Veni, Vidi, Verba Verti
Thursday, September 30, 2010
veni... vidi... verba-verti...
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Global Warming Effects and Causes: A Top 10 List – Planetsave
One of the biggest issues facing us right now is global warming. Its effects on animals and on agriculture are indeed frightening, and the effects on the human population are even scarier. The facts about global warming are often debated, but unfortunately, even if we disagree about the causes, global warming effects are real, global, and measurable. The causes are mainly from us, the human race, and the effects on us will be severe.
Global Warming Effects and Causes: A Top 10 List
1. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel burning power plants
Our ever increasing addiction to electricity from coal burning power plants releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 40% of U.S. CO2 emissions come from electricity production, and burning coal accounts for 93% of emissions from the electric utility industry [EPA, pg. 10]. Every day, more electric gadgets flood the market, and without widespread alternative energy sources, we are highly dependent on burning coal for our personal and commercial electrical supply.
2. Global Warming Cause: Carbon dioxide emissions from burning gasoline for transportation
Our modern car culture and appetite for globally sourced goods is responsible for about 33% of emissions in the U.S. [EPA pg. 8] With our population growing at an alarming rate, the demand for more cars and consumer goods means that we are increasing the use of fossil fuels for transportation and manufacturing. Our consumption is outpacing our discoveries of ways to mitigate the effects, with no end in sight to our massive consumer culture.
3. Global Warming Cause: Methane emissions from animals, agriculture such as rice paddies, and from Arctic seabeds
Methane is another extremely potent greenhouse gas, ranking right behind CO2. When organic matter is broken down by bacteria under oxygen-starved conditions (anaerobic decomposition) as in rice paddies, methane is produced. The process also takes place in the intestines of herbivorous animals, and with the increase in the amount of concentrated livestock production, the levels of methane released into the atmosphere is increasing. Another source of methane is methane clathrate, a compound containing large amounts of methane trapped in the crystal structure of ice. As methane escapes from the Arctic seabed, the rate of global warming will increase significantly.
4. Global Warming Cause: Deforestation, especially tropical forests for wood, pulp, and farmland
The use of forests for fuel (both wood and for charcoal) is one cause of deforestation, but in the first world, our appetite for wood and paper products, our consumption of livestock grazed on former forest land, and the use of tropical forest lands for commodities like palm oil plantations contributes to the mass deforestation of our world. Forests remove and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and this deforestation releases large amounts of carbon, as well as reducing the amount of carbon capture on the planet.
5. Global Warming Cause: Increase in usage of chemical fertilizers on croplands
In the last half of the 20th century, the use of chemical fertilizers (as opposed to the historical use of animal manure) has risen dramatically. The high rate of application of nitrogen-rich fertilizers has effects on the heat storage of cropland (nitrogen oxides have 300 times more heat-trapping capacity per unit of volume than carbon dioxide) and the run-off of excess fertilizers creates ‘dead-zones’ in our oceans. In addition to these effects, high nitrate levels in groundwater due to over-fertilization are cause for concern for human health.
6. Global Warming Effect: Rise in sea levels worldwide
Scientists predict an increase in sea levels worldwide due to the melting of two massive ice sheets in Antarctica and Greenland, especially on the East coast of the U.S. However, many nations around the world will experience the effects of rising sea levels, which could displace millions of people. One nation, the Maldives, is already looking for a new home, thanks to rising sea levels.
7. Global Warming Effect: More killer storms
The severity of storms such as hurricanes and cyclones is increasing, and research published in Nature found:
“Scientists have come up with the firmest evidence so far that global warming will significantly increase the intensity of the most extreme storms worldwide. The maximum wind speeds of the strongest tropical cyclones have increased significantly since 1981, according to research published in Nature this week. And the upward trend, thought to be driven by rising ocean temperatures, is unlikely to stop at any time soon.”
8. Global Warming Effect: Massive crop failures
According to recent research, there is a 90% chance that 3 billion people worldwide will have to choose between moving their families to milder climes and going hungry due to climate change within 100 years.
“Climate change is expected to have the most severe impact on water supplies. “Shortages in future are likely to threaten food production, reduce sanitation, hinder economic development and damage ecosystems. It causes more violent swings between floods and droughts.”" – Guardian: Global warming causes 300,000 deaths a year
9. Global Warming Effect: Widespread extinction of species
According to research published in Nature, by 2050, rising temperatures could lead to the extinction of more than a million species. And because we can’t exist without a diverse population of species on Earth, this is scary news for humans.
“Climate change now represents at least as great a threat to the number of species surviving on Earth as habitat-destruction and modification.” Chris Thomas, conservation biologist at the University of Leeds
10. Global Warming Effect: Disappearance of coral reefs
A report on coral reefs from WWF says that in a worst case scenario, coral populations will collapse by 2100 due to increased temperatures and ocean acidification. The ‘bleaching’ of corals from small but prolonged rises in sea temperature is a severe danger for ocean ecosystems, and many other species in the oceans rely on coral reefs for their survival.
“Despite the oceans’s immensity — 71 per cent of the Earth’s surface with an average depth of almost 4km (2½m) — there are indications that it is approaching its tipping point. For reefs, warming waters and acidification are closing in like a pair of jaws that threaten to make them the first global ecosystem to disappear.” – Times Online: 21st-century Noah’s Ark needed to save coral reefs from extinction
Read more about global warming effects and causes:
Images: FlyingSinger Mikael Miettinen Simone Ramella net_efekt Ben Sutherland nattu CoreBurn brankomaster Lars K. Jensen In Veritas Lux at Flickr under Creative Commons License
Thursday, September 16, 2010
In pictures : The week in wildlife | Environment | guardian.co.uk
A polar bear cub hides behind its mother near the Norwegian island of Spitzbergen, Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean
NASA - The Rosette Nebula
The Rosette Nebula
Located about 5,000 light years from Earth, this composite image shows the Rosette star formation region. Data from the Chandra X-ray Observatory are colored red and outlined by a white line. The X-rays reveal hundreds of young stars in the central cluster and fainter clusters on either side. Optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey and the Kitt Peak National Observatory (purple, orange, green and blue) show large areas of gas and dust, including giant pillars that remain behind after intense radiation from massive stars has eroded the more diffuse gas.
A recent Chandra study of the cluster on the right side of the image, named NGC 2237, provides the first probe of the low-mass stars in this satellite cluster. Previously only 36 young stars had been discovered in NGC 2237, but the Chandra work has increased this sample to about 160 stars. The presence of several X-ray emitting stars around the pillars and the detection of an outflow -- commonly associated with very young stars -- originating from a dark area of the optical image indicates that star formation is continuing in NGC 2237. By combining these results with earlier studies, scientists conclude that the central cluster formed first, followed by expansion of the nebula, which triggered the formation of the two neighboring clusters, including NGC 2237.
Image Credit: X-ray (NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Wang et al), Optical (DSS & NOAO/AURA/NSF/KPNO 0.9-m/T. Rector et al)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
All nature has a feeling
All nature has a feeling: woods, fields, brooks
Are life eternal: and in silence they
Speak happiness beyond the reach of books;
There's nothing mortal in them; their decay
Is the green life of change; to pass away
And come again in blooms revivified.
Its birth was heaven, eternal it its stay,
And with the sun and moon shall still abide
Beneath their day and night and heaven wide.
John Clare*
See the Northern Lights - Aurora Borealis
dedicated to my friend @Vlavo
Northern Lights
The sight of the lights shimmering and dancing across the night sky will be etched in the memory of all those who are lucky enough to witness it.
The phenomenon of the Northern Lights has fascinated the Sámi people for centuries and there are more than 20 folk tales that attempt to explain their existence. In many parts of Lapland the Northern lights are known as the Firefox. Legend has it that the tail of a running fox brushing against the powder snow causes the sparks in the sky. It is also said that the Arctic Sea contains so many fish that the sun's light is reflected off their scales and creates the patterns in the sky.
Today's science means that we now know that the Aurora Borealis displays we see are caused by electrically charged particles in space hitting the earth's atmosphere. When they collide with oxygen and nitrogen particles they emit excess energy as light.
Although the Aurora Borealis can be seen from northerly parts of the United Kingdom the occurrences are rare and the intensity of the displays tend to be low. The further north you travel the better your chances of viewing the lights so all the destinations in this brochure provide great opportunities to see the Northern lights.
The optimum time to see the Northern lights is between 9pm and 1am in the morning. Be careful not to go to bed too soon or you may miss out. The intensity of the displays can vary and may start with a small stationary glow or arch in the night sky before building into a spectacular show.
The Aurora Borealis is a purely natural phenomenon and therefore cannot be guaranteed whichever destination you choose. However, the further north you travel and the further away from man-made light you are, the better your chance to see the Northern lights. Many of our destinations offer night time and overnight safaris that will give you the perfect opportunity to see the Aurora Borealis as we take you deep into the darkness (and our guides know all the best view points!).
Lying on a reindeer skin in deep snow, watching the sky shimmer and drinking hot berry juice is an excellent way to spend part of your holiday! Whatever you believe about the Aurora Borealis there is no more spectacular experience on Earth than sitting in a winter wonderland watching the lights dancing across the sky. It is truly magical! Choose from our Lapland trips below and see the Northern lights with Activities Abroad.
What we need is to use what we have - but does it float
Award winning illustrator, former stunt pilot, grifter and a much-admired pop icon of Los Angeles’s wild era of illustration in the 1970s and 80s.—Billy Shire Fine Arts
Thanks, Casey
that's good
sea sun gold!
You taught me poisoned herbs,
the magic of your ways.
Like golden sea claws,
That scuttle silently....
across the ocean floors,
Independent, lonely She Demon,
I was yours... forever more.
dedicated!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Παρέμβαση του "Forum για την Ελλάδα"
Αντίσταση στην "εκποίηση" των ατομικών ελευθεριών
"Κάθε πρόσωπο έχει δικαίωμα στο σεβασμό της ιδιωτικής και οικογενειακής ζωής του, της κατοικίας του και των επικοινωνιών του. Κάθε πρόσωπο έχει δικαίωμα στην προστασία των δεδομένων προσωπικού χαρακτήρα που το αφορούν." Άρθρα 7 & 8 του Χάρτη των Θεμελιωδών Δικαιωμάτων της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης.
Το forum για την Ελλάδα έχει καταθέσει ήδη τις πρώτες τους προτάσεις. Συνεχίζουμε με την κατάθεση νέων θέσεων που θα οδηγήσουν σε ένα σαρωτικό σχέδιο αλλαγών και μεταρρυθμίσεων με στόχο να βάλουν την αγορά αλλά και την Ελλάδα σε κίνηση.
Είναι προφανές πως τα ανωτέρω θεμελιώδη δικαιώματα των πολιτών δεν γίνονται συχνά σεβαστά στην χώρα μας. Παρατηρούνται, με διαρκώς αυξανόμενο ρυθμό, περιπτώσεις κατάφορης παραβίασης των ατομικών ελευθεριών ιδίως σε θέματα προστασίας δεδομένων προσωπικού χαρακτήρα.
Οι παράμετροι που επηρεάζουν αυτή την τάση είναι η όλο και αυξανόμενη χρήση του διαδικτύου, η αλματώδης ανάπτυξη των κοινωνικών ιστοχώρων και η αδηφάγος διάθεση κανιβαλισμού μέρους των Μέσων Μαζικής Ενημέρωσης.
Δεν είναι λίγες οι περιπτώσεις όπου προσωπικά δεδομένα πολιτών αφού πρώτα "κλαπούν" από τους σύγχρονους "τυμβωρύχους" του διαδικτύου χρησιμοποιούνται δημοσίως για να ευτελίσουν πρόσωπα και καταστάσεις.
Το forum για την Ελλάδα δεν μπορεί να μείνει απαθές μπροστά σ' αυτή τη θλιβερή κατάσταση. Δεδομένου ότι για μας, η διασφάλιση των ατομικών ελευθεριών του κάθε πολίτη αποτελεί κυρίαρχο συστατικό του δημοκρατικού μας πολιτεύματος, αρνούμαστε να ανεχθούμε αυτές τις πρακτικές πολιτικού εκβιασμού και σπίλωσης προσωπικοτήτων.
Αρνούμαστε να υποκύψουμε στις μεθοδεύσεις των "υποκλοπέων" των προσωπικών μας στιγμών, των "παπαράτσι" της οικογενειακής μας ζωής, των "διαρρηκτών" της ίδιας μας της ελευθερίας.
Αρνούμαστε να επιτρέψουμε στα κάθε λογής "αγρίμια" να κατασπαράζουν την προσωπική μας ζωή στο σύγχρονο Κολοσσαίο των media και των blogs.
Καλούμε όλους του ελεύθερους πολίτες να αντιταχθούν συντεταγμένα σε αυτές τις πρακτικές αποδοκιμάζοντας εμπράκτως τους εμπνευστές της, σαμποτάροντας συνειδητά τα media και τα blogs που τις ενθαρρύνουν και τις αναπαράγουν.
Η δική μας αντίσταση περνάει μέσα από την δική τους απομόνωση.
Επιπλέον, καλούμε την Πολιτεία, με τα συντεταγμένα της όργανα, όπως η Αρχή Προστασίας Δεδομένων Προσωπικού Χαρακτήρα, να παρεμβαίνουν άμεσα σε αντίστοιχες περιπτώσεις, προστατεύοντας αποτελεσματικά και έγκαιρα τις ελευθερίες και τα δικαιώματα των πολιτών.
Το forum για την Ελλάδα, δεν μπορεί, παρά να πρωτοστατήσει σε αυτό τον αγώνα. Τον αγώνα για την προάσπιση των ατομικών ελευθεριών του κάθε πολίτη, ανεξαρτήτως φύλου, χρώματος, θρησκευτικών και πολιτικών πεποιθήσεων.
διαβαστε το!