Environmental News Network: Last week at the Nordic Exceptional Trendshop 2010, held in Denmark, one presentation  took urban agriculture to the next level. A collaboration with NASA, you might even say it launched urban agriculture out of this world, and into the future.The idea is called Agropolis, a combination grocery store, restaurant, and farm all in one building, employing the most advanced technologies in hydroponic, aeroponic, and aquaponic farming.

As it stands, Agropolis is still just a mere idea, with little more than some cool graphics to back it up. But regardless, Agropolis ushers forth a new wave of thinking about urban food systems.The team behind the Agropolis concept proposes that this new generation of store would be an ecosystem  unto itself, a finely tuned orchestra of parts in balance, that would not only be totally environmentally sustainably and friendly, but also just plain producing the freshest food around.

But what would all these innovative, NASA-inspired state of the art hydroponics and other high-tech solutions look like in practice? According to the vision of Agropolis, a customer would walk into a store that is covered in green. Vegetables growing on the walls as far as the eye can see. And below the floors one would see tilapia swimming, working in tandem with vegetables in an aquaponic system. You would buy a tomato that was literally just picked, from a plant that you can see in front of you. The store would bring a whole new meaning to local, and one-up the notion of hyper local, since all the food available to eat or buy would have traveled zero miles from the farm to the store. At most, just a few steps.

It all sounds grand, and more than a little space-age. But the challenge given to the team that came up with Agropolis wasn’t entirely outside reality: Create a farm without relying on arable land. As the Earth’s healthy soil and other resources dwindle, it may not be out of the realm of possibility that a system like Agropolis be needed, particularly in urban areas. And while urban agriculture has come a long way, incorporating all kinds of creative and innovative ideas and technologies, in order to make it work on a large and global scale it may be time for something as futuristic and high-tech as Agropolis.

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Climatewire: The United Kingdom is woefully unprepared for the inevitable impacts of climate change, despite efforts to curb carbon emissions. It must quickly do far more to prepare for impacts on water, weather, resources and health, a key government advisory body said today.

The adaptation subcommittee of the independent Committee on Climate Change, created by the 2008 Climate Change Act, said a lot of preparatory work has already been done, but there are scant signs of concrete actions actually being taken, despite the fact that there is clear evidence Britain’s climate is already changing.

“The U.K. must start acting now to prepare for climate change. If we wait, it will be too late,” said adaptation subcommittee Chairman John Krebs. “It is not necessarily about spending more but about spending smart and investing to save. If we get it right, we can save money in the short term and avoid large extra costs in the future. The time has come to move from talking to acting.”

The report notes that the problems at home would not just stem from local or regional climate change effects. Across the world, the impacts would alter trade flows and population movements, and with them, political networks.

The timing of the report, the first of an annual series, is in part designed as a clarion call to the United Kingdom’s new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government to keep its nerve on climate change action when it issues a major spending review next month.

Facing crippling debts inherited from the banking crisis and the global recession, the government, which took power in May after 13 years of Labour rule, has set its sights on massive spending cuts in a bid to quickly bring the budget deficit down.

But the report runs strenuously in the opposite direction. It says adaptation should not take the place of efforts to cap and cut climate-changing carbon emissions — the United Kingdom has a legal goal to cut them by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. Up to now, adaptation had been the poor relation and urgently needed to be bolstered, the committee said.

An attempt to spur government planning

Even if global talks on peaking and starting serious reductions of carbon emissions within the next decade do come to fruition, there remains a 50-50 chance that average temperatures would rise by 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels by the end of the century, with resulting major impacts on water, ecosystems, food, human settlements and health, the report says.

It says average temperatures in central England have risen by 1 degree Celsius since 1970 — and by 0.8 degrees in Scotland and Northern Ireland since 1980. Meanwhile, seasons have been arriving on average 11 days earlier since the 1970s.

Seas have been rising, coastlines eroding, species moving steadily north, and heat waves becoming more frequent, and there have been more intense rainfall events. Insured losses from weather-related events currently cost the United Kingdom £1.5 billion a year on average, and events like the 2003 heat wave that killed 2,000 people in the country could become the norm by the end of the century.

“By planning ahead and taking timely adaptation action, the UK could halve the costs and damages from moderate amounts of warming. Forward planning may also allow the UK to take advantage of opportunities, for example developing new products and services for a warmer climate,” the report says.

It says the government has to set clear goals on adaptation; provide timely and practical information on why and how to go about meeting them; and ensure that climate change adaptation is integral to all planning, infrastructure, resource and building design decisions and relevant policies.

For instance, new buildings have to be designed to be able to withstand weather extremes like heat waves and floods as well as minimize water usage, while work needs to be done to climate-proof as far as possible existing buildings.

Also, new developments should also not be sited on likely future floodplains or risk simply shifting the problem onto another area. Energy, water, transport, waste and communications systems must also have climate change resilience built into their construction and locations, the report says.

A note of caution to budget-cutters

But given that natural disasters will occur either with greater intensity or frequency or both because of climate change, emergency planning has to have the probabilities and likely consequences built in, specifically to reduce the impacts and ensure continuing care for the most vulnerable groups.

At the same time, business continuity plans should be drawn up to try to make sure that inevitable disruptions could be minimized as far as possible, the report adds.

There have already been reports that the government is contemplating backing away from some big-ticket renewable energy projects, such as a multibillion-pound major tidal barrage across the mouth of the River Severn — seen by some as crucial to meeting steep renewable energy commitments but by others as environmental hooliganism.

Ministerial budgets are already being cut to the bone in what some observers describe as a desperate slash-and-burn exercise, with extra spending on adaptation well down the list of priorities.

Given the almost total silence from the government on green issues in recent months, there are fears that other climate change-related projects could be in the firing line, despite declarations from Prime Minister David Cameron from the outset that his government intends to be the greenest ever.

“Climate change will have a massive impact on us all, so it is essential that the coalition takes urgent steps to protect us from its impacts, while pulling out all the stops to prevent more extreme temperature rises,” said climate campaigner Craig Bennett of environmental group Friends of the Earth.

“Failure to invest in climate action would be a dangerous and expensive mistake, leaving a far bigger bill for future generations to pick up. Ministers mustn’t shortchange the climate when the spending review is unveiled next month,” he added.

Jeremy Lovell, E&E European correspondent

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Climatewire: Small business coalitions are blaming the Senate for American job losses resulting from a failure to embrace climate legislation that would build up U.S. markets for clean energy technology. Further, the political stalemate opens the door to costly U.S.-China trade disputes as China steams ahead to expand its green technology manufacturing base.

“So long as you have industries propped up by government subsidies, you’re going to have these fights,” said Tim Greeff, political director of the Clean Economy Network, which joins energy financiers and environmental groups.

Companies working on wind and solar power projects, advanced batteries and cutting-edge technology for generating cleaner electricity aim to produce their products cheaply enough to compete in energy markets dominated by oil and coal. For the most part, the United States, Europe and China subsidize nascent technologies through loans and grants to companies and tax breaks for consumers.

But China is now under fire from U.S. labor unions for being too heavy-handed and using unfair trade practices that benefit Chinese companies at the expense of U.S. manufacturing jobs.

The United Steelworkers last week filed a 5,800-page petition with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) that called on the Obama administration to launch a formal investigation into whether China has ignored international trade agreements to help its clean energy technology sector. It cited a fleet of government export subsidies, including low interest rates and access to cheap land, that allegedly give China’s lower-cost manufacturers an unfair advantage.

A fight over China’s role in luring away U.S. clean energy jobs to a cheaper labor market and a growing Asian consumer base places the White House on the hot seat just ahead of congressional elections in November.

If Congress passes legislation putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions, contends Greeff of the Clean Economy Network, capital would stay in the United States to fund domestic manufacturers of low-emissions technology. It would dampen the political pressure to battle China’s energy policy at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“The real question is, when those markets are created for new emerging technologies, will we be able to capitalize?” he said.

Does China gain jobs from climate bill’s fall?

Greeff’s group and others, including the Small Business Majority, American Businesses for Clean Energy and the Main Street Alliance, issued a report yesterday claiming China and other countries “gained more than $11 billion in job-creating clean energy investments” in the two months since the U.S. Senate abandoned climate legislation in July. According to modeling data, the groups say nearly 2 million jobs have been lost because of the Senate’s inaction.

The trade union’s claims about China’s trade practices are grabbing some attention on Capitol Hill.

In a statement yesterday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) warned that China is positioned to corner alternative energy markets in their early stages through illegal trade practices. The senator called on the USTR to investigate whether China’s system of propping up domestic industries violates WTO rules. China’s economic powerhouse is the fastest-growing new member of the WTO.

“Over the past decade, China is accused of providing its local firms with assistance ranging from export subsidies for Chinese alternative energy firms to export restrictions on key components and resources needed to develop green technologies,” Gillibrand said.

She cited China’s practice of working with U.S. and other foreign companies on joint ventures under the assumption that Chinese companies can adopt Western technologies. “This potentially undermines years of American investments in research into clean energy technology and makes America less competitive,” she said.

The WTO prohibits export subsidies that give domestic companies an advantage when they sell into the global market. It also restricts tariffs and subsidies that could thwart foreign competition.

According to the union’s complaint, China subsidizes companies based on export performance or on the use of Chinese-made goods during the manufacturing process. It notes that one program, called “Ride the Wind,” grants access to loan benefits and connections to the power grid if a wind power project can show it uses Chinese-made equipment. China gives preferential treatment to foreign companies that use Chinese-built products, according to the petition.

Export restrictions and ‘local content’ rules

The union also asserts that China has imposed export restrictions on rare earth minerals needed to build wind turbines, solar panels and advanced batteries. China is rich in those resources, the petition notes, and export restrictions increase prices for companies outside of China and create a new incentive for U.S. companies to build factories in China, closer to the minerals supply. China uses export quotas, taxes and a complicated licensing process to restrict mineral exports.

The complaint also asserts that China rigs bidding processes for wind power projects by forcing consideration of “local content” in the project. Much of this is done through power purchase agreements with local governments, which the union asserts don’t fall under a WTO exemption allowing “local content” discrimination for government procurement.

The politics of clean energy jobs played out Monday, as President Obama called and congratulated the executives of A123Systems Inc. for opening North America’s largest lithium-ion auto battery manufacturing plant in Linovia, Mich.

The plant was funded through a $249 million federal stimulus grant and a host of state incentives. China also has a big share in the battery manufacturing, but analysts say the giant U.S. car market and the cost of shipping batteries are major incentives for building factories in North America.

Academic observers and trade attorneys are taking a wait-and-see attitude about the merits of a potential WTO case against China and the Obama administration’s willingness to pursue it. But with the economy and job creation dominating the midterm election season, the union’s petition has stirred up discussions among labor unions, environmental groups and foreign policy experts trying to get a handle on China’s impact on the U.S. economy.

The BlueGreen Alliance unites nine labor unions, including the USW, the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council. “Every day America delays action is another day that China capitalizes on jobs created in the production of clean energy technologies that could and should be developed, manufactured and installed in the United States,” it said.

Who wins and who loses?

But not everyone agrees that, without China’s heavy-handed clean energy subsidies, the United States would build thousands of new factories to assemble wind turbines and solar panels. American science and high-tech ingenuity are positioned to profit on their role at the start of the supply chain — for example, a U.S. company with a patent for a low-cost solar wafer or silicon technology.

Michael Levi, an energy expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, challenged the union’s underlying assumptions. “Indeed if the United States were to insist that all parts of the solar value chain stay in the United States, the result might not be more jobs, it might be less,” he wrote in a Sept. 9 blog post. “Unable to reduce the cost of cell and module manufacturing, the cost of solar might stay too high, reducing the overall solar market, and with its jobs in wafer and silicon production, too.”

Other sectors work the same way, he said. “China assembles computers that used to be made in the United States. Does anyone think that this means America is losing from the computer and IT revolutions? Of course not.”

If China and the United States focus on their strengths, Levi contends it’s a win-win for solar power.

Still, on his blog yesterday, Levi challenged the notion that the United States automatically wins if Chinese manufacturing enables cheaper clean energy. Producing cheaper electricity made by Chinese-made solar panels would stimulate areas of the U.S. economy that use solar power, but it would hurt U.S.-based solar producers. Whether China’s position in the solar market is a net positive for the U.S. economy “is an open question,” he said.

“Chinese industrial policy may give us nice cheap solar panels in the near term,” Levi said, “but if it drives competitors out of the market, and China then withdraws its supports, things could be much uglier in the long term.”

China’s dominance in silicon-based photovoltaic panels could damage a rising U.S. thin film solar industry, Levi said for example, which could make solar more expensive in the longer term.

Joel Kirkland, E&E reporter

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UN News Centre: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and several governments in Central Asia and Russia have concluded an agreement on conservation measures for the migratory Saiga antelopes, whose population have been in decline during the past two decades, the agency reported today.

During an international conference in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, representatives from Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and UN bodies gathered under the auspices of the Convention on Migratory Species (UNEP/CMS) and agreed to include the Mongolian Saiga in an international conservation pact.

The meeting was also attended by representatives from intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities from the region.

Saiga antelopes roam the vast plains of Central Asia and Russia. They can undertake migratory journeys between summer and winter of more than 1,000 kilometres. Although sometimes described as the “ugly duckling” of the world’s antelopes, the Saiga comprise a vital part of the natural and cultural heritage of the plains of Eurasia.

They numbered around one million in the early 1990s, but declined to between 60,000 and 70,000 in 2006. In response to conservation efforts, their populations have stabilized, according to UNEP.

Currently there are reportedly about 85,000 animals in Kazakhstan, with almost 12,000 dying in a disease outbreak in May. Another 8,000 live in Mongolia, at least 10,000 animals are in Russia and several thousand live in Uzbekistan in winter. No Saiga mass migration has been observed in Turkmenistan in the last 10 years, where the species used to migrate during harsh winters.

Despite legal protection, the Saiga are hunted for their meat and horns, which are used in traditional medicine. Other threats include disease, pasture degradation through overgrazing by livestock and other disturbances from oil and gas extraction work and possibly climate change.

The new conservation measures are expected to harmonize monitoring and surveys to regularly track all populations. Aerial and ground surveys will determine changes, with emphasis on calving, rutting and two migration areas. Due to their long migration between winter and summer pastures, it can be extremely difficult to find them.

The experts at the meeting carried with them figures released in a report commissioned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and compiled by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, which raised the alarm over the levels of illicit trade in Saiga horns even before this year’s mass deaths.

The report brings together information on the Saiga horn trade gleaned from interviews with experts and government officials, together with market surveys in Malaysia and Singapore, where Saiga horns are readily available.

“The key to success for the conservation of these unique looking antelopes of the Eurasian steppes has been the engagement of local people,” said CMS Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema. “This week’s meeting paves the way for implementing the international action plan for the conservation of this remarkable animal across its entire range.”

Governments are seeking to address the fundamental motivation for poaching Saiga, namely poverty and unemployment. Involving local communities will be critical to the conservation measures implemented under the CMS Saiga agreement. Incentives to combat poaching are being developed through alternative livelihoods in deprived steppe communities.

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ScienceDaily: Swimming in indoor chlorinated pools may induce genotoxicity (DNA damage that may lead to cancer) as well as respiratory effects, but the positive health effects of swimming can be maintained by reducing pool levels of the chemicals behind these potential health risks, according to a new study published in a set of three articles online September 12 ahead of print in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives (EHP). This study is the first to provide a comprehensive characterization of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in an indoor pool environment and the first to study the genotoxicity of exposure to these chemicals among swimmers in an indoor chlorinated pool.

DBPs form in pool water from reactions between disinfectants such as chlorine and organic matter that is either present naturally or is introduced by swimmers, such as sweat, skin cells, and urine. Previous epidemiologic studies have found an association between exposure to DBPs in drinking water and risk of bladder cancer, and one such study has found this association for dermal/inhalational exposure such as occurs during showering, bathing, or swimming.

The new study details a comprehensive investigation of DBPs and mutagenicity of water samples collected from two indoor pools, one disinfected with chlorine, the other with bromine. In addition, short-term changes in biomarkers of genotoxicity and respiratory effects were studied in swimmers who swam in the chlorinated pool. No previous studies have combined investigations of the mutagenicity (ability to cause permanent DNA mutations) of pool water with a comprehensive chemical characterization of the water and studies of human exposures, the authors stated.

Evidence of genotoxic effects were seen in 49 healthy adults after they swam for 40 minutes in the chlorinated pool. Specifically, researchers found increases in two genotoxicity biomarkers relative to the concentration of the most common types of DBPs in exhaled breath, which were used as a measure of the swimmers’ exposures. The biomarkers that increased were micronuclei in blood lymphocytes, which have been associated with cancer risk in healthy subjects, and urine mutagenicity, which is a biomarker of exposure to genotoxic agents.

Detailed measurements were also made of the most common exhaled DBPs (trihalomethanes) in air around the pool and in exhaled breath of the swimmers before and after swimming. Researchers measured several biomarkers of respiratory effects after swimming and found changes in only one — a slight increase in serum CC16, which suggests an increase in lung epithelium permeability. This result was explained by the effects of exercise itself as well as exposure to DBPs. Further research is needed to sort out the clinical relevance of this acute change, the researchers stated.

In addition, the authors identified more than 100 DBPs in the pool waters, some never reported previously in swimming pool water and/or chlorinated drinking water. In vitro assays showed that the swimming pool water was mutagenic at levels similar to that of drinking water but was more cytotoxic (can kill cells at a lower concentration) than drinking water.

The human exposures studied were short-term, and further investigations of genotoxic and respiratory effects of longer-term exposures are needed, the authors stated. Also noted was a need for further research on an array of swimming pools under various conditions of maintenance and use, as well as more complete evaluations of the uptake and potential effects of the wide range of compounds present in pool water. These are preliminary results that should be confirmed in studies with larger sample sizes.

This work was supported by the Spanish organizations Plan Nacional and Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III; and also by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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Climatewire: For the third time in four years, a dearth of sea ice has forced walruses ashore in Alaska.

The lumbering marine mammals normally spend their summers resting on the ice as it floats north, making periodic dives to the ocean floor to forage for food. But this year, as in 2007 and 2009, a lack of ice in the eastern Chukchi Sea has driven thousands of walruses to congregate on land instead.

Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service estimate that at least 10,000 animals have gathered in a dense clump at Point Lay, Alaska.

“Our biggest concern right now is stampeding,” said Bruce Woods, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Alaska regional office. “That’s the big risk posed to these animals.”

That’s because the intensely social — but easily spooked — animals have congregated in numbers that dwarf their normal groupings of up to 500 animals.

The risk of injury and death is greatest for the youngest animals, which are dwarfed by adult female walruses that weigh about 1 ton each.

Last year, when walruses sought shelter on the shore of Icy Cape, Alaska, many of the 131 animals that were trampled to death there were juveniles, USGS found. Similarly deadly stampedes have also been reported in Russia in recent years (ClimateWire, Aug. 10).

Concerns about a stampede

So far this year, there is no evidence of any stampedes at Point Lay, and federal officials are trying to keep it that way. FWS is counseling aircraft traveling through the area to maintain a minimum altitude of 1,500 feet and a lateral distance of a half-mile away from the animals. The agency is also asking ships to maintain a half-mile “buffer zone” from the coast.

News of the unusual walrus behavior comes as FWS considers extending Endangered Species Act protection to the animals. The agency has until January to decide whether affording walruses some degree of protection is warranted.

Chad Jay, a USGS research ecologist whose work includes tagging and tracking walruses, said it appears the animals started to come ashore late last month.

“They were using an area called Hannah Shoals offshore for a number of weeks, but that little bit of ice disappeared, as well,” he said. “We had several animals move west and into Russian waters and find some ice over there, but quite a few animals have come to shore in Alaska.”

USGS researchers had suspected the animals might shelter on shore again this year, since Arctic sea ice has hovered near the historic summer low set in 2007.

Jay said scientists had camped at Icy Cape, where walruses came shore in 2007 and 2009, waiting to observe and tag animals. But the walruses surprised them by sheltering at Point Lay, about 50 miles south.

Bleak future for ice-loving tuskers

“This is the third time in the last four years that this has happened, and we’re still learning and looking for patterns,” Jay said. “Anything could have happened. In 2008, there was enough ice that stayed over the [continental] shelf that they never did come ashore, but we were kind of betting the odds they would come to shore again this year.”

Scientists aren’t sure how long the walruses will remain at Point Lay. But what is even less clear to them is how the walruses will fare over the long term, with many models projecting the Arctic could see ice-free summers by 2040.

At USGS, Jay and his colleagues are increasing the number of walruses they track with radio collars. They’ve also begun studies to determine whether near-shore areas can provide sufficient food and habitat if the gregarious animals come ashore year after year.

One of their initial studies, published last week, found “a clear trend of worsening conditions” for the animals through the end of this century. The USGS scientists say that 22 percent of the Arctic’s walruses could be classified as “vulnerable, rare or extirpated” by 2050, a fraction that rises to 40 percent by 2095.

“There’s quite a bit of uncertainty in all of this, and the model is constructed in a way that attempted to capture as much of that uncertainty as we could,” Jay said.

Lauren Morello, E&E reporter

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BBC News: A management plan is being drawn up to control the spread of salt marsh at Cleethorpes beach, North East Lincolnshire Council has said.

The plan will consider how to manage the marsh while protecting the special habitat and wildlife in the area.

It is being put together by the local authority and conservation organisation Natural England.

There are concerns that hundreds of tourism jobs could be affected if the marsh is not contained.

The marsh is protected under UK and European law. It is feared that it could spread up to the resort’s pier if it is left to grow.

North East Lincolnshire Council said it hoped the plan would be put in place by the end of the year.

Councillor Peter Burgess, the council’s portfolio holder for the environment, said: “This is a significant step forward.

“The council recognises the importance of protecting the natural environment and will work with Natural England to ensure Cleethorpes continues to be a haven for wildlife.

“However, at the same time we need to recognise the growing concerns of the wider community and take positive action to control the spread of the salt marsh.”

Regional director of Natural England, Peter Nottage, said: “We welcome the council’s commitment to producing a management plan that will enhance the natural environment in the area and help meet the needs of the community.”

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Science Daily: The development of salt marshes, vegetated areas periodically flooded by the sea, occurs differently than was previously thought. This is apparent from measurements conducted by Dutch researcher Alma de Groot. She analysed the gamma radiation produced by the soil in the salt marsh. Knowledge of salt marshes is essential for the development of dynamic but safe coastal zone management.

Salt marshes, also known as tidal marshes, are coastal areas rich in sediment that are periodically flooded by the sea and where plants have started to grow. Sediments are deposited onto the surface of the marsh by the sea, which gradually raises the bed level. Salt marshes are found on barrier islands, estuaries and sheltered coasts along the North Sea. De Groot studied the salt marshes on the island of Schiermonnikoog. Salt marshes are not only important for biodiversity — many rare species of plants and birds can be found there — but also play an important role in coastal defence.

Radioactive salt marshes

The biologist used a novel method for studying the salt marshes: she analysed the gamma radiation naturally present in the sand and the clay of the salt marsh. Most sediments contain small amounts of radioactive elements that emit low levels of gamma radiation. This enabled her to determine the composition of the soil in the salt marshes. She combined the new radiometric method with measurements using a soil corer. She discovered that heavy storms deposit sand on the salt marshes about once every decade, which is far more frequent than was thought until now. The contribution of this sand to the total increase in soil elevation of the salt marsh appears to be small however, meaning that ‘normal’ sedimentation is by far the most important factor for the growth of the salt marshes.

De Groot’s method offers many possibilities for further research. In addition, she shows that commonly used small-scale measurements are insufficient for making reliable predictions about the development of the salt marshes, with respect to rising sea levels for example. This is evident from the complicated sedimentation patterns she discovered in the salt marshes. Her discoveries can be used to improve the set-up of sedimentation measurements.

Dynamic coastal zone management

The possibilities for ‘dynamic coastal zone management’ are of increasing interest in the Netherlands. Therefore, in certain areas the coast is being left to develop naturally. But this can only be done safely if we understand how our coastline develops. De Groot’s research makes a major contribution to such insights.

Alma de Groot’s research is part of the NWO programme Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ). This programme will be concluded by a symposium on 24 November 2009.

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BBC News: Work has been taking place to protect tidal salt marshes on the banks of the Severn Estuary from the impact of climate change.

The Environment Agency is creating 15 acres of new wetland called Brims Pill, near Awre in Gloucestershire.

It hopes to recruit more local farmers to turn their riverside land back into salt marshes, which can still be used for grazing.

Predictions suggest 1,000 acres will be lost over the next 50 years.

‘International importance’Brian Smith, from the agency, said: “It [tidal salt marsh] gets squeezed between a rising sea level and fixed agricultural defences.

“There’s nowhere for the salt marsh to go. We’re going to lose those vital habitats and with it the wildlife that depends on it.”

The agency says the area, near the Slimbridge Wetland Centre, is of “international importance” for migrating wildfowl, breeding waders, migratory fish and Atlantic eels.

A spokesman said the construction work, which included removing silt and creating a network of creeks, is complete and the natural process of becoming a wetland will take place over the next five years.

The organisation has been working since 2006 with the Gloucestershire Wildfowlers Association (GWA), their farm tenant and Natural England to develop the plans.

The spokesman said the land “currently has little ecological or landscape value”.

GWA will manage the salt marsh as a nature reserve, he added.

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Environmental News Network: Methane is a significant green house gas that can lead to global warming. It is also commonly produced by many animals including humans and cattle. Cow belches, a major source of greenhouse gases, could be decreased by an unusual feed supplement developed by a Penn State dairy scientist.

Belching (also known as burping) involves the release of gas from the digestive tract through the mouth. It is usually accompanied with a typical sound and an odor.

Many other mammals, such as cattle, dogs, and sheep also burp. In the case of ruminants, the gas expelled is actually methane produced as a byproduct of the animal’s digestive process. Anaerobic organisms such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and methanogenic archaea produce this effect. An average cow may emit between 542 liters and 600 liters (if in a field) of methane per day through burping, making commercially farmed cattle a major contributor to the greenhouse effect.

At Penn State in a series of laboratory experiments and a live animal test, an oregano based feed supplement not only decreased methane emissions in dairy cows by 40 percent, but also improved milk production, according to Alexander Hristov, an associate professor of dairy nutrition.

Oregano is an important culinary herb. It is particularly widely used in Turkish, Palestinian, Syrian, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin American, and Italian cuisine. It is the leaves that are used in cooking, and the dried herb is often more flavorful than the fresh.

Oregano is often used in tomato sauces, fried vegetables, and grilled meat. Together with basil, it contributes much to the distinctive character of many Italian dishes.

The natural methane reduction supplement could lead to a cleaner environment and more productive dairy operations.

Experiments revealed another benefit of the gas reducing supplement. It increased daily milk production by nearly three pounds of milk for each cow during the trials. The researcher anticipated the higher milk productivity from the herd.

“Since methane production is an energy loss for the animal, this isn’t really a surprise.  If you decrease energy loss, the cows can use that energy for other processes, such as making milk.” Hristov said.

Hristov first screened hundreds of essential oils, plants and various compounds in the laboratory before arriving at oregano as a possible solution. During the experiments, oregano consistently reduced methane without demonstrating any negative effects.

Following the laboratory experiments, Hristov conducted an experiment to study the effects of oregano on lactating cows at Penn State’s dairy barns. He is currently conducting follow-up animal trials to verify the early findings and to further isolate specific compounds involved in the suppression of methane.

Hristov said that some compounds that are found in oregano, including carvacrol, geraniol and thymol, seem to play a more significant role in methane suppression. Identifying the active compounds is important because pure compounds are easier to produce commercially and more economical for farmers to use.

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