FYI: Women suffer more disabling strokes than men and need to become better aware of their unique risk factors, including pregnancy complications and the use of oral contraceptives, according to recommendations released Thursday by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. The stroke prevention guidelines — the first to be released specifically for women — also point to risk factors more common in women, such as migraines with aura, type 2 diabetes, and obesity. Such differences could point to why strokes are the third leading cause of death in women but only the fifth leading cause of death in men. “These new guidelines are a call to action that doctors really need to be focusing more on women when it comes to stroke prevention,” said Dr. Shazam Hussain, head of the Stroke Section at the Cleveland Clinic, who was not involved with developing the guidelines. About 3 percent of Americans have lived through strokes, with many suffering permanent health problems such as impaired speech, memory loss, or paralysis. Women who develop dangerous hypertension during pregnancy, known as preeclampsia, have twice the risk of having a stroke later in life compared with those who had healthy pregnancies.

Stroke prevention guidelines highlight special risks for women - Health & wellness - The Boston Globe: "The guidelines, published in the journal Stroke, advise doctors to consider preeclampsia to be a stroke risk factor akin to smoking, high cholesterol, and obesity because it’s likely to lead to hypertension years after the pregnancy."



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UPDATE: Abu Dhabi -- Nineteen countries have pledged to create an Africa Clean Energy Corridor to exploit the continent’s vast renewable potential. Energy ministers and delegates from the countries endorsed an action agenda drawn up by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi. The corridor is designed to boost the deployment of renewable energy and help meet Africa’s rising energy demand with clean power from renewable sources such as hydro, geothermal, biomass, wind and solar. IRENA’s director-general Adnan Z. Amin said the corridor would “provide the continent with the opportunity to leapfrog into a sustainable energy future.” “The dynamic development that Africa will see in the next decades needs to extend to the energy sector, and Africa’s abundant renewable energy resources are a perfect match to meet rising demand in a sustainable and cost-effective way, from Cairo to Cape Town.”

Countries Vow to Form Africa Clean Energy Corridor: "Electricity demand is expected to triple in southern Africa and quadruple in east Africa over the next 25 years and there is a desire among many nations to meet this demand with renewables.

Ethiopia’s energy minister Alemayehu Tegenu said the clean energy corridor would help “leverage the tremendous opportunity that renewable energy presents, for the best of the African states and the entire continent.”"



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UPDATE: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's critical assessment of the proposed northern leg of the Keystone pipeline could have outsized influence on the final decision of whether to approve the project, experts familiar with the process said. Friday's State Department report contained the EPA's evaluation that crude produced from Canada's oil sands, which the pipeline would carry, are 17 percent more greenhouse gas intensive than average oil used in the United States. The EPA also said oil sands imports would be 2-10 percent more greenhouse-gas intensive than imported oil from Mexico or Venezuela that would probably replace it.

EPA scrutiny could be linchpin to Keystone review process - Yahoo News: "The Departments of Defense, Commerce, Commerce, Energy, Justice, Transportation and Homeland Security are also evaluating the State Department's environmental assessment of the Keystone proposal. Of the eight agencies that have 90 days to weigh in, the EPA's evaluation is expected to be the most influential because of its expertise on the environment."



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UPDATE: "Geoengineering is a controversial approach to dealing with climate change. Gaia Vince explores the process of putting chemicals in the stratosphere to stop solar energy reaching the earth. When volcanoes erupt they put sulphur in the stratosphere. The particles reflect solar rays back into space and the planet cools down. Scientists are suggesting that it could be possible to put sulphur into the stratosphere using specialised aircraft or a very long pipe. But if this was implemented there could be impacts on rainfall and the ozone layer. Another idea is to spray seawater to whiten clouds that would reflect more energy away from the earth. Gaia Vince talks to the researchers who are considering solar radiation management. She also hears from social scientists who are finding out what the public think about the idea and who are asking who should make decisions about implementing this way of cooling the planet. "BBC World Service - Discovery, Geoengineering

CLICK LINK TO LISTEN: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01p2pf4?ocid=socialflow_twitter_worldservice



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Best Earth Footage (1080p HD) Enigma - Indian Chanting. Yeha Noha - Sacred Spirits._(1080p).mp4 - YouTube

Best Earth Footage (1080p HD) Enigma - Indian Chanting. Yeha Noha - Sacred Spirits._(1080p).mp4 - YouTube: ""



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UPDATE: Air pollution in the Chinese capital reached new, choking heights on Thursday. Those who still felt the urge to catch a glimpse of sunlight were able to gather around the city’s gigantic LED screens, where this glorious sunrise was broadcast as part of a tourism ad. Correction: The original post did not mention that the large screens in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square broadcast panoramic scenes on a daily basis, regardless of atmospheric conditions, nor did it state that the sunrise was part of a tourism commercial. - Beijing's Big Screen Sunrise | TIME.com

CLICK LINK ON HOW CHINA VIEW THEIR SUNRISE>>> Beijing's Big Screen Sunrise | TIME.com:



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UPDATE: MINDANAO, PH: Flood victims are pulled on inflatable tire tubes as they are evacuated from heavy flooding brought by tropical depression "Agaton", in Butuan, in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao January 20, 2014. Floods and landslides caused by tropical depression "Agaton" have killed 40 people and more than 500,000 people are displaced in Mindanao, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council reported on Sunday. REUTERS/Erik De Castro (PHILIPPINES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

CLICK LINK FOR FULL COVERAGE: Flood victims are pulled on inflatable tire tubes as they are evacuated from heavy flooding brought by tropical depression "Agaton", in Butuan | 'Agaton' brings floods in Mindanao - Yahoo News Philippines:



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