Featured
Polluted Cities
Pollution's Toll on the Brain
In these days of hybrid cars and carbon credits, it is common knowledge that substances exhaled by autos and coal plants are harmful to our respiratory system. What may be surprising is the degree to which they may harm the brain—in some instances, as much as exposure to lead. A recent string of studies from all over the world suggests that common air pollutants such as black carbon, particulate matter and ozone can negatively affect vocabulary, reaction times and even overall intelligence.
time provided by - wow power leveling
“It is exciting when you are young, to travel for days on horseback and sleep under the stars,” he told Arthas. “When you are my age, though, horseback riding is best left for recreation, and the stars one can glimpse by looking out the window are quite close enough.”Arthas had grinned, diving with pleasure into the new responsibilities. Admiral Proudmoore and Archmage Antonidas had apparently come to the same conclusions.Who Killed California?
by Troy Senik http://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/who-killed-california My apologies for having nothing originally in this post. The text was here but didn't show up. Apparently this article is too long to be printed here, at about 11 pages. It is nevertheless worth reading, unless, as someone has already done, you have made your mind up what to believe before reading.Philippine Floods--Why wasn't Manila prepared?
By ISHAAN THAROOR Ishaan Tharoor – 38 mins ago In Manila, millions of residents now live in a world of mud. Torrential rain over the weekend triggered the worst flooding the Philippines' capital has seen in over four decades, submerging more than 80% of the city, killing at least 246 people and displacing hundreds of thousands more. By Tuesday, the water had receded in many places, but it left behind ruined homes and swept-away neighborhoods, and according to health officials, it disabled the majority of Manila's medical facilities.T.G.I.Thursday
An energy- and money-saving solution that pretty much everyone can get behind: three-day weekends. Workers of the world, unite in giving Utah a round of applause. The Beehive State has made Thursday the new Friday, and by proving the benefits of this condensed calendar, Utah has brought us all closer to the dream of a shortened workweek.Seattle votes down fee on plastic and paper bags
Seattle voters' rejection of a 20-cent fee on plastic and paper bags represents a sound defeat for other efforts in U.S. cities to limit the use of the throwaway bags, plastics industry officials said Wednesday. A referendum on an ordinance to charge the bag fee at grocery, drug and convenience stores was easily defeated in Tuesday's primary in this liberal city — whose voters are known for taxing themselves to pay for parks, libraries, affordable housing and other causes.Debate Over Plastic Bags Heats Up In Seattle
The plastics industry is spending more than $1 million to fight a surcharge on grocery bags in Seattle. In an effort to reduce plastic and paper waste, the city council imposed the 20-cent-per-bag charge last year; but the American Chemistry Council(ACC) helped fund a petition drive that forced the issue to a city-wide ballot. Heather Trim, a volunteer for the Seattle Green Bag Campaign, carries around a sample of polluted Pacific Ocean water.Cash For Clunkers is a Modern-Day Version of the Broken Window Fallacy
Cash For Clunkers is an economically unsound program that will only make the American economic situation worse. It transfers wealth from one group of people to another while simultaneously destroying real wealth and misallocating scarce capital away from its best use. To understand why this is, you need only understand the Broken Window Fallacy.Two sides to "climate change"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/5915829/Climate-change-to-force-75-million-Pacific-Islanders-from-their-homes.html Climate change to force 75 million Pacific Islanders from their homes More than 75 million people living on Pacific islands will have to relocate by 2050 because of the effects of climate change, Oxfam has warned. By Bonnie Malkin in Sydney Published: 5:48AM BST 27 Jul 2009 A report by the charity said Pacific Islanders were already feeling the effects of global warming, including food and water shortages, rising cases of malaria and more frequent flooding and storms. Some had already been forced from their homes and the number of displaced people was rising, it warned.Are the Deserts Getting Greener?
It has been assumed that global warming would cause an expansion of the world's deserts, but now some scientists are predicting a contrary scenario in which water and life slowly reclaim these arid places. They think vast, dry regions like the Sahara might soon begin shrinking. The evidence is limited and definitive conclusions are impossible to reach but recent satellite pictures of North Africa seem to show areas of the Sahara in retreat.
More on FitSugar
Fall Award Season
Top Brands
Vivien Caron
DAY Birger et Mikkelsen
Marc O'Polo