A catastrophic water shortage could prove an even bigger threat to mankind this century than soaring food prices and the relentless exhaustion of energy reserves, according to a panel of global experts at the Goldman Sachs ‘Top Five Risks’ conference. The melting of Himalayan glaciers threatens the water supply to the world’s rivers Nicholas (Lord) Stern, author of the Government’s Stern Review on the economics of climate change, warned that underground aquifers could run dry at the same time as melting glaciers play havoc with fresh supplies of usable water. ‘The glaciers on the Himalayas are retreating, and they are the sponge that holds the water back in the rainy season. We’re facing the risk of extreme run-off, with water running straight into the Bay of Bengal and taking a lot of topsoil with it,’ he said. Lord Stern, the World Bank’s former chief economist, said governments had been slow to accept the awful truth that usable water is running out. Fresh rainfall is not enough to refill the underground water tables. ‘Water is not a renewable resource. People have been mining it without restraint because it has not been priced properly,’ he said. […]
A secret deal being negotiated in Baghdad would perpetuate the American military occupation of Iraq indefinitely, regardless of the outcome of the US presidential election in November. The terms of the impending deal, details of which have been leaked to The Independent, are likely to have an explosive political effect in Iraq. Iraqi officials fear that the accord, under which US troops would occupy permanent bases, conduct military operations, arrest Iraqis and enjoy immunity from Iraqi law, will destabilise Iraq’s position in the Middle East and lay the basis for unending conflict in their country. But the accord also threatens to provoke a political crisis in the US. President Bush wants to push it through by the end of next month so he can declare a military victory and claim his 2003 invasion has been vindicated. But by perpetuating the US presence in Iraq, the long-term settlement would undercut pledges by the Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama, to withdraw US troops if he is elected president in November. The timing of the agreement would also boost the Republican candidate, John McCain, who has claimed the United States is on the verge of victory in Iraq – a […]
The nation’s campaign to get more teenagers to delay sex and to use condoms is faltering, threatening to undermine the highly successful effort to reduce teen pregnancy and protect young people from sexually transmitted diseases, federal officials reported yesterday. New data from a large government survey show that by every measure, a decade-long decline in sexual activity among high school students leveled off between 2001 and 2007, and that the rise in condom use by teens flattened out in 2003. Moreover, the survey found disturbing hints that teen sexual activity may have begun creeping up and that condom use among high school students might be edging downward, though those trend lines have not yet reached a point where statisticians can be sure, officials said. ‘The bottom line is: In all these areas, we don’t seem to be making the progress we were making before,’ said Howell Wechsler, acting director of the division of adolescent and school health at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducts the survey. ‘It’s very troubling.’ Coming on the heels of reports that one in four teenage girls has a sexually transmitted disease and that the teen birth rate […]
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., facing a sharp decline in its stock that will make it more difficult to raise fresh capital, may look to a foreign land for a strategic partner. The Wall Street firm has managed to raise capital from a rich base of existing U.S. shareholders, but this week reached out to overseas investors, including at least one in South Korea. The firm has a long history in South Korea, an effort led by the firm’s well-connected vice chairman Kunho Cho. The options for Lehman include the Korea Development Bank and Woori Financial Group. One person familiar with the situation said it is unlikely Korean Investment Corp., an investor in Merrill Lynch & Co., would be an investor. The news comes during a rough week for Lehman, whose stock topped the New York Stock Exchange’s most-active list Tuesday and closed down 9.5%, or $3.22, at $30.61 on the New York Stock Exchange. Tuesday’s trading wiped $1.72 billion off of Lehman’s market value and the closing price was Lehman’s lowest since August 2003. Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported that Lehman, which is set to post one of the biggest quarterly losses in its […]
WASHINGTON — A Senate debate over a bill to combat global warming came to a halt Wednesday after Republicans demanded a reading of the 492-page document because of a partisan dispute over judicial nominations. The partisan squabble spilled over to a disagreement over how many amendments should be allowed, threatening to cut short likely consideration of the legislation once it gets back on track. Senate clerks read into the evening hours as both sides mapped out their next move, once the reading was to be concluded, sometime before midnight. The bill, the most ambitious legislation on global warming ever taken up in Congress, would cut carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions by 71 percent by mid-century from power plants, refineries, factories and transportation. Its sponsors said the mandatory reductions are essential to put the United States in a leadership role in global attempts to head off dangerous climate change. But Republican critics said it would result in higher energy costs and economic turmoil. After an agreement to bring the legislation up for action, Republicans turned down requests that a reading of the bill not be required, a procedure that is routine. Senate Minority […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
