Climate change is altering North American winter bird communities in ways that models currently favored by ecologists fail to predict.
Based on patterns of animals found in different climate zones today, ecologists would expect that as habitats warm, numbers of species found there will increase, and that those species will be smaller in size and restricted to narrower geographic ranges. Ecologists at the University of California, San Diego have found that only one of those three predictions has held for North American birds over the past quarter century.
Instead, their analysis has revealed that warmer weather has favored "weedy" species, those that are adapted to a wide range of habitats and therefore easily extend their ranges. Larger birds, which are typically better disperses than smaller species, seem to have gained an advantage, they report in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B June 10.
"The changes, at least initially, are likely to favor generalist species, those in the best position to respond to changes," said Frank La Sorte, a post-doctoral fellow at UC San Diego and first author of the paper. "It's going to be difficult using existing spatial ecological patterns to predict the outcome of climate change."
The team based their assessment on the annual Christmas Bird Count, an event organized by the National Audubon Society in which volunteers note which birds are present within a 24 kilometer wide circle in their communities over a 24-hour period in early winter, relying on either sight or sound to identify the species.
The team found 404 sites throughout North America where birders surveyed every year between 1975 and 2001. Over that period of time, the average annual temperature of these communities increased by nearly one degree Celsius.
As spatial models predict, the numbers of species counted at each site grew as temperature climbed. But that increase could be attributed to larger and more widespread species becoming more common, a pattern not reflected by differences between ecological communities found in warmer versus cooler parts of the world.
The observation suggests that weedy species may win in a warmer world, at least initially. But it also warns ecologists that they may need to revise their models when planning conservation in the face of global climate change.
"Biodiversity is under severe threat from climate change, and the lack of long-term data makes accurate forecasting of likely impact notoriously difficult," said Walter Jetz, associate professor of biology at UC San Diego and senior author of the paper. "Our study illustrates the limitations of using spatial relationships that were established over millennia to model the ecological consequences of current climate change, which is proceeding at a very rapid rate. Rigorous assessment will require much more extensive, long-term monitoring of ecological communities."
Friday, June 19, 2009
Key Found To How Tumor Cells Invade The Brain In Childhood Cancer
Despite great strides in treating childhood leukemia, a form of the disease called T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) poses special challenges because of the high risk of leukemic cells invading the brain and spinal cord of children who relapse.
Now, a new study in the June 18, 2009, issue of the journal Nature by scientists at NYU School of Medicine reveals the molecular agents behind this devastating infiltration of the central nervous system. The finding may lead to new drugs that block these agents and thus lower the risk of relapse.
T-ALL, a blood-borne cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes, or white blood cells, strikes several hundred children and adolescents in the U.S. annually. While greater than 90% percent go into remission through a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, up to one third of this group end up relapsing. These patients are at particular risk for tumor cells to invade the brain and spinal cord, and to prevent this all patients receive chemotherapy injections into the central nervous system and in some cases cranial irradiation—approaches that cause dangerous side effects, including secondary tumors and potentially permanent cognitive and developmental deficits.
“In general, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is treatable with chemotherapy and radiation,” said Ioannis Aifantis, PhD, associate professor of pathology and co-director of the Cancer Stem Cell Program at the NYU Cancer Institute, who led the new study. “But you have a very high rate of relapse. And after the relapse, it is not treatable because the cancer occurs in tricky places like the central nervous system,” said Dr. Aifantis, who is also an Early Career Scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
“We are very proud of this research and very excited about the potential implications for new therapeutic approaches to prevent or reduce the spread of leukemic cells into the central nervous system,” said Vivian S. Lee MD, PhD, MBA, the vice dean for science, senior vice president and chief scientific officer of NYU Langone Medical Center.
In the new study, Dr. Aifantis and his colleagues found that a key protein receptor embedded on the outer surface of leukemic cells is responsible for infiltrating the brain and spinal cord. “What we have found is that leukemic cells over-express this receptor.” said Dr. Aifantis, “If you knock out this receptor, these cells will not go to the brain under any circumstances.”
Previous research had strongly implicated a famous gene regulator called Notch1 in the progression of T-ALL. The Notch1 gene (a mutated version gives fruit flies notched wings) is an oncogene, or cancer-causing gene, in humans. Certain kinds of mutations in this gene have been found in nearly half of all T-ALL patients, and current estimates suggest that the gene’s regulatory influence might be implicated in nearly 90 percent of all T-ALL cases.
For their new study, Dr. Aifantis and his colleagues first introduced overactive forms of Notch1 into mice. As a result, the mice developed leukemia and the leukemic cells efficiently infiltrated the inner layers of the membrane covering the brain. “What happens is that the leukemic cells get into the cerebrospinal fluidthat protects our brain and spine, where they fill up the space and they can affect brain function, either by secreting chemicals and toxic factors or even by simple pressure,” Dr. Aifantis said.
His team then examined an array of other mouse genes to identify candidates that might fall under the regulatory spell of Notch1 to promote the brain and spinal cord infiltration. The screen revealed a promising gene for a protein named CCR7, which is embedded on the surface of lymphocytes. This chemokine receptor, as it’s known, normally senses and responds to small chemical attractants called chemokines, which act like recruitment signals for lymphocytes to converge on a specific site during the body’s response to infection or injury. In leukemia, however, these lymphocytes proliferate abnormally.
CCR7 was already known as a key player in normal lymphocyte migration and as a binding partner of two chemokines named CCL19 and CCL21. Previous studies had implicated these protein interactions in the metastasis of other tumors such as melanomas and breast cancers. Dr. Aifantis’s team also discovered that the gene for CCR7 was overactive in four of five T-ALL cell lines derived from human patients, bolstering suspicions that it played a central role in the disease. Conversely, a mutation that knocked out Notch1 also led to dramatically reduced CCR7 levels.
To characterize CCR7’s potential role in T-ALL, the researchers used two sets of mice: one in which the receptor was turned on, and a second in which it was turned off. When the team delivered an identical number of human-derived leukemic cells to both sets of mice, those with the CCR7 chemokine receptor turned off lived almost twice as long. Using bioluminescent imaging, the researchers quickly understood why: animals with the active CCR7 receptor had many more tumors. Tellingly, the T-ALL cells had infiltrated the brain and spinal cord of those mice.
Further experiments suggested that when healthy mice received leukemic cells in which the gene for CCR7 had been turned off, the cells could not migrate to the brain even though they reached other body tissues. As a result, the mice survived significantly longer than counterparts with an active copy of the gene. On the other hand, introducing a normal version of the same gene to mice otherwise lacking it was enough to recruit leukemic cells to the brain and spine.
“We wanted to determine whether CCR7 by itself was sufficient for entry into the central nervous system and that’s what this experiment shows,” Dr. Aifantis said. “By changing one specific gene, you now have your function back.”
Finally, the researchers identified the small protein that acted as the “come hither” signal for the CCR7 protein receptors. One candidate, CCL21, was undetectable in leukemic mice. But a second, CCL19, appeared in tiny veins of the brain near the infiltrating tumor cells. When the researchers introduced leukemic cells carrying a gene for CCR7 to mice that naturally lacked the CCL19 chemokine, the mice survived longer, suggesting that their increased life spans might be due to a disrupted interaction of the two proteins. The leukemic cells had no trouble infiltrating other tissue like the lymph nodes, but were completely incapable of infiltrating the brains of CCL19-deficient mice, the researchers report.
“Perhaps there are antibodies or small molecules that can block the interaction between these two proteins or reduce their interactions,” Dr. Aifantis said, “and hopefully that could be used as a type of prophylactic treatment to prevent a relapse in the central nervous system among patients who have already been treated for leukemia.” Such a treatment, he said, could prove a good alternative to the intensive and often poorly tolerated radiation and chemotherapy now used to try to block such a relapse.
The study was led by Dr. Silvia Buonamici, a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Aifantis in the Department of Pathology and the NYU Cancer Institute, and in the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Stem Cell Center at NYU Langone Medical Center. Other study investigators are; Thomas Trimarchi, Maria Grazia Ruocco, Linsey Reavie, Severine Cathelin, Yevgeniy Lukyanov, Jen-Chieh Tseng, Filiz Sen, Mengling Li, Elizabeth Newcomb, Jiri Zavadil, Daniel Meruelo, Sherif Ibrahim, David Zagzag, and Michael L. Dustin from NYU Langone Medical Center; Brenton G. Mar, Apostolos Klinakis, and Argiris Efstratiadis from Columbia University Medical Center; Eric Gehrie and Jonathan S. Bromberg from Mount Sinai School of Medicine; and Martin Lipp from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the Dana Foundation, The Chemotherapy Foundation, the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, the Lauri Strauss Leukemia foundation, the G&P Foundation, an NYU School of Medicine Molecular Oncology and Immunology training grant, the American Society of Hematology, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, a gift from the Berrie Foundation, and a fellowship from the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research.
Now, a new study in the June 18, 2009, issue of the journal Nature by scientists at NYU School of Medicine reveals the molecular agents behind this devastating infiltration of the central nervous system. The finding may lead to new drugs that block these agents and thus lower the risk of relapse.
T-ALL, a blood-borne cancer in which the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes, or white blood cells, strikes several hundred children and adolescents in the U.S. annually. While greater than 90% percent go into remission through a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, up to one third of this group end up relapsing. These patients are at particular risk for tumor cells to invade the brain and spinal cord, and to prevent this all patients receive chemotherapy injections into the central nervous system and in some cases cranial irradiation—approaches that cause dangerous side effects, including secondary tumors and potentially permanent cognitive and developmental deficits.
“In general, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia is treatable with chemotherapy and radiation,” said Ioannis Aifantis, PhD, associate professor of pathology and co-director of the Cancer Stem Cell Program at the NYU Cancer Institute, who led the new study. “But you have a very high rate of relapse. And after the relapse, it is not treatable because the cancer occurs in tricky places like the central nervous system,” said Dr. Aifantis, who is also an Early Career Scientist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
“We are very proud of this research and very excited about the potential implications for new therapeutic approaches to prevent or reduce the spread of leukemic cells into the central nervous system,” said Vivian S. Lee MD, PhD, MBA, the vice dean for science, senior vice president and chief scientific officer of NYU Langone Medical Center.
In the new study, Dr. Aifantis and his colleagues found that a key protein receptor embedded on the outer surface of leukemic cells is responsible for infiltrating the brain and spinal cord. “What we have found is that leukemic cells over-express this receptor.” said Dr. Aifantis, “If you knock out this receptor, these cells will not go to the brain under any circumstances.”
Previous research had strongly implicated a famous gene regulator called Notch1 in the progression of T-ALL. The Notch1 gene (a mutated version gives fruit flies notched wings) is an oncogene, or cancer-causing gene, in humans. Certain kinds of mutations in this gene have been found in nearly half of all T-ALL patients, and current estimates suggest that the gene’s regulatory influence might be implicated in nearly 90 percent of all T-ALL cases.
For their new study, Dr. Aifantis and his colleagues first introduced overactive forms of Notch1 into mice. As a result, the mice developed leukemia and the leukemic cells efficiently infiltrated the inner layers of the membrane covering the brain. “What happens is that the leukemic cells get into the cerebrospinal fluidthat protects our brain and spine, where they fill up the space and they can affect brain function, either by secreting chemicals and toxic factors or even by simple pressure,” Dr. Aifantis said.
His team then examined an array of other mouse genes to identify candidates that might fall under the regulatory spell of Notch1 to promote the brain and spinal cord infiltration. The screen revealed a promising gene for a protein named CCR7, which is embedded on the surface of lymphocytes. This chemokine receptor, as it’s known, normally senses and responds to small chemical attractants called chemokines, which act like recruitment signals for lymphocytes to converge on a specific site during the body’s response to infection or injury. In leukemia, however, these lymphocytes proliferate abnormally.
CCR7 was already known as a key player in normal lymphocyte migration and as a binding partner of two chemokines named CCL19 and CCL21. Previous studies had implicated these protein interactions in the metastasis of other tumors such as melanomas and breast cancers. Dr. Aifantis’s team also discovered that the gene for CCR7 was overactive in four of five T-ALL cell lines derived from human patients, bolstering suspicions that it played a central role in the disease. Conversely, a mutation that knocked out Notch1 also led to dramatically reduced CCR7 levels.
To characterize CCR7’s potential role in T-ALL, the researchers used two sets of mice: one in which the receptor was turned on, and a second in which it was turned off. When the team delivered an identical number of human-derived leukemic cells to both sets of mice, those with the CCR7 chemokine receptor turned off lived almost twice as long. Using bioluminescent imaging, the researchers quickly understood why: animals with the active CCR7 receptor had many more tumors. Tellingly, the T-ALL cells had infiltrated the brain and spinal cord of those mice.
Further experiments suggested that when healthy mice received leukemic cells in which the gene for CCR7 had been turned off, the cells could not migrate to the brain even though they reached other body tissues. As a result, the mice survived significantly longer than counterparts with an active copy of the gene. On the other hand, introducing a normal version of the same gene to mice otherwise lacking it was enough to recruit leukemic cells to the brain and spine.
“We wanted to determine whether CCR7 by itself was sufficient for entry into the central nervous system and that’s what this experiment shows,” Dr. Aifantis said. “By changing one specific gene, you now have your function back.”
Finally, the researchers identified the small protein that acted as the “come hither” signal for the CCR7 protein receptors. One candidate, CCL21, was undetectable in leukemic mice. But a second, CCL19, appeared in tiny veins of the brain near the infiltrating tumor cells. When the researchers introduced leukemic cells carrying a gene for CCR7 to mice that naturally lacked the CCL19 chemokine, the mice survived longer, suggesting that their increased life spans might be due to a disrupted interaction of the two proteins. The leukemic cells had no trouble infiltrating other tissue like the lymph nodes, but were completely incapable of infiltrating the brains of CCL19-deficient mice, the researchers report.
“Perhaps there are antibodies or small molecules that can block the interaction between these two proteins or reduce their interactions,” Dr. Aifantis said, “and hopefully that could be used as a type of prophylactic treatment to prevent a relapse in the central nervous system among patients who have already been treated for leukemia.” Such a treatment, he said, could prove a good alternative to the intensive and often poorly tolerated radiation and chemotherapy now used to try to block such a relapse.
The study was led by Dr. Silvia Buonamici, a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Aifantis in the Department of Pathology and the NYU Cancer Institute, and in the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Stem Cell Center at NYU Langone Medical Center. Other study investigators are; Thomas Trimarchi, Maria Grazia Ruocco, Linsey Reavie, Severine Cathelin, Yevgeniy Lukyanov, Jen-Chieh Tseng, Filiz Sen, Mengling Li, Elizabeth Newcomb, Jiri Zavadil, Daniel Meruelo, Sherif Ibrahim, David Zagzag, and Michael L. Dustin from NYU Langone Medical Center; Brenton G. Mar, Apostolos Klinakis, and Argiris Efstratiadis from Columbia University Medical Center; Eric Gehrie and Jonathan S. Bromberg from Mount Sinai School of Medicine; and Martin Lipp from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.
The study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the Dana Foundation, The Chemotherapy Foundation, the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, the Lauri Strauss Leukemia foundation, the G&P Foundation, an NYU School of Medicine Molecular Oncology and Immunology training grant, the American Society of Hematology, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, a gift from the Berrie Foundation, and a fellowship from the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research.
Diesel engines clean up their act
Some good news for a change.
A new study shows that 2007 diesel engines are belching out 90% less pollution than 2004 models when it comes to many toxic emissions. Some say the improvements will save lives.
The report by the Coordinating Research Council, a nonprofit research group, found that emissions of fine particulate matter, a dangerous pollutant that can get into people's lungs, has decreased by 99%. That's 89% lower than 2007 EPA standards.
Smog-producing hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions also passed EPA standards with flying colors, dropping more than 90%, according to the study. Nitrogen oxides, another culprit in smog production, went down 70%, or 10% below required levels.
The improvements will save lives.
EPA's standards apply only to new diesel engines. California remains the only state to force truckers to clean up existing diesel engines, through controversial rules adopted in December 2009.
A new study shows that 2007 diesel engines are belching out 90% less pollution than 2004 models when it comes to many toxic emissions. Some say the improvements will save lives.
The report by the Coordinating Research Council, a nonprofit research group, found that emissions of fine particulate matter, a dangerous pollutant that can get into people's lungs, has decreased by 99%. That's 89% lower than 2007 EPA standards.
Smog-producing hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide emissions also passed EPA standards with flying colors, dropping more than 90%, according to the study. Nitrogen oxides, another culprit in smog production, went down 70%, or 10% below required levels.
The improvements will save lives.
EPA's standards apply only to new diesel engines. California remains the only state to force truckers to clean up existing diesel engines, through controversial rules adopted in December 2009.
EPA targets cement industry emissions
Environmentalists and industry representatives pleaded their case with federal regulators Tuesday over rules that would slash toxic emissions from cement kilns, the top source of mercury emissions in California.The Environmental Protection Agency issued proposed regulations for Portland cement kilns earlier this year, after more than a decade of pressure from environmental groups. The rules aim to reduce the industry's mercury emissions by an estimated 81% to 93% annually, as well as cut emissions of hydrocarbons, particulate matter and hydrochloric acid.The EPA projects that the changes could save billions of dollars and hundreds of lives a year, but cement industry officials say they will drive up the price of cement, and possibly drive the industry to countries that have lower pollution standards. The rules would "undermine the stability of the domestic cement industry, endangering thousands of jobs and the supply of a basic construction material for uncertain environmental benefits," Andy O'Hare, a spokesman for the Portland Cement Assn., told EPA officials at the hearing in downtown Los Angeles."This regulation will help all Californians breathe easier, particularly the dozens of California communities neighboring cement kilns," Otana Jakpor, a Riverside high school student speaking for the American Lung Assn., told the EPA panel. "It will reduce hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic chemicals that harm young people. And it will do so with technology that already exists. . . . As a young person who lives in an area with some of the worst air pollution in the country, I feel especially passionate about this."
Portland cement kilns, which produce the key ingredient in concrete, account for 90% of the state's airborne mercury, which can affect the nervous system, cognitive function and kidneys, and can cause respiratory failure and death at high exposures, according to the EPA. Cement kilns emit hazardous chemicals as they burn coal, petroleum coke or industrial waste to heat raw materials including limestone ore, which also can contain mercury and other elements. The process produces "clinker," which is cooled, ground and mixed with gypsum. In 2008, high levels of the toxic carcinogen hexavalent chromium were traced to piles of clinker outside the TXI Riverside cement plant, which has since shut down. "We think of California as not having coal-fired power plants, but we really do," said Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We have these cement kilns that basically operate as small coal-fired power plants, and some of them aren't so small."California is the nation's largest producer of cement, and houses 11 of the nation's 163 Portland cement plants, including the Lehigh Southwest plant in Tehachapi, which has historically been one of the industry's worst mercury polluters.The EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed rules through Sept. 4. A second hearing will take place in Dallas today and a third in Washington on Thursday
Portland cement kilns, which produce the key ingredient in concrete, account for 90% of the state's airborne mercury, which can affect the nervous system, cognitive function and kidneys, and can cause respiratory failure and death at high exposures, according to the EPA. Cement kilns emit hazardous chemicals as they burn coal, petroleum coke or industrial waste to heat raw materials including limestone ore, which also can contain mercury and other elements. The process produces "clinker," which is cooled, ground and mixed with gypsum. In 2008, high levels of the toxic carcinogen hexavalent chromium were traced to piles of clinker outside the TXI Riverside cement plant, which has since shut down. "We think of California as not having coal-fired power plants, but we really do," said Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "We have these cement kilns that basically operate as small coal-fired power plants, and some of them aren't so small."California is the nation's largest producer of cement, and houses 11 of the nation's 163 Portland cement plants, including the Lehigh Southwest plant in Tehachapi, which has historically been one of the industry's worst mercury polluters.The EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed rules through Sept. 4. A second hearing will take place in Dallas today and a third in Washington on Thursday
New York 'carbon counter' sign shows greenhouse gases in real time
New Yorkers leaving Penn station and the tenor Andrea Bocelli's concert at Madison Square Garden stadium were confronted with an unusual advert yesterday – a huge sign showing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.
Updated in real time, using projections from monthly measurements of CO2 and other greenhouse gases by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Carbon Counter is designed to get everyone to reduce their emissions.
Kevin Parker, the global head of Deutsche Bank's asset management division, which put up the 21-metre sign, said: "Carbon in the atmosphere has reached an 800,000-year high. We can't see greenhouse gases, so it is easy to forget that they are accumulating rapidly."
Yesterday the counter, which uses 40,960 low-energy LEDs and carbon-offsets its electricity usage, gave a figure of 3.64tn tonnes.
At current rates, the counter's figures are expected to rise by 2bn tonnes a month. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stands at about 387 parts per million (ppm), up by more than a third on pre-industrial revolution levels of about 280ppm.
Ronald Prinn, professor of atmospheric science at MIT, explained the data behind the sign: "The number on the counter is based on global measurements. It shows the total estimated tonnage of greenhouse gases expressed as their equivalent amounts of carbon dioxide, with seasonal and other natural cyclical variations removed to more clearly reveal the underlying long-term trends driven by human and other activity."
Updated in real time, using projections from monthly measurements of CO2 and other greenhouse gases by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Carbon Counter is designed to get everyone to reduce their emissions.
Kevin Parker, the global head of Deutsche Bank's asset management division, which put up the 21-metre sign, said: "Carbon in the atmosphere has reached an 800,000-year high. We can't see greenhouse gases, so it is easy to forget that they are accumulating rapidly."
Yesterday the counter, which uses 40,960 low-energy LEDs and carbon-offsets its electricity usage, gave a figure of 3.64tn tonnes.
At current rates, the counter's figures are expected to rise by 2bn tonnes a month. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stands at about 387 parts per million (ppm), up by more than a third on pre-industrial revolution levels of about 280ppm.
Ronald Prinn, professor of atmospheric science at MIT, explained the data behind the sign: "The number on the counter is based on global measurements. It shows the total estimated tonnage of greenhouse gases expressed as their equivalent amounts of carbon dioxide, with seasonal and other natural cyclical variations removed to more clearly reveal the underlying long-term trends driven by human and other activity."
Denmark to power electric cars by wind in vehicle-to-grid experiment
Cars could be the solution to the intermittent nature of wind power if a multimillion European project beginning on a Danish island proves successful.
The project on the holiday island of Bornholm will use the batteries of parked electric cars to store excess energy when the wind blows hard, and then feed electricity back into the grid when the weather is calm.
The concept, known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is widely cited among greens as a key step towards a low-carbon future, but has never been demonstrated. Now, the 40,000 inhabitants of Bornholm are being recruited into the experiment. Denmark is already a world leader in wind energy and has schemes to replace 10% of all its vehicles with electric cars, but the goal on the island is to replace all petrol cars.
Currently 20% of the island's electricity comes from wind, even though it has enough turbines installed to meet 40% of its needs. The reason it cannot use the entire capacity is the intermittency of the wind: many turbines are needed to harness sufficient power in breezes, but when gales blow the grid would overload, so some turbines are disconnected.
So the aim of the awkwardly named Electric Vehicles in a Distributed and Integrated Market using Sustainable Energy and Open Networks Project – Edison for short – is to use V2G to allow more turbines to be built and provide up to 50% of the island's supply without making the grid crash.
Each electric vehicle will have battery capacity reserved to store wind power for the island rather than for travelling. This means it acts like a buffer, says Dieter Gantenbein, a researcher at IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory. IBM is developing the software needed for the island's smart grid, and will showcase its work next week. When the cars are plugged in and charging their batteries, they will absorb any additional load the grid cannot cope with and then feed it back to power homes when needed, he says.
"It's never been tried at this scale," says Hermione Crease of Cambridge-based Sentec, which develops smart grid software. There are plenty of smart grid trials already under way, usually involving the use of software to monitor and manage supply and demand, for example, by temporarily switching off industrial cooling units during periods of peak load, she says. But unlike these so-called "negawatt" approaches, proving that cars can be used as part of the grid has yet to attempted.
Andrew Howe of RLTec in London, another smart grid technology firm, says many important questions need answers. It is not clear, for example, how the cost and lifetime of batteries will influence the economics of such a system.
These are the kinds of issue the project seeks to shed light on, says the project manager Jørgen Christensen of the Danish Energy Association, which with technology companies Siemens and Dong and the government are running the scheme.
The project on the holiday island of Bornholm will use the batteries of parked electric cars to store excess energy when the wind blows hard, and then feed electricity back into the grid when the weather is calm.
The concept, known as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) is widely cited among greens as a key step towards a low-carbon future, but has never been demonstrated. Now, the 40,000 inhabitants of Bornholm are being recruited into the experiment. Denmark is already a world leader in wind energy and has schemes to replace 10% of all its vehicles with electric cars, but the goal on the island is to replace all petrol cars.
Currently 20% of the island's electricity comes from wind, even though it has enough turbines installed to meet 40% of its needs. The reason it cannot use the entire capacity is the intermittency of the wind: many turbines are needed to harness sufficient power in breezes, but when gales blow the grid would overload, so some turbines are disconnected.
So the aim of the awkwardly named Electric Vehicles in a Distributed and Integrated Market using Sustainable Energy and Open Networks Project – Edison for short – is to use V2G to allow more turbines to be built and provide up to 50% of the island's supply without making the grid crash.
Each electric vehicle will have battery capacity reserved to store wind power for the island rather than for travelling. This means it acts like a buffer, says Dieter Gantenbein, a researcher at IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory. IBM is developing the software needed for the island's smart grid, and will showcase its work next week. When the cars are plugged in and charging their batteries, they will absorb any additional load the grid cannot cope with and then feed it back to power homes when needed, he says.
"It's never been tried at this scale," says Hermione Crease of Cambridge-based Sentec, which develops smart grid software. There are plenty of smart grid trials already under way, usually involving the use of software to monitor and manage supply and demand, for example, by temporarily switching off industrial cooling units during periods of peak load, she says. But unlike these so-called "negawatt" approaches, proving that cars can be used as part of the grid has yet to attempted.
Andrew Howe of RLTec in London, another smart grid technology firm, says many important questions need answers. It is not clear, for example, how the cost and lifetime of batteries will influence the economics of such a system.
These are the kinds of issue the project seeks to shed light on, says the project manager Jørgen Christensen of the Danish Energy Association, which with technology companies Siemens and Dong and the government are running the scheme.
Consumers could get up to $4,500 for new car
Car shoppers could take advantage of government incentives worth up to $4,500 this summer to send their old gas guzzler to the scrap heap in favor of a more fuel-efficient new vehicle.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law the “cash for clunkers” program, which was approved by the Senate on Thursday. For owners of low-mileage models such as the 1994 Ford Bronco, 1998 Nissan Pathfinder or the 1995 Chevrolet Blazer, the plan could give them a reason to visit their local car dealer during an economic downturn.
“I’ve been sitting on the fence for about a year,” said Jim Seegraves, 44, of East Lansing, Mich., who has been looking to replace his 2000 GMC Sierra pickup truck. “This legislation will help me get over the hump and get the car that I want.”
The bill provides $1 billion for the auto sales program from July through November and the Congressional Budget Office expects that with a total of $4 billion, about 1 million new vehicles could be purchased. The government is expected to implement the program by early August.
Automakers and their unions have lobbied heavily for the incentives to help the auto industry boost sales and stabilize General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC, which have received billions of dollars for government-led bankruptcies. In May, U.S. auto sales were 34 percent lower than a year ago and the industry expects to sell less than 10 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2009, compared to more than 16 million in 2007.
Here’s how the plan works: Car owners could get a voucher worth $3,500 if they traded in a vehicle getting 18 miles per gallon or less for one getting at least 22 mpg. The voucher would grow to $4,500 if the new car’s mileage was 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle. The mpg figures are listed on the car’s window sticker.
Owners of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans getting 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV got at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV was at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle.
The program was aimed at replacing older vehicles — built in model year 1984 or later — and would not make financial sense for someone owning a vehicle with a trade-in value greater than $3,500 or $4,500.
A 1998 Jeep Cherokee 4-wheel-drive with about 150,000 miles, for example, might only get $1,000 to $1,500 as a trade-in vehicle, according to estimates by Kelley Blue Book. Since the 1998 Cherokee gets about 17 mpg, an owner could parlay it into a new Ford Escape Hybrid — 2009 versions get 28-to-32 mpg — and maximize their trade-in to $4,500.
Dealers would apply the vouchers to the purchase or lease of a qualifying vehicle and ensure that the older vehicles are crushed or shredded. The new vehicle must have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of less than $45,000.
The program is not without critics.
Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of Edmunds.com, a Web site for car shoppers, said it would struggle to provide 250,000 new vehicle sales. Most of the qualifying vehicles would be at least 10 years old and many owners would be less inclined to take on a new car payment or unable to afford a new vehicle.
“You’ve got to consider the profile of consumers who drive these vehicles,” Anwyl said.
Budget-conscious Republicans in the Senate opposed it, along with environmental-leaning lawmakers who said it failed to encourage the purchase of high-mileage cars and didn’t apply to used vehicles. Someone could receive a voucher for buying a new Hummer, they noted, pointing to analysts who said it would primarily benefit owners of older-model pickup trucks, SUVs and minivans.
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Vote and discuss: Will you be trading in a clunker?
Dealers say it will be a valuable tool to lure more shoppers to their showrooms. Many intend to advertise heavily and combine the government plan with other incentives, providing some help at a time when the industry is struggling to sell cars.
“Anything to jump-start the economy,” said Jason Robinson, a car salesman with AutoServ of Tilton, N.H. “There’s not much sense of urgency out in the market right now.”
President Barack Obama is expected to sign into law the “cash for clunkers” program, which was approved by the Senate on Thursday. For owners of low-mileage models such as the 1994 Ford Bronco, 1998 Nissan Pathfinder or the 1995 Chevrolet Blazer, the plan could give them a reason to visit their local car dealer during an economic downturn.
“I’ve been sitting on the fence for about a year,” said Jim Seegraves, 44, of East Lansing, Mich., who has been looking to replace his 2000 GMC Sierra pickup truck. “This legislation will help me get over the hump and get the car that I want.”
The bill provides $1 billion for the auto sales program from July through November and the Congressional Budget Office expects that with a total of $4 billion, about 1 million new vehicles could be purchased. The government is expected to implement the program by early August.
Automakers and their unions have lobbied heavily for the incentives to help the auto industry boost sales and stabilize General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group LLC, which have received billions of dollars for government-led bankruptcies. In May, U.S. auto sales were 34 percent lower than a year ago and the industry expects to sell less than 10 million vehicles in the U.S. in 2009, compared to more than 16 million in 2007.
Here’s how the plan works: Car owners could get a voucher worth $3,500 if they traded in a vehicle getting 18 miles per gallon or less for one getting at least 22 mpg. The voucher would grow to $4,500 if the new car’s mileage was 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle. The mpg figures are listed on the car’s window sticker.
Owners of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans getting 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV got at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV was at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle.
The program was aimed at replacing older vehicles — built in model year 1984 or later — and would not make financial sense for someone owning a vehicle with a trade-in value greater than $3,500 or $4,500.
A 1998 Jeep Cherokee 4-wheel-drive with about 150,000 miles, for example, might only get $1,000 to $1,500 as a trade-in vehicle, according to estimates by Kelley Blue Book. Since the 1998 Cherokee gets about 17 mpg, an owner could parlay it into a new Ford Escape Hybrid — 2009 versions get 28-to-32 mpg — and maximize their trade-in to $4,500.
Dealers would apply the vouchers to the purchase or lease of a qualifying vehicle and ensure that the older vehicles are crushed or shredded. The new vehicle must have a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of less than $45,000.
The program is not without critics.
Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of Edmunds.com, a Web site for car shoppers, said it would struggle to provide 250,000 new vehicle sales. Most of the qualifying vehicles would be at least 10 years old and many owners would be less inclined to take on a new car payment or unable to afford a new vehicle.
“You’ve got to consider the profile of consumers who drive these vehicles,” Anwyl said.
Budget-conscious Republicans in the Senate opposed it, along with environmental-leaning lawmakers who said it failed to encourage the purchase of high-mileage cars and didn’t apply to used vehicles. Someone could receive a voucher for buying a new Hummer, they noted, pointing to analysts who said it would primarily benefit owners of older-model pickup trucks, SUVs and minivans.
Click for related content
Vote and discuss: Will you be trading in a clunker?
Dealers say it will be a valuable tool to lure more shoppers to their showrooms. Many intend to advertise heavily and combine the government plan with other incentives, providing some help at a time when the industry is struggling to sell cars.
“Anything to jump-start the economy,” said Jason Robinson, a car salesman with AutoServ of Tilton, N.H. “There’s not much sense of urgency out in the market right now.”
Illegal ivory thrives in Thailand, group warns
Thailand's government has failed to crack down on one of the world's largest markets of illegal ivory, allowing vendors to openly sell products that come from African elephants, a wildlife tracking group said in a report released Friday.
The group TRAFFIC, which monitors trade in wildlife, said that judging by recent seizures of ivory imports and exports and several surveys it has done since 2006, Thailand has surpassed traditional hotspots like Japan and China.
Hundreds of venues from five-star hotels to the popular Chatuchak weekend market in the capital, Bangkok — which has by far the biggest markets in the country — were found to be selling tens of thousands of items, from pricey carvings of religious deities to cheaper bangles, belt buckles and knife handles.
Much of the illegal ivory is smuggled from central African countries to workshops outside Bangkok, the British-based conservation group said. Merchants in the capital and to a lesser degree tourist cities like Chiang Mai sell the ivory products to locals as well as foreign tourists, benefiting from loopholes in current laws that make it hard to crack down on the trade.
Some of the items are also exported to markets in Europe and the United States.
Thailand has consistently been identified as one of the world's top five countries most heavily implicated in the illicit ivory trade, but shows little sign of addressing outstanding issues," said Tom Milliken, of TRAFFIC, which oversees a global monitoring program, Elephant Trade Information.
"Thailand needs to reassess its policy for controlling its local ivory markets as currently it is not implementing international requirements to the ongoing detriment of both African and Asian Elephant populations," Milliken said.
He said the booming Thai market is endemic of a larger problem in Southeast Asia, where countries including Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines have become key transit points for ivory that is bound for markets in China.
TRAFFIC recommended that Thailand boost its regulation of the domestic ivory market, and amend a law that allows sales of domestic ivory. It also called on the government to streamline often-conflicting legislation related to the trade and to train Thai Customs officials in identifying illegal ivory.
"The Thai government needs to crack down on this serious illegal activity and stop allowing people to abuse the law," said Colman O'Criodain, the World Wide Fund For Nature's analyst on wildlife trade issues. "A good first step would be to put in place a comprehensive registration system for all ivory in trade and for live elephants."
An official with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, who could not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the report would be discussed at a government subcommittee on ivory trade control next week.
Sakchai Lalit / AP
These tusks were confiscated by Thailand in 2002.
The official acknowledged there was a "problem" with ivory sales in Bangkok but that it was hard to regulate since it can be difficult to differentiate between ivory that comes from domestic elephants and those from Africa. Some shops selling ivory items are registered with the government but he acknowledged many are not.
The Thai official said the government was trying to address the problem partly through the passage of a new law called the Elephant Act, which would toughen regulations on the import and export of elephants and elephant products, including ivory.
Shops or stalls selling ivory products in Bangkok are widespread. A visit to River City mall, a popular haunt of tourists and antique collectors, turned up 10 shops selling ivory carvings, necklaces or cigarette holders. All the merchants interviewed insisted their ivory came from Thailand or Myanmar, a claim disputed by Milliken who said the region doesn't have enough elephants to support the industry.
Click for related content
View select profiles of endangered species
At Chatuchak market, the owner of the Ethnic Tribe jewelry stall, Chotika Wongchan, was more forthcoming. She acknowledged she bought African ivory in bulk from another trader in the market and that her brother then crafted it into the rings and belt buckles she had on display.
"As a jeweler, it's no problem because we don't sell that much," she said.
Thailand is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which banned trade in ivory in 1989 after a wholesale slaughter of African elephants by poachers in the 1970s and 1980s. But Thailand, unlike China and Japan, has done little to enforce the trade ban.
The group TRAFFIC, which monitors trade in wildlife, said that judging by recent seizures of ivory imports and exports and several surveys it has done since 2006, Thailand has surpassed traditional hotspots like Japan and China.
Hundreds of venues from five-star hotels to the popular Chatuchak weekend market in the capital, Bangkok — which has by far the biggest markets in the country — were found to be selling tens of thousands of items, from pricey carvings of religious deities to cheaper bangles, belt buckles and knife handles.
Much of the illegal ivory is smuggled from central African countries to workshops outside Bangkok, the British-based conservation group said. Merchants in the capital and to a lesser degree tourist cities like Chiang Mai sell the ivory products to locals as well as foreign tourists, benefiting from loopholes in current laws that make it hard to crack down on the trade.
Some of the items are also exported to markets in Europe and the United States.
Thailand has consistently been identified as one of the world's top five countries most heavily implicated in the illicit ivory trade, but shows little sign of addressing outstanding issues," said Tom Milliken, of TRAFFIC, which oversees a global monitoring program, Elephant Trade Information.
"Thailand needs to reassess its policy for controlling its local ivory markets as currently it is not implementing international requirements to the ongoing detriment of both African and Asian Elephant populations," Milliken said.
He said the booming Thai market is endemic of a larger problem in Southeast Asia, where countries including Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines have become key transit points for ivory that is bound for markets in China.
TRAFFIC recommended that Thailand boost its regulation of the domestic ivory market, and amend a law that allows sales of domestic ivory. It also called on the government to streamline often-conflicting legislation related to the trade and to train Thai Customs officials in identifying illegal ivory.
"The Thai government needs to crack down on this serious illegal activity and stop allowing people to abuse the law," said Colman O'Criodain, the World Wide Fund For Nature's analyst on wildlife trade issues. "A good first step would be to put in place a comprehensive registration system for all ivory in trade and for live elephants."
An official with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, who could not be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the report would be discussed at a government subcommittee on ivory trade control next week.
Sakchai Lalit / AP
These tusks were confiscated by Thailand in 2002.
The official acknowledged there was a "problem" with ivory sales in Bangkok but that it was hard to regulate since it can be difficult to differentiate between ivory that comes from domestic elephants and those from Africa. Some shops selling ivory items are registered with the government but he acknowledged many are not.
The Thai official said the government was trying to address the problem partly through the passage of a new law called the Elephant Act, which would toughen regulations on the import and export of elephants and elephant products, including ivory.
Shops or stalls selling ivory products in Bangkok are widespread. A visit to River City mall, a popular haunt of tourists and antique collectors, turned up 10 shops selling ivory carvings, necklaces or cigarette holders. All the merchants interviewed insisted their ivory came from Thailand or Myanmar, a claim disputed by Milliken who said the region doesn't have enough elephants to support the industry.
Click for related content
View select profiles of endangered species
At Chatuchak market, the owner of the Ethnic Tribe jewelry stall, Chotika Wongchan, was more forthcoming. She acknowledged she bought African ivory in bulk from another trader in the market and that her brother then crafted it into the rings and belt buckles she had on display.
"As a jeweler, it's no problem because we don't sell that much," she said.
Thailand is a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, which banned trade in ivory in 1989 after a wholesale slaughter of African elephants by poachers in the 1970s and 1980s. But Thailand, unlike China and Japan, has done little to enforce the trade ban.
Tuna 'prevents macular degeneration'
Omega-3 fatty acids found in fatty fish such as tuna and salmon may help prevent age-related macular degeneration (AMD) progression,
depending upon the stage of the disease, AMD is a progressive disease that attacks central vision, resulting in a gradual loss of eyesight and, in some cases, blindness During the study, the research team from Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research (LNVR) and Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University calculated the intakes of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) among 2,924 patients aged 55 to 80 years. The findings revealed that taking supplements of antioxidants plus zinc prevents progression of late-stage AMD. "In our study, we observed participants with early stages of AMD in the placebo group benefited from higher intake of DHA, but it appears that the high-dose supplements of the antioxidants and/or the minerals somehow interfered with the benefits of DHA against early AMD progression," said senior author Dr Allen Taylor, director of the LNVR at the USDA HNRCA. The antioxidant supplements did not seem to interfere with the protective effects of DHA and EPA against progression to advanced stages of AMD. The study also showed that participants who consumed higher amounts of DHA and EPA appeared to have lower risk of progression to both wet and dry forms of advanced AMD. "Data from the present study also shows the supplements and omega-3 fatty acids collaborate with low-dietary glycemic index (dGI) diets against progression to advanced AMD," said corresponding author Chung-Jung Chiu, DDS, PhD, a scientist in the LNVR and an assistant professor at TUSM. "Our previous research suggests a low-GI diet may prevent AMD from progressing to the advanced stage," Chiu added. The researchers suggest that eating two to three servings of fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, shellfish, and herring every week would achieve the recommended daily intake of DHA and EPA, however, further research is required to conclude dietary recommendations for people with AMD. suggest researchers.
depending upon the stage of the disease, AMD is a progressive disease that attacks central vision, resulting in a gradual loss of eyesight and, in some cases, blindness During the study, the research team from Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research (LNVR) and Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University calculated the intakes of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) among 2,924 patients aged 55 to 80 years. The findings revealed that taking supplements of antioxidants plus zinc prevents progression of late-stage AMD. "In our study, we observed participants with early stages of AMD in the placebo group benefited from higher intake of DHA, but it appears that the high-dose supplements of the antioxidants and/or the minerals somehow interfered with the benefits of DHA against early AMD progression," said senior author Dr Allen Taylor, director of the LNVR at the USDA HNRCA. The antioxidant supplements did not seem to interfere with the protective effects of DHA and EPA against progression to advanced stages of AMD. The study also showed that participants who consumed higher amounts of DHA and EPA appeared to have lower risk of progression to both wet and dry forms of advanced AMD. "Data from the present study also shows the supplements and omega-3 fatty acids collaborate with low-dietary glycemic index (dGI) diets against progression to advanced AMD," said corresponding author Chung-Jung Chiu, DDS, PhD, a scientist in the LNVR and an assistant professor at TUSM. "Our previous research suggests a low-GI diet may prevent AMD from progressing to the advanced stage," Chiu added. The researchers suggest that eating two to three servings of fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, shellfish, and herring every week would achieve the recommended daily intake of DHA and EPA, however, further research is required to conclude dietary recommendations for people with AMD. suggest researchers.
Fat people live longer!
Finally some good news for people on the heavier side: those ugly-looking love handles and a double chin extra can help you live longer.
That's the conclusion of a new study by the Japanese Health
, Labour and Welfare Ministry, which found that people who are overweight at the age of 40 live longer on average than people with other physiques. The research, which reached the conclusion after studying the health of about 50,000 people aged 40 or older over a 12-year period, showed that thin people had the shortest life expectancy, on average dying six or seven years earlier than overweight people, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. While studying the volunteers, scientists looked at the past physiques of the participants and how long they lived past the age of 40, and grouped them according to their body mass index (BMI), an indicator of how fat a person is. Men of regular weight (with a BMI of between 18.5 and 25) at age 40 lived for an average of 39.94 more years, while those who were overweight (BMI of between 25 and 30) at age 40 lived a further 41.64 years, the study found. Ladies of regular weight lived on average a further 47.97 years, compared with overweight women, who lived another 48.05 years. Obese men and women (BMI of 30 or more) lived a further 39.41 and 46.02 years, respectively. But thin men (BMI of less than 18.5) were on average expected to live 34.54 more years, and thin women another 41.79 years. As far as the reason for the surprising finding is concerned, it could be that many thin people smoke and a theory that thin people are more susceptible to contagious diseases. However, the link between physique and life expectancy is not clearly understood. "People won't extend their lives by straining to put weight on," said Shinichi Kuriyama, an associate professor at Tohoku University who led the research. The study also found that the fatter a person is, the greater their medical expenses.
That's the conclusion of a new study by the Japanese Health
, Labour and Welfare Ministry, which found that people who are overweight at the age of 40 live longer on average than people with other physiques. The research, which reached the conclusion after studying the health of about 50,000 people aged 40 or older over a 12-year period, showed that thin people had the shortest life expectancy, on average dying six or seven years earlier than overweight people, reports The Sydney Morning Herald. While studying the volunteers, scientists looked at the past physiques of the participants and how long they lived past the age of 40, and grouped them according to their body mass index (BMI), an indicator of how fat a person is. Men of regular weight (with a BMI of between 18.5 and 25) at age 40 lived for an average of 39.94 more years, while those who were overweight (BMI of between 25 and 30) at age 40 lived a further 41.64 years, the study found. Ladies of regular weight lived on average a further 47.97 years, compared with overweight women, who lived another 48.05 years. Obese men and women (BMI of 30 or more) lived a further 39.41 and 46.02 years, respectively. But thin men (BMI of less than 18.5) were on average expected to live 34.54 more years, and thin women another 41.79 years. As far as the reason for the surprising finding is concerned, it could be that many thin people smoke and a theory that thin people are more susceptible to contagious diseases. However, the link between physique and life expectancy is not clearly understood. "People won't extend their lives by straining to put weight on," said Shinichi Kuriyama, an associate professor at Tohoku University who led the research. The study also found that the fatter a person is, the greater their medical expenses.
7,300 Schools in Japan Face Quake Threat
Yumei Wang, who leads Oregon’s effort to cut risks from inevitable earthquakes, pointed me to news from Japan that more than 7,300 school buildings in that country face “a high risk of collapse” in a strong earthquake. That might seem a small number as a proportion of the country’s nearly 125,000 school buildings, but that’s just the schools that are in the worst shape. Japan’s education ministry found, all told, that 41,206 school buildings are insufficiently reinforced.
Over all, government officials point to substantial progress in the country’s effort to reduce vulnerability before the next big quake. According to The Japan Times, the number of school buildings at risk of collapse declined by 3,347 from the previous year. The article said the ministry had pledged to make 16,000 school buildings quake-resistant in the current fiscal year and planned to eliminate school structures at risk of collapse by March 2011.
On an issue like earthquake-risk reduction there is constant tension, given competing priorities, over how much to spend to limit deaths in a seismic shock that might come tomorrow, or not for decades. But the stakes are rising fast globally. Population growth and urbanization have put unprecedented numbers of people at risk. Seismologists are warning that a million-casualty disaster is all but inevitable given the threat and exposure in cities like Istanbul and Tehran.
How’s Oregon doing? The state faces an almost inevitable mega-quake and tsunami threat, geologists say. As I wrote shortly after the deaths of thousands of students in collapsed schools during China’s Sichuan Province earthquake, more than 1,000 schools in Oregon are essentially rubble in waiting.
Ms. Wang told me that a bill moving toward a vote in the Oregon State Senate includes the first $30 million to begin what will be a decades-long retrofitting project for schools. But as the seismic clock ticks, and hundreds of millions of dollars are needed.
She said she remained worried that even that $30 million could be whittled away in the next few weeks. Is this another variant on the “blah, blah, blah, bang” dynamic that some also see in the climate debate
Over all, government officials point to substantial progress in the country’s effort to reduce vulnerability before the next big quake. According to The Japan Times, the number of school buildings at risk of collapse declined by 3,347 from the previous year. The article said the ministry had pledged to make 16,000 school buildings quake-resistant in the current fiscal year and planned to eliminate school structures at risk of collapse by March 2011.
On an issue like earthquake-risk reduction there is constant tension, given competing priorities, over how much to spend to limit deaths in a seismic shock that might come tomorrow, or not for decades. But the stakes are rising fast globally. Population growth and urbanization have put unprecedented numbers of people at risk. Seismologists are warning that a million-casualty disaster is all but inevitable given the threat and exposure in cities like Istanbul and Tehran.
How’s Oregon doing? The state faces an almost inevitable mega-quake and tsunami threat, geologists say. As I wrote shortly after the deaths of thousands of students in collapsed schools during China’s Sichuan Province earthquake, more than 1,000 schools in Oregon are essentially rubble in waiting.
Ms. Wang told me that a bill moving toward a vote in the Oregon State Senate includes the first $30 million to begin what will be a decades-long retrofitting project for schools. But as the seismic clock ticks, and hundreds of millions of dollars are needed.
She said she remained worried that even that $30 million could be whittled away in the next few weeks. Is this another variant on the “blah, blah, blah, bang” dynamic that some also see in the climate debate
As Wind Power Grows, a Push to Tear Down Dams
For decades, most of the nation’s renewable power has come from dams, which supplied cheap electricity without requiring fossil fuels. But the federal agencies running the dams often compiled woeful track records on other envirnmental issues.Now, with the focus in Washington on clean power, some dam agencies are starting to go green, embracing wind power and energy conservation. The most aggressive is the Bonneville Power Administration, whose power lines carry much of the electricity in the Pacific Northwest. The agency also provides a third of the region’s power supply, drawn mostly from generators inside big dams.
The amount of wind power on the Bonneville transmission system quadrupled in the last three years and is expected to double again in another two. The turbines are making an electricity system with low carbon emissions even greener — already, in Seattle, more than 90 percent of the power comes from renewable sources.
Yet the shift of emphasis at the dam agencies is proving far from simple. It could end up pitting one environmental goal against another, a tension that is emerging in renewable-power projects across the country.
Environmental groups contend that the Bonneville Power Administration’s shift to wind turbines buttresses their case for tearing down dams in the agency’s territory, particularly four along the lower Snake River in Washington State that helped decimate one of North America’s great runs of wild salmon.
Bonneville wants to keep all the dams, arguing that they not only provide cheap power but they also make an ideal complement to large-scale installation of wind power. When the wind slows and power production drops, the agency argues, it can compensate quickly by telling the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, which operate the dams, to release more water from reservoirs to turn the huge generators. When the wind picks up, dam operations can be slowed.
The dams help alleviate a need for natural-gas-fired power plants, which are used in other regions as a backup power source when the wind stops blowing, but which release carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming.
By balancing wind power with hydropower, the Bonneville Power Administration says it believes it can limit the use of natural gas and coal plants across the West, even as the region’s demand for electricity rises. Around the country, dams provide 6 percent of electricity generation — double the amount from other renewable sources like wind, solar power and biomass — and much of that is concentrated in the West.
The influx of wind on Bonneville’s system has come as a result of renewable power goals set by governments in the Western states, which aim to reduce their output of greenhouse gases. Bonneville says that when the wind is blowing most strongly, 18 percent of the power in its control area now comes from wind, and that number may rise to 30 percent next year. (Not all of that is consumed in the Pacific Northwest; some is sold to California.)
The rise in wind power means that the dam agency has emerged as a national test case for how to integrate large amounts of intermittent wind power into a regional electric grid. “I’ve described this as a grand experiment,” said Stephen J. Wright, the administrator of the 72-year-old Bonneville Power Administration.
The agency stresses the challenge it faces, making sure the lights stay on despite the ups and downs of the wind. Many new wind farms lie along the gusty Columbia River corridor, and their concentration means that changes in the wind can bring sudden dips and spikes in the power they generate.
“We can have periods that go from full, maximum wind output to zero across an hour,” Mr. Wright said.
Because of its erratic nature, wind power — and the need for dams or other backup systems — has become intertwined with the fate of salmon, perhaps the biggest environmental controversy in the Pacific Northwest.
For decades, environmentalists, fishermen and some local politicians, who want to save the endangered salmon, have fought Bonneville and the Army Corps of Engineers, which want to keep the lower Snake River dams. A federal judge overseeing the dispute has accused the federal agencies of not working hard enough to save the salmon and had raised the possibility of breaching those dams to aid the fish.
Wild salmon ride the river in two directions. They spawn far upstream, and the young fish swim downriver to the Pacific Ocean. They spend several years there, feeding and growing quite large, before swimming back upstream to spawn and die.
The large reservoirs created over the decades as the dams were built have slowed and complicated their journeys, and slashed survival rates. Fish ladders help on the way back upstream, but those salmon that get through in both directions end up traumatized and weakened, biologists say.
When it comes to helping salmon, Bonneville has “been dragged kicking and screaming every inch of the way,” said Bill Arthur, a Sierra Club representative in the Northwest. Mr. Arthur praised the agency’s efforts to add wind power, but he argued that the four lower Snake River dams, which are far smaller than major dams like Grand Coulee, were not needed to back up wind power.
ironmental issues.
The amount of wind power on the Bonneville transmission system quadrupled in the last three years and is expected to double again in another two. The turbines are making an electricity system with low carbon emissions even greener — already, in Seattle, more than 90 percent of the power comes from renewable sources.
Yet the shift of emphasis at the dam agencies is proving far from simple. It could end up pitting one environmental goal against another, a tension that is emerging in renewable-power projects across the country.
Environmental groups contend that the Bonneville Power Administration’s shift to wind turbines buttresses their case for tearing down dams in the agency’s territory, particularly four along the lower Snake River in Washington State that helped decimate one of North America’s great runs of wild salmon.
Bonneville wants to keep all the dams, arguing that they not only provide cheap power but they also make an ideal complement to large-scale installation of wind power. When the wind slows and power production drops, the agency argues, it can compensate quickly by telling the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation, which operate the dams, to release more water from reservoirs to turn the huge generators. When the wind picks up, dam operations can be slowed.
The dams help alleviate a need for natural-gas-fired power plants, which are used in other regions as a backup power source when the wind stops blowing, but which release carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming.
By balancing wind power with hydropower, the Bonneville Power Administration says it believes it can limit the use of natural gas and coal plants across the West, even as the region’s demand for electricity rises. Around the country, dams provide 6 percent of electricity generation — double the amount from other renewable sources like wind, solar power and biomass — and much of that is concentrated in the West.
The influx of wind on Bonneville’s system has come as a result of renewable power goals set by governments in the Western states, which aim to reduce their output of greenhouse gases. Bonneville says that when the wind is blowing most strongly, 18 percent of the power in its control area now comes from wind, and that number may rise to 30 percent next year. (Not all of that is consumed in the Pacific Northwest; some is sold to California.)
The rise in wind power means that the dam agency has emerged as a national test case for how to integrate large amounts of intermittent wind power into a regional electric grid. “I’ve described this as a grand experiment,” said Stephen J. Wright, the administrator of the 72-year-old Bonneville Power Administration.
The agency stresses the challenge it faces, making sure the lights stay on despite the ups and downs of the wind. Many new wind farms lie along the gusty Columbia River corridor, and their concentration means that changes in the wind can bring sudden dips and spikes in the power they generate.
“We can have periods that go from full, maximum wind output to zero across an hour,” Mr. Wright said.
Because of its erratic nature, wind power — and the need for dams or other backup systems — has become intertwined with the fate of salmon, perhaps the biggest environmental controversy in the Pacific Northwest.
For decades, environmentalists, fishermen and some local politicians, who want to save the endangered salmon, have fought Bonneville and the Army Corps of Engineers, which want to keep the lower Snake River dams. A federal judge overseeing the dispute has accused the federal agencies of not working hard enough to save the salmon and had raised the possibility of breaching those dams to aid the fish.
Wild salmon ride the river in two directions. They spawn far upstream, and the young fish swim downriver to the Pacific Ocean. They spend several years there, feeding and growing quite large, before swimming back upstream to spawn and die.
The large reservoirs created over the decades as the dams were built have slowed and complicated their journeys, and slashed survival rates. Fish ladders help on the way back upstream, but those salmon that get through in both directions end up traumatized and weakened, biologists say.
When it comes to helping salmon, Bonneville has “been dragged kicking and screaming every inch of the way,” said Bill Arthur, a Sierra Club representative in the Northwest. Mr. Arthur praised the agency’s efforts to add wind power, but he argued that the four lower Snake River dams, which are far smaller than major dams like Grand Coulee, were not needed to back up wind power.
ironmental issues.
City Known for Its Water Turns to Tap to Cut Trash
In this hot and noble city, discarded water bottles float by gondolas on the edges of the canals and spill out of trash cans on the majestic Piazza San Marco. Because Venice has no roads, trash must be collected on foot at enormous expense. And while plastic bottles can in principle be recycled, the process still unleashes greenhouse gases.Italians are the leading consumers of bottled water in the world, drinking more than 40 gallons per person annually. But as their environmental consciousness deepens, officials here are avidly promoting what was previously unthinkable: that Italians should drink tap water.
For decades bottled water has been the norm on European tables, although tap water in many, if not most, cities is suitable for drinking. Since the 1980s, the bottled water habit has also taken hold in the United States, prompting cities from New York to San Francisco to wage public education campaigns to encourage the use of tap water to reduce plastic waste.
But here in Venice, officials took a leaf from the advertising playbook that has helped make bottled water a multibillion-dollar global industry. They invented a lofty brand name for Venice’s tap water — Acqua Veritas — created a sleek logo and emblazoned it on stylish carafes that were distributed free to households.
Because tap water is often jokingly called “the mayor’s water” in Italy, they even enlisted regional politicians to star in tongue-in-cheek billboards. “I, too, drink the mayor’s water,” proclaims Venice’s mayor, a philosopher named Massimo Cacciari, as he pours a glass.
“There are so many advantages to Acqua Veritas,” said Riccardo Seccarello, a city official, whose office is adorned by an Acqua Veritas poster into which President Obama’s picture has been Photoshopped. “Tap water doesn’t require a bottle. Its quality is controlled more strictly than bottled water. It’s really cheap. And you don’t have to walk to a market to get it.”
He also leaked a little information that city officials have made sure everyone now knows: Venice’s tap water comes from deep underground in the same region as one of Italy’s most popular bottled waters, San Benedetto.
Bottled water is a booming global industry with hundreds of brands that are advertised for their trendy appeal as well as their professed health benefits.
Twelve billion gallons of water were sold in 16 Western European countries in 2007, according to Zenith International, a market research firm, with Italy followed by Germany, France, Spain and Britain as market leaders. In the United States, per capita consumption of bottled water more than doubled from 1997 to 2007, to 29 gallons, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation.
The growth of the industry has been a bête noire for environmentalists, who lament the amount of fossil fuel energy used to bottle water and, often, to ship it long distances. Then there is also the impact of the enormous amount of plastic waste produced by the habit. Recycling is a plus but has logistical limits and generates some emissions anyway as bottles are transported and reprocessed.
Trash is an especially costly problem in Venice, in any case, because it is collected by men with wheelbarrows along the canals. Collection costs $335 per ton compared with $84 per ton on the mainland, said Mr. Seccarello, the city official.
Three years ago Venice created Veritas, a municipal umbrella company that is responsible both for city water and for trash collection in the region. Officials of the new company realized that by promoting the former, they could reduce the latter.
In terms of trash reduction, the Acqua Veritas campaign has already been a success, Venetian officials calculate, reducing the amount of plastic trash over all to 261 tons a month now from 288 tons a year ago.
“I’ve discovered tap water; I actually like the taste better,” said Silvia Vatta, 25, a student who was buying fish at a stall near the Accademia Bridge. “We used to use bottled water because we grew up with it at home and didn’t know any better.”
Still, the campaign to promote the mayor’s water has made little headway with restaurants and stores, which make money selling bottled water. And in a city where tourists outnumber permanent residents 100 to 1, public education that concentrates on locals can go only so far in reducing plastic waste.
Nonetheless, Mr. Seccarello has a message for bottle-toting tourists: in Venice, as in Rome, public spouts are scattered about the city and the water is “perfectly safe” to drink.
In fact, many older Venetians remember a time before bottled water, which first became popular here in the 1970s after a series of scares about the safety of the water supply. Yet over the next decade its use became the norm, a sign of financial prosperity.
“At first it was only for fancy stuff, but then it became the style,” said Renato Bonacin, 61, an artisanal metal worker who recently retired.
Because Venice’s water comes from a deep clean aquifer, perhaps, many here never entirely converted to bottled water. Two years ago, 72 percent of Venetians still sometimes drank tap water. That figure has risen to 79 percent.
Many people still prefer to filter tap water because it can contain mineral sediment. Acqua Veritas advises people to let it sit for a few minutes if there is a residual whiff of chlorine, which is used in the system to ensure hygiene.
Giancarlo Demuru, walking with a cane and dressed all in white, said that 20 years ago he used bottled water even to make tea, because Venice’s water then tasted slightly salty. But it has improved with better water management, he said.
In light of the Acqua Veritas campaign, he now uses bottled water only when guests want fizzy water. But the city now has an answer for that, too: it is offering discounts on carbonators.
For decades bottled water has been the norm on European tables, although tap water in many, if not most, cities is suitable for drinking. Since the 1980s, the bottled water habit has also taken hold in the United States, prompting cities from New York to San Francisco to wage public education campaigns to encourage the use of tap water to reduce plastic waste.
But here in Venice, officials took a leaf from the advertising playbook that has helped make bottled water a multibillion-dollar global industry. They invented a lofty brand name for Venice’s tap water — Acqua Veritas — created a sleek logo and emblazoned it on stylish carafes that were distributed free to households.
Because tap water is often jokingly called “the mayor’s water” in Italy, they even enlisted regional politicians to star in tongue-in-cheek billboards. “I, too, drink the mayor’s water,” proclaims Venice’s mayor, a philosopher named Massimo Cacciari, as he pours a glass.
“There are so many advantages to Acqua Veritas,” said Riccardo Seccarello, a city official, whose office is adorned by an Acqua Veritas poster into which President Obama’s picture has been Photoshopped. “Tap water doesn’t require a bottle. Its quality is controlled more strictly than bottled water. It’s really cheap. And you don’t have to walk to a market to get it.”
He also leaked a little information that city officials have made sure everyone now knows: Venice’s tap water comes from deep underground in the same region as one of Italy’s most popular bottled waters, San Benedetto.
Bottled water is a booming global industry with hundreds of brands that are advertised for their trendy appeal as well as their professed health benefits.
Twelve billion gallons of water were sold in 16 Western European countries in 2007, according to Zenith International, a market research firm, with Italy followed by Germany, France, Spain and Britain as market leaders. In the United States, per capita consumption of bottled water more than doubled from 1997 to 2007, to 29 gallons, according to the Beverage Marketing Corporation.
The growth of the industry has been a bête noire for environmentalists, who lament the amount of fossil fuel energy used to bottle water and, often, to ship it long distances. Then there is also the impact of the enormous amount of plastic waste produced by the habit. Recycling is a plus but has logistical limits and generates some emissions anyway as bottles are transported and reprocessed.
Trash is an especially costly problem in Venice, in any case, because it is collected by men with wheelbarrows along the canals. Collection costs $335 per ton compared with $84 per ton on the mainland, said Mr. Seccarello, the city official.
Three years ago Venice created Veritas, a municipal umbrella company that is responsible both for city water and for trash collection in the region. Officials of the new company realized that by promoting the former, they could reduce the latter.
In terms of trash reduction, the Acqua Veritas campaign has already been a success, Venetian officials calculate, reducing the amount of plastic trash over all to 261 tons a month now from 288 tons a year ago.
“I’ve discovered tap water; I actually like the taste better,” said Silvia Vatta, 25, a student who was buying fish at a stall near the Accademia Bridge. “We used to use bottled water because we grew up with it at home and didn’t know any better.”
Still, the campaign to promote the mayor’s water has made little headway with restaurants and stores, which make money selling bottled water. And in a city where tourists outnumber permanent residents 100 to 1, public education that concentrates on locals can go only so far in reducing plastic waste.
Nonetheless, Mr. Seccarello has a message for bottle-toting tourists: in Venice, as in Rome, public spouts are scattered about the city and the water is “perfectly safe” to drink.
In fact, many older Venetians remember a time before bottled water, which first became popular here in the 1970s after a series of scares about the safety of the water supply. Yet over the next decade its use became the norm, a sign of financial prosperity.
“At first it was only for fancy stuff, but then it became the style,” said Renato Bonacin, 61, an artisanal metal worker who recently retired.
Because Venice’s water comes from a deep clean aquifer, perhaps, many here never entirely converted to bottled water. Two years ago, 72 percent of Venetians still sometimes drank tap water. That figure has risen to 79 percent.
Many people still prefer to filter tap water because it can contain mineral sediment. Acqua Veritas advises people to let it sit for a few minutes if there is a residual whiff of chlorine, which is used in the system to ensure hygiene.
Giancarlo Demuru, walking with a cane and dressed all in white, said that 20 years ago he used bottled water even to make tea, because Venice’s water then tasted slightly salty. But it has improved with better water management, he said.
In light of the Acqua Veritas campaign, he now uses bottled water only when guests want fizzy water. But the city now has an answer for that, too: it is offering discounts on carbonators.
Greenpeace Parody of Newspaper Spotlights Climate
The environmental group Greenpeace on Thursday distributed a spoof version of The International Herald Tribune, in an effort to draw attention to climate change as European Union leaders gathered to discuss the issue in Brussels.
“Heads of state agree historic climate-saving deal,“” the parody proclaimed on Page 1, along with a picture of President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. It was dated Dec. 19, 2009, the day after the end of the planned United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
The newspaper said in a statement that it had contacted Greenpeace and asked it to remove any fake Web pages from its site, and that it had received no advance notice of the project. The Herald Tribune is owned by The New York Times Company.
“The I.H.T. is a trusted resource for world opinion leaders and to have our name and image paraded among this community as a politically motivated publicity stunt is wholly contrary to our values of independence and accuracy,” the paper said in a statement.
Gerd Leipold, executive director of Greenpeace International, urged the newspaper to consider the spoof a “compliment” to the paper’s “history of excellent coverage on a variety of issues, including climate change.”
Greenpeace said 50,000 copies of the spoof I.H.T. were distributed, mostly in Brussels. In a letter to the newspaper, Mr. Leipold said the goal was to show “world leaders, and all of us, the future we might have if they do right by the planet.”
“Heads of state agree historic climate-saving deal,“” the parody proclaimed on Page 1, along with a picture of President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission. It was dated Dec. 19, 2009, the day after the end of the planned United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
The newspaper said in a statement that it had contacted Greenpeace and asked it to remove any fake Web pages from its site, and that it had received no advance notice of the project. The Herald Tribune is owned by The New York Times Company.
“The I.H.T. is a trusted resource for world opinion leaders and to have our name and image paraded among this community as a politically motivated publicity stunt is wholly contrary to our values of independence and accuracy,” the paper said in a statement.
Gerd Leipold, executive director of Greenpeace International, urged the newspaper to consider the spoof a “compliment” to the paper’s “history of excellent coverage on a variety of issues, including climate change.”
Greenpeace said 50,000 copies of the spoof I.H.T. were distributed, mostly in Brussels. In a letter to the newspaper, Mr. Leipold said the goal was to show “world leaders, and all of us, the future we might have if they do right by the planet.”
NASA Launches Lunar Orbiter Ahead of New Human Moon Mission
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NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter launched at 5:32 pm EDT Thursday aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite will relay more information about the lunar environment than any other previous mission to the moon.
NASA will use the data the orbiter collects to design the vehicles and systems for returning humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020.
Twelve people have landed on the Moon and walked on its surface. All are men from the USA who traveled to the Moon as part of NASA's Apollo program during the period from December 1968 to December 1972.
The orbiter, known as LRO, separated from the Atlas V rocket carrying it and a companion mission, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and immediately began powering up the components necessary to control the spacecraft.
The flight operations team established communication with LRO and commanded the successful deployment of the solar array at 7:40 pm. The operations team continues to check out the spacecraft subsystems and prepare for the first mid-course correction maneuver.
NASA scientists expect to establish communications with LCROSS about four hours after launch, at approximately 9:30 pm.
"This is a very important day for NASA," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington, which designed and developed both the LRO and LCROSS missions. "We look forward to an extraordinary period of discovery at the moon and the information LRO will give us for future exploration missions."
The spacecraft will be placed in low polar orbit about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, above the moon for a one year primary mission.
Using a suite of seven instruments, LRO will help identify safe landing sites for future human explorers, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment and test new technology.
LCROSS will seek a definitive answer about the presence of water ice at the lunar poles.
LRO's instruments will help scientists compile high resolution three-dimensional maps of the lunar surface and also survey it at many spectral wavelengths. The satellite will explore the moon's deepest craters, exploring permanently sunlit and shadowed regions, and provide understanding of the effects of lunar radiation on humans.
"Our job is to perform reconnaissance of the moon's surface using a suite of seven powerful instruments," said Craig Tooley, LRO project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.
"NASA will use the data LRO collects to design the vehicles and systems for returning humans to the moon and selecting the landing sites that will be their destinations," he said.
High resolution imagery from LRO's camera will help identify landing sites for future explorers and characterize the moon's topography and composition. The hydrogen concentrations at the moon's poles will be mapped in detail, pinpointing the locations of possible water ice. A miniaturized radar system will image the poles and test communication capabilities.
"During the 60 day commissioning period, we will turn on spacecraft components and science instruments," explained Cathy Peddie, LRO deputy project manager at Goddard. "All instruments will be turned on within two weeks of launch, and we should start seeing the moon in new and greater detail within the next month."
"We learned much about the moon from the Apollo program, but now it is time to return to the moon for intensive study, and we will do just that with LRO," said Richard Vondrak, LRO project scientist at Goddard.
All LRO initial data sets will be deposited in the Planetary Data System, a publicly accessible repository of planetary science information, within six months of launch.
Goddard built and manages LRO, which is a NASA mission with international participation from the Institute for Space Research in Moscow. Russia provides the neutron detector aboard the spacecraft
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter launched at 5:32 pm EDT Thursday aboard an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The satellite will relay more information about the lunar environment than any other previous mission to the moon.
NASA will use the data the orbiter collects to design the vehicles and systems for returning humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020.
Twelve people have landed on the Moon and walked on its surface. All are men from the USA who traveled to the Moon as part of NASA's Apollo program during the period from December 1968 to December 1972.
The orbiter, known as LRO, separated from the Atlas V rocket carrying it and a companion mission, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and immediately began powering up the components necessary to control the spacecraft.
The flight operations team established communication with LRO and commanded the successful deployment of the solar array at 7:40 pm. The operations team continues to check out the spacecraft subsystems and prepare for the first mid-course correction maneuver.
NASA scientists expect to establish communications with LCROSS about four hours after launch, at approximately 9:30 pm.
"This is a very important day for NASA," said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington, which designed and developed both the LRO and LCROSS missions. "We look forward to an extraordinary period of discovery at the moon and the information LRO will give us for future exploration missions."
The spacecraft will be placed in low polar orbit about 31 miles, or 50 kilometers, above the moon for a one year primary mission.
Using a suite of seven instruments, LRO will help identify safe landing sites for future human explorers, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment and test new technology.
LCROSS will seek a definitive answer about the presence of water ice at the lunar poles.
LRO's instruments will help scientists compile high resolution three-dimensional maps of the lunar surface and also survey it at many spectral wavelengths. The satellite will explore the moon's deepest craters, exploring permanently sunlit and shadowed regions, and provide understanding of the effects of lunar radiation on humans.
"Our job is to perform reconnaissance of the moon's surface using a suite of seven powerful instruments," said Craig Tooley, LRO project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.
"NASA will use the data LRO collects to design the vehicles and systems for returning humans to the moon and selecting the landing sites that will be their destinations," he said.
High resolution imagery from LRO's camera will help identify landing sites for future explorers and characterize the moon's topography and composition. The hydrogen concentrations at the moon's poles will be mapped in detail, pinpointing the locations of possible water ice. A miniaturized radar system will image the poles and test communication capabilities.
"During the 60 day commissioning period, we will turn on spacecraft components and science instruments," explained Cathy Peddie, LRO deputy project manager at Goddard. "All instruments will be turned on within two weeks of launch, and we should start seeing the moon in new and greater detail within the next month."
"We learned much about the moon from the Apollo program, but now it is time to return to the moon for intensive study, and we will do just that with LRO," said Richard Vondrak, LRO project scientist at Goddard.
All LRO initial data sets will be deposited in the Planetary Data System, a publicly accessible repository of planetary science information, within six months of launch.
Goddard built and manages LRO, which is a NASA mission with international participation from the Institute for Space Research in Moscow. Russia provides the neutron detector aboard the spacecraft
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved
India develops malaria vaccine!
The scientists at the international Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in New Delhi are involved in the research on malaria for the past few years.
According to the reports, the vaccine is expected to reduce the severity of the disease.
The scientists at the institute have tested almost 20 vaccines. One of them is showing good results.
The scientists believe the progress of the research of the vaccine depends on the phase one trial.
The vaccine for malaria will not work as other vaccines. The centre is developing a vaccine for infants initially. It will boost the immunity of children to fight against the disease.
According to the reports, the vaccine is expected to reduce the severity of the disease.
The scientists at the institute have tested almost 20 vaccines. One of them is showing good results.
The scientists believe the progress of the research of the vaccine depends on the phase one trial.
The vaccine for malaria will not work as other vaccines. The centre is developing a vaccine for infants initially. It will boost the immunity of children to fight against the disease.
Global warming fuelling malaria vaccine need
Global warming has led to a rapid increase in the number of malaria cases, thereby fuelling the need for lifesaving vaccinations to those in need, says an expert.
Experts fear that the drastic changes in the climate may further increase
the number of cases in the coming years.
?Forty-one percent of the human race lives in areas of high malaria transmission,? said Dr. Sylvain Fleury, Chief Scientific Officer at Mymetics, a Swiss vaccine biotech currently developing a vaccine with the potential to control malaria in developing countries.
?Because Europe, North America, and North Asia are now significantly colder than regions of high malaria incidence, developed nations have felt immune from the malaria threat, but that sense may soon be upended,? Fleury added.
Studies have shown that even a modest temperature increase can extend the proliferation of malaria-bearing mosquitoes.
Therefore, as temperatures rise, billions of people could find themselves living in regions of high malaria incidence.
?The best way to prevent the spread of malaria into warming areas of the globe is to find a solution before the situation worsens,? said Dr. Fleury.
?If we can begin to curb the spread of malaria in high threat areas, the eventual reach of the disease will be seriously limited,? he added.
Due to global warming malaria has already returned to the areas such as
Peru that had already eradicated the disease forty years ago.
America saw 1,337 cases, including eight deaths, as recently as 2002 – the importance of developing a vaccine for the disease is becoming more and more urgent.
Experts fear that the drastic changes in the climate may further increase
the number of cases in the coming years.
?Forty-one percent of the human race lives in areas of high malaria transmission,? said Dr. Sylvain Fleury, Chief Scientific Officer at Mymetics, a Swiss vaccine biotech currently developing a vaccine with the potential to control malaria in developing countries.
?Because Europe, North America, and North Asia are now significantly colder than regions of high malaria incidence, developed nations have felt immune from the malaria threat, but that sense may soon be upended,? Fleury added.
Studies have shown that even a modest temperature increase can extend the proliferation of malaria-bearing mosquitoes.
Therefore, as temperatures rise, billions of people could find themselves living in regions of high malaria incidence.
?The best way to prevent the spread of malaria into warming areas of the globe is to find a solution before the situation worsens,? said Dr. Fleury.
?If we can begin to curb the spread of malaria in high threat areas, the eventual reach of the disease will be seriously limited,? he added.
Due to global warming malaria has already returned to the areas such as
Peru that had already eradicated the disease forty years ago.
America saw 1,337 cases, including eight deaths, as recently as 2002 – the importance of developing a vaccine for the disease is becoming more and more urgent.
Global warming: latest evidence
Following is an encapsulation of the latest evidence on global warming, published in reports issued in February and early April by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The UN's top scientific authority on global warming is meeting in Bangkok this week and will issue its third report on Friday, this time touching on ways of tackling greenhouse-gases.
Past warming
■ Evidence for man's warming of the climate system is now unequivocal. From 1906 to 2005, global surface temperatures rose by 0.74 degrees.
■ Global warming over the past half century has been nearly twice that of the century as a whole, coinciding with a surge in greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. Eleven of the past 12 years rank among the dozen warmest years on record.
■ Ocean warming now extends to a depth of at least 3000 metres as the seas take up heat from the air. Mountain glaciers and snow cover have declined in both hemispheres. Sea levels rose globally by 1.8 millimetres a year from 1961 to 2003, a pace that accelerated to 3.1 millimetres per year from 1993 to 2003.
■ The top layers of the Arctic permafrost have warmed by up to 3.0 degrees since the 1980s. The maximum area of seasonally frozen ground has decreased by about 7 per cent in the northern hemisphere since 1900.
Forecast for 21st century
■ By 2100, global average surface temperatures could rise by between 1.1 and 6.4 degrees compared with 1980-99 levels, depending on levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air. Within this range, the likeliest rise will be 1.8 to 4 degrees.
■ Sea levels will rise by between 18 and 59 centimetres, although this could be amplified by accelerating melting of icesheets.
■ Warming will occur most over land at high northern latitudes and least over the Southern Ocean and the North Atlantic.
■ Carbon emissions this century "will contribute to warming and sea level rise for more than a millennium", due to the timescale required for greenhouse gases to degrade.
Likely impacts this century
■ Heatwaves, flooding, drought, tropical storms and surges in sea level are among the events that "will become more frequent, more widespread and/or more intense" this century.
■ By mid-century, water availability is likely to increase in high latitudes but fall by up to 30 per cent in mid-latitudes and the dry tropics, some of which are already badly water stressed. Water from glaciers and snow melt is also projected to decline, reducing resources for regions where more than a sixth of the world population lives.
■ Between 20 and 30 per cent of plant and animal species are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperature exceed 1.5 to 2.5 degrees.
■ Food production will rise slightly at mid to high latitudes if the global temperature increases 1 to 3 degrees but fall beyond this range. At lower latitudes, especially seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease for even small local temperature increases (1 to 2 degrees), which would increase the risk of hunger.
■ By the 2080s, sea level rise will place "many millions" of people at risk of flooding and tropical storms. The mega-deltas of Asia, Africa and small islands are the most vulnerable."
■ Malnutrition, deaths from heatwave, storms and drought, diarrhoea, malaria and other pest-borne diseases are some of the heightened risks.
Economic cost
■ There is no consensus on the cost of global warming, as calculations depend on different factors, such as storm damage and the impact on biodiversity. Every tonne of CO2 emitted into the air costs from $US10 to $US350 ($12 to $425), according to the estimates.
■ Investing money now in measures to cope with the future threat and reduce emissions could reduce and delay some of the impacts, although these actions are also limited by political, technical and financial constraints.
Between 20 and 30 per cent of plant and animal species are likely to be at increased risk of extinction if increases in global average temperature exceed 1.5 to 2.5 degrees.
■ Food production will rise slightly at mid to high latitudes if the global temperature increases 1 to 3 degrees but fall beyond this range. At lower latitudes, especially seasonally dry and tropical regions, crop productivity is projected to decrease for even small local temperature increases (1 to 2 degrees), which would increase the risk of hunger.
■ By the 2080s, sea level rise will place "many millions" of people at risk of flooding and tropical storms. The mega-deltas of Asia, Africa and small islands are the most vulnerable."
■ Malnutrition, deaths from heatwave, storms and drought, diarrhoea, malaria and other pest-borne diseases are some of the heightened risks.
Economic cost
■ There is no consensus on the cost of global warming, as calculations depend on different factors, such as storm damage and the impact on biodiversity. Every tonne of CO2 emitted into the air costs from $US10 to $US350 ($12 to $425), according to the estimates.
■ Investing money now in measures to cope with the future threat and reduce emissions could reduce and delay some of the impacts, although these actions are also limited by political, technical and financial constraints.
Environmental Alarms Raised Over Home Electronics
The choice might not be quite that stark, but an energy watchdog is alarmed about the threat to the environment from the soaring electricity needs of gadgets like MP3 players, mobile phones and flat screen TVs.
In a report Wednesday, the Paris-based International Energy Agency estimates new electronic gadgets will triple their energy consumption by 2030 to 1,700 terawatt hours, the equivalent of today's home electricity consumption of the United States and Japan combined.
The world would have to build around 200 new nuclear power plants just to power all the TVs, iPods, PCs and other home electronics expected to be plugged in by 2030, when the global electric bill to power them will rise to $200 billion a year, the IEA said.
Consumer electronics is "the fastest growing area and it's the area with the least amount
Electronic gadgets already account for about 15 percent of household electric consumption, a share that is rising rapidly as the number of these gadgets multiplies. Last year, the world spent $80 billion on electricity to power all these household electronics, the IEA said.
Most of the increase in consumer electronics will be in developing countries, where economic growth is fastest and ownership rates of gadgets is the lowest, Waide said.
"This will jeopardize efforts to increase energy security and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases" blamed for global warming, the agency said.
Existing technologies could slash gadgets' energy consumption by more than 30 percent at no cost or by more than 50 percent at a small cost, the IEA estimates, meaning total greenhouse gas emissions from households' electronic gadgets could be held stable at around 500 million tons of CO2 per year.
If nothing is done, this figure will double to around 1 billion tons of CO2 per year by 2030, the IEA estimates.
In a report Wednesday, the Paris-based International Energy Agency estimates new electronic gadgets will triple their energy consumption by 2030 to 1,700 terawatt hours, the equivalent of today's home electricity consumption of the United States and Japan combined.
The world would have to build around 200 new nuclear power plants just to power all the TVs, iPods, PCs and other home electronics expected to be plugged in by 2030, when the global electric bill to power them will rise to $200 billion a year, the IEA said.
Consumer electronics is "the fastest growing area and it's the area with the least amount
Electronic gadgets already account for about 15 percent of household electric consumption, a share that is rising rapidly as the number of these gadgets multiplies. Last year, the world spent $80 billion on electricity to power all these household electronics, the IEA said.
Most of the increase in consumer electronics will be in developing countries, where economic growth is fastest and ownership rates of gadgets is the lowest, Waide said.
"This will jeopardize efforts to increase energy security and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases" blamed for global warming, the agency said.
Existing technologies could slash gadgets' energy consumption by more than 30 percent at no cost or by more than 50 percent at a small cost, the IEA estimates, meaning total greenhouse gas emissions from households' electronic gadgets could be held stable at around 500 million tons of CO2 per year.
If nothing is done, this figure will double to around 1 billion tons of CO2 per year by 2030, the IEA estimates.
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