Remembering the 9/11 ....[ 402 ]

US remembers 11 September attacks

Traditional ceremonies and a national day of service will remember the victims of the attacks Remembrance services are being held in the United States to mark the eighth anniversary of the hijacked plane attacks of 11 September 2001. Nearly 3,000 people died when the four planes crashed in New York, at the Pentagon and in a Pennsylvania field. Thousands of people gathered in a square near the Ground Zero site in New York, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed. President Barack Obama will speak at the Pentagon site. Americans have been encouraged to contribute to a national day of service. US soldiers in Afghanistan completed a 9.11km (5.5 mile) run to mark the day. 'Sacrifices of thousands' Moments of silence are being observed at the sites. President Obama will join defence secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon, where 184 people died, to meet members of victims' families and lay a wreath. I greatly fear at some point we'll transition to turning it into Earth Day... and the remembrance part will become smaller Debra Burlingame, sister of victim The dark day The four hijacks How disaster unfolded White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the president would "speak about what the day means and the sacrifices of thousands, not just at the Pentagon, but in Pennsylvania and certainly and most obviously in New York". On Thursday, Mr Obama issued a statement urging Americans to take part in community service while also vowing to "apprehend all those who perpetrated these heinous crimes, seek justice for those who were killed, and defend against all threats to our national security". Vice-President Joe Biden is attending the New York ceremony. There are four moments of silence there - one each for the times the two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers and for the collapse of the buildings. Volunteers who helped in the aftermath of the attacks joined family members in reading the more than 2,700 names of the victims. The BBC's Matthew Price in New York says the Ground Zero area remains a building site, despite plans for a memorial, a museum and five new skyscrapers. Ground zero is still a building site eight years after the attacks Enlarge Image Delays caused by political arguments and financial and legal disputes have left huge question marks over the entire project, he says. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell will speak at the site of the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The names of the 40 passengers and crew will be read to mark the time of the crash - 1003. In a break with tradition, the anniversary has also been designated a national day of service. Americans have been encouraged to contribute their labour and time in memory of the victims. Conservation projects, aid packages for serving soldiers and the simple offering of work for free are among the undertakings made by members of the public. However, some commentators and members of victims' families have expressed concern that the remembrance may lose its primary focus. Debra Burlingame, whose brother died at the Pentagon, told Associated Press news agency: "I greatly fear at some point we'll transition to turning it into Earth Day where we go and plant trees and the remembrance part will become smaller." About 1,000 US troops in Afghanistan marked the anniversary with a 9.11km run at the main Bagram base in Kabul. Two other bases also took part. The 9/11 attacks sparked the US-led invasion in October 2001 to oust the Taliban and tackle al-Qaeda leaders living in Afghanistan

NASA : the building block of life.[ 401 ]

THE CARBON CYCLE

Carbon (C), the fourth most abundant element in the Universe, after hydrogen (H), helium (He), and oxygen (O), is the building block of life. It’s the element that anchors all organic substances, from fossil fuels to DNA. On Earth, carbon cycles through the land, ocean, atmosphere, and the Earth’s interior in a major biogeochemical cycle (the circulation of chemical components through the biosphere from or to the lithosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere). The global carbon cycle can be divided into two categories: the geological, which operates over large time scales (millions of years), and the biological/physical, which operates at shorter time scales (days to thousands of years). Carbon is the essential element for life on Earth. Not only is carbon found in all living things, the element is present in the atmosphere, in the layers of limestone sediment on the ocean floor, and in fossil fuels like coal. (Illustration by Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC) Geological Carbon Cycle Billions of years ago, as planetesimals (small bodies that formed from the solar nebula) and carbon-containing meteorites bombarded our planet’s surface, the carbon content of the solid Earth steadily increased. All the carbon that cycles through the Earth’s systems today was present at the birth of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. The above image from the Hubble Space Telescope Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) shows a disk of gas and dust around a young star. [Image courtesy D. Padgett (IPAC/Caltech), W. Brandner (IPAC), K. Stapelfeldt (JPL) and NASA)] Since those times, carbonic acid (a weak acid derived from the reaction between atmospheric carbon dioxide [CO2] and water) has slowly but continuously combined with calcium and magnesium in the Earth’s crust to form insoluble carbonates (carbon-containing chemical compounds) through a process called weathering. Then, through the process of erosion, the carbonates are washed into the ocean and eventually settle to the bottom. The cycle continues as these materials are drawn into Earth’s mantle by subduction (a process in which one lithospheric plate descends beneath another, often as a result of folding or faulting) at the edges of continental plates. The carbon is then returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide during volcanic eruptions. In the geological carbon cycle, carbon moves between rocks and minerals, seawater, and the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reacts with some minerals to form the mineral calcium carbonate (limestone). This mineral is then dissolved by rainwater and carried to the oceans. Once there, it can precipitate out of the ocean water, forming layers of sediment on the sea floor. As the Earth’s plates move, through the processes of plate tectonics, these sediments are subducted underneath the continents. Under the great heat and pressure far below the Earth’s surface, the limestone melts and reacts with other minerals, releasing carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is then re-emitted into the atmosphere through volcanic eruptions. (Illustration by Robert Simmon, NASA GSFC) The balance between weathering, subduction, and volcanism controls atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over time periods of hundreds of millions of years. The oldest geologic sediments suggest that, before life evolved, the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide may have been one-hundred times that of the present, providing a substantial greenhouse effect during a time of low solar output. On the other hand, ice core samples taken in Antarctica and Greenland have led scientists to hypothesize that carbon dioxide concentrations during the last ice age (20,000 years ago) were only half of what they are today. next: Biological/Physical Carbon Cycle: Photosynthesis and Respiration

Pakistan: Volunteers push back Taliban...[ 400 ]

Volunteer militias push back Taliban

• see VIDEO

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -By Reza Sayah- 9-9-09

Sixteen-year-old Akbar Zaid dreams of becoming a teacher. But for now, his summer job involves holding an automatic rifle and hunting down Taliban fighters.

Lashkar fighters gather round their WWII-era heavy gun.

Zaid is among hundreds of villagers in northwest Pakistan who've volunteered to join private militias, called lashkars. These groups have vowed to help Pakistan's military in fighting the Taliban.

"I'm doing it for peace," Zaid said, right before he fired several shots in the air with his rifle.

Pakistani military officials credit the lashkars with helping chase the Taliban out of Swat Valley and neighboring districts once infested with the militants.

"By nature, they're very tough," Pakistani army Major Hasnain Shah said of the lashkars. "They're sacrificing their lives just to protect their own values and to help us out." Watch Pakistan's lashkars in action »

One group, called the Soltan Kheil lashkar, is made up of 500 armed men from the district of Lower Dir. Group members say they protect their villages against Taliban fighters in bordering Swat Valley.

After a two-hour drive and another 30-minute climb in some of the most magnificent mountains in the world, we reach the lashkar's base.

Deafening gunfire greets the CNN team -- this is how Pakistan's ethnic Pashtuns say welcome

The mountaintop meeting offers a rare look at the militias.

Watch more on Pakistan's campaign against Taliban »

The men have rugged faces and chapped hands weathered by scorching summers and arctic winters.

Don't Miss

• Militants suffer heavy casualties as fighting rages
• Attack on Pakistan police center kills 18 officers

Many have rifles strapped across their shoulders. These men are fierce warriors but fiercely loyal too. Reach out your hand and you'll get an embrace in return.

This is a rare opportunity to get to know Pakistani tribesman who otherwise live in isolation from the international media. I ask them what they like most about America.

"It's a democracy," said one of the lashkar members.

"They like peace in their country," said another.

I ask them what they dislike most about America.

"They're cruel to the Muslims," answered one man. "They interfere with other countries."

"They promote peace within their borders," said another man. "But they're against peace in other countries."

Connect the World

Becky Anderson takes a look at the Pakistani militia
2000 GMT

see full schedule »

The Soltan Kheil lashkar's headquarters is perched high atop a mountain range. Swat Valley sits to the east, where the Taliban once destroyed music shops, burned girls schools and beheaded enemies in public squares, and Lower Dir sits to the west.

If Taliban fighters come near, a World War II Russian-made heavy machine gun awaits them. The old beast of a weapon can take down a chopper more than a mile away.

"This is the main passing point," said Malik Zaib Khan, the leader of the lashkar. "If we left it open, the Taliban can easily go back and forth."

The group test-fires the weapon. It shakes the ground. If the lashkar needs more ammunition, the Pakistani military usually provides it. Military officials say they strategize with militia leaders and provide food and medical care for them.

The fighters go without pay and without their families.

Aziz ul Rehman said he has not seen his four daughters and two wives in a month. "We're trying to stop the Taliban and establish peace," he said.

The lashkars have killed and arrested dozens of Taliban fighters, said military officials, who noted the arrests of four Taliban commanders from Upper Dir.

"We hate the Taliban," lashkar leader Khan said. "We hate them a lot. I say it openly."

Zaid says he hasn't killed any Taliban fighters during his summer job yet.

But the teen's finger is on the trigger.

Ten years ago..ten years later ,[ 399 ]

Perspectives: Why EOS Matters, 10 years later

(NASA) September 8, 2009 By Steven W. Running
Design by Robert Simmon

Ten years ago, NASA-funded ecologist Steve Running, of the University of Montana, wrote an essay for the Earth Observatory about why NASA’s Earth Observing System (EOS) mission was so important. In this opinion essay, he talks about how changes in the Earth system documented over the past decade make satellite-based Earth observation more important than ever. The views expressed here are Dr. Running’s and do not reflect any official opinion or policy of NASA or the U.S. Government.

Ten years ago, on the eve of the launch of Terra, the first satellite in NASA’s Earth Observing System mission, I wrote the following in NASA’s Earth Observatory:

“EOS was conceived in 1990. On Dec 16, 1999, maybe fittingly at the end of this millennium, we will launch the first satellite designed to fulfill this vision. The one line summary of the purpose of EOS is to find out “Is the current human occupancy and activity of planet Earth sustainable?” …The purpose of EOS is to provide this factual information on trends of change in our Earth System. How we interpret these data, and the course of action we embark on in the next millennium will be a critical political topic. If global change trends turn out to be relatively modest, then only small adjustments in social behavior may be necessary.”

The satellites of NASA’s Earth Observing System monitor daily events and long term changes. (NASA image by Jenny Mottar.)

I am stunned by my own relatively optimistic naiveté a mere ten years ago about the variety and pace of changes we now know are happening around the planet. In those 10 years, the 3rd and 4th reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chronicled in progressive detail the accelerating changes in our Earth System. From surface observations of air temperatures, we learned that the hottest 12 years since 1850 have all occurred since 1990. We learned from EOS and other global observation satellites that the Arctic Ocean summer sea ice has retreated by 40 percent; sea levels are rising at 3.4 millimeters per year; 95 percent of the world’s glaciers are retreating; and plant growing seasons are 1-2 weeks longer in temperate latitudes, but these longer summers have caused wildfire activity to accelerate. Evidence of change is being observed from all corners of the Earth, from the poles to the equator, from the mountains to the coral reefs, in the atmosphere, cryosphere, oceans, and land.

Alpine glaciers all over the world are retreating. The terminus of Switzerland’s Steigletcher receded while the ice thinned dramatically from 1994 to 2006. (Photographs copyright Jürg Alean and Michael Hambrey Glaciers, Online.)

The global trends that Terra and later EOS satellites were launched to observe are becoming increasingly clear. In 1999, I outlined the potential policy relevance of those observed trends:

“However if impacts appear to be harmful and accelerating at an unpredictable pace, how can we ignore these early warnings in good conscience? It is essential the new political discussion be based on facts, not conjecture. These are lofty, long range, visionary objectives, similar intellectually to searching for other life in the universe. But global habitability has more immediate significance to us all. Let us hope that EOS allows us to start the new millennium with an enlightened understanding of the changing biosphere.”

It is now all too clear to me that many Earth System responses have been “harmful and accelerating,” and the necessity of global observation and regular monitoring, in support of very difficult policy choices in the near future, is even greater than 10 years ago. In the decade of EOS observations, fossil fuel emissions have risen from 6.7 to 8.7 Petagrams per year. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has gone from 363 to 386 parts per million, actually exceeding the”worst-case” (most fossil-fuel intensive) emission scenario used for climate simulations for the most recent IPCC report. As illogical as it sounds, humanity has actually accelerated its approach to the impending climate cliff in this last decade.

As policy makers respond to a changing climate, satellite observations of global trends will continue to be crucial. In my discipline of terrestrial ecology, I am now focusing on two over-arching global issues that have political relevance: understanding the limits of plant growth on Earth and monitoring global carbon sinks.

First, is it possible that humanity may now be reaching some very fundamental limits to biological productivity, the growth of ocean and land plants? There is still a lot of open space on Earth. I live in Montana, where the population density is low. But here, as elsewhere on Earth, remaining land is predominantly in regions of low biological productivity where crops are unlikely to grow well. There is accumulating evidence that limits are being reached in open ocean fish harvests, in agricultural productivity increases, in availability of both surface and groundwater irrigation sources. Peak oil may have now occurred, bringing the specter of permanently higher oil prices, which will increase fertilizer costs. Higher oil prices will place accelerating new pressures on terrestrial ecosystems for biofuel production.

The global population has doubled in my lifetime with resource consumption rates rising many-fold faster. Three billion additional people will be on Earth by 2050. In the past, biological productivity could be increased by just engaging more land and increasing use of fertilizer and irrigation. What if these options to increase productivity are tapped out, too? Can our expanding consumption go on forever? We all know the answer to that: it’s only a matter of when limits are reached in a closed Earth system. The popular author Professor Jared Diamond has written Collapse, an analysis of previous human civilizations that paid insufficient attention to resource depletion until they collapsed. The unexpected global financial meltdown of the past year should rightfully challenge our confidence that we truly understand and can manipulate complex global systems. The challenge of global problems is that almost no one can see the issue in its immensity, and here EOS has been essential. Global monitoring such as EOS can answer accurately key questions such as: Is tropical deforestation expanding? Are carbon emissions from fires increasing? Is desertification of arid land increasing? Is the area of irrigated agriculture declining? Are growing seasons getting drier?

The second global issue of political relevance that concerns me as a terrestrial ecologist is carbon monitoring. A new justification may be emerging for global terrestrial monitoring, carbon policy verification. As policy leaders develop plans for carbon trading, which allow offsetting fossil fuel carbon emissions based on the amount of carbon forests take up within the country, I wonder how pledges and sales of forest carbon sinks will be verified and who will verify them? We know that relying on national statistics is difficult, since methods of measuring carbon sinks are inconsistent between countries, and as a result, national statistics are of highly variable quality We need to be confident that terrestrial carbon sinks that are defined, invested in, and expected by future policy plans actually occur and are maintained.

To monitor landowner compliance with carbon policy agreements, future sensors will need to observe the land surface in greater detail than the current generation of EOS sensors do.

The resolution of NASA’s Landsat (top) is not high enough to distinguish changes on individual plots of land, like this plantation on Borneo. Running thinks that high-resolution sensors like Ikonos (a commercial satellite) will be needed to precisely monitor future changes. (NASA Landsat image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon. Ikonos image ©2003 GeoEye.)

Some of the things we need to know about vegetation and land cover for carbon monitoring can be learned by the current generation of EOS satellites. EOS has pioneered monitoring global deforestation rates, and disturbance impacts from wildfires and hurricanes. But for future investment purposes, boundaries of different land ownerships must be clear, so a very detailed view of the ground (higher spatial resolution) combined with frequent images (a high repeat cycle) processed automatically for change detection will be an essential part of any carbon monitoring system. This is a combination of sensor characteristics that EOS did not have. I think that a satellite-based carbon-monitoring system will need to provide regular, global data at about 1-2 meter resolution to show landcover change, such as forest clearing or abandonment of marginal cropland. The data should be available to all countries on a fair and necessary basis for policy verification. Comprehensive global monitoring is being planned under the title GEOSS (Global Environmental System of Systems), which relies heavily on the EOS heritage. Global carbon monitoring that started as a scientific endeavor may soon have economic and legal dimensions.

London : Warning for drug drivers [ 398 ]

Giant eye warns drug drivers to stay away from the wheel

(Transport London)09 September 2009

The pupil of a giant eye has been placed on the back of buses by Transport for London (TfL) as part of its latest campaign.

Transport for London is delighted to be able to use this eye catching way to remind Londoners about the dangers of drug driving

Chris Lines, Head of London Road Safety Unit TfL

The adverts, appearing on ten buses across London, are part of the latest TfL/THINK! anti-drug driving campaign 'Your Eyes Will Give You Away'.

The 'mega-rear' follows hot on the heels of a brand new television commercial that aims to reduce the number of people who make the decision to drive after consuming illegal drugs.

The image and strapline refers to the medical fact that drugs have an involuntary effect on the eyes that can't be controlled. This is one of a number of effects that can be spotted by the Police.

Anyone convicted of driving while unfit through drugs will get a minimum 12-month driving ban, a criminal record and a fine of up to £5000.

TfL is leading the THINK! campaign approach in the Capital.

Chris Lines, Head of London Road Safety Unit at TfL said: 'Transport for London is delighted to be able to use this eye catching way to remind Londoners about the dangers of drug driving.

'The police can spot the signs that someone is driving under the influence of drugs and - as the new campaign highlights - once a driver has been stopped their eyes will give them away because of the obvious and involuntary effects drugs have on the body.

'This message is outstanding and clear, your eyes will give you away.'

The campaign includes a TV advertisement, online and poster advertising and face to face work across the country.