27.9 C
Lagos
Monday, May 19, 2025
Home Blog Page 1873

Transparency agency urges government to revisit transfer of oil assets

admin
-
0
Transparency agency urges government to revisit transfer of oil assets

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called on the Federal Government to revisit and re-valuate the transfer of the Federation oil assets by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to its subsidiary – the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).

Waziri-Adio
Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio

Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio, made the call while answering questions from newsmen on the highlights of the recently released NEITI Policy Brief entitled “Unremitted funds, oil sector reforms and economic recovery”.

Mr. Adio stated that the review has become imperative in view of the under-valuation, non-payment for the assets and the inability of the NPDC to either make returns on the investments or be accountable to the federation over its management of Nigeria’s oil assets in its custody.

The NEITI Policy Brief has put the total unremitted revenues to the federation by the NPDC at about $5.5 billion and another N72.4 billion as shown below:

 

Summary of Outstanding Remittances to Federation Account by NPDC

$                                            N

Transfer of 8 OMLs from SPDC JV                                       1,700,000,000.00

Transfer of 4 OMLs from NAOC JV                                      2,225,000,000.00

Cash-calls paid for transferred OMLs (not refunded)     148,278,000.00                          2,420,507,000.00

Legacy liabilities                                                                    1,458,618,285.76                        70,014,589,266.45

Sub-total                                                                                 5,531,896,285.76                       72,435,096,266.45

 

NEITI IN THE Policy Brief also observed that beyond the issue of unremitted monies, there are issues of transparency and efficiency with the operations of NPDC noting that, ‘‘since 2005, NNPC has transferred 16 OMLs to NPDC. However, the process of transfer of these assets raises serious questions, as there appears to be no clear-cut criteria for transfer of oil mining assets to NPDC. The process for the transfer of Federation’s assets to NPDC does not seem to pass the transparency test. One of the upshots of this is the undervaluation of these assets, thereby depriving the Federation of optimal value for the assets’’.

The undervaluation NEITI reported, results from NNPCs divestment of its 55% shares in the Shell Joint Venture which it valued at $1.8 billion. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PwC) valuation of the same assets was $3.4 billion. In addition, four other assets were divested in 2012 by NNPC to NPDC under the NAOC JV which the DPR valued at $2.225Billion. NPDC is contesting these valuations even though it currently operates these 12 OMLs without paying in full, the undervalued rates (Paid only a $100 million) nor the new figures arrived at by PwC and the DPR. In total, the non-payment for the 12 oil blocks by NPDC sums up to $3.925 billion.

NEITI questioned the situation where NPDC deliberately refuses to be accountable in its management of Nigeria’s oil assets entrusted in its care.

“NPDC continues to be unaccountable to state institutions and the laws of the country. NPDC has consistently declined to give account of its operations and its management of national oil assets in its possession. NPDC failed to cooperate with the forensic audit ordered by the Auditor-General of the Federation in 2015. Similarly, the company failed to cooperate with NEITI for five audit cycles and only partially cooperated during the 2013 and 2014 audits’’.

In the Policy Brief, NEITI also expressed concerns over NPDC’s technical expertise and financial capability to manage Nigeria’s oil assets.

The transparency agency stated: “The lack of technical know-how has been evident since the mid-2000s when the NPDC started engaging in service contracts with international oil companies. Also, NPDC’s lack of finances has been evident since the beginning of the 2010s, when the company resorted to Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs) with indigenous oil companies to carry out production on the fields in its possession.”

NEITI maintained that if NPDC was established to foster indigenous participation in the upstream sector, the Company has not in the past three decades, demonstrated ability to either maximise its production capacity or show that it has the financial muscle to operate independently.

“In mid-2006, total output from its wholly owned production was just 10,000 bpd. On the other hand, production from its service contract agreement with Agip was 65,000 bpd. Despite NPDC’s clear operational and capacity deficiencies, the company continues to be allocated valuable concessions of Nigeria’s most productive OMLs.”

The NEITI boss concluded that the call on the FGN to revisit and re-valuate the divestments of Nigeria’s oil assets at a time the country is passing through very difficult economic challenges is therefore appropriate and timely.

12m Euro SOS scheme to help carnivores, humans coexist

Michael Simire
-
0
12m Euro SOS scheme to help carnivores, humans coexist

Protecting lions, cheetahs and other iconic African species by helping local communities coexist with these predators is the goal of a new 12 million euro programme, funded by the European Commission, to be managed by IUCN’s SOS – Save Our Species initiative.

leopard
Leopard (Panthera pardus), listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List

The new programme aims primarily to halt the decline of lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs and Ethiopian wolves, increasingly threatened by poaching, habitat fragmentation and human encroachment on wild habitats.

Made possible by funding from the European Commission’s B4Life initiative, the SOS African Wildlife project will enable coordinated conservation work across the species’ natural habitats. A call for project proposals is seeking civil society organisations’ participation.

“We are extremely grateful for the support from the European Commission,” says Jean-Christophe Vié, Deputy Director, IUCN’s Global Species Programme and SOS Director. “This new programme is an important step in the journey of helping people to build resilience and wealth by cherishing their unique natural heritage. It will help us protect Africa’s fast-disappearing apex predators as well as their main prey species, large ecosystems and support local livelihoods.”

Despite successful conservation action in southern Africa, the lion (Panthera leo) remains listed as globally Vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ due to declines in other regions across Africa. A recent study determined that just 7,100 cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) remain in the wild. Meanwhile, only 500 Endangered Ethiopian wolves (Canis simensis) survive, confined to isolated mountain ranges in Ethiopia’s highlands. Leopards are also said to be declining in most of their range.

The new programme will enable coordinated conservation action by financing a portfolio of conservation projects undertaken by civil society organisations across the continent. It will address human-wildlife conflict, which is at the root of much of the decline, by generating alternative livelihoods for local communities.

It will also contribute to ensuring the long-term survival of smaller carnivores and prey species such as various antelope species by empowering civil society organisations which will work with relevant authorities and involve local communities in finding solutions to prevent their extinction.

Concrete outputs expected include increases in the populations of species targeted by each project and in critical habitat area as well as the reduction of direct threats and conflicts.

Co-Chair of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group Urs Breitenmoser says: “Conserving lions, leopards and cheetahs will help us conserve other species. Meanwhile, we will have to address a broad range of threats and conflicts and involve many parts of society in different ways depending on the species in question.”

The SOS African Wildlife programme will support anti-poaching efforts which comply with the aims of the EU Action Plan against wildlife trafficking. This will be achieved by ensuring smaller projects funded through SOS are complementary to larger projects which will be directly supported by the European Commission to implement its strategic approach to Wildlife Conservation in Africa, “Larger than Elephants”.

Claudio Sillero-Zubiri, Chair of the IUCN SSC Canid Specialist Group, says: “On the roof of Africa a few hundred Ethiopian wolves – Africa’s rarest and most threatened carnivore species – survive against the odds in tiny mountain enclaves. In contrast, wild dogs require vast areas across Sub-Saharan Africa to eke out a living.

“The destiny of these iconic carnivores inevitably depends on diminishing prey populations, the advance of the agriculture frontier and our ability to protect them from resulting conflicts. SOS African Wildlife offers a great opportunity to empower and support dedicated organisations and individuals across Africa to protect these threatened carnivores and the habitats they represent.”

The new programme builds on the experience and results of the first five-year phase of IUCN’s SOS – Save Our Species in which over 100 grants were awarded to support the conservation of 250 threatened species worldwide since 2010. It also complements IUCN’s Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme funded by the German government, initiated in 2014, as well as the recently announced SOS Lemurs initiative. These first five years of conservation action under SOS achieved important results in the protection of numerous threatened species.

Dr. Roberto Ridolfi, Director, “Sustainable Growth and Development” at the European Commission Directorate for International Cooperation and Development, says: “The role and importance of large carnivores is recognised as being of critical significance for the protection of fragile equilibriums of entire ecosystems. Yet, increasing pressures on land and water resources are leading to conflicts between man and animals and eventually the irreversible degradation of whole landscapes.

“The involvement of local communities as forefront actors in the conservation of threatened carnivore species is of crucial importance and has proven to be a long underestimated key to success when it comes to sustainability and efficiency.

“The European Commission is proud to support the SOS – Save Our Species initiative because of its coherence with the EU’s Biodiversity for Life strategic approach which combines coherence, coordination and cross sector partnerships to tackle the challenges related to the protection of biodiversity and the building of sustainable livelihoods.”

World Malaria Day: Researcher suggests ways to improve diagnosis of ailment

Michael Simire
-
0
World Malaria Day: Researcher suggests ways to improve diagnosis of ailment

A medical researcher, Dr. Bamidele Iwalokun, has called on government authorities to increase the coverage of Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) by 80 per cent to improve the diagnosis of submicroscopic malaria.

mosquito-malaria
The mosquito, a malaria vector

Iwalokun, the Head of Immunology and Vaccinology Research Group, Nigeria Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos State, made this plea on Monday, April 17, 2017 in an interview with the News Agency Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He spoke on the sideline of the preparation for the commemoration of the World Malaria Day, which holds on April 25 every year. The 2017 global theme for the World Malaria Day is: “End Malaria for Good.”

NAN reports that the World Health Organisation (WHO) is focusing attention on prevention mechanism, a critical strategy for reducing the toll of a disease that continues to kill more than 400,000 people annually.

Iwalokun said that the malaria burden of the country in the last five years had not improved as expected.

He said that the national malaria positive rate either by RDT or by microscopy was still above 32 per cent compared to 38 per cent rate in 2007.

Iwalokun said: “With this development, Nigeria is still far from the malaria elimination phase, which is set at five per cent.

“Nigeria is among the 15 countries of the world responsible for 78 per cent of global malaria cases and 80 per cent of global malaria deaths.

“This is highly unacceptable in a country that desires to reduce her current under-five mortality of 109 per 1,000 live births by 75 per cent by 2020.”

According to the researcher, malaria diagnosis in Nigeria has improved, following the national malaria policy of 2011 that recommended the use of RDT.

Iwalokun added: “With the exception of the North Central Nigeria, RDT now detects malaria more by 20 to 67 per cent than microscopy across the other geographical zones.

“RDT detects parasite antigens while microscopy detects the parasite at different stages of its life cycle in the red blood cell.

“Unlike microscopy that takes an average of 45 to 60 minutes to get a result, RDT takes 15 minutes maximum.

“RDT can be performed without electricity at home and by mothers and so on.”

Iwalokun said that many Nigerian primary health centres lack a functional microscope and certified trained microscope specialists.

He said: “There is the need to increase the awareness that malaria can be treated at home with RDT and that anybody can use it.

“The training of pregnant women on how to use RDT during antenatal care at primary health centres and nursing mothers during routine immunisation services should be encouraged.”

Farm inputs gulp N9.5b during dry season cultivation

Michael Simire
-
0
Farm inputs gulp N9.5b during dry season cultivation

The Federal Government spent more than N9.5 billion for the distribution of farm inputs to farmers during the dry season farming, an official of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, has said.

farming-can-be-fun
Youths involved in farming. Photo credit: smeonline.biz

Ohiare Jatto, the Director, Farm Input Support Services Department in the ministry, said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, April 17, 2017.

Jatto said the inputs were distributed to no fewer than 458,498 farmers across 30 states of the federation between December 2016 and February 2017 dry season farming.

Jatto said the inputs were provided under the governments’ Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme to guarantee improved food production and security.

According to him, some of the inputs provided to the farmers include two bags of Nitrogen Potassium Phosphate, one bag of urea, one bag of organic fertiliser each, 25 kilogram rice seeds and 20kg maize seeds depending on the crop value chain.

The director said that the government under the GES usually paid 75 per cent worth of seeds and 50 per cent for fertilisers and pesticides while farmers settled the remaining percentage of the money.

He said the scheme attained 92 per cent success during the planting season.

Jatto said: “The dry season farming was very successful. We targeted 500,000 farmers and we were able to reach 458,498 farmers in 30 states. All the northern states and many southern states benefited.

“We only reached out to farmers that our funds were able to accommodate.”

The director said that the Federal Government was also targeting no fewer than one million farmers to give inputs for the wet season farming.

Jatto said the reason for the delay in the commencement of the inputs distribution for the wet season was due to the delay in the passage of the budget.

Jatto appealed to farmers to be patient with the government, adding that the inputs distribution would begin as soon as the budget was passed.

AfDB president predicts Dangote will be largest exporter of rice by 2021

admin
-
0
AfDB president predicts Dangote will be largest exporter of rice by 2021

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has said that billionaire businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, may become the largest exporter of rice in the world by 2021.

Aliko-Dangote
Alhaji Aliko Dangote

Speaking at the Mo Ibrahim Forum in Morocco over the weekend, Adesina said Africa must focus on agriculture to drive growth and create jobs on the continent.

“I remember when I was minister of Agriculture in Nigeria. Aliko Dangote was there, and he was our biggest importer at the time, and he and I used to have all the time to dialogue,” Adesina said.

“One day, I was in my office, about 10 O’clock, Aliko walks in, Ngozi was minister of finance. Aliko bangs on my door and said ‘minister I came to see you’, and I said ‘what are we going to disagree on this time?’

“He said no, I have actually looked at the policies, and the policies you put in place for import substitution are very right policies. So, I have changed my business model from being an importer to being a local producer.”

Adesina narrated the role Dangote played in his happiest day as a minister in Nigeria.

“I said what exactly are you going to do. He said I will put in $300 million into producing and processing rice in Nigeria. I said yippee! I went home, I told my wife, my best day as minister,” he said.

“He comes back three months after that, he says I have changed my mind, I said ‘what in the world happened?’ He said no, I have changed my mind from $300 million to a billion dollars.

“If they continue that policy, he would probably be the single largest producer of rice in the world, in about four years. The reason why I was so excited about that is that agriculture is cool, agriculture is a business…agriculture pays.”

Adesina was named Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2013, while Dangote won the same award in 2014.

It will be recalled that a tripartite agreement put together by the Dangote Rice limited to create jobs for 16,000 outgrower rice farmers in Sokoto was recently signed with the Sokoto State Government and rice growers in the country after which he launched the rice outgrowers scheme in Sokoto.

Aliko Dangote , the Chairman of Dangote Rice Limited, said he was moved to go into rice cultivation because of the genuine interest of the federal government to revive agriculture as the mainstay of the economy, and reduce importation of foods that could be produced locally.

He lamented that Nigeria consumes 6.5 Mtn (metric tonnes) of rice which costs the nation over $2 billion annually, pointing out that it is heartening that the government now has policy direction that encourages private sector’s active participation in agriculture.

He disclosed: “In the next three years we want to produce one million tons of quality rice and make it available and affordable to the people. We hope to do 150, 000 ha (hectares) and when we are done, Nigeria will not have anything to do with importation of rice.

“Dangote Rice outgrowers scheme is committed to creating significant number of jobs, increasing the incomes of smallholders farmers and ensuring food security in the country by providing high quality seeds, fertilisers and agro-chemicals as well as technical assistance on best agricultural practice to farmers.

“This Scheme will help to diversify the economy, alleviate poverty and reduce the nation’s import bill. The scheme has been designed as a one stop solution for the rice value chain,” Dangote stated.

Recycling contaminates plastic toys with toxic chemicals from electronic waste

admin
-
0
Recycling contaminates plastic toys with toxic chemicals from electronic waste

Some banned toxic flame retardant chemicals are now found in recycled plastics in form of e-waste, which are being made into several toys for children to play with. It is believed that the popular magic puzzle toys called “Rubik” contain these harmful chemicals.

child-puzzle-toy
A child with the puzzle toy

Though these chemicals are already banned, the Stockholm Convention is however yet to address their use in recycled form so the case is for the Convention to take action in extending the ban to their not being used in recycled plastics, which is considered a threat to children’s health. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) is an international environmental treaty, signed in 2001 and effective from May 2004, that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of POPs.

Observers see the situation as a case of another toxic dump on Africa by Asian countries, where most of the toys come from.

Indeed, a new global survey has found out that recycling plastics containing toxic flame retardant chemicals found in electronic waste results in contamination of the world’s best-selling toy along with other children’s products. Ironically, the chemical contaminants can damage the nervous system and reduce intellectual capacity but are found in Rubik’s Cubes – a puzzle toy designed to exercise the mind.

The study was performed by IPEN (a global civil society network), Arnika (an environmental organisation in the Czech Republic) and SRADev Nigeria (a national NGO). The toxic chemicals, OctaBDE, DecaBDE and HBCD, are used in the plastic casings of electronic products and if they are not removed, they are carried into new products when the plastic is recycled.

The survey of products from 26 countries, including Nigeria, found that 90% of the samples contained OctaBDE or DecaBDE. Nearly half of them (43%) contained HBCD.

In Nigeria, SRADev purchased 18 rubik’s cube-like toys and sent them for analysis to the Czech Republic. Fourteen samples were chosen for laboratory tests. The analysis found that all 14 samples contained OctaBDE and DecaBDE at elevated concentrations. One of the samples from Nigeria  tested with the highest concentration of OctaBDE among 111 samples from 26 countries. These chemicals are persistent and known to harm the reproductive system and disrupt hormone systems, adversely impacting intelligence, attention, learning and memory.

“Toxic chemicals in electronic waste should not be present in children’s toys,” said Leslie Adogame, Executive Director of SRADev Nigeria. “This problem needs to be addressed globally and nationally.”

The result of the study emerges just a few days before the global Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Stockholm Convention will decide whether to continue allowing the recycling of materials containing OctaBDE and possibly make a new recycling exemption for DecaBDE. The treaty’s expert committee has warned against the practice.

“Recycling materials that contain toxic chemicals contaminates new products, continues exposure, and undermines the credibility of recycling,” said Joe DiGangi, IPEN. “Governments should end this harmful loophole.”

Another critical decision of the Stockholm Convention Conference will be to establish hazardous waste limits. Protective hazardous waste limits would make wastes subject to the treaty’s obligations for destruction – and not permit their recycling. Surprisingly, some of the toxic chemical levels in children’s products in this study exceeded proposed hazardous waste limits.

An overwhelming majority (13) of tested cubes purchased in Nigeria (14) exceeded the proposed waste limit of 50 ppm for PBDEs/OctaBDE. The cubes contained 395 ppm OctaBDE on average. One exemplar containing 1174 ppm OctaBDE was far beyond the protective level.

“We need protective hazardous waste limits,” said Jitka Strakova, Arnika. “Weak standards mean toxic products and dirty recycling, which often takes place in low and middle income countries and spreads poisons from recycling sites into our homes and bodies.”

The application of strict hazardous limits is also critical for brominated flame retardants due to their presence in e-waste. In many countries, the Stockholm Convention standards will be the only global regulatory tool that can be used to prevent import and export of these contaminated wastes, in many cases from countries with stricter legislation to countries with weaker legislation or control.

Monsanto Tribunal: Judges to deliver legal advisory opinion

admin
-
0
Monsanto Tribunal: Judges to deliver legal advisory opinion

Five Monsanto Tribunal judges, who have in the past 18 weeks been analysing the testimonies of witnesses and experts on alleged damage caused by Monsanto, will on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 publicly present their conclusions and legal advisory opinion in The Hague, Netherlands.

peoples-assembly
Speakers and organising committee members of the Monsanto Tribunal & People’s Assembly

The Monsanto Tribunal is an international civil society initiative to hold Monsanto accountable for human rights violations, for crimes against humanity, and for ecocide.

The advisory opinon aims to contribute to the development of international law by the inclusion of new issues, such as the responsibilities of business with respect to human rights, and by formulating new concepts, in particular the concept of ecocide. Being also an educational tribunal, the Monsanto Tribunal is a way also to enable the public to understand the impacts of Monsanto’s activities.

Eminent judges heard testimonies from victims, and will deliver a legal opinion following procedures of the International Court of Justice. A distinct and parallel event, the People’s Assembly, was a gathering of social movements from all over the world that exchanged ideas and planned for the future we want. The Tribunal and People’s Assembly took place between October 14 and 16, 2016 in The Hague.

The process of holding the “Poison Cartel” accountable for its crimes is the culmination of 30 years of scientific, legal, social, and political work by movements, concerned citizens and scientists, it was gathered.

The People’s Assembly is a gathering of leading movements and activists working to defend the ecosystem and food sovereignty, to lay out the effects of industrial agrochemicals on lives, soils, the atmosphere and climate, as well as to chart the road to the earth’s future based on Seed Freedom and Food Freedom, agroecology and farmers rights, commons and economies of sharing, rights of nature and earth democracy.

With multinationals closing ranks through mergers to become bigger and more powerful, the civil society movements at the People’s Assembly have committed to joining forces to, according to them, reclaim people’s rights to healthy food and a healthy and safe environment and to defend human and environmental rights as well as regulations gained through years of social struggle.

In 2016 more than 1,100 People’s Assemblies took place in 28 countries to join forces and collectively defend the Seed Freedom, Food Freedom and Democratic Rights to shape the future of food that protects life on Earth and the well-being of all.

This global mobilisation is now continuing and movements across the world are said to be converging in a new unity across diversity to end a century of ecocide and genocide.

As a response to the series of announced mergers of chemical-based giant corporations, the Monsanto/Bayer merger being the latest, Navdanya is organising multiple actions over the next months.

In Germany, from April 25 to 29, 2017: Along with the Coalition against Bayer Dangers eV-., IFOAM Organics International, Colabora and many other civil society movements and organisations, Navdanya is co-organising a “Stop Bayer / Monsanto” mobilisation. More and more farmers movements, environmental groups, trade unions and students organisations are joining the series of actions, which will converge in Bonn on April 28, for a demonstration in front of the World Conference Centre where the 2017 Bayer shareholders meeting will be held.

In India, Navdanya, an Indian-based non-governmental organisation which promotes biodiversity conservation, biodiversity, organic farming, the rights of farmers, and the process of seed saving, is challenging the process of the Monsanto-Bayer merger, as well as the Dow Dupont merger.

Recently, the Competition Commission of India rejected the Monsanto-Bayer merger application. Navdanya also sent a letter to the CCI warning them about the existing conflict of interest with CropLife which submitted the complete data for the evaluation of the Dow / Dupont merger and cannot be considered a “third independent party” as the same two multinationals are members of it. Navdanya is also organising a mass mobilisation from April 13 to 23, 2017. For the “Satyagraha Yatra” (Satyagraha means “Force of Truth”), Navdanya has gathered movements for democracy which will undertake a pilgrimage for Seed Freedom and Food Freedom.

In Greece, from April 20 to 22, 2017, Navdanya will join Peliti at the Olympic Seed Freedom Festival, along with people and organisations from all over the world to join forces to sow the seeds of the future and sow the seeds of another vision for the planet and its inhabitants.

Over the last months Navdanya has joined the widespread opposition against poisons in our food system and is calling citizens throughout Europe to sign the European Citizens Initiative to #StopGlyphosate and demand the EU to reform its pesticides approval procedures.

In May, Navdanya will join a day of action which will take place across Europe to raise awareness on the dangers of pesticides, while, in Italy, towards the end of May, Navdanya International will launch a Report on Poisons in our Plate, together with ASud and CDCA.

“It has become ever more critical for people to organise to stop the corporate takeover of our food, our health and our planet. We invite you to join with people and communities around the globe, in this renewed ‘Call to Action against the Corporate Takeover of our Food and Health’ and organise a People’s Assembly wherever you are to shape another future of our food and our planet,” says Navdanya.

DNA presence in water enhances monitoring of fish migration

admin
-
0
DNA presence in water enhances monitoring of fish migration

For the first time, scientists have recorded a spring fish migration simply by conducting DNA tests on water samples.

Fish migration
Fish migration

“Environmental DNA” (eDNA), strained from one-litre (quart) samples drawn weekly from New York’s East and Hudson Rivers over six months last year, revealed the presence or absence of several key fish species passing through the water on each test day.

The convenient weekly data snapshots created a moving picture that largely reinforced and correlated with knowledge hard won from migration studies conducted over many years with fishnet trawls.

The Rockefeller University study, published on Wednesday, April 12, 2017 in PLOS ONE, pioneers a way to monitor fish migrations that involves a fraction of the effort and cost of trawling, all without harming the fish.

It demonstrates as well another in the growing list of eDNA uses, which experts expect to upend soon the way fish assessments are conducted worldwide.

Indeed, eDNA science is quickly granting humanity a very old wish: an easy way to estimate the abundance and distribution of diverse fish species and other forms of marine life in the dark waters of rivers, lakes, and seas.

Led by Senior Research Associate Mark Stoeckle and co-authored by student researcher Lyubov Soboleva and Rockefeller University scientist Zachary Charlop-Powers, the project originated in the university’s Programme for the Human Environment under Director Jesse Ausubel, co-founder of the Census of Marine Life, a decade-long international collaboration that ended in 2010.

As they swim, fish leave traces of their DNA in the water, sloughed off their slimy, gelatinous outer coating or in excretions, for example.

Says Dr. Stoeckle: “Researchers in Europe first demonstrated that relatively small volumes of freshwater and seawater environments have enough invisible bits of DNA floating in them to detect dozens of fish species.”

 

Introducing the time element: an important and innovative twist

“By conducting a series of tests over time, collecting surface water from the same point on both the Hudson and East Rivers once a week for six months, we’ve successfully demonstrated a novel way to record fish migration.”

“Our work also offers clear new insight into the durability of DNA in the water, which persists despite currents and tides with a goldilocks quality just right for research.  If the DNA disappeared too quickly, we couldn’t obtain an informative sample; if it persisted for too long, there would be too much DNA in the water to yield useful, timely insights.”

In all, Dr. Stoeckle and colleagues obtained the DNA of 42 fish species, including most (81%) of the species known to be locally abundant or common, and relatively few (23%) of the uncommon ones.

“We didn’t find anything shocking about the fish migration – the seasonal movements and the species we found are known already,” says Dr. Stoeckle. “That’s actually good news, adding to evidence that eDNA is a good proxy. It amazes me that we can get the same information from a small cup of water and a large net full of fish.”

Some species, he adds, couldn’t yet be distinguished, notably some in the herring family, which have identical sequences in the region of DNA used for testing.  As well, some of the DNA obtained couldn’t be identified because the DNA reference library, while steadily growing, is incomplete.

“We knew that we had DNA from a fish, but couldn’t pinpoint the species,” says Dr. Stoeckle.

US climate policy: Doctors must respond to protect human health

admin
-
0
US climate policy: Doctors must respond to protect human health

In an article published recently in the British Medical Journal, family medicine physician, health policy expert, and Director of the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, Dr. Mona Sarfaty, comments on the health implications of the recent White House Executive Order rescinding, revising and reviewing regulatory decisions and authorities of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – specifically those that were directed at the oil and gas industries and intended to tackle climate change

Dr-Mona-Sarfaty
Dr. Mona Sarfaty

The current federal political climate in the United States bodes ill for the future of the world’s climate, and by extension for the health of people around the world. Clinicians have a special capacity to respond because of our positions at the nexus of the science of research and the art of patient care.

The executive order on environmental policy issued by the White House on 28 March 2017 starts a process of rescinding, revising, and reviewing regulatory decisions and authorities of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – specifically those that were directed at the oil and gas industries and intended to tackle climate change.

The most important policy changes initiate reviews of the Clean Power Plan and the regulations on methane and other volatile organic compounds, both introduced by the Obama administration. The Clean Power Plan requires electricity generating plants in the US to reduce carbon dioxide output by 32% by 2030, while the methane regulation established limits on emissions of methane and other gases from some natural gas drilling operations. These “reviews” are designed to lead to elimination of both policies.

If elimination succeeds, it is likely to hamper US capacity to meet its emissions commitments under the 2015 Paris treaty. However, the intended effect of the executive order may diverge substantially from the actual effect since current policies cannot be altered with the stroke of a pen. Unless administrative procedures are followed carefully, legal challenges will bog them down in the court system. Due process allows time to reverse or ameliorate the potential consequences of the order, which flies against prevailing economic trends and scientific consensus.

In 2007, the US Supreme Court held that greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Clean Air Act. This led to the EPA’s 2009 endangerment finding that the current and projected concentrations of six greenhouse gases in the atmosphere threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. This finding still stands, so in reality the president is legally obligated to protect the American people from the health harms of climate change.

The increasing shift away from the polluting fossil fuels is another factor. Energy output from renewables in the US has doubled in the past decade and now accounts for about 150,000 US jobs, compared with about 75,000 jobs in the coal industry. By 2015, carbon dioxide output in the US was 12% lower than in 2005, largely because of decreased use of coal and increased use of natural gas.

What are the implications of the proposed changes in environmental policy for global health? Many adverse health effects of climate change are already under way, such as heat deaths in India, mortality from stronger cyclones in the Pacific, the spread of vector-borne diseases, and drought and increased salinity of soils undermining food production. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that annual deaths attributable to climate change will grow by 250,000 a year by 2050. People living with underdeveloped health infrastructures in developing countries will be most affected. Annual mortality from air pollution around the globe already totals 4.5-6.5 million people and is intensified by heat.

The time available to protect the composition of the atmosphere and oceans so that they continue to support healthy human life is more limited than we would like to think, and now is the time for clinicians to speak out. Most are well aware of the adverse health effects of human related climate change and agree they ought to inform the public as well as their patients.

Clinicians are right to assume this responsibility. National polls suggest they are trusted, unlike politicians and lobbyists. They are scientifically trained and accustomed to translating science based information for public consumption. The Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health comprised of 12 US medical societies with 450,000 members (over half the physicians in the US) launched recently with a mission to inform the public and policy makers about the harmful health effects of climate change, and about the immediate and long term health benefits associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other preventive and protective measures.

Doing this requires engaging colleagues and becoming adept at presenting the reality of the health crisis associated with climate change while giving positive motivational messages about the most important solution-clean renewable energy to mitigate further climate change-and the need to prepare and protect vital infrastructures and vulnerable people. At a time when the US is confronting an unprecedented challenge to science based information, the need for clinicians everywhere to exercise their influence with the public and policy makers is more important than ever.

Sri Lanka rubbish dump landslide death toll rises to 20

admin
-
0
Sri Lanka rubbish dump landslide death toll rises to 20

A rubbish dump landslide in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo has killed at least 20 and injured more than a dozen, military spokesman and hospital officials said, as emergency workers dug into the mountain of trash in search of survivors.

Sri-Lanka-dump
Members of the Sri Lankan military work have joined the rescue effort after the landslide. Photo credit: Reuters / Dinuka Liyanawatte

The estimated 91-metre dump collapsed after flames engulfed it late on Friday, April 14 2017, the country’s traditional New Year’s Day, and witnesses said around 100 houses could have been buried.

At least four teenagers were among the dead, a nurse at the main Colombo hospital said.

“We heard a massive sound. It was like thunder. Tiles in our house got cracked. Black water started coming in,” said Kularathna, who lives near the dump.

Another resident, Mohamed, said three of his neighbours were missing and estimated that more than 100 people could have been buried.

Rescue operations continued for a second day on Saturday (local time) with soldiers using heavy equipment to remove the garbage. The search will continue at first light.

“The main obstacle is we don’t have a clear idea of how many people are buried as nobody is claiming that their relatives are missing, unlike on previous occasions,” said Sudantha Ranasinghe, the military official heading the operation.

Police said they were investigating whether the landslide was natural or man-made. They also said about 145 houses had been damaged.

Residents of the area, mostly living in shanties, have been demanding the removal of the dump saying it was causing health issues.

The Government had planned to remove it soon under an infrastructure plan.

1...1,8721,8731,874...2,220Page 1,873 of 2,220

TV Report

Archives

2025 EnviroNews Nigeria. All Rights Reserved.

×