20130605 大埔居民團體歡迎政府批出龍尾泳灘建造合約

政府批出龍尾泳灘建造合約，大埔區居民聯會歡迎政府的決定。

聯會主席陳平表示，大埔居民一直希望享有泳灘，興建泳灘更能保障泳客安全，希望有關部門盡快動工。他又表示整個船灣淡水湖都具有生態價值，不應因為佔二百公尺的龍尾而否決整個計劃。陳平表示明白保育的重要，但認為在發展和保育之間不應只側重一方。

大埔區居民聯會聯同民建聯等團體舉辦汽車巡遊，13輛車由大埔社區中心會堂出發，駛至龍尾泳灘，慶祝政府決定在龍尾興建人工泳灘。

20130605 團體將就龍尾泳灘提司法覆核

守護龍尾大聯盟對政府執意在龍尾興建人工泳灘感到憤怒，表明本星期會申請司法覆核，阻止工程展開。大埔鄉事委員會等多個團體就促請，政府盡快動工。

大埔區居民聯會聯同大埔鄉事委員會及民建聯等40個團體，龍尾泳灘集會支持政府盡快展開工程。他們又在區內發起慢駛，爭取大埔區居民支持，代表認為人工泳灘可以改善當區生活環境。

不過，一直反對建議的團體就指，政府的環評報告不全面，會提出司法覆核。又批評環境局局長黃錦星指龍尾灘生態價值低是說謊。

守護龍尾大聯盟發言人李少文強調，提出司法覆核是為社會公義，並非浪費公帑。又說如果工程在司法覆核前進行，會派人在地盤外勸喻工程車，不要駛進去。

20130517 BBC_Chinese tourists warned over behaviour abroad

A senior Chinese Communist Party official has called for Chinese tourists to behave more politely when travelling abroad.

Wang Yang, one of China's four vice-prime ministers, said the "uncivilised behaviour" of some Chinese tourists was harming the country's image.
Among problems he singled out were talking loudly in public and spitting.
However, the BBC's Celia Hatton in Beijing says some Chinese complain they are treated badly abroad.
Foreign travel is becoming ever more popular among China's increasingly affluent citizens.
Chinese tourists spent $102bn (£67bn) overseas last year, up 40% on the year before, and the UN World Tourism Organisation says China is now the single biggest source of global tourism income.
Mr Wang's words were published on the website of the People's Daily, the Chinese Communist Party's main newspaper.
"Improving the civilised quality of the citizens and building a good image of Chinese tourists are the obligations of governments at all levels and relevant agencies and companies," he said.
Mr Wang advised authorities to "guide tourists to conscientiously abide by public order and social ethics, respect local religious beliefs and customs, mind their speech and behaviour... and protect the environment".

20130518 BBC_France gay marriage: Hollande signs bill into law

On Friday, the Constitutional Council rejected a challenge by the right-wing opposition, clearing the way for Francois Hollande to sign the bill.
He said: "I have taken [the decision]; now it is time to respect the law of the Republic."
The first gay wedding could be held 10 days after the bill's signing.
After a tortured debate, the same-sex marriage and adoption bill was adopted by France's Senate and National Assembly last month.
But the Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that same-sex marriage "did not run contrary to any constitutional principles," and that it did not infringe on "basic rights or liberties or national sovereignty".
It said the interest of the child would be paramount in adoption cases, cautioning that legalising same-sex adoption would not automatically mean the "right to a child".
Comedian Frigide Barjot, who has become a leading mouthpiece for the anti-gay marriage movement, denounced the ruling as "a provocation" and called for the campaign to continue.
UMP President Jean-Francois Cope said he regretted the Constitutional Council's decision but would respect it. Another senior UMP figure, Herve Mariton, said the party would come up with alternative proposals in 2017 that were "more respectful of the rights of children".
The anti-gay marriage lobby, backed by the Catholic Church and conservative opposition, argues the bill will undermine an essential building block of society.
Opinion polls have suggested that around 55-60% of French people support gay marriage, but only about 50% approve of gay adoption.
France is now the 14th country to legalise gay marriage after New Zealand last month.
It is also the ninth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriage after legalisation in the traditionally liberal Netherlands and Scandinavia, but also in strongly Catholic Portugal and Spain. Legislation is also moving through the UK Parliament.
But the measure has aroused stronger than expected opposition in France - a country where the Catholic Church was thought to have lost much of its influence over the public.
Mr Hollande has been struggling with the lowest popularity ratings of any recent French president, with his promises of economic growth so far failing to bear fruit and unemployment now above 10%.

20130518 BBC_Deep sea 'gold rush' moves closer

The prospect of a deep sea "gold rush" opening a controversial new frontier for mining on the ocean floor has moved a step closer.

The United Nations has published its first plan for managing the extraction of so-called "nodules" - small mineral-rich rocks - from the seabed.

A technical study was carried out by the UN's International Seabed Authority - the body overseeing deep sea mining.

It says companies could apply for licences from as soon as 2016.

The idea of exploiting the gold, copper, manganese, cobalt and other metals of the ocean floor has been considered for decades but only recently became feasible with high commodity prices and new technology.

Conservation experts have long warned that mining the seabed will be highly destructive and could have disastrous long-term consequences for marine life.

The ISA study itself recognizes that mining will cause "inevitable environmental damage".

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the ISA was set up to encourage and manage seabed mining for the wider benefit of humanity - with a share of any profits going to developing countries.

The ISA's legal counsel, Michael Lodge, told the BBC: "We are at the threshold of a new era of deep seabed mining".

The lure is obvious: an assessment of the eastern Pacific - a 5 million sq km area known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone - concluded that more than 27 billion tonnes of nodules could be lying on the sand.

Those rocks would contain a staggering 7 billion tonnes of manganese, 340 million tonnes of nickel, 290 million tonnes of copper and 78 million tonnes of cobalt - although it's not known how much of this is accessible.

The expedition's chief scientist, Dr Jon Copley, a biologist from the University of Southampton, urged caution:

"I don't think we own the deep ocean in the sense that we can do what we like with it," he said. "Instead we share responsibility for its stewardship.

"We don't have a good track record of achieving balance anywhere else - think of the buffalo and the rainforest - so the question is, can we get it right?"

And Professor Paul Tyler, also a biologist, of the National Oceanography Centre, warned that unique species would be at risk.

"If you wipe out that area by mining, those animals have to do one of two things: they disperse and colonise another hydrothermal vent somewhere or they die.

"And what happens when they die is that the vent will become biologically extinct."

"Everything we are surrounded by, the way we live, relies on mineral resources and we don't often ask where they come from.

"We need to ask whether there is sustainable mining on land and whether there is sustainable mining in the seas.

"I actually think it is the same moral questions we ask whether it's from the Andes or down in the Bismarck Sea."

This debate is set to intensify as the reality of the first mining operations comes closer.

 The idea of exploiting precious metals on the ocean floor has been considered for decades

The chimneys of hydrothermal vents contain many metals in high abundance

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22546875

20121001 BBC_Japan typhoon Jelawat lifts car into air in Okinawa

A powerful typhoon has hit Japan's southern island of Okinawa, injuring more than 50 people and leaving thousands without power.

The country's Meteorological Agency said Typhoon Jelawat was expected to hit the Tokyo region Sunday evening. Residents have been warned to stay indoors.

Amateur footage posted online shows a car being lifted into the air by strong winds in Urasoe city, as the BBC's Philippa Thomas reports.

Japan typhoon lifts car into air

20121001 BBC_Climate change 'may shrink fish'

Fish species are expected to shrink in size by up to 24% because of global warming, say scientists.

Researchers modelled the impact of rising temperatures on more than 600 species between 2001 and 2050.

Warmer waters could decrease ocean oxygen levels and significantly reduce fish body weight.

The scientists argue that failure to control greenhouse gas emissions will have a greater impact on marine ecosystems than previously thought.

Previous research has suggested that changing ocean temperatures would impact both the distribution and the reproductive abilities of many species of fish. This new work suggests that fish size would also be heavily impacted.

As ocean temperatures increase, so do the body temperatures of fish. But, according to lead author, Dr William Cheung, from the University of British Columbia, the level of oxygen in the water is key.

"Rising temperatures directly increase the metabolic rate of the fish's body function," he told BBC News.

"This leads to an increase in oxygen demand for normal body activities. So the fish will run out of oxygen for growth at a smaller body size."

Taking both the movements and the physiological impacts of rising temperatures together, the research team concludes that fish body size will shrink between 14% and 24%, with the largest decreases in the Indian and Atlantic oceans.

When compared with actual observations of fish sizes, the model seems to underestimate what's actually happening in the seas.

The authors point out a number of limiting factors in their study, including uncertainties in the predictions for the climate and the oceans. According to Dr Cheung, further research is required.

"Our study shows that climate change can lead to a substantial decrease in the maximum body weight of fish. We need to look more closely at the biological response in the future."