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APN Newsletter Vol.7, No.1 January 2001
Message from the APN Director Autumn is a time for changing leaves and the beautiful colors that come with them. Autumn is also harvest season in APN. We received 82 full proposals at the end of September and those are now in the peer review process. APN also organized two major scientific gatherings in Tsukuba and Kobe. APN/SURVAS/LOICZ Joint Conference on Coastal Impacts of Climate Change & Adaptation took place from 14-16 November in Kobe, and was followed by an open symposium on Impacts of Global Warming and Sea-level Rise and Future of the Coastal Environment -Asia and Pacific Aspect, 17 November. SURVAS is supported by ENRICH. So, this is one example of inter-regional cooperation amongst regional networks of global change research. The Workshop for Inter-calibration of Isotope Ratio Measurement for Atmospheric CO2 was held from 9-10 November in Tsukuba. In order to kick off preparatory work for the 6th Inter-Governmental Meeting (IGM) and Scientific Planning Group Meeting (SPG), the Steering Group Meeting was held on 3 December at the East-West Center in Hawaii. This meeting was attended by the two Co-chairs of the SPG, representatives of Pakistan and Korea (previous and forthcoming hosts of the IGM/SPG meeting) and observers from START and the US Global Change Research Program-NSF. The Secretariat will make every effort to make the 6th IGM/SPG Meeting on Jeju Island in Korea a success. -Ryutaro Yatsu Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001
NEWS
FROM THE SECRETARIAT In the APN Strategic Plan, one of the key activities to be conducted is the systematic identification of Key Scientific Priorities of the region. The "Call for Proposals 2000" gave particular emphasis to "Climate Change & Variability" and "The Human Dimensions of Global Change". Such a system is however flexible and can adopt changing priorities. Unfortunately, there was not much of a response to the initial KSP announcement in the October edition of the APN newsletter. Therefore, the APN Secretariat is inviting you again to submit suggestions concerning possible future Key Scientific Priorities of the region. Please send comments and suggestions to info@apn.gr.jp Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001 APN/NIES Workshop on Inter-calibration
of isotope Ratio Measurement for Atmospheric CO2 Atmospheric CO2 is produced not only by human activities but
also nature itself. Understanding of CO2 fluxes from nature, such
as land biota and oceans is essential to discuss/promote CO2 reduction
for the prevention of global warming. At the same time, CO2 flux
from nature is affected by global climatic events, such as El Nino
Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The Asia Pacific region includes important
areas such as the equatorial area of the Pacific and Southeast Asia,
where ENSO causes dramatic annual CO2 fluxes. For this reason some
laboratories in this region have been carrying out CO2 measurements
over the Pacific Ocean. At the Fifth APN Inter-Governmental Meeting in Pakistan, Mr. Onogawa from the National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES) in Japan proposed a workshop to plan a strategy for the inter-calibration of CO2 measurements. This workshop was organised by APN and sponsored by NIES. The workshop was held 9-10 November at the International Congress Centre in Tsukuba, Japan. There were 22 presentations over two days and 42 participants with representatives from Australia, Canada, China, France, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and USA. The workshop provided an opportunity to exchange information between regional communities and discuss the methodology for isotope measurement of atmospheric CO2 in the Asia-Pacific region. It also involved comparison of isotope measurement methodologies from each laboratory and a discussion on the possibility of inter-calibration of CO2 isotope measurement in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia outlined a plan for a worldwide inter-calibration for CO2 concentration and isotopes (GLOBALHUBS). They are now seeking a means to organise many institutes throughout the world. Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001 Nobuo Mimura, Professor, Ibaraki University, Japan APN/SURVAS/LOICZ Joint Conference "Coastal Impacts of Climate Change and Adaptation in the Asia-Pacific Region" was held at APN Center in Kobe, 14-16 November 2000, in which more than 60 participants attended, and 47 presentations were made including keynote addresses, oral and poster presentations. The purpose of the conference was to meet an urgent need for developing comprehensive understanding of the relationship between global change and future environment. The Asia and Pacific region has been recognized to be among the most vulnerable to climate change and sea-level rise. However, the societal impacts and the feasibility of adaptation are poorly understood. It is also questioned how the present environmental problems and development practices are related to future threats. In order to respond to these questions, international initiatives have started. The Synthesis and Up scaling of Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability As sessment Studies (SURVAS) was proposed as an ENRICH project to synthesize and aggregate national vulnerability assessments by networking and workshop activities in Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific. Another initiative is IGBP/LOICZ in Asia and the Pacific. Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) is a core project of IGBP. The Science Council of Japan planned to host the LOICZ International Conference in Japan to bring relevant researchers in this field to exchange the present knowledge on climate change and sea-level rise, and possible adaptation strategies. In order to link these activities, the conference was jointly organized by the Organizing Committee of the Conference, the Science Council of Japan, and APN. The conference consisted of three parts. The first part was SURVAS Country Studies Session, in which 19 country overviews on the vulnerability and adaptation assessment studies were presented from the Asian and Pacific region. Threats of tropical cyclones and storm surges were highlighted for the Philippines and Bangladesh, while adverse effects of salt-water intrusion in the Mekong Delta was stressed by the Vietnam delegate. Cambodia is just starting the impact assessment of climate change and sea-level rise, and expressed its hope to develop their capacity and asked for international assistance. There were nine presentations from small island countries in the South Pacific such as Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands, and Vanuatu. In most presentations, it was emphasized that the island countries are particularly vulnerable to climate change and sea-level rise because of human settlement, socio-economic activities, and infrastructures that concentrated in coastal areas, even though the islands are relatively large and high. Coastal erosion is another common concern in relation to future sea level rise. In the LOICZ Session, 23 presentations were made including posters. This session covered a range of subjects such as long-term trend of mean sea-level, responses of mangroves and coral reefs, historical delta development in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Vietnam, and economic assessment of the impacts of sea-level rise. These presentations and discussions were wrapped up in the Vulnerability and Adaptation Overview Session, where future regional collaboration was requested to enhance the network of researchers in the region to promote scientific cooperation for capacity building and policy making process in terms of the mitigation and adaptation of climate change. The Organizing Committee plans to publish the Proceedings of the Conference, which is an aggregation of country study papers and LOICZ papers. The results of the Joint Conference will be brought to the Overview Workshop of SURVAS to be held next year to synthesize the vulnerability profile on a global scale. The Proceedings will be available at the following address after March 2001. Prof. Nobuo Mimura
Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001
The APN/SURVAS/LOICZ Symposium on "Impacts of Global Warming and Sea Level Rise and Future of the Coastal Environment - Asia and Pacific Aspect" was held at the Harborland New Otani Hotel, Kobe, on 17 November 2000. Approximately 80 people attended the symposium including conference participants, local researchers and citizens and the media. The symposium keynote presentations were "Impact of Global
Warming" by Professor Robert Nicholls of Middlesex University
in the UK; "Impact and Response Strategies to Climate Change
and Sea Level Rise in the Asia-Pacific Region" by Professor
Nobuo Mimura of Ibaraki University in Japan; and "Future of
the Coastal Environment" by Dr. Colin Woodroffe of University
of Wollongong in Australia. Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001
FEATURED ORGANIZATION National Institute for Environmental Studies Hiroaki Takagi, The National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES) was established in 1974 as the main research branch of the Environment Agency of Japan. The Institute is located at Tsukuba Science City, about 60 km northeast of Tokyo. The original mission of NIES was to provide a scientific base for the national environmental policy to combat environmental pollution; which occurred in Japan during the 1950s and 60s. The mission was expanded in 1990 to cover research related to emerging global environmental issues and to start the continuous monitoring of the global environment. The organization of NIES was restructured accordingly to form the present one. NIES is composed of Supporting Divisions, two Project Research Divisions on global and regional environments, six Fundamental Research Divisions and three Centers. Fundamental Research Divisions cover social and environmental systems, environmental chemistry, environmental health science, atmospheric environment, water and soil environment and environmental biology. In January 2001, the Waste Management Division will be transferred from the National Institute for Public Health to become the 7th Fundamental Research Division, in relation to the organizational restructuring of the National Government in which the Environment Agency will be promoted to Ministry of Environment status. The Center for Global Environment Research (CGER) is responsible for monitoring the global environment and acts as one of the regional centers for UNEP/GRID, and also as Japan's national center and reference laboratory for GEMS/WATER. NIES has 270 permanent staff, of which 186 are researchers. Fields of expertise cover a wide range of disciplines, including basic sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, etc.), engineering, agricultural sciences, medical sciences, pharmacology, fishery science and economics. The ratio of researchers holding doctorates is almost 82%, which is the highest among national research institutes in Japan. NIES has accepted a number of foreign researchers (about 80 for FY1999) as short-term or long-term fellows and collaborating researchers from various parts of the world. Research activities of NIES cover global and local environmental issues and range from natural science and engineering to social science. Thus, NIES is a unique environmental research institute in Japan for its multidisciplinary and comprehensive research. Let me illustrate a couple of research topics that have international dimensions. NIES has been studying the behavior of greenhouse gases through three-dimensional monitoring networks, including ground-based stations, freighters and aircrafts. Continuous monitoring of CO2 in the North Pacific Ocean using automated measuring devices on board regular freighters between Japan and Canada has revealed that the northwest Pacific area acts as a large sink of CO2. With this success, the international research community acknowledged the originality and significance of this approach. (NIES/ APN conducted a recent CO2 Inter-calibration workshop, details of which can be found here) NIES has also been developing two major computer simulation models for climate change. One is CCSR/NIES Global Climate Model that has been developed in co-operation with the University of Tokyo and the other is the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model (AIM), which can conduct a series of integrated analyses of greenhouse gas emissions, climate change and their impacts. Both were selected as reference models for the 3rd report of the IPCC. NIES may be the only institute in the world that has both climate and integrated models internationally known. Endocrine disrupters and dioxins are issues of worldwide concern. NIES has been conducting a comprehensive study on these chemicals, including testing methods, measurement methods, present state of pollution, effects on human and wildlife and emission control technology. We are trying to formulate a research network both domestically and internationally. In 2001, the Endocrine Disrupter Research Laboratory, which is equipped with the most advanced research tools, will be completed. NIES intends to be one of the core research centers domestically and internationally. From April 2001, most of the national research institutes, including NIES, will be given a status slightly more independent from the national government and allowed freer management of the organization and funds provided by the government. In order to launch a new system, we are required to develop a five-year plan with clear targets for research and effective management of the institute, which is subject to the approval by the Ministry of Environment. The Ministry will evaluate the annual progress of the implementation of the plan and the outcome after 5 years. Under this plan, we are going to initiate major projects in the following 8 areas; (i) global warming, (ii) stratospheric ozone depletion, (iii) endocrine disrupters and dioxins, (iv) biodiversity, (v) integrated environmental management in Asia, (vi) particulate matter in the atmosphere (in particular, PM2.5 and DEP), (vii) waste management and recycling, and (viii) environmental risk assessment of chemicals. Of course, we will continue important work in other fields. We have been collaborating with a number of researchers in different countries including those in the Asia-Pacific region. We hope such collaboration will be further expanded. We think the APN can play a catalytic role for such collaboration. For further information, please see our website: http://www.nies.go.jp Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001
Atmospheric Aerosols and their Impact on UV Radiation in Northeast Asia Young J. Kim, Atmospheric aerosol particles influence the Earth's radiation balance in two ways. First, aerosols can affect climate directly by scattering and absorbing visible and infrared energy. Secondly, they can also affect climate indirectly by modifying the properties of clouds through microphysical processes and by altering abundance of radiatively important gases through heterogeneous chemistry. The radiative forcing by anthropogenic aerosol particles due to the combined effects is estimated to be in the range between -0.4 and -3.0 W/m2 on a global scale. However, there is substantial uncertainty in the magnitude and spatial distribution of radiative forcing by aerosols. This uncertainty significantly limits our ability to assess the effect of natural and human induced changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere on global climate. There exists a need for monitoring change in global atmospheric aerosol loading. Increased UV radiation has effects on human health - in particular human skin disease- and on the biosphere. Thus it is necessary to monitor aerosols and UV radiation at ground stations. The spatial and temporal variations of aerosol are affected by regional meteorological conditions. Because emitted air pollutants have effects not only on the originating country but also neighboring nations. It is not a national problems but an international issue. Therefore there exists a need for international collaboration on characterizing atmospheric aerosols and their impact on UV radiation in Northeast Asia. The objectives of this study are (1) to determine the physical, chemical, and radiative properties of atmospheric aerosol in Northeast Asia, (2) to monitor the variation of UV radiation in Northeast Asia, (3) to investigate the atmospheric aerosols impact on UV radiation in Northeast Asia, (4) to provide useful data for characterizing changes in atmospheric compositions in Northeast Asia. Our experimental study consists of four focused components. The first one focuses on aerosol chemical properties. Aerosol samples are collected with aerosol samplers such as PM10, PM2.5 and MOUDI (Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposition Impactor) samplers. Through ion chromatography and atomic absorption chemical analyses, chemical properties of atmospheric aerosol are characterized. The second one is aerosol physical and optical properties; using Nephelometer, Aethalometer, and MOUDI, the scattering and absorption coefficients as well as size distribution of atmospheric aerosols are to be characterized. The third main one is aerosol radiative properties expressed by AOD (Aerosol Optical Depth). AOD which indicates the total amount of aerosol in the vertical column of the atmosphere is determined by measuring attenuation of solar radiation through the atmosphere due to the presence of suspended particles. Using either RSR (Rotating Shadow-band Radiometer) or MFRSR (Multi-Filter RSR), AOD is monitored to investigate the changes in atmospheric aerosol loading in Northeast Asia. The fourth one is surface UV radiation. The changes in UV radiation are monitored by UV-A and UV-B radiometers at ground stations. Measured aerosol and UV data are to be analyzed to characterize the atmospheric aerosols impact on UV radiation and to provide information on atmospheric compositions changes in Northeast Asia. Research activities Collaboration between scientists from four countries (Korea, Japan, China and Mongolia) providing us with information regarding regional and seasonal distribution of aerosol chemical, physical, optical, and radiative properties. Through the aerosol trajectory analysis, we can also get information on long-range transport of air pollutants. The study area is limited to Northeast-Asia, which includes major anthropogenic source and downwind regions Accumulated data will provide useful information on atmospheric aerosol characteristics in Northeast Asia and its effects on UV radiation and climate change. Results from this work will contribute to reducing uncertainties in estimating aerosol climate forcing and to better prediction of global climate change. The proposed work is collaborated with research activities of
KOSEF (Korea Science and Engineering Foundation) supported ADEMRC
(Advanced Environmental Monitoring Research Center) of K-JIST, where
the PI of this APN Supported Project serves as the Director. The
ADEMRC providing supplementary funding including equipment to this
APN program. Through this collaborative research, our understanding
on aerosol effects on UV radiation and climate change will be enhanced.
Accumulated data will be used to build database and to develop models
which are subsequently used to formulate global change related policies. Click here to see the summary of measurement activities in this project. Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001 Southeast Asia Regional Workshop on
Land Cover and Land Use Change (LUCC) LUCC SEA project team recently organized an advanced training
course and workshop, which was held 23-27 October 2000 at MML Development
Centre in Antipolo City, Philippines. This was part of a series
of international forum between member countries of the LUCC networking
group aimed at fostering a better understanding in applying GIS
and remote sensing technology to model relationships of land use
and land cover changes and socio-economic data. The training course
and workshop was sponsored by APN with inter-agency support from
various member countries. The main objective is to link efforts
in consolidating and reviewing current knowledge on explaining and
modelling the land use and land cover change associated with deforestation. Prof Brian Pijanowski introduced training on Land Transformation Model (LTM) to be applied to the LUCC-SEA study. The LTM model describes the influence of land use change on ecosystem integrity and economic sustainability of large regions. LTM contains six interactive modules. These are policy framework, driving variables, land transformation, intensity of use, processes and distribution and assessment end-points. The core LTM model made use of Artificial Neural Network software. Landsat imagery, technical advice and training for all members at the Manila Meeting were provided by technical experts from Michigan State University and New Hampshire University. During earlier sessions of the meeting, country reports were presented by team leaders of respective member countries. Earlier in the year the LUCC team members, coordinated by Dr. Sharifah of Malaysia, organized a training workshop for new member countries. This workshop facilitated assimilation of new members from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam who received training on LUCC network, support facilities in the form of hardware and software. This training was seen as a vital prerequisite for capacity building. Training on LUCC methodologies include common methodology of change detection using image analysis, LIMDEP software determination, GIS and remote sensing analysis requirements and socio-economic data collection (for primary, secondary and qualitative data). The photograph (below) shows all members of the 7 participating countries with trainers from MSU. They are also in the network conducting LCLUC in Southeast Asia. Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001
The Asian Urban Information Center of Kobe (AUICK) was established in April 1989 based on the agreement between the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the City of Kobe. The broad aim of the Center is the collection and dissemination of information on urban problems and solutions, with a special focus on the administrators. The Center's activities are as follows.
History UNFPA held the first of the major international conferences in Rome in 1980 inviting mayors and heads of around 60 of the world's largest cities. A second major international conference of mega cities was held in Barcelona in 1986. But the mega cities are not the only urban systems that experience special problems. UNFPA also identified that the word "medium-sized" cities are major arenas that need attention. To deal with this arena, the Fund organized two regional conferences, one in Kobe in 1987 to deal with Asia, and one in Mexico City in 1988, to deal with Latin America. These four international conferences designed to raise awareness of and attempt to address the problems of population and urbanization were supposed to be followed by the creation of a sustained institutional activity to deal with the population-urbanization link. This plan, however, was fully realized only in Kobe, through the establishment and sustained work of the Asian Urban Information Center of Kobe (AUICK) as an information network for Asian administrators. Structure Activities First, it would pay particular attention to medium-sized cities, which were seen to be important for overall healthy urban growth, but were much neglected since the international community tended to turn its attention to the great mega cities emerging in that period. Second, it would focus on urban administrators. As the AUICK review stated: Third, AUICK would pay close attention to the role of population
dynamics in urban growth and formation of urban life characteristics. 1. Collection of information and research projects There have been four complete rounds of these two-year cycles. Surveys were conducted in 1990-1, 1993, 1995 and 1998. In depth studies include a comparative study of population and development in each of the five Asian cities in 1992, a study of population dynamics and urban infrastructure in 1994, a study of migration and family in three Asian cities, and in 1998-99, a study of population environment dynamics in Faisalabad (Pakistan), Khon Kaen (Thailand), Cebu City (the Philippines), Pusan (South Korea) and Kobe (Japan). 2. Dissemination In addition to the newsletter, AUICK publishes and distributes full reports of the surveys and in-depth studies. AUICK operates a web page on the World Wide Web <www.exd.city.kobe.jp/kic/auick> This provides information about the Center and summary of its reports and publications. 3. Training Environmental Issues In September 1998 AUICK organized a training program on environment with special attention to the relationship between population change and environmental conditions. The course drew participants from Chittagong (Bangladesh), Tianjin (China), Chennai (India), Surabaya (Indonesia), Ipoh (Malaysia), Faisalabad (Pakistan), Singapore, Khon Kaen (Thailand) and Haiphong (Vietnam). In 1998 AUICK also undertook a comparative study to explore how Asian cities would manage their population-environment dynamics. It was also an attempt to build models of the relationship between population growth, environmental change and the quality of life. Five cities examined in the study were Faisalabad (Pakistan), Khon Kaen (Thailand), Cebu City (The Philippines) Pusan (South Korea) and Kobe (Japan). Dynamic modeling, an approach employed by the study was rather distinctive. Using STELLA, a dynamic modeling program, the study projected changes for the next 25 years based on the data and experience of the five cities up to 1995. The results of the study was published this summer under the heading "Five Cities; Modeling Asian Urban Population-Environment Dynamics" by Oxford University Press. Back to the contents of APN Newsletters Jan 2001
OCEANIA 14th SSC Meeting: 2-5 October 2000 Climate and Island Coastal Communities Workshop: 6-8 November
2000. 2nd IHDP Workshop: 10-19 September 2000 APN Liaison Officer/START-Oceania Programme Assistant Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Ms. Leigh-Anne Buliruarua
Workshop on Tropical Environment in the light of INDOEX, 9th-13th Oct. 2000, Palampur, India: This workshop discussed the results of the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX), a multi country program, and assessed future directions of research. The study indicated the presence of a large cloud of aerosols over the Indian subcontinent extending about 3 km into the atmosphere from the ocean surface during January to March 1999. The aerosols in the cloud include black carbon clusters, sulfates, nitrates, organic particles, fly ash and mineral dust. These being mostly dark absorb solar radiation and surface forcing became 3 times larger compared to that at the top of the atmosphere. 75% of the forcing has been attributed to aerosols released anthropogenically. Together it was realized that these aerosols have a complex feed back on climate, regional ecosystems, monsoon water cycle and agriculture. It was decided during the workshop that the issues that will be studied further are the effects of aerosols on the monsoon system, its onset, variability and effect on the hydrological cycle; source characterization/inventory of black carbon/carbonaceous particles, their role in atmopheric systems and impacts on agriculture and health. Two workshops on Networking and Capacity Building for Global Change Research at Colombo, Sri Lanka on 23rd September 2000 and in Islamabad, Pakistan from 20th to 22nd November 2000. These workshops were organised in pursuance of the decision of the 5th APN-IGM meeting in 2000 where it was felt that there is a need to strengthen networking and capacity building in selected countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia that had not effectively participated in the APN activities earlier. These workshops were held to sensitize the scientists of the regions about (i) the IGBP/START/BAHC and APN missions, (ii) the process of developing a project and its submission to APN for funding. The Colombo meeting included discussions on regional issues of land use/ land cover change, terrestrial ecology, agriculture, forestry and climate variability. In Pakistan, national priorities of research for capacity building in each country of the region were discussed. The outcome of the workshops included a list of possible project titles in the areas of impacts assessment of global climate change on land use/ land cover change, agriculture and water resources. Detailed information can be found at Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Dr. Sumana Bhattacharya
Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Other Activities 19 - 21 January 2001 17 - 19 February 2001 18 February 2001 20 - 22 February 2001 Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer
Two TEACOM Science Reports, "Documentation on Regional Integrated Environmental Model System (RIEMS)" and "A User's Guide to on-line RIEMS", were printed recently for distribution. These reports introduced a new version of the regional climate model -RIEMS- developed by researchers from START Regional Center for Temperate East Asia, based on two major components of RCM: climate-vegetation interaction and climate-aerosol interaction. The on-line platform of RIEMS was also featured as reference for the model. Dr. Gang Wen from START Regional Center participated in the "International
Symposium on Review of Environmental Cooperation in Northeast Asia
and Prospects for the New Millennium", was held 5-6 October
2000 in Seoul, Korea, and organized by Kyobo Foundation for Education
and Culture, Korea. The Symposium was attended by a wide range of
sectors, such as governmental agencies, IGOs, NGOs, universities
and research "The International Conference and Young Scientist Workshop
on Asia Monsoon Environmental System and Global Change (AMESG)"
was held 15-17 November 2000 in Nanjing University, Nanjing, China
and was Compiled from report APN Liaison Officer |