Thousands flee as long-sleepy Sumatra volcano erupts

A volcano in western Indonesia spewed hot lava and sand high 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) into the air early Sunday in its first eruption in 400 years. Thousands of Indonesians were evacuated from the slopes of the volcano on Sunday after it erupted.

Mount Sinabung, in the north of the island of Sumatra, began erupting around midnight after rumbling for several days, prompting some villagers to panic before the mass evacuation got under way.

Mount Sinabung last erupted in 1600, so observers don't know the volcano's eruption pattern and are monitoring it closely for more activity.

Evacuations on the volcano's slopes started Friday at the first signs of activity. Up to 10,000 people who fled are staying in government buildings, houses of worship and other evacuation centers in two nearby towns.

The government has distributed 7,000 masks to refugees and set up public kitchens so people can cook food, said Priyadi Kardono, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Agency.

Indonesia is on the so-called Pacific Rim of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and geological fault lines triggering frequent earthquakes around the Pacific Basin. The eruption triggered the highest red volcano alert.

Two people died, one from breathing problems and the other from a heart attack, and two suffered injuries in road accidents as trucks, ambulances and buses were mobilized in the rescue operation.

Authorities took at least 12,000 people from high risk areas on the slopes of the 2,460-meter volcano to temporary shelters. Local TV showed showed women and children wearing face masks in cramped tents.

The area around the volcano is largely agricultural.

"Since this is the first eruption we've had in Sinabung, we're anticipating residents will remain at the shelters for at least a week while waiting for further status alert," said Priyadi Kardono.

The eruption has not damaged roads or bridges. The nearest big city is Medan where there were no disruptions to any of the air flights.

Second Eruption

The volcano, Mount Sinabung, erupted again on Monday, pitching ash two km (1.5 miles) into the air and sending nearby residents scurrying from their homes.

Villages were emptying fast near Mount Sinabung on the north of Sumatra island, leaving behind only officials from the bureau of meteorology and the police. Short-haul flights skirting the volcano were delayed.

About 21,000 people had been evacuated. Displaced residents, including children wearing masks, milled about in a makeshift reception center with a roof but no walls.

Satebi Ginting, a vegetable farmer who fled her village to shelter in the nearby town of Brastagi, said she did not know when she would return home.

"I am still too scared to go back," she said in a camp hosting around 400 people, where a band was playing traditional local tunes.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono instructed the disaster mitigation agency to help set up emergency tents, kitchens and toilets, said presidential spokesman Julian Pasha.

Surono, head of Indonesia's vulcanology center, earlier said Monday's eruption was more powerful than the first a day earlier.

"Earlier today was another eruption at 6.30 a.m., sending out smoke as high as two km, more or less," he told Reuters.

A Reuters photographer said he saw plumes of smoke rising from the volcano after the second eruption. Inactive since 1600, it had been rumbling for several days.

"I saw some hot pieces of volcanic rock come out and burn trees in the area," he said. A smell of sulphur pervaded the air as residents moved out of their homes to temporary shelters.

Many residents fled to Medan, 50 km (30 miles), Indonesia's third-largest city, northeast of the volcano. Officials said much of the movement was unnecessary.

"People have been evacuated from areas within a six km (four-mile) radius of the volcano," vulcanologist Surono said. "Beyond six km it is safe, but there has still been a lot of panic among people here who don't understand that."

He said it was impossible to know when the eruptions would stop, but it was unlikely volcanic dust would drift to neighboring countries. Air flights continue to be unaffected.

Source:
Reuters, "Thousands flee as long-sleepy Sumatra volcano erupts", accessed August 30, 2010
Reuters,"Indonesian volcano erupts again, many evacuated", accessed August 30, 2010

From the Inbox: Good Times at Rainforest Action Network

Join us in San Francisco on October 14th for REVEL: The Art of Activism, RAN's 25th Anniversary bash! Get all the details at RAN.org/REVEL. We've spent this summer side by side with so many of you pushing and pushing mammoth corporations to do the right thing for forests, for people, for the climate. Sometimes, it feels like an uphill battle and you wonder whether these giants will ever move...until they do. As summer comes to a close, we've got really fantastic news for you. From Wall Street to the rainforest, our work together is having a real impact. Good times. Table of Contents Wall Street Backing Down From Mountaintop Removal General Mills On The Verge Indigenous Rights Now Vote Chevron Into The Corporate Hall of Shame RAN Recommends Wall Street Backing Down From Mountaintop Removal Two years ago no bank had a policy on coal mining. Wall Street was funding the most destructive form of coal mining, mountaintop removal (MTR), without blinking an eye. Thanks to you and many incredible RAN allies, after three years of unrelenting action Bank of America, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have all passed public policies limiting their financial relationships with mountaintop removal coal mining companies. And all of them have completely cut their ties to Massey Energy, the largest MTR company in the country. General Mills On The Verge Thanks so much for all your letters, phone calls, and visits to General Mills demanding that they create a palm oil policy that protects Indonesia's rainforests. Last week, General Mills announced that they have started work on a new palm oil policy! Help us make sure they go for the strongest policy possible by writing CEO Ken Powell one last time (hopefully), to let him know you're counting on him to seize this opportunity to the fullest. Indigenous Rights Now The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is the most comprehensive international statement on Indigenous rights to date. When the UN General Assembly adopted this Declaration in 2007, the U.S. government was one of only four countries that voted "no." President Obama must make an unwavering stand for Indigenous rights, and turn this vote around. Vote Chevron Into The Corporate Hall of Shame Each year, the most environmentally and socially irresponsible companies in the world are nominated for the Corporate Hall of Shame. In 2010, the upper echelon of corporate wrongdoing is well represented, and of course that means Chevron is up for this "prestigious" award for the toxic oil pollution it refuses to clean up in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest. Chevron deserves your vote! RAN RECOMMENDS The Climate War By Eric Pooley No Rain in the Amazon By Nikolas Kozloff

Oil in Greenland Black stuff in a green land

When Cairn Energy, a British petrochemicals company, this week announced the first firm indication of worthwhile oil deposits off Greenland’s coast, inhabitants of Nuuk, the island’s gritty capital, greeted the news with their customary equanimity. “That’s nice,” said a housewife less interested in the implications of a possible oil bonanza than in negotiating her country’s sole pedestrian crossing in the sleeting rain.

Several hundred miles north in Baffin Bay, Greenpeace eco-warriors seeking to halt offshore oil exploration in the Arctic faced down a Danish warship. The government hotly contests Greenpeace’s claim that, because oil degrades far more slowly in freezing waters, a Mexican Gulf-style oil spill would mean calamity for the fragile environment. “Our safety standards are the highest in the world,” says Henrik Stendal, chief geologist at the Government Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum.

In recent months the bureau has run an extensive public-information program in Greenland, drawing full houses at meetings throughout the sprawling country. A plethora of newly enacted legislation is designed to avert offshore accidents and to prevent a small spill becoming a big catastrophe should something go wrong.

Most of Greenland’s 56,000 inhabitants seem persuaded. Despite the vulnerability of the country’s ice sheet to global warming, a recent Greenpeace meeting in Nuuk drew a paltry 45 people. Even this minimal interest in the environmentalists’ message could fall further as the implications of this week’s news start to sink in.

Greenland has been searching for the black stuff for decades. Five wells drilled in the 1970s turned out to be dry, as was a sixth in 2000. But this one looks like the game-changer. Cairn says it has found natural gas in thin sand layers in one of its test wells, indicating the presence of oil. Overall, it estimates that the acreage it is licensed to drill in holds 4 billion barrels of oil. Data from the United States Geological Survey suggest the seabed between Greenland and Canada holds a total of 17 billion barrels.

There may be further riches off the vast island’s eastern coast. According to some estimates the bedrock beneath the Greenland Sea could hold more oil than the North Sea, which has partially powered the British, Dutch and Norwegian economies for decades. This area will be opened for exploration in 2012.

Greenland’s exploration adventure does not stop there. Dozens of mining companies are trawling the narrow strip of land abutting its 44,087-kilometer coastline for diamonds, gold and rubies and possibly more exotic treasures.

Sniffing opportunity, even before the oil starts flowing and the rubies glisten, the world has started to arrive in Greenland. Australian and American accents are commonplace in Kangerlussuaq international airport. The restaurant at Nuuk’s only upmarket hotel has no difficulty attracting clients for its exclusive wagyu beef fillet.

It is impossible to estimate how much money this bounty could generate for Greenland’s cash-strapped government. But although the potential to transform the economy is obvious, there is no talk yet of using the proceeds to buy full independence from Denmark. Self-government became law only last year, and it will take decades to wean Greenland off its annual DKr3 billion ($500m) grant from Copenhagen—which accounts for over half of Greenland’s revenues.

As for the locals, having had their hopes raised and dashed so many times before, they are taking nothing for granted. “We won’t get rich overnight,” says Brian Juhl, a supermarket manager. “But perhaps in the future.”

Source:
The Economist, "Oil in Greenland: Black stuff in a green land", accessed August 26, 2010

From the Inbox: Conservation International eNews Update

	© Javier García NEW SPECIES DISCOVERED: The adorable titi monkey What’s adorable, furry and has never been seen before? Callicebus caquetensis, a new species of titi monkey discovered on a scientific expedition to the Colombian Amazon. Researchers from the National University of Colombia who discovered the new primate consider it to be critically endangered due to rapid loss of the forest where it lives and its small population. Titi monkeys (or zogui zogui as they are called in Spanish) have one of the most complex calls in the animal kingdom and use it every morning to mark their territory. This discovery is particularly important because it reminds us that we should celebrate the diversity of earth but also we must take action now to preserve it," said José Vicente Rodríguez, head of science at Conservation International in Colombia and president of the Colombia Association of Zoology. Hear the call of the titi monkey | Read the press release | See titi monkey photos
	Click here to follow the search The global search of a lifetime: Search for the Lost Frogs Over the next few months, CI is supporting expeditions by amphibian experts in 20 countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia. Led by members of International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Amphibian Specialist Group, the research teams are in search of around 40 species that haven’t been seen for more than a decade. Although there is no guarantee of success, scientists are optimistic about the prospect of at least one rediscovery. Whatever the results, the expedition findings will expand our global understanding of the threats to amphibians and bring us closer to finding solutions for the animals' protection. Bold conservation efforts are not only critical for the future of many amphibians themselves, but also for the benefit of humans that rely on pest control, nutrient cycling and other services the animals provide. At the latest count, CI is supporting 32 teams in 20 countries participating in this one-of-a-kind search. No search of this scale and type has ever been undertaken before. Click here to receive weekly updates on discoveries and news from the field. See our frog maps and images | Send a Lost Frogs eCard | Upload your own photos BREAKING NEWS: Scientists have discovered a remarkable new frog, one of the world’s tiniest, on the southeastern Asian island of Borneo. Researchers discovered the species, known as Microhyla nepenthicola, in Bornean swamp forests. The frog is about 10 millimeters long, or close to the size of a pea. Read the press relase here.
	© Comstock Images The unprecedented 'Pacific Oceanscape' An unprecedented agreement toward the cooperative stewardship of a vast swath of Pacific Ocean has been reached, and conservationists are heralding it as among the most ambitious, innovative, and collaborative marine initiatives on Earth. Meeting in Port Villa, Vanuatu, at the annual Pacific Islands Leadership Forum, heads of state and governments from 15 nations endorsed a draft framework for the long-term, sustainable and cooperative management of 38.5 million square kilometers–larger than the land size of Canada, the United States and Mexico combined. The Framework, called the Pacific Oceanscape, aims to address all ocean issues from governance to climate change. It also aims to design policies and implement practices that will improve ocean health, increase resources and expertise, and encourage governments to factor ocean issues into decisions about economic and sustainable development. It represents perhaps the largest marine conservation management initiative in history, as measured by countries and area, and a new, united Pacific voice on ocean conservation and management. “It is, without doubt, the most ambitious, most innovative, and most well-grounded marine initiative I have seen in my 32 years as a marine biologist and conservationist,” said Dr. Greg Stone, CI’s Chief Ocean Scientist and Senior Vice President for Marine Conservation. See a map of the Pacific Oceanscape | Read more | Learn about the Ocean Health Index
	This issue of eNews features many conservation successes and programs - share the good news!
	Header photo credits: © CI/photo by Cristano Noguiero © Robin Moore © CI/photo by Russell Mittermeier

From the Inbox: 5 years after Katrina

Dear Friend, Five years ago this weekend, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall and, combined, became one of the most destructive disasters in U.S. history, ravaging the Gulf Coast and forever changing the lives of thousands of American families. Together with our partner-families, we are reflecting on the recovery efforts that have marked a critical chapter in our nation’s history—and in the history of Habitat for Humanity. A presence throughout the Gulf Coast states for nearly 30 years, Habitat responded to this disaster quickly and pledged to stay for the long haul. And we are still there today. In the first few weeks after the hurricanes, Habitat affiliates and volunteers across the country began building house frames to be delivered to the Gulf. Within six weeks, on-site construction began on the first Habitat hurricane-response house. Since then, Habitat affiliates and their partners have built, rehabbed or repaired more than 2,200 houses in the hardest hit areas of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were a challenging natural disaster that exacerbated what was already an affordable housing crisis in all of these communities. Our mission to help families break free of poverty housing and build a brighter future for themselves proved resolute—in spite of the challenging conditions that pushed all of us to new limits. And while there is still so much more to do, we’d like to share with you some of the recovery stories along the Gulf Coast and across the U.S. and the world that—thanks to supporters like you—many families have been able to create. Please take a moment to meet just a few of the families and communities we’ve partnered with and hear their stories through a powerful collection of slide shows, video footage and personal stories. We’re proud of the work that Habitat affiliates have accomplished during the past five years. We’re thankful for the thousands of volunteers who have supported our efforts in the many different Gulf Coast communities. And we’re grateful for the financial support of donors across the country who have helped make this work possible. As always, your tax-deductible gift to Habitat for Humanity will help us continue our recovery work in the Gulf Coast, expand our global reach and partner with more families. Our response work in the five-year wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita has affirmed the importance of partnership—that when we work together, we can make a lasting difference hand-in-hand with families in urgent need of safe, decent housing. Thank you for your generous support. Sincerely, Jonathan Reckford Chief Executive Officer Habitat for Humanity International

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Five years later Carla Campo (in pink shirt) was born and raised in New Orleans, but after Katrina, her home suffered water damage, which led to serious health problems for her children. In March 2010, they celebrated their new Habitat home, built in partnership with East St. Tammany HFH. RECOVERY BY THE NUMBERS 57 Before Katrina, all the Gulf Coast affiliates combined built about 57 houses per year. 400 Since Katrina, the Gulf Coast affiliates have built, repaired or rehabbed more than 400 homes a year. 994 Repairs of houses completed through grants of $4 million from Church World Services and $524,000 from Rebuilding Together. 2,219 Total number of Habitat houses built since 2005 as part of hurricane recovery. 2,500 Habitat volunteers removed debris and cleaned more than 2,500 homes in preparation for rehabbing. 150,000 Estimated number of volunteers who have helped rebuilding efforts in New Orleans alone.