Sunday, February 23, 2014
Olympics closing ceremony...[3693 ]
Olympics closing ceremony live: Olympic flag handed over to S. Korea
By Los Angeles Times staff/ February 23, 2014, 9:46 a.m.
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The 2014 Winter Olympics closing ceremony is underway in Sochi, Russia. In an Olympic ritual, the flag for the Games was handed over by Sochi's mayor to the mayor of Pyeongchang, South Korea, host of the next Winter Olympics.
Sunday's spectacle included a light show, a flying boat and a clever reference to the opening ceremony snag in which one of the Olympic rings did not open.
Dancers created the rings, with one closed. Would it open? After a long pause, it did. As they did at the opening of the Games, each nation's athletes paraded in. Despite a devastating loss to Canada, the U.S. women's hockey team remained in Sochi to take part in the ceremony. Julie Chu, a four-time Olympian who was part of the silver-medal-winning team, was chosen to carry the U.S. flag.
MORE: REAL-TIME UPDATES
Medals were bestowed and clean sweeps celebrated, including Norway's dominance of women's cross-country skiing, in which Marit Bjoergen won gold, and Russia's medal sweep in men's cross-country. Alexander Legkov won gold in the men's 50-kilometer race to give the host nation its first cross-country gold at the Sochi Games.
The proceedings took a turn for the surreal with a Marc Chagall painting shown on stage and masked dancers cavorting on stilts to violin and viola. Then a grand piano arose from below stage for a stunning performance of Rachmaninoff. Russian ballet and literature also got their turn in the spotlight.
A big top was erected on stage as performers including unicyclists and gymnasts tumbled in for a celebration of circuses.
After the Olympic flag was handed over to South Korea, Korean performers
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are drawing to a close today with the ceremony, which began, symbolically, at 20:14 (8:14 p.m.) local time. (See a preview of the proceedings, live, below.)
The host country has much to celebrate as the Games wrap. Russia ends as the overall champ, with 33 medals. The U.S. is second with 28.
The ceremony will be broadcast on the West Coast at 8:30 p.m. Sunday. (Here's a version of our real-time coverage for mobile users.)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/
...
By Los Angeles Times staff/ February 23, 2014, 9:46 a.m.
..
.
The 2014 Winter Olympics closing ceremony is underway in Sochi, Russia. In an Olympic ritual, the flag for the Games was handed over by Sochi's mayor to the mayor of Pyeongchang, South Korea, host of the next Winter Olympics.
Sunday's spectacle included a light show, a flying boat and a clever reference to the opening ceremony snag in which one of the Olympic rings did not open.
Dancers created the rings, with one closed. Would it open? After a long pause, it did. As they did at the opening of the Games, each nation's athletes paraded in. Despite a devastating loss to Canada, the U.S. women's hockey team remained in Sochi to take part in the ceremony. Julie Chu, a four-time Olympian who was part of the silver-medal-winning team, was chosen to carry the U.S. flag.
MORE: REAL-TIME UPDATES
Medals were bestowed and clean sweeps celebrated, including Norway's dominance of women's cross-country skiing, in which Marit Bjoergen won gold, and Russia's medal sweep in men's cross-country. Alexander Legkov won gold in the men's 50-kilometer race to give the host nation its first cross-country gold at the Sochi Games.
The proceedings took a turn for the surreal with a Marc Chagall painting shown on stage and masked dancers cavorting on stilts to violin and viola. Then a grand piano arose from below stage for a stunning performance of Rachmaninoff. Russian ballet and literature also got their turn in the spotlight.
A big top was erected on stage as performers including unicyclists and gymnasts tumbled in for a celebration of circuses.
After the Olympic flag was handed over to South Korea, Korean performers
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, are drawing to a close today with the ceremony, which began, symbolically, at 20:14 (8:14 p.m.) local time. (See a preview of the proceedings, live, below.)
The host country has much to celebrate as the Games wrap. Russia ends as the overall champ, with 33 medals. The U.S. is second with 28.
The ceremony will be broadcast on the West Coast at 8:30 p.m. Sunday. (Here's a version of our real-time coverage for mobile users.)
http://www.latimes.com/sports/olympics/
...
Sochi, Russia Winter Olympic Sites from above...[ 3692 ]
Sochi, Russia Winter Olympic Sites (Mountain Cluster) .
The
2014 Winter Olympic ski runs may be rated double black diamond, but
they're not quite as steep as they appear in this image of the skiing
and snowboarding sites for the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, acquired on
Jan. 4, 2014, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection
Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft.
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Rosa Khutar ski resort near Sochi, Russia, is in the valley at center, and the runs are visible on the shadowed slopes on the left-hand side of the valley. Height has been exaggerated 1.5 times to bring out topographic details. The games, which begin on Feb. 7 and continue for 17 days, feature six new skiing and boarding events plus the return of the legendary Jamaican bobsled team to the winter games for the first time since 2002.
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In this southwest-looking image, red indicates vegetation, white is snow, and the resort site appears in gray. The area imaged is about 11 miles (18 kilometers) across in the foreground and 20 miles (32 kilometers) from front to back. The image was created from the ASTER visible and near-infrared bands, draped over ASTER-derived digital elevation data.
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With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.
The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change.
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Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.
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The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. ;
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More information about ASTER is available at asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
.
Rosa Khutar ski resort near Sochi, Russia, is in the valley at center, and the runs are visible on the shadowed slopes on the left-hand side of the valley. Height has been exaggerated 1.5 times to bring out topographic details. The games, which begin on Feb. 7 and continue for 17 days, feature six new skiing and boarding events plus the return of the legendary Jamaican bobsled team to the winter games for the first time since 2002.
.
In this southwest-looking image, red indicates vegetation, white is snow, and the resort site appears in gray. The area imaged is about 11 miles (18 kilometers) across in the foreground and 20 miles (32 kilometers) from front to back. The image was created from the ASTER visible and near-infrared bands, draped over ASTER-derived digital elevation data.
.
With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.
The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change.
.
Example applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.
.
The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. ;
.
More information about ASTER is available at asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
Global Forest Watch...[ 3691 ]
Deforestation Serious Problem
Deforestation
is one of many issues that plague the world’s environment today. Some
potential environmental problems, such as climate change, are difficult
to evaluate. Vanishing forests are something that can be readily
observed. Perhaps this is what makes deforestation such a disturbing and
serious problem.
Forests, particularly tropical rainforests, are hot spots in terms of
biodiversity. Therefore, if the forests go, a large bulk of life will
be gone as well. For anyone who enjoys nature, this is a troubling
possibility.Rainforests contain more than half the species on the planet; however they take up less than 6 percent of the world’s surface. Clearly, the concentration of life in a rainforest is massive. There is no place quite like a rainforest on the surface of the earth, and when other types of forests are factored in, it is easy to see why deforestation is such a serious concern.
Forests are also extremely important to humans. One estimate says that roughly 25 percent of medicines are made up of plants from rainforests. Of course, people also depend on forests of all kinds for lumber and even food in some situations. Forests are an excellent resource, but care must be taken in order to preserve said resource for long-term use.
The online program Global Forest Watch has recently made news for its ability to give people up-to-date information on deforestation. It is hoped that more accurate information about the plight of forests will help raise awareness of the problem. Also, the information could help researchers identify specific problem areas that need more attention.
According to the information from the Global Forest Watch map, some areas that are supposed to be protected and kept pristine are in fact being heavily exploited. One area in Africa allegedly lost 90 percent of its trees. Obviously, destruction at this rate would not be sustainable if it occurs at similar rates across the globe. Perhaps Global Forest Watch can help monitor such places that are supposed to be under protection.
Deforestation is clearly a very serious problem, especially when one looks past the next decade or so. The question of course is, what can be done about it? As with the related issue of endangered species, resolving this problem is not simple.
Global Forest Watch is a helpful tool, but there are limitations. It has been pointed out that rainforests are very often cloudy. This makes satellite surveillance problematic. It is hard to get accurate information if the forest in question is partially obscured by cloud cover. Also, the financial cost of forest protection programs should not be ignored.
Of course, governments do not have to be the only ones fighting deforestation. In Zimbabwe, several companies have formed a group that is intended to address the deforestation issue. The name of this group is Sustainable Afforestation Association. The rise of groups like this is encouraging, since it will likely take the initiative of private individuals and businesses to curtail the deforestation problem.
Even with better technology and programs like Global Forest Watch, it is very difficult for governments to enforce rules protecting various forests. Therefore, private and corporate responsibility is a must.
Deforestation is a serious issue affecting the long-term health of the planet. Although it is still an uphill battle, perhaps the tide is turning in the fight to protect the earth’s forests.
Editorial By Zach Kirkman
Sources:
New Zimbabwe
The Economist
Science Recorder
Blue Planet Biomes
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