Tip: When Off-Balanced, Slow Down, Stay Grounded, Breath Deeply & Go Back to Healthy Living

Linda Novick O'Keefe: Giving Back and Getting Balanced: "Medical conditions caused by unhealthy living habits are largely to blame for the predicted drop in life expectancy. An astonishing 75% of health care costs in the United States are spent on chronic health conditions. That translates to 130 million Americans swallowing, injecting, inhaling, infusing, spraying or patting on prescription medication every month. Healthcare services that focus on preventative interventions and healthy living will play a key role in the effort to turn around this disconcerting prognosis and get us back on track."

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US: As Climate Change Worsens, Scientists Feel Increasing Pressure to Speak Out

As Climate Change Worsens, Scientists Feel Increasing Pressure to Speak Out | InsideClimate News: "Factors contributing to climate change are moving faster than predicted and pushing us toward planetary conditions unlike any humans have ever known—this was one of the salient themes to emerge from this month's meeting of the American Geophysical Union, the world's largest gathering of earth and space scientists. Some scientists think we've already crossed that boundary and are, as Jonathan Foley, director of the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment, said, "in a very different world than we have ever seen before.""

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Tip: Stop Obesity by Supporting "Better Quality Maternal-Child Relationships

Teen Obesity Tied to Early Childhood Bond with Mom | Kids' Attachment to Parents & Stress Responses | MyHealthNewsDaily.com: "The researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,000 children from nine states who had taken part in the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which is a long-term study of children born in 1991. Kids were considered to be obese teenagers if at age 15 their body mass index (BMI) was among the highest 5 percent of children. The researchers had assessed the bonds between the children and their mothers when the kids were 15-months old, 2-years old and 3-years old by watching 15-minute play sessions, and also observing the children's reactions to being briefly separated from their mothers. The findings showed that the lower the quality of the relationship in terms of the child's emotional security and the mother's sensitivity, the higher the risk that a child would be obese at age 15 years.

"

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Canada: "Can be a Clean-Energy Superpower"

"One of those key solutions will surely include Environment Canada's proposed electricity regulations scheduled to come out in 2012. These regulations will mean that coal-fired electrical generation plants will have to meet a strict performance standard based on parity with the emissions performance of high-efficiency natural gas generation. This will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality for Canadians. The regulations will mean the gradual phase out of traditional coal-fired electricity generation and will have a significant impact on reducing electricity emissions from coal and other sources. This is expected to result in a projected de-cline in the absolute level of greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation by 31 megatonnes between 2005 and 2020. This one step alone will position Canada as a leader in reducing CO2 emissions with real action, not just wishful thinking."
(see full article by clicking link Shaw: Canada can be a clean-energy superpower)
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Tip: Gardening offers Healthy Exercise and Keeps the Gardener & the Environment Healthy

ANN LOVEJOY | Healthy garden, healthier gardener » Kitsap Sun: "Gardening offers healthy exercise to people of all ages and ability levels. If you are strong and fit, you can enjoy double digging your vegetable beds and hauling blown down branches out of the woods. If gentle exercise suits you best, get out the rake. Raking leaves is splendid exercise, involving all the body's major muscle groups (arms and legs, back and shoulders, belly and butt). Best of all, steady raking builds strength as it burns off holiday calories. While winter is not a great time to muck about in the garden beds, it is a terrific time to do a bit of tidying and some leisurely pruning. Wet soil compacts easily, so stay out of the beds as much as possible. Do, however, continue to weed, pull ivy, cut down holly and Scotch broom, and dig out thistles. You'll be stretching to prune a high branch, bending to pull weeds, lifting sacks of compost, and pushing the wheelbarrow. Doing so, you'll be getting the same kind of resistance training people pay big bucks for at the gym. You'll be building stronger joints and healthier bones for free!"

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US: Newt Gingrich: Nancy Pelosi Climate Change Ad Is 'Dumbest Thing I've Done In The Last 4 Years'

Newt Gingrich: Nancy Pelosi Climate Change Ad Is 'Dumbest Thing I've Done In The Last 4 Years': "Gingrich's primary rivals continue to batter him over the decision, despite his repeated attempts to brush away the imagery of appearing in an ad campaign spearheaded by Al Gore and co-starring a vocal Democrat who was, at the time, preparing to push a cap-and-trade agenda. On Tuesday, Mitt Romney's press secretary, Andrea Saul, appeared on MSNBC and referred to the ad while slamming Gingrich as a "desperate candidate trying to revive his failing campaign." Earlier this month, Romney also used the commercial as evidence that Gingrich was an "extraordinarily unreliable leader in the conservative world.""

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Fighting Obesity Tip: Know your waist size is one of the more important ways to measure your health

<i>Dr. John:</i> Corn-syrup hazards, Nutcracker Syndrome, healthy-weight range | 9news.com: "BMI has certain limitations that can limit how accurate it is. It can overestimate body fat in those with muscular builds and underestimate body fat in older persons or those that have lost some muscle mass. A new measurement known as the BAI, Body Adiposity Index, is proving to be more accurate but is also a little more difficult to use. This method not only uses your height and weight but also adds your waist measurement into the equation to give you your overall body fat. And since we know your waist size is one of the more important ways to measure your health, this method seems to give a better idea of where you stand. To measure your own BAI you can go to http://www.intmath.com/functions-and-graphs/bmi-bai-comparison.php."

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UK: Solar subsidy changes could deal 'fatal blow' to industry

BBC News - Solar subsidy changes could deal 'fatal blow' to industry: "Government plans include restricting access to solar subsidies to houses meeting energy efficiency standards. Thousands of solar industry jobs could be at risk, the committees warn. On Thursday, a group of companies and environmental groups won a legal judgement against one of the changes. Central to their campaign was the Department of Energy and Climate Change's (Decc) plan to halve abruptly the level of feed-in tariff (FiT) that small-scale solar installations attract, from 43p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to 21p."

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Hydroelectric Dam: The height of the water behind the dam is the relevant height for the potential energy calculation

How Much Dam Energy Can We Get? By Tom Murphy: "Hydroelectric dams exploit storage of gravitational potential energy. A mass, m, raised a height, h against gravity, g = 10 m/s², is given a potential energy E = mgh. The result will be in Joules if the input is expressed in meters, kilograms, and seconds (MKS, or SI units). Water has a density of ρ = 1000 kg/m³, so if we know how many cubic meters of water flow through the dam each second (F), the power available to the dam will be P = ηρFgh. We have inserted η to represent the efficiency of the dam—usually around 90% (η≈0.90)."

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Philippines: Disaster foretold 3 years ago, , but was dismissed by lawmakers as "too alarmist"

Philippine disaster foretold 3 years ago - Yahoo!: "Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan, chief executive of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF), said Monday (December 19) the events in Northern Mindanao over the weekend mirrored the prediction. "It was an exact fit," Tan said.
Environmentalists said a simulation of the effects of extreme weather events from climate change such as saltwater intrusion, sea level rise and intense tropical cyclones, showed that major Philippine cities, including Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, were at risk of massive flooding.
The simulation of the effects of extreme weather phenomena was drafted in 2009 by the Philippine Imperative for Climate Change (PICC), WWF and Filipino scientists.
"At best, this might provide a very rough indicator of areas that may be more vulnerable to sea level rise, storm surge, saltwater intrusion or a combination thereof," the group's presentation said."

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Philippines: Senators urge improvement of disaster plan - Yahoo!

Senators urge improvement of disaster plan - Yahoo!: "Senator Edgardo Angara pointed out that the national weather bureau may have incorrectly estimated the amount of rainfall from “Sendong” (international name “Washi”).

Reports from a joint weather monitoring mission of U.S. and Japan saw rain falling at around 50 mm per hour while Pagasa estimated only 10-25 mm per hour of rainfall.

"Clearly, we still need to improve our disaster management and risk reduction systems," Angara said. "Government must push for concerted effort not only in improving our forecasting technologies but also in seeking the help of other nations, whenever we lack the infrastructure and expertise.""

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Philippines: With morgues full, Philippine flood victims buried

With morgues full, Philippine flood victims buried - Yahoo!: ""We've had flooding before but nothing like this," Cruz, the Iligan mayor said, recalling floods in the early 1950s. "We have a good drainage system but it as simply overwhelmed. The rainfall fell heavily on the mountains and this flowed down to two of our river systems and they overflowed and swept away houses and covered the highway and residential areas."
About 143,000 people were affected in 13 southern and central provinces, including 45,000 who fled to evacuation centers. About 7,000 houses were swept away, destroyed or damaged, the Office of Civil Defense said.
An estimated 35 percent of evacuees are children, said Trevor Clark, head of UNICEF in the southern Mindanao region. Running water and hygiene were major concerns, followed by a lack of clothing, blankets and even shoes for young children, he said."

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Tip: Avoid nonsterilized tap water as precaution to Brain-eating tap water amoeba

Brain-eating tap water amoeba kills at least two in Louisiana - National Human Rights | Examiner.com: "*

PRECAUTION:

> Refrain from activities in warm, untreated or poorly treated water, especially when water levels are low and temperatures are high.

> Hold the nose shut or use nose clips when swimming in warm fresh water.

> Avoid digging or stirring up underwater sediments while submerged in shallow, warm freshwater areas."

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Israel: Supports Clean Technology: Vodafone Ventures and Carmel Ventures Lead $9.2M Investment in CellEra to Bring Affordable Fuel Cells to Market

Vodafone Ventures and Carmel Ventures Lead $9.2M Investment in CellEra to Bring Affordable Fuel Cells to Market - PR Newswire - sacbee.com:

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Israel: Vodafone Ventures and Carmel Ventures Lead $9.2M Investment in CellEra to Bring Affordable Fuel Cells to Market - PR Newswire - sacbee.com

Vodafone Ventures and Carmel Ventures Lead $9.2M Investment in CellEra to Bring Affordable Fuel Cells to Market - PR Newswire - sacbee.com:

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Canada: We must still take climate change seriously

We must still take climate change seriously:

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Tip: Food that Fight Osteoporosis: Dairy products, almonds, broccoli, spinach, canned salmon with the bones, sardines, and soy products

How to Prevent Osteoporosis Page 2 | ThirdAge: "Proof positive that a sedentary lifestyle is the enemy of your bones is that when an arm or leg is in a cast, or when astronauts experience zero gravity, or when someone is bedridden, a phenomenon called skeletal unloading comes into play. If this goes on for weeks at a time, the number of bone cells plummets, the transfer into the bones of vital nutrients such as calcium and phosphorous slows down, and osteoprogenitor cells that can create new bone are not produced as rapidly. In a less dramatic but still detrimental way, your bones begin to deteriorate when you spend too much time sitting and not enough time moving."

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Tip: Things You Must Know to Prevent Osteoporosis: Calcium, Vitamin D & Exercise

How to Prevent Osteoporosis | ThirdAge: "Even if osteoporosis runs in your family, there is plenty you can do to make sure your bones stay as strong as possible.

According to the Mayo Clinic, three key factors affect your bone health throughout your life:

Whether you get adequate amounts of calcium
Whether you get adequate amounts of vitamin D
Whether you exercise regularly"

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HP Enables Organizations Worldwide to Expand Data Center Resources that Supports Growth, Maximizes Efficiency & Reduces Costs

HP Enables Organizations Worldwide to Expand Data Center Resources With HP POD - MarketWatch: "HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world's largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com .

(1) Based on internal HP testing. (2) Based on 2010 census reports. (3) Based on estimations by El Paso County. (4) Based on estimations by UCLA."

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California: Gov. vows to prepare Calif. for climate change

Gov. vows to prepare Calif. for climate change: "United Nations' top climate official on Thursday lauded California's efforts to help mitigate global warming by reducing greenhouse gases but said the state needs to more quickly adapt to the risks that extreme weather and a rising sea pose to agriculture and the coastline.

Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, joined scientists, California Gov. Jerry Brown and billionaire Sir Richard Branson at a conference at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park."

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Tip: Take Few Minutes Every Morning to Close Your Eyes, pay attention to your Heart and declare how you wish to experience the day

Holidays: They're supposed to be fun - chicagotribune.com: "Most holiday stress stems from a few basic sources, Chopra said.

Being around family can trigger traumatic childhood memories for some people, prompting mood swings and depression. Others overindulge in sugar and alcohol, throwing their bodies for a loop. For many, the holidays become a subconscious competition of who can enjoy them most.

"Who's getting more presents, who has more attention, who is spending more money?" Chopra said. "We live in a society where our validation comes from the outside, and that is very difficult to overcome because people have been conditioned to care how people think of them.""

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Europe: Role of Caspian gas will increase in Europe's energy security

Experts: Role of Caspian gas will increase in Europe's energy security:

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NASA: Climate Change May Bring Big Ecosystem Changes

NASA - NASA - Climate Change May Bring Big Ecosystem Changes: "When faced with climate change, plant species often must "migrate" over multiple generations, as they can only survive, compete and reproduce within the range of climates to which they are evolutionarily and physiologically adapted. While Earth's plants and animals have evolved to migrate in response to seasonal environmental changes and to even larger transitions, such as the end of the last ice age, they often are not equipped to keep up with the rapidity of modern climate changes that are currently taking place. Human activities, such as agriculture and urbanization, are increasingly destroying Earth's natural habitats, and frequently block plants and animals from successfully migrating."

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Tip: Beat the Holiday Blues: B vitamins, magnesium, vitamin D and fish oil are all nutrients shown to impact on mood improvement

"Journaling, counselling, meditation, feeling gratitude for what is good in your life, supporting brain chemistry and balance in your body with regular meals that emphasize protein, fruit, veggies, raw nuts and seeds. B vitamins, magnesium, vitamin D and fish oil are all nutrients shown to impact on mood. Sometimes getting outside of ourselves and tuning into others can be a welcome distraction from our self." 'via Blog this' Keep your health on the front burner during the holidays - Entertainment - The Guardian:

Philadelphia: Alternative Energy Company generates hydrogen gas and heat for multiple applications requiring on-site, on-demand fuel sources

"AlumiFuel Power, Inc. API ( www.alumifuelpowerinc.com ), the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based wholly owned operating subsidiary of AlumiFuel Power Corporation, is an early production stage alternative energy company that generates hydrogen gas and steam/heat through the chemical reaction of aluminum, water, and proprietary additives. This technology is ideally suited for multiple applications requiring on-site, on-demand fuel sources, serving National Security and commercial customers. API's hydrogen feeds fuel cells for portable and back-up power; fills inflatable devices such as weather balloons; can replace costly, hard-to-handle and high pressure K-Cylinders; and provides fuel for flameless heater applications. Its hydrogen/heat output is also being designed and developed to drive fuel cell-based and turbine-based undersea propulsion systems and auxiliary power systems. API has significant differentiators in performance, adaptability, safety and cost-effectiveness in its target market applications, with no external power required and no toxic chemicals or by-products." 'via Blog this'AlumiFuel Power Progress Report on Development of PBIS-2000 Well Received by U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command - MarketWatch:

US: Yale University Project on Climate Change: Survey shows Most Americans Link Bad Weather to Climate Change

When asked about specific weather events, 67 percent of Americans strongly or somewhat strongly agreed that record-high temperatures in the U.S. in 2011 could be linked to climate change. Sixty-five percent said the same of the 2011 drought in Texas and Oklahoma. Sixty percent linked climate change to both the Mississippi River floods of spring 2011 and the record snowfalls in the U.S. in 2010 and 2011. Likewise, 57 percent said that Hurricane Irene, which hit the East Coast in late August, was worsened by climate change."

'via Blog this'Most Americans Link Bad Weather to Climate Change | Global Warming Perceptions & Public Opinion | Drought, Winter Storms & Hurricanes | LiveScience: "

Tip: Support Child's Healthy Emotional Development by "Containment" or setting limits on child's behavior

Limit Setting as Containment of Feelings - Child In Mind - Boston.com: "In its most concrete form it refers to the importance of setting limits on your child's behavior. For example, by giving a "time out" every time your child hits, you show him that this behavior will not be tolerated. In doing so, you protect him from the intensity of his feelings by making sure that things do not get out of control. When young children are so consumed with anger and frustration that they hit, they feel out of control, and clear limits help them learn to regulate and manage these difficult emotions. "

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China and Europe: Share a Huge Potential in Energy Cooperation to meet Climate Change

Deepen Cooperation to Meet the Energy Challenge | New Europe: "The combination of China’s 12th Five-Year Plan and Europe’s 2020 Strategy will create new spaces of cooperation in market, capital, technology and management. Urbanization will certainly become a new area of growth in our energy cooperation. We are confident that as both China and Europe move to meet the climate change, our complementary strength will help foster new progress in the market of low-carbon technology and new energy. We believe that a fair, just, stable and orderly international energy market mechanism serves the fundamental interest of both China and Europe. Energy cooperation is an important bond to strengthen China-EU relations. China is willing to work more closely with Europe to upgrade practical cooperation in the energy sector and to deepen China-EU relations."

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Canada: Formally pulls out of Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change

Canada formally pulls out of Kyoto Protocol on climate change - The Washington Post: "“To meet the targets under Kyoto for 2012 would be the equivalent of either removing every car, truck, ATV, tractor, ambulance, police car and vehicle of every kind from Canadian roads or closing down the entire farming and agriculture sector and cutting heat to every home, office, hospital, factory and building in Canada,” Kent said. Harper’s Conservative government is reluctant to hurt Canada’s booming oil sands sector, which is the country’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gases and a reason it has reneged on its Kyoto commitments. Canada has the world’s third-largest oil reserves, more than 170 billion barrels. Daily production of 1.5 million barrels from the oil sands is expected to increase to 3.7 million in 2025. Only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have more reserves. But critics say the enormous amount of energy and water needed in the extraction process increases greenhouse gas emissions."

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Tip: Make Decisions when Mind is Balance because Emotions influence decision-making process

"Prof Aditya Murthy from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and Prof Vinod Venkatraman from Fox School of Business, Temple University, Philadelphia spoke on issues related to perceptual decision making systems and cognitive control during decision making. According to Dr Vinod, complex economic decisions, whether investing money for retirement or purchasing some new electronic gadget, often involve uncertainty about the likely consequences of our choices. He demonstrated, through his studies, that certain areas of the brain contribute to the strategic control in complex decision making, exploring which can also help in understanding interaction in social contexts."

'via Blog this'‘Emotions influence decision-making process’ - The Times of India:

Australia: Turning Algae from CO2 into Fuel. CO2 is not released into atmosphere, but it's going into a renewable source

"A lot of countries worldwide are facing taxation on the carbon dioxide pollution they emit, and many companies are looking to alternative companies like Algae Energy to help do something about it. "If a company is facing millions of dollars of taxation, they will think of an alternative not to face excess taxation," he said. The algae system is known as a closed loop system. A 40-foot shipping container module can be sent anywhere in the world, equipped with power and plumbing. Once algae is grown and harvested, it can be used to create oil. Another product is biomass, which can be used in burning, as in coal, and feedstock in cattle. "Even the byproducts of the unit is a sustainable solution," McConchie said. The company has been growing as fast as its algae. The company went public January 2011 in the Australian Stock Market and has recently been added to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In the New York Stock Exchange, they are traded under Foreign Depositories.
"

'via Blog this'Turning algae from carbon dioxide into fuel: Algae is nothing more than a plant. You need water, nutrients and carbon dioxide, and that's basically what Algae Energy uses to grow its system. Headquartered in Perth, Australia, in April the company opened a research and development and analysis facility in Cumming, 2460 Industrial Park Boulevard. Tray McConchie, business manager for Algae Energy, said technology, laboratory testing and fabrication of the company's modules are done in Cumming.

China & India: Will devise a new Global System for curbing emissions of greenhouse gases and make it operational by 2020

Free Markets, Carbon Tax Best Way to Fight Climate Change: View - Businessweek: "The best instrument for coordinating climate-change efforts is the price of carbon. The impact of any carbon-abatement plan -- emission quotas, cap and trade, carbon taxes -- can be measured by its effect on this price. The aim should be to equalize worldwide a gradually rising price of carbon. As a matter of practical politics, this flexibility is essential. It would allow governments to more easily tailor their climate-change policies to political and economic circumstances, altering them on the run if need be. The price of carbon would provide an international gauge of their abatement efforts, so that peer pressure could be brought to bear. For most countries, the simplest and clearest way to hit the price target would be with an outright carbon tax. The economic benefits are well known: By letting markets work, a tax achieves a given amount of emissions abatement at the lowest cost. The world needs to cap its greenhouse gas emissions, but there’s no obligation to do this in the most expensive, painful or disruptive way."

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Tip: Stop the Stigma Habit & Help Everyone Achieved Balanced Mental Health

Stigma removes minorities from various avenues of competition. "It is associated with unemployment, low earnings, lack of housing, diminished self-esteem, weak social support, new disorders or repeat episodes of existing problems, etc. Stigma can be instrumental or institutional causing resource limitations and unsupportive policies. To the perpetrators, stigma plays functions of reducing prevalence of “undesirable” behaviours and thus providing a means of social control, enhancing personal or group self-esteem and alleviating discomfort and anxiety on the part of the “normal”. Stop stigma today."

'via Blog this'Stop stigma in mental health:

Solar Experiment:"We need 0.05% of the land to capture adequate sunlight (the entire Earth) in 4.5 hours (1.25 hours) to satisfy our needs for a year"

"Catching energy from the Sun is pretty simple. Sit in the sun on a cool day and benefit from its warmth. Situate your house so that south-facing windows can swallow sunlight and offset (or obviate) conventional sources of heat. Use thermal collectors for domestic hot water and/or interior heating. Stick a PV panel outside and it will generate electricity provided it is not placed face-down. Concentrate sunlight to heat a fluid and/or create steam for electricity production in a heat engine (possibly combined with thermal storage). Lots of options, when the sun shines."

'via Blog this'Solar vs. Wind - Who Wins? at Oil Price:

Of the 1370 W/m² incident on the upper atmosphere from the Sun, 30% is reflected straight away without pausing long enough to say hello. About 20% is absorbed in the atmosphere and clouds, and 50% gets absorbed at ground level. Note that 7% of the energy budget goes into conduction and rising air (separate phenomena; the latter relating to wind). Virtually no heat is able to conduct through the thick atmosphere, so really this figure is all about convection, or moving air. For comparison, the energy consumption (conversion) rate of the human race is about 13 TW (13 trillion Watts), which works out to an average of about 2,000 W per person on the globe (Americans are 10 kW). We can also divide by the area of the globe to get a power density of 0.025 W per square meter, or 0.09 W/m² if we just count land area.

If 50% of the incoming solar radiation makes its way to the ground, then we have about 700 W/m² for the average terrestrial square meter facing the Sun. But the Sun puts this onto the projected ?R² area of the Earth (the disk of the Earth as seen from the Sun), while the actual 3-D globe has an area of 4?R². So we must divide by four to get the flux per unit area of actual terra firma, yielding 170 W/m². We can think of this factor of four as being made up of a factor of two for day and night, plus a factor of two because the Sun is not overhead all the time, resulting in a loss of intensity per square meter at the ground. A panel tilted to the site latitude can compensate for some of the slanted-sun-angle loss (for high latitudes, the ground always suffers from this geometric dilution, even at “high” noon), so that the ½ factor becomes 2/?, or 0.64, representing a global 30% boost over horizontal panels. In this scheme, we get 220 W/m² for our latitude-tilted panel (nearly independent of latitude, weather notwithstanding). The tilted panels will require more land to avoid self-shadowing, so that the amount of land area needed is stuck with the pre-adjusted value of 170 W/m².

Note how much bigger the solar potential is than our demand of 0.09 W/m² of land area. This implies that we need only 0.05% of the land to capture adequate sunlight, or that enough sunlight strikes land (the entire Earth) in 4.5 hours (1.25 hours) to satisfy our needs for a year. That’s a powerful resource!

But once we factor in efficiency—say 10% for simplicity and conservatism—we need ten times the land area computed above. Still, it’s a pittance. I have used the following graphic before to illustrate how much land would be occupied by solar photovoltaics (PV) at 8% efficiency to produce 18 TW of electrical output (note that about half of the 13 TW consumption today is lost in heat engines, so 18 TW of electricity more than satisfies our current demand)

Durban Climate Change Conference: More than 120 Countries now Support a Timetable towards a Legally Binding Agreement

"The world is within reach of a new deal to stop global warming", said Chris Huhne, the UK’s Energy and Climate Change Secretary. That obviously puts a substantial amount of pressure on countries that are not signed up to our vision and a number of them are beginning to back it and you saw that today with the US coming up and saying it’s in favour of a road map,” he said. “A comprehensive global agreement is not beyond our reach,” he said. “We can achieve when we display flexibility and the will to compromise. If we continue to choose co-operation over conflict, we can show that all nations are indeed united by a common ambition: to protect our planet and our people from the dangers of climate change.” The EU want a deal in place by 2015 but sources close to the talks say the date could be pushed back and emissions are unlikely to start coming down before 2020. Joseph Alcamo, the UN Environment programme chief scientist, pointed out that emissions need to peak within the decade or the world will be “locked in” to dangerous global warming."

'via Blog this'Durban Climate Change conference: world close to deal on global warming - Telegraph:

Tip: EXERCISE regularly, Physical inactivity, a risk factor for death from heart disease & stroke

"Researchers said changes in BMI might have a significant effect on death risk in obese people. A healthy score is between 18 and 25; overweight is 25 to less than 30; obese is 30 and over. Many people don’t realize they are actually obese or near that mark.

In Indiana, the obesity level just went over 30 percent (30.2 percent). Another third is overweight. So, we have a long way to go. But, hopefully, some of these people are at least exercising regularly so they are lessening their chances of dying an early death."

'via Blog this'Good news for overweight exercisers! | Fit For Life blog | The Indianapolis Star | IndyStar.com:

Carbon War Room: Solutions to Energy Problems have to come from New Technologies

"Business titan Sir Richard Branson, philanthropist extraordinaire, Chairman of Virgin Air, and an early investor in the green energy sector, has taken a lead role in the global search for biofuels for use in the airline industry. Appearing on MSNBC earlier this week, Mr. Branson laid out the rationale for investment in the green energy sector, and his long term commitment to the effort through the creation of the Carbon War Room. The Carbon War Room is a global, independent non-profit that brings together complementary NGO's, entrepreneurs, corporate entrepreneurs, financiers, and the climate change community to focus on gigaton-scale, market-based solutions to climate change."

'via Blog this'VG Energy Highlighted in Branson's "Carbon War Room" Jet Fuel Initiative - MarketWatch:

Update: Fishing Industry on Climate Change: Success happens when there is right mix of fishing regulations to rebuild depleted ecosystems

"Participants in Durban could offer a significant boost to fishing communities by committing to facilitate good resource governance and build adaptive capacity. Specifically, this means nurturing the social organization, assets, and learning that will provide a basis for adaptation. It also means that aid and fisheries contract money need to be fair, reflect the value of the fish, and promote social capacity development and improved ecosystems management. Additionally, most developed countries have failed to meet their international commitments of contributing just 0.7 percent of their Gross National Product (GNP) to international aid. New commitments to support the Green Climate Fund—created in part to help developing countries cope with climate change—also appear to be soft and need to be a higher priority. Honoring these commitments is necessary to move beyond disaster relief and toward the proactive assistance that will help both people and ecosystems successfully confront the growing threat of a warming planet."

'via Blog this'Global Fishing Communities Putting the Heat on Climate Change Talks – News Watch:

Montana: Biofuel: Camelina has potential to create jobs, reduce dependency on fossil fuels & decrease carbon emissions

"Camelina has a number of advantages over its competitors, including using far less water, thus allowing it to be grown on marginal land, thereby not taking food acreage out of production. Furthermore camelina has a relatively short growing season of 80 to 100 days, requires no special equipment to harvest, and the silage remaining after processing can be fed to livestock and poultry, with the added side benefit of increasing their omega-3 production. Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture has given camelina production a major shot in the arm by selecting 40 counties in Montana for a pilot program of federally backed camelina crop insurance. The counties covered are Big Horn, Blaine, Broadwater, Carbon, Carter, Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Fallon, Fergus, Garfield, Glacier, Golden Valley, Hill, Judith Basin, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, McCone, Meagher, Musselshell, Park, Petroleum, Phillips, Pondera, Powder River, Prairie, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sheridan, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Teton, Toole, Treasure, Valley, Wheatland, Wibaux and Yellowstone."

'via Blog this'U.S. Biofuel Camelina Production Set to Soar at Oil Price:

Tip: Cure the root of Addiction by Understanding & Finding Ways to Manage Stress

We have chemical and hormonal changes to deal with stress. A well know chemical is the stress hormone cortisol which is increased and it leads to an increase of another chemical, adrenaline. The body gears up immediately in the face of stressful stimuli. It goes to our energy stores, and releases glucose and insulin so that our muscles have the energy to deal with the stress. These body chemicals are sustained at high rates to compensate for the stress, and as such, they can impact the body adversely over time. Additionally, the choices we make to handle this stress can influence how those stress hormones affect us. Drugs like alcohol, nicotine and cocaine, and also high-fat, high-calorie comfort foods, are powerful modifiers of the stress system. They will change our stress pathways and affect the way your body is able to control our stress response. And so, after a period of bingeing, our body’s stress response system eventually wears out. However, folks will continue to take those drugs and alcohol to compensate a weakened system. This is often what we see in addiction."

'via Blog this'Healthy Living: Holiday Stress - WABI TV5:Does that mean we cannot revitalize our stress responses such as the adrenals? In fact, our body is forgiving and they can recover when we take away those toxins. What is not clear is how long that process takes. The problem, though, is that while your adrenals are still recovering, you are more likely to be stressed. And stress affects abstinence and increases chances of a relapse. So then we are caught in a vicious cycle of quickly degenerating health because both the stress and the substances are working together to wear down our body systems and our stress axis, our liver, kidney, heart, blood pressure. All this can also lead to certain types of cancer. We don’t really know which comes first, but we do know that these are all complex multi-factoral diseases. That means they don’t have one single factor that leads to the disease state. And there are factors that can make a person even more vulnerable to stress-related diseases and addiction: early trauma suffered in childhood, cumulative adversity, socio-economic status, education and also things like genetics and personality traits.

Durban, South Africa: Bishop's call to view the issue as a moral imperative

Putting Planet First in Climate Change Talks | Africa | English: ""Climate change is a moral issue and it must be met by the moral principles of justice, equity, compassion, love. And that we’ve got to really realize, that we’ve got to put the wellbeing of the planet and people before our financial considerations,” said retired Anglican Bishop Geoff Davies, coordinator of the Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute."

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Tip: You have to take time for yourself, at least an hour a day, that's the key. If you won't make it a priority, it won't be a priority.

"A year ago, Bob Pearson was full of excuses. He didn't have time to work out. He didn't know how to prepare the right foods. Just the thought of trying to be healthier was overwhelming. “There are a million excuses,” the Hampshire resident says. “A year ago, I was 300 pounds, and I was just miserable.”"'via Blog this'New body, new life for Fittest Loser contestants -There are no more excuses now. Since winning the 2011 Fittest Loser Challenge sponsored by the Daily Herald, Pearson has taken control of his health. DailyHerald.com:

Update: World's Leading Clean Technology Manufacturer of Microturbine Energy Systems, Capstone, extends OEM agreement for GE's Heat Recovery Solutions

"The original agreement has been extended through January 2016. In addition, GE will provide parts support to Capstone through 2020. Capstone has seen significant interest in the Clean Cycle generator, both with Capstone's microturbine and in other waste heat applications. The addition of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology to the California Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) means that qualifying California utility customers can receive up to a $1,250/kW rebate to help reduce the cost of installing the Capstone waste heat application.
The SGIP was modified by a California Public Utilities Commission decision that made Organic Rankine Cycle/Waste Heat-to-Power systems eligible for the SGIP along with a list of other greenhouse gas-reducing technologies, including microturbines. Capstone has received several orders for the Clean Cycle product and began shipping units more than 18 months ago."

'via Blog this'Capstone Extends Agreement With GE; Products Eligible for Incentive Under California Self-Generation Incentive Program - MarketWatch:

Update: Canada, Japan and Russia all announced last year their rejection of Kyoto's second commitment period, starting in 2013

While "China's top climate negotiator Xie Zenhua, in his first meeting with reporters, said China wanted to ensure all previous commitments by the industrial countries were met before entering into the next phase. If that happened, he said, China could discuss a post-2020 deal. "The framework, I think, should be a legally binding one, or some documents to that effect." But Xie set several "preconditions," including an extension of the Kyoto commitments for industrial countries, honoring commitments on immediate and long-term financial aid to poor countries, and delivery on promises of new technologies to develop low-carbon economies. U.S. envoy Todd Stern said the United States has no objection to a post-2020 treaty, as long as it treats everyone the same. Countries must accept "obligations and commitments that have the same legal force," Stern said."

'via Blog this'Negotiations begin at climate conference – USATODAY.com:

Tip: Secure the heart of that special person we seek, and to make a difference in some way – to matter and bring value to the relationship

"A growing body of scientific evidence shows that the way we express love and care for one another, from the time we are infants and throughout our lives, directly affects the health and physical structure of our brains and nervous systems. Certain actions, ones that convey emotional messages of kindness, caring and love, can affect positive changes on partners and their relationship by releasing certain hormones, such as oxytocin, which amps up the love-connection pathways of the brain. Oxytocin is a hormone that is released by the pituitary gland and stimulates the release of other chemical hormones in the heart."

'via Blog this'20 Ways to Amp Up The Love (Boost Oxytocin Naturally) In Your Couple Relationship | Neuroscience and Relationships:

Renewable Energy: China is another good outlet, having recently announced that it will double its spending on clean energy

"The renewable energy market segment is seeing strong growth and the lowering of entry costs in many cases. But start up renewable energy companies are finding funding tough to come across with debt crises raising its head worldwide and major funding going towards web 2.0 tech companies. Whether its alternative energy, clean energy or green energy, long shots in the renewable energy market can come from anywhere. Start ups here are as abundant as in the IT market segments, with good cause too. Wind power is growing at the rate of 30% annually and solar production growth has averaged 40% per year since 2000. Add to that ,from 2007 through 2010, fed subsidies jumped from $5 billion to over $14 billion and 2010 entire investment into renewables was over $200 billion. An emerging company like Sunbelt International (SUNB), has eyed up both solar and wind power with expertise and quality products in both. The company looks to pass on economic savings, received through a manufacturing plant in China, to its clients. "

'via Blog this'The Friday Clean Energy Report: Sunbelt International Inc. (OTCBB:SUNB):

Update: Middle East: Extremely vulnerable to effects of climate change including severe droughts, water shortages, and flooding in coastal areas

Climate change: Why COP17 matters for the Middle East | Al-Masry Al-Youm: Today's News from Egypt: "The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published a report last year entitled Mapping of Climate Change Threats and Human Development Impacts in the Arab Region. It revealed that with hotter, drier and less predictable climates, the amount of water running into the region's streams and rivers is set to fall by 20 to 30 percent by 2050. Expected consequences include food insecurity and more-rapid desertification, the report says. Since the region is home to six of the world's ten most water-scarce countries, the consequences could be far-reaching. Its citizens currently have access to an average of 1000 cubic meters of water a year, a figure seven times below the world average, and the figure is expected to shrink to 460 cubic meters by 2025. According to a report released last week by the World Meteorological Organization (IMO), all indicators point to an expected 20 percent decrease in the water resources of the Ethiopian Plateau, with a corresponding reduction in Nile water flowing to downstream countries. The report estimates an annual reduction of more than 11 billion cubic meters in Egypt and Sudan alone due to the effects of climate change."

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Tip: Help kids get fit. School should consider having salad bar to promote Healthy Eating and urge kids to Avoid chips and soda

"Some doctors and public health officials have questioned how valuable body mass index is as a predictor of an individual child's overall fitness. Yet studies have shown in general that people with more body fat or greater body mass tend to have more long-term health risks. The test requires students to perform different activities and perform at a certain level, which varies by age, height, weight and gender. To be considered fit, for example, a 5-foot-6, 150-pound, 15-year-old ninth-grade boy would need to run a mile in nine minutes, perform at least 16 pushups, and do at least 24 sit-ups, among other requirements."

'via Blog this'Study finds one-third of children are too plump:

Update: If not stop, additional Coal-Fired Power Plants Projects will emit CO2 equivalent to CO2 emitted since the beginning of industrialization

""In Europe over 100 new coal-fired power plants are in a planning stage or under construction," according to the report. "Last year, 173 coal-fired power plants were approved for construction in India -- that is one power plant every two days." "All told, India has enough plants in the pipeline to expand its coal-fired capacity by 600% over the next two decades. "In China, two new coal plants are being completed per week," it says. "If China's carbon usage keeps up this pace, the country's CO2 emissions in 2030 will equal the entire world's CO2 production today." South Africa is singled out in the report as the 11th largest CO2 emitter worldwide, with particular attention devoted to Eskom's new coal-fired power plants Medupi and Kusile. "Eskom's newest projects are gargantuan," the report said. "The Medupi and Kusile power plants, 4 800MW each, will be six times as big as typical coal-fired power plants in Germany and will produce estimated emissions of over 60-million metric tonnes of CO2 annually." "It is estimated that some 40 new coal mines will be needed to supply both plants with fuel," says the report."

'via Blog this'Dirty energy financiers shamed - Newspaper - Mail & Guardian Online:

Update: Scientists studying grey wolves in Yellowstone national park have developed a method to predict how animals will respond to Climate Change

""We now have the tools to determine how wolves would react to climate change," said Tim Coulson, a professor of life sciences at Imperial College London, who led the study. "With any luck, in the future we can apply the methods developed from the wolves down to small mites or to large herbivores." The study used data that is already routinely collected on radio-collared wolves to get a glimpse of some basic responses to a changing environment – population numbers, genetics, body size, and the timing of key events in the wolf life cycle, such as when they first have pups. It also took account of changing genetics in the wolves' coats. Unlike in Europe, the grey wolves of Yellowstone actually have black or grey coats. Research scientists from the US department of the interior, Utah State University and the University of California travelled over the park by helicopter, tracking wolf packs. They shot the wolves from the air with darts, before descending to weigh them and take blood samples. The scientists collected more than a decade's worth of data from the 280 wolves living in the park."

'via Blog this'Climate change insight gleaned from Yellowstone wolves | Environment | The Guardian: