Earth's Upper Atmosphere Suffers Record Breaking Collapse

by Jerry James Stone, San Francisco, CA on 07.17.10
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

The collapse occurred during a period of low solar activity known as a "solar minimum." During a solar minimum, sunspots and solar flare activity heavily diminish. Since the date range of a solar minimum expands over a 12-month period, it can take up to 6 months to identify one.

This collapse occurred during the 2008-2009 solar minimum. While these minimums are known to cool and contract the thermosphere, this collapse was 3-times greater than low solar activity could explain.

"This is the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years," said John Emmert of the Naval Research Lab, lead author of a paper announcing the finding in the June 19 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters. "It's a Space Age record. Something is going on that we do not understand."

Earth's thermosphere ranges in altitude from 55 miles to 370 miles above ground, so it is heavily affected by solar activity. This layer is responsible for intercepting extreme ultraviolet light (EUV) before it hits the Earth's surface.
When solar activity is high--known as a solar maximum--solar EUV warms the thermosphere causing it to expand--a lot! It's like sticking a marshmallow peep in the microwave. When it is low, the opposite happens. While the 2008-2009 solar minimum was an extreme low for solar activity, the collapse was bigger than the sun's activity alone could explain.

It's worth noting that during a solar maximum, power outages, satellite function and communication disruption, and GPS malfunctions are all very common. For solar maximums and minimums are the two extremes of the sun's 11-year cycle.

Emmert suggests high carbon dioxide (CO2) levels might play a role. As you know, CO2 acts as a coolant, shedding heat through infrared radiation. He speculates that the CO2 could magnify the cooling period during a solar minimum.

But if it is CO2, wouldn't solar maximums also be affected?

"But the numbers don't quite add up," notes Emmert. "Even when we take CO2 into account using our best understanding of how it operates as a coolant, we cannot fully explain the thermosphere's collapse."

Finally, BP Stopped the flow of oil...

(Reuters) - BP Plc said on Thursday it stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from its deep-sea well for the first time since it ruptured in April, prompting hope that the leak can be plugged for good.

BP conducted a test in which it closed valves and vents on a tight-sealing containment cap installed atop its the well earlier this week. BP said results early in the test showed the cap had completely contained the flow of oil.

"It's a great sight but it's far from the finish line," Doug Suttles, a senior BP executive, told reporters.

President Barack Obama, who has seen his U.S. public approval ratings drop as the crisis dragged on, called it a "positive sign" but noted that the latest effort was still in the testing phase. BP's huge oil spill has caused an economic and environmental disaster along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

The British energy giant's U.S. shares initially jumped 10 percent on the news and posted strong gains for the day.

The Coast Guard said BP likely will release the flow of oil again after the test is done -- siphoning it to ships on the ocean surface in an improved system able to handle up to 80,000 barrels a day until a relief well seals the well permanently.

As the company pushed ahead on the spill-control effort, U.S. energy company Apache Corp was moving forward on a possible $10 billion deal for some BP properties, including major assets in Alaska, CNBC reported.

After a delay to fix a leak, BP began the test on Thursday afternoon on the cap that could stop all or most of the flow of crude that has been polluting the ocean and coastline since April 20 in the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The test, which could last up to 48 hours, gauges pressure in the well -- which extends 2.5 miles under the seabed -- to assess its condition. Officials said it will show whether the cap can safely shut off the flow from the well if oil-capture vessels at the surface must disconnect.

The Coast Guard calls the containment cap at best a temporary fix to the leak while BP finishes two relief wells it is drilling. BP intends for a relief well to intersect the blown-out well and permanently seal it next month.

The test is intended to determine whether the structure of the lengthy well is damaged or intact. Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the U.S. government's point man on the spill, compared the test to placing one's thumb over the end of a garden hose -- if the pressure does not increase that means there is a leak somewhere.

Regarding the BP well, a build-up of pressure would signal that the well is intact, which would make it easier to seal it with the relief wells.

The cap is a crucial step toward a multi-vessel oil-capture system that is hurricane-ready and can collect up to 80,000 barrels per day.

That should be more than enough to capture the whole well output, as estimates put the spill rate between 35,000 barrels (1.47 million gallons/5.56 million liters) and 60,000 barrels (2.5 million gallons/9.5 million liters) a day.

There appeared to be fresh hope in Gulf Coast communities reeling from the spill. "It's a great thing, it's a wonderful thing," said Jerome DeGree in Larose, Louisiana when he heard that BP had at least temporarily stopped the flow.

"This has been hurting this whole area," the shallow-water oil driller said. "I couldn't buy my shrimp, I couldn't buy my oysters, I couldn't take my boat out."

BP STOCK

Reports that Apache was seeking $6 billion to $7 billion for the purchase helped boost BP's U.S. shares from midday. The shares then rose further on the initial test results and ended up 7.6 percent at $38.92.

"It's been one of those headline things we've heard for 87 days, lots of people waiting for some good news," said John Massey, portfolio manager at Sunamerica Asset Management in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters Insider predict that BP will spend between $63 billion to $100 billion over the next 15 years in fines, cleanup costs and legal costs.

BP's shares have been ravaged since the well rupture, with $100 billion in market value being knocked off at one stage, before a three-week rally sparked by takeover talk, speculation about investment by a sovereign wealth fund and hopes that the well would be capped.

The news that BP had finally stopped the leak -- at least during the test -- was a bit of good news for the British company, which has seen its share value plummet and reputation battered since the April rig explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the spill of millions of gallons of oil.

BP also faced new measures in the U.S. Congress. Lawmakers are mulling a range of new laws that could require tougher safety regulations on offshore drilling or bar companies like BP from new offshore exploration leases.

The U.S. government, which has vowed to make BP pay for fixing the well and all cleanup efforts, told the oil giant that it was responsible for paying all royalties on the oil it is collecting from the ruptured well.

Currently, energy companies pay the government a royalty rate of up to 18.75 percent of the value of the oil and gas drilled in offshore tracts.

Through its containment systems, BP has collected or burned more than 800,000 barrels of oil.

The Gulf spill has soiled hundreds of miles (km) of shoreline, shut down about a third of Gulf fisheries and hurt tourism and fishing in all five U.S. Gulf states. It has also created problems for Obama as the government works to respond to the crisis while area residents struggle financially.

In an issue unrelated to the spill, but illustrating the pressure BP faces in the United States, the company confirmed on Thursday that it had lobbied the British government to speed up a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya in late 2007.

In August 2009, Britain released a Libyan convicted of blowing up a U.S. plane, angering the United States. Many of the 270 dead in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing were American.

Advantages Of Green Products

By Alfred Blaine

Alternative energy or green energy has gotten a lot of attention in recent years. As the world struggles to find cleaner ways to power our lives, green fuels and alternative energy products take center stage. There are some tremendous benefits to using green energy in your home or business. With a little bit of research, you can find ways to include green energy and products in your life.

The first advantage that you will notice is the cost savings. The initial cost to go green in your energy consumption may cost you quite a bit, but once this expense is paid, you will not have to purchase energy again. Solar panels are one of the many ways that you can create energy, but the start up cost to outfit your home with the alternative energy source might put you off the installation. However, when you factor in the amount of money that you will be saving, the benefit clearly outweighs the cost. The energy savings will continue long past the time when the cost of the solar panels is recouped.

Of course, one of the main benefits of green fuels for your home is their impact on the environment. Or rather, their lack of an impact on the environment. Green fuels and products can help to stop the pollution and damage to the environment caused by the use of fossil fuels. No one wants to see the planet damaged and with green fuels and green products, you can do your part to keep the earth clean for the next generation.

The advancements in alternative energies has made significant progress in home use, but the use of alternative fuels in cars is currently a hot area of research. All over the world, scientists are dreaming up new ways to power our vehicles at a substantial savings for the consumer and the benefit of the planet.

Research in green products will soon give us an alternative to fossil fuels that will allow us to reduce their use or stop using them completely. Homeowners and car owners can support the progress that is made by seeking alternative green products and create a demand for them. When the public demands that these products be available or even created, the business and scientific community will move quickly to provide the products we need.

Take a little time to explore how you can use green energy solutions in your home. Not only will you be doing the financially smart thing, but you will also be supporting an industry that is gearing up to help us control our pollution of the planet. The benefits that this gives us are endless. Get started today with green energy products in your home and enjoy the savings that they already provide.

Get your FREE Report and information on how not to pay a single dime to the power company at http://www.greenfuelproducts.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alfred_Blaine
http://EzineArticles.com/?Advantages-Of-Green-Products&id=3891897

Puma unboxes new eco packaging

The cat's reducing its carbon paw print with a shoebox that's more bag than cardboard. Showcased recently at the Design Museum in London, the new packaging will supposedly help the lifestyle apparel company reduce paper use by 65 percent and carbon emissions by 10,000 tons every year.

The Clever Little Bag, designed by Yves Behar offuseproject, reduces cardboard use and does away with the need for a plastic carrier bag. Instead, the package features a reusable shoebag with an attached loop that goes through a cutout to double as a carrying handle.

According to Puma, the redesign will see the company saving 8,500 tons of paper, 20 million megajoules of electricity, 1 million liters of fuel oil, and 1 million liters of water every year.

The Clever Little Bag is only one part of Puma's ambitious long-term sustainability program as the company aims to replace current plastic/paper bags for its apparel with biodegradable ones. The new packaging and distribution system is expected to launch in the second half of 2011.

by Damian Koh

Go eco Packaging : www.greenlifestore.co.za or www.green-living-store.com

How Green is your love life?

How to have a green sex life

Los Angeles - You drive a hybrid, eat organic, and are passionate about recycling. But how green is your love life?

Think about those lovely Valentine's Day roses and the environmental costs of growing them and the carbon miles involved in flying them in from faraway lands.

And what about used condoms, tossed into the toilet and making their way into sewers that perhaps pollute the ocean?

If an ecologically sustainable life between the sheets hasn't crossed your mind, you're still a "total environmental neophyte", according to author Stefanie Iris Weiss.

But help is on the way with Weiss's new handbook Eco-Sex, which leaves no stone unturned in its mission to bring the bedroom front and centre into the battle to save the planet.

"I have always wanted to write a sex book. I am a very committed greenie, and I have been a vegetarian for 20 years. I saw a gap in the market and I couldn't believe no-one had written about this topic," Weiss, 38, told Reuters.

"I think green sex is having its moment right now. I think it is the next big thing in green. People are realising that their every day, most intimate habits, are deeply connected to this horrible crisis we are in," she said.

No more toys?!

From hand-cranked sex toys (and websites where old battery-driven devices can be recycled) to healthy, eco-friendly underwear (bamboo) and dating sites for ecological warriors, Eco-Sex aims to show readers how to reduce the carbon footprint of their love life - and have fun doing it.

Weiss, who says she either tried out or reviewed every item in the book, interviewed raw food chefs to get recipes for aphrodisiac meals for two, suggests the ideal first eco-date (biking), and recommends natural latex mattresses (but warns they are less bouncy than those made of springs, coils and synthetic foam).

She finds a vast range of natural or organic cosmetics, condoms made of latex that are also biodegradable, and resources for eco-sexy bling - because neither diamonds nor gold are a self-respecting green girl's best friend.

"It was the most fun I have ever had researching a book in my life," she said.

As for flowers for your sweetheart - the true eco-sexual would grow them in the backyard, or at least buy them locally from a farmers' market.

Weiss admits that "some people are going to make fun of the notion of eco-sex. I expect that".

Green baby-making

She says eco-sex doesn't have to be tame, adding you can be passionate in bed and about Mother Earth "without coming off like you're (a 1960s hippie) trapped on the set of Hair the Musical."

Despite all the fun replacements for essential accessories in the dating game - like plain old baking soda instead of chemical-heavy commercial teeth whiteners - there is a serious side to Eco-Sex.

With the planet headed towards a population of around nine billion oxygen-swilling, carbon-emitting people by 2040, according to the UN, the ultimate carbon offset is to choose sex that does not result in having babies.

"The No 1 thing people can do to be an eco-sexual is to have fewer kids, or have none at all," said Weiss, who is childless.

If that sounds outrageous, just give a thought to the 90% of the estimated diapers sold each year that end up in landfills. Or how the carbon footprint of one extra person far outweighs all the energy-saving light bulbs you've installed.

"I think over-population is an important conversation for people to have. It is something people think about in terms of third world countries. But it is also a conversation that would benefit us in America to have," she said.

- Reuters

Save energy, Zuma urges Sunday, 02 May 2010 06:43

President Jacob Zuma has called on South Africans to save energy in an effort to avoid the load-shedding that plunged the country into darkness in 2007 and 2008.

In its efforts to save the limited resource, Government is embarking on an initiative to implement the use of alternative forms of energy - cheaper and cleaner forms which saves money and the environment.

Solar water heating is one such option that has many benefits as compared with other forms of water heating. Once installed, you have free hot water.

On Wednesday, Zuma launched Government's Solar Water Heating Programme in Winterveldt, which saw families in the area receive solar panels, Zuma reiterated that energy was not an unlimited resource and people needed to work harder at conserving it.

"We took energy for granted. Things have changed drastically. You will recall that the period 2007 and 2008 saw a number of noticeable disruptions in the electricity supply.

"Large sections of the country were plunged into darkness as a result of Eskom not being able to meet the electricity demand nationwide," he said.

Wednesday's launch is in line with government's target of installing at least one million solar water heaters by 2014 to reduce the water heating load on the national grid. Winterveld was chosen as the sight of the launch for the fact that the people living in this area derived wealth from available natural resources such as land and are very innovative.

Zuma said plans were afoot in government to convert water heating for hospitals, clinics, prisons, barracks and other government buildings to solar water heating.

"You will see a lot of that happening in the next few years," he said.

Currently 270 heaters have been installed in some homes in the area and phase two of the installation will supply at least 10 400 additional heaters in Tshwane this year.

Phase three of the project, starting during 2010-2011, will target the whole country over a longer period.

"As we continue to look for other alternatives to save energy, let me remind all that we must continue to save electricity. We must switch off our appliances when they are not in use. Let us share this responsibility as citizens of this country and electricity users," said Zuma.

Commenting on the programme Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said that residents were keen on having solar power heaters in their homes.

"We know that after this launch - a lot of people who have started to see their neighbours having hot water in the morning while they are busy pumping their prima stoves, will want the same," she said.

She added that the advantage of installing solar heaters was that people would save money towards their electricity bill and that they will get rebates for installing it.

"We will be calling a press conference on how the standard offer relates to how you as an individual can save electricity and how you will be able to monitor it and make sure that you can be able to benefit from a particular rebate, "she said..

During the president's visit to the area, three houses that had been fitted with solar water heaters were visited including that of a disabled man.

Austin Maluleka a 36-year-old unemployed man was one of the recipients of a solar water heating system. The married father of two said that the heater, installed in November 2009, has made his life easier.

"We no longer have to boil water to bath; we use our electricity to cook. I no longer spend a lot of money buying electricity, our tap has hot water," he said. - BuaNews

Go visit www.greenlifestore.co.za

Washed Up Whale Found with Gallons of Our Garbage In Its Gut

A young 37-foot whale stranded on the shore in West Seattle, and it had a summary of what we're doing to our oceans held within its stomach. As photographer Chris Jordan documented in birds' guts, our marine animals are filling up not on nutritious sea life, but the junk we toss out that makes its way into the oceans. Fifty gallons of contents were examined from this near-adult male gray whale, and you won't believe some of the garbage this poor beast had swallowed.

According to Cascadia Research Collective, 50 gallons of stomach contents were sorted through. Most of it was real food - algae and other bits common to a gray whale diet - but also included were more than 20 plastic bags, small towels, surgical gloves, sweat pants, plastic pieces, duct tape, and a golf ball.

If there were any doubt before, there is none now - the ocean has become a landfill. However, if there's a bit of a silver lining, the trash made up just about 2% of the total contents, and it doesn't seem to have been the cause of death. But what Cascadia Research points out, "It did clearly indicate that the whale had been attempting to feed in industrial waters and therefore exposed to debris and contaminants present on the bottom in these areas."

Gray whales are bottom feeders and get their nutrition from the sediments in shallow waters. They filter small organisms as their food, but apparently they aren't always able to filter out human pollution. Researchers are currently studying the whale to find out the cause of death, which could be anything from not getting enough food (three other whales that died in April during migration appeared emaciated and perhaps didn't get enough to eat in Alaska last year) to pollution and chemicals in the water. The results won't be known for several weeks.