CHILE SITUATION ‘STILL CRITICAL’ FOR FOOD, WATER AND ELECTRICITY
Heads of UN offices in Chile continue to meet
Daily on the situation in the country following
the February 27 earthquake
The situation in the main areas of Chile affected by the recent earthquake is still critical, the United Nations relief wing reported, noting that access to food and the restoration of electricity and drinking water were still the top priorities, the UN News reported (3/3/10).
According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 723 people were killed and 2 million affected by the 8.8-magnitude quake, which occurred just off the coast of Chile early on Saturday. The government of Chile has declared 6 out of its 15 regions as zones of catastrophe – Valparaiso, Metropolitana, Libertador O´Higgins, Araucania, Biobío and Maule.
Yesterday the Deputy UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Catherine Bragg, told a news conference that the UN stands ready to support in every way possible, adding that rescue and relief efforts in the six affected regions is “firmly in the hands” of the Chilean Government.
The government has so far requested very specific priority items, such as field hospitals with surgical facilities, dialysis centres, generators, satellite phones, structural damage evaluation systems, salt water purification systems, mobile bridges and field kitchens.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the regional arm of the World Health Organization (WHO), reported that the first foreign field hospitals from Argentina and Peru had already arrived in Chile and would be deployed to areas where the local hospitals sustained severe damage.
REPORT: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33955&Cr=chile&Cr1=
UN ASSISTING CHILE IN AFTERMATH OF MASSIVE EARTHQUAKE
Following a request from the Chilean Government for assistance in the wake of Saturday’s devastating earthquake, the UN and member states are assisting the South American nation to assess the damage wrought and help people in need, the UN News reported (2/3/10).
Authorities in Chile have issued a request for supplies, including mobile bridges, satellite telephones, electric generators, water purification systems and dialysis centres. The UN World Food Program (WFP) has offered 30 tons of food support. The UN is sending dozens of satellite telephones to Chile, said Alicia Barcena, Executive-Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which has headquarters in Santiago. Of nearly 1,000 ECLAC personnel, no casualties have been reported but 64 staff were unaccounted for, she said.
Countries such as Argentina are sending in urgently-needed field hospitals, with the Chilean Air Force having already setting up four field hospitals, each holding up to 60 patients. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the earthquake has severely disrupted health services and has dispatched a disaster management expert to the South American nation to assist in the aftermath of the catastrophe.
The health network in the country’s north is operating normally, with hospitals continuing to function in the metropolitan area of Santiago. In the south, access to health services was proving to be a major challenge, with the collapse of six hospitals and two others severely damaged. Chilean infrastructure has been severely impacted, with some 500,000 homes seriously damaged. Adobe structures are believed to have been most affected and Indigenous populations most at risk.
REPORT: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33920&Cr=chile&Cr1=
CHILE SEEKS HELP AFTER TWIN DISASTERS
Chile's ambassador to Australia says his government needs international assistance as it copes with the twin disasters of an earthquake and a tsunami.
"This question was finally solved late last night and was sent to all the embassies around the world," he told ‘The World Today’ on ABC Radio. "I have been in touch with AusAid during the whole morning and with DFAT about this need. I guess that AusAid will take the necessary measures in order to provide part of the requirements."
Earlier, Chilean president Michelle Bachelet confirmed the disaster had killed 708 people but said that number was likely to increase as emergency workers reached more affected areas.
HUNDREDS DIE IN CHILE 8.8 EARTHQUAKE
A strong aftershock struck Chile on Sunday, a day after a destructive 8.8-magnitude earthquake left hundreds of people dead and a long swath of the country in smoky rubble, the New York Times reported (27/2/10).
The death toll was expected to rise, particularly around Concepción, Chile's second-largest metropolitan area, which is roughly 70 miles from the quake's centre. The aftershock was reported around 8 30am local time on Sunday from the capital of Santiago, where it shook buildings, according to Reuters.
More than 1.5 million people have displaced by the earthquake, according to local news services that quoted the director of Chile's emergency management office. In Concepción, which appeared to be especially hard hit, the mayor said on Sunday 100 people were trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building, according to Reuters.
CHILE SUFFERS MASSIVE DAMAGE
The number of people confirmed dead after Chile's earthquake has increased to 708 and is expected to rise further, President Michelle Bachelet has said, the BBC reported (28/2/10).
Previously about 300 people had been reported to have been killed in Saturday's 8.8 magnitude quake - one of the most powerful recorded. Massive damage is hampering rescue teams as they struggle to reach those still buried in the rubble.
The Chilean Government has declared a curfew in two of the worst-hit areas.
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State television reported that the curfew would apply in the regions of Maule and Concepcion, and begin at 2100 local time (midnight GMT).
The mayor of Concepcion city has said food is running out and police used tear gas and water cannon against looters at a supermarket on Sunday. Many Chileans in affected areas have spent the first night since the earthquake outdoors, afraid to stay inside. REPORT: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8542122.stm
3FT HIGH TSUNAMI HITS JAPAN’S COAST
A tsunami more than one metre (3ft) high has hit Japan's northern Pacific coast, nearly 24 hours after the powerful earthquake in Chile, the BBC reported (28/2/10). Thousands of people were earlier told to leave coastal areas after predictions bigger waves could strike. Other Pacific nations were also hit by tsunamis. Part of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia was hit by a 4m (13ft) wave, but no casualties were reported. In Tahiti, the tsunami waves were smaller, causing little damage. Despite Australian warnings of possible dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding on the east coast, people went in numbers to observe the beaches. The alert was subsequently lifted.
FIFTY KILLED IN EUROPEAN STORMS
At least 50 people have been killed in storms that have lashed parts of Spain, Portugal and France, officials say, the BBC reported (28/2/10). Forty-five of the victims died in France, where many drowned or were hit by parts of buildings or falling trees. Winds of up to 140km/h (87mph) caused chaos as they moved from Portugal up through the Bay of Biscay. Worst affected were the Vendee and Charente-Maritime regions on the western coast of France. Huge waves and strong gusts battered many coastal towns, spreading floods inland and destroying buildings.
PRODUCTIVITY REVOLUTION NEEDED FOR GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY
The ABARE Outlook conference in Canberra heard Dr Nick Austin of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research outline the need for a revolution in productivity to deal with global food security.
“Population growth and constraints on food production, including from the anticipated affects of climate change and shifting supply and demand patterns, must be balanced by improved agricultural yields,” Dr Austin said.
“What is necessary is not one revolution in agricultural productivity, but a series of country specific responses to spark a range of mini-revolutions in productivity that leverages off intellectual capital and an understanding of the environment.
“ACIAR seeks to promote Australia’s leadership in research to enhance global agricultural productivity.”
Dr Kym Anderson, Professor of Economics at the University of Adelaide, told delegates that climate change and an anti- trade bias of some governments’ agricultural policies raised concerns for food security in developing countries.
“Government assistance to the farm sector insulates producers from price signals, while protectionist trade policies have resulted in slower growth in trade and thinner world food markets, together with increased price volatility,” he said. “This global problem requires a global solution, namely more World Trade Organization discipline against policies such as import tariffs and quotas, and export restrictions that limit growth in agricultural trade.
“This is especially important in the context of long-term threats to global food security such as climate change and the bio-fuel policies pursued by developed nations.”
Dr Brian Fisher, Principle of BAEconomics, noted that farmers’ terms of trade have been in a long-term decline. “However, with an increasing world population driving a substantial increase in food consumption, farmers’ terms of trade may start to rise in the decades ahead,” Dr Fisher said. The reduction of trade barriers and increased agricultural research and development were central issues.
BIOTECHNOLOGIES COULD BENEFIT FARMERS IN POOR COUNTRIES
The focus of modern and conventional biotechnologies should be redirected so as to benefit poor farmers in poor countries and not only rich farmers in rich countries, FAO said (1/3/10).
"Modern and conventional biotechnologies provide potent tools for the agriculture sector, including fisheries and forestry," said Modibo Traore, FAO Assistant Director-General, addressing the international technical conference on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries in Guadalajara, Mexico.
"But biotechnologies are not yet making a significant impact in the lives of people in most developing countries," he said. "At present, there is a lack of appropriate and useful technologies, policies, technical capacities, and requisite infrastructure for their development, evaluation and deployment in most developing countries."
The conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, reviewed past successes and failures of biotechnologies across the different food and agricultural sectors in developing countries, but was not focused on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
According to FAO, biotechnological innovations can be of significant assistance in doubling food production by the year 2050 and in addressing the uncertainties of climate change. "In the past few decades, the field of biotechnologies has advanced at a formidable speed and generated numerous innovations particularly in the field of pharmaceuticals and some in the field of agriculture," he said.
The innovations in agriculture include highly successful rice hybrids for Africa that have doubled rice yields, the use of artificial insemination to raise dairy cattle milk yields in Bangladesh and the use of DNA-based methods to detect shrimp diseases in India.
But most biotechnologies cannot be fully exploited because "often, there is emphasis on genetically modified organisms only, which overshadows all other biotechnologies and their potential contribution to agriculture. In addition, the synergy between the public and private sector remains to be harnessed."
AFRICA LAGS BEHIND IN GREEN ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world in developing renewable energy projects with initiatives aimed at producing clean and ‘green’ energy remaining largely under-exploited, warned a new report released by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) (3/3/10).
A UNEP assessment noted that the entire continent has just over 120 carbon market projects up and running or in the pipeline in areas ranging from wind power to forestry schemes, and harvesting methane gas from landfills to fuel electricity generation makes up 20 per cent of all such initiatives.
Larger economies in Africa such as Egypt and South Africa are home to the lion’s share of the schemes, with 32 and 13 projects respectively, while Zambia, Madagascar, Cameroon and Mali only have one or two projects each and several countries have none, according to the report.
The study also reported patchy growth in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol allowing developed countries to reduce emissions and meet global warming commitments by investing in carbon reduction projects in developing countries. However, the report – prepared for the opening of the Second African Carbon Forum – highlighted Kenya and Uganda as exceptions with the number of carbon market projects underway in these countries jumping from two in 2007 to 15 and 12 respectively.
REPORT: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33950&Cr=UNEP&Cr1=
EXPERT PANEL AFFIRMS ACTIONS ON MURRAY ALGAL OUTBREAK
The Murray-Darling Blue-green Algal Bloom Advisory Panel has concluded that the response to the latest outbreak along the Murray River was being coordinated and managed effectively.
The panel, set up last year by federal and state governments, reconvened on Tuesday (2/3/10) to discuss the worsening outbreak of bloom in the Murray River.
The panel included experts in water quality, river ecology, public health and animal health/toxicology and senior Commonwealth and state officials.
Chairperson Jody Swirepik said that, at this stage, the Murray Regional Algal Coordinating Committee was doing all it could to tackle the latest outbreak. However, the panel has asked the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to undertake a study comparing the current algal bloom outbreak with last year’s. The study will look for similarities and differences in the events to better understand the drivers of algal blooms along the Murray.
A large part of the River Murray on the New South Wales and Victorian border is currently affected by algal blooms and the NSW Murray Regional Algal Coordinating Committee has issued several red alerts to date. A media release stated it was most important that people avoid contact with water in the river in affected areas and follow advice from local authorities. DETAILS: Sam Leone on 02 6279 0141; sam.leone@mdba.gov.au; www.mdba.gov.au
CRC CREATION UNDERWAY
The Executive Management Committee met in Alice Springs recently to plan the closure of the DKCRC (Desert Knowledge CRC) and the creation of CRC-REP in June/July. Attention focussed on contractual matters – both to phase out DKCRC on June 30 and to start up the new CRC-REP the following day, July 1, a DKCRC media release stated this week.CRC-REP has 52 partners, including Aboriginal organisations, non-government bodies, research agencies, universities, Australian and state governments and the private sector, including mining and pastoralism.
DESERT V URBAN: ‘STRANGELY CONTRASTING PERSPECTIVES’
A new book, Dry Times, has been launched in the Australian Parliament by NT Senator Trish Crossin. Senator Crossin spoke of the importance of developing policies that were sensitive to the needs and wishes of desert Australians – and of the strangely contrasting perspectives that desert and urban Australians sometimes hold of one another. The need for better desert policy is a major theme in Dry Times, which is written by former DKCRC CEO Dr Mark Stafford Smith and science communicator Julian Cribb.