[Top News] from [REUTERS]
[Green Business]
Rob Taylor
CANBERRA
Thu Jan 7, 2010 7:01am EST
Australia, NZ, investigate whale hunt clash
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia joined New Zealand on Thursday in investigating a clash between an anti-whaling protesters and Japanese whalers, but refused to send a patrol ship to Antarctic waters as activists promised a "whale war".
Green Business | Japan
Canberra called for calm on all sides after the hardline Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's futuristic powerboat Ady Gil had its bow sliced off in a collision with the Japanese ship Shonan Maru No. 2 on Wednesday and was left foundering in frigid seas.
"It concerns me deeply. It's clear that emotions are running high and that lives are at risk," Australia's Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters. "It seems miraculous to me, having seen the video, that lives were not lost."
New Zealand, where the Agy Gil was registered, has already launched an investigation into the clash and Gillard said Australia's maritime safety body would undertake a second probe that could lead to court if either side were found at fault.
In Tokyo, a Japanese government spokesman said an official protest had been lodged with New Zealand's government.
"The Japanese government sees this as extremely regrettable," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano.
Confrontations between whalers and opponents have become an annual feature of the hunt in Antarctic waters claimed by Australia but not recognized as Australian by Japan. Gillard said the incident occurred just outside Australia's economic zone.
Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson, who Japan has previously called an "eco-terrorist", said he wanted protection from Australia's navy for his protest fleet, now reduced to two ships.
"We now have a real whale war on our hands and we have no intention of retreating," Watson said.
Environmentalists accuse Australia of going soft on threats of an International Court of Justice whaling challenge to avoid damaging Canberra's $58 billion trade relationship with Japan.
Australian opposition and green lawmakers demanded the government send a customs ship to the area to ease tensions.
"These are Australian waters. Australia has not only a right but an obligation to be policing them," said Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown.
Canberra sent a customs icebreaker to Antarctic waters in early 2008 to monitor the Japanese whaling fleet and gather photographic and video evidence for a legal case.
But Gillard said Australia would not be sending a patrol ship again, saying the 2008 moved had failed to "influence behavior".
Both countries have in the past agreed to quarantine their differences over whaling from wider diplomatic relations to avoid damaging close security ties and long-running free trade talks.
Australia has managed to protect its major trade ties in Asia from periodic bilateral tensions, most notably the detention of an Australian mining executive in China in 2009.
JAPAN SAYS COLLISION UNAVOIDABLE
Japan's Fisheries Agency said the collision took place when Ady Gil suddenly slowed down as it crossed in front of Shonan Maru, which had warned the boat of impending danger.
All six crew were rescued from the Ady Gil, but the clash left one activist with two broken ribs and the A$1.5 million ($1.37 million) carbon-fiber trimaran foundered. Sea Shepherd expected the powerboat to be unsalvageable.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said sending an Australian patrol ship would not lead to automatic restraint.
"People are going to behave badly down there. There's not much we can do about it," McCully told Australian radio.
Law expert Don Rothwell said if the Japanese captain was found at fault, legal proceedings would likely occur in New Zealand.
Concerns could also be raised by the London-based International Maritime Organization following reports the Japanese vessel fled after the collision, said Rothwell, from the Australian National University.
Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 moratorium, but Japan continues to cull whales, saying it is for research purposes, deflecting criticism from anti-whaling nations.
Japan says whaling is a cultural tradition and while most Japanese do not eat whale meat regularly, many are indifferent to accusations that the hunting is cruel.
(Additional reporting by Isabel Reynolds in TOKYO; Editing by Alex Richardson)
[Green Business]
Daniel Fineren
LONDON
Wed Jan 6, 2010 5:04pm EST
Energy use surges as cold shocks northern hemisphere
LONDON (Reuters) - Icy conditions have driven a surge in energy demand in heavily populated parts of the northern hemisphere but some countries are enjoying a relatively mild winter, data shows.
Severe weather, partly due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, has frozen parts of northwest Europe that usually escape the coldest winter temperatures, driving gas demand to records in Britain [ID:nWLA2033] and straining French power systems. In China there are energy rations.
"I think the impression is that because north Asia is cold, and parts of North America and Europe are cold people have tended to get the impression that the whole of the northern hemisphere is cold," said Robin Thwaytes, a forecaster at the Met Office, Britain's official weather center.
"But that isn't the case. Generally it evens itself out in that for every area that is cold there are some areas that are very warm."
The Met Office's latest chart of global temperature anomalies indicates that Alaska and much of Canada are warmer than the long-term average for the time of year.
Freezing temperatures and heavy snow at the start of January is a shock for those parts of northwest Europe -- France and Britain -- that are usually shielded from the coldest weather that typically affects central and eastern Europe in midwinter.
HARDEST HIT
Britain, which uses gas to heat two thirds of its homes, and France which relies on electric heating are the hardest hit as the relatively mild south-westerly winds that usually blow in from the Atlantic are nudged out by Arctic winds from the north.
The weather, which has driven UK gas prices up sharply this week, is expected to last for another two weeks, draining European gas supplies.
Britain endured one of the coldest Decembers on record, with gas demand hovering near record highs this week, while average heating demand in the United States rose above the 40-year average.
French reliance on electric heating has raised the risk of power cuts in regions with longstanding supply problems, although the grid operator said there was not a threat of nationwide disruption.
French grid operator RTE said on Tuesday it had put Brittany on alert for power cuts.
But in Germany, the national weather office DWD said current temperatures were not unusual.
"Such winters are normal in our latitude, although European and other northern hemisphere countries can differ a lot from each other," a DWD spokesman said.
European gas stocks are brimming because of lower drawdowns last year when the finance crisis hit industrial demand.
Private forecasters WSI warned late last year that the combination of the El Nino weather phenomenon, a cold north Pacific and cold mid-latitude North Atlantic sea surface temperatures would likely lead to cold weather in northern Europe and the United States.
Blistering cold forced cities across eastern and central China to ration power for industry -- impacting base metals production and helping to drive up copper and aluminum prices -- while residents were urged to curb gas use due to surging demand for heating.
Soaring demand, transport problems and brinkmanship over prices has also strained coal supplies, which could force more power cuts and upset production if conditions worsen.
But the climate change skeptics should not conclude that the globe is not warming.
World Meteorological Organization said last month that 2000-2009 was the hottest decade since records began in 1850, and that 2009 would likely be the fifth warmest year on record. WMO data show that eight out of the 10 hottest years on record have all been since 2000.
(Additional reporting by Vera Eckert, Gerard Wynn, Barbara Lewis, Gus Trompiz, Mohd Ramthan Hussain; editing by Sue Thomas)
[Green Business]
Rob Taylor
CANBERRA
Thu Jan 7, 2010 7:01am EST
Australia, NZ, investigate whale hunt clash
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia joined New Zealand on Thursday in investigating a clash between an anti-whaling protesters and Japanese whalers, but refused to send a patrol ship to Antarctic waters as activists promised a "whale war".
Green Business | Japan
Canberra called for calm on all sides after the hardline Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's futuristic powerboat Ady Gil had its bow sliced off in a collision with the Japanese ship Shonan Maru No. 2 on Wednesday and was left foundering in frigid seas.
"It concerns me deeply. It's clear that emotions are running high and that lives are at risk," Australia's Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard told reporters. "It seems miraculous to me, having seen the video, that lives were not lost."
New Zealand, where the Agy Gil was registered, has already launched an investigation into the clash and Gillard said Australia's maritime safety body would undertake a second probe that could lead to court if either side were found at fault.
In Tokyo, a Japanese government spokesman said an official protest had been lodged with New Zealand's government.
"The Japanese government sees this as extremely regrettable," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano.
Confrontations between whalers and opponents have become an annual feature of the hunt in Antarctic waters claimed by Australia but not recognized as Australian by Japan. Gillard said the incident occurred just outside Australia's economic zone.
Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson, who Japan has previously called an "eco-terrorist", said he wanted protection from Australia's navy for his protest fleet, now reduced to two ships.
"We now have a real whale war on our hands and we have no intention of retreating," Watson said.
Environmentalists accuse Australia of going soft on threats of an International Court of Justice whaling challenge to avoid damaging Canberra's $58 billion trade relationship with Japan.
Australian opposition and green lawmakers demanded the government send a customs ship to the area to ease tensions.
"These are Australian waters. Australia has not only a right but an obligation to be policing them," said Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown.
Canberra sent a customs icebreaker to Antarctic waters in early 2008 to monitor the Japanese whaling fleet and gather photographic and video evidence for a legal case.
But Gillard said Australia would not be sending a patrol ship again, saying the 2008 moved had failed to "influence behavior".
Both countries have in the past agreed to quarantine their differences over whaling from wider diplomatic relations to avoid damaging close security ties and long-running free trade talks.
Australia has managed to protect its major trade ties in Asia from periodic bilateral tensions, most notably the detention of an Australian mining executive in China in 2009.
JAPAN SAYS COLLISION UNAVOIDABLE
Japan's Fisheries Agency said the collision took place when Ady Gil suddenly slowed down as it crossed in front of Shonan Maru, which had warned the boat of impending danger.
All six crew were rescued from the Ady Gil, but the clash left one activist with two broken ribs and the A$1.5 million ($1.37 million) carbon-fiber trimaran foundered. Sea Shepherd expected the powerboat to be unsalvageable.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said sending an Australian patrol ship would not lead to automatic restraint.
"People are going to behave badly down there. There's not much we can do about it," McCully told Australian radio.
Law expert Don Rothwell said if the Japanese captain was found at fault, legal proceedings would likely occur in New Zealand.
Concerns could also be raised by the London-based International Maritime Organization following reports the Japanese vessel fled after the collision, said Rothwell, from the Australian National University.
Commercial whaling was banned under a 1986 moratorium, but Japan continues to cull whales, saying it is for research purposes, deflecting criticism from anti-whaling nations.
Japan says whaling is a cultural tradition and while most Japanese do not eat whale meat regularly, many are indifferent to accusations that the hunting is cruel.
(Additional reporting by Isabel Reynolds in TOKYO; Editing by Alex Richardson)
[Green Business]
Daniel Fineren
LONDON
Wed Jan 6, 2010 5:04pm EST
Energy use surges as cold shocks northern hemisphere
LONDON (Reuters) - Icy conditions have driven a surge in energy demand in heavily populated parts of the northern hemisphere but some countries are enjoying a relatively mild winter, data shows.
Severe weather, partly due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, has frozen parts of northwest Europe that usually escape the coldest winter temperatures, driving gas demand to records in Britain [ID:nWLA2033] and straining French power systems. In China there are energy rations.
"I think the impression is that because north Asia is cold, and parts of North America and Europe are cold people have tended to get the impression that the whole of the northern hemisphere is cold," said Robin Thwaytes, a forecaster at the Met Office, Britain's official weather center.
"But that isn't the case. Generally it evens itself out in that for every area that is cold there are some areas that are very warm."
The Met Office's latest chart of global temperature anomalies indicates that Alaska and much of Canada are warmer than the long-term average for the time of year.
Freezing temperatures and heavy snow at the start of January is a shock for those parts of northwest Europe -- France and Britain -- that are usually shielded from the coldest weather that typically affects central and eastern Europe in midwinter.
HARDEST HIT
Britain, which uses gas to heat two thirds of its homes, and France which relies on electric heating are the hardest hit as the relatively mild south-westerly winds that usually blow in from the Atlantic are nudged out by Arctic winds from the north.
The weather, which has driven UK gas prices up sharply this week, is expected to last for another two weeks, draining European gas supplies.
Britain endured one of the coldest Decembers on record, with gas demand hovering near record highs this week, while average heating demand in the United States rose above the 40-year average.
French reliance on electric heating has raised the risk of power cuts in regions with longstanding supply problems, although the grid operator said there was not a threat of nationwide disruption.
French grid operator RTE said on Tuesday it had put Brittany on alert for power cuts.
But in Germany, the national weather office DWD said current temperatures were not unusual.
"Such winters are normal in our latitude, although European and other northern hemisphere countries can differ a lot from each other," a DWD spokesman said.
European gas stocks are brimming because of lower drawdowns last year when the finance crisis hit industrial demand.
Private forecasters WSI warned late last year that the combination of the El Nino weather phenomenon, a cold north Pacific and cold mid-latitude North Atlantic sea surface temperatures would likely lead to cold weather in northern Europe and the United States.
Blistering cold forced cities across eastern and central China to ration power for industry -- impacting base metals production and helping to drive up copper and aluminum prices -- while residents were urged to curb gas use due to surging demand for heating.
Soaring demand, transport problems and brinkmanship over prices has also strained coal supplies, which could force more power cuts and upset production if conditions worsen.
But the climate change skeptics should not conclude that the globe is not warming.
World Meteorological Organization said last month that 2000-2009 was the hottest decade since records began in 1850, and that 2009 would likely be the fifth warmest year on record. WMO data show that eight out of the 10 hottest years on record have all been since 2000.
(Additional reporting by Vera Eckert, Gerard Wynn, Barbara Lewis, Gus Trompiz, Mohd Ramthan Hussain; editing by Sue Thomas)
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