you are suffering from back pain, stress or poor circulation, we recommend that you give inversion a try. Inversion is a very gentle and relaxing therapy that may be the answer that you have been looking for. . Inversion reduces the negative effects of gravity by placing your feet higher than your head. Simply put, your body is turned upside down and gravity is used to work in the opposite direction that your body is used to. Instead of compressing your spine, your vertebrae are stretched out to relieve pressure on your disk. Many of the inversion table benefits are that inversion tables have also been known to help improve posture, reduce headaches, help reduce varicose veins and relieve stress. Although the idea of inversion may be unfamiliar to you and sound like some new or uncommon concept, inversion therapy has actually been around since around 400 B.C. Relieve back pain Reduce muscle tension and stress Stimulate circulation Reduce the effects of aging caused by gravity
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State of the planetPublic release date: 26-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Terry Collins
tc@tca.tc
416-538-8712
Earth System Science Partnership
Ms. Anne Kathrin Raab
44-7921609742 (m)
raab@ihdp.unu.edu
Mr. Owen Gaffney
owen.gaffney@igbp.kva.se
46-86739556
46-730208418
Scientists describe humanity's global impact as 'The Great Acceleration' and offer ominous outlook: An uncertain future on a much hotter world
Time is running out to minimize the risk of setting in motion irreversible and long-term climate change and other dramatic changes to Earth's life support system, according to scientists speaking at the Planet Under Pressure conference, which began in London today.
The unequivocal warning is delivered on the first day of the four-day conference opening with the latest readings of Earth's vital signs.
In subsequent days at the meeting, nearly 3,000 experts spanning the spectrum of interconnected scientific interests, will examine solutions, hurdles and ways to break down the barriers to progress. The conference is the largest gathering of experts in development and global environmental changes in advance of June's UN "Rio+20" summit in Brazil.
"The last 50 years have without doubt seen one of the most rapid transformations of the human relationship with the natural world," says speaker Will Steffen, a global change expert from the Australian National University.
"Many human activities reached take-off points sometime in the 20th Century and sharply accelerated towards the end of the century. We saw a 'Great Acceleration'."
"It is the scale and speed of the Great Acceleration that is truly remarkable. This has largely happened within one human lifetime."
Key indicators of the planet's state, according to the speakers: higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, phosphorus extraction and fertilizer production causing many large dead zones in coastal areas; rising air and ocean temperatures; melting sea ice, polar ice sheets and Arctic permafrost; rising sea levels and ocean acidification; biodiversity loss; land use changes; and growing consumption of freshwater supplies and energy by a growing global population, of which billions of people still lack even the most basic elements of well-being.
At a planetary level, humanity is altering the global carbon cycle, water cycle and nitrogen cycle, says Professor Steffen. Indeed, humans now produce more reactive nitrogen artificially than all natural processes on land.
"Where on Earth are we going?" he asks, underlining several potentially dangerous environmental "tipping points" foreseen, among them the melting of the polar ice sheets and the thawing of perennially frozen northern permafrost soils.
Current research estimates the permafrost alone stores the equivalent of roughly twice the carbon in the atmosphere, he says. Under a "high warming scenario," projected releases of greenhouse gas emissions from melting Arctic permafrost are the equivalent of 30-63 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide by 2040, 232-380 Gt by 2100, and 549-865 Gt by 2300. By comparison, fossil fuel emissions today are roughly 10 Gt per year.
"The key point is: Either we turn around a lot of these trends the carbon dioxide trend, deforestation and so on or we allow them to continue and push beyond critical thresholds."
"There are signs that some drivers of global change are slowing or changing," says fellow speaker Professor Diana Liverman, co-Director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona and visiting Oxford University academic.
"Population growth is slowing and will level off; the intensity of energy and carbon required for a unit of production is declining; agricultural intensification is slowing and forests are starting to expand in some regions."
"On the other hand, average resource consumption per person, already high in some regions, is growing steeply in emerging economies even as many poor people cannot meet basic human needs.
"In some countries people are consuming far too much, including carbon, water and other resources embodied in trade. We have a long way to go to turn things around."
Liverman notes a time lapse animation offering vivid evidence that Earth has entered a new geological epoch hallmarked by the profound ecosystem impacts of one species humans so much so that it marks an entirely new geological timespan: the "Anthropocene."
Online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEMse22h8c8, it illustrates the dramatic growth of carbon dioxide emissions from the start of the industrial revolution -- spreading from the UK in 1750 across Europe, North America and to Japan by 1900.
"By the end of the 20th Century we have high emissions in China, India, Europe and eastern North America but relatively little across Latin America and Africa. Here lies the core of the debate about responsibilities for climate change in relation to historical and per capita emissions."
She also refers a recent UK study showing the highest income earners are responsible for three times the level of emissions compared with lowest income earners.
"In countries with high income inequality, the richest 10% of the population may be responsible for more than 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions and the growing middle classes of many developing or transitional countries are developing consumption habits that add to the burden on the earth system."
Says conference co-chair and UNESCO director of the science-policy division, Dr Lidia Brito: "If you like, our presenters today are akin to doctors saying 'look, you may not feel too sick at the moment but you've got high blood pressure, your cholesterol is going up, and your lifestyle is not conducive to good health.'"
"There is time to turn these trends around and promising, more positive messages will be delivered by colleagues in days to come. We look forward to discussions of our most promising options, the barriers to change and to a prescription for the future."
###
NOTE TO EDITORS
The research discussed in the press release, the conclusions drawn and the opinions offered are those of individual speakers or research teams at the Planet Under Pressure conference.
More information about Planet under Pressure Conference
The international science conference will be the biggest gathering of global environmental change specialists in advance of the United Nations Rio+20 Summit: 2,500 scientists, policymakers, industry and media representatives will meet to hear the latest research findings on the state of the planet and discuss concepts for planetary stewardship and societal and economic transformation towards global sustainability.
More information on the web: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net
Follow the conference via RSS: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/xml/news.xml
Live web streaming, daily news show and live audio feeds: http://c3379912.workcast.net/planetunderpressure.html
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
State of the planetPublic release date: 26-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Terry Collins
tc@tca.tc
416-538-8712
Earth System Science Partnership
Ms. Anne Kathrin Raab
44-7921609742 (m)
raab@ihdp.unu.edu
Mr. Owen Gaffney
owen.gaffney@igbp.kva.se
46-86739556
46-730208418
Scientists describe humanity's global impact as 'The Great Acceleration' and offer ominous outlook: An uncertain future on a much hotter world
Time is running out to minimize the risk of setting in motion irreversible and long-term climate change and other dramatic changes to Earth's life support system, according to scientists speaking at the Planet Under Pressure conference, which began in London today.
The unequivocal warning is delivered on the first day of the four-day conference opening with the latest readings of Earth's vital signs.
In subsequent days at the meeting, nearly 3,000 experts spanning the spectrum of interconnected scientific interests, will examine solutions, hurdles and ways to break down the barriers to progress. The conference is the largest gathering of experts in development and global environmental changes in advance of June's UN "Rio+20" summit in Brazil.
"The last 50 years have without doubt seen one of the most rapid transformations of the human relationship with the natural world," says speaker Will Steffen, a global change expert from the Australian National University.
"Many human activities reached take-off points sometime in the 20th Century and sharply accelerated towards the end of the century. We saw a 'Great Acceleration'."
"It is the scale and speed of the Great Acceleration that is truly remarkable. This has largely happened within one human lifetime."
Key indicators of the planet's state, according to the speakers: higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, phosphorus extraction and fertilizer production causing many large dead zones in coastal areas; rising air and ocean temperatures; melting sea ice, polar ice sheets and Arctic permafrost; rising sea levels and ocean acidification; biodiversity loss; land use changes; and growing consumption of freshwater supplies and energy by a growing global population, of which billions of people still lack even the most basic elements of well-being.
At a planetary level, humanity is altering the global carbon cycle, water cycle and nitrogen cycle, says Professor Steffen. Indeed, humans now produce more reactive nitrogen artificially than all natural processes on land.
"Where on Earth are we going?" he asks, underlining several potentially dangerous environmental "tipping points" foreseen, among them the melting of the polar ice sheets and the thawing of perennially frozen northern permafrost soils.
Current research estimates the permafrost alone stores the equivalent of roughly twice the carbon in the atmosphere, he says. Under a "high warming scenario," projected releases of greenhouse gas emissions from melting Arctic permafrost are the equivalent of 30-63 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide by 2040, 232-380 Gt by 2100, and 549-865 Gt by 2300. By comparison, fossil fuel emissions today are roughly 10 Gt per year.
"The key point is: Either we turn around a lot of these trends the carbon dioxide trend, deforestation and so on or we allow them to continue and push beyond critical thresholds."
"There are signs that some drivers of global change are slowing or changing," says fellow speaker Professor Diana Liverman, co-Director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona and visiting Oxford University academic.
"Population growth is slowing and will level off; the intensity of energy and carbon required for a unit of production is declining; agricultural intensification is slowing and forests are starting to expand in some regions."
"On the other hand, average resource consumption per person, already high in some regions, is growing steeply in emerging economies even as many poor people cannot meet basic human needs.
"In some countries people are consuming far too much, including carbon, water and other resources embodied in trade. We have a long way to go to turn things around."
Liverman notes a time lapse animation offering vivid evidence that Earth has entered a new geological epoch hallmarked by the profound ecosystem impacts of one species humans so much so that it marks an entirely new geological timespan: the "Anthropocene."
Online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEMse22h8c8, it illustrates the dramatic growth of carbon dioxide emissions from the start of the industrial revolution -- spreading from the UK in 1750 across Europe, North America and to Japan by 1900.
"By the end of the 20th Century we have high emissions in China, India, Europe and eastern North America but relatively little across Latin America and Africa. Here lies the core of the debate about responsibilities for climate change in relation to historical and per capita emissions."
She also refers a recent UK study showing the highest income earners are responsible for three times the level of emissions compared with lowest income earners.
"In countries with high income inequality, the richest 10% of the population may be responsible for more than 50% of the greenhouse gas emissions and the growing middle classes of many developing or transitional countries are developing consumption habits that add to the burden on the earth system."
Says conference co-chair and UNESCO director of the science-policy division, Dr Lidia Brito: "If you like, our presenters today are akin to doctors saying 'look, you may not feel too sick at the moment but you've got high blood pressure, your cholesterol is going up, and your lifestyle is not conducive to good health.'"
"There is time to turn these trends around and promising, more positive messages will be delivered by colleagues in days to come. We look forward to discussions of our most promising options, the barriers to change and to a prescription for the future."
###
NOTE TO EDITORS
The research discussed in the press release, the conclusions drawn and the opinions offered are those of individual speakers or research teams at the Planet Under Pressure conference.
More information about Planet under Pressure Conference
The international science conference will be the biggest gathering of global environmental change specialists in advance of the United Nations Rio+20 Summit: 2,500 scientists, policymakers, industry and media representatives will meet to hear the latest research findings on the state of the planet and discuss concepts for planetary stewardship and societal and economic transformation towards global sustainability.
More information on the web: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net
Follow the conference via RSS: http://www.planetunderpressure2012.net/xml/news.xml
Live web streaming, daily news show and live audio feeds: http://c3379912.workcast.net/planetunderpressure.html
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NBC's John Yang reports on the state of the investigation into Staff Sgt. Robert Bales and his possible role in the recent deaths of Afghan civilians.
>>>tonight we're learning some chilling new details about the night an
american soldier
is accused of leaving his base in afghanistan and slaughtering 17 afghan civilians.
>> reporter: all along there's been consistent reports that staff sergeant bale serks carried out this attack in to ways. just a little bit ago, his
defense attorney
,
john henry brown
told nbc news that this has been the government allegation all along, that this is something that the government has been telling him at least from the beginning. he says this is nothing new to the defense. now
john henry brown
has earlier said that
john henry
bales has only spotty memory of that night, remembers things before, remembers things after, but does not remember the event itself. the military investigation, even though charges have been filed, is not likely to be complete for several months.
>>and a
program note
, monday on "today," sergeant bales' weave karilyn will speak of behalf
Some 22,000 chunks of space junk zip around the earth. On Saturday, six International Space Station astronauts scrambled for safety as a piece of a Russian satellite whizzed by.
The six earthlings ? three Russians, two Americans, and a Dutchman ? aboard the International Space Station were stirred from their slumber Saturday morning to jump into emergency escape pods, once again drawing into focus the growing dangers of hurtling space junk.
Skip to next paragraph
The astronauts, orbiting 200 miles above the planet, were told by ground control to scramble into two docked Soyuz spacecrafts in case a piece of a wrecked Russian satellite should smash into the ISS, which could have heavily damaged the platform as both objects were traveling at orbital speeds ? 17,500 miles per hour. The emergency was called off after the chunk passed by at an approximate distance of nine miles ? which in space terms is a near-miss.
"Everything went by the book and as expected, the small piece of cosmos satellite debris passed the international space station without incident,? said a NASA spokesman.
Ground controllers did not believe the ISS was in extreme danger, but ordered the emergency maneuver after determining that the trajectories could intersect.
NASA says there are about 22,000 pieces of sizable space junk ? primarily bits of old satellites ? orbiting the earth and has in the past ordered the ISS crew to adjust the craft's path to avoid collisions. In all, NASA tracks nearly half a million pieces of space junk.
The piece that threatened the ISS Saturday morning came from the 2009 collision of the Iridium communications satellite and the Russian Cosmos 2251.
NASA spotted the latest threat too late for the crew to move the ISS safely out of the way. It was the third time in 12 years that astronauts were ordered to scramble for safety. Last June, a piece of debris came within 1,100 feet of the craft.
NASA said it followed a ?precautionary and conservative? approach by ordering the astronauts to enter the escape pods. The astronauts ? Russians Anton Shkaplerov, Anatoly Ivanishin, and Oleg Kononenko, Americans Dan Pettit and Dan Burbank, and Dutchman Andre Kuipers ? were awakened about an hour early on what was to have been their day off to get into the Soyuz' crafts and close the hatches.
The spacefarers watched through the portholes to see if they could catch a glimpse of the zooming debris. "Nichevo ... Nothing," one of the Russian cosmonauts said.
If the 450-ton ISS had been hit and disabled, the astronauts were prepared to detach and descend back to earth in the capsules. Instead, they climbed back into the ISS and ?resumed a normal and relaxing weekend,? NASA spokesman Rob Navias told MSNBC.
In response to concerns from the National Research Council that space junk is posing an increased threat to the earth's critical satellite network and the ISS, spacefaring nations have signed compacts to adopt best practices to better control expired space craft and their inevitable return to earth. About one large piece of space junk falls to earth each year. Just this week, villagers in Siberia reported a large ?UFO fragment? falling to earth, even as space experts struggled to confirm its origin.
Researchers are also working on ways to corral space junk while in orbit. One idea, in theory, resembles a sort of space shrimp boat that would use a net to trawl for debris. Other ideas include using lasers to obliterate the pieces, and a Swiss company last month said they are developing a sort of ?janitor satellite? to clean up the trash strewn skies.
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Public release date: 26-Mar-2012
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