A World Bank report blames Palestinian mismanagement and Israeli restrictions for severe water shortages in Palestinian areas. Palestinians get only a quarter of the water Israelis have access to. The existing problems effect not just daily supply but the development of water resources, water uses and wastewater management. ‘Water related humanitarian crisis are in fact chronic in Gaza and parts of the West Bank,’ says the report. For their water Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are completely depended on scarce resources controlled by Israel. This has led to ‘systematic and severe constraints on Palestinian development of water resources’, says the report. But the Palestinian Authority (PA) too gets part of the blame. It is struggling to establish even a basic water infrastructure and management, concludes the report. Water supplies continue to ‘operate in a very inefficient emergency mode, with far reaching economic, social and environmental consequences’. ‘Grossly misleading’ The mismanagement is made worse by movement and access restrictions which Palestinians live under. As a result Israelis have about four times as much water available to them as people in the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli officials […]
There is no evidence that industrial wind power is likely to have a significant impact on carbon emissions. The European experience is instructive. Denmark, the world’s most wind-intensive nation, with more than 6,000 turbines generating 19% of its electricity, has yet to close a single fossil-fuel plant. It requires 50% more coal-generated electricity to cover wind power’s unpredictability, and pollution and carbon dioxide emissions have risen (by 36% in 2006 alone). Flemming Nissen, the head of development at West Danish generating company ELSAM (one of Denmark’s largest energy utilities) tells us that ‘wind turbines do not reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The German experience is no different. Der Spiegel reports that ‘Germany’s CO2 emissions haven’t been reduced by even a single gram, and additional coal- and gas-fired plants have been constructed to ensure reliable delivery. Indeed, recent academic research shows that wind power may actually increase greenhouse gas emissions in some cases, depending on the carbon-intensity of back-up generation required because of its intermittent character. On the negative side of the environmental ledger are adverse impacts of industrial wind turbines on birdlife and other forms of wildlife, farm animals, wetlands and viewsheds. Industrial wind power is not a […]
WASHINGTON — The main chemical in marijuana appears to aid in the destruction of brain cancer cells, offering hope for future anti-cancer therapies, researchers in Spain wrote in a study released Thursday. The authors from the Complutense University in Madrid, working with scientists from other universities, found that the active component of marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), causes cancer cells to undergo a process called autophagy — the breakdown that occurs when the cell essentially self-digests. The research, which appears in the April edition of US-published Journal of Clinical Investigation, demonstrates that THC and related ‘cannabinoids’ appear to be ‘a new family of potential antitumoral agent.’ The authors wrote that the chemical may prove useful in the development of future ‘antitumoral agents.’ The scientists conducted their research on mice, first stimulating the growth of cancer in the lab animals, then injecting them with a daily dose of THC near the site of their tumors. The researchers also analyzed the tumors of two patients in an experimental trial looking at the effects of THC on a highly aggressive form of brain tumor, and saw findings ‘in line with the preclinical evidence’ first observed in the laboratory mice.
The Colorado River, the Yellow River in northern China, the Ganges in India and the Niger in West Africa are losing water, in some cases because of the effects of climate change, a new study finds. The study examined stream flow in 925 of Earth’s largest rivers, and found significant change in about one third of them over the past 50 years. These rivers, all key sources of water for the regions they flow through, were found to be funneling less water through their channels. ‘Reduced runoff is increasing the pressure on freshwater resources in much of the world, especially with more demand for water as population increases,’ said lead author of the study, Aiguo Dai of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. ‘Freshwater being a vital resource, the downward trends are a great concern.’ Most of the studied rivers flow through some of the most populous places on Earth. But several others flowing through more sparsely populated areas, such as those near the Arctic Ocean, where snow and ice are melting rapidly, showed an increase in stream flow through the study period. Increased flows were the exception rather than the rule though: […]
Top officials at Chrysler Financial turned away a government loan because executives didn’t want to abide by new federal limits on pay, according to new findings by a federal watchdog agency. The government had offered a $750 million loan earlier this month as part of its efforts to prop up the ailing auto industry, including Chrysler, which is racing to avoid bankruptcy. Chrysler Financial is a major lender to Chrysler dealerships and customers. In forgoing the loan, Chrysler Financial opted to use more expensive financing from private banks, adding to the burden on the already fragile automaker and its financing company. Chrysler Financial officials denied in a statement that the company’s executives had refused to accept new limits on their pay, adding that the firm turned down the loan because it no longer needed it. But their account conflicts with a report set to be released today by the Treasury’s special inspector general for the federal bailout, saying the executives’ refusal led Treasury to withdraw the loan offer. ‘It was certainly a deal-breaker from Treasury’s perspective,’ said Neil M. Barofsky, the special inspector general, who spoke to the bailout program’s chief compliance officer about the situation […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
