New studies project that the Arctic Ocean could be mostly open water in summer by 2040 - several decades earlier than previously expected - partly as a result of global warming caused by emissions of greenhouse gases. The projections come from computer simulations of climate and ice and from direct measurements showing that the amount of ice coverage has been declining for 30 years. The latest modeling study, being published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, was led by Marika Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. The study involved seven fresh simulations on supercomputers at the atmospheric center, as well as an analysis of simulations developed by independent groups. In simulations where emissions continue to rise, sea ice persists for long periods but then abruptly gives way to open water, Dr. Holland said. In the simulations, the shift seems to occur when a pulse of warm Atlantic Ocean water combines with the thinning and retreat of ice under the influence of the global warming trend. Scientists ascribe most of that planet-scale warming, including a warming of the shallow layers of the oceans, to the buildup of carbon dioxide and […]
Mankind has had less effect on global warming than previously supposed, a United Nations report on climate change will claim next year. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says there can be little doubt that humans are responsible for warming the planet, but the organisation has reduced its overall estimate of this effect by 25 per cent. In a final draft of its fourth assessment report, to be published in February, the panel reports that the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has accelerated in the past five years. It also predicts that temperatures will rise by up to 4.5 C during the next 100 years, bringing more frequent heat waves and storms. The panel, however, has lowered predictions of how much sea levels will rise in comparison with its last report in 2001. Climate change sceptics are expected to seize on the revised figures as evidence that action to combat global warming is less urgent. Scientists insist that the lower estimates for sea levels and the human impact on global warming are simply a refinement due to better data on how climate works rather than a reduction in the risk posed by […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Saudi King Abdullah opened the annual summit of Gulf leaders with a warning that the Arab world was on the brink of exploding because of conflicts in the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Lebanon. ‘Our Arab region is besieged by a number of dangers, as if it was a powder keg waiting for a spark to explode,’ he told the rulers of the oil-rich monarchies gathered in Riyadh for a two-day meeting to the backdrop of mounting sectarian violence in neighboring Iraq. The Palestinians were reeling from ‘a hostile and ugly occupation’ by Israel while the international community watched their ‘bloody tragedy like a spectator,’ Abdullah said. But ‘most dangerous for the (Palestinian) cause is the conflict among brethren,’ he said in a reference to the differences between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah faction and the Islamist Hamas movement that have blocked the formation of a unity government. In Iraq ‘a brother is still killing his brother,’ Abdullah said of the tit-for-tat killings between the Sunni Arab former elite and the ruling Shiite majority. Abdullah also warned that Lebanon, which was rocked by civil war in 1975-1990, risked sliding into renewed civil […]
WASHINGTON– Tough sentencing laws, record numbers of drug offenders and high crime rates have contributed to the United States having the largest prison population and the highest rate of incarceration in the world, according to criminal justice experts. A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a record 7 million people — or one in every 32 American adults — were behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail. According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000. The U.S. incarceration rate of 737 per 100,000 people in the highest, followed by 611 in Russia and 547 for St. Kitts and Nevis. In contrast, the incarceration rates in many Western industrial nations range around 100 per 100,000 people. Groups advocating reform of U.S. sentencing laws seized on the latest U.S. prison population figures showing admissions of inmates have been rising even faster than the numbers of prisoners who […]
They lost their House and Senate seats, in some cases after keeping them warm for three decades. Others up and left on their own. But do not feel too sorry for some of these soon-to-be former lawmakers. The future is bright for ex-members of Congress. No welfare cheese for them and little if any time among the ranks of the unemployed. Some already have settled on new careers. Or old ones, as the case may be. ‘I’ll probably go home and drive a truck for a couple of weeks to get centered again,’ Rep. Mike Sodrel, R-Ind., a 60-year-old freshman who was defeated, said in an interview. During the campaign that got him elected in 2004, Sodrel, a millionaire who owns three trucking and bus companies, cruised around southeastern Indiana in his own 18-wheeler. Last month, he lost to Baron Hill, the Democratic congressman he beat two years ago. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, the House Science Committee chairman, is joining the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. The longest-serving New York Republican in Congress, Boehlert quit after 24 years. Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, sent packing after 30 years, is sifting through offers […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
