The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship Steve Irwin collides with the stern of the Japanese whaling vessel the Yushin Maru No. 2 on Jan. 5. The collision was one of two in the past two days involving the Steve Irwin and a Japanese whaling vessel. Nobody was injured in either collision. Photo courtesy of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

By Shawn Gaynor

Feb. 6 (GNT) — Japanese whaling vessels and a conservation group ship have collided for the second time in two days as diplomatic efforts to end Japanese whaling in Antarctic waters leave all sides unhappy.

At 6:00 p.m. local time Feb. 6, the Steve Irwin, a Dutch registered ship operated by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the Yushin Maru No. 3, a Japanese harpoon boat, collided in the rough waters of the Rose Sea.

The Yushin Maru No. 3 and another Japanese harpoon boat, the Yushin Maru No.1, were attempting to pass by the Steve Irwin to transfer their cargo of whales to the Japanese factory ship the Nisshin Maru when the collision took place.

The Steve Irwin had been blocking access to the Nisshin Maru and attempting to prevent the transfer of whales between harpoon boats and the factory ship in an effort to frustrate Japanese whaling operations.

The Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research, which oversees Japanese whaling, characterized the collision as an attack by the Sea Shepherds. But the Sea Shepherds claimed it was the Japanese ships that instigated the collision, and said they were unable to avoid the Yushin Maru No. 3.

The Steve Irwin’s Captain, Paul Watson, said that disorientation caused by the LRAD acoustic weapons that the whalers were using on the conservationists contributed to the collision.

“I was dazed by the sonic blasts being used on us at close range,” said Captain Watson. “I have to admit it was difficult to concentrate with that device being focused on us.”

The Sea Shepherds first claimed the Japanese use of the military-grade sound weapon several days ago, and Japanese officials have admitted to the use of a sound device.

“I’ve never felt anything quite like it,” said Emily Hunter from Toronto, Canada. “It penetrates the body and you can feel your muscles vibrating. It made me dizzy and left me somewhat dazed.”

The Japanese fleet reported the stern of the Yushin Maru No. 3 was lightly damaged in the collision, while the Sea Shepherds reported the Steve Irwin suffered no noticeable damage. There were no injuries on either ship.

The collision was the second in as many days. On Jan. 5, the Steve Irwin collided with the Japanese harpoon vessel Yushin Maru No. 2.

“We were in the process of blocking the transfer from the Yushin Maru No.2 when the Yushin Maru No. 1 moved directly in front of the bow to block us,” said Captain Watson. “I could not turn to starboard without hitting the Yushin Maru No. 1. I tried to back down but the movement of the Yushin Maru No. 2 made the collision unavoidable.”

Hunting whales was banned in 1986 by the International Whaling Commission after evidence that the world’s largest mammals were being driven towards extinction.

Japan continues to hunt whales every year under the guise of scientific research, but the nearly 1,000 whales that Japan hopes to harvest this year are destined to be sold as meat to Japanese consumers.

Conservationists insist the Japanese hunt is illegal both due to the commercial result of the “scientific whaling program” and because the annual hunt takes place in an internationally designated whale sanctuary.

IWC Chairman William Hogarth proposed a compromise agreement on Feb. 2 that would either phase out Japan’s annual Southern Ocean whale hunt over the next five years in exchange for opening whaling in Japanese waters, or would allow the “scientific whaling” program in the Southern Ocean to continue under IWC, not Japanese, annual limitations.

Conservation groups have stood together in saying the deal is too lenient on Japanese whalers.

Perhaps the most polite response from conservationist came from Dr. Susan Lieberman, director of WWF International’s Species Program who stated, “World Wildlife Fund is glad to see the IWC taking steps toward ending the deadlock on commercial whaling, and to ending commercial whaling under the guise of science once and for all, but these compromise packages give too much to the whalers and not enough to whale conservation.”

“What is needed is a plan to put an immediate halt to all scientific whaling, which simply has no place in the 21st Century,” added Lieberman.

Most conservation groups commenting on the issue have been afraid that the plan would open the door to renewed commercial whaling by allowing the Japanese to whale commercially in their own waters.

The Japanese have also been cold on the plan. On Feb. 3 Japan’s Fisheries Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, ruled out any compromise that terminated what he called Japan’s scientific whaling in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

“We cannot accept a proposal that would end our research whaling program,” he said.

In the meantime, the Sea Shepherds and the Japanese whaling fleet play out their tense chase across the Rose Sea.

“I wish we did not have to be down here in this dangerous situation,” said Watson. “Because international law is not being enforced, we have no choice but to do what we can with the resources available to us to defend these endangered whales.”

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By Shawn Gaynor

Jan. 26 (GNT) — Efforts to promote a large-scale shift away from fossil fuels are often met with skepticism because of the high price tag associated with alternative energy generation. But a new report suggests that the costs of avoiding the worst effects of climate change are actually reasonable.

Pathways to a Low Carbon Economy, released Jan. 26 by McKinsey & Company, concludes that global greenhouse-gas emissions could be reduced by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, the level scientists say is necessary to keep global warming below the critical 2 degree C rise.

The McKinsey study, backed by an assortment of industrial and environmental partners ranging from energy giant Shell, to the crusading World Wildlife Fund, estimates the cost achieving these reductions are between 0.2 and 0.5 percent of global Gross Domestic Product. That compares with Lord Stern’s estimated cost of not taking action on greenhouse gas emissions of between five and 20 percent of global GDP.

The most comprehensive study of its kind, it identifies three main sectors critical to meeting CO2 emissions reduction goals. The study recommends a dramatic and immediate move away from carbon-based electricity generation towards renewable energy, halting deforestation and investing massively in reforestation, and an increase in everyday energy efficiency by 25 percent.

“The figures show clearly that not only can we move to a low carbon economy, but that the costs are manageable. Adopting these measures will be a major step towards avoiding the worst effects of climate change,” said WWF Director General James Leape.

The study goes on to identify in detail over 200 opportunities for significant emissions reductions over the next two decades. While the cost of implementation is manageable, amounting to a roughly a half of trillion dollars in worldwide investment each year, the report warns that individual sectors and policy makers will face huge implementation challenges.

“The timing of action is though critical: Delays are likely to mean missing this two degrees Celsius target. Capturing the full abatement potential requires starting promptly in 2010,” the study warns. “For every year of delay, the expected peak level of atmospheric GHG concentration will rise by an extra five parts per million (ppm) and a 10-year delay would mean a target of 550 ppm would be difficult to achieve.”

At levels this high, experts agree that the more drastic impacts of climate change will occur, a point stressed recently by several top global warming experts.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Inter governmental panel on Climate Change, speaking to the opening of The United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Poznan last December outlined a laundry list of risks the world faces after a global temperature increase of just a few degrees.

Pachauri stated that a temperature rise of over two degrees Celsius could lead to the extinction of 20 to 30 percent of all species on Earth.

Humanity, according to Pachauri, would face a loss of half of Africa’s agricultural base, up to a half of billion people who depend on water from the Himalayan glaciers would face water shortages, and low-lying coastal areas and islands would be consumed by rising sea leaves.

“If global mean temperature increase is to be stabilized between 2.0-2.4°C, then CO2 emissions must peak by 2015,” stressed Pachauri, who shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for the IPCC’s groundbreaking reports linking climate change to industrial emissions, and predicting its effects at various levels of emission.

Climate change expert and NASA scientist James Hansen and his wife, Anniek, recently echoed Pachauri in a letter sent to Barack and Michelle Obama before the inauguration. In the letter the Hansens stress that the world has only four years left before inaction will lead to a climate change disaster.

The letter urged the Obamas, “It is still feasible to avert climate disasters, but only if policies are consistent with what science indicates to be required.”

The letter states the safe limits for the greenhouse gas Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere is “no more than 350 ppm, probably less. Pre-industrial carbon dioxide amount was 280 ppm.”

Current carbon dioxide levels are above 380 ppm and rising at an accelerating pace.

The letter goes on to outline some of the steps recommended for avoiding the worst case scenarios associated with climate change, including a move swiftly away from coal-based electricity generation.

And to an extent, the new Obama administration has shown a willingness to listen, vowing to create a green collar economy with the economic bailout, and reopening the issue of fleet-wide fuel efficiency increases for automakers, a measure long opposed by the Bush administration.

But the problem is a global one, and policy leaders will have to bridge long held differences at the next meeting of the UNCCC to be held later this year in Copenhagen.

The meeting is expected to result in a new climate change treaty to replace to Kyoto Protocol.

“When the world’s leaders meet in Copenhagen in December to agree a global deal on climate change, they will have no excuse for inaction,” said Mr. Leape.

“The world will be watching and expecting those leaders to adopt measures which will lead to a low-carbon economy, giving a fighting chance of keeping climate change below the crucial 2°C level.”

Rebecca Bowe contributed to this report.

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