Saturday, June 28, 2008

Exclusive: No ice at the North Pole



Polar scientists reveal dramatic new evidence of climate change

By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Friday, 27 June 2008

It seems unthinkable, but for the first time in human history, ice is on course to disappear entirely from the North Pole this year.

The disappearance of the Arctic sea ice, making it possible to reach the Pole sailing in a boat through open water, would be one of the most dramatic – and worrying – examples of the impact of global warming on the planet. Scientists say the ice at 90 degrees north may well have melted away by the summer.

"From the viewpoint of science, the North Pole is just another point on the globe, but symbolically it is hugely important. There is supposed to be ice at the North Pole, not open water," said Mark Serreze of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Colorado.

If it happens, it raises the prospect of the Arctic nations being able to exploit the valuable oil and mineral deposits below these a bed which have until now been impossible to extract because of the thick sea ice above.

Seasoned polar scientists believe the chances of a totally ice-free North Pole this summer are greater than 50:50 because the normally thick ice formed over many years at the Pole has been blown away and replaced by huge swathes of thinner ice formed over a single year.

This one-year ice is highly vulnerable to melting during the summer months and satellite data coming in over recent weeks shows that the rate of melting is faster than last year, when there was an all-time record loss of summer sea ice at the Arctic.

"The issue is that, for the first time that I am aware of, the North Pole is covered with extensive first-year ice – ice that formed last autumn and winter. I'd say it's even-odds whether the North Pole melts out," said Dr Serreze.

Each summer the sea ice melts before reforming again during the long Arctic winter but the loss of sea ice last year was so extensive that much of the Arctic Ocean became open water, with the water-ice boundary coming just 700 miles away from the North Pole.

This meant that about 70 per cent of the sea ice present this spring was single-year ice formed over last winter. Scientists predict that at least 70 per cent of this single-year ice – and perhaps all of it – will melt completely this summer, Dr Serreze said.

"Indeed, for the Arctic as a whole, the melt season started with even more thin ice than in 2007, hence concerns that we may even beat last year's sea-ice minimum. We'll see what happens, a great deal depends on the weather patterns in July and August," he said.

Ron Lindsay, a polar scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, agreed that much now depends on what happens to the Arctic weather in terms of wind patterns and hours of sunshine. "There's a good chance that it will all melt away at the North Pole, it's certainly feasible, but it's not guaranteed," Dr Lindsay said.

The polar regions are experiencing the most dramatic increase in average temperatures due to global warming and scientists fear that as more sea ice is lost, the darker, open ocean will absorb more heat and raise local temperatures even further. Professor Peter Wadhams of Cambridge University, who was one of the first civilian scientists to sail underneath the Arctic sea ice in a Royal Navy submarine, said that the conditions are ripe for an unprecedented melting of the ice at the North Pole.

"Last year we saw huge areas of the ocean open up, which has never been experienced before. People are expecting this to continue this year and it is likely to extend over the North Pole. It is quite likely that the North Pole will be exposed this summer – it's not happened before," Professor Wadhams said.

There are other indications that the Arctic sea ice is showing signs of breaking up. Scientists at the Nasa Goddard Space Flight Centre said that the North Water 'polynya' – an expanse of open water surrounded on all sides by ice – that normally forms near Alaska and Banks Island off the Canadian coast, is much larger than normal. Polynyas absorb heat from the sun and eat away at the edge of the sea ice.

Inuit natives living near Baffin Bay between Canada and Greenland are also reporting that the sea ice there is starting to break up much earlier than normal and that they have seen wide cracks appearing in the ice where it normally remains stable. Satellite measurements collected over nearly 30 years show a significant decline in the extent of the Arctic sea ice, which has become more rapid in recent years.

The Independent, UK.

Friday, June 27, 2008

Thursday, June 26, 2008

More teaching in English on the agenda

Education chief may further relax policy on language of instruction

Further relaxation of the policy on language of instruction in schools could be in store after the government said it was willing to consider allowing secondary schools to teach a quarter of their subjects in English regardless of their students' competence in the language.

The suggestion was raised at a meeting between Secretary for Education Michael Suen Ming-yeung yesterday and secondary schools representatives as part of a consultation on the medium of instruction policy.

Yip Chee-tim, chairman of the Association of Chinese Middle Schools, said the meeting had set out a "very positive direction" that would result in greater diversity of language.

"Schools could be given space to set their own language policy for 25 per cent of classroom time," Mr Yip said, adding that this would not be limited by students' academic ability. "Certain subjects could be taught entirely in English in all schools."

Mr Yip said the Education Bureau had stressed there needed to be an accountable mechanism for determining this language policy, but he understood that to mean there would need to be agreement between a school's parent association and board.

"Each school would need to decide what its particular language plan would be," he said. "As there will be more school places available than students to take them, parents will be able to vote with their feet for which they feel is the most appropriate mode."

Mr Suen is investigating ways to fine-tune the medium of instruction policy ahead of new rules due to come into force next year, with a view to removing the rigid divide between schools that teach in English and those that teach in Chinese.

A final report is due to be released in the next few weeks, but Mr Suen has previously given tacit backing to allowing schools to stream students into English- or Chinese-medium classes by ability.

As they stand, the rules will require schools to have 85 per cent of their Form One intake in the top 40 per cent academically - the segment the bureau deems capable of learning in English - if they are to teach in English.

Mr Suen has said he is open to this rule being applied to individual classes rather than the whole school.

But in a statement released after yesterday's meeting, the bureau appeared to have relaxed its stance even further.

The statement said the bureau had "further explored" with schools "their suggestion that, on top of the recommendations, all schools should be allowed to adopt the English medium for individual subjects".

Allowing students to study "one to two subjects in English and so increase their exposure to the language" could be a "positive driving force in their learning", it said.

However, it added that a "credible quality assurance mechanism" would be needed to "ensure that students' learning effectiveness will not be jeopardised".

A bureau spokeswoman said one option would be to have schools' language policies vetted by a three-member team from the bureau, the school's management and an independent academic.

Education legislator Professional Teachers' Union president Cheung Man-kwong warned that falling student enrolments meant schools' priorities would be skewed by "the need to fight for survival".

Democratic Party vice-chairman Tik Chi-yuen said schools needed to be trusted to make the right decision for their students' best interests.

SCMP. Jun 26, 2008.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Monday, June 23, 2008

800 missing as ship sinks in 15 minutes




Huge waves washed people off liferaft: survivor
More than 800 people were missing last night after a Philippine passenger ship capsized in a typhoon that has killed scores and left a trail of destruction across the archipelago.

Sulpicio Lines, the owner of the MV Princess of Stars, revised up the number of people missing to 845 after discovering an extra 100 passengers on the ship's manifest.

Typhoon Fengshen swept through the central Philippines at the weekend, leaving at least 155 people confirmed dead - apart from those on the ferry, Red Cross and civil defence officials said yesterday.

Only four people on board the ferry are so far known to have survived.

One survivor, crew member Reynato Lanorio, told how the ship listed and sank quickly in heavy seas. "It seemed like everything happened in 15 minutes. Next thing we knew, the ship had gone under," he said.

Mr Lanorio said the captain gave orders to abandon ship shortly after it listed, sending passengers and crew scrambling for life rafts.

"Many of us managed to get on the lifeboats, but I don't know if they survived," he said, adding that four other people on his raft were wrenched away by the huge waves as he clung on for dear life.

The ferry went down at around noon on Saturday several kilometres off the coast of Sibuyan Island, after being battered by huge waves overnight when its engines failed.

Four bodies washed ashore on Sibuyan, but the death toll was expected to rise sharply as many people were still inside the ship when it sank.

A coastguard ship is searching the waters around the hulk of the 23,824 tonne vessel, which is upside-down with only its bow above the waves, looking for survivors.

The head of the coastguard, Vice-Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, said there were lots of small islands in the area where survivors could be sheltering.

"We are hoping more people will have reached the shore," he said.

Two more rescue boats would be sent as soon as the weather improved, Vice-Admiral Tamayo said.

Witnesses reported lifejackets from the doomed vessel washing ashore along with other debris.

"There were many plastic slippers of children also found floating on the shore but no survivors," said Nanette Tansingco, mayor of San Fernando, a coastal town on Sibuyan.

The ship, travelling from Manila to the central island of Cebu - and 16 hours into its 22-hour voyage - issued a distress signal before going down.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo demanded to know why the ferry was allowed to leave Manila with the typhoon about to hit the country.

"I want answers," she said from on board the presidential plane en route to the United States.

Coastguard officials said the ship's manifest included 20 children, 33 infants and 121 crew.

Elsewhere, the central province of Iloilo on Panay Island suffered the heaviest losses, with 101 dead, Philippine senator and Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon said.

Other fatalities were recorded in the neighbouring provinces of Romblon, Cotabato, Antique and Capiz, Senator Gordon said. "We got hit real bad this time," he added.

The typhoon has continued to move northwest, passing Manila and moving over the northern half of the main island of Luzon, packing maximum winds of 120km/h.

At 11pm, Fengshen was centred 570km south-southeast of the island of Dongsha. It is forecast to move northwest or north-northwest at 18km/h towards the northeastern part of the South China Sea.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said it might issue a storm warning today as the storm approached.

SCMP. Jun 23, 2008.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

'Spiderkids' off to play - climbing down a drainpipe 34 storeys high




They were hungry and they wanted to go out to play, so two children began climbing down the outside of their housing estate building - from the 34th floor.

Astonished neighbours in Tin Shui Wai in the northwestern New Territories spotted the girl, eight, and her brother, six, climbing down a drainpipe on the wall of Yat Chi House yesterday morning.

Their Spiderman-like bid for freedom ended when the girl became tired and sneaked into a 28th-floor flat. Her brother was forced to end his dangerous journey on the 25th floor, where the drainpipe ended.

The children's 26-year-old mother was arrested for alleged ill-treatment of the children and negligence.

Both children suffered minor abrasions during the climb and were sent to Tuen Mun Hospital for treatment. Last night, they were still there as welfare officers worked out how best to take care of the siblings, surnamed Wong.

Sources at the scene said the mother was apparently asleep when the children crawled out through an unlocked kitchen window. It is understood they later said they had wanted to play and get food.

The tenant of the 25th floor flat into which the boy climbed at the end of his descent said she was shocked to find him there on her return from shopping.

"The security guards were on high alert when I returned and people had said a child had fallen from a great height," she said. "So after I opened my flat door, I was very scared when I saw the boy standing inside. He looked fine, although he had dirty hands and legs."

Police located the children's mother, surnamed Lo, who accompanied them to hospital.

Following her arrest, she was released on bail and ordered to report back to police in two weeks.

The Social Welfare Department said the family received social security assistance.

The parents had previously reported to social workers that they had been experiencing difficulties caring for the two children.

Luk Chung-hung, a Yuen Long district councillor who visited the family yesterday, said they had already requested a move to a flat on a lower floor of the building.

SCMP. Jun 22, 2008.