Wrangling over water issues

Polluted rivers, dirty dairying, greening the MacKenzie Country, dams for hydro-power and water allocation — these are just some of the big water issues that have been in the headlines in recent months.

Although freshwater is relatively abundant in New Zealand, uneven distribution of water resources and increasingly intensive use have led to a growing crisis for existing water management regimes.

Next week, the Land and Water Forum’s highly-anticipated recommendations are due out. The forum, created to draw consensus recommendations from across industry, agriculture, iwi, NGOs and other stakeholder groups, has already pushed back its report date. Barring further delays, the forum will report to government 31 August, and a public consultation on proposed water management options will likely follow.

This week, the Science Media Centre hosted a media briefing on an often neglected aspect of water management: groundwater quality. Speakers included the Director of the newly-launched Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management at Canterbury and Lincoln Universities, and experts on a diverse range of groundwater issues from GNS Science, ESR and NIWA.

You can listen back to audio from the briefing on our website, and we’ve posted up the speakers’ slides as well, for all to access.

Food insecurity: who is suffering?

With journal papers dwelling on the problem of obesity in society coming thick and fast, its easy to forget that a sizeable segment of the population struggles to afford a decent diet.

The issue of food insecurity will be lead topic for discussion at the Dietitians New Zealand conference taking place in Dunedin next week. Professor John Coveney from Flinders University, Adelaide headlines the list of speakers and will bring New Zealand dietitians up to speed on the research he carried out in South Australia looking at the affordability of healthy foods.

He found a big disparity in the proportion of a family’s income access to a “healthy food basket” consumes – 9% of income for high-income families and between 28 and 34% for households on a low income.

So what’s the situation like in New Zealand? University of Otago research Claire Smith has been looking at exactly that issue and will give journalists an overview of her findings in an SMC Online Briefing featuring her and Professor Coveney at 11am, Tuesday August 31.

As usual, you don’t need to leave your desk to participate in an SMC Online Briefing – dial in and log onto the conference website to watch the experts’ slide show. Registered journalists have received log-in details. For further information, contact the SMC.

Is our Energy Strategy realistic?

The Developing our Energy Potential – Draft New Zealand Energy Strategy and Draft New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy consultation document is currently open for submission, and lays out government’s plans for the direction and role energy will have in the coming years.

But how realistic and achievable are the goals set out in the Strategy? The SMC will be holding a briefing at 11:15am, Wednesday 1 September in which experts will will look more closely at the document.

How to improve the IPCC?

Public scrutiny of the inner workings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reached unprecedented levels following the highly-publicised revelation of minor errors in the group’s most recent assessment report.

Capping off several official reviews into climate science integrity, the UN itself requested a thorough audit of the IPCC’s procedures from independent science body the InterAcademy Council (IAC). The IAC is the multinational peak body for academies of science from countries throughout the world.

Results of the review are due out 31 August. Any changes recommended will need to be rapidly put in place — work on the IPCC’s forthcoming fifth assessment report is already underway.

The Science Media Centres of the world will be rounding up comment from scientists on the IAC report’s findings, so keep an eye out in the coming week.

Suicide coverage – does it hurt?

Suicide reporting laws were under scrutiny again this week as Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean called for more debate about suicide reporting after releasing new suicide statistics.

Numerous media editorials have echoed his call for debate with several commentators arguing the restrictions on reporting on suicides is leading to an ignorance in society of the extent of the problem.

What does the science say about media reports of suicide and its impact on the rate of suicide? The so-called ‘Werther Effect‘ (copycat suicide) has been studied in great depth with numerous studies from around the world pointing to a relationship between media coverage of suicides and an increase in the rate of suicides.

Professor Jane Pirkis, Director of Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics at the University of Melbourne has published extensively on the issue. A review she and her colleagues have completed looking at international studies examining the Werther Effect is available for registered journalists to download in the SMC Resource Library.

Medical tourism and superbugs

A gene that confers resistance to nearly all existing antibiotics has been found in bacteria in India, Pakistan and the UK, and appears to be spreading internationally as patients travel abroad to seek elective surgery, according to research published this week.

The authors of the study say that the spread of the NDM-1 drug resistance gene is potentially a serious global public health problem. This is because bacteria with the gene are resistant to the class of antibiotics (known as carbapenems) reserved for emergency use against superbugs, and there are few new antibiotics in development that are likely to be effective against this type of resistance. They warn that the world may be entering a new era where antibiotics can no longer be relied upon to treat infections.

Our colleagues at the UK Science Media Centre wrapped up reaction to the paper from scientists. Locally, the University of Otago’s Professor Kurt Krause added some context. He told TVNZ:

“I think we’re all just one plane ride away from having this organism visit our shores.”

A weekend of Skepticism

The annual Skeptics Society conference kicks off tomorrow with the programme again jam-packed with sessions on everything from vaccination and catasthrophism to sofware scams and obesity.

Auckland University’s Professor Linda Bryder will speak about the response to her controversial book ‘A History of the “Unfortunate Experiment” at National Women’s Hospital’.

The Science Media Centre will be recording the sessions and will post them to the SMC website over the weekend. Also look out for coverage on Sciblogs.co.nz and Twitter @smcnz.

Media enquiries should be directed to Skeptics chair Vicki Hyde (03 384 5137).

New board for the SMC

The Science Media Centre has a new governance board in place which will assist the centre in its transition to becoming an independent trust in 2012.

Veteran businessman, company director and science sector adviser Rick Christie is the chair of the new Establishment Board and is joined by media researcher and consultant and former Herald editor-in-chief Gavin Ellis and magazine publisher Vincent Heeringa, who chaired the previous advisory board. Biographies of the new board members are available here.

The SMC would like to thank outgoing board members Clive Lind, Anthony Scott, Hon Margaret Austin and Professor Jean Fleming for their invaluable guidance and assistance in the first two years of the SMC’s operation.

Sacked drug adviser tours NZ

Professor David Nutt grabbed headlines in the UK last year when the chair of the British Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs was sacked for his controversial views on recreational drugs and how they are classified.

Professor Nutt, who has gone on to form the Independent Council on Drug Harm was in New Zealand this week visiting the University of Otago and presenting lectures outlining what he considers to be a mismatch between UK lawmakers’ classification of recreational drugs, in particular cannabis, and scientific measures of their harmfulness.

In a ranking of drugs by physical harm Professor Nutt and colleagues published in The Lancet in 2007, alcohol was ranked as more harmful that cannabis, LSD and amphetamines.

Professor Nutt arrived in the country as the Government revealed its decision to hold the blood alcohol limit for drivers at the current limit of 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood. A proposal backed by scientists to move to a 50mg limit was rejected by the Government, which is calling for further research on the issue.

“We should have a public outcry to the costs of passive drinking – the accidents, costs of hospital admissions for drinkers that come onto our shoulders,” Nutt told 3 News.

PODCAST: Professor Nutt’s Wellington lecture is available on the Science Media Centre website.

INFOGRAPHIC: An SMC infographic outlining the implications of a reduction in the blood alcohol limit for how much people can drink is available here as well as audio from an SMC briefing on the subject where the science behind blood alcohol measurements was discussed.

Swine flu back with a vengeance

Hospitals and schools are feeling the strain this week as cases of H1N1 swine flu mount, representing the anticipated second wave of the pandemic.

According to TV3: “Health Ministry data showed increasing numbers of people coming down with flu symptoms, particularly in the northern half of the North Island, indicating a second wave of pandemic H1N1 “swine flu” sweeping the country in little more than a year.”

The World Health Organisation’s latest global update on the pandemic says that worldwide pandemic and seasonal flu activity remains low:

“In the southern hemisphere (where the winter season is in progress), current influenza activity remains variable: ranging from low and stable activity in Chile and Argentina, to low but increasing activity in Australia and New Zealand, to elevated and recently peaked activity in South Africa. Significant seasonal and pandemic influenza virus transmission continues to be detected at variable levels across parts of the tropics, particularly in several countries of the Americas and South and Southeast Asia.” 

Census of Marine Life has NZ lead

Details of the most comprehensive study of species distribution and diversity in key global ocean areas was published this week in the form of the Census of Marine Life.

The marine researchers involved combined centuries-old historical records with data obtained during the decade-long Census, creating a “roll call” of species in 25 regions – from the Antarctic through temperate and tropical seas to the Arctic. Local scientists looked in particular at marine life within New Zealand exclusive economic zone, an area that has relatively high biodiversity compared to other areas studied.

PODCAST: The University of Auckland’s Dr Mark Costello was a lead author of the research and along with NIWA’s Dr Alison MacDiarmid presented the local and international findings at an SMC briefing for the media. Their slides are also available for viewing.

More “undeniable evidence”

The State of the Climate 2009 report, released this week by the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),  confirms not only that the world is warming, but that the last decade has been the warmest on record.

In the wake of the Muir Russell review’s recent exoneration of UEA climate scientists, this report generated substantial media coverage overseas, focused largely on the executive summary’s opening statement: “global warming is undeniable”.

The report looks at 10 key climate indicators, and combines information from 48 countries (including New Zealand) and more than 300 scientists.

Some of the indicators used include sea levels and sea ice, glacier mass, ocean temperature and surface air temperature.  Of the 10, 7 would be expected to increase in a world that is warming, and 3 would be expected to decrease.  According to the report, this is exactly what is happening.

The report is of particular interest as, unlike some other climate assessment reports, it collects observed data (rather than data from models and projections), and is thus a scorecard for what’s happening to the world’s climate.

The full report and supplementary materials are available online, here, and the SMC sought comment from local climate experts on its contents.  As Dr Glenn McGregor (University of Auckland) says:

“The State of the Climate report provides yet more evidence via trends in a number of key climate change indicator variables, calculated by a number of independent climate science communities, that we are living in a period of rapidly changing climate circumstances. To what extent we can find a way to live with or adapt to these new circumstances such as the impact of atmospheric warming on human health and changes in oceanic heat on marine ecology and thus fisheries for example, presents us with one of the greatest challenges yet faced by society.”

Read more comments on the SMC website

Marine algae in decline worldwide

Global stocks of phytoplankton – the foundation of the marine food web, and drivers of the ‘biological pump’ that sequesters carbon in the deep ocean – have been falling for last hundred years, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature.

The study suggests phytoplankton have declined by nearly 40 per cent since mid-century, most probably due to rising sea surface temperatures and changing ocean conditions. The research team combined modern satellite data with decades of historical shipboard records measuring underwater visibility (which decreases with higher concentrations of phytoplankton).

The paper’s authors say that reduced phytoplankton growth is on par with ocean acidification, coral bleaching and overfishing — all major challenges facing the global marine environment.

The SMC approached local marine scientist Philip Boyd (NIWA Centre for Chemical & Physical Oceanography, University of Otago) for his comments:

“This is the most detailed study to date, over the longest time period, on whether phytoplankton stocks are declining. As phytoplankton underpin the productivity of most marine ecosystems in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ), regionally and globally, the projected progressive decrease in stocks would have major and growing ramifications for the stocks of both farmed shellfish and wild fisheries…” Continue reading

Women face long wait for abortions

New Zealand women seeking an abortion can expect to wait an average of 25 days after their first visit to a doctor before the procedure is carried out, according to research published online today in Reproductive Health, an open-access, peer-reviewed publication.

The University of Auckland research team found that more than fifty percent of women in the study terminated their pregnancy on or after the tenth week of pregnancy, often despite seeking help much earlier. This raises concerns over potential complications, which become more likely the longer a pregnancy progresses.

Senior Research Fellow Martha Silva, who lead the study, comments, “This is the first large scale study of termination services conducted in New Zealand and highlights the need for a closer attention to women’s experiences while accessing these services. To avoid further inequities in service, best practices must be identified to ensure that all clinics, regardless of whether within the public or private sector, can minimize the amount of time women have to wait for a procedure”

Ladies in waiting: the timeliness of first trimester pregnancy termination services in New Zealand – Martha Silva, Rob McNeill and Toni Ashton; Reproductive Health, 2010 (published online).

1080 alternatives – what and when?

While the last 12 months have seen a record period of new pest control product registration, workable alternatives to 1080 could be as far as 6 years away, according to scientists who took part in an SMC briefing earlier this week.

In 2007, the Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) put out a call for alternatives to the the toxin, amid mounting pressure to find a more humane and targeted approach to pest control in New Zealand.

Scientists are looking into a number of approaches, from poisons to baits which turn pests infertile. One of the issues, according to toxicologist Dr Charlie Eason, is that most toxins being investigated are for tuberculosis vectors animals such the possum – rabbits, on the other hand, have been largely left out due to lack of funding.  However, it is hoped that toxins approved for one species, may be able to gain approval for an extension to others.

In addition to toxins and fertility blocking, research into the use of plants for natural pest control is also being undertaken.

The audio for the briefing can be listened to here, and registered journalists can access the presentation slides in the SMC Resource Library.

Student films reel in praise

The finalists and winners for the 2010 Reel Science Film Festival have been announced: this year, the winning entry covers the issue of how not using antibiotics properly can lead to increasingly virulent strains of diseases.

Funded by the Freemasons Society and run through the Royal Society of New Zealand, the festival is aimed at senior secondary school kids, and aims to encourage science geeks, budding filmmakers and storytellers to make informative, short films on a science-related subject of their choice.

Although given only 36 hours to make the films themselves, students were able to attend workshops in the week prior, to improve their camera and editing skills.

A range of different topics were covered, from genetic engineering to epidemics, and the judges, made up of people from the film industry, said they were impressed with the films’ quality, especially given the inexperience of the students.

Links to each of the films can be found below:

Winner:

Christian Jones and Allen Feng from Pakuranga College, Auckland,  Film Title: Immunity

Finalists:

George Xian, Philip Allan & Jim Huang from Burnside School, Christchurch , Film title: Bloodline

Wilson Cain, Orion Holder-Monk and Jordan Keen from Wellington High School, Film Title: 7478

Richard Martin, Henry Bennett and Julin Le-Ngoc from Papanui High School, Christchurch; Film Title: The Health Inspector

Kyle Teague, Juni Lee and Aaron Jelley from Nayland College, Nelson, Film Title: Goodbye Blue Sky

Alice and Rachel Yuretich from Kaitaia College, Northland, Film Title: The Virus

SMC Briefing: GST and healthy food

The price of fruit and veggies was in the media spotlight this week on the back of a Green Party survey that suggests produce prices are being marked up several hundred percent by the country’s supermarkets.

Researchers have been studying the best ways of tackling obesity and weight-related health issues by encouraging better nutrition through making fresh fruit and vegetables more accessible.

The SHOP study released in March and looking at the food purchasing habits of over 1,000 New Zealanders, found that dropping GST from healthy foods would encourage people to buy more of them. The Maori Party will seek to introduce a bill in parliament later this month calling for GST to be scrapped on classes of healthy foods.

In an SMC online briefing to be held on Tuesday, July 13 at 9am, public health experts will discuss the relationship between GST and food, the SHOP study and the public health impact of the population having better access to fruit and vegetables. Registered journalists will be emailed dial-in details for the briefing. For further information, contact the SMC.

Final report clears climate scientists

The third and final report into the “Climategate” scandal involving leaked emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit this week found that the scientists involved were not dishonest and that their scientific findings on  climate change are not in doubt.

But like the inquiries that came before it, the investigation headed by Sir Muir Russell criticised the scientists for failing to be open about their data.

“We have not found any evidence of behaviour that might undermine the conclusions of the IPCC assessments,” the Russell report noted.

The report was released at a press conference hosted by our colleagues at the Science Media Centre in London. Audio from the briefing and the report are available here.

And here is how UK scientists and Australian scientists responded to the report’s conclusions.

The Economist and The Guardian have more on Climategate’s  impact.

Your science in a sentence… or two

Hundreds of emerging researchers around the country have been honing their science communication skills as part of workshops requiring them to sum up their research goals in one or two sentences.

The results, which include some gems (and a fair few statements in need of a polish) have been published on the New Zealand science blog network Sciblogs.

Science Media Centre manager, Peter Griffin, who hosted the workshops,  said the aim of them was to give scientists early in their career some tips to develop their science communication skills.

“They may not be sitting down with a journalist to do an interview at this stage in their careers, but whether they are presenting at a Cafe Scientifique or showing people through their lab, there are lots of things they can do to get their science across effectively to a broad audience,” he said.

Scientists interested in pursuing science communication projects with a media element have the opportunity to apply for the  Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication prize which is worth $100,000. Applications close on August 27.

Dunedin science soundbites
Auckland science soundbites (and here)
Christchurch soundbites
Palmerston North soundbites

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I’m here, too

misc.ience In which I join the ‘hello readers!’ meme

Concerns raised about nanoparticles

Creating materials on the nanoscale is an area of science tipped to hold huge potential for everything from energy production to personalised healthcare.

But some observers argue that industry is jumping the gun on releasing products containing nanoparticles before adequate research has been done into their safety. The New Zealand Herald reported this week that cosmetics are being sold in New Zealand that contain nanoparticles that the cosmetics industry in Europe warn need further testing before they should be used.

The Sustainability Council of New Zealand, a think tank comprised of celebrities and scientists that carries out research into “issues related to the sustainable development of New Zealand”, this week said in a report on nanoparticles that commercialisation of the technology was “racing ahead of safety regulation”.

The Science Media Centre asked nanotechnology experts what they thought of the Sustainability Council’s report The Invisible Revolution.

Dr Simon Brown, Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Canterbury said the report was “right on the money”.

“It is indeed very concerning that, for example, cosmetics containing buckyballs appear to be on the market in NZ, when they have been withdrawn from sale in Australia.”

Deputy Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Professor Richard Blaikie, said the council had raised “valid concerns”.

“They also highlight good practice in New Zealand with Fisher & Paykel acting responsibly in not adding ‘nano-silver’ functionality to their product lines just to follow the lead of other whiteware manufacturers.

Full comments from these scientists are available on the Science Media Centre website.

Recent SMC publications on nanotechnology:

Audio Briefing: Nanotechnology and consumers – what are the risks?
SMC Alert: Nanotechnology and the safety implications

SMC Briefing: how innovative is NZ?

Statistics New Zealand will on Wednesday release its biannual Innovation in New Zealand report, which gives a snapshot of “business innovation and performance in New Zealand”.

Science funding announcements in last month’s Budget and a revamp of the science system currently underway are designed in part to boost the level of research and development undertaken in New Zealand and encourage the transfer of technology from publicly-funded R&D institutions to the business sector.

What is our track record in innovation like? How do we measure innovation? A Science Media Centre online briefing to be held on 11am, Tuesday morning will feature a panel of experts who will examine these issues and the latest statistics ahead of the report’s release. Journalists registered with the SMC will receive log-on instructions for the web and phone briefing. For further details contact the SMC.

Cell towers and child cancer – no link

A major British Medical Journal study released this week found no link between the proximity of children’s homes to mobile phone towers and levels of early childhood cancers like leukaemia and brain tumours.

The SMC rounded up reaction from experts. The study follows the publication last month of the Interphone study which looked at use of mobile phone handsets and whether usage could be linked to increased rates of brain tumors.

The SMC held an online briefing featuring a panel of experts discussing the results of Interphone. The audio of that briefing is available for playback here

The science of soil carbon

An SMC background briefing held in conjunction with the newly-established Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre based in Palmerston North this week looked at the important issue of soil health and the factors that make it vary.

Experts from Agresearch, Plant & Food Research, Waikato University and Landcare Research cover all the angles in this briefing which can be played back here. Registered journalists can log into the SMC Resource Library to access the useful presentation slides the scientists gave.

In a media background briefing next week, scientists from the newly-launched New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre will answer:

• What is soil carbon?
• What is its relationship to soil health and agricultural productivity?
• What kind of natural variations exist across different landscapes?
• How do human activities affect soil carbon?
• What is New Zealand’s unique situation?
• Why should we care about it?
• What role is soil carbon likely to play in relation to emissions trading schemes in different parts of the world?

SMC online media briefing: 10:30 a.m. Thurs 24 June

Registered journalists will receive log-in details on Monday. For further details contact the SMC on 04 499 5476 or smc@sciencemediacentre.co.nz

Agri-tech in spotlight at Fieldays

An automatic sheep-sorter, a top young inventor, and volcanic fallout’s impact on soil and animal health are just a few of the research highlights on show at Fieldays.

Benefits from long-term agricultural research – including more nutritious grass, targeted genetic improvements in sheep and cattle from DNA sequencing, and improved shelf-life for meat cuts – feature in a science review published by AgResearch this week. The review aims to pay due credit to science that multiple generations of researchers have seen through to completion.

Earlier in the week, AgResearch highlighted its ongoing genetic research into white clover, an important pasture crop. A genetically engineered clover will offer increased protein to livestock and reduce methane emissions, by switching on a gene to concentrate tannins in the plant’s leaves. Field trials will be carried out overseas due to the relative difficulty of gaining approval in New Zealand.

Environment coverage scoops prizes

Stories on subjects from the dumping of toxic chemicals through to genetic discoveries picked up awards in the science and environment category at last Friday’s Qantas Media Awards event in Auckland.

The full list of winners outlines an impressive collection of stories completed by fledgling journalists as well as veteran writers. In the science and environment section a strong theme was uncovering evidence of environmental contamination.

Junior newspaper reporter – Science and Environment
Kirsty Johnston – Taranaki Daily News

Senior newspaper reporter – Science & Environment
Marty Sharpe – The Dominion Post

Junior newspaper feature – Science and Environment
Charles Anderson – The Nelson Mail

Senior newspaper feature – Science and Environment
John McCrone – The Press

Senior magazine feature writer – Science and Environment
Donna Chisholm – North & South

Congratulations to all the finalists and winners across all sections, but particularly those turning out award winning science-related stories!

Aussie-bound space capsule due

Scientists in the desolate South Australian outback are preparing for the touch down of a Japanese space capsule, which is scheduled to arrive on Sunday night.

The Hayabusa capsule is the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, which it did in 2005, intercepting the Itokawa asteriod. But scientists won’t know how much material the capsule gathered until they recover it on the ground in Australia.

Scientists from Japan, Australia and the US have gathered for the landing, which will also be recorded from the air by a team from NASA. Earlier this week, some of the scientists featured in a media briefing hosted by the Australian Science Media Centre. You can listen back to the briefing here.

Oil: The opportunities and the risks

Experts in oil and gas exploration this week took part in a Science Media Centre briefing looking at the science behind the search for oil in New Zealand waters.

The audio from the briefing can be played back here.

The briefing followed last week’s news that Brazilian oil giant Petrobras had obtained a five year exploration permit to explore the Raukamara Basin. Dr Richard Cook, chief petroleum geologist for Crown Minerals, told the briefing that the exploration taking place over the next 18 months would not be for wells in really deep water.

Meanwhile, scientists looking at the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are struggling to put an accurate figure on how much oil may continue to be leaking from the ruptured well. Estimates from scientists have ranged from 5,000 to 40,000 barrels of oil per day.

As the Washington Post reports: “One team that has studied video taken of the leaking riser pipe before it was cut and capped last week has concluded that the well was most likely producing 25,000 to 30,000 barrels a day. If that estimate is on target, and if the flow has been more or less consistent since the April 20 blowout, the hydrocarbon reservoir 2 1/2 miles below the sea floor has gushed five to six times the amount spilled in Alaskan waters in 1989 by the Exxon Valdez.”

A field day for agriculture reporters

Next week agriculture reporters will descend on Mystery Creek for the big event on the primary sector’s calendar: Fieldays (16 – 19 June).

A number of organisations that undertake agricultural research will have a presence at Fieldays, including Crown Research Institute Agresearch, whose outgoing chief executive Dr Andrew West will launch the Agresearch Science Report, described as an “in-depth look at high value nature of some of [Agresearch's] long term programmes”.

The day prior to Fieldays opening will also see the release in Wellington of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry’s Situation and Outlook for Agriculture and Forestry 2010. The report, according to MAF, looks at “issues affecting the primary sectors and forecasting performance and returns in forestry, agriculture and horticulture out to 2014.”

MAF will hold a media briefing on the report 8.30 – 9.30am on Tuesday June 15. The report will be available for download here from that morning.

The SMC would also like to welcome veteran reporter-turned public relations guru Peter Burke back to journalism. Peter, who was formerly a communications advisor at Horizons Regional Council, has joined Rural News as an agricultural reporter. He will continue to be heavily involved in the Science Communications Association of New Zealand (SCANZ).

Will the Southern Ocean carbon sink hold?

Ice core records show there was a sharp rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere – a nearly 50% increase – at the end of the last ice age. Scientists have long puzzled over the origin of all the extra CO2 that appeared as the great ice sheets melted.

Now, new evidence published in Science this week confirms that the gas emerged largely from the deep waters of the Southern Ocean as changes to ocean currents and circulation disrupted an enormous carbon sink there. Scientists looked at radiocarbon levels in the shells of microscopic animals which lived both near the surface and on the bottom of the Southern Ocean, and found large quantities of carbon locked away in ‘old deep water’ around Antarctica.

The dissolved CO2 accumulated as organic matter died and sank to the ocean floor. Around 19,000 years ago, when the largest ice sheets starting melting, current and circulation changes brought this deep water up to the surface, in the process releasing large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. The question scientists are looking to answer is whether global warming could cause a major increase in CO2 to be released into the atmosphere from the Southern Ocean in the coming years.

New Zealand scientists weigh in with their views on the paper here.

“We could also say that this new study further reinforces the disproportionate importance of the Southern Ocean in modulating global climate both in the geological past, present day, and in the future,” said Dr Philip Boyd of NIWA’s Centre of Chemical & Physical Oceanography at the University of Otago.

“In addition, the authors provide compelling evidence of both the important coupling of ocean and atmosphere processes and the strong communication, of effects of climatic change, between the waters of the Northern and Southern hemisphere through global ocean circulation.”

State of play on synthetic biology

In the wake of Craig Venter’s creation of a synthetic bacterium genome as outlined in Science last week, the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology has presented a snapshot of how synthetic biology is developing, which will serve as a useful backgrounder for journalists covering this fledgling field.

Futurewatch – Trend Summary Synthetic Biology points out that there has been a spike in published journal articles on synthetic biology in the last three years with around 250 articles published last year. Developments in this area are taking two paths – an extension of genetic modification and the more ambitious creation of completely novel organisms, which is where Venter is leading the way. New Zealand has little science underway in this area:

“Currently there is limited synthetic biology research occurring in New Zealand. Researchers from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, at the University of Auckland have developed a mathematical modelling framework and models to aid in the design of synthetic biological systems,” Futurewatch reports.

“While most important developments will occur in other countries, fundamental research is moving relatively quickly and aspects may be taken up here. It can be anticipated that as the techniques develop, New Zealand researchers can be expected to also experiment with more sophisticated genetic modification in the laboratory.”

Organisms developed using synthetic biology techniques are considered genetically modified organisms in New Zealand and are covered by the HSNO Act, requiring the same type of regulatory approval existing GM trials require.

Meanwhile, New Zealand commentators have been commenting on the significance of Venter’s breakthrough.

Says Gareth Jones, director of the Bioethics Centre and a professor of anatomy and structural biology at the University of Otago:

“As with all previous developments, the positives and negatives are uncomfortably intertwined. There needs to be intense public discussion over what may be some of the implications of developments in this area. However, that debate needs to be realistic, and should not become submerged in grandiose hypothetical scenarios that will probably never come to pass.”