road is scheduled for construction in 2012, there is some confusion over where the government is in the planning process. A spokesman for the Tanzania National Parks, Pascal Shelutete, said the road won't be built until feasibility studies have been done. Reports in the Tanzania media, however, said the feasibility studies have already been completed, according to an Associated Press report.

If the road is built, it could potentially sever access to the Mara River in the north - a critical water source for the migrating mammals during the dry season - and cause the wildebeest population to collapse. Harming migrations could also drain tourism dollars from nearby national parks, such as Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve, the country's most important tourism destination.

"A commercial road would not only result in wildlife collisions and human injuries, but would serve to fragment the landscape and undermine the ecosystem in a variety of ways," said Jonathan Baillie, of the ZSL. "To diminish this natural wonder would be a terrible loss for Tanzania and all future generations."

Supporters of the proposed road say it is needed to improve transportation to and from the coast by linking the districts of Serengeti and Loliondo to the national road system.

"We recognize that there is an obvious need for infrastructure development in Tanzania," said Markus Borner, of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, which has worked in the Serengeti since the 1950s. "A far better option than the current proposal is placing a road to the south of the park. Such a road would be both cheaper to construct and would serve a much larger number of people without interrupting the migration and jeopardizing the iconic status of the Serengeti National Park."

Back to Menu

_________________________________________________________________

Reuters: Warmer temperatures in China to reduce crop yields

1 September 2010

With the climate set to get warmer from greenhouse gases, Chinese scientists predicted on Thursday that freshwater for agriculture will shrink further in China, reducing crop yields in the years ahead.

In a paper published in Nature, they said the temperature in China had gone up by 1.2 degrees Celsius since 1960 and will increase by another 1 to 5 degrees Celsius by 2100.

"Such a pronounced summer warming would inevitably enhance evapo-transpiration, increasing the risk of water shortage for agriculture," wrote the researchers, led by Shilong Piao of the Center of Climate Research at Beijing University.

"Climate change may induce a net yield reduction of 13 percent by 2050."

Transpiration is similar to evaporation and refers to the loss of water vapor from plants.

They forecast that rice yields would decrease by 4 to 14 percent, wheat by 2 to 20 percent and maize by zero to 23 percent by the middle of the 21st century.

China only has 7 percent of the world's arable land, but needs to feed 22 percent of the world's population. Although its total water resource is huge in absolute terms, it is only 25 percent of the per capita world average.

Its climate has also become drier in the north, which holds 18 percent of the total water resource and 65 percent of total arable land, they added.

Heavy rainfall and flooding, meanwhile, have occurred in the southern parts of the country.

Apart from shrinking already scarce water supplies, higher temperatures have also led to the spread of pests, they said.

"Countrywide, a 4.5 percent reduction in wheat yields is attributed to rising temperatures over the period 1979-2000," the researchers wrote.

China's agriculture minister said in July that China faced a formidable task in meeting demand for grains such as rice, wheat and corn in the next 10 years.

China last year harvested a record 530.82 million tonnes of grain, but will need to increase annual supply by at least 4 million tonnes for the next decde to feed a population expected to hit 1.39 billion in 2015 from 1.32 billion at the end of 2008.

Back to Menu

_________________________________________________________________

Reuters: Financing said vital for world climate change deal

1 September 2010

A global fund to help poorer countries switch to green industrial technology is vital in any new international pact to battle global warming, Switzerland's top climate change negotiator said on Wednesday.

The official, Franz Perrez, was speaking at a news conference on the eve of a two-day gathering of environmental ministers and experts from some 45 countries to discuss how to reach agreement on a funding deal.

"An agreement on viable long-term financing is one of the very important building blocks for a new convention to combat the challenge of climate change," said Perrez, whose country has organised the informal meeting together with Mexico.

In December, Mexico is to host a new formal effort to clear the way for a convention. A United Nations summit in Copenhagen at the end of last year ended in serious disarray.

Developing nations say billions of dollars are vital to help them start acting to slow global warming by shifting from fossil fuels, and to cope with challenges created by climate change ranging from droughts and floods to rising sea levels.

Big emerging economies like China, India and Brazil say they should not be hog-tied by environmental rules unless the West -- which they blame for global warming -- helps pay the cost.

It was agreed in Copenhagen that what Perrez dubbed a "fast-track" financing of some $30 billion was needed for the years 2010-2012 to create confidence, but the larger goal is to ensure by 2020 that $100 billion a year can be mobilized.

AUSTERITY PROGRAMMES

Environment ministers hope for progress on financing when they gather in Cancun from November 29 to December 10, despite austerity programmes adopted by rich nations in the wake of the world economic and financial crisis of 2008-09.

Perrez said the Geneva talks will try to pin down differences on how the funding will be set up and who might provide it, adding that he hoped an agreement might be reached by 2012 on how to create the mechanism.

The Copenhagen accord does not lay out who pays, or how to raise money, but among suggestions for 2020 are carbon markets, air travel levies and taxes on ships' fuel.

A Reuters overview last week showed that although specific promises so far for the 2010-12 period total $29.8 billion, some of this was old funding dressed up as new.

Japan, for instance, is promising half the total -- $15 billion -- but most of this is from a previous "Cool Earth Partnership" agreed several years ago to run from 2008-12.

The ministers' meeting will be the first since a review team called on Monday for a sweeping overhaul of the management of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change after it admitted there were errors in a 2007 report.

The review endorsed the main finding of the IPCC's report -- that mankind is to blame for global warming -- but Perrez said the furor over the errors might make it more difficult to raise the funds needed to tackle the overall challenge.

"But the basic understanding is still there," he said. "The developed countries recognize that they have to live up to their responsibilities."