GENEVA — Greenhouse gases blamed for global warming and climate change have reached their highest ever levels in the atmosphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday. A bulletin from the United Nations agency said the gases — the main warming culprit carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide — “all reached new highs in 2004.” WMO officials also indicated that a near record year-on-year rise in CO2 levels for 2005 recorded by U.S. monitors — well above the average for the past 10 years — would not come as a major surprise. “Global observations coordinated by WMO show that levels of carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, continue to increase steadily and show no signs of leveling off,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. Carbon dioxide, which the WMO says accounts for 90 percent of warming over the past decade, is largely generated by human activity involving the burning of fossil fuels — including in industry, transport and domestic heating. Scientists warn emissions must be slowed and reduced if the earth is to avoid climatic havoc with devastating heat waves, droughts, floods and rising sea-levels sinking low-lying island states and […]
CHICAGO — Struggling U.S. airlines, looking for new ways to generate revenue, are getting bolder about charging for pretty much anything that makes air travel a little more comfortable — including aisle seats. First came charging passengers for in-flight meals. Then, reservations done by phone cost extra. And now, one major airline, Northwest Airlines Corp. , is trying to charge passengers for the right to sit in aisle seats and emergency-exit rows. The day is coming when carriers will require special fees even to check a bag, experts say. Analysts told Reuters that travelers should brace for more nickel and diming as airlines seek to recoup losses from soaring fuel costs and competitive pressures. Airlines are likely to test passengers’ willingness to pay for an ever wider array of services. “We’re just scratching the surface. I think 2006 is going to bring a tremendous amount of changes,” said Terry Trippler, an analyst with travel Web site Cheapseats.com. “I think it’s going to be the difference between a black bottom line and a red one,” he said. Bankrupt Northwest this week unveiled a program called Coach Choice in which the carrier will save some preferred […]
WASHINGTON — In the U.S. patients receive proper medical care from doctors and nurses only 55 percent of the time, regardless of their race, income, education or insurance status, according to a national study published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine. A well-functioning health care system should provide recommended levels of care 80 to 90 percent of the time, the study’s authors said. In a performance review of preventive services and care for 30 chronic conditions, including hypertension, diabetes and heart disease, researchers found that it’s almost a coin flip as to whether patients get the recommended care from doctors and nurses – even though the standard treatments are widely known. The findings show that everyone is at roughly equal risk of inadequate care from medical professionals. However, small differences did occur in the care given male and female patients and those from different racial and ethnic groups. “Not only is no place safe, no one is safe from poor quality,” said Dr. Steven M. Asch, the lead author and senior natural scientist at Los Angeles-based RAND Health, the nation’s largest independent health-policy research organization. “No matter what group we looked at, whether they […]
SAN JOSE, California — The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday sharply cut its demand for Google Inc. customer data and a U.S. judge signaled he intended to require the search company to hand over some records, potentially opening the door to compromise in a test case for Web privacy. U.S. District Court Judge James Ware told a hearing he would make a decision that weighed the government’s need to gather data against Google’s needs as a private company to defend its trade secrets. Ware added that he was concerned about creating the perception that Google’s users’ privacy could be undermined, but he reacted positively to the reduced request by the government, which is seeking data for a study on Internet child pornography. “It is my intent to grant some relief to the government,” said Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, adding that he expected to make a decision “very quickly.” Shares of Google’s (GOOG) stock rose $14.10, or 4.2 percent, to close at $351.16. The government on Tuesday reduced the number of Google searches it wanted data on to just 50,000 Web addresses and roughly 5,000 search terms from […]
Pregnancy can be the most wonderful experience life has to offer. But it can also be dangerous. Around the world, an estimated 529,000 women a year die during pregnancy or childbirth. Ten million suffer injuries, infection or disability. To David Haig, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard, these grim statistics raise a profound puzzle about pregnancy. “Pregnancy is absolutely central to reproduction, and yet pregnancy doesn’t seem to work very well,” he said. “If you think about the heart or the kidney, they’re wonderful bits of engineering that work day in and day out for years and years. But pregnancy is associated with all sorts of medical problems. What’s the difference?” The difference is that the heart and the kidney belong to a single individual, while pregnancy is a two-person operation. And this operation does not run in perfect harmony. Instead, Dr. Haig argues, a mother and her unborn child engage in an unconscious struggle over the nutrients she will provide it. Dr. Haig’s theory has been gaining support in recent years, as scientists examine the various ways pregnancy can go wrong. His theory also explains a baffling feature of developing fetuses: the copies of some […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
