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Thursday, January 27, 2011
NVIRONMEN
DAILY TRUST
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environment@dailytrust,com HOTliNE: 08036417326
How gas flaring scares
away aquatic animals 8y Tina A. Hassan AQUATIC animals. just like humans. are one ofthose that would be severely affected by the growing impact of climate change around the globe despite desperate attempts by governments to curtail the major causes of changes in climatic conditions. Rising heat wave, loss of water and continual pollution
of water bodies through oil spillages•. especially among oil exploration host communities are the major characteristics
of climate changes which equally has teUingeffects on animals like fish, seaweeds and other water creatures.
Fish, especially, are scared by persistent noises. lightening' unusual water vibrations, rise in water levels and tem-
peratures and poUution of water bodies by oil spills which in most cases kill aquatic animals and may completeiywipe out certain species of aquatic animals.
Gas flaring. a major cause ofclimate change. is known to
contribute over 50 per cent carbon emission in Nigeria and minations from such activities especially gas flaring and are is a major thre~t to aquatic life especially in communities forced to seek other homes away from the source of poilu· where oil exploration is carried out because it damages the tion. they also migrate just like humans. . At a recent workshop on environmental management habitat of the animals and destroys vegetation surrounding aquatic life. organized by the Environment Management Association Communities that are surrounded by petroleum explo- of Nigeria (EMAN). it was observed that the burning of ration and production are usually prone to being polluted fossil fuels in the past 50 years has released large quanti· by oil spills and soot arising from gas flaring which in most ties of carbon dioxide and other green house gases into the cases prove harmful to water animals and also coats the atmosphere and this has led to more heat being trapped leaves of plants thereby slOWing photosynthesis. . in the atmosphere causing serious global climate changes According to Mr. Gideon Okpokwasili. a lecturer in the s.uch as air and water pollution, floods, erosion and other University of Port Harcourt. Nigeria flares more natural . extreme weather changes. Experts at the meeting have advocated that to preserve gases associated with oil extraction than any other country and this has released large amounts of harmful chemicals the ecosystem. which include aquatic life. environmentally such as methane into the atmosphere. contributing to glo- friendly technologies should be adopted in the conduct of bal warming and destabilizing the ecosystem. petroleum eXp~oration and production in Nigeria in order Water animals and other wild life usuaUy get disturbed to reduce the loss of biodiversity and to maintain a balby noises arising from exploration activities and other illu- anced ecosystem.
Climate Change is responsible for forced migration ByTmaA. Hassan CLIMATE change has been identified as the major factor responsible fOr fOrceful movement of people from one part of the country to another. Vice President Namadi Sambo said this at a national climate change workshoporganizedbytheEnvimnmental Management Association of Nigeria (EMAN) in Ahuja recently. Rise in climate change has gradually led to the loss of biodiversity across some states in the country and this has forced people to move from their original settlement to other areas. He noted that climate change "would affect the fundamental requirement fOr health such as dean air, safe drinking water and sufficient fu1;ld and shelter. AU these would provoke diseases outbreak:' A statement issued by the National President of EMAN. Architect EmmanuelAting indicated that Namadi said the Federal Government is putting in place strategies such as the National Gas Master Plan fOr the reduction of carbon footprint in order to curtail the impact ofclimate change on the . nation.
GAS flaring in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is gradually deestroying the ecosystem as it releases carbon into the atmosphere.
UN climate plans too narrpw to save forests -Panel WORLD efforts to slow deforestation should do more to address underlying causes such as risi,ng
demand fot'crops for biofuels. It has become imperative to stop the demand hence the United Nations (UN) focus on using trees to fight climate change. a study has shown. It said a series of projects to
protect forests had limited success in recent decades with UN figures shOwing that 13 million hectares of forest were lost every year from 2000 to 2009, an area equivalent to the size of Greece.
The report by the International Union of Forest Research Organis~tions (IUFRO) suggested that the current UN-led efforts to protect forests had too narrow a focus on promoting trees as stores of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.
"Our fmdings suggest that disregarding the impact of forests on sectors such as agriculture and energy will damage any' new international efforts whose goal is to conserve forests and slow climate change, said Jeremy Rayner. who chaired the IUFRO panel and
is a professor at the University of Saskatchewan . Deforestation accounts for perhaps 10 per cent of all emissions
of greenhouse gases from human activities, and trees soak up carbon
as they grow but release it when they burn or decay. . The IUFRO study said a key problem was that deforestation. from the Amazon to the Congo. was often caused
by economic
pressures far away. just as a popular glObal brand of cookies. for instance, uses palm oil grown on deforested land in Indonesia.
IUFRO urged policies of "embracing complexity" to help protect forests. including educating consumers, rather than rely on
in the Amazon, it said.
a one-size-fits-all mechanism such as carbon storage.
The IUFRO report will be issued at UN talks in New York this week marking the start of the UN's International Year of Forests. Almost 200 nations agreed at
It called for better efforts. for
a meeting in Cancun, Mex1co,last
instance, to, aid indigenous peo-
month to step up efforts to protect forests with a plan that aims to put a price on the carbon stored in trees. while helping indigenous peoples and promoting sustainable use. Authors of the IUFRO study said that the UN plan. known as REDD+. was promising. (NAN)
ples. whose livelihoods depend on healthy forests. Among promising measures were amendments to
the U.S. Lacey Act. which makes it illegal to import wood known to come from stolen timber. while Brazil, for instance, has enacted
procedures to tackle deforestation