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Can We Survive the New Golden Age of Oil?

Thu, 2012-06-07 21:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Robert G.Ross

      

EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP/Getty Images - For more photos of new energy powers, click here.

foreignpolicy.com - by Steve Levine - June 5, 2012

A flurry of new finds has analysts giddy over a new age of energy abundance. Just don't ask about global warming.

Energy experts are tittering about a prodigious new golden age of oil and gas in the Eastern Mediterranean, where Israel and Cyprus could become substantial oil and natural gas exporters, in addition to some other surprising places including French Guiana, Kenya, North Dakota, and Somalia.

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Book it, we’re toast: The Fate of the Species

Sat, 2012-05-26 10:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Michael D. Lemonick

reneweconomy.com.au - Climate Central - May 22, 2012

If you grew up in the 1950’s and early 60’s, you probably remember the faint air of existential angst that lingered constantly in the background. With the creation of atomic weapons, and the booming stockpiles of missile-mounted bombs in the arsenals of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., it seemed perfectly plausible that an all-out nuclear war could wipe out a significant fraction of the world’s population — the first time in history that humanity was capable of such destruction.

But as Fred Guterl says in a sobering, important and highly readable new book, those were really the good old days. The nuclear threat has receded, he acknowledges in The Fate of the Species: Why the human race may cause its own extinction and how we can stop it (Bloomsbury: $25), but warns that “the success of Homo sapiens has created new and terrifying risks that didn’t exist a few decades ago.”

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Arctic Melt Releasing Ancient Methane

Tue, 2012-05-22 21:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Many of the sites were bubbling methane that has been stored for millennia

BBC News - by Richard Black - May 20, 2012

Scientists have identified thousands of sites in the Arctic where methane that has been stored for many millennia is bubbling into the atmosphere.

The methane has been trapped by ice, but is able to escape as the ice melts.

Writing in the journal Nature Geoscience, the researchers say this ancient gas could have a significant impact on climate change.

Methane is the second most important greenhouse gas after CO2 and levels are rising after a few years of stability.

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Nature Geoscience - Geologic methane seeps along boundaries of Arctic permafrost thaw and melting glaciers

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H1N1 Discovery Paves Way for Universal Flu Vaccine

Wed, 2012-05-09 22:24 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Luis Kun

Homeland Security News Wire - May 9, 2012

Each year, seasonal influenza causes serious illnesses in three to five million people and 200,000 to 500,000 deaths; university of British Columbia researchers have found a potential way to develop universal flu vaccines and eliminate the need for seasonal flu vaccinations

Each year, seasonal influenza causes serious illnesses in three to five million people and 200,000 to 500,000 deaths. The 2009 H1N1 pandemic killed more than 14,000 people worldwide. Meanwhile, public health and bioterrorism concerns are heightened by new mutations of the H5N1 bird flu virus, published last week by the journal Nature, that could facilitate infection among mammals and humans.

Led by Professor John Schrader, Canada Research Chair in Immunology and director of the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Biomedical Research Center, the research team found that the 2009 H1N1 swine flu vaccine triggers antibodies that protect against many influenza viruses, including the lethal avian H5N1 bird flu strain.

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South Sudan Economy On the Verge of Collapse, World Bank Warns

Tue, 2012-05-08 23:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

South Sudanese citizens show support for their government’s decision to shut down all oil production. (Photo Courtesy Issac Billy/UN

allafrica.com - May 6, 2012

Washington — The newly independent state of South Sudan is quickly headed towards an economic cliff in light of its decision to shut down oil production which went into effect earlier this year, says a confidential report by the World bank.

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Improve Tsunami Warnings by Placing GPS on Commercial Ships

Tue, 2012-05-08 16:15 — Kathy Gilbeaux

While in transit from Hawaii to Guam, the research vessel Kilo Moana detected the February 2010 Chilean tsunami. Credit: University of Hawaii, SOEST

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - May 8, 2012

Researchers find that commercial ships travel across most of the globe and could provide better warnings for potentially deadly tsunamis; this finding came as a surprise because tsunamis have such small amplitudes in the deep water, in contrast to their size when they reach the coastline, that it seemed unlikely that the tsunami would be detected using GPS unless the ship was very close to the source and the tsunami was very big

Commercial ships travel across most of the globe and could provide better warnings for potentially deadly tsunamis, according to a study published by scientists at the University of Hawaii – Manoa (UHM) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

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Researchers Use GPS Data to Speed Up Tsunami Warnings

Sun, 2012-05-06 23:25 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

In this Jan. 2, 2005 file photo, a wide area of destruction is shown from an aerial view taken over Meulaboh, 250 kilometers (156 Miles) west of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Researchers in the United States are hoping to use GPS data to speed up current warnings. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, File)

U.S. seismologists currently testing new warning system

by Andrew Pinsent - CBC News - May 5, 2012

Scientists in the United States have been testing an advanced tsunami warning system using GPS data, combined with traditional seismology networks, to attempt to detect the magnitude of an earthquake faster so warnings of potential tsunamis can get out to potentially affected areas sooner.

The prototype is called California Integrated Seismic Network (CISN), and is a collaboration between the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, whose focus is on environmental conservation.

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MYANMAR: Fighting open defecation one village at a time

Fri, 2012-05-04 23:58 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Stuart Leiderman

      

A woman outside her newly built latrine.  Photo: Lynn Maung/IRIN

YAE OO, 4 May 2012 (IRIN) - The Burmese government declared three villages in western Bago Division open defecation free (ODF), a first in Myanmar, following the first year of a community-led total sanitation (CLTS) effort launched by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Ministry of Health.

"This is a major step forward. It proves that communities can discard the practice of open defecation and build latrines on their own initiative," Ramesh Shrestha, the UNICEF country representative in Myanmar, told IRIN.

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Myanmar - Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) - http://www.communityledtotalsanitation.org/country/Myanmar

WHO / UNICEF - Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation - Estimates for the use of Improved Sanitation Facilities - Updated March 2012 - Myanmar (10 page .PDF file)

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WHO 'Concerned' Over Deadly Vietnam Mystery Disease

Sun, 2012-04-29 00:54 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The rash as seen on the hands and feet caused by the mystery "infection" - Photo credit: Saigon Giai Phong

google.com / News - AFP - April 23, 2012

HANOI, Vietnam — The World Health Organisation said Monday it was "concerned" about an outbreak of a mysterious skin disease in central Vietnam which has killed 19 people, mostly children.

More than 170 people have fallen ill with the unidentified illness, which causes stiffness in the limbs and ulcers on victims' hands and feet that look like severe burns.

"We are concerned about this. WHO is very aware of this case," said Wu Guogao, the organisation's chief officer in Hanoi, adding Vietnam had not asked for help with an investigation into the outbreak.

The WHO has not been given access to any official reports on the issue.

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Rapid Climate Change Threatens Asia’s Rice Bowl

Sun, 2012-04-22 23:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Rice production in Asia is threaten by rapid climate change. Photo: T. Sunderland (CIFOR)

Researchers Focus on Innovations to Adapt Agriculture to Wild Swings in Climate Extremes, as Vividly Manifested by Southeast Asia’s Catastrophic Flood-drought Cycles

Bangkok (12 April 2012)—As Asia’s monsoon season begins, leading climate specialists and agricultural scientists warned today that rapid climate change and its potential to intensify droughts and floods could threaten Asia’s rice production and pose a significant threat to millions of people across the region.

“Climate change endangers crop and livestock yields and the health of fisheries and forests at the very same time that surging populations worldwide are placing new demands on food production,” said Bruce Campbell of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). “These clashing trends challenge us to transform our agriculture systems so they can sustainably deliver the food required to meet our nutritional needs and support economic development, despite rapidly shifting growing conditions.”

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