Climate observations from West Antarctica.

For two decades, South Korea’s King Sejong Station in the western part of Antarctica has been monitoring the changing Antarctic environment patterns. Its 11 facilities and 2 observatories, located on King George Island of the Barton Peninsula in western Antarctica, have hosted visits from dozens of scientists each year. With the summer melt having just come to a close, they, like many other research stations in the area, are logging in updated information.

Courtesy of Seoul Broadcast Station (for specified b-roll footage)

Supreme Master Television contacted King Sejong Station in Antarctica via a videoconference call to learn about the scientists’ first-hand observations of climate change during their time on the continent.

Climate change affecting penguin: http://www.iar.org.uk/globalnews/articles/2008/04/climate_change_threatens_king_penguin_survival_300.html

Dr. Hong Jong-Guk, Chief of King Sejong Station, West Antarctica

Dr. Hong Jong-Guk, Chief scientist of King Sejong Station: According to our observations, Marian Cove which is near our station, Marian Cove’s ice wall has withdrawn by over 1km for the last 50 years. I have been there for 3 months, and I see myself that, even during the period, the ice wall withdrew by several meters. If you come here, you can feel the climate change is in fact very serious compared with before. If you see the ice wall melting, you know that global warming is progressing very quickly. To delay the progress of global warming as much as possible, industries need to restrain the use of fossil fuels, and various lifestyle patterns must be changed.

Dr. Kim Myung-Gwang, Atmospheric scientist at the King Sejong Station, West Antarctica

Dr. Kim Myung-Gwang, Atmospheric scientist, King Sejong Station: It’s true that ever since the start of weather observations, the average temperature of this region has been on a continuous rise.

The relatively mild Barton Peninsula, where the King Sejong Station is located, is normally an attractive summer spot for numerous species, and thus draws many biologists to study them. This year, however, the scientists were alarmed at a noticeable absence of animals both on land and in the sea.

Mr. An Dae-Seong, Biologist at King Sejong Station, West Antarctica (MA student)

Mr. An Dae-Seong, Biologist, King Sejong Station: In the case of the Antarctic, the amount of plankton has greatly declined correlating with climate change. The data shows that there were a lot of krill here, but these days, the number of krill has declined greatly. When you look at animals such as penguins, seals, they are hardly around compared to last year.

In this year alone, the ice wall here fell apart by 50 meters compared to last year. When you see that, it makes you think. It’s just too much that is falling down now. If we look at an aerial photograph from 10 years ago, the ice wall existed right in front of our station, but it’s very far from us now, meaning that a lot of ice wall has fallen down.

Dr. Hong Jong-Guk, Chief scientist of King Sejong Station: Supreme Master TV viewers around the world, to delay global warming which is seriously progressing now, and to leave a good environment to our next generation, please always pay attention in daily life to save energy and not to produce various environment-polluting materials.

We thank the scientists of King Sejong Station for their intercontinental correspondence to provide this vital information. May Heaven safeguard all who are now in Antarctica for their work in monitoring the effects of climate change. We pray the world joins in quick actions to restore equilibrium to our beautiful eco-sphere.

Hydrogen-powered plane soars through the skies.

A hydrogen fuel cell powered aircraft developed by Boeing recently completed three test flights smoothly in an airfield near Madrid, Spain. The small two-seater, propeller-driven aircraft is the first piloted plane powered by hydrogen-cells along with a hybrid battery to aid in the initial lift-off. The plane is currently capable of flights up to 45 minutes and is being developed to provide a zero emission alternative in aviation. Hydrogen fuel cells emit only heat and water vapor.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7330311.stm


Food and water security in Republic of The Gambia depend on new climate change policy.

Like many other sub-Saharan countries in Africa, Gambia, and especially her farmers, feel the effects of global warming intensifying with each year. In particular, current problems in food production are being magnified.

Supreme Master Television had a chance to discuss the country’s future of food and water security with Gambia’s Director of Water Resources Mr. Pa Ousman Jarju, during the Bangkok international climate change conference, which concluded on Friday. Mr. Jarju was the Gambian representative to the United Nations Subsidiary Body for Implementation, Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Mr. Pa Ousman Jarju, Director of Water Resources in Gambia   
Gambian representative, UN Subsidiary Body for Implementation, Framework Convention on Climate Change

Mr. Pa Ousman Jarju, Director of Water Resources in Gambia: The capital city, which is almost about one meter above sea level is vulnerable to sea level rise. And we are also feeling the impacts because if you look at the rainfall history over the past 3 decades, the rainfall has been declining, the temperatures has been rising by 0.4 degrees per decade; we are experiencing shorter raining season, and the dry spell is also increasing over the years. So we are feeling the impact and this is also leading to food insecurity.

 Last December the Gambian government presented its final national action plan to the United Nations outlining the ways it would adapt to a changed future climate.

Mr. Pa Ousman Jarju, Director of Water Resources in Gambia: One of the projects is to have an early warning system which would really give the farmers information on the right time to sow, and the time it is going to rain. We are a tropical country; we are endowed with sunlight. So we are using renewable energy to pump water, to supply a water supply, to supply rural communities with water. We are able to have up to 140 communities at present which are benefiting from clean water through solar pumping systems.

As Gambia works to prepare her agricultural sector in coping with environmental changes, Mr. Jarju emphasized the importance for all citizens to make the lifestyle changes needed for the long term, including adjustments in diet.

Mr. Pa Ousman Jarju, Director of Water Resources in Gambia: We really need to change our lifestyles, because this is really what is contributing to greater emissions, to climate change. Our diet system also needs to change. If we go in for vegetarian type of diets that would also contribute immensely. We are ready to save the planet.

We applaud the efforts of Mr. Pa Ousman Jarju and all the delegates of the UN climate change conference. With Heaven’s grace, we pray that Gambia and all African countries will develop effective climate change measures to protect their citizens and the continent’s magnificent beauty.

Climate change could bring heat-related illness to UK.

A recent report from doctors in the British Medical Association (BMA) states that global warming could introduce diseases such as malaria to the United Kingdom as well as disorders such as skin cancer and sunstroke resulting from increased heat waves. The BMA advised that Britain’s National Health Service should plan for the prevention and treatment of these serious health implications.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSL0272612820080402

Arctic scientists race to gather the last of winter data.

Spring in the Arctic in recent years has arrived about two weeks earlier than a decade ago, due to melting snow. For this reason, the past week saw peak activity on the part of polar scientists collecting valuable data from the Arctic region’s ice and snow. The North and South poles of the Earth are important determinants of climate change. They also contain critical “ice archives” of past and present climate changes.

Supreme Master Television asked Dr. Gregory Flato at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, to explain some of these indicators of climate change in the Arctic.

Dr. Gregory M. Flato – Canadian Centre for Climate Modeling and Analysis, University of Victoria, Canada

Dr. Gregory M. Flato: As the climate warms, as we put more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, the atmosphere near the surface warms up, but that warming isn’t uniform over the globe. It warms more at the high latitudes particularly in the Arctic, than it does at the lower latitudes, and the reason for that is that the sea ice and the snow at the high latitudes are very reflective, they reflect sunlight and act to cool the climate, whereas at the lower latitudes the surface is darker. Now when you start to warm up the climate, that bright surface, the ice and the snow begin to melt away, and expose the dark underlying surface, either the ocean or the land. And that dark surface absorbs more of the solar radiation, acts to warm the climate more, which acts to melt more of the ice.

Dr. Flato estimates that based on summer minimum measurements, the ice-covered area of the Arctic has been declining at a rate of 8% over the past 30 years. During the last five years, however, this rate has increased dramatically. Surface area declined by an alarming 40% within just one summer period last year, in 2007.

Dr. Gregory M. Flato: The average summertime was something like 9 million square kilometers. And last summer it was down to about 5, a little over 5. So a very dramatic reduction of almost a half.

This year, the Arctic Ocean between northern Canada and Eastern Siberia was almost completely ice free in the summer, which is a faster rate of disappearance than even Dr. Flato’s climate models predicted.

Dr. Gregory M. Flato: We’re into territory that we haven’t really experienced before.

Scientists still have many unanswered questions about the Arctic. But through diligent inquiry and meticulous collection and interpretation of data, their understanding is growing day by day. We are grateful to the hundreds of researchers like Dr. Flato whose commitment places them in the field, at the forefront of these studies. May we meet their dedication with actions of our own to address this urgent issue and restore the fragile balance of our Earthly abode.
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/350846
http://environment.newscientist.com/channel/earth/dn12091-arctic-spring-arriving-weeks-earlier.html