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Saturday, March 31, 2012
Scientists reveal genetic mutation depicted in van Gogh's sunflower paintings
ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2012) ? In addition to being among his most vibrant and celebrated works, Vincent van Gogh's series of sunflower paintings also depict a mutation whose genetic basis has, until now, been a bit of a mystery.
In a study published March 29 in the journal PLoS Genetics, however, a team of University of Georgia scientists reveals the mutation behind the distinctive, thick bands of yellow "double flowers" that the post-Impressionist artist painted more than 100 years ago.
"In addition to being of interest from a historical perspective, this finding gives us insight into the molecular basis of an economically important trait," said senior author John Burke, professor of plant biology in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. "You often see ornamental varieties similar to the ones van Gogh painted growing in people's gardens or used for cut flowers, and there is a major market for them."
The most common sunflower phenotype is a composite flower head that contains a single whorl of large, flattened, yellow ray florets on the outer perimeter and hundreds to over a thousand individual, tubular, disc florets that can produce seeds. The double-flowered mutants that van Gogh depicted in many of his paintings, on the other hand, have multiple bands of yellow florets and a much smaller proportion of internal disc florets.
To understand the genetic basis of this difference, Burke and his colleagues began by using the same plant crossing techniques that Gregor Mendel, a 19th century contemporary of van Gogh, used to lay the foundation of modern genetics. The scientists crossed the common, or wild type, variety of sunflower with the double-flowered variety. Their initial findings suggested that a single, dominant gene was responsible for creating the double-flowered mutation. Subsequent crosses of the offspring revealed that a second mutation, which is recessive to both the double-flowered mutation and the wild-type version of the gene, results in a third flower type that is intermediate in form -- being elongated and yellow -- but tubular and containing the reproductive structures of the interior florets.
The scientists identified the responsible gene and sequenced it to show that in the double-flowered mutation, the portion of the gene that functions as an on/off switch is disrupted so that the instructions for making the outer rays are turned on in the portions of the plant that would normally produce the internal disc florets. In the second mutation, which results in the tubular florets, the insertion of a "jumping gene" disrupts the ability of the plant to produce normal ray florets. As a result, tubular florets are produced in place of the normal ray florets.
Finally, the scientists screened hundreds of sunflower varieties -- wild type, double-flowered and tubular -- and found that wild-type sunflower varieties never have a mutation in the HaCYC2c gene, while the double-flowered varieties always have the same mutation in the on/off switch. In addition, the tubular varieties always have a disrupted copy of the gene.
"All of this evidence tells us that the mutation we've identified is the same one that van Gogh captured in the 1800s," Burke said.
Additional authors include former post-doctoral researchers Mark Chapman, Shunxue Tang and Dorthe Draeger, current post-doctoral researchers Savithri Nambeesan and Jessica Barb, undergraduate Honors student Hunter Shaffer and former UGA professor Steven Knapp.
The research was funded by the Gloeckner Foundation Floriculture Grants Program and the National Science Foundation.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Georgia. The original article was written by Sam Fahmy.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Mark A. Chapman, Shunxue Tang, D?rthe Draeger, Savithri Nambeesan, Hunter Shaffer, Jessica G. Barb, Steven J. Knapp, John M. Burke. Genetic Analysis of Floral Symmetry in Van Gogh's Sunflowers Reveals Independent Recruitment of CYCLOIDEA Genes in the Asteraceae. PLoS Genetics, 2012; 8 (3): e1002628 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1002628
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
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Whitney Houston's mom says she's proud of her
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Fsbo Is Right Answer For You
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Increasing water scarcity in California's Bay-Delta will necessitate trade-offs; 'Hard decisions' needed to balance various environmental risks
ScienceDaily (Mar. 29, 2012) ? Simultaneously attaining a reliable water supply for California and protecting and rehabilitating its Bay-Delta ecosystem cannot be realized until better planning can identify how trade-offs between these two goals will be managed when water is limited, says a new report from the National Research Council.Recent efforts have been ineffective in meeting these goals because management is distributed among many agencies and organizations, which hinders development and implementation of an integrated, comprehensive plan.
Additionally, it is impossible to restore the delta habitat to its pre-disturbance state because of the extensive physical and ecological changes that have already taken place and are still occurring, including those due to multiple environmental stressors.
The delta region receives fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries, and ultimately flows into San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.Water-pumping stations divert water from the delta, primarily to supply Central Valley agriculture and metropolitan areas in southern California, the Bay Area, and the delta itself.An increasing population and the operation of the engineered water-control system have substantially altered the delta ecosystem, including its fish species.Conflicts among various water users have grown, and there are sharp differences of opinion concerning the timing and amount of water that can be diverted from the delta for agricultural, municipal, and industrial purposes and how much water, and of what quality, is needed to protect the delta ecosystem.The U.S. departments of the Interior and Commerce asked the Research Council to identify the factors affecting fish species in the delta, review future water supply and delivery options, determine gaps in knowledge, and advise on the degree of delta restoration that is attainable while maintaining both an environmentally sustainable ecosystem and a reliable water supply.
It is likely that water scarcity in the delta will become increasingly severe, the report says.Failure to acknowledge this problem and craft plans and policies that address water scarcity for all needs has made delta water management more difficult than is necessary.The committee that wrote the report suggested establishing priorities for water use, accounting for trade-offs in decision making, optimizing the availability of existing water supplies, enforcing California's constitutional prohibition against non-beneficial and wasteful water use, and practicing water conservation, among other principles and guidelines.
Multiple environmental stressors -- such as dams; water pumping stations; introduced and invasive species; and changes in nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and amounts, water flow, and habitat -- negatively affect five delta fishes listed as endangered or threatened, the committee said.Successfully rehabilitating the delta ecosystem by targeting how an individual stressor impacts a particular species seems doubtful.Therefore, hard decisions will need to be made about balancing risks for different water uses, such as allocating water to support economic activity, sanitation, or other needs.In addition, alleviating any one stressor alone is unlikely to reverse declines in these species, but opportunities exist to mitigate or reverse the effects of many stressors.To increase the likelihood that actions to rehabilitate the ecosystem are cost-effective, continued analyses, modeling, and monitoring will be needed, the committee noted.
Climate change is one of the most challenging and important issues confronting the management and rehabilitation of the delta ecosystem.It is expected to affect the physical and ecological structure and functioning of the delta as well as the availability of water in the state. For instance, assessments suggest that many species will be affected by changes in runoff from precipitation and snowmelt, which would likely occur earlier in the year than currently. In addition, projected sea-level rise and extremes of precipitation could increase the frequency of levee failure and the inundation of islands.Sea-level rise also has the potential to move more salt water into the delta and alter water quality.The committee recommended that future planning should include a climate change-based risk model, analysis that incorporates data on the actual changes in delta conditions, and alternative future climate scenarios and their probability.
Additionally, the instability of levees and potential of one levee failure to affect others are liable to be major issues for achieving any measure of water supply reliability or ecosystem rehabilitation.Continuing the status quo of improving levees will not always be the most environmentally sustainable or economically defensible response in the years ahead, the committee noted.
The lack of integrated, comprehensive planning has made science less useful in decision making for the delta, the committee said.It recommended that California review water planning and management in anticipation of future circumstances. This review should devote attention to water scarcity, balanced consideration of all statewide water uses and the practices that govern them, and available engineering alternatives. In the absence of a review, it would be difficult to resolve delta water management problems in other than a piecemeal fashion.
"Science is necessary to inform actions and proposals, but it does not provide the entire overview and integration that the committee recommends," said committee member Henry J. Vaux Jr., professor emeritus of resource economics at the University of California."Societal and political considerations are also integral factors in determining the most appropriate policies toward managing the water resources in the delta and balancing the needs of all water users."
Report: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13394
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by National Academy of Sciences.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120329142028.htm
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Friday, March 30, 2012
Madhya Pradesh Travel and leisure ? Within the Center associated ...
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Microsoft Windows Registry Cleaner ? Understand The Root Cause ...
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If Obamacare Is Overturned, Can Democrats Recover? (Atlantic Politics Channel)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Afghan abuse victims jailed for 'moral crimes'
Paula Bronstein / Getty Images
Female prisoners gather in the courtyard of a women's prison in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan, on Oct. 22, 2010.
By Reuters
Updated at 6:18 a.m. ET: KABUL, Afghanistan -- For Afghan women, the act of fleeing domestic abuse or?forced prostitution may land them in jail while their abusers walk free, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Wednesday.
Running away is considered a "moral crime" for women in Afghanistan while some rape victims are also imprisoned, because sex outside marriage -- even when the woman is forced -- is considered adultery, another "moral crime."
"From the first time I came to this world my destiny was destroyed," 17-year-old Amina, who has spent months in jail after being forced into prostitution, told researchers from Human Rights Watch.
Despite progress in women's rights and freedom since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, women throughout the country are at risk of abduction, rape, forced marriage and being traded as commodities.
PhotoBlog: Afghan graffiti artists depict violence and injustice of women's lives
It can be hard for women to escape violence at home because of huge social pressure and legal risks to stay in marriages.
"The treatment of women and girls accused of 'moral crimes' is a black eye on the face of the post-Taliban Afghan government and its international backers, all of whom promised that respect for women's rights would distinguish the new government from the Taliban," the New York-based group said.
"This situation has been further undermined by President (Hamid) Karzai's frequently changing position on women's rights. Unwilling or unable to take a consistent line against conservative forces within the country, he has often made compromises that have negatively impacted women's rights."
Teen boxer Sadaf Rahimi, who aims to compete at this summer's London Olympics, hopes her achievements will be an example to others in her war-ravaged country. NBC News' Kiko Itasaka reports.
The rights organization said that there were about 400 women and girls being held in Afghanistan for "moral crimes", and they rarely found support from authorities in a "dysfunctional criminal justice system". ?
'He will kill me'
The plight of a woman called Nilofar illustrates the problem. She was stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver in the head, chest, and arms by her husband who accused her of adultery for inviting a man into the house, the rights group said.
But afterwards, she was arrested, he was not.
Afghan woman, imprisoned over rape, is free
"The way he beat her wasn't bad enough to keep him in jail. She wasn't near death, so he didn't need to be in prison," the prosecutor of the case told Human Rights Watch.
The dire treatment of women was the main reason Western countries gave for refusing to recognize the Taliban government as legitimate when it was in power.
As Afghan and Western leaders seek a negotiated end to more than 10 years of war, the future for women is uncertain.
The United States and NATO -- who are fighting an unpopular war as they prepare to pull out most combat troops by the end of 2014 -- have stressed that any settlement must ensure the constitution, which says the two sexes are equal, is upheld.
Jangir / AFP - Getty Images
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
A law, passed in August 2009, supports equality for women, including criminalizing child and forced marriage, selling and buying women for marriage or for settling disputes, as well as forced self-immolation, among other acts.
PhotoBlog: Life inside a women's prison in Afghanistan
But women, especially in rural areas, lack shelters to flee abuse while only one percent of police are female, according to the report based on interviews from October to November with 58 women and girls as well as prosecutors, judges, government officials and civil society.
Social stigma?
The ordeal for women does not stop with jail though.
Once leaving prison, women and girls face strong social stigma in the conservative country and may be killed in so-called "honor killings".
"I just want a divorce. I can't go back to my father because he will kill me. All my family has left me behind," 20-year-old Aisha, who was sentenced to three years for fleeing an abusive husband she was forced to marry, told researchers.
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Personal Finance: Why Personal Savings, Not Social Security, are in ...
We all have heard the mutterings about Social Security: it won?t last, it?s headed for bankruptcy, the baby boomers are going to break the bank. Here?s one you may not have heard recently: ?the country can afford it.? According to Bloomberg editor and analyst Clive Crook, ?the repairs aren?t that difficult? when it comes to patching Social Security. The problem, he warns, is that the retirement incomes of the future are too small for retirees to rely solely on Social Security pensions alone. The answer, says Crook, is a new retirement saving plan[1]. Crook believes that Social Security is inherently misleading; it has been perceived for decades as a savings plan when those savings are not necessarily all going into their own personal accounts. He points out that ?Social Security is not a savings plan, but a transfer system? and warns that it is misleading for retirees to believe that they ?own? their Social Security benefits.
Crook believes that additional savings methodologies are necessary in order for the country?s retirees to live healthy, happy retirement years. Do you agree that additional savings options are necessary in order for this to happen?
Thank you for reading the Bryan Ellis Investing Letter!
Your comments and questions are welcomed below.
[1] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-13/for-workers-sake-reinvent-the-ownership-society-clive-crook.html
Category: Personal Finance, Retirement Planning
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US pilot charged over mid-flight meltdown
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Bernanke comments give stocks a lift for 2nd day
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Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Joel Kinnaman Talks RoboCop Reboot
If you wanted your half-human, half-robot super-cop to be more grounded in reality, well you?re in luck! Star Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) has teased some information about the RoboCop reboot directed by Jose Padilha (Elite Squad). Fans of the 1987 original by Paul Verhoeven will remember that Peter Weller starred as the titular hero, a cop revived with the use of state-of-the-art robotics and weaponry after a brutal murder at the hands of some ruthless criminals. The only thing you could see of Weller himself was a narrow band across his lower jaw. That won?t be the case in the reboot, says Kinnaman; we?ll even get to see RoboCop?s eyes! I wonder if this will be more or less reactive than the backlash to Michael Bay?s approach to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hit the jump to see what Kinnaman had to say.
In an interview with MTV News for the second season of AMC?s The Killing, Kinnaman first talked about his reaction to working with Padilha on the reboot:
?I?m super stoked. Especially with this director. Jos? Padilha is a badass. He?s the real deal.?
Regarding the reality-based technology for the new RoboCop, Kinnaman revealed that Padilha?s father?s career as a scientist had influenced him:
?There?s a lot of neuroscience now raising the question, ?Is all the intelligence in the human body in the brain?? and they?re finding out that, no, it?s not like that. The body has intelligence itself, and we?re much more of an organic creature in that way. It?s not a control tower that does everything.?
So far, so good I guess. But what about the differences between the original and the re-imagined versions? Kinnaman addressed that as well:
?RoboCop is going to be a lot more human. The first movie is one of my favorite movies. I love it. Of course, Verhoeven has that very special tone, and it?s not going to have that tone. It?s a re-imagination of it. There?s a lot of stuff from the original. There are some details and throwbacks, but this version is a much better acting piece, for Alex Murphy and especially when he is RoboCop. It?s much more challenging.?
Now for the good stuff: details on the suit, as per Kinnaman: 
?It?s not going to be jaw action. They?re still working on the suit and how it?s going to look, but the visor is going to be see-through. You?re going to see his eyes.?
It will be interesting to see if Kinnaman uses this to his advantage to portray the remaining human half of his robot persona, as this was a big part of the arcs in the original films. Regarding the scene that leads to the death of Alex Murphy and the genesis of RoboCop, Kinnaman teased:
?Yeah. It?s going to be different. But it?s very good. I was looking to do a big movie and to show that I can carry a big movie, and I couldn?t be happier that this is going to be one of those big movies, a blockbuster, but that is also a real movie. A movie-movie.?
And just for good measure:
?It?s going to have a political satire to it too.?
Be sure to check out our own interview with Kinnaman regarding RoboCop, in which he talks about the importance of the reboot?s rating.
Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924829/news/1924829/
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Interview with Kathi Macias | Henry McLaughlin
[unable to retrieve full-text content]With your obvious passion to right social and moral wrongs through the power of the Gospel, how did writing and speaking enter into that? I've known I wanted to be a writer since I was a child?never wanted to do anything ...
Source: http://www.henrymclaughlin.org/2012/03/interview-with-kathi-macias/
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Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Cities forecast to expand by area equal to France, Germany and Spain combined in less than 20 years
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 27-Mar-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Terry Collins
tc@tca.tc
416-878-8712
Earth System Science Partnership
Mr. Owen Gaffney
owen.gaffney@igbp.kva.se
46-86739556
46-730208418,
Ms. Anne Kathrin Raab
raab@ihdp.unu.edu
44-7921609742
49-228 815 0616,
Urbanization choices to be fundamental to environmental sustainability, say experts; Equivalent of a city of 1 million needed weekly given population growth trend
Unless development patterns change, by 2030 humanity's urban footprint will occupy an additional 1.5 million square kilometres - comparable to the combined territories of France, Germany and Spain, say experts at a major international science meeting underway in London.
UN estimates show human population growing from 7 billion today to 9 billion by 2050, translating into some 1 million more people expected on average each week for the next 38 years, with most of that increase anticipated in urban centres. And ongoing migration from rural to urban living could see world cities receive yet another 1 billion additional people. Total forecast urban population in 2050: 6.3 billion (up from 3.5 billion today).
The question isn't whether to urbanize but how, says Dr. Michail Fragkias of Arizona State University, one of nearly 3000 participants at the conference, entitled "Planet Under Pressure". Unfortunately, he adds, today's ongoing pattern of urban sprawl puts humanity at severe risk due to environmental problems. Dense cities designed for efficiency offer one of the most promising paths to sustainability, and urbanization specialists will share a wealth of knowledge available to drive solutions.
How best to urbanize is one among many "options and opportunities" under discussion by global environmental change specialists today, Day 2 of the four-day conference March 26-29, convened to help address a wide range of global sustainability challenges and offer recommendations to June's UN "Rio+20" Earth Summit.
Other leading options and opportunities being addressed include green economic development (Yvo de Boer, former Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change), securing food and water for the world's poorest (Bina Agarwal, Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University, India), and planetary stewardship: risks, obstacles and opportunities (Georgina Mace, Professor, Imperial College, London). For a full list of "options and opportunities" conference sessions and topics, see conference website.
Cities responsible for 70% of CO2 emissions
Shobhakar Dhakal, Executive Director of the Tokyo-based Global Carbon Project, says reforms in existing cities and better planning of new ones offer disproportionately large environmental benefits compared with other options.
"Re-engineering cities is urgently needed for global sustainability," says Dr. Dhakal, adding that emerging urban areas "have a latecomer's advantage in terms of knowledge, sustainability thinking, and technology to better manage such fundamentals as trash and transportation."
Over 70% of CO2 emissions today relate to city needs. In billions of metric tonnes, urban-area CO2 emissions were estimated at about 15 in 1990 and 25 in 2010, with forecasts of growth to 36.5 by 2030, assuming business as usual.
Addressing climate change therefore demands focusing on urban efficiencies, like using weather conditions and time of day-adjusted toll systems to reduce traffic congestion, for example. Congestion worldwide costs economies an estimated 1 to 3% of GDP a problem that not only wastes fuel and causes pollution, but time an estimated 4.2 billion hours in the USA alone in 2005. Estimated cost of New York City's congestion: US$4 billion a year in lost productivity.
An "Internet of things" is forming, he notes a fast-growing number of high-tech, artificially intelligent, Internet-connected cars, appliances, cameras, roadways, pipelines and more -- in total about one trillion in use worldwide today.
High-tech ways to improve the efficiency of urban operations and human health and well-being include:
- Rapid patient screening and diagnostics with digitalised health records;
- Utility meters and sensors that monitor the capacity of the power generation network and continually gather data on supply and demand of electricity;
- Integrated traveller information services and toll road pricing based on traffic, weather and other data;
- Data gathering and feedback from citizens using mobile phones;
- And many more.
"Our focus should be on enhancing the quality of urbanization from urban space, infrastructure, form and function, to lifestyle, energy choices and efficiency," says Dr. Dhakal.
Care is needed, he adds, to avoid unwelcome potential problems of dense urbanization, including congestion, pollution, crime, the rapid spread of infectious disease and other societal problems the focus of social and health scientists who will feature prominently at the conference.
Says Prof. Karen Seto of Yale University, who with colleagues is organizing four of the 160 conference sessions at Planet Under Pressure: "The way cities have grown since World War II is neither socially or environmentally sustainable and the environmental cost of ongoing urban sprawl is too great to continue."
For these reasons, "the planet can't afford not to urbanize," says Seto. "People everywhere, however, have increasingly embraced Western styles of architecture and urbanization, which are resource-intense and often not adapted to local climates. The North American suburb has gone global, and car-dependent urban developments are more and more the norm."
How humanity urbanizes to define the decades ahead
Fragkias notes that while there were fewer than 20 cities of 1 million or more a century ago, there are 450 today. While urban areas cover less than five per cent of Earth's land surface, "the enlarged urban footprint forecast is far more significant proportionally when vast uninhabitable polar, desert and mountain regions, the world breadbasket plains and other prime agricultural land and protected areas are subtracted from the calculation."
"We have a unique opportunity now to plan for a coming explosion of urbanization in order to decrease pressure on ecosystems, improve the livelihoods of billions of people and avoid the occurrence of major global environmental problems and disasters. That process cannot wait," says Roberto Snchez-Rodrguez, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Riverside.
"It is also important to stress that differences exist in the urbanization process in high-, low- and middle-income countries and reflect them in our strategies. We need to move beyond traditional approaches to planning and be responsive to informal urban growth, to the value of ecosystem services, and to the need of multidimensional perspectives (social, economic, cultural, environmental, political, biophysical).
Ultimately, the researchers say, solutions include:
- Planning and investments in public infrastructure that encourage transit and accessibility
- Better land-use zoning and building standards that increase efficiency and multiple uses.
- Reversing the trend to ever larger homes
- Ending subsidies that promote low density and leapfrog development and discourage compact development, or favour cars at the expense of public transit
- Improving the quality of inner city schools and addressing other growing urban challenges, such as growing income inequality, segregation and social polarization, crime rates and heightened health threats including stress;
- Through social marketing, foster demand for efficient styles of living
Beyond city limits
Says professor Sybil Seitzinger, Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: "A truly sustainable planet will require cities to think beyond city limits."
"Everything being brought into the city from outside: food, water, products and energy need to be sourced sustainably. We need to rethink the resource flow to cities."
Says Dr. Mark Stafford Smith, Planet Under Pressure co-chair: "A more general theme of the conference is underlined by the urbanization issue that much of the planet's future is tied up in interconnected issues climate change and city design, city resource demands and impacts on rural areas, rural food and water productivity and the ability of cities to continue functioning. The deep intensity of interconnectedness of these issues requires an integrated approach, tackling challenges together rather than each individually, one at a time."
Professor Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University, the 2009 Nobel laureate in economics and opening day plenary speaker at the Planet Under Pressure conference, underlines the importance of cities in giving effect to globally-developed policies to achieve environmental sustainability.
Indeed, through initiatives such as C40, a consortium of cities committed to emissions reductions, cities are showing strong leadership. This approach can help ensure a move to a more sustainable pathway should global policies fail to deliver.
###
More information about Planet under Pressure Conference
The international science conference will be the biggest gathering of global environmental change specialists in advance of the United Nations Rio+20 Summit: 2,800 scientists, policymakers, industry and media representatives will meet to hear the latest research findings on the state of the planet and discuss concepts for planetary stewardship and societal and economic transformation towards global sustainability.
More information on the web: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/
Follow the conference via RSS: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/xml/news.xml
Live webstreaming, daily news show and live audio feeds: http://c3379912.workcast.net/planetunderpressure.html
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 27-Mar-2012[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Terry Collins
tc@tca.tc
416-878-8712
Earth System Science Partnership
Mr. Owen Gaffney
owen.gaffney@igbp.kva.se
46-86739556
46-730208418,
Ms. Anne Kathrin Raab
raab@ihdp.unu.edu
44-7921609742
49-228 815 0616,
Urbanization choices to be fundamental to environmental sustainability, say experts; Equivalent of a city of 1 million needed weekly given population growth trend
Unless development patterns change, by 2030 humanity's urban footprint will occupy an additional 1.5 million square kilometres - comparable to the combined territories of France, Germany and Spain, say experts at a major international science meeting underway in London.
UN estimates show human population growing from 7 billion today to 9 billion by 2050, translating into some 1 million more people expected on average each week for the next 38 years, with most of that increase anticipated in urban centres. And ongoing migration from rural to urban living could see world cities receive yet another 1 billion additional people. Total forecast urban population in 2050: 6.3 billion (up from 3.5 billion today).
The question isn't whether to urbanize but how, says Dr. Michail Fragkias of Arizona State University, one of nearly 3000 participants at the conference, entitled "Planet Under Pressure". Unfortunately, he adds, today's ongoing pattern of urban sprawl puts humanity at severe risk due to environmental problems. Dense cities designed for efficiency offer one of the most promising paths to sustainability, and urbanization specialists will share a wealth of knowledge available to drive solutions.
How best to urbanize is one among many "options and opportunities" under discussion by global environmental change specialists today, Day 2 of the four-day conference March 26-29, convened to help address a wide range of global sustainability challenges and offer recommendations to June's UN "Rio+20" Earth Summit.
Other leading options and opportunities being addressed include green economic development (Yvo de Boer, former Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change), securing food and water for the world's poorest (Bina Agarwal, Director, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University, India), and planetary stewardship: risks, obstacles and opportunities (Georgina Mace, Professor, Imperial College, London). For a full list of "options and opportunities" conference sessions and topics, see conference website.
Cities responsible for 70% of CO2 emissions
Shobhakar Dhakal, Executive Director of the Tokyo-based Global Carbon Project, says reforms in existing cities and better planning of new ones offer disproportionately large environmental benefits compared with other options.
"Re-engineering cities is urgently needed for global sustainability," says Dr. Dhakal, adding that emerging urban areas "have a latecomer's advantage in terms of knowledge, sustainability thinking, and technology to better manage such fundamentals as trash and transportation."
Over 70% of CO2 emissions today relate to city needs. In billions of metric tonnes, urban-area CO2 emissions were estimated at about 15 in 1990 and 25 in 2010, with forecasts of growth to 36.5 by 2030, assuming business as usual.
Addressing climate change therefore demands focusing on urban efficiencies, like using weather conditions and time of day-adjusted toll systems to reduce traffic congestion, for example. Congestion worldwide costs economies an estimated 1 to 3% of GDP a problem that not only wastes fuel and causes pollution, but time an estimated 4.2 billion hours in the USA alone in 2005. Estimated cost of New York City's congestion: US$4 billion a year in lost productivity.
An "Internet of things" is forming, he notes a fast-growing number of high-tech, artificially intelligent, Internet-connected cars, appliances, cameras, roadways, pipelines and more -- in total about one trillion in use worldwide today.
High-tech ways to improve the efficiency of urban operations and human health and well-being include:
- Rapid patient screening and diagnostics with digitalised health records;
- Utility meters and sensors that monitor the capacity of the power generation network and continually gather data on supply and demand of electricity;
- Integrated traveller information services and toll road pricing based on traffic, weather and other data;
- Data gathering and feedback from citizens using mobile phones;
- And many more.
"Our focus should be on enhancing the quality of urbanization from urban space, infrastructure, form and function, to lifestyle, energy choices and efficiency," says Dr. Dhakal.
Care is needed, he adds, to avoid unwelcome potential problems of dense urbanization, including congestion, pollution, crime, the rapid spread of infectious disease and other societal problems the focus of social and health scientists who will feature prominently at the conference.
Says Prof. Karen Seto of Yale University, who with colleagues is organizing four of the 160 conference sessions at Planet Under Pressure: "The way cities have grown since World War II is neither socially or environmentally sustainable and the environmental cost of ongoing urban sprawl is too great to continue."
For these reasons, "the planet can't afford not to urbanize," says Seto. "People everywhere, however, have increasingly embraced Western styles of architecture and urbanization, which are resource-intense and often not adapted to local climates. The North American suburb has gone global, and car-dependent urban developments are more and more the norm."
How humanity urbanizes to define the decades ahead
Fragkias notes that while there were fewer than 20 cities of 1 million or more a century ago, there are 450 today. While urban areas cover less than five per cent of Earth's land surface, "the enlarged urban footprint forecast is far more significant proportionally when vast uninhabitable polar, desert and mountain regions, the world breadbasket plains and other prime agricultural land and protected areas are subtracted from the calculation."
"We have a unique opportunity now to plan for a coming explosion of urbanization in order to decrease pressure on ecosystems, improve the livelihoods of billions of people and avoid the occurrence of major global environmental problems and disasters. That process cannot wait," says Roberto Snchez-Rodrguez, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Riverside.
"It is also important to stress that differences exist in the urbanization process in high-, low- and middle-income countries and reflect them in our strategies. We need to move beyond traditional approaches to planning and be responsive to informal urban growth, to the value of ecosystem services, and to the need of multidimensional perspectives (social, economic, cultural, environmental, political, biophysical).
Ultimately, the researchers say, solutions include:
- Planning and investments in public infrastructure that encourage transit and accessibility
- Better land-use zoning and building standards that increase efficiency and multiple uses.
- Reversing the trend to ever larger homes
- Ending subsidies that promote low density and leapfrog development and discourage compact development, or favour cars at the expense of public transit
- Improving the quality of inner city schools and addressing other growing urban challenges, such as growing income inequality, segregation and social polarization, crime rates and heightened health threats including stress;
- Through social marketing, foster demand for efficient styles of living
Beyond city limits
Says professor Sybil Seitzinger, Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences: "A truly sustainable planet will require cities to think beyond city limits."
"Everything being brought into the city from outside: food, water, products and energy need to be sourced sustainably. We need to rethink the resource flow to cities."
Says Dr. Mark Stafford Smith, Planet Under Pressure co-chair: "A more general theme of the conference is underlined by the urbanization issue that much of the planet's future is tied up in interconnected issues climate change and city design, city resource demands and impacts on rural areas, rural food and water productivity and the ability of cities to continue functioning. The deep intensity of interconnectedness of these issues requires an integrated approach, tackling challenges together rather than each individually, one at a time."
Professor Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University, the 2009 Nobel laureate in economics and opening day plenary speaker at the Planet Under Pressure conference, underlines the importance of cities in giving effect to globally-developed policies to achieve environmental sustainability.
Indeed, through initiatives such as C40, a consortium of cities committed to emissions reductions, cities are showing strong leadership. This approach can help ensure a move to a more sustainable pathway should global policies fail to deliver.
###
More information about Planet under Pressure Conference
The international science conference will be the biggest gathering of global environmental change specialists in advance of the United Nations Rio+20 Summit: 2,800 scientists, policymakers, industry and media representatives will meet to hear the latest research findings on the state of the planet and discuss concepts for planetary stewardship and societal and economic transformation towards global sustainability.
More information on the web: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/
Follow the conference via RSS: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/xml/news.xml
Live webstreaming, daily news show and live audio feeds: http://c3379912.workcast.net/planetunderpressure.html
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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-03/essp-cft032612.php
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Video: James Cameron first solo dive to reach ocean?s deepest point
Movie director James Cameron descended to the Pacific Ocean?s Mariana Trench, more than 35,000 feet down, in the submersible Deepsea Challenger. NBC?s Mike Taibbi reports.
>>> the film director james cameron of titanic fame is famous for his epic movies . he's also a real-life adventurer, and today, he completed a big one. the first solo trip to the deepest part of the ocean, almost seven miles down below the surface of the pacific. his story from mike taibbi .
>> for the 57-year-old director, his ride for the trip was a lime green custom designed one man subhe called his vertical torpedo. able to withstand an incredible eight tons of pressure per square inch . it took him to the marianna trench. the very bottom of the pacific ocean floor, some 200 miles west of guam. for cameron and the national geographic society , it was a journey into one of the planet's enduring mysteries.
>> jacques cousteau used to say, if we knew what was there, we wouldn't have to go.
>> he nor his cameras saw any signs of life .
>> my feeling was one of complete isolation from all life.
>> starting with the abyss about a dive team's rescue of a disabled nuclear sub and through titanic and then avatar, he's indulged in an unlimited curiosity. he was thrilled to be the first to make the trip solely. in 1960 , a two-man team in a more primitive navvy sub had done so. and since he had already made over 70 descents in subs, he didn't need to parrot a line from one of his famous movies --
Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46861946/
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SEO Canada , Tips about PPC Marketing and advertising
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Source: http://monsteraquarium.net/2012/03/26/seo-canada-tips-about-ppc-marketing-and-advertising/
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