Study finds our Sun is like other stars, resolving mystery

"Our Sun is much like other stars, and not an anomaly because of its magnetic poles that flip every 11 years, scientists said.

The report in the journal Science aims to lay to rest the controversy over whether our solar system's star is cyclic, like other nearby, solar-type stars.

"We have shed light on a fundamental mechanism which determines the length of these cycles, which helps us understand the cycle itself over the long-term," lead author Antoine Strugarek, a researcher at the University of Montreal, told AFP.

"We can therefore say of the Sun's next magnetic cycle in 10 or 20 years will be intense, long or short, which helps us understand among other things what kind of satellites to put in orbit and the most favorable launch windows."

Activity on the Sun, from the number of sunspots to levels of radiation and ejection of material, varies on an 11-year cycle.

These changes are driven by the Sun's magnetic field.

Scientists have long believed that our Sun was unusual because it did not match the magnetic cycles observed on other solar-type stars.

So researchers carried out a series of simulations of stellar magnetic fields, and showed that the Sun's magnetic cycle depends on its rotation rate and luminosity, said the report.

They compared their simulations with observations of cyclic activity in nearby solar-type stars, and found that indeed, the cycle periods of the Sun and other solar-type stars all follow the same relationship.

"This research shows that the 11-year cycle is the principal cycle of all solar-type stars," said Allan Sacha Brun, Head of the Laboratory Dynamics of Stars and their Environment and principal investigator of the European Research Council project called STARS2.


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Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean marine reserve: "The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner. However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island", Kevin Iro, Environmentalist

 "The Cook Islands has created one of the world's largest marine sanctuaries, protecting a vast swathe of the Pacific Ocean more than three times the size of France.

Legislation setting up the 1.9 million square kilometre (735,000 square mile) reserve passed through the tiny nation's parliament late Thursday.

Environmentalist Kevin Iro, who first proposed the idea more than five years ago, said it was a landmark achievement that would help preserve the ocean for future generations.

"It's a historic time, particularly because everyone supported it, including our traditional leaders who spearheaded the whole thing," he told AFP.

The Cook Islands has a population of just 10,000 and its 15 islands have a combined landmass of 236 sq km, barely the size of Washington DC.

But its isolated position in the Pacific, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii with no near neighbours, means it has a huge maritime territory.

Iro said Cook Islanders had an affinity with the ocean and viewed it as sacred but overfishing and pollution had damaged the marine environment, including the coral reefs that once ringed all the islands.

He said the marine reserve, known as Marae Moana, would give the environment a chance to heal, allowing the islanders to protect their legacy.

"When I moved back here (from New Zealand) about 16 years ago I saw what was happening to the lagoons and reefs and really wanted to protect them for my kids," he said.

"I want them to have the same experience I did as a boy growing up."

The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner.

However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island.

Prime Minister Henry Puna said Marae Moana provided a blueprint for managing ocean environments worldwide.

"Together we had a vision to turn our little country into the cleanest and greenest tourism destination in the whole wide world," the Cook Islands News quoted him as telling parliament.

"We not only recognise that the ocean brings us revenue in terms of fishery and tourism and potentially sea bed minerals -– it also provides us with clean air, clean water, and clean food to nourish and sustain us.""



'via Blog this'Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean marine reserve:- AFP News

Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean marine reserve: "The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner. However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island", Kevin Iro, Environmentalist

"The Cook Islands has created one of the world's largest marine sanctuaries, protecting a vast swathe of the Pacific Ocean more than three times the size of France.

Legislation setting up the 1.9 million square kilometre (735,000 square mile) reserve passed through the tiny nation's parliament late Thursday.

Environmentalist Kevin Iro, who first proposed the idea more than five years ago, said it was a landmark achievement that would help preserve the ocean for future generations.

"It's a historic time, particularly because everyone supported it, including our traditional leaders who spearheaded the whole thing," he told AFP.

The Cook Islands has a population of just 10,000 and its 15 islands have a combined landmass of 236 sq km, barely the size of Washington DC.

But its isolated position in the Pacific, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii with no near neighbours, means it has a huge maritime territory.

Iro said Cook Islanders had an affinity with the ocean and viewed it as sacred but overfishing and pollution had damaged the marine environment, including the coral reefs that once ringed all the islands.

He said the marine reserve, known as Marae Moana, would give the environment a chance to heal, allowing the islanders to protect their legacy.

"When I moved back here (from New Zealand) about 16 years ago I saw what was happening to the lagoons and reefs and really wanted to protect them for my kids," he said.

"I want them to have the same experience I did as a boy growing up."

The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner.

However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island.

Prime Minister Henry Puna said Marae Moana provided a blueprint for managing ocean environments worldwide.

"Together we had a vision to turn our little country into the cleanest and greenest tourism destination in the whole wide world," the Cook Islands News quoted him as telling parliament.

"We not only recognise that the ocean brings us revenue in terms of fishery and tourism and potentially sea bed minerals -– it also provides us with clean air, clean water, and clean food to nourish and sustain us."

Puna's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment."



'via Blog this'AFP News, Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean marine reserve:

UPDATE: Land mammals and reptiles in the Pacific islands facing extinction due to habitat loss, hunting and other threats could be decimated by climate change...

Ocean-bound wildlife is particularly vulnerable to environmental pressures, especially endemic species living on only one or a handful of islands. Among other things, this remoteness makes migrating to another land mass nearly impossible.

Dozens of species -- especially birds -- have also been wiped out over the last century by invasive species and disease brought by human settlers.

For most Pacific island vertebrates -- animals with a backbone -- the current risk of extinction has been measured and catalogued in the Red List of threatened species, maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Scientists, however, had not systematically looked at the added threat posed of rising seas and megastorms brought on by global warming.

Impacts due to an increase in temperature of only one degree Celsius (1.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid-19th century have already begun to wreak havoc in dozens of small island nations.

Lalit Kumar and Mahyat Shafapour Tehrany of the University of New England in Armidale, Australia, matched the Red List conservation status of 150 mammals and reptiles against two scenarios for future climate change that assume either weak or moderate efforts in curtailing greenhouse gas emissions.

- Triple threat -

One would result in global warming of about 4 C (7.2 F) by century's end, and the other roughly 3 C (5.4 F).

The question they asked for each species was simple: to what extent will a hotter world increase the danger of extinction?

"Projected increases in sea level rise and ... wave heights, together with more intense tropical cyclones, are likely to exacerbate these vulnerabilities and result in signficant habitat destruction," the researchers concluded.

Eighteen animals -- including Bulmer's fruit bat, half-a-dozen species of gecko, and several lizards -- faced a triple threat.

Not only are they already listed as "critically endangered", the last step before the category "extinct in the wild", they are also unique to this part of the world and exist on a single island, though mostly larger ones.

"These species are only found in this region, and so deserve extra attention since a loss of any of these species will mean global extinction," the authors warned.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, could help conservationists and policy makers outline strategies for preventing the disappearance of these creatures from the face of the Earth, they added.

The 196-nation Paris Agreement has set a goal of holding global warming to "well below" 2 C, a goal that many scientists say may be out of reach." -Marlowe Hood, AFP News



Source: Climate change deepens threat to Pacific island wildlife: 'via Blog this'

UPDATE: A large portion of an ice shelf that was said to be “hanging by a thread” last month has broken off from the Antarctic mainland, creating one of the world’s largest icebergs...

According to the report by British Antarctic research group Project MIDAS, the iceberg, which is estimated to have separated from Larsen C ice shelf between Monday and Wednesday, will be named A68. It weighs one trillion tons and contains twice the volume of water held in Lake Erie, the report said. It is 5,800 square kilometers, making it nearly twice the size of Rhode Island.

The ice shelf’s calving has been expected for some time. Project MIDAS wrote that is was “watching with bated breath” after the rift separating the iceberg from the main shelf grew 11 miles in six days in late May. At the time, lead investigator of Project MIDAS Adrian Luckman wrote that the separation of the ice shelf would “fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula.”

Here’s a look at images of the threatened ice shelves and glaciers of the South Pole.

See FULL STORY by Taylor Rogers /Yahoo News

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr."Antarctica's fragile ice:



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Wellness Pilipinas International: ASEAN 2017 (@ASEAN2017)

Wellness Pilipinas International: ASEAN 2017 (@ASEAN2017): ASEAN 2017 (@ASEAN2017) | Twitter : 'via Blog this'

Wellness Pilipinas International: WHO Update: Environmental risk factors – including...

WHO Update: Environmental risk factors – including air, water and soil pollution; chemical exposures; ultraviolet radiation; and climate change – contribute to more than 100 different diseases and injuries. Climate change and variations particularly impact many aspects of life that are inextricably linked to health

WHO estimates that 12.6 million people die each year as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment, contributing to nearly one-quarter of deaths globally. Similarly, a WHO assessment concluded that climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. The health impacts of climate and environmental change are and will continue to be disproportionately greater among vulnerable populations.

Renewed global commitment

Fortunately, there is renewed global commitment to tackle climate change and implement the Paris Agreement, adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2015.

Opportunities exist not only to tackle environmental health risk factors, including air safety, food security and water and sanitation, but also to transform the development of health care delivery systems by using low-carbon, more environmentally-friendly approaches. For example, access to health care can be made more reliable in resource-constrained settings through renewable energy sources that can supply power for lifesaving procedures that might not otherwise be possible. This could be game changing for people who rely on the between 200,000 and 400,000 hospitals and health clinics in developing countries that lack or have unreliable electricity supplies.

Wellness Pilipinas International: WHO Update: Environmental risk factors – including...: WHO estimates that 12.6 million people die each year as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment, contributing to nearly ...