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APN Newsletter Vol.7, No.3 July 2001
In the negotiation process of the Kyoto Protocol, serious discussions have been made among Parties. On the other hand, through the publication of the IPCC third assessment report and special reports on specific areas, the scientific community provided the latest scientific knowledge to all stakeholders in the world. In order to safeguard the global ecosystem the scientific community is expected to disseminate this information and in so doing foster the policy making process. At the same time, we should stimulate scientific research to minimize the remaining uncertainties. This summer promises to be an exciting one. The APN will be represented at the Global Change Open Science Conference in Amsterdam. The second year of the APN Networking and Capacity Building Programme got underway in June with a Scoping Workshop in Mongolia, and the APN centre in Kobe will host two workshops. Preparations are also underway for the JICA training course on Regional Ecosystem Monitoring Technology and the UNU/APN Joint Workshop on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and Asia-Pacific Environmental Innovation Strategy Project, which will be held at the United Nations University in Tokyo this September. -Ryutaro Yatsu Back
to the contents of APN Newsletters JUL 2001 APN CALL FOR PROPOSALS
2001 Proponents should use the "The APN Call for Proposals 2001 "Guide For Proponents" in making their application, as changes have been made to previous versions. The updated 2001 guide can be found on the APN homepage Alternatively, information and guidelines can be obtained from the Secretariat <info@apn.gr.jp> MAILING LIST APN HOMEPAGE Back to the contents of APN Newsletters JUL 2001 The SURVAS Project: An update Anne C. de la Vega-Leinert and Robert J. Nicholls (FHRC, Middlesex University, UK)
The SURVAS (Synthesis and Upscaling of sea-level Rise Vulnerability Assessment Studies) Project involves a network of international scientists from every continent who are interested in improving our knowledge of the impacts and adaptation to sea-level rise. SURVAS is primarily sponsored by the European Union, with additional funding from the APN, and is also an IGBP LOICZ Project. SURVAS's aims are to further our understanding of ASLR by reviewing existing studies and associated methods and hence to develop improved regional and global databases and related perspectives on ASLR and associated impacts. The SURVAS methodology has been developed via active consultation of multidisciplinary experts from academic and international organisations. It builds upon previous work on ASLR impact assessment initiated by IPCC CZMS (1992), and a range of Country Studies Programmes (e.g. UNEP, United States Country Studies Programme), and uses the conceptual framework designed by Klein & Nicholls (1999). SURVAS' main objectives are:
SURVAS activities throughout the year 2000 were primarily focussed on the development of the SURVAS network of international experts interested in vulnerability and adaptation studies and the organisation of four workshops on these issues:
In January 2000, the Methodology workshop focussed on identifying and clarifying key indicators for the assessment of coastal natural susceptibility and socio-economic vulnerability and resilience to impacts of climate change (CC) particularly accelerated sea-level rise (ASLR). It also considered the practical implementation of these ideas embraced in the SURVAS package, which was sent to all participants at the three regional workshops held in 2000 (see below). In June 2000, the European workshop took place in Hamburg, Germany. Most coastal European countries were represented. This will produce several publications, including the Proceedings of the Workshop (available at http://www.survas.mdx.ac.uk/) and a theme issue of the Journal of Coastal Research on "European vulnerability and adaptation to impacts of accelerated sea-level rise". Importantly, this Workshop acted as a catalyst for a number of countries to initiate work on national vulnerability assessment for sea-level rise (e.g. Norway, Turkey). Another outcome is the setting up of closer academic links and exchange. In November 2000, the African workshop took place in NARSS, Cairo, Egypt. Fifteen countries from each major African region were represented at the event. The delegates insisted on the need to foster greater research opportunities, collaboration and technology transfer and at their instigation, produced a Workshop statement. A group of African experts on sea-level rise (chair: Dr. Isabelle Niang-Diop, Senegal) was also established to further efforts to understand the potentially serious implications of sea-level rise for Africa. Most of the participating countries have already produced or initiated vulnerability assessment studies and the data will be compiled and added to the final SURVAS database, and proceedings will soon be placed on the SURVAS Webpage Again in November 2000, the APN/SURVAS/LOICZ Joint Conference on Coastal Impacts of Climate Change and Adaptation in the Asia-Pacific Region was held on 14-16 November 2000, at the APN Centre in Kobe, Japan, under the auspices of the APN, the Organising Committee of the Conference (lead by Prof. Nobuo Mimura, Ibaraki University, Japan), and the Science Council of Japan. The overall aim of the conference was to bring together coastal zone researchers and managers to assess:
The event was primarily funded by APN, while LOICZ (Land and Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone) and the Asahi Glass Foundation provided important additional funding and support. Over 20 countries were represented at this event and over 60 delegates participated in this conference. The Joint Conference was divided into two related sessions: a SURVAS session, followed by a LOICZ session. This format was strongly reinforcing, bringing together important science research on coastal change, together with the more practical implications of coastal change for the coastal inhabitants in the region. The SURVAS session included a workshop on Vulnerability Assessment (VA) methodologies and indicators as used in the SURVAS Project. This provided interesting and stimulating discussions on national VA achievements, and existing limitations, including problems of methodology and tools. The workshop included small break-out groups where delegates then had an opportunity to discuss the SURVAS matrix of VA indicators in more detail. This was particularly important given the wide range of national perspectives and needs. This workshop was very successful and provided a significant opportunity for exchange, awareness raising and promotion of the VA process. Delegates from countries with no formal VA study were guided through the process in the light of the experience from other delegates who introduced existing VA study for the Asian-Pacific region. Two half-days were dedicated to the LOICZ session, which provided a useful insight into the richness and diversity of LOICZ activities in East and Southeast Asia. It comprised a poster session and a series of short presentations on palaeoenvironmental and current coastal research on and monitoring of climate change impacts from a number of countries. The conference ended in presentations on the current status of IPCC Assessment and distribution of vulnerability and adaptation strategies in the Asia-Pacific region. The conference concluded with a lively and stimulating plenary session on achievements of the conference and future research needs and collaboration took place. (The Joint conference was followed by a very successful one-day APN Public Symposium to disseminate the wider issues discussed during the conference to the general public and the media). Concern over climate change, sea-level rise and coastal erosion issues is already high in the Asia-Pacific region and all the conference delegates supported SURVAS in promoting further research on these issues. The workshop has, therefore, been successful in identifying and reporting key national/sub national studies, all of which will be integrated into the reference metadata base to be produced within the SURVAS Project. The need for further studies, particularly in those countries that have not yet produced a national vulnerability assessment, was widely acknowledged during the workshop. Delegates felt that the SURVAS package had provided them with an improved conceptual and methodological framework within which the vulnerability assessment process could be considered, and this would stimulate future investigations. SURVAS also provided much needed literature on assessment methodologies for national vulnerability. On-going SURVAS activities:
By reviewing national to global vulnerability to impacts of sea-level rise on natural habitats as well as socio-economic assets, SURVAS is fostering a better understanding of one of the major impacts of climate change, rising sea level. It is also providing easily accessible and readily useable data on these issues as available. SURVAS is further promoting the scientific basis for the capacity building and the policy making process in terms of the mitigation and adaptation. Finally, with an emphasis on Adaptation, and Integrated Coastal Zone Management, SURVAS is supporting the sustainable use of coastal zone resources, as well as the conservation of important ecosystems. Formal funding of SURVAS ends in September 2001, but as illustrated by the Americas Regional Workshop already mentioned, we plan to sustain this important network with further activities. The Americas Workshop will include more explicit consideration and evaluation of adaptive capacity using new methodologies derived in response to the IPCC Third Assessment Report. Thus, while this Workshop will complete the global coverage of SURVAS, it will also represent the beginning of an activity to better understand and hence reduce vulnerability to sea-level rise.ﾊAPN For further information, please contact Back to the contents of APN Newsletters JUL 2001 Climate Environment System Research Center (CES) Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
The Climate Environment System Research Center (CES) was established at Seoul National University in August 2000 as a Korean national science center endorsed by the Ministry of Science and Technology and financially supported by the Korean Science and Engineering Foundation for nine years. This article describes the establishment of CES and the objective, scope and research organization of the CES. Background: Heavy rainfall and flash floods in the Korean peninsula in the past two consecutive years (1998 and 1999) resulted in an enormous impact on the Korean national economy coupled with the loss of hundreds of lives. Recently, similar record-breaking floods have occurred throughout the world. Although it is uncertain that these extreme events are episodic or parts of long-term climate change as a consequence of global warming. However, recent human activities appear to, for example, contribute to a change in the hydrological cycle in many river basins. It is also our understanding that regional air quality is very much affected by climate change, which is in turn affected by an increase of aerosol and ambient air pollution. In these respects, the need for joint efforts between research groups of climate change and ambient air pollution has become increasingly important. Objective and research scope: The objective of the CES is to provide a tool for an integrated prediction system for the regional climate and atmospheric environment. The CES consists of three research groups: 1) The process study group, 2) atmospheric environment group, and 3) the climate modeling and prediction group. The process study group is working on remote sensing of global climate monitoring and the dynamic and physical processes of the climate system. The atmospheric environment group works on the surface material fluxes over the region, the long-range transport of regional air pollution, and atmospheric chemistry modeling. The climate modeling group is responsible for constructing the integrated prediction system for climate and atmospheric environment. Not only the global model but also the regional and local scale climate models are being developed in this group. In the final stage, the global-regional-local scale models will be integrated as an integrated climate system with an atmospheric chemistry model embedded. Structure: The CES is a kind of virtual institute with a core facility at the Seoul National University. CES researchers include eight professors at Seoul National University and twelve professors from six domestic universities in the fields of atmospheric sciences, physical oceanography, atmospheric environment, and atmospheric chemistry. In the center, three post-docs are working on climate modeling and two secretaries provide secretarial support to the researchers in and outside the center. The center supports twenty domestic professors and forty-five graduate students involved with the CES. International cooperation: The CES plays the role of a Korean national focal point for various international climate programs, particularly WCRP/CLIVAR and the IPCC Working Group 1. One of the CES roles is the promotion of international cooperation on global climate and regional atmospheric environmental issues. A number of scientists from the CES have worked closely with scientists at foreign institutes such as NASA, the University of Tokyo and the University of Hawaii/International Pacific Research Center (IPRC). Recently, the CES and NASA/Climate and Radiation Branch have exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding for research cooperation in climate modeling and diagnostics. In particular the CES has been coordinating the Cyber Institute of Pacific-Asian Climate System (CIPACS) to promote international cooperative research in regional climate problems, particularly the East Asian Monsoon variability. At present, the scientists participating in the CIPACS are from various institutes in the Asia-Pacific region such as NASA, the University of Tokyo, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP, China), The National Taiwan University, the University of Hawaii/IPRC, and others, and the CES will provide a central facility for the CIPACS. As a whole, the CES will play an active role in leading international cooperation of global and regional climate research. In-Sik Kang, Director
Back to the contents of APN Newsletters JUL 2001
Land Use/Management Change and Trace Gas Emissions in East Asia Arvin R. Mosier; USDA/ARS, Fort Collins,
USA, and Cai Zucong, Institute of Soil Science Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Background Although substantial efforts have been spent on recording trace gas emissions in Asia, the data generated by different researchers from different countries are not accessible in a comprehensive format that would be required for intercomparisons, model development and up scaling. Therefore the APN project on Land Use/Management Change and Trace Gas Emissions in East Asia was conceived to compile these databases and make them available for the East Asian groups involved in greenhouse gas studies ﾐ as well as the scientific community outside of East Asia. During the past few years land use and land management data sets have been under development as part of the Land Use in Temperate East Asia (LUTEA) Project. The development of this database is an evolutionary process and the database itself is held in the Institute of Geography, Chinese Academy of Science with Liu Chuang as coordinator at the Center for Earth Science Data and Information Network in Beijing. A corresponding database for land use in Southeast Asia is under development in the SEA START RC in Bangkok, Thailand under the direction of Jariya Boonjawat. Both of these land use databases are evolving to facilitate the assessment of changes in land productivity, land use management, and sustainable land use in East Asia. Concurrently, the development of ecosystem level, process-based models such as the DNDC Model (Changsheng Li) and CENTURY (Dennis Ojima) are permitting the numerical evaluation of land management and conversion on trace gas fluxes. The development of the databases and analyses of the data using such models go hand in hand in an overall assessment of changes in trace gas emissions from East Asia. The anticipated analyses facilitate policy development for land management and atmospheric constituents in the region. Project Activities
2. The projects noted above will require intensive collaborative efforts to complete. The goal is to present completed manuscripts that describe the results of the project at a third workshop, to be hosted by Rhoda Lantin and Toti Moya at the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, The Philippines, January 8-10, 2002. Using the format set by the U.S. Trace Gas Network (December, 2000), we hope to publish the papers as a set in Global Biogeochemical Cycles. In addition, goals for formulation of documents to support policy will be discussed during the coming year. Back to the contents of APN Newsletters JUL 2001 Background The series of workshops on climate extremes is aimed at enhancing our knowledge of the variations and trends in extreme climate events in the Asia Pacific Region. It is well recognised that agricultural, ecological and social systems are susceptible to extreme climate events (such as severe storms or extended droughts), and so there is increasing interest in monitoring and analysing trends and variations in the frequency and nature of extreme events. The importance of such events is recognised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the Third Assessment Report of the IPCC cites the publication in the International Journal of Climatology prepared by the participants in the Second APN Workshop on Climate Extremes in December 1999. That publication (Manton et al., 2001) summarises the results of an analysis of trends in rainfall and temperature across 15 countries in the Asia Pacific region over the last 40 years. Global interactions Recognising the growing interest in analysing climate extremes, the SysTem for Analysis Research and Training (START) has established a new program on Monitoring Extreme Climate Events (MECE), with the aim of promoting the rehabilitation and analysis of climate data and detecting climate trends and variations in climate extremes in developing countries. The strategy of the MECE program is to link the capacity-building activities of START with the relevant international programs of GCOS and WCRP. Workshop program A general discussion of progress in updating daily rainfall and
temperature data for the stations investigated during the 1999 Workshop
was held in the afternoon of the first day. Nearly all countries
had updated data for these stations. The inclusion of updated data
(to 2000) led to a few changes in trends at a small number of stations.
In general, however, the trends detected in 1999 had been maintained,
including the strong upward trends in the numbers of hot days (see
The second day was largely devoted to country presentations of
their continuing work on climate extremes. Many countries have now
analysed data from more stations than had been used in the Second
Workshop. Problems with urbanised sites, lack of metadata, and difficulties
in digitising data were identified in many countries. In the afternoon
all participants tested the ClimDex software, prior to a general
discussion on future plans for work on extremes. Workshop outcomes The Workshop carefully considered a number of conclusions and recommendations, which focused on future activities required to maintain the momentum of the overall activity. It was clearly recognised that both the physical network of measurements and the social network of scientists developed across the Asia Pacific region by the series of Workshops are significant resources that should continue to be maintained and enhanced. The Workshops have produced a mechanism for monitoring and analysing trends in climate extremes in a consistent manner across a large region. The regular meetings of the participants allow new techniques to be introduced, new data to be analysed, and the scope of analyses to be extended. Most importantly, the Workshops ensure that the data handling and analysis techniques are consistent, so that results from all participating countries can be properly compared. It was seen that communication both among participants and with the global community would be enhanced by the establishment of internet web pages on the activity. The participants noted that much of the historical data in many countries remains on paper records, rather than in digital form. Our understanding of trends and variations in climate extremes would be substantially improved if we could extend the digital climate record back in time. It was therefore recommended that a priority activity should be the establishment of a systematic program to digitise historical climate data across the region. The Workshop also made recommendations on the need to improve the documentation on the climate data (known as metadata), to continue to enhance the software to quality control and analyse climate data, and to extend the parameters and analyses considered by participants. By working with the broad international community and with the support of organisations like the APN, the participants were optimistic that a vigorous program could be maintained with a focus on the key issue of monitoring and understanding trends in climate extremes in the Asia Pacific region. Reference Back to the contents of APN Newsletters JUL 2001
Trends in the frequency of days with maximum temperatures above the 1961-1990 mean 99th percentile (hot days) over the period 1960 to 2000 at stations in the APN climate network. The sign of the linear trend is indicated by the +/- symbols at each site; bold symbols indicate significant trends (95%). OCEANIA START-Oceania Report
Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) Workshop, March 5-9 At a training session in Suva, for 30 refrigeration technicians, the government launched an islands-wide training program to reduce the emission of life threatening ozone depleting substances. The "Train the Trainers" session was organized by the Ozone Action Programme of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in co-operation with the Fijian Government. The training provided participants with the necessary skills to use good practices during servicing. Biosafety Workshop, March 19 -23 The Biosafety workshop was held in Apia, with the aim of introducing participants from the region to the Cartegena Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Working groups discussed the legal and policy issues on the Cartegena Protocol, available programmes of assistance from funding agencies apart from UNDP/GEF, and the assessment and management of risk under the Protocol. Regional and national implications and checklists of steps for developing National Biosafety Strategies, National Risk Assessment and Management Procedures were also discussed. Regional Task Force Meeting of the International Waters Project,
March 26-27 Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Ms. Leigh-Anne Buliruarua
A South Asian Workshop on GHG inventories was organised at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), New Delhi from 16 to 17 April 2001. This was initiated by UNEP in association with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India, and funded by UNDP. The objectives of the workshop were:
Participants from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan made their presentations on the existing estimates of GHG inventories from various sources and experts from India trained them on IPCC methodologies for preparation of national communication, taking India as a case study. Pakistan is in the process of submitting their initial communication. Bangladesh and India had prepared their inventory earlier under the aegis of ALGAS in 1990, however they still have to prepare their communication for submission to UNFCCC. Nepal has yet to start any activity in this direction. The workshop recommended that a nodal centre at the NPL, New Delhi, be established which will:
A proposal on an assessment of the
Such analysis is envisaged to include derivation of insights into the process of change using analytical methodology as well as identification of the adaptation mechanisms that could be promoted to enhance the resilience of disadvantaged people with respect to livelihood, health, habitat etc. and various socio-economic sectors that critically depend upon availability and management of water resources. Another proposal being developed is the study on Asian Brown Cloud, which is going to be an extension of the INDOEX program, conducted during 1998-99 over the Indian Ocean region. The preliminary results of the INDOEX show wide spread pollution/ haze over the South Asian region and its long-range transport. The trans-boundary nature of the INDO-Asian haze and its potential large scale impact on regional weather, water cycle and monsoons is of great concern to the INDOEX community which is compounded by the regional climate changes taking place due to global warming. These affect the quality of life such as health, water availability and agriculture in the region. The aim of this study will be a three-phase approach
Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Dr. Sumana Bhattacharya
SEA activities update for the first half of 2001 On January 21-24, 2001, another conference was held in Bangkok on "the Ninth Greening of Industry Network Conference". H.E. Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi Director-General Elect of the WTO "was the keynote speaker of the conference. Over 400 intellects from several circles such as the social, economic, political, industrial, and scientific joined the conference with the objective to stimulate and promote coordination among delegates from all countries to sustain the activities on global change research. The conference was very successful and has developed new relationships, visions and practices for sustainability and for future cooperation in solving global environmental problems. Some other activities in the region during this period included the Food Systems Workshop, the 13th SARCS Business Meeting, and the IGBP-SSC Meeting which were held in Chiangmai, Thailand in February. The SEA Basins Partner Workshop, the Global International Waters Assessment (GIWA) Methodology Workshop, and, the GIWA Training Workshop were also organized by SEA START RC. SEA START RC's involvement in Global International Waters Assessment
ﾐ Thailand Compiled from report by APN Liaison Officer Dr. Anond Snidvongs
Compiled from report APN Liaison Officer Mr. Zhibin Wan
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Workshop
on Asia-Pacific Climate System: the Future Perspective. Climate
Environment System Research Center, Seoul National University. Nov
15 2000.