Robert Redford Urges Global Action on Climate Change - ABC News

Robert Redford Urges Global Action on Climate Change - ABC News: "
Robert Redford said he came to the United Nations Monday not as an actor but as an environmental advocate, father, grandfather and concerned citizen to urge the world's nations to take action now on climate change.

The 78-year-old Oscar winner said his environmental activism began more than 40 years ago and has grown stronger as he has seen the threat of global warming grow.

He told a high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly on climate change that "the time for half measures and climate denial is over."

"It is the overwhelming judgment of science that climate change is real — and the result of human activity," Redford said. "Everywhere we look, moderate weather is going extinct."

The mission of the 193 U.N. member nations, he said, "is as simple as it is daunting: save the world before it's too late.""



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A diet that mimics fasting may be good for you

A diet that mimics fasting may be good for you: "For years, people have tried going on extremely low-calorie diets, hoping to stave off illness and delay the effects of aging.

It's an approach that is based on science showing that limiting proteins and sugars seems to impede processes in the body that lead to diabetes and even cancers. But it's also a tough road that can sap dieters' patience and strength, said University of Southern California aging researcher Valter Longo, who recently led a study searching for a better way to get the benefits of fasting without quite so much pain.

"We wanted to know, what if you let people eat normally, but then once every few weeks you fool the system into thinking it was starving?" he said."



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Republicans resist proposed dietary guidelines of less meat, more veggies | The Salt Lake Tribune

Republicans resist proposed dietary guidelines of less meat, more veggies | The Salt Lake Tribune: "Washington • Congressional Republicans are pushing back against proposed dietary guidelines that urge Americans to consider the environment when deciding what to eat.

House and Senate spending bills say the guidelines must focus only on nutrition and diet. That's a clear effort to thwart a recommendation by the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that eating a diet higher in vegetables and other plant-based foods is better for the environment than eating a diet based more on foods from animals.

The advice from a government advisory panel of independent doctors and nutrition experts has raised the ire of the meat industry.

The dietary guidelines come out every five years, and the government advice informs everything from school lunches and food packaging labels to advice from your doctor. The departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services are expected to issue a final version by year's end based on the advisory committee's February recommendations."



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Doctors Fight Coal Like Tobacco, Widening Climate Debate - Bloomberg Business

Doctors Fight Coal Like Tobacco, Widening Climate Debate - Bloomberg Business: "Doctors are joining the fight against pollution from coal power, adding a significant new dimension to the effort to rein in global warming.
Calling for “a rapid phaseout of coal from the global energy mix,” a panel of 46 health professionals and climate scientists identified the world’s rising temperature as one of the biggest threats to humans in the coming decades.
“The health community has responded to many grave threats in the past. It took on entrenched interests such as the tobacco industry and led on the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said Peng Gong, co-chair of the group who directs the Earth science systems center at Tsinghua University in Beijing. “Now is the time for us to lead the way in responding to another great threat.”"



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Study: Two-Thirds Of Americans Are Overweight Or Obese « CBS Minnesota

Study: Two-Thirds Of Americans Are Overweight Or Obese « CBS Minnesota: "MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A new study shows two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. The study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found waist lines have increased considerably over the past two decades. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied data over a five year period ending in 2012.
On a warm Monday evening, people walking, running or biking is often what you find in Minnesota."



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Pope Francis says those in weapons industry can't call themselves Christian | World news | The Guardian

Pope Francis says those in weapons industry can't call themselves Christian | World news | The Guardian: "People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian, Pope Francis said on Sunday.

Duplicity is the currency of today ... they say one thing and do another
Pope Francis
Francis issued his toughest condemnation to date of the weapons industry at a rally of thousands of young people at the end of the first day of his trip to the Italian city of Turin.

“If you trust only men you have lost,” he told the young people in a longcommentary about war, trust and politics, after putting aside his prepared address."



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Lindt is my favourite

British study links chocolate with fewer heart attacks, strokes - Fredericksburg.com: Health Living: "New research has found that devoted consumers of chocolate—including some who eat the equivalent of about two standard candy bars a day—are 11 percent less likely than those who eat little to no chocolate to have heart attacks and strokes, and 25 percent less likely to die of cardiovascular disease.
A long-running British study that tracked nearly 21,000 adults in and around Norfolk, England, for an average of 12 years, making frequent surveys of their consumption habits, life-styles and health.
Those in the top one-fifth of chocolate consumers reported eating the equivalent of about a half an American-size candy bar; those whose chocolate consumption landed them in the bottom 20th percentile averaged only 1.1 gram per day."



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Pope's climate change encyclical tells rich nations: pay your debt to the poor | World news | The Guardian

Pope's climate change encyclical tells rich nations: pay your debt to the poor | World news | The Guardian: "Pope Francis has called on the world’s rich nations to begin paying their “grave social debt” to the poor and take concrete steps on climate change, saying failure to do so presents an undeniable risk to a “common home” that is beginning to resemble a “pile of filth”.

The pope’s 180-page encyclical on the environment, released on Thursday, is at its core a moral call for action on phasing out the use of fossil fuels.

But it is also a document infused with an activist anger and concern for the poor, casting blame on the indifference of the powerful in the face of certain evidence that humanity is at risk following 200 years of misuse of resources.

Up to now, he says, the world has accepted a “cheerful recklessness” in its approach to the issue, lacking the will to change habits for the good of the Earth.

“Climate change is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social, economic, political and for the distribution of goods,” the papal statement says. “It represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day.”"



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Study: A third of global groundwater basins are overstressed - World - NZ Herald News

Study: A third of global groundwater basins are overstressed - World - NZ Herald News: "IRVINE, Calif. (AP) " Satellite data show people are overdrawing water from some of the world's largest groundwater basins.

Researchers from the University of California, Irvine say it's unclear how much water is left in the most overburdened aquifers. The problem is expected to worsen with climate change and population growth.

Using measurements taken by NASA's twin Grace satellites, scientists found the most overstressed groundwater basins were located in the driest regions.

Arabian Aquifer System in the Middle East, which serves more than 60 million people, was considered the most stressed in the world followed by the Indus Basin aquifer of northwestern India and Pakistan.

The farm-rich Central Valley in California was considered highly stressed.

The two studies were published online Tuesday in Water Resources Research, a journal of the American Geophysical Union."



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The ties that bind, without any ties

Today was an interesting day. Two of my classmates from my Northwestern Ph.D. days, Jim and Mike, came to my house around 11:30. It has been thirty plus years since we we had cubicles in the sub-basement of the Tech building- perhaps it was the fact that there were no windows that darkened our outlook on life. After thirty years, we have aged, and so has the relationship. Mike has become a master gardener, and as is his wont, has acquired a vast range of knowledge about plants and animals. Mike has always been very compassionate, and it has been very interesting to see his growth. Jim and I started at NU at the same time, and over the years he has become family to me. I took up runnig because of Jim. My mom was very happy to see Jim, and gave him a warm hug.
Over the course of my twenty seven year career, I have met many people, and worked with hundreds of people, but the NU classmates were the brightest of the bunch- my best conversations are with them!
I wear a tie when I am teaching, but then I don't think either Jim or Mike wears one.

Robin wins vote for UK's national bird | Environment | The Guardian

Robin wins vote for UK's national bird | Environment | The Guardian: "It’s territorial, chippy and punches above its weight – and that’s why Britons have voted for the robin to be the country’s national bird, according to the organiser of a nationwide poll.

More than 224,000 people cast their ballot in the National Bird Vote, organised by “urban birder” David Lindo, which finished on the day of the general election.


Don't forget to vote ... for Britain's national bird
Read more
The robin won by a significant margin, taking 34% of the vote from a shortlist of 10 of Britain’s most familiar and beloved birds. The next most popular birds were the barn owl and blackbird at 12% and 11% respectively.

Lindo, who was openly critical of the robin in the final days of voting, said he had secretly hoped the blackbird would win.

“If the truth be known it would be great if something else had won, like a blackbird, but I’m very happy still that a robin has been confirmed as Britain’s national bird. I think it’s good and I think it’s a bird that we can be proud of and hoist up on our shoulders now.”"



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Google brings the world's coral reefs to your screen - CBS News

Google brings the world's coral reefs to your screen - CBS News: "Most of us will never swim with the giant ocean sunfish off the coast of Bali or tag alongside a humpback whale in the Cook Islands.

But thanks to Google Maps, you can have a virtual view of the experience. In an effort to draw attention to the world's oceans, the company teamed up this week with XL Catlin Seaview Survey, NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and the Chagos Conservation Trust to release Street View imagery of more than 40 extraordinary underwater locations around the world.

Along with the Cook Islands and Bali, the latest 360-degree underwater images feature American Samoa and the Chagos Islands and underwater dives in the Bahamas and the Great Barrier Reef.

Using a specially designed camera -- the SVII -- divers take 360-degree high-resolution images every three seconds, which are then digitally stitched together. The end result is like an underwater version of Google Street View, allowing viewers to take a "virtual dive" and navigate through the underwater environment."



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Like a good neighbour, St. John is there!

On Saturday evening, we were watching the telly and having some family conversations when I heard a loud sound, appeared to be something hitting the ground. I went to all the rooms and looked to see if anything fell from the ceiling. Not seeing anything, I went outside and around the house, and did not see anything amiss. I then went into the garage and went to the garage door. It appeared to be closed but for some reason I went to the door and noticed that the wire on the right pulley was not in tension. It then dawned on me that the garage door might not have come down properly and the sound we heard was that of the door hitting the ground.
The next day I looked at the door and realized that I needed some help in fixing the problem. we called our neigbour John who came over with a bucket of tools. He realized that one of the springs was broken and needed to be replaced. The broken string then caused the wire in the pulley to come out when the garage door was being opened. John systematically went through the process to get the broken spring out. We then took it to Menards and got a replacement spring and John installed it for us.
John works very hard during the week, and rather than just relaxing, he came over on a Sunday to fix our garage door. He displayed the hallmark of a true gentleman, a neighbour who is there to help. Thanks, John.

Benefits Grow for Public University Presidents, Survey Finds - NYTimes.com

Benefits Grow for Public University Presidents, Survey Finds - NYTimes.com: "Even with college costs and student debt in the national spotlight, the pay packages — and especially the benefits — of public university presidents continue to grow. The median salary for public university presidents was $428,250 in the 2014 fiscal year, up about 7 percent from the previous year, according to an annual survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The survey included data on 238 chief executives at 220 public universities and systems in the United States.

Two presidents earned more than $1 million: Rodney A. Erickson of Pennsylvania State University, at $1.49 million, and R. Bowen Loftin of Texas A & M, who stepped down during the year, at $1.12 million. Joseph A. Alutto of Ohio State, an interim president whose term ended last year, was third, at $996,000.

But it is not only the money that is substantial.

Continue reading the main story
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“This year, we took a close look at the perks and benefits, and found that 80 percent of these presidents are getting housing and cars,” said Sandhya Kambhampati, a reporter at The Chronicle who compiled the data. “There were also presidents who got maid service, personal trainers and food stipends. The list of benefits has grown from previous years.”"



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Dementia May Be Part Of What's Killing Off The Bees (VIDEO)

Dementia May Be Part Of What's Killing Off The Bees (VIDEO): "Another day, another theory about what's behind the mysterious disappearance of the Earth's bees. (Video via BeesOnTheNet / CC BY 3.0)
This time it's dementia caused by aluminum found in nectar. Aluminum is considered a neurotoxin and some have linked it to Alzheimer's disease in humans, although that hasn't been definitively proven. (Video via epSos.de / CC By 3.0)
The study, published in the journal PLOS One, said in human brains, aluminum content above 3 parts per million could lead to Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found aluminum levels in bee pupae that ranged between 13 and 193 parts per million. 
The researchers in the study described aluminum as the "most significant environmental contaminant of recent times," adding to a long list of research citing aluminum's harmful effects."



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Boeing Shoehorns More Seats Onto 777 Jet by Shrinking Lavatories - Bloomberg Business

Boeing Shoehorns More Seats Onto 777 Jet by Shrinking Lavatories - Bloomberg Business: "As Boeing Co. tries to bolster sales of its largest twin-engine jetliner, no detail is too small. One result: It found room to shoehorn in as many as 14 more seats by shrinking the lavatories.
Adding capacity on the 777-300ER is part of Boeing’s quest to drum up orders for a best-selling aircraft line into the next decade as it prepares to start building the upgraded 777X. Engineers also lightened the plane by 1,200 pounds (544 kilograms) by rehanging the overhead bins.
“The market reaction has been good -- really positive,” 777 General Manager Elizabeth Lund said at a briefing at Boeing’s wide-body factory in Everett, Washington, ahead of the Paris Air Show later this month."



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US meteorological body finds global warming 'slow down' did not happen

US meteorological body finds global warming 'slow down' did not happen: "A much discussed "slow down" in global warming did not actually happen and the heating up of the planet has continued apace since the turn of the century, a new assessment by the lead United States meteorological body has found.

Scientists from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have instead pointed to biases in thousands of global temperature observations as a reason why the rise in global temperatures was thought to have slowed over the past 15 years.

They say once more complete data was included a new assessment of global temperatures found warming since 2000 was matching the pace of the later half of the 20th century, a period widely regarded as seeing significant human-caused global warming.

The findings were published by the journal Science on Friday."



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Scientists finally have an explanation for why huge lakes atop Greenland are vanishing - The Washington Post

Scientists finally have an explanation for why huge lakes atop Greenland are vanishing - The Washington Post: "Understanding how meltwater atop Greenland makes its way to the ocean is critical, because the drainage can increase sea level directly, but also by lubricating the flow of glaciers out to the sea, where they calve off icebergs. And melting at the top of Greenland in summer seems to be growing — punctuated by a dramatic event in the summer of 2012, in which, according to NASA, fully 97 percent of the ice sheet surface saw melting.

A recent study estimated that from 2009 through 2012, the Greenland ice sheet lost 378 gigatons of ice annually (plus or minus 50 gigatons) – where a gigaton is a billion metric tons. Three hundred and sixty gigatons are enough to raise the global sea level by one millimeter. The overall annual sea level rise was recently estimated at 2.6 to 2.9 millimeters, which would make Greenland about a third of the total."



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Texas Lawmakers Pass a Bill Allowing Guns at Colleges - NYTimes.com

Texas Lawmakers Pass a Bill Allowing Guns at Colleges - NYTimes.com: "HOUSTON — Students and faculty members at public and private universities in Texas could be allowed to carry concealed handguns into classrooms, dormitories and other buildings under a bill passed over the weekend by the Republican-dominated Legislature. The measure is being hailed as a victory by gun rights advocates and criticized by many students and professors as irresponsible and unnecessary."



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History hurts, when lobbed at you

Parent’s Diary: Leaving Cert students often lose their sense of humour in the first week of June: "If taking this approach, it’s good to stand well back and to remove all throwable objects from your child’s reach, but particularly her history book. (I speak from experience here. Who knew the past could hurt so much?)
My daughter is a bit like your son or daughter: she is bright, intelligent and doesn’t like exams very much.
The things she prefers to exams include her mobile phone, friends and not doing exams. So the current system probably doesn’t suit her very much, just like it doesn’t suit the majority of teenagers who will be staring into the abyss this evening."



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Aamir Khan to be a part of a ‘waste-free’ Maharashtra campaign | The Indian Express

Aamir Khan to be a part of a ‘waste-free’ Maharashtra campaign | The Indian Express: "

Aamir Khan has decided to extend his support for a cleanliness drive to make Maharashtra, a 'waste-free' state.
By: BollywoodHungama.com | Mumbai | Published on:June 2, 2015 8:45 am
Aamir Khan has always promoted social causes and has even been the ambassador of ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ campaign for years now. The actor has now decided to extend his support for a cleanliness drive to make Maharashtra, a ‘waste-free’ state.
Addressing the issue of wastage in Maharashtra, Aamir Khan mentioned about a few key factors that will help in the Swachh Maharashtra drive, out of which one of them, was to do away with dumping grounds. Elaborating on the ancient processes used for getting rid of wastage, Aamir Khan added that recycling waste into biogas, a combination of modern technology with conventional methods will prove beneficial."



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