20090218 SCMP- Historic buildings get new lease of life

20090218 SCMP- Study of Loop plan starts in June

clipped from prd1-wisesearch.wisers.net The Lok Ma Chau Loop is a 96-hectare site created by the straightening in the 1990s of the Shenzhen River, which marks Hong Kong's border with the mainland. The two sides have agreed to develop 87 hectares of the site. Last year, Hong Kong and Shenzhen agreed on developing higher education as the leading use of the Loop. It will also include hi-tech research and development facilities, and creative industries. Consultations with the public, the Legislative Council, Heung Yee Kuk, district councils, local communities and environmental groups will also be conducted. The government promised that the study would not affect the environment or heritage sites. The development and individual projects such as roads and sewage pumping stations would require an environmental impact assessment. In addition, a heritage impact assessment would also be conducted to cover all monuments and historic sites that the Antiquities and Monuments Office identified.

20090215 China vows efficient water usage

clipped from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-02/15/content_7477926.htm To set up a security guarantee system for the resources management by strictly enforcing their water-related laws, keeping an eye on those overusing water only for their present benefits like randomly developing high water- consumed sectors such as steel manufacturing that has been discouraged by the central government Under the system, water-use quotas would be set for all users with higher prices had to be paid by those consuming more water than they needed by exceeding supply ration they had. Instead of mainly supplying water for farming and industries as the country did decades before, more water supply would also be available for improving local environment or rehabilitating the fragile eco-system resulted from the lack of water supply in the years ahead for areas like shrinking wetlands. China will put the strictest management of water resources the government ever had into practice to pave the way for ensuring a sustainable development. A farmer walks on a dried-up riverbed.

20071113 Spill could hurt San Francisco tourism-2

clipped from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21777976 SAN FRANCISCO - The oil spill that has already fouled San Francisco Bay and delayed the Dungeness crab season is raising fears that visitors will be reluctant to dine in the city's famed seafood restaurants. Several beaches remained closed Tuesday, nearly a week after a cargo ship struck the Bay Bridge, releasing 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel in the bay's biggest oil spill in nearly two decades. The sea lions and other marine mammals at the city's world-famous Fisherman's Wharf have largely avoided exposure to the oil, and the stench of fuel that had hung over the bay dissipated by Tuesday. But dark, patchy slicks continue to float in some areas, and several beaches remained closed as teams in yellow hazardous-materials suits shoved sticky globs of oil and sand into plastic bags. The oil spill that has already fouled San Francisco Bay and delayed the Dungeness crab season is raising fears that visitors will be reluctant to dine in the city's famed seafood restaurants. News report on MSNBC: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/21759645#21759645

20090207 No end in sight to dry weather

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Farmers barrel drinking water supplied by the local government at Chengguan Township in Ruyang County of Luoyang, central China's Henan Province, February 4, 2009. Effective rainfall was nearly 80 percent less than in the same period of previous years. The local government has allocated some 25 million yuan (US$3.65 million) for drought relief and crops protection. [Xinhua]

20090208 Artificial means to create rains in drought-hit provinces

clipped from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-02/08/content_7454726.htm China employed artificial means to create rains in at least seven provinces on Saturday to alleviate rare drought, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said Sunday. Local weather-control officials had fired a total of 2,392 artillery shells and launched 409 rockets in 127 cloud-seeding operations by 10 p.m. Saturday, according to a statement on the CMA website. Rain-enhancing practices were adopted in such drought-stricken provincial regions as Henan, Gansu, Ningxia, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Hubei and Anhui, it said. In central China's Henan, artificial precipitation brought on average 0.5 millimeters of rainfall to 17 counties and cities. The province, a major wheat-producing area, is suffering the worst drought in half a century. Parts of the artificially moistened provinces and north China's Hebei Province saw one to five millimeters of rain from Saturday to Sunday morning, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) reported.

20090208 China to divert water from two longest rivers to ease drought

clipped from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-02/08/content_7454726.htm Water in the country's longest river, the Yangtze River, will be diverted north to the northern areas of east China's Jiangsu Province as temperature rises and water demand grows, said Zhang Zhitong, deputy chief of the MWR's flood control and drought relief office. Sluices on north China's Inner Mongolian section of the Yellow River, the country's second longest river, will be opened to increase water supply for Henan and Shandong provinces downstream, Zhang was quoted by the China News Service as saying. China has released more than 5 billion cubic meters of water from the Yellow River to fight drought that started to hit most of north China, including Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Qinghai and Gansu, from November. Because of little rain, waters that can be tapped from five major reservoirs on the Yellow River decreased by 3.4 billion cubic meters to 14.6 billion as of Thursday, official figures show. A pond has dried up due to the lack of rainfall for months in Tangyin county.

20090206 Top emergency declared for worst drought in 50 years

clipped from http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-02/05/content_7449737.htm A farmer points at his parched crops in Bozhou, east China's Anhui province Monday February 2, 2009. The region has been hit by its worst drought in 50 years. [China Daily] The central government decided to earmark another 300 million yuan (US$44 million) as drought relief fund in additional to 100 million yuan already allocated. The fund will be used to buy agricultural machinery and other production materials. Efforts should also go to build emergency water resources projects and carry out artificial precipitation to alleviate water shortage and ensure drinking water for both people and livestock. The Ministry of Water Resources also said it would enhance supervision and launch emergency plan when necessary. Efforts should also be made to monitor or combat forestry fire, upgrade anti-disaster ability and avoid casualty Plant diseases and pest prevention were discussed and local governments were advised to supervise and prevent the spread of severe animal diseases.

20090205 Nearly 90,000 killed in natural disasters in 2008

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn BEIJING -- The Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on Thursday that 88,928 people were killed or missing in natural disasters in 2008, including those who were killed during the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that shook southwestern Sichuan Province in May. Villagers are seen in their new houses at Qipan village in Xiang'e town of Dujiangyan City, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Wednesday Januray 21, 2009. About 88,928 people were killed or missing in natural disasters in 2008, including those who were killed during the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that shook southwestern Sichuan Province in May. [Xinhua] The disasters caused direct economic losses of about 1,350 billion yuan (US$198 billion), up 473.3 percent against the figure of 2007, the ministry said. They also helped relocate 26.82 million people from disaster-hit areas to safe places. The earthquake, hit on May 12. It left more than 69,000 people dead, 374,000 injured, 18,000 missing and millions homeless.

20070801 SCMP- Satellite captures oil spills, bringing calls for more hi-tech surveillance

clipped from prd3-wisesearch.wisers.net The government should make use of more advanced technology to detect and monitor oil spills in the seas around Hong Kong, a scientist at Chinese University has advised. The slicks were picked up by new remote-sensing satellite technology that can receive microwave images from satellites passing over Hong Kong. the rapid development of ports in the southern areas of the mainland attracted thousands more ships to the region on a daily basis and this posed an ever greater danger of oil spills. heavy traffic will greatly increase the chance of collisions, resulting in oil leakage and even deliberate release of oil from fuel tanks into the seas A Marine Department spokeswoman said it would consider exploring the institute's new method, but said the present system for monitoring oil spills - through reports from ships and aircraft - was effective. The amount of oil spilled annually worldwide is estimated at 4.5 millions tonnes, equivalent to one full-tanker disaster every week.

20071115 SCMP- Oil spill could hurt San Francisco's tourism

clipped from prd3-wisesearch.wisers.net The oil spill that has already fouled San Francisco Bay and delayed the Dungeness crab season is raising fears that visitors will be reluctant to dine in the city's famed seafood restaurants. The fishing ban also covers all sport and commercial fishing in the bay. Over the weekend, the spill forced organisers of the San Francisco Triathlon to cancel the swimming portion. Several beaches remained closed nearly a week after a cargo ship struck the Bay Bridge, Dungeness crab is popular with tourists and is a Thanksgiving tradition for many residents. The season had been scheduled to begin, but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order delaying opening day until December 1, or until fish and game officials decide the waters were safe. The spill occurred when a Chinese-crewed cargo ship struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog, tearing a gash in its hull. The American pilot said he immediately reported the presence of class=highlight>oil in the water,

20090205 濕度高脫水難察 猝死風險增

clipped from www.mingpaonews.com 【明報專訊】天文台預測，渣打馬拉松舉行當日的相對濕度高達70至90％，氣溫介乎17至21℃。 中文大學心臟科主任余卓文醫生指出，潮濕天氣易令運動員有疲憊的感覺，加上濕度高會使污染物、懸浮粒子容易積聚在空氣當中，故此可能影響運動員呼吸。 余卓文醫生說，濕度高令運動員容易感到疲倦，從而影響他們的能耐，又會令他們「唔夠氣」的情提早出現。 他呼籲參加者要注意脫水的情，他解釋，當日天氣潮濕和有風，令跑者較難發現有脫水情，增加猝死風險，所以應注意要補充水分。

20090203 Fog strands thousands at NW China airport

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Pedestrian walks in dense fog in Urumqi city, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Monday February 2, 2009. More than 3,600 people were stranded at an local airport after thick fog affected 76 domestic flights. [yaxin.com] Visibility in the Diwobao International Airport in Urumqi, the regional capital, dropped to 200 meters after 11 a.m. and then remained at about 300 m, far less than the required level for take-offs. Six flights were canceled, 11 were diverted to other cities and 59 were delayed, according to the airport administration. The heavy fog also caused a road pile-up in the morning, killing three people and injuring two others in Fukang City after a truck-car collision that triggered a number of other crashes.

20090203 The irrigation system in the drought area is under a crucial test

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Duan Aiming, head of the Irrigation Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Agriculture Sciences, said the current drought has "sound an alarm to the water resource utility in northern China". "Much water is being wasted, because many mature irrigation technologies cannot be put into practice for lack of funds, and the input on irrigation infrastructure is not enough," said Duan. "Only by a long-term improvement of the irrigation system can the government realize its goal of increasing the grain yield and the farmers' income," said Li. The irrigation system in the drought area is under a crucial test. The water flow under Xiaolangdi Dam on the Yellow River reached 550 cubic meters per second as of 2 p.m. Saturday, to help soothe the drought in Henan Province.

20090203 Drought put north China on red alert

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Henan, China's major grain producer, issued a red alert for drought Thursday. The provincial meteorological bureau said the drought is the worst since 1951. The drought have affected about 63 percent of the province's 78.9 million mu (5.26 million hectares) of wheat. But Henan Province is not the only victim in thirsty northern China. Provinces such as Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei and Jiangsu are also reeling from droughts. "The water in my well is very deep today," "The wheat grass gets so dry that it catches fire! I've never seen this in my whole life," "Although we were informed that the government's subsidies will be soon handed out to households, I decided not to merely rely on the government, and I am now irrigating the lands for four hours a day at my own expense." "Though we irrigate the lands now, the production will surely see a big drop. said 50-year-old Wei Liuding in Baisha village, Muzhong County of North China's Henan Province.

20090204 More drought relief needed in provinces

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Farmers walk along the dried-up wheat fields in a village in Xinxian county, east China's Anhui province, on January 22, 2009. As of Monday, 141 million mu of wheat in six major grain producing provinces -- Henan, Anhui, Shandong, Shanxi, Gansu and Shaanxi, were badly hit by drought, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. [Xinhua] The figure indicated that almost 43 percent of the country's wheat was affected. According to Monday's weather report by China Meteorological Administration, severe drought in north China was expected to continue as no rain has been forecasted for the next ten days. To cope with the problem, the MOA asked agricultural departments of every level to collect all of their strength to channel water, enhance irrigation and fertilization. Agricultural technicians have been sent to instruct farmers on drought relief work. The provincial government also plans to carry out artificial precipitation when weather permits.

20090202 Relief work enhanced as drought expands in N China

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn About 137 million mu of wheat cropland was threatened by the drought, which began last November, including 39.9 million mu seriously affected. Drought had left 3.7 million people and 1.85 million livestock with no access to drinking water, according to sources with the office. The headquarters has sent four working teams to eight crop-producing provinces which were worst affected, including Hebei, Shaanxi, Anhui and Jiangsu, to instruct farmers on the relief work. He said the water resources allocation should be integrated to ensure equal distribution

20090107 Prolonged drought hits parts of north, east China

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn TAIYUAN - Six provinces in north and east China are battling a prolonged drought that has affected water supplies for people, livestock and agriculture. Nearly 1 million people and 160,000 head of livestock in Shanxi have faced difficulties getting drinking water due to the prolonged drought since October, the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said on Wednesday. Irrigation facilities were fully commissioned and new wells were dug. Staff are being organized to transport drinking water to people who have difficulties getting it. The drought has also hit other provinces such as Shandong, Henan, Hebei, Anhui and Gansu, all major wheat producers. The Ministry of Agriculture said Tuesday the six provinces had had 5.42 million ha of drought-hit cropland, almost five times the area last year.

20090120 Drought hurts vast wheat farmland in China

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn Undated file photo shows droughty earth in northern China's Shanxi province. China's Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday that lack of rainfall in major wheat-growing provinces has brought drought to 119 million mu (7.9 million hectares) of wheat farmland. [aweb.com.cn] Most of northern China suffered from lack of rain during this winter, and in some areas, the rainfall is 70 to 90 percent less than average, said officials with the ministry. More than half of the wheat farmland in Henan, Anhui and Shanxi provinces is suffering drought, said the official. As drought harms crop's ability to weather the winter, the ministry has sent six expert teams to help farmers cope, and local governments have also organized similar instruction groups.

20090117 North China drought worsens

clipped from www.chinadaily.com.cn TAIYUAN - The drought in north China's Shanxi Province is getting worse. The office of the provincial flood control and drought relief headquarters said Shanxi had only received 20.4 millimeters of rain since October 2008. The same four month period in 2007 had 49.7 mm of rain which is 59 percent more. A total of 2.07 million hectares of farmland across the parched province have been affected by the drought, including 544,000 hectares of crops, according to the office. Because the drought warning is now yellow, the provincial government is allocating 10 million yuan (1.47 million U.S. dollars) to subsidize operations to fight the drought. There are altogether four categories in the country's drought response mechanism --IV, III, II, and I, which are represented by blue, yellow, orange, and red colors showing advancement in severity.