Commodity Crops & Weather News | Mekong Delta drought hits hard on Vietnam | 15 July 2010 | www.commodityonline.com

Commodity Crops & Weather News | Mekong Delta drought hits hard on Vietnam | 15 July 2010 | www.commodityonline.com: "World’s largest rice exporter, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta which accounts for more than half of its output is hit by drastic climate changes, resulting huge losses of crops.

Drought caused by a hot spell over the past month has hurt rice fields in the region with nearly 100,000 hectares destroyed or partly destroyed.

A total of 25,000 hectares of rice was ruined and yields on another 70,000 hectares will drop sharply, the report said, giving no forecast for output losses."

Climate crisis is now, not future

Bangkok free buses a big success

Free buses save THB3.3 billion for low income riders

The free bus service available from February 2009 to May 2010 have helped save more than 3.3 billion THB in fare for low-income earners.

According to Director of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, Opart Petchmunee, the free bus operation which is part of the relief measures of the government could effectively alleviate low-income earners’ burdens from the high cost of living. More than 477 million people used the service during the period.

According to Mr Opart, about 800 free public buses are plying 76 routes around Bangkok in the project. SiamDailyNews

Need of the hour

... the logical way out of our collective quandary over rising fuel prices is to cut our dependence on oil. Easier said than, yes, but it can be done. In fact, initiatives toward an oil-free public transport system have already been launched even in this country. Take for example the e-jeepneys that ply certain routes in Makati and Fort Bonifacio. The e-jeepneys of Metro Manila have even caught the attention of Discovery Channel, which aired not too long ago a documentary on the iconic Philippine mini-buses that run, not on inefficient and filthy internal combustion engines, but on clean and quiet electric motors. Unfortunately, the rest of the public transport sector has been slow to adopt the notion of motorised vehicles that run on batteries. Above all other considerations there is the cost factor that reinforces resistance.

Need of the hour Online

Malaysia - Stop wasting money on cars!

The involvement and empowerment of stakeholders in the planning and execution of the public bus transit management process is an important process aims at launching a campaign that create awareness of the need for austerity drive and encourages the breaking of car-use habits. It is also an important process to help the Penang state government overcome the problem stem from capacity constraint.ong eu soon

Malaysia -- make the buses and light rail fare-free

...In the case of Kuala Lumpur’s traffic congestion, I suggest a policy of cross subsidies where we charge cars coming into the city say, RM10 per day and motorcycles RM5 per day to be collected by a wholly owned Government entity, which I believe in this case should be Prasarana.

This will allay any fears of cronyism and its like. At the same time Prasarana should provide public transport such as buses, monorail and light rail for free as their revenue is collected from the congestion charge.... TheMalaysianInsider

Huge iceberg breaks off of Antarctica

 AP (satellite image from Commonwealth of Australia)

SINGAPORE - An iceberg the size of Luxembourg has broken off from a glacier in Antarctica after being rammed by another giant iceberg, scientists said Friday, in an event that could affect ocean circulation patterns.

The 965-square-mile iceberg broke off earlier this month from the Mertz Glacier's 100-mile floating tongue of ice that sticks out into the Southern Ocean.

The collision has since halved the size of the tongue that drains ice from the vast East Antarctic ice sheet. MSNBC