SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday signed into law a sweeping global warming initiative that imposes the nation’s first cap on greenhouse gas emissions, saying the effort kicks off ‘a bold new era of environmental protection.’ Standing on picturesque Treasure Island with San Francisco’s skyline in the background, Schwarzenegger called the fight against global warming one of the most important issues of modern times. ‘We simply must do everything we can in our power to slow down global warming before it is too late,’ Schwarzenegger said during an address before signing the bill. Mayor Gavin Newsom and New York Gov. George Pataki, as well as Democratic legislators, joined Schwarzenegger for the high-profile ceremony. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who struck a deal with Schwarzenegger over the summer to develop clean technologies, joined the ceremony via video link. Blair called the bill-signing ‘a proud day for political leadership’ and ‘a historic day for the rest of the world, as well.’ California’s efforts on global warming have been in the spotlight since Schwarzenegger and the state’s legislative Democrats reached an accord last month on the Democrat-authored bill to cut greenhouse gases. The negotiations culminated […]
For years, scientists have been trying to figure out why the atmospheric concentration of methane, a heat-trapping gas, stopped increasing in the early 1990’s after tripling during the preceding 200 years. Some scientists and environmental groups said the change could be a sign of success in efforts to stem emissions of methane, a gas that contributes to global warming. They included stanching pipeline leaks and capturing methane from landfills. Now a new study by an international research team supports the suspicions of some experts that the leveling off was probably temporary and caused by a downturn in emissions from industry and most likely related to the collapse of the Soviet Union and its economy. After 1999, emissions from industry and other human activities began rising again, particularly in China, according to the study, which will be published today in the journal Nature. But that increase in methane from manmade sources appears to have been masked by a reduction in methane from sources in nature. Tropical droughts reduced methane released by bacteria in muddy wetlands, the study said. Inez Y. Fung, an atmospheric scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, said the study was a convincing portrait […]
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has blocked release of a report that suggests global warming is contributing to the frequency and strength of hurricanes, the journal Nature reported Tuesday. The possibility that warming conditions may cause storms to become stronger has generated debate among climate and weather experts, particularly in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster. In the new case, Nature said weather experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-part of the Commerce Department-in February set up a seven-member panel to prepare a consensus report on the views of agency scientists about global warming and hurricanes. According to Nature, a draft of the statement said that warming may be having an effect. In May, when the report was expected to be released, panel chair Ants Leetmaa received an e-mail from a Commerce official saying the report needed to be made less technical and was not to be released, Nature reported. Leetmaa, head of NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in New Jersey, did not immediately respond to calls seeking comment. NOAA spokesman Jordan St. John said he had no details of the report. NOAA Administrator Conrad Lautenbacher is currently out of the […]
In the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness ranking, the U.S. drops from first place to sixth thanks to its deficits and health care Americans aren’t No. 1 anymore, and their government is largely to blame. That seems to be the bottom line of a new survey of global competitiveness in which the U.S. slipped from first to sixth place, behind Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Singapore. While the U.S. excelled in such business categories as market efficiency and innovation, its score in the World Economic Forum’s annual ranking was dragged down by government-related measures. Out of 125 countries, the U.S. was 40th in health care and primary education and a lowly 69th in macroeconomy, reflecting its large budget and trade deficits. In macroeconomy, the U.S. scored lower than such nations as Vietnam, Venezuela, Uganda, the Philippines, Peru, and Nigeria. (Ouch.) The forum-a nonprofit best known for its annual conclave of the bright and famous in Davos, Switzerland-based the rankings on official data and interviews with 11,000 executives around the world. Its partners in the report were Microsoft (MSFT), FedEx (FDX), and the U.S. Agency for International Development. HEALTH-CARE HANDICAP. Was the deck stacked against the […]
A hundred years ago, one of the most ambitious of research projects was launched, a study that linked scholars and mediums on three continents. Its purpose was to discover whether living humans could talk to dead ones. Newspapers described the work as ‘remarkable experiments testing the reality of life after death.’ The scholars involved included William James, the famed American psychologist and philosopher, and Oliver Lodge, the British physicist and radio pioneer. They saw evidence for the supernatural - in this world and perhaps the next. ADVERTISEMENT In one instance they made a request to an American medium while she was in a trance. The request was in Latin, a language the medium did not speak. The instructions included a proposal that she ‘send’ a symbol to a British medium. During her next trance session, the American began asking about whether an ‘arrow’ had been received. Later, comparing notes, the researchers discovered that during the American’s first trance, the English psychic had suddenly begun scribbling arrows. It was only after a series of similar, equally unexpected results that the researchers published their findings. Could any study produce results more provocative, more worth pursuing - more forgotten - […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
