Ayurveda, the traditional 'science of life', has a remedy for diseases when every other stream of medicine fails. Now, at a time when swine flu is spreading like wildfire across the world, Ayurveda has the remedy in the form of the miraculous herb, the basil leaves commonly known as Tulsi.
Tulsi, the purest and most sublime plant, has been known and worshipped in India for more than five millennia for its remarkable healing properties. Considered as an 'Elixir of Life', this wonder herb has now been claimed to keep the deadly swine flu at bay and help fast recovery in afflicted persons.
"The anti-flu property of Tulsi has been discovered by medical experts across the world quite recently. Tulsi improves the body's overall defence mechanism including its ability to fight viral diseases. It was successfully used in combating Japanese Encephalitis and the same theory applies to swine flu," Dr U K Tiwari, a herbal medicine practitioner says.
Apart from acting as a preventive medicine in case of swine flu, Tulsi can help the patient recover faster.
"Even when a person has already contracted swine flu, Tulsi can help in speeding up the recovery process and also help in strengthening the immune system of the body," he claims.
Dr Bhupesh Patel, a lecturer at Gujarat Ayurved University, Jamnagar is also of the view that Tulsi can play an important role in controlling swine flu.
"Tulsi can control swine flu and it should be taken in fresh form. Juice or paste of at least 20-25 medium sized leaves should be consumed twice a day on an empty stomach." This increases the resistance of the body and, thereby, reduces the chances of inviting swine flu," believes Patel.
As its name suggests, Tulsi has again proved to be the 'the incomparable' medicine - this time, in the prevention and cure of swine flu.
The symptoms of the H1N1 flu virus in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A significant number of people who have been infected with novel H1N1 flu virus also have reported diarrhea and vomiting. The high risk groups for novel H1N1 flu are not known at this time, but it's possible that they may be the same as for seasonal influenza. However, Please consult a practitioner in case of any such symptoms. Doctors have strictly advised against self medication.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
One-Third of World's Biggest Firms Still Not Addressing Climate Change
Asking what investors should be doing about the unprecedented "projected impacts of climate change on the environment and society," a new report by EIRIS, a U.K.-based provider of research into the social, environmental and ethical performance of companies, compared the corporate responses to climate change of the 300 largest companies in the FTSE All World Index to its 2008 analysis. The report, entitled Climate Change Compass: The road to Copenhagen, looks forward to what it describes as "the most important climate change-related meeting since 1997," to be held in December, 2009, in Copenhagen. If combined with stimulus packages and clear regulatory frameworks from governments, the meeting in Copenhagen offers opportunities for companies to develop low-carbon activities. SocialFunds.com spoke with Carlota Garcia-Manas, Assistant Head of Research at EIRIS and the author of the report, about its findings. "In general, there's been a positive trend," said Garcia-Manas. "The majority of companies in the group now have some kind of climate change policies, many of which contain emissions reduction targets." The report found that of the 300 companies analyzed, 55 percent have short-term targets on climate change, up from 48 percent in 2008. In addition, 91 percent of high and very high impact companies disclose absolute CO2 or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data. High impact sectors are defined by the report as chemicals, construction, electricity, food, industrial metals, mining, and oil and gas. Other positive findings of the report include a significant decrease in the proportion of companies in high-impact sectors with no or limited responses to climate change, from 34 percent in 2008 to 19 percent. The number of companies in high-impact sectors with a corporate-wide commitment to climate change mitigation increased, from 84 percent in 2008 to 99 percent. Only one high-impact company of those analyzed in the report had no such commitment in 2009. Overall, the proportion of companies with no or limited disclosure on climate change decreased to less than 12 percent in 2009, from 29.4 percent in 2008. However, utilizing such key indicators as governance, strategy, disclosure, and performance, the report found that over a third of the 300 companies analyzed continue to carry unmitigated climate-related risks. Some high-impact sectors, such as industrial metals, food producers, and oil and gas producers, were found to have a greater proportion of companies with unmitigated risk when compared with 2008. Garcia-Manas said, "While most company policies now contain some reference to short-term emissions reduction targets, when we look out five or ten years we don't see as much information. The lack of long-term strategies could be because companies are waiting to see how governments adopt regulations for emissions reductions." While the report found that a "lack of clarity and comparability of quantitative data persists and can compromise investment decisions," it is not because of inadequate reporting initiatives that this is so, according to Garcia-Manas. "The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an established initiative that provides guidance to companies for greenhouse gas emissions disclosure," she said. Another of the key findings of the report is the necessity for investor engagement. According to the report, "Investors must understand the impact these issues will have on their portfolios and integrate climate change into their engagement strategies or when exercising voting rights." Underscoring the importance of investors in encouraging companies to address climate change risks effectively, Garcia-Manas said, "The more companies are doing, the less risk investors are incurring. We suspect that investor activism has had an impact on companies addressing more of risk." One important area in which investors and Boards of Directors can encourage companies in their portfolios to address climate change more effectively is in the area of remuneration. Only about 20 percent of companies incentivize management attention to climate risks, according to the report. "Remuneration is one of the main issues," said Garcia-Manas. "Activist investors can engage with companies to ensure that management structures incentivize attention to climate risks." Asked by SocialFunds.com if the report focused on regional differences among companies, Garcia-Manas said, "At the moment the only country assessment we have is a study of Asian companies, but we plan on issuing a report on North American companies this year." Entitled Climate Change Tracker: Asia [PDF], that study, which was released in May, 2009, found that while initiatives on the part of Japanese companies was having a positive influence, opportunities for Asian companies to improve performance through increased levels of disclosure and engagement remain. The new report concludes, "Given the importance of Climate Change and the likely impact of it on future long-term corporate financial performance it is increasingly seen as an investor's fiduciary responsibility to integrate consideration of climate change into their investment strategy." Garcia-Manas concluded, "The three pillars in improving reporting are the companies themselves, governments, and investors."
New hope for intelligent life on other planets
Intelligent life beyond Earth might not be as dim a hope as many scientists think, according to a new study challenging a widely held anti-ET argument.
Many skeptics tout an idea called the anthropic argument that claims extraterrestrial intelligence must be very rare because the time it takes for intelligent life to evolve is, on the average, much longer than the portion of a star's existence that is conducive to such life.
But now astrobiologist Milan M. Cirkovic and colleagues say they've found a flaw in that reasoning.
The anthropic argument, proposed by astrophysicist Brandon Carter in 1983, following on his pioneering work on anthropic principles in 1970s, is built on the assumption that the two timescales - the lifecycle of a star and the time required for evolution of living and intelligent creatures - are completely independent. If this is true, Carter argued, it's extremely unlikely that these two windows of possibility would last roughly the same amount of time, and would occur at the same time.
But that mode of thinking is outdated, Cirkovic claims. In fact, he says the relevant timescales are not independent; they are deeply entwined. "There are many different ways in which planets in our solar system are not isolated," Cirkovic said. "We must not regard habitable planets as closed boxes. If you abandon that assumption of independence, then you have a whole new background in which you can set up various models of astrobiological development."
Cirkovic points to gamma ray bursts, nearby supernovae, and perturbations of comet clouds as possible events in the astrophysical environment of the star that can influence the biological environment on a planet. For example, when a star travels through one of the dense spiral arms of the Milky Way, both its own development and that of its planets could be disrupted by higher levels of interstellar electromagnetic radiation and cosmic rays, due to the higher frequency of star-forming regions and supernova explosions.
getCSS("3053751")
Slideshow
Month in Space: Cosmic fireworksSee a stellar blast, a solar eclipse, liftoffs and other outer-space highlights from July.
more photosAll these connections conspire to rule out the independence suggested by Carter and connect the life of a star and the evolution of life on a planet, Cirkovic argues.
In the case of the Earth, the two timescales have lined up fortuitously to enable life. Our Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, and Earth is just slightly younger, at 4.5 billion years old. The first, most basic cells are thought to have formed on our planet about 3.8 billion years ago, although the homo genus, to which humans belong, did not appear until about 2.5 million years ago. And modern humans are only about 200,000 years old.
For more than 80 percent of the Sun's existence, life has existed in some form on Earth. It seems the timescales of biology and astrophysics have favorably aligned in our case. According to the anthropic argument, this coincidence means that Earth, and its life, are unique. But Cirkovic thinks the two timescales may not have overlapped by chance. Instead, they may be part of a complex history, involving interdependence of the Earth system with the rest of the Milky Way.
Clocking CatastrophesCosmic events like gamma ray bursts or nearby supernovae could reset the astrobiological clock to give a planet and star a second chance to sync up and try again to produce life. Gamma ray bursts are mysterious explosions that release huge amounts of energy, occurring either as the dying explosions of super-massive stars (like Eta Carinae) or collisions of neutron stars in close binary systems. If a gamma ray burst occurred in a large region near a planetary system, it might cause a flash of radiation and possibly cosmic-ray jets that could disrupt life on planets. Supernova explosions, though not quite as energetic as gamma ray bursts (but much more frequent overall), pack quite a wallop as well, and could send a shock of energy to any nearby planets.
"A gamma ray burst won't affect whether life will begin at some particular point in time, but it would affect how quickly life develops or takes hold by causing changes in atmospheric chemistry on the planet," Cirkovic said. "This can be interpreted as resetting astrobiological clocks which tick on each habitable planet in the Milky Way."
This idea leads to a new way of thinking about the origin of life. Instead of a long, gradual evolution, a catastrophic event could spur development of a complex biosphere and intelligent beings, much like the evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium predicts that species will undergo long periods of slow evolution punctuated by brief bouts of drastic change.
For instance, paleontologists say that human beings evolved to our present state only thanks to an asteroid impact 65 million years ago that wiped out the planet's primary predator – the dinosaur. Earth has over the course of its history experienced many mass extinctions that had various causes. While extinctions wipe out life, they are also a "reset" button that alters the environment and allows other types of life to emerge. Overall, this is part of a complex set of astrobiological histories that Cirkovic and colleagues dub the "astrobiological landscape" of our Galaxy.
Click for related content
Hello, ET? Web site sends texts into spaceNear-Earth asteroid found to be tripletsPlanet-hunting probe spots test target
"The speed of evolution is very variable," Cirkovic said. "There is no reason to think that life on Earth has only one single origin. It is quite possible that there were several beginnings of life on Earth."
Cirkovic also notes that the evolution of intelligent life could occur slower or faster in different settings, and need not follow the astrobiological history of the Milky Way.
"Large-scale correlations might cause more such SETI targets to be contemporary with us than would be expected on the basis of planetary age distribution only," Cirkovic said.
Cirkovic and team outline their argument in the June 2009 issue of the journal Astrobiology.
courtsey.msnbc
Many skeptics tout an idea called the anthropic argument that claims extraterrestrial intelligence must be very rare because the time it takes for intelligent life to evolve is, on the average, much longer than the portion of a star's existence that is conducive to such life.
But now astrobiologist Milan M. Cirkovic and colleagues say they've found a flaw in that reasoning.
The anthropic argument, proposed by astrophysicist Brandon Carter in 1983, following on his pioneering work on anthropic principles in 1970s, is built on the assumption that the two timescales - the lifecycle of a star and the time required for evolution of living and intelligent creatures - are completely independent. If this is true, Carter argued, it's extremely unlikely that these two windows of possibility would last roughly the same amount of time, and would occur at the same time.
But that mode of thinking is outdated, Cirkovic claims. In fact, he says the relevant timescales are not independent; they are deeply entwined. "There are many different ways in which planets in our solar system are not isolated," Cirkovic said. "We must not regard habitable planets as closed boxes. If you abandon that assumption of independence, then you have a whole new background in which you can set up various models of astrobiological development."
Cirkovic points to gamma ray bursts, nearby supernovae, and perturbations of comet clouds as possible events in the astrophysical environment of the star that can influence the biological environment on a planet. For example, when a star travels through one of the dense spiral arms of the Milky Way, both its own development and that of its planets could be disrupted by higher levels of interstellar electromagnetic radiation and cosmic rays, due to the higher frequency of star-forming regions and supernova explosions.
getCSS("3053751")
Slideshow
Month in Space: Cosmic fireworksSee a stellar blast, a solar eclipse, liftoffs and other outer-space highlights from July.
more photosAll these connections conspire to rule out the independence suggested by Carter and connect the life of a star and the evolution of life on a planet, Cirkovic argues.
In the case of the Earth, the two timescales have lined up fortuitously to enable life. Our Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, and Earth is just slightly younger, at 4.5 billion years old. The first, most basic cells are thought to have formed on our planet about 3.8 billion years ago, although the homo genus, to which humans belong, did not appear until about 2.5 million years ago. And modern humans are only about 200,000 years old.
For more than 80 percent of the Sun's existence, life has existed in some form on Earth. It seems the timescales of biology and astrophysics have favorably aligned in our case. According to the anthropic argument, this coincidence means that Earth, and its life, are unique. But Cirkovic thinks the two timescales may not have overlapped by chance. Instead, they may be part of a complex history, involving interdependence of the Earth system with the rest of the Milky Way.
Clocking CatastrophesCosmic events like gamma ray bursts or nearby supernovae could reset the astrobiological clock to give a planet and star a second chance to sync up and try again to produce life. Gamma ray bursts are mysterious explosions that release huge amounts of energy, occurring either as the dying explosions of super-massive stars (like Eta Carinae) or collisions of neutron stars in close binary systems. If a gamma ray burst occurred in a large region near a planetary system, it might cause a flash of radiation and possibly cosmic-ray jets that could disrupt life on planets. Supernova explosions, though not quite as energetic as gamma ray bursts (but much more frequent overall), pack quite a wallop as well, and could send a shock of energy to any nearby planets.
"A gamma ray burst won't affect whether life will begin at some particular point in time, but it would affect how quickly life develops or takes hold by causing changes in atmospheric chemistry on the planet," Cirkovic said. "This can be interpreted as resetting astrobiological clocks which tick on each habitable planet in the Milky Way."
This idea leads to a new way of thinking about the origin of life. Instead of a long, gradual evolution, a catastrophic event could spur development of a complex biosphere and intelligent beings, much like the evolutionary theory of punctuated equilibrium predicts that species will undergo long periods of slow evolution punctuated by brief bouts of drastic change.
For instance, paleontologists say that human beings evolved to our present state only thanks to an asteroid impact 65 million years ago that wiped out the planet's primary predator – the dinosaur. Earth has over the course of its history experienced many mass extinctions that had various causes. While extinctions wipe out life, they are also a "reset" button that alters the environment and allows other types of life to emerge. Overall, this is part of a complex set of astrobiological histories that Cirkovic and colleagues dub the "astrobiological landscape" of our Galaxy.
Click for related content
Hello, ET? Web site sends texts into spaceNear-Earth asteroid found to be tripletsPlanet-hunting probe spots test target
"The speed of evolution is very variable," Cirkovic said. "There is no reason to think that life on Earth has only one single origin. It is quite possible that there were several beginnings of life on Earth."
Cirkovic also notes that the evolution of intelligent life could occur slower or faster in different settings, and need not follow the astrobiological history of the Milky Way.
"Large-scale correlations might cause more such SETI targets to be contemporary with us than would be expected on the basis of planetary age distribution only," Cirkovic said.
Cirkovic and team outline their argument in the June 2009 issue of the journal Astrobiology.
courtsey.msnbc
America's Green Trade Challenge
The Obama Administration's trade policies can spur a green jobs revolution -- but proposals moving their way through Congress could stop it in its tracks. "The nation that leads the world in creating a new clean energy economy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy," President Obama has said. But establishing that clean energy economy in the U.S. will depend in part on the Administration's success in opening markets overseas and overcoming a new breed of green protectionism at home and abroad.
Although trade policy has been largely overlooked in discussions about climate change, innovative and environmentally conscious leadership from the U.S. is essential to increase the number of green jobs.
While the U.S. market for green goods and services is the largest in the world, growth has slowed in recent years. Future growth of the U.S. industry will depend on foreign markets, which are expanding rapidly and offer tremendous potential for American exporters. Currently U.S. companies face disproportionately high tariffs and other obstacles on exports of environmental goods and services like wind turbines and solar panels, particularly in fast-growing developing countries such as China and India. Reducing these impediments would allow U.S. companies to capture a larger share of the nearly $700 billion global market in environmental goods and services, which is growing at twice the rate of all merchandise trade.
Reducing barriers on green goods and services can also help the environment. The widely cited Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change prepared for the British government highlights "a clear case for lowering tariffs" on green goods, and argues that "Increased trade allows effective and efficient mitigation or adaptation to climate change." Research also suggests a link between more green trade and improved environmental quality.
Yet despite the potential benefits to the economy and the environment, international discussions over how to encourage more trade in green goods and services have been relegated largely to one institution -- the Geneva-based World Trade Organization. Virtually no mention is made of the economic or environmental importance of green trade in global climate change talks under way at the U.N.
A new strain of green protectionism
In the U.S., the American Clean Energy & Security Act, which passed the House in June, is also silent on the importance of green trade to the U.S. economy. In fact, the legislation would establish a framework for the U.S. to impose what amounts to new carbon tariffs on some foreign goods, which in turn could make it more difficult for U.S. manufacturers to export green products to key markets.
Equally worrisome are actions by U.S. trading partners that suggest a new strain of green protectionism. Brazil recently raised its tariff on certain wind turbines from zero to 14% in advance of a major auction for wind farms that will take place this fall. China is increasingly sheltering its markets from international competition and giving preference to domestic producers for local green contracts even as it exports much of its clean energy manufactures, like solar energy panels, to the U.S.
President Obama has an opportunity to stem this protectionist tide and promote green trade by vigorously supporting the conclusion of an international agreement to lower barriers to environmental goods and services. In 2007, the U.S., along with the EU, proposed eliminating trade barriers in the context of ongoing trade negotiations at the WTO. While the Obama Administration has expressed support for such an agreement, the time is right to elevate the importance of green trade at home and abroad.
One good place to start would be Pittsburgh, where the members of G-20 nations will meet in September, chosen in part because of the city's commitment to green technologies. U.S. diplomats should also seek to ensure that the global climate agreement scheduled to be concluded in Copenhagen this December reflects the importance of eliminating green trade barriers to achieving environmental goals.
The President should work with Congress to include support for removing green trade barriers in domestic legislation, which the Senate is scheduled to consider in September. Emphasizing the importance of an environmental goods and services agreement in climate legislation would complement congressional efforts to spur U.S. green jobs and deliver clean technologies to the developing world.
A bipartisan green trade policy
There are potential political benefits to supporting green trade, too. By positioning himself as a "green trader" abroad, President Obama would help to establish his trade credentials with U.S. trading partners. Such an effort could help to deflect criticism from U.S. allies about low-level protectionism that has crept into U.S. legislation in recent months.
President Obama also has a unique opportunity to bring together traditional supporters of trade in Congress with proponents of clean energy legislation who recognize that the number of jobs created in the United States will depend in part on how many products and services U.S. companies can sell abroad. After suffering through nearly a decade of bruising partisan division, the U.S. trade agenda would benefit from an issue such as promoting green trade, which could attract support from Democrats and Republicans.
The road to U.S. recovery may be green, but it is up to U.S. trade policy to help pave the way.
Although trade policy has been largely overlooked in discussions about climate change, innovative and environmentally conscious leadership from the U.S. is essential to increase the number of green jobs.
While the U.S. market for green goods and services is the largest in the world, growth has slowed in recent years. Future growth of the U.S. industry will depend on foreign markets, which are expanding rapidly and offer tremendous potential for American exporters. Currently U.S. companies face disproportionately high tariffs and other obstacles on exports of environmental goods and services like wind turbines and solar panels, particularly in fast-growing developing countries such as China and India. Reducing these impediments would allow U.S. companies to capture a larger share of the nearly $700 billion global market in environmental goods and services, which is growing at twice the rate of all merchandise trade.
Reducing barriers on green goods and services can also help the environment. The widely cited Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change prepared for the British government highlights "a clear case for lowering tariffs" on green goods, and argues that "Increased trade allows effective and efficient mitigation or adaptation to climate change." Research also suggests a link between more green trade and improved environmental quality.
Yet despite the potential benefits to the economy and the environment, international discussions over how to encourage more trade in green goods and services have been relegated largely to one institution -- the Geneva-based World Trade Organization. Virtually no mention is made of the economic or environmental importance of green trade in global climate change talks under way at the U.N.
A new strain of green protectionism
In the U.S., the American Clean Energy & Security Act, which passed the House in June, is also silent on the importance of green trade to the U.S. economy. In fact, the legislation would establish a framework for the U.S. to impose what amounts to new carbon tariffs on some foreign goods, which in turn could make it more difficult for U.S. manufacturers to export green products to key markets.
Equally worrisome are actions by U.S. trading partners that suggest a new strain of green protectionism. Brazil recently raised its tariff on certain wind turbines from zero to 14% in advance of a major auction for wind farms that will take place this fall. China is increasingly sheltering its markets from international competition and giving preference to domestic producers for local green contracts even as it exports much of its clean energy manufactures, like solar energy panels, to the U.S.
President Obama has an opportunity to stem this protectionist tide and promote green trade by vigorously supporting the conclusion of an international agreement to lower barriers to environmental goods and services. In 2007, the U.S., along with the EU, proposed eliminating trade barriers in the context of ongoing trade negotiations at the WTO. While the Obama Administration has expressed support for such an agreement, the time is right to elevate the importance of green trade at home and abroad.
One good place to start would be Pittsburgh, where the members of G-20 nations will meet in September, chosen in part because of the city's commitment to green technologies. U.S. diplomats should also seek to ensure that the global climate agreement scheduled to be concluded in Copenhagen this December reflects the importance of eliminating green trade barriers to achieving environmental goals.
The President should work with Congress to include support for removing green trade barriers in domestic legislation, which the Senate is scheduled to consider in September. Emphasizing the importance of an environmental goods and services agreement in climate legislation would complement congressional efforts to spur U.S. green jobs and deliver clean technologies to the developing world.
A bipartisan green trade policy
There are potential political benefits to supporting green trade, too. By positioning himself as a "green trader" abroad, President Obama would help to establish his trade credentials with U.S. trading partners. Such an effort could help to deflect criticism from U.S. allies about low-level protectionism that has crept into U.S. legislation in recent months.
President Obama also has a unique opportunity to bring together traditional supporters of trade in Congress with proponents of clean energy legislation who recognize that the number of jobs created in the United States will depend in part on how many products and services U.S. companies can sell abroad. After suffering through nearly a decade of bruising partisan division, the U.S. trade agenda would benefit from an issue such as promoting green trade, which could attract support from Democrats and Republicans.
The road to U.S. recovery may be green, but it is up to U.S. trade policy to help pave the way.
EMISSIONS: In cold Northeast, officials consider limiting furnace emissions
Eleven Eastern governors are expected to approve a blueprint for slashing carbon dioxide emissions from cars -- and perhaps home furnaces -- before January, according to state officials, potentially sparking a widespread shift to residential heaters that burn wood pellets.
Officials in states from Maine to Maryland are preparing the outlines of a regional plan that would limit the amount of greenhouse gases a unit of fuel, like a gallon of gasoline, could emit. That's meant to prompt oil companies, refiners and motorists to use cleaner fuels made from trash and plants and renewable electricity.
Emission reduction targets are not yet established, but officials are basing preliminary calculations on a goal of cutting carbon 10 percent by 2020. That's identical to California's pioneering low-carbon fuel standard.
The Eastern program could be strikingly different in one way: More than 1 million homes in the region are heated with oil, more than anywhere else in the country. It could be a controversial task to regulate the fuel that keeps New Englanders warm during long winters.
But the alternative is just as troubling: Oil-burning furnaces consume more fossil fuel there than diesel-driven trucks. If heating emissions are not reduced, they could undermine the clean fuel standard -- and perhaps make the states unable to meet their existing global warming goals.
"A critical decision will be whether to limit the program just to transportation fuels or whether to also include heating fuel," said Michelle Manion of Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, a nonprofit research group involved in designing the plan.
'Difficult' to cut emissions without addressing heat
In Massachusetts alone, about 963,000 homes -- almost half -- rely on oil heat. They consume 2 billion gallons of carbon-rich fuel every year, accounting for almost 20 percent of the nation's heating oil. New England burns 4.6 billion gallons of the stuff annually. That amounts to almost 15 percent of the region's petroleum use.
So there's concern that if heating oil is not included in the fuel standard, the 11 states might not be able to meet their individual emission reduction targets. All of them have promised to cut carbon.
"We are looking at whether we would be able to meet our goals without including home heating oil," said Rebecca Ohler, a supervisor with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and a participant in the plan's design. "I do think it would be difficult."
Another contributor, Ellen Pierce, an analyst with Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection, said heating oil is "a significant contributor to air emissions."
"It's something we should look at," she added.
Limiting emissions from transportation fuel is already daunting. Adding furnace fuel vastly increases the complexity of whom to regulate and how. Scores of additional businesses would fall under the watch of state regulators, probably prompting stronger opposition when state legislatures begin considering the plan for approval.
Politicians could become squeamish if the fuel standard is perceived to hike home heating bills during Northern winters.
'Cheaper' heat could mean widespread upgrades
But that may not be the case, said Nancy Seidman, deputy assistant commissioner for climate strategies with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
"If folks switch to wood or a different fuel, then in some cases, it may be cheaper or more efficient," she said.
The report emphasizes the states' home-grown opportunities. Wood pellets could be culled from the forests and manufacturing sites of Pennsylvania, New York and other states, reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with extracting, refining and transporting oil around the world.
But that raises an infrastructure question. Thousands of homes might have to replace oil furnaces with wood-burning heaters. Other options exist, like using renewable electricity to heat homes, switching to natural gas or running oil furnaces on cleaner mixes of biofuels.
"The use of woody biomass and electricity as substitutes, combined with increased natural gas use for space heating, provides near-term low carbon fuel options for the Northeast," according to a 233-page analysis released last month by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management.
That assertion could cause waves. Energy is expensive in New England, and residents could find new costs associated with replacing furnaces unappetizing. State officials are just beginning to model the economic effects of the plan.
Oil sands could cause havoc
The Energy Consumers Alliance of New England supports state initiatives aimed at replacing heating oil with low-sulfur diesel, a cleaner fuel. But the program's main thrust is to reduce the cost of oil by pooling the buying power of 17,000 households. That's not exactly an incentive to produce less emissions.
"The green they're interested in saving is their own," said Phil Lindsay, who runs the group's oil program.
The plan could be up and running in two years, said coordinator Manion. The governors from all 11 states -- including big polluter Pennsylvania -- are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding this year that establishes the broad strokes. Each state would then have to approve the program through legislation or executive order.
If emissions were reduced 10 percent by 2020, that would prevent 30 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere every year. That's without cleaning up home heating systems. Even so, it's still a bigger impact than that of the nation's first regional cap-and-trade program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is reducing emissions from 233 East Coast power plants.
If home heating is not regulated, it could spur an influx of high-carbon petroleum from Canada's controversial oil sands, analysts warn. Refiners could direct Canadian bitumen into residential oil tanks, even as that emission-heavy fuel is being blocked from entering cars by the low-carbon fuel standard.
That could undermine emission targets, and the "carbon intensity of the region's fuel supply could rise significantly," according to the states' official analysis. Currently, about half a percent of the region's home heating supply comes from Canadian oil sands.
Officials in states from Maine to Maryland are preparing the outlines of a regional plan that would limit the amount of greenhouse gases a unit of fuel, like a gallon of gasoline, could emit. That's meant to prompt oil companies, refiners and motorists to use cleaner fuels made from trash and plants and renewable electricity.
Emission reduction targets are not yet established, but officials are basing preliminary calculations on a goal of cutting carbon 10 percent by 2020. That's identical to California's pioneering low-carbon fuel standard.
The Eastern program could be strikingly different in one way: More than 1 million homes in the region are heated with oil, more than anywhere else in the country. It could be a controversial task to regulate the fuel that keeps New Englanders warm during long winters.
But the alternative is just as troubling: Oil-burning furnaces consume more fossil fuel there than diesel-driven trucks. If heating emissions are not reduced, they could undermine the clean fuel standard -- and perhaps make the states unable to meet their existing global warming goals.
"A critical decision will be whether to limit the program just to transportation fuels or whether to also include heating fuel," said Michelle Manion of Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management, a nonprofit research group involved in designing the plan.
'Difficult' to cut emissions without addressing heat
In Massachusetts alone, about 963,000 homes -- almost half -- rely on oil heat. They consume 2 billion gallons of carbon-rich fuel every year, accounting for almost 20 percent of the nation's heating oil. New England burns 4.6 billion gallons of the stuff annually. That amounts to almost 15 percent of the region's petroleum use.
So there's concern that if heating oil is not included in the fuel standard, the 11 states might not be able to meet their individual emission reduction targets. All of them have promised to cut carbon.
"We are looking at whether we would be able to meet our goals without including home heating oil," said Rebecca Ohler, a supervisor with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and a participant in the plan's design. "I do think it would be difficult."
Another contributor, Ellen Pierce, an analyst with Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection, said heating oil is "a significant contributor to air emissions."
"It's something we should look at," she added.
Limiting emissions from transportation fuel is already daunting. Adding furnace fuel vastly increases the complexity of whom to regulate and how. Scores of additional businesses would fall under the watch of state regulators, probably prompting stronger opposition when state legislatures begin considering the plan for approval.
Politicians could become squeamish if the fuel standard is perceived to hike home heating bills during Northern winters.
'Cheaper' heat could mean widespread upgrades
But that may not be the case, said Nancy Seidman, deputy assistant commissioner for climate strategies with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
"If folks switch to wood or a different fuel, then in some cases, it may be cheaper or more efficient," she said.
The report emphasizes the states' home-grown opportunities. Wood pellets could be culled from the forests and manufacturing sites of Pennsylvania, New York and other states, reducing lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with extracting, refining and transporting oil around the world.
But that raises an infrastructure question. Thousands of homes might have to replace oil furnaces with wood-burning heaters. Other options exist, like using renewable electricity to heat homes, switching to natural gas or running oil furnaces on cleaner mixes of biofuels.
"The use of woody biomass and electricity as substitutes, combined with increased natural gas use for space heating, provides near-term low carbon fuel options for the Northeast," according to a 233-page analysis released last month by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management.
That assertion could cause waves. Energy is expensive in New England, and residents could find new costs associated with replacing furnaces unappetizing. State officials are just beginning to model the economic effects of the plan.
Oil sands could cause havoc
The Energy Consumers Alliance of New England supports state initiatives aimed at replacing heating oil with low-sulfur diesel, a cleaner fuel. But the program's main thrust is to reduce the cost of oil by pooling the buying power of 17,000 households. That's not exactly an incentive to produce less emissions.
"The green they're interested in saving is their own," said Phil Lindsay, who runs the group's oil program.
The plan could be up and running in two years, said coordinator Manion. The governors from all 11 states -- including big polluter Pennsylvania -- are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding this year that establishes the broad strokes. Each state would then have to approve the program through legislation or executive order.
If emissions were reduced 10 percent by 2020, that would prevent 30 million tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere every year. That's without cleaning up home heating systems. Even so, it's still a bigger impact than that of the nation's first regional cap-and-trade program, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is reducing emissions from 233 East Coast power plants.
If home heating is not regulated, it could spur an influx of high-carbon petroleum from Canada's controversial oil sands, analysts warn. Refiners could direct Canadian bitumen into residential oil tanks, even as that emission-heavy fuel is being blocked from entering cars by the low-carbon fuel standard.
That could undermine emission targets, and the "carbon intensity of the region's fuel supply could rise significantly," according to the states' official analysis. Currently, about half a percent of the region's home heating supply comes from Canadian oil sands.
Study Finds Big Storms on a 1,000-Year Rise
The North Atlantic Ocean has spawned more hurricanes and tropical storms over the last decade than it has since a similarly stormy period 1,000 years ago, according to a new study.
The research, published yesterday in the journal Nature, tries to trace the pattern of storms along North America's Atlantic and Gulf coasts back to A.D. 500, well before humans were recording weather observations.
The study's lead author, climate scientist Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, said finding a reliable way to reconstruct centuries of past hurricane activity could help scientists tease out whether future climate change will alter storm patterns.
"One of the driving motivations for this research is to place in a longer-term context ... Atlantic tropical cyclone behavior, and the extent to which it may be anomalous," he said.
That meant trying to divine information about the past beyond historical records collected by ships and observers on shore, and later by storm-tracking aircraft and satellites.
The scientists relied on two different methods to reconstruct the past -- a foray into the emerging field of "paleotempestology," or the study of ancient storms.
First, they examined layers of sediment collected from coastal ponds and salt marshes that tend to flood when hurricanes make landfall nearby. Each flood deposits a layer of coarse barrier beach sand on the muddy pond floor, creating a record scientists can examine by collecting sediment cores. For the new study, Mann and his co-authors at the University of Massachusetts and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution collected cores at eight sites along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, ranging from southern Massachusetts to Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.
The researchers also used a computer model to simulate 1,500 years of Atlantic storms, feeding in information collected between 1851 and 2006 about factors known to influence hurricane activity, including sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the occurrence of El Niño weather patterns, and fluctuations in the jet stream.
The two methods produced similar overall results, Mann said, such as showing a major peak in storm activity about 1,000 years ago.
But 'paleotempestology' doesn't end the debate
Taken together, he said, they suggest that warmer temperatures produce more storm activity -- meaning that coming climate change could increase the frequency of hurricane activity.
"The paleoclimate evidence seems to reinforce the notion that, all other things being equal, when you have warm sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic, you see more activity," he said.
But Mann said there's also a possibility that climate change could alter the frequency of El Niño, which blunts hurricane activity, and counteract the effects of future ocean warming.
"Current state-of-the-art climate model projections are more or less split between whether there will be more El Niño conditions or more La Niña-like conditions," he said.
"The jury is still out. But this study is an independent data point from the paleo record that gives more weight to the proposition that warming the tropical Atlantic will continue to give us a higher level of hurricane and tropical cyclone activity."
Kerry Emanuel, a climatologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has published studies linking climate change to stronger hurricanes, called the new research "an impressive piece of work, melding two completely independent approaches to estimating past hurricane activity."
Emanuel said the Nature study "shows that hurricane activity is indeed quite sensitive to climate, and although we are still not completely sure about global warming effects, the paper raises again the flag that potentially they could be large."
But James Elsner, a climate scientist at Florida State University, said the "rather large levels of uncertainty" in the new study's results gave him pause.
"I don't see it as settling the debate on climate change and hurricane activity," said Elsner, who helped develop the statistical methods employed in the new study. "I think it does provide evidence that warmth is important."
At the same time, he explained, "the lack of a real tight physical theory between ocean warmth and frequency indicates this is not the smoking gun that would allow us to confidently project what might happen as oceans warm in the future."
The research, published yesterday in the journal Nature, tries to trace the pattern of storms along North America's Atlantic and Gulf coasts back to A.D. 500, well before humans were recording weather observations.
The study's lead author, climate scientist Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University, said finding a reliable way to reconstruct centuries of past hurricane activity could help scientists tease out whether future climate change will alter storm patterns.
"One of the driving motivations for this research is to place in a longer-term context ... Atlantic tropical cyclone behavior, and the extent to which it may be anomalous," he said.
That meant trying to divine information about the past beyond historical records collected by ships and observers on shore, and later by storm-tracking aircraft and satellites.
The scientists relied on two different methods to reconstruct the past -- a foray into the emerging field of "paleotempestology," or the study of ancient storms.
First, they examined layers of sediment collected from coastal ponds and salt marshes that tend to flood when hurricanes make landfall nearby. Each flood deposits a layer of coarse barrier beach sand on the muddy pond floor, creating a record scientists can examine by collecting sediment cores. For the new study, Mann and his co-authors at the University of Massachusetts and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution collected cores at eight sites along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts, ranging from southern Massachusetts to Vieques Island, Puerto Rico.
The researchers also used a computer model to simulate 1,500 years of Atlantic storms, feeding in information collected between 1851 and 2006 about factors known to influence hurricane activity, including sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, the occurrence of El Niño weather patterns, and fluctuations in the jet stream.
The two methods produced similar overall results, Mann said, such as showing a major peak in storm activity about 1,000 years ago.
But 'paleotempestology' doesn't end the debate
Taken together, he said, they suggest that warmer temperatures produce more storm activity -- meaning that coming climate change could increase the frequency of hurricane activity.
"The paleoclimate evidence seems to reinforce the notion that, all other things being equal, when you have warm sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic, you see more activity," he said.
But Mann said there's also a possibility that climate change could alter the frequency of El Niño, which blunts hurricane activity, and counteract the effects of future ocean warming.
"Current state-of-the-art climate model projections are more or less split between whether there will be more El Niño conditions or more La Niña-like conditions," he said.
"The jury is still out. But this study is an independent data point from the paleo record that gives more weight to the proposition that warming the tropical Atlantic will continue to give us a higher level of hurricane and tropical cyclone activity."
Kerry Emanuel, a climatologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has published studies linking climate change to stronger hurricanes, called the new research "an impressive piece of work, melding two completely independent approaches to estimating past hurricane activity."
Emanuel said the Nature study "shows that hurricane activity is indeed quite sensitive to climate, and although we are still not completely sure about global warming effects, the paper raises again the flag that potentially they could be large."
But James Elsner, a climate scientist at Florida State University, said the "rather large levels of uncertainty" in the new study's results gave him pause.
"I don't see it as settling the debate on climate change and hurricane activity," said Elsner, who helped develop the statistical methods employed in the new study. "I think it does provide evidence that warmth is important."
At the same time, he explained, "the lack of a real tight physical theory between ocean warmth and frequency indicates this is not the smoking gun that would allow us to confidently project what might happen as oceans warm in the future."
India's water use 'unsustainable'
Much of the water used in paddy fields is pumped from underground
Parts of India are on track for severe water shortages, according to results from Nasa's gravity satellites.
The Grace mission discovered that in the country's north-west - including Delhi - the water table is falling by about 4cm (1.6 inches) per year.
Writing in the journal Nature, they say rainfall has not changed, and water use is too high, mainly for farming.
The finding is published two days after an Indian government report warning of a potential water crisis.
That report noted that access to water was one of the main factors governing the pace of development in the world's second most populous nation.
About a quarter of India is experiencing drought conditions, as the monsoon rains have been weaker and later than usual.
But weather and climatic factors are not responsible for water depletion in the northwestern states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, according to the Nasa study.
"We looked at the rainfall record and during this decade, it's relatively steady - there have been some up and down years but generally there's no drought situation, there's no major trend in rainfall," said Matt Rodell, a hydrologist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington DC.
"So naturally we would expect the groundwater level to stay where it is unless there is an excessive stress due to people pumping too much water, which is what we believe is happening."
State of Grace
The Grace (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) mission uses two satellites flying along the same orbit, one just in front of the other.
Minute differences in the Earth's gravitational pull cause the two craft to shift slightly in their positions relative to one another.
The Grace satellites provide a twin eye on Earth gravity
Grace twins measure 'potato' Earth
The mission can measure groundwater depletion because the amount of water in aquifers has a small gravitational attraction for the satellites.
Three years ago, Grace scientists noted a loss of water in parts of Africa - but the Indian result is more striking.
"Over the six-year timeframe of this study, about 109 cubic kilometres of water were depleted from this region - more than double the capacity of India's largest reservoir is gone between 2002 and 2008," Dr Rodell told the BBC.
The northwest of India is heavily irrigated; and the Indian government's State of the Environment report, published on Tuesday, noted that irrigation increased rice yields seven-fold in some regions compared to rain-fed fields.
Dr Raj Gupta, a scientist working for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), said that the current drought would lead to more groundwater extraction.
"Farmers receive no rains so they are pumping a lot more water than the government expected, so the water table will fall further," he said.
"The farmers have to irrigate, and that's why they're pumping more water, mining more water. The situation has to stop today or tomorrow."
Dr Gupta noted that some farmers might be able to switch from rice to crops that demand less water, such as maize or sorghum.
But, he said, that would depend on government policies - which have traditionally promoted rice - and on market demand.
Climate change is likely to be a constraint too, with the area of South Asia suitable for wheat forecast to halve over the next 50 years.
Parts of India are on track for severe water shortages, according to results from Nasa's gravity satellites.
The Grace mission discovered that in the country's north-west - including Delhi - the water table is falling by about 4cm (1.6 inches) per year.
Writing in the journal Nature, they say rainfall has not changed, and water use is too high, mainly for farming.
The finding is published two days after an Indian government report warning of a potential water crisis.
That report noted that access to water was one of the main factors governing the pace of development in the world's second most populous nation.
About a quarter of India is experiencing drought conditions, as the monsoon rains have been weaker and later than usual.
But weather and climatic factors are not responsible for water depletion in the northwestern states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, according to the Nasa study.
"We looked at the rainfall record and during this decade, it's relatively steady - there have been some up and down years but generally there's no drought situation, there's no major trend in rainfall," said Matt Rodell, a hydrologist at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington DC.
"So naturally we would expect the groundwater level to stay where it is unless there is an excessive stress due to people pumping too much water, which is what we believe is happening."
State of Grace
The Grace (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment) mission uses two satellites flying along the same orbit, one just in front of the other.
Minute differences in the Earth's gravitational pull cause the two craft to shift slightly in their positions relative to one another.
The Grace satellites provide a twin eye on Earth gravity
Grace twins measure 'potato' Earth
The mission can measure groundwater depletion because the amount of water in aquifers has a small gravitational attraction for the satellites.
Three years ago, Grace scientists noted a loss of water in parts of Africa - but the Indian result is more striking.
"Over the six-year timeframe of this study, about 109 cubic kilometres of water were depleted from this region - more than double the capacity of India's largest reservoir is gone between 2002 and 2008," Dr Rodell told the BBC.
The northwest of India is heavily irrigated; and the Indian government's State of the Environment report, published on Tuesday, noted that irrigation increased rice yields seven-fold in some regions compared to rain-fed fields.
Dr Raj Gupta, a scientist working for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), said that the current drought would lead to more groundwater extraction.
"Farmers receive no rains so they are pumping a lot more water than the government expected, so the water table will fall further," he said.
"The farmers have to irrigate, and that's why they're pumping more water, mining more water. The situation has to stop today or tomorrow."
Dr Gupta noted that some farmers might be able to switch from rice to crops that demand less water, such as maize or sorghum.
But, he said, that would depend on government policies - which have traditionally promoted rice - and on market demand.
Climate change is likely to be a constraint too, with the area of South Asia suitable for wheat forecast to halve over the next 50 years.
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