UN officials mourn five seminar participants killed in accident in Jordan

Two senior United Nations officials today expressed deep sadness over the deaths of five people, including two contractors for the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and three Iraqi officials, who were killed in a bus accident in Jordan yesterday.

The non-Ice Age cometh

The fast-disappearing Arctic  ice cap could indicate that Russia is in for more summer heat waves – and winter deep freezes – as climate change creates more instability in global weather.

That’s the warning from Russian scientists, who say that while global warming is not exactly to blame for the country’s current heat wave, increasingly erratic weather is causing Arctic Sea ice to disappear at an alarming rate.

And that could speed up global warming.

“Arctic ice doesn’t impact climate, it is the climate,” climatologist Vladimir Kattsev of the Voyeykov Geophysical Observatory told The Moscow News.

And the latest reports from up north aren’t promising.

“Ice in the Arctic is melting very fast,” Alexander Frolov, head of Russia’s Federal Hydro-Meteorological and Environmental Monitoring Service, was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying.

The shrinking ice area could set a new record this season and dip below the 4.14 million square kilometers registered in 2007, he said.

A vicious circle

What this means is that the Arctic could be seeing ice-free summers within a few decades, freeing up waterways and minerals deposits for Russia. “Perennial ice is fast turning into seasonal ice that disappears in the summer,” Kattsev said.

If previous models predicted ice-free summers by the end of the century, that could happen a lot sooner than expected, he added.

Newer models suggest that “ice could become completely seasonal by around 2050,” he said.

But in what many are touting as a silver lining for Russia, this could make the Arctic more accessible, “shortening northern transit routes and making them safer.”

This could explain why Russian researchers have been making a run for the Arctic, staking out territory that could later yield valuable natural resources.

Whatever the benefits, people shouldn’t forget that the Arctic is a formidable force of nature. Possible advantages would be

offset by dangers like shore erosion and volatile seas, Kattsev said.

“And let’s not forget that the polar bears will suffer from this.” More disturbingly, ice-free summers in the Arctic will speed up global warming. 

Heating up oceans

In what is fast turning into a vicious circle, with less white ice area to reflect the sun, warmth will be absorbed by the

darker ocean waters, heating up the currents and causing further changes in the weather – and more ice to melt.

Meanwhile, the sweltering weather that has already made Moscow feel more like Texas shows no signs of abating, with temperatures set to climb as high as 39 degrees Celsius by the end of the week.

The current heat wave has affected a larger area and has lasted longer than any other since 1972.

Hotter up north

Even Russia’s northernmost reaches are feeling balmier than usual.

“This summer is noticeably warmer. It’s about 20 degrees right now, with high humidity,” said a spokeswoman for the Solovetsky Gulag Museum on the Solovki Islands (on right) in the Arctic.

“It has reached 30 this summer, which is unusual, and we’re seeing rapid temperature changes,” she said.

This, however, is not necessarily a signal of global warming, Kattsev, the climatologist, said.

“Just as the abnormally cold winter was not a counter-argument to global warming, the heat is not an argument for it,” he said. “It is merely an enormous weather anomaly that by itself doesn’t speak of anything.”

But over a wider time-span, if these anomalies become more frequent over the course of several decades, this would indicate climate change.

“Average temperatures could remain the same, with colder winters offsetting warmer summers,” he said. “But more extreme weather patterns are certainly an indicator.”

Source:
The Moscow News,”The non-Ice Age cometh“, accessed July 28, 2010

Fijilive left off ‘legal’ media list, news editor quizzed

From the Inbox: Urge your representative to co-sponsor the national Toxic Chemical Safety Act

Donate Join NRDC and help protect the planet’s wildlife and wild places Explore Subscribe to NRDC Online, our weekly newsletter, for news you can use Plug In Connect to Switchboard, the NRDC blog Reach Out Send messages in style with our beautiful nature postcards Update Use your Action Center Profile to manage your subscriptions and personal info July 27, 2010 Urge your representative to co-sponsor the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act The Toxic Substances Control Act, the law regulating the use of industrial chemicals, was enacted in 1976 and is in serious need of an overhaul. Although other laws require pharmaceuticals and pesticides to undergo safety testing before they are available for purchase, the Toxic Substances Control Act has allowed thousands of industrial chemicals — used in children’s products, cleaning products, toys, furniture and electronics, and as oil dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico — to reach consumers without that same precaution. Rather than requiring chemical manufacturers to prove the safety of their products before putting them on the market, the Toxic Substances Control Act compels the Environmental Protection Agency to prove that a chemical is unreasonably dangerous before its use can be restricted or prevented. To make matters worse, the law drastically limits the EPA’s ability to obtain information from companies about the potential environmental and health effects of the chemicals they produce. In April, Senator Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced the Safe Chemicals Act to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act. Now Rep. Waxman (D-CA) has introduced a House companion to that bill, the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act, moving us one step closer to passing these much needed reforms into law. Like its Senate companion, the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act would strengthen the current law by shifting the burden back to the chemical industry to prove its products are safe, establishing health standards for chemicals to protect children and other vulnerable groups, and strengthening the public’s right to know about the safety and use of chemicals. What to do Send a message urging your representative to co-sponsor the Toxic Chemicals Safety Act (H.R. 5820). President announces new national oceans policy For the last year, you have sent tens of thousands of comments urging the Obama administration to establish the nation’s first-ever comprehensive policy for our oceans, coasts and Great Lakes. And we are thrilled to report that on July 19th President Obama signed an executive order to do exactly that! Just as we have a Clean Water Act for our water and a Clean Air Act for our air, we now have a national policy for our oceans that will help better protect, maintain and restore ocean ecosystems. Our oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes are valuable economic engines providing jobs, food, energy resources, recreation and tourism, and the administration’s ground-breaking action will help ensure that our oceans are better managed to meet the needs of present and future generations.   Thanks to everyone who took action, and congratulations on this remarkable victory! You can read the full executive order at the White House website.

Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire, Leads Class onU.S. Militarism in Africa, Sat., 5:00-7:00pm

For Immediate Release

Detroit Public Class & Discussion

Topic: “Pentagon Expands U.S. Role in Africa”
Date: Saturday, July 31, 2010, 5:00-7:00pm
Facilitator: Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire
Location: 5920 Second Ave. at Antoinette, North of WSU Campus
Sponsors: Workers World Party & The Harriet Tubman School
Contact: 313.671.3715
URL: http://www.panafricannews.blogspot.com
E-mail: ac6123@wayne.edu

Abayomi Azikiwe, Editor of the Pan-African News Wire, to Lead Class on Expanding U.S. Military Intervention in Africa

The Pentagon is increasing its military involvement on the African continent. With the founding of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in 2008, the imperialists have poured more money and military personnel into Uganda, Somalia, Mali, Egypt, the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf of Guinea.

There have been war games by the U.S. military in West Africa and threats to engage in more aggressive actions against Somalia in order to prop-up the puppet Transitional Federal Government. In addition there are ongoing U.S. efforts to destabilize Zimbabwe, Sudan and Nigeria.

This intervention is taking place at the same time that increasing amounts of oil are being imported into the U.S. from Africa, which has outstripped the Middle-East in the supply of petroleum to North America. This emphasis on military and profit-making ventures is redirecting resources away from much needed development assistance in the areas of healthcare, public service, education, women’s affairs, agricultural development and mounting food deficits in the Sahel and in East Africa.

Come out and join this important discussion which has serious implications for the anti-war movement in the United States and Western Europe.

There will also be a report back from the MECAWI delegation that attended the United National Anti-War Conference held in Albany, N.Y. between July 23-25.

Admission to the class in free. Light refreshments will be served.