The G8 agreed on Wednesday to try to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent,
With only five months until a new UN climate pact is due to be agreed in Copenhagen, climate change organisations said the G8 had left much work to be done and ducked key issues. China and India resisted signing up for a global goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Developing economies demanded rich nations commit to steeper short term reductions. And while the 2 Celsius goal was adopted for the first time by the United States, Russia, Japan and Canada, it had already been agreed in 1996 by the European Union and its G8 members Germany, Britain, France and Italy. The G8 statement also failed to pinpoint a base year for the 80 percent reduction -- saying it should be "compared to 1990 or more recent years" -- meaning the target was open to interpretation. "The world will recognise that today in Italy we have laid the foundations for a Copenhagen deal that is ambitious, fair and effective," said British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the 2 Celsius (3.6 Farenheit) target, since pre-industrial times, was "clear progress" for the G8. The G8 backed the creation of a global carbon trading market and a fund financed by rich nations to pay for technological change, but it fell short of the $100 billion a year advocated by Britain's Brown and non-governmental groups. "While agreeing to keep temperature rise to below 2 degrees rise Celsius, without a clear plan, money and targets on how to do this the G8 leaders will not have helped to break the deadlock in the UN climate negotiations," said Tobias Muenchmeyer, Greenpeace International political adviser. China's absence key Temperatures have already risen by about 0.7 Celsius since the start of the Industrial Revolution ushered in widespread burning of fossil fuels, the main cause of warming according to the UN Climate Panel. Many developing nations also view two degrees as the threshold beyond which climate change will reach danger levels, with rising seas and more heatwaves, floods and droughts. The temperature target was due to be included in a statement from the 17-member Major Economies Forum (MEF), which groups the G8 plus major developing economies, which will meet on Thursday. Last minute talks to convince MEF members to sign up to the goal of cutting world greenhouse gases by at least 50 percent by 2050 -- adopted by the G8 last year -- unravelled on Tuesday. Delegates said the absence of Chinese leader Hu Jintao, who flew home to deal with an outbreak of ethnic violence in western China, dashed hopes of an eleventh hour breakthrough. "China's not here so they cannot move anywhere: there will be no agreement tomorrow in the MEF text on 50 percent. We will take this up again at the G20 when China is present," said a senior European G8 source involved in the talks. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said emerging countries appeared willing to sign up to long-term emissions goals if rich nations would agree to tough targets by 2020. The G8 statement called for "robust" medium-target cutbacks, but gave no details.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Global warming no myth
John Peterson on July 4 (Letters) argued that global warming was a hoax. The counter-evidence is convincing.
Google lists about 37.6 million articles on global warming, including articles both pro and con. Obviously not all articles are credible. The purpose of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. Environmental Programme, is to evaluate the state of climate science primarily on the basis of peer-reviewed and published scientific literature. The IPCC publishes its report only about every five years, as it responds to comments from over 50,000 scientists worldwide, so the process is tedious.
The conservative IPCC reports have gradually gone from being tentative on global warming to being positive. Peer review is the process of giving credibility to scientific reports by requiring experts in the area of the report to critically evaluate, in writing, the candidate report.
Prior to publication, such a report must satisfy the reviewers or it is not published. At last count, 928 global warming reports agreed that global warming is real: Zero peer-reviewed published reports stated that mankind was not causing global warming.
Julian Powers
Google lists about 37.6 million articles on global warming, including articles both pro and con. Obviously not all articles are credible. The purpose of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. Environmental Programme, is to evaluate the state of climate science primarily on the basis of peer-reviewed and published scientific literature. The IPCC publishes its report only about every five years, as it responds to comments from over 50,000 scientists worldwide, so the process is tedious.
The conservative IPCC reports have gradually gone from being tentative on global warming to being positive. Peer review is the process of giving credibility to scientific reports by requiring experts in the area of the report to critically evaluate, in writing, the candidate report.
Prior to publication, such a report must satisfy the reviewers or it is not published. At last count, 928 global warming reports agreed that global warming is real: Zero peer-reviewed published reports stated that mankind was not causing global warming.
Julian Powers
Global warming no myth
John Peterson on July 4 (Letters) argued that global warming was a hoax. The counter-evidence is convincing.
Google lists about 37.6 million articles on global warming, including articles both pro and con. Obviously not all articles are credible. The purpose of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. Environmental Programme, is to evaluate the state of climate science primarily on the basis of peer-reviewed and published scientific literature. The IPCC publishes its report only about every five years, as it responds to comments from over 50,000 scientists worldwide, so the process is tedious.
The conservative IPCC reports have gradually gone from being tentative on global warming to being positive. Peer review is the process of giving credibility to scientific reports by requiring experts in the area of the report to critically evaluate, in writing, the candidate report.
Prior to publication, such a report must satisfy the reviewers or it is not published. At last count, 928 global warming reports agreed that global warming is real: Zero peer-reviewed published reports stated that mankind was not causing global warming.
Google lists about 37.6 million articles on global warming, including articles both pro and con. Obviously not all articles are credible. The purpose of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, created in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the U.N. Environmental Programme, is to evaluate the state of climate science primarily on the basis of peer-reviewed and published scientific literature. The IPCC publishes its report only about every five years, as it responds to comments from over 50,000 scientists worldwide, so the process is tedious.
The conservative IPCC reports have gradually gone from being tentative on global warming to being positive. Peer review is the process of giving credibility to scientific reports by requiring experts in the area of the report to critically evaluate, in writing, the candidate report.
Prior to publication, such a report must satisfy the reviewers or it is not published. At last count, 928 global warming reports agreed that global warming is real: Zero peer-reviewed published reports stated that mankind was not causing global warming.
HOT-AIR 'CONSENSUS'
Memo to the cap-and-taxers on Capitol Hill, who want the United States to cripple its economy by "leading the way" on curbing carbon-gas emissions to halt global warming, or climate change, or whatever the term du jour is:
That's the message that came out of the latest G-8 summit in Italy, where President Obama hoped to reach a comprehensive international agreement on capping heat-trapping gases by mid-century.
Seems developing nations like China, Mexico, Brazil and India -- which are responsible for an increasingly greater share of global carbon emissions -- refused to endorse a proposal that would have them cut such emissions in half by 2050, with industrialized countries cutting theirs by 80%.
China, India, et al. understand that placing severe restrictions on their industrial output would bring their rise out of poverty to a shuddering halt -- and they have no intention of committing economic suicide.
No reasonable person would expect otherwise.
Still, without their support, any comprehensive climate deal would effectively be worthless.
Which is what the US Senate understood back during the Clinton administration when it unanimously rejected the Kyoto Protocol -- which placed binding emission-reduction targets only on developed countries like the United States.
True, the developing nations signed on to a statement recognizing that average global temperatures should not rise more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit -- but without committing themselves to reducing emissions to pursue that outcome.
As far as President Obama is concerned, that's a historic, actionable consensus on global warming.
But the Senate needs to read the fine print before signing on to a program that threatens to bankrupt our economy -- especially since so much of the rest of the world is unwilling to go along.
That's the message that came out of the latest G-8 summit in Italy, where President Obama hoped to reach a comprehensive international agreement on capping heat-trapping gases by mid-century.
Seems developing nations like China, Mexico, Brazil and India -- which are responsible for an increasingly greater share of global carbon emissions -- refused to endorse a proposal that would have them cut such emissions in half by 2050, with industrialized countries cutting theirs by 80%.
China, India, et al. understand that placing severe restrictions on their industrial output would bring their rise out of poverty to a shuddering halt -- and they have no intention of committing economic suicide.
No reasonable person would expect otherwise.
Still, without their support, any comprehensive climate deal would effectively be worthless.
Which is what the US Senate understood back during the Clinton administration when it unanimously rejected the Kyoto Protocol -- which placed binding emission-reduction targets only on developed countries like the United States.
True, the developing nations signed on to a statement recognizing that average global temperatures should not rise more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit -- but without committing themselves to reducing emissions to pursue that outcome.
As far as President Obama is concerned, that's a historic, actionable consensus on global warming.
But the Senate needs to read the fine print before signing on to a program that threatens to bankrupt our economy -- especially since so much of the rest of the world is unwilling to go along.
Leading brain researcher explains how Transcendental Meditation supports success in life
'Whatever you want to do and be you can do and be.' This was the message of Dr Fred Travis*, one of the world's leading researchers into the connection of brain functioning and higher states of consciousness, when he spoke to top educators and business people during his recent highly successful tour of Great Britain. Please also see Part I and Part II of this series. In his presentations, Dr Travis described with great clarity how the Transcendental Meditation Programme benefits brain functioning and every area of life. Dr Travis explained that in order to increase 'the power output of any system, you need to increase the connection between the elements of the system. In terms of the brain it's the frontal lobes—the frontal lobes actually connect all other parts of the brain. 'When the frontal lobes are more connected, the brain works as one. That means the brain can be more creative, it can be more successful, performance can be higher. 'When you solve a problem by creative insight, you find that the frontal lobes are more active. When you have to make a decision with incomplete information—which is what all businesses need to do—frontal areas are more activated. 'The good news is you can actually increase the integration of the frontal areas of your brain. Transcendental Meditation practice does this. What you see is increased activation of the frontal areas while the mind is completely quiet. And with regular practice this deep silence and heightened alertness during meditation practice is seen afterwards in activity. 'Your brain changes throughout your life. Your brain is not a rock; it's a river. Every time you see or hear something it creates a wave of electrical activity that goes to the left, to the right, to the back, to the front, and it leaves its impressions in the brain in terms of greater connections between specific circuits. 'That means every time you do something today, you're strengthening circuits so you can do it better tomorrow. So the reality of life is we create our own destiny in a very physical way. If we want to be good at tennis, we just need to put in the hours and we'll be great at tennis. Whatever you want to do or be you can do and be. 'Transcendental Meditation leads to a new experience, an experience where your alert attentional circuits are more active, the frontal areas are more integrated, at the same time you're more quiet—''restful alertness''. And this state of restful alertness has its own associated brain circuits with it. 'What you see is that the brain patterns during meditation begin to be seen during activity. That means that when you're in a very turbulent, trying time, you've added something new to your experience—inner stability, inner rest, inner expansion. 'This is the value of adding Transcendental Meditation to your life. You begin to change those brain circuits so you can have fullness and alertness, inner stability, happiness in whatever situation you're in,' Dr Travis concluded. *Dr Fred Travis is the Director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, USA
Potato famine disease striking home gardens in US
Late blight, which caused the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s and 1850s, is killing potato and tomato plants in home gardens from Maine to Ohio and threatening commercial and organic farms, U.S. plant scientists said on Friday. 'Late blight has never occurred this early and this widespread in the United States,' said Meg McGrath, a plant pathologist at Cornell University's extension center in Riverhead, New York. She said the fungal disease, spread by spores carried in the air, has made its way into the garden centers of large retail chains in the Northeastern United States. 'Wal-mart, Home Depot, Sears, Kmart, and Lowe's are some of the stores the plants have been seen in,' McGrath said in a telephone interview. The disease, known officially as Phytophthora infestans, causes large mold-ringed olive-green or brown spots on plant leaves, blackened stems, and can quickly wipe out weeks of tender care in a home garden. McGrath said in her 21 years of research, she has only seen five outbreaks in the United States. The destructive disease can spread rapidly in cooler, moist weather, infecting an entire field within days. 'What's unique about it this year is we have never seen plants affected in garden centers being sold to home gardeners,' she said. This year's cool, wet weather created perfect conditions for the disease. 'Hopefully, it will turn sunny,' McGrath said. 'If we get into our real summer hot dry weather, this disease is going to slow way down.' FUNGICIDES WILL CONTROL BLIGHT According to its website, the University Maryland's Plant Diagnostic Lab got a suspect tomato sample as early as June 12, very early in the tomato growing season, which runs from April-September. McGrath said the risk is that many gardeners will not recognize it, putting commercial farms and especially organic growers at risk. 'My concern is for growers. They are going to have to put a lot more time and effort in trying to control the disease. It's going to be a very tough year,' she said. 'This pathogen can move great distances in the air. It often does little jumps, but it can make some big leaps.' McGrath said the impact on the farmer will depend on how much the pathogen is spread. 'Eastern New York is seeing a lot of disease,' she said. She said commercial farmers will be able to use fungicides containing chlorothalonil to control the blight. And while some sprays have also been approved for organic use, many organic farmers do not use them, making it much harder to control. 'If they are not on top of this right from the very beginning, it can go very fast,' she said.
A beautiful vision of the Maharishi Light Therapy with Gems Practitioner Training Course
Speaking at the recent graduation ceremony for participants in the international Maharishi Light Therapy with Gems Practitioners Training Course, Dr Joachim Roller, department head for the new therapy, said that gems are a modality of Maharishi Ayur-Veda designed to help realize higher states of consciousness. 'Human beings are designed and constructed in harmony with the design of the whole universe,' he said. 'Gemstones can give us the same experience of great expansion and wholeness that comes from the reverberation of the Self, Atma, within itself [experienced during the Transcendental Meditation Programme] and they help re-establish the connection between us and the cosmos.' Dr Iris Roller explained that the training course has intellectual, experiential, and practical aspects and includes study of principles, practice, and application of Maharishi Light Therapy with Gems as developed under the direct guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. This is a programme of Vedic Medicine (Consciousness-Based Health Care), she said, which combines the ancient knowledge of gems in Ayurveda with modern technology. Through the application of light, the orderly and intelligent quality of gems is harnessed to awaken the inner intelligence of the physiology of the person receiving treatment, helping to improve health and bring balance to body and mind. 'Maharishi Light Therapy with Gems also helps to refine perception, leading to the development of higher states of consciousness,' she said. 'This is a gentle and very profound method for developing invincibility for the individual. Experience shows not only that is it a very blissful experience to have Maharishi Light Therapy with Gems treatment, but also that to give this treatment to others is like bathing in light!' 'It is such a beautiful vision that Dr Joachim Roller and Dr Iris Roller have given us—of the orderly and nourishing qualities of gems being harnessed by the light, and then transferred to the physiology and consciousness of the person receiving treatment,' commented Dr Peter Swan, Minister of Communication for the Global Country of World Peace. 'Now, with the graduation of the students, Maharishi Light Therapy with Gems treatment will be offered in twelve countries.'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)