Rising temperatures and the resulting drought are causing trees in the West to die at more than twice the pace they did a few decades ago, a new study has found. The combination of temperature and drought has also reduced the ability of the forests to absorb carbon dioxide, which traps heat and thus contributes to global warming, the authors of the study said, and has made forests sparser and more susceptible to fires and pests. The scientists, who analyzed tree census data collected in 1955 and in later years, found that the mortality of trees increased in 87 percent of the 76 forest plots studied. In some plots, the die-off rate doubled in as little as 17 years; in others, it doubled after 29 years, the study found. ‘Summers are getting longer,’ said Nathan L. Stephenson, of the United States Geological Survey, a leader of the study with Phillip van Mantgem, also of the geological survey. ‘Trees are under more drought stress.’ The study will appear in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. The scientists analyzed the effects of higher temperatures on old-growth temperate forests in three regions: the Pacific Northwest (including southwestern British […]
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama on Thursday backed a woman’s ‘right to choose’ on the 36th anniversary of a landmark Supreme Court decision that gave women a constitutional right to abortion. ‘On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded that this decision not only protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, but stands for a broader principle: that government should not intrude on our most private family matters,’ Obama said in a written statement. ‘I remain committed to protecting a woman’s right to choose.’ The 1973 Supreme Court decision, enshrined as ‘Roe v. Wade’ for the key figures in the case, gave the United States some of the least restrictive abortion laws in the world. Roe v Wade galvanized conservative religious groups against abortion and made it a hot-button political issue, even though surveys have shown that more Americans are pro-choice — in favor of a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion — than pro-life, or against abortion. Even a survey conducted last year by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) showed that only 11 percent of Americans favored a total ban on abortion. Obama’s […]
Federal regulators have cleared the way for the first human trials of human embryonic stem-cell research, authorizing researchers to test whether the cells are safe to use in spinal injury patients, the company behind the trials announced Friday. The tests could begin by summer, said Dr. Thomas Okarma, president and CEO of the Geron Corporation. The Food and Drug Administration has approved the trials, which will use human stem cells authorized for research by then-President George W. Bush in 2001. The patients will be those with the most severe spinal cord injuries, called complete spinal cord injuries. ‘A complete spinal cord injury has no hope of recovery below the injury,’ Okarma told CNN. ‘This is significant because it’s the first clinical trial of a human embryonic-based product.’ The primary purpose of the trial will be to see whether injecting these cells into patients is safe, but Okarma said researchers will also look for any signs of recovery. Scientists will monitor the patients for a year after the injections to see if they are regaining any function below the injured point. ‘If there is any movement below the injury, they will measure that and record it,’ […]
Crude oil fell below $33 a barrel in New York as the strengthening dollar reduced the appeal of commodity investments at a time when demand is declining and stockpiles are rising. At Cushing, Oklahoma, where the benchmark oil for New York futures is stored, inventories have climbed to 33 million barrels, the highest since records started four years ago. The February contract will cease trading today, so traders have to sell futures or accept the barrels at a time of falling demand. ‘Traders are rolling over to the next month to avoid delivery and the dollar is rallying, said Andrey Kryuchenkov, an analyst with VTB Capital in London. ‘All this against a background of falling demand and easing geopolitical tensions. Crude oil for February delivery fell to $32.70, down 10.4 percent from last week’s close and the lowest since Dec. 19, on the New York Mercantile Exchange today. The contract traded at $34.10 a barrel at 1:32 p.m. London time. Floor trading was closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday yesterday. Trades then will be booked today for settlement. The more-actively traded March contract was at $40.28, down 5.4 percent. The U.S. dollar climbed […]
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is preparing a comprehensive strategy to address the escalating financial crisis, stem home foreclosures and jump-start the overall economy, signaling that the president hopes to deal with the problems systematically instead of case by case. The plan probably will not be delivered for several weeks, Timothy Geithner, the nominee for Treasury secretary, said Wednesday. ‘We’re at the beginning of this process of repairing the system, not close to the end of that process,’ Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee. ‘And it is going to require much more substantial action on a very dramatic scale.’ But on the banking front, it remains to be seen how much time the administration has to come up with a plan. For the last several weeks, Obama and his aides had hoped that the financial system, though seriously weakened, would remain stable enough to allow the administration to focus on repairing the broader economy, which would help lift the prospects of financial firms along with those of ordinary Americans. But fear of a wider banking collapse has grown in recent days, with signs that losses at major banks are deepening. Wall Street gave the […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
