DPM sad Cameron Highlands land clearing still happening

Pahang: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin Tuesday expressed his sadness with the continuous intrusion in Cameron Highlands despite enforcement operations.

The Deputy Prime Minister said what was more worrying was that the culprits were blatantly challenging the authorities and if it continued, he did not know how long the highlands would last.

"I am very upset. When you look closer, some of the land covered in plastic is agriculture land which have been cleared even while enforcement is being carried out.

"I have been here two days and see Cameron Highlands severely damaged, and if no stern and effective action is taken, I do not know how long this area will last," he said.

He was speaking to reporters after a surprise visit to Cameron Highlands to review the latest recovery development and inspection of the authorities following the floods and landslide at the holiday destination in November last year.

Muhyiddin, who is also chairman of the Special Committee on Flash Floods in Cameron Highlands, said although more than 500 officers and staff from various departments and agencies were involved in the operations to clean up the land, he said these were not enough as the land-clearing was severe and had a worrying effect on the environment.

However, he said, the enforcement would be more effective by increasing the number of enforcers and equipment as well as implementing the law under the Land and Mines Department or the Forestry Department.

Muhyiddin said among the measures which could be implemented was creating permanent posts in the areas which had been identified as focal places for intrusion.

He said the matter would be decided after obtaining the views of Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Armed Forces Chief Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin as well as the Pahang state government at the next meeting of the Special Committee on the Flash Floods in Cameron Highlands.

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DPM sad Cameron Highlands land clearing still happening

IGP's and Pahang state governments views sought to prevent further encroachment.

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Muhyiddin Yassin today expressed his sadness with the continuous intrusion in Cameron Highlands despite enforcement operations.

The Deputy Prime Minister said what was more worrying was that the culprits were blatantly challenging the authorities and if it continued, he did not know how long the highlands would last.

I am very upset. When you look closer, some of the land covered in plastic is agriculture land which have been cleared even while enforcement is being carried out.

I have been here two days and see Cameron Highlands severely damaged, and if no stern and effective action is taken, I do not know how long this area will last, he said.

He was speaking to reporters after a surprise visit to Cameron Highlands to review the latest recovery development and inspection of the authorities following the floods and landslides at the holiday destination in November last year.

Muhyiddin, who is also chairman of the Special Committee on Flash Floods in Cameron Highlands, said although more than 500 officers and staff from various departments and agencies were involved in the operations to clean up the land, these were not enough as the land-clearing was severe and had a worrying effect on the environment.

However, he said, the enforcement would be more effective by increasing the number of enforcers and equipment as well as implementing the law under the Land and Mines Department or the Forestry Department.

Muhyiddin said among the measures which could be implemented was creating permanent posts in the areas which had been identified as focal places for intrusion.

He said the matter would be decided after obtaining the views of Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar and Armed Forces Chief Zulkifeli Mohd Zin as well as the Pahang state government at the next meeting of the Special Committee on the Flash Floods in Cameron Highlands.

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DPM upset over continuous land clearing in Camerons

Many complaints but no one takes it seriously, says local activist

TANAH RATAH: Orang Asli girls in the Cameron Highlands have become sex victims of illegal immigrants and migrant workers, who have also been blamed for illegal land clearing.

R. Ramakrishnan, head of the Cameron Highlands activist group Reach said many complaints had been made about it, but little action in the way of enforcement had been carried out.

He said some Orang Asli girls have become pregnant as a result of being preyed upon by the illegal migrants. Some have resorted to abortions for fear of shame.

There are fewer illegal immigrants to be seen in town since the authorities began operations against them, but they have switched to the Orang Asli settlements and brought many social problems there, Ramakrishnan said, according to Utusan Malaysia.

At Post Terisu, the migrant workers have paid Orang Asli girls for sex, treating them like prostitutes. Its becoming more common, but no one seems to take complaints seriously, he said after a press conference when accompanying anti-corruption commission official Mustafar Ali to visit illegal logging and land clearing in Kuala Terla and Brinchang.

The views expressed in the contents are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of FMT.

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Orang Asli girls sex victims of Camerons migrants

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wants logging activities and clearing of forests be reduced to avoid disasters.

He said Malaysia had other sources of wealth which could generate national income and which would not cause environmental degradation.

"So, if we reduce logging, even if it is legal, we will get many benefits. "We have seen the floods occurring in Kelantan and Terengganu - the East Coast states. One of the causes was the cutting of forest trees, so rain water came down straight from the hill slopes and not absorbed by the soil, resulting in floods."

Dr Mahathir said this to reporters after visiting the digital project of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) and placing a plaque at the institute, here, today to denote it as a national heritage.

FRIM was gazetted as a natural heritage site in 2009 and declared a national heritage in 2012.

Dr Mahathir said the people should learn lessons from the environmental disasters that occurred in the country and act by finding ways to preserve the flora and fauna.

Meanwhile, he expressed happiness that after 30 years since its establishment, FRIM was not only a site where various species of plants were found but also a popular recreation area for city dwellers.

"When we come here, we feel relaxed. The forest is still here and the plants all thrive," he said.

This was Dr Mahathir's second visit to FRIM after his first on June 11, 1984.

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Reduce land clearing to prevent disasters: Mahathir

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday expressed his sadness with the continuous intrusion in Cameron Highlands despite enforcement operations.

The Deputy Prime Minister said what was more worrying was that the culprits were blatantly challenging the authorities and if it continued, he did not know how long the highlands would last. I am very upset.

When you look closer, some of the land covered in plastic is agriculture land which have been cleared even while enforcement is being carried out.

I have been here two days and see Cameron Highlands severely damaged, and if no stern and effective action is taken, I do not know how long this area will last, he said.

He was speaking to reporters after a surprise visit to Cameron Highlands to review the latest recovery development and inspection of the authorities following the floods and landslide at the holiday destination in November last year.

Muhyiddin, who is also chairman of the Special Committee on Flash Floods in Cameron Highlands, said a lthough more than 500 officers and staff from various departments and agencies were involved in the operations to clean up the land, he said these were not enough as the land-clearing was severe and had a worrying effect on the environment.

However, he said, the enforcement would be more effective by increasing the number of enforcers and equipment as well as implementing the law under the Land and Mines Department or the Forestry Department.

Muhyiddin said among the measures which could be implemented was creating permanent posts in the areas which had been identified as focal places for intrusion.

He said the matter would be decided after obtaining the views of Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Armed Forces Chief Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin as well as the Pahang state government at the next meeting of the Special Committee on the Flash Floods in Cameron Highlands.

This would ensure tighter monitoring was carried out to prevent further intrusions into the highlands, he said. To prevent future threats to the authorities, the deputy prime minister said he would be suggesting that the areas where these frequently happened be gazetted as security areas.

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Land Clearing - DEC 2014
And no that isn #39;t me on video... Its my Honduran friend Hital.

By: Temujen Khan

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Land Clearing - DEC 2014 - Video

Can smoke from fires intensify tornadoes?

Yes, say University of Iowa researchers, who examined the effects of smokeresulting from spring agricultural land-clearing fires in Central Americatransported across the Gulf of Mexico and encountering tornado conditions already in process in the United States.

The UI study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, examined the smoke impacts on a historic severe weather outbreak that occurred during the afternoon and evening of April 27, 2011. The weather event produced 122 tornadoes, resulted in 313 deaths across the southeastern United States, and is considered the most severe event of its kind since 1950.

The outbreak was caused mainly by environmental conditions leading to a large potential for tornado formation and conducive to supercells, a type of thunderstorm. However, smoke particles intensified these conditions, according to co-lead authors Gregory Carmichael, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, and Pablo Saide, Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER) postdoctoral fellow.

They say the smoke lowered the base of the clouds and increased wind shear, defined as wind speed variations with respect to altitude. Together, those two conditions increased the likelihood of more severe tornadoes. The effects of smoke on these conditions had not been previously described, and the study found a novel mechanism to explain these interactions.

These results are of great importance, as it is the first study to show smoke influence on tornado severity in a real case scenario. Also, severe weather prediction centers do not include atmospheric particles and their effects in their models, and we show that they should at least consider it, says Carmichael.

We show the smoke influence for one tornado outbreak, so in the future we will analyze smoke effects for other outbreaks on the record to see if similar impacts are found and under which conditions they occur, says Saide. We also plan to work along with model developers and institutions in charge of forecasting to move forward in the implementation, testing and incorporation of these effects on operational weather prediction models.

In order to make their findings, the researchers ran computer simulations based upon data recorded during the 2011 event. One type of simulation included smoke and its effect on solar radiation and clouds, while the other omitted smoke. In fact, the simulation including the smoke resulted in a lowered cloud base and greater wind shear.

Continue reading at the Univesity of Iowa.

Tornado image via Shutterstock.

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Can smoke from fires intensify tornados?

Can smoke from fires intensify tornadoes? "Yes," say University of Iowa researchers, who examined the effects of smoke -- resulting from spring agricultural land-clearing fires in Central America -- transported across the Gulf of Mexico and encountering tornado conditions already in process in the United States.

The UI study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, examined the smoke impacts on a historic severe weather outbreak that occurred during the afternoon and evening of April 27, 2011. The weather event produced 122 tornadoes, resulted in 313 deaths across the southeastern United States, and is considered the most severe event of its kind since 1950.

The outbreak was caused mainly by environmental conditions leading to a large potential for tornado formation and conducive to supercells, a type of thunderstorm. However, smoke particles intensified these conditions, according to co-lead authors Gregory Carmichael, professor of chemical and biochemical engineering, and Pablo Saide, Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER) postdoctoral fellow.

They say the smoke lowered the base of the clouds and increased wind shear, defined as wind speed variations with respect to altitude. Together, those two conditions increased the likelihood of more severe tornadoes. The effects of smoke on these conditions had not been previously described, and the study found a novel mechanism to explain these interactions.

"These results are of great importance, as it is the first study to show smoke influence on tornado severity in a real case scenario. Also, severe weather prediction centers do not include atmospheric particles and their effects in their models, and we show that they should at least consider it," says Carmichael.

"We show the smoke influence for one tornado outbreak, so in the future we will analyze smoke effects for other outbreaks on the record to see if similar impacts are found and under which conditions they occur," says Saide. "We also plan to work along with model developers and institutions in charge of forecasting to move forward in the implementation, testing and incorporation of these effects on operational weather prediction models."

In order to make their findings, the researchers ran computer simulations based upon data recorded during the 2011 event. One type of simulation included smoke and its effect on solar radiation and clouds, while the other omitted smoke. In fact, the simulation including the smoke resulted in a lowered cloud base and greater wind shear.

Future studies will focus on gaining a better understanding of the impacts of smoke on near-storm environments and tornado occurrence, intensity, and longevity, adds Carmichael, who also serves as director of the Iowa Informatics Initiative and co-director of CGRER.

Paper co-authors are Scott Spak ofthe UI Departments of Urban and Regional Planning and Civil and Environmental Engineering; Bradley Pierce and Andrew Heidinger of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Satellite and Information Service Center for Satellite Applications and Research; Jason Otkin and Todd Schaack of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Arlindo da Silva of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; and Melo Kacenelenbogen and Jens Redemann of NASA.

The research was funded by grants from NASA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Institutes of Health, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Fulbright-CONICYT scholarship program in Chile.

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Smoke from fires linked to tornado intensity

A mother and her 8-month-old daughter held in prison for allegations of illegal land clearing were released on bail by Preah Vihear Provincial Court due to health concerns for the two.

Lem Sokhem, 45, and her husband, Sorn Vuthy, 46, were arrested on January 13, after Preah Vihears provincial Forestry Administration lodged a court complaint against the couple for allegedly clearing state land, where they lived illegally, deputy prosecutor Ly Lon said yesterday.

The court released Sokhem and her daughter, because Sokhem suffers from an undisclosed illness, for which she requires regular injections, and her daughter is suffering from measles, Lon said. Vuthy remains in provincial prison, because the court fears he could interfere with the courts investigation. The temporary release of Sokhem and her daughter was welcomed by rights group Adhoc, which is still lobbying for Vuthys release.

We ask the Court of Appeal prosecutor to help free [Sokhems] husband, said Lor Chan, a provincial Adhoc coordinator.

Adhoc considers the arrests a violation of human rights, which could have a chilling effect on activists.

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Bailed out: Mother, child are released from custody

Terraria Episode 2 | Land Clearing
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Terraria Episode 2 | Land Clearing - Video