The Corals off Borneo are not Spared Either

Today's news reported that marine experts in the Universiti Malaysia Sabah are also worried that the corals off Sabah are also suffering the same fate as corals of West Malaysia' s coast. 

Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) scientists have discovered widespread coral bleaching in Sepanggar Bay, off Sabah waters.

UMS Director of Borneo Marine Research Institute Prof Dr Saleem Mustafa said coral bleaching needs serious attention as it affects marine biodiversity and coral reef fisheries in the state's waters. Prof Saleem said coral bleaching was a stress response associated with ecosystem disturbances.


According to UMS experts, in the context of Sabah, the corals have been living close to their maximum water temperature tolerance, and additional warming of water certainly has a debilitating effect on their health and survival.
It was explained that coral bleaching happens when corals lose the symbiotic micro algae that lives on their surface (zooxanthellae  or the plant plankton, ) due to unfavorable environmental conditions. Bleaching stress has affected not merely the stony corals but also some soft corals, sea anemone and other marine invertebrates which have symbiotic relationship with the zooxanthellae.

Prof Saleem said that while the degree of bleaching in Sabah would require more studies to quantify, it seemed to have started in recent months based on the routine observations that have been on-going during regular dives in the area by UMS marine scientists.

Prof Saleem said the immediate causes could be unusual variations in temperature, dilution and sedimentation.

According to him, the dry spell and warmer conditions experienced in Sabah earlier this year (January-March) could have weakened the corals and dealt a blow to their resistance to environmental stress.

"A declining trend in the sea surface temperature anomaly that started in the second half of March 2010 from 1.5oC and transitioned to below 0.5oC over a vast part of the equatorial Pacific Ocean paved the way for rains that have been heavy at times in the recent weeks, leading to a large volume of run-off into coastal areas of Sepanggar Bay," he said.

Sedimentation was also another serious problem that needed immediate attention. Sediment run-off from the land-based activities and upwelling during the heavy rains have exacerbated the turbidity of the seawaters and covered the corals. Under this condition, corals already weakened by high temperature could not withstand increasing scale of sedimentation and dilution.

He said the possibility of unusual regional patterns emerging from global climatic change as factors responsible for coral bleaching cannot be ruled out.  The equatorial location of Sabah and the region around it makes it an active seat of hydrodynamics driven by changes in atmospheric conditions and ocean circulation. 

However, Prof Saleem said: "We should be prepared to face and examine oceanic patterns unfamiliar to us due to complications caused by climate change".

He said the UMS scientists were of the view that the climate change was worsening the serious problems facing the marine ecosystem.

"With acidification of ocean, altered hydrodynamic events and warming of the sea, the marine life is heading towards more dramatic consequences.

"At local level, we should reduce stress on the coastal marine ecosystem and build resilience in corals, and expedite the development of marine protected areas.This could be done by controlling sediment inputs to the marine environment and protect and restore the connectivity of corals with other associated marine critical habitats like mangroves and sea weeds," he said.


All global level, drastic reduction in carbon emission is the key factor in our fight against the effects of climate change.

Prof Saleem recommended that a sound and sustainable conservation policy has to be formulated as the economic costs of degradation or loss of marine habitats were enormous.
On another note, restricting access to Sipadan,  a world-renowned diving spot off Sabah, has increased the fish population following the Government's move to restrict the number of tourists and prohibit the setting up of resorts on the island five years ago.

This was among the findings of a five-day scientific expedition to Sipadan Island Park, which ended on Friday, Sabah Parks director Paul Basintal said.

The restriction has resulted in positive impact to coral growth in the 16,846ha park, thus preserving the area as a turtle feeding ground.

Forty-nine people took part in the expedition comprising researchers from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Sabah Parks, Fisheries Department, Mineral and Geoscience Department and World Wildlife Fund for Nature.

Paul said Sabah Parks would formulate a management plan for Sipadan Island Park to preserve its marine resources in line with the move to gazette the area as a protected park last year. The plan, comprising short-term and long-term measures, will provide a more systematic management of the island's marine heritage,

Scientific data obtained during the expedition would serve as a guideline in formulating the plan.

Now the plankton too are dying

Remember my recent post on corals dying off the coast of West Malaysia? Global warming has also affected the plankton. We learnt in Geography that plant plankton are the foundation of the food chain. Even though they are tiny and sometimes not seen by the naked eye; their existence in the planet's oceans is important as they are a source of half the world's oxygen and helps reduce carbon dioxide levels. Reducing carbon dioxide in turn reduces the temperature of the Earth, making it cooler.

The latest journal, 'Nature' reported that Canadian scientists and a top government US scientist who have researched the population of plant plankton discovered that worldwide phytoplankton levels are down 40 percent since the 1950s. They blame it on global warming, which prevents the plant plankton to get vital nutrients, so the researchers say.

It is a vicious chain. When the seas are warm at the surface, it will not mix well with the colder waters below. It would then make it difficult for the plant plankton which are light and often live near the ocean surface to get nutrients in deeper, cooler water. It also matches other global warming trends, with the biggest effects at the poles and around the equator.


Half a million data points dating to 1899 show that plant plankton levels in nearly all of the world's oceans started to drop in the 1950s. The biggest changes are in the Arctic, Southern, equatorial Atlantic and equatorial Pacific oceans. Only the Indian Ocean is not showing a decline. The researchers said it's too early to say that plant plankton is on the verge of extinction.

When plant plankton reduces drastically, sea birds and marine mammals which feed on fish and other marine life will starve and die in huge numbers because the fish which feed on the plankton also dies, experts said. Ultimately, humans are also affected.

It is official:our sea levels are expected to rise

The Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Ministry Tan Sri Joseph Kurup quoted a national coastal vulnerability index study conducted by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) in 2006, predicted that sea levels off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia will rise by 10cm to 13cm in the next 100 years.

He added that sea levels on the west coast of Pulau Langkawi would rise by 10cm while at Tanjung Piai, Johor, it is expected to increase by 13cm. Tanjung Piai is the southernmost point of mainland Asia.

Checks revealed that 288.4km or 6% of the peninsula’s 4,809km-long coast is being eroded by sea water. The erosion of the seafront affects beach properties and sea related economic activities.It was reported that the Ministry is taking both short-term and long-term measures in response to the problem of coastal erosion.

Short-term measures include carrying out engineering works and construction of erosion control structures.

“So far, 140km of affected coastline have been rehabilitated. Among the areas rehabilitated are Kemaman beach (Terengganu), Kuala Sala Kecil and Kampung Kangkung, Yan (Kedah) and the Miri - Kuala Baram coastline in Sarawak,” added Kurup.

He said in the long-term, DID has implemented an integrated shoreline management plan to prevent shoreline erosion from worsening. No further details on the long term solution were provided.

Let us just hope that while the government rehabilitate the 288.4km of coastline affected, no new areas are  eroded; which is quite impossible. The DID would then be endlessly trying to patch up our shores.

The Corals Are Dying-Let Them Heal

The Corals are dying due to global warming. Today's news reported that several diving sites at marine parks in West Malaysia including the leading diving destinations in the world — Pulau Tioman in Pahang and Pulau Redang in Te­­rengganu – have been temporarily closed due to coral bleaching.


Divers and snorkellers are not allowed to the diving sites until the end of October, 2010 to protect the corals which have turned white due to global warming.

It was reported that about 500,000 tourists visit the marine parks every year, including foreigners.

Environmental groups have welcomed the move to close the dive sites temporarily, saying there is a need to allow the country’s corals to heal and recover. Preventing humans from visiting the corals would reduce the negative impact of human activities.

I just hope that the time frame given is enough for the corals. This decision however, would not go down well with the tourism industry as it would affect their projected financial performances. Tourists who have already confirmed their tourism packages to these sites would not be pleased either.


Update- read comments by Universiti Sains Malaysia marine biologist Prof Dr Zulfigar Yassin.

Dr Zulfigar said closing down the marine parks would certainly help the corals to recover. Since global warming is not a localised phenomena, the corals may take longer to revive. Reducing additional stress caused by sewage from chalets, oil and grease from motorboats and abuse by tourists also help.

The GreenHouse Effect

The Earth receives energy from the Sun in the form of electromagnetic radiation. Most of the radiation is in the visible spectrum which is of a shorter wavelength. The visible light with solar energy passes through the gases in the atmosphere without much effect. The longer wavelength infrared radiation on reaching Earth is reflected back to space and get trapped in the atmosphere.

The gases in the atmosphere absorb some of the infrared radiation and reflect some back to earth.

The contributing gases in the atmosphere that add to global warming are methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, water vapour and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from aerosols. These gases are also called Greenhouse gases (GHG). Of these gases, the concentration of carbon dioxide is the most being more than 60%. The CFCs although making up only about 10% of the total greenhouse gases (GHG) has the most capacity to absorb the infrared rays.Methane makes 25%  of the (GHG) but absorbs 20-30% of the infrared rays.

These gases keep the Earth warm enough to support life by preventing the heat from the solar radiation. They absorb the radiation and re radiate back to Earth and prevent the trapped gases from escaping back to Space.

Under natural circumstances that is good as it provides necessary heat for living things to survive. However due to high concentrations of these gases from man’s activities (vehicular emissions, industrial effluents, agricultural activities and other human activities), more gases are trapped in the atmosphere.

The extra heat cause the Earth to heat up as it increases the Earth’s surface temperature. This is what is called Global Warming.

It is harmful to the environment as it changes the climatic patterns and threaten the very existence of life on Earth.

Global Warming Closer to Home

For the past three months, the weather has been unbelievably hot. During my trip up north in February, I noticed that the leaves of the trees lining the highway in the northern states of Kedah and Penang has shrivelled. The drought was being felt very badly.

We are a bit luckier where we live. As it is within the water catchment area, rain falls more frequently. However the evening rains are often accompanied by thunderstorms because the temperature rises in the morning and afternoon to about 40 degrees. The rain would reduce the ambient temperature and make life more bearable. If it doesn't rain, then the nights would be stifling hot.

Fans and air conditioners sell like hot cakes during the hot weather. I have to admit that I too need the aircon in order to sleep well. It is like the chicken or the egg. The hotter the weather, the more energy is used to cool down, leading to even hotter weather.

No one needs the hot water heater anymore when you can just turn the tap and the water that you get is already hot. Imagine you have to wait for the water to cool down before taking your shower!

It Rained but only Slightly

Today was a bit better. All praise to the Almighty for relieving us of the torturous heat.

After a loud clap of thunder and lightning this afternoon, I thought a thunderstorm was brewing.

But, alas, the rain was only a slight drizzle. But it was enough to cool the atmosphere.

Looking on the positive side, the hot weather is ideal for people who are renovating their homes. It is also good to wash your clothes as it will dry in the shortest time. Would you believe that in Mekah, a wet towel, hand washed, could dry in 10 minutes during the hot weather? Well, I experienced it during the hottest summer of 1987 while performing the Haj pilgrimage.

Anyway, we have to make the most of the situation. Drink plenty of plain water, filtered or boiled. Avoid going out in the hottest part of the day and eat less spicy food. Cold salads are great.

We only have ourselves to blame for the global warming phenomenon we are facing now. It needs a lot of education and change of attitude for the common man and a lot of political will for nations to combat this phenomenon.

It is HOT, really HOT

The past few nights have been really hot. My bedroom is like a hot oven. Normally, I could sleep with the fan switched to level one and got up in the morning with a leg cramp because it was too cold.

The noon temperature in downtown Kuala Lumpur was 40 degrees C. Just like Mekah or Madinah in Saudi Arabia! Our trip to PJ for lunch left us dehydrated and exhausted.

I am told that it is the South West Monsoon that is causing the heat wave. And it is expected to last until September.God help us.Our electric bill is going to escalate because we can no longer sleep without the air conditioners.

If our home which is normally cool is now hot, what about those people whose houses are normally hot? Perhaps it is time to design more environment friendly and cooler homes and not make more heat sinks. Time to read more on green buildings.

Technology & Global Warming

I attended a talk on Technology and Global Warning on Saturday at the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM)

It was interesting to note that as at 2004, the greatest contributors to Greenhouse Gases (65%) were the developed countries.USA is the largest culprit with 22% and China, a developing country, is fast catching up with 17%. Japan contributes 5%.

The talk discussed the causes and effects of global warming on all industrial sectors and what engineers can do to mitigate the problem and design projects to create a more sustainable Earth. It seems that the Architect Association of Malaysia, (PAM) has come up with guidelines to the construction of Intelligent or Green Buildings. Green projects are capital intensive and what is lacking are government incentives in terms of tax breaks to encourage green buildings and green projects. However, it is understood that the government is quite sensitive to global warming issues as green projects costs can be offset by lesser health costs and lesser wastage of resources.

On a personal note, I was pleased to make a new friend before the talk started. I met Stephanie, a young Civil Engineer who practices recycling and has, in her own words," brainwash my family to do it too". She was the second person I met in a week who practices worm composting at home. I forgot that I had meet Dr Suhaimi of Mardi who also was into worm composting, when I told her she was the first person that I have met who recycles everything. Kudos to Stephanie!