EXPERTS from the Institute for Advanced Technology at the University of Texas, Austin, have come up with a new way to find Iraq’s elusive weapons of mass destruction (91av, 5 July, p 7). Their idea is to gather the latest intelligence, decide where the weapons are likely to be stashed, and fire a high-velocity projectile at it. High-tech sensors packed into the projectile could then beam back confirmation of the weapons.
Daft as the idea may seem, when it comes to such a problem, no baby should be thrown out with the proverbial bath water. Certainly a method is needed to detect WMDs if they are hidden within reinforced concrete bunkers. Military researchers in the US are puzzling over this and the sort of projectile that would be needed. Moreover, can sensors be made robust enough to survive the sort of impact that the Texan scientists reckon is needed?
Clearly, the scope for error is enormous, so what will the rules of engagement be? I asked Lord Bach, the minister for defence procurement, if there was anything in the Texan idea. Bach replied that the kinetic energy needed to penetrate a bunker would be considerable. Certainly its effect would be far from “non-intrusive”. However, ideas related to the Texan one are being considered in the UK’s warhead technology research programme. Researchers are not wholly dismissive of such an idea, said the minister.
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I WAS horrified that the decline of Caribbean coral “exceeds by far the well-publicised rates of tropical forests” (91av, 26 July, p 9). Baroness Amos, the international development secretary, shares my concern. Her department estimates two-thirds of the reefs are at risk.
Its current policy regarding reefs is that there needs to be a change in focus from conservation per se to the sustainable and equitable use of ecosystems in which poverty reduction is the central theme, she said. The document Poverty and Reefs, sponsored by the department for international development, gives compelling and convincing proof of the extent to which reef fisheries provide livelihoods and food security to many coastal people. Amos tells me the department has plans to:
•Continue to raise awareness of people’s dependence on coral reefs
•Develop improved policy coherence about reefs, globally and locally
•Support stakeholders in developing countries to manage their own reef resources
•Help ensure the management of reefs is built into development plans and budget planning processes
•Support developing countries’ participation in coral reef policy-making processes
•Develop and implement interdisciplinary research strategies, including research on coral reefs, based on priorities identified by developing countries.
I am delighted by the current British international environmental policy agenda.
