HM Government

23 March 2017 – Clouds inspire art and thought, but few natural phenomena are as important to weather, climate or water, the United Nations meteorological agency today said, launching a digital cloud atlas to celebrate World Meteorological Day.

&#8220If we want to forecast weather we have to understand clouds. If we want to model the climate system we have to understand clouds. And if we want to predict the availability of water resources, we have to understand clouds,&#8221 said said World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

World Meteorological Day commemorates the coming into force on 23 March 1950 of the convention establishing the WMO. This year’s theme is &#8220Understanding Clouds.&#8221

In conjunction with the Day, WMO today launched for the first time a primarily on-line digital edition of the International Cloud Atlas, which features hundreds of images and information about clouds, as well as meteorological marvels, such as rainbows and halos.

The new Atlas &#8220combines 19th century traditions with 21st century technology,&#8221 the UN agency said, noting that the International Cloud Atlas was first published some 200 years ago.

It contains pictures, definitions, and explanations that are accepted and used by all of WMO’s 191 members, as well as all types of measurements from space and through remote sensing.

For example, the Atlas includes &#8220volutus, a roll cloud; clouds from human activities such as the contrail, a vapour trail sometimes produced by airplanes; and asperitas, a dramatic undulated cloud which captured the public imagination,&#8221 according to WMO.

In his message for the Day, Mr. Taalas noted the importance of understanding weather and climate changes in protecting people and property, and assisting communities to become more resilient.

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Wanda Plaza in Beijing. [Photo/China.org.cn]

The number of headquarters of enterprises in Beijing stood at 4,006 at the end of 2016 with a net growth of 70.

A headquarter economy is mutually beneficial for both Beijing and enterprises. The latest data shows that from January to November 2016, the assets of HQs accounted for 74.2 percent of the city’s total; operation revenues 71.6 percent; and profits 89.8 percent. All the three figures are much higher than those of 2015.

Beijing enjoys many advantages as China’s political, economic, cultural and talent center, and lots of important businesses open here, said Alibaba Group President Jin Jianhang.

In the next few years, Alibaba will set up research and development bases for information technology sectors such as cloud computing, big data and the mobile internet in Beijing. Beijing will also become the operating base for innovative industries in the fields of health, film, music and others.

Cooperation between the government and enterprises has generated many benefits. For example, after becoming the top sponsor of the International Olympic Committee earlier this year, Alibaba has been promoting winter sports in Beijing. Internet company AutoNavi is working with Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport and Beijing Traffic Management Bureau to ease congestion through the “internet plus geographic information” approach.

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22 March 2017 – Over a year ago, on 20 February 2016, Tropical Cyclone Winston made a category 5 landfall along the north coast of Fiji’s largest, most populous island, Viti Levu, killing at least 44 people, and grounding flights to and from the Pacific Island nation.

“It was one of the strongest cyclones to have hit any country in the Southern Hemisphere,” recalls Mr. Semi Koroilavesau, Fijian Minister for Fisheries. “That was quite catastrophic for Fiji and we are still recovering from it,” he adds, sombrely.

Mr. Koroilavesau was speaking recently at a panel discussion on the margins of the first preparatory meeting – convened by the President of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York – for the first-ever UN Ocean Conference, to be co-hosted by the Governments of Fiji and Sweden, from 5 June to 9 June 2017.

“Our ocean is warming up and changing the pattern of our main product, which is tuna,” said Mr. Koroilavesau underlining the significance of the ocean to the Fijian people.

“The migratory pattern has changed because of the conditions of the water. The degradation of the water is also depleting our resources and creating a lot of havoc in our ocean,” he told the high-level panel, which included Peter Thomson, President of the UN General Assembly, Isabella Lövin, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden, and Wu Hongbo, UN Under-Secretary-General and head of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).

“Fiji has about 320 islands. Ocean is quite an important item to us both in our daily lives and… also as transportation between the islands,” said Mr. Koroilavesau.

In the run-up to the June Conference, four themes will shape the focus of the preparations that, according to the President of the UN General Assembly, “will lay the foundations upon which the Oceans Conference will stand.”

“Our efforts at this time and in the years ahead, will determine whether our children, and those who come after them, will know the joy and the sustenance of the oceans bounty that was provided to us in our youth. Let’s not deny them that bounty,” Mr. Thomson had said earlier, in a message that resonated strongly with the theme for the month of February, which is People and Oceans, with a focus on livelihoods, tourism, food security, maritime transport and trade.

“Whether you look at the declining fish stocks that are reaching a tipping point, or the ocean acidification level or whether you look at the level of plastics in our oceans, I think any sensible person can conclude that time is running out fast and we need to take action fast,” said Mr. Thomson, during the preparatory meeting.

SDG14 and the whole development agenda

Under-Secretary-General Wu Hongbo underlined the nexus between oceans and people, especially in the context of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14, which has to do with conserving and sustainably using the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
“When we talk about SDG 14, we are thinking about navigation in the sea, we think about catching fish in the sea for food, we are thinking about doing tourism, but that is not all. Health of the sea and sustainable use of marine resources have a direct impact in the implementation of the many SDGs,” noted Mr. Wu, calling for voluntary commitments to implement Goal 14.

Noting that SDG 14 is one of the vanguards for the whole Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, Mr. Wu also makes the connection between oceans and the goal to eliminate hunger. “We are actually receiving a lot of nutrition and the food from the sea so we have to protect the sea,” said Mr. Wu.

Besides food and nutrition, Mr. Wu pointed out the significant contribution of the ocean to people’s overall wellbeing and in mitigating the effects of climate change.

“The ocean and the sea are the natural regulator of our climate and they are good for sanitation,” noted the UN Under-Secretary-General. “People are saying that the oceans sink one third of greenhouse gas emission. If we lose the sea and oceans, just imagine what kind of situation we are going to have,” warned Mr. Wu, who also made a connection between oceans, employment and economic growth.

“I think the best or sustainable use of marine resources would really have a big boost to the economic growth and create a lot of jobs,” said Mr. Wu.

Transformative commitments to drive Conference outcomes

The outcomes of the Oceans Conference will, according to the President of the UN General Assembly, include a call to action and a conference report that will constitute the global body’s work plan for implementing the SDG 14.

“We must keep our vision clear. We must universalise our efforts. We must maintain the momentum towards the transformative commitments that will emerge from the Oceans Conference in June,” underscored Mr. Thomson during the first preparatory meeting.

Mr. Thomson places particular significance to the outcomes of the Ocean Conference which, he noted, would constitute “a turning point in history.”

“This is the opportunity for any human being to be a part of the recovery of the ocean. For any human being who cares about the health of the ocean,” said Mr. Thomson, during the meeting.

Sweden’s Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lövin sees the Ocean Conference as an opportunity to “share experiences, share best practices,” she told the high-level panel. “This Ocean Conference will be the hub where we can actually share this knowledge, also transfer technology, and support developing countries so they will have access and the capacity to share the way that is needed for the oceans because the oceans connect us all,” she said.

Ms. Lövin also expressed concerns about unsustainable exploitation of ocean resources and pollution, warning, “If these trends continue, with the overfishing, with more and more plastic pollution in our oceans, we will have more plastics than fish in our oceans by 2050.”

Like her fellow panellists, she made an urgent call to action. “It’s really, really serious so this is what we have to do now in order to leave our planet with good conscious to our children and grandchildren,” she said, adding, “We need to take action now and we can do it. We don’t have any excuses for not doing it.”

The UN has called for voluntary commitments to implement Goal 14 and established an online commitment registry. The voluntary commitments, according to Under-Secretary-General Wu, “underscore the urgency for action and for solutions.”

Other themes in focus every month ahead of the Ocean conference include: Ocean Pollution (marine litter, land-based water pollutants, shipping waste, oil spills); Marine Biodiversity (overfishing, marine habitat loss, species loss); and Oceans and Climate Change (sea-level rise, ocean warming, ocean acidification, coral bleaching).

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It’s Salt Awareness Week (20 to 26 March). The Public Health Agency (PHA) is reminding everyone of the dangers of eating too much salt and asking everyone to check food labels to see how much salt is in food.

High blood pressure

Too much salt in your diet can contribute to high blood pressure – also known as hypertension.

Hypertension often has no symptoms, but if you have the condition, you are more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke.

A very small amount of salt is an essential part of your diet. However, often without realising it, most of us are eating too much.

It is recommended that adults eat no more than six grams of salt a day (about a teaspoon) and children should have even less.

Using less salt

You can take greater control by simply using less salt during cooking and tasting food at the table before adding salt, rather than doing this automatically.

However, it is important to realise that 75 per cent of the salt you eat is already in the food you buy.

Ready prepared and processed foods can be high in salt. For example, a tin of cream of chicken soup can contain 1.9g of salt – almost a third of the recommended daily amount in just one tin.

Ready meals and snack foods, such as crisps, in particular can be very high in salt. By reading product labels before you buy, you can choose the products that are lower in salt and better for your health.

‘Traffic light’ food labels

If a product uses the ‘traffic light’ indicators on its packaging, try to go for products marked green or amber for salt content, and stay clear of products marked red for salt.

For foods that don’t use red, amber and green labels, more than 1.5g salt per 100g is high in salt; between 0.3g and 1.5g has medium salt content; and 0.3g salt or less per 100g is low in salt.

Reducing the amount of salt you use in cooking doesn’t necessarily mean less flavoursome meals. You can replace salt with alternative flavourings such as pepper, lemon juice, herbs, and spices.

The PHA’s Choose to Live Better website has further advice and tips on eating well and getting active.

Salt tips

Read the salt content on the label – look at the amount of salt per 100g:

• more than 1.5g salt per 100g is high in salt (red)
• between 0.3g and 1.5g is medium (amber)
• 0.3g salt or less per 100g is low salt content (green)

Many food labels list ‘sodium’ rather than salt. To convert this to the amount of salt, multiply the amount of sodium listed by a factor of 2.5. For example, if a food label says a product has 0.6g of sodium, it contains 1.5g of salt.

Adults should eat no more than 2.4g of sodium per day, as this is equal to 6g of salt.

Children should eat less than an adult’s daily recommendation of six grams, but how much differs with age so it’s important to keep an eye on how much salt is already in manufactured foods:

• one to three years – no more than 2g of salt per day
• four to six years – no more than 3g of salt per day
• seven to 10 years – no more than 5g of salt per day
• 11 years and over – no more than 6g of salt per day

Babies under a year old should have less than 1g of salt a day.

If a baby is breastfed, they will get the right amount of minerals, including sodium and chloride, from breast milk. Formula milk contains a similar amount of sodium to breast milk.

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