Whales Win, Walruses Lose in Warmer Arctic

Image: USFWS Headquarters

(Reuters) - The Arctic zone has moved into a warmer, greener "new normal" phase, which means less habitat for polar bears and more access for development, an international scientific team reported on Thursday.

Arctic air temperatures were higher - about 2.5 degrees F (1.5 degrees C) higher in 2011 than the baseline number for the previous 30 years - and there was a dramatic loss of sea ice and glacier mass, the scientists said in a telephone briefing.

With less bright ice to reflect sunlight, and more dark open water to absorb it, the Arctic's changed characteristics are likely to feed on each other and accelerate, specialists from 14 countries said in an annual assessment called the Arctic Report Card. (here)

"We've got a new normal," said Don Perovich, an expert on sea ice at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory in New Hampshire.

"Whether it's a tipping point and it will never recover, who can say? But we have a new normal ... that has implications not just for the ice but other components of the Arctic system."

The turning point for the Arctic came in 2006, when persistent weather patterns pushed sea ice out of the Arctic, setting the stage for 2007, when Arctic ice extent - the area of the ocean covered by ice at summer's end - dropped to its lowest level ever. In 2011, Arctic sea ice reached its second-lowest extent.

Released as U.N. climate talks proceed in Durban, South Africa, the Arctic report found significant changes in atmospheric, sea ice and ocean conditions, and in land-based ice including glaciers, while marine and terrestrial ecosystems were also changed by the Arctic warming trend.

The Arctic acts as Earth's "air conditioner" and also as a potent global weather-maker. As a result, sweeping changes there influence life across the planet. The report found that even as the Arctic warmed, a shift in weather patterns sent cold Arctic air as far south as the United States and densely populated parts of northern Europe.

INCREASING DEMANDS ON ARCTIC RESOURCES
With less sea ice to clog potential shipping lanes, development in the Arctic is likely, said Monica Medina of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She suggested that this report and others could help "prepare for increasing demands on Arctic resources" as warming makes these resources more available.

The Arctic "new normal" means oil and gas companies and tourists can begin to expect routine access to the area, according to report co-author Jackie Richter-Menge of the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory.

The new warmth in the Arctic means more tundra vegetation, with taller shrubs winning out over lower-lying moss and lichens, which could in turn affect caribou and reindeer.

The loss of sea ice cuts into the habitat of polar bears and walruses, which use ice floes as hunting platforms, the scientists said.

Whales were winners, especially those that migrate from temperate areas, because they could stay for longer periods in the Arctic while the water there was open in the summer. Populations of tagged bowhead whales from Alaska and west Greenland were able to mingle in the Northwest Passage, which until this century was blocked by ice.

At the base of the marine food chain, biological productivity soared by 20 percent between 1998 and 2009 as more sunlight penetrates increasingly open Arctic water, the scientists said.

Open Arctic water also absorbs climate-warming carbon dioxide, but that has made the Beaufort and Chukchi seas more acidic, which could erode the shells of some shellfish.

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Italy summons Iran envoy over UK embassy attack (AP)

ROME ? Italy has summoned Iran's envoy to the foreign ministry to express its "firm condemnation" of the storming of the British embassy in Tehran and to warn that Italy may take other steps.

The foreign ministry said Thursday that Italy also demanded security guarantees for diplomats during the meeting with the envoy, Mehdi Akouchekian.

Iranian protesters on Tuesday stormed and ransacked the British embassy and British diplomatic compounds after an apparently state-approved rally denounced Britain's support of U.S. sanctions over Iran's controversial nuclear program.

Germany, France and the Netherlands recalled their ambassadors in solidarity with Britain.

Italy long had strong economic ties with Iran but reduced trade substantially in recent years.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_iran

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Setting the stage for life: Scientists make key discovery about the atmosphere of early Earth

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2011) ? Scientists in the New York Center for Astrobiology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have used the oldest minerals on Earth to reconstruct the atmospheric conditions present on Earth very soon after its birth. The findings, which appear in the Dec. 1 edition of the journal Nature, are the first direct evidence of what the ancient atmosphere of the planet was like soon after its formation and directly challenge years of research on the type of atmosphere out of which life arose on the planet.

The scientists show that the atmosphere of Earth just 500 million years after its creation was not a methane-filled wasteland as previously proposed, but instead was much closer to the conditions of our current atmosphere. The findings, in a paper titled "The oxidation state of Hadean magmas and implications for early Earth's atmosphere," have implications for our understanding of how and when life began on this planet and could begin elsewhere in the universe.

For decades, scientists believed that the atmosphere of early Earth was highly reduced, meaning that oxygen was greatly limited. Such oxygen-poor conditions would have resulted in an atmosphere filled with noxious methane, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia. To date, there remain widely held theories and studies of how life on Earth may have been built out of this deadly atmosphere cocktail.

Now, scientists at Rensselaer are turning these atmospheric assumptions on their heads with findings that prove the conditions on early Earth were simply not conducive to the formation of this type of atmosphere, but rather to an atmosphere dominated by the more oxygen-rich compounds found within our current atmosphere -- including water, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.

"We can now say with some certainty that many scientists studying the origins of life on Earth simply picked the wrong atmosphere," said Bruce Watson, Institute Professor of Science at Rensselaer.

The findings rest on the widely held theory that Earth's atmosphere was formed by gases released from volcanic activity on its surface. Today, as during the earliest days of the Earth, magma flowing from deep in the Earth contains dissolved gases. When that magma nears the surface, those gases are released into the surrounding air.

"Most scientists would argue that this outgassing from magma was the main input to the atmosphere," Watson said. "To understand the nature of the atmosphere 'in the beginning,' we needed to determine what gas species were in the magmas supplying the atmosphere."

As magma approaches Earth's surface, it either erupts or stalls in the crust, where it interacts with surrounding rocks, cools, and crystallizes into solid rock. These frozen magmas and the elements they contain can be literal milestones in the history of Earth.

One important milestone is zircon. Unlike other materials that are destroyed over time by erosion and subduction, certain zircons are nearly as old as Earth itself. As such, zircons can literally tell the entire history of the planet -- if you know the right questions to ask.

The scientists sought to determine the oxidation levels of the magmas that formed these ancient zircons to quantify, for the first time ever, how oxidized were the gases being released early in Earth's history. Understanding the level of oxidation could spell the difference between nasty swamp gas and the mixture of water vapor and carbon dioxide we are currently so accustomed to, according to study lead author Dustin Trail, a postdoctoral researcher in the Center for Astrobiology.

"By determining the oxidation state of the magmas that created zircon, we could then determine the types of gases that would eventually make their way into the atmosphere," said Trail.

To do this Trail, Watson, and their colleague, postdoctoral researcher Nicholas Tailby, recreated the formation of zircons in the laboratory at different oxidation levels. They literally created lava in the lab. This procedure led to the creation of an oxidation gauge that could then be compared with the natural zircons.

During this process they looked for concentrations of a rare Earth metal called cerium in the zircons. Cerium is an important oxidation gauge because it can be found in two oxidation states, with one more oxidized than the other. The higher the concentrations of the more oxidized type cerium in zircon, the more oxidized the atmosphere likely was after their formation.

The calibrations reveal an atmosphere with an oxidation state closer to present-day conditions. The findings provide an important starting point for future research on the origins of life on Earth.

"Our planet is the stage on which all of life has played out," Watson said. "We can't even begin to talk about life on Earth until we know what that stage is. And oxygen conditions were vitally important because of how they affect the types of organic molecules that can be formed."

Despite being the atmosphere that life currently breathes, lives, and thrives on, our current oxidized atmosphere is not currently understood to be a great starting point for life. Methane and its oxygen-poor counterparts have much more biologic potential to jump from inorganic compounds to life-supporting amino acids and DNA. As such, Watson thinks the discovery of his group may reinvigorate theories that perhaps those building blocks for life were not created on Earth, but delivered from elsewhere in the galaxy.

The results do not, however, run contrary to existing theories on life's journey from anaerobic to aerobic organisms. The results quantify the nature of gas molecules containing carbon, hydrogen, and sulfur in the earliest atmosphere, but they shed no light on the much later rise of free oxygen in the air. There was still a significant amount of time for oxygen to build up in the atmosphere through biologic mechanisms, according to Trail.

The research was funded by NASA.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. Dustin Trail, E. Bruce Watson, Nicholas D. Tailby. The oxidation state of Hadean magmas and implications for early Earth?s atmosphere. Nature, 2011; 480 (7375): 79 DOI: 10.1038/nature10655

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111130141855.htm

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Keith Urban recovering from throat surgery (Reuters)

NASHVILLE (Reuters) ? Country singer Keith Urban underwent successful throat surgery to remove a polyp from his vocal cord earlier this week and is doing fine, the singer's spokesman said on Friday.

Urban had the procedure on Tuesday, and he will not be able to speak for three weeks, spokesman Paul Freundlich told Reuters. The singer is recovering at an undisclosed location.

One day ahead of the procedure, Urban posted a video on his website thanking fans for their support.

"I want to thank you for sending such good wishes for my upcoming surgery," Urban said. "I can't express enough my gratitude to you guys; it feels like family."

He said he had received cards, gifts, emails, flowers and a large basket of items he would need as he recuperates including hand-written notes to hold up when he needs something.

Urban, whose hits include "Long Hot Summer" and "You Look Good in my Shirt," announced earlier in November that he was postponing several shows while he sought medical care.

The polyp developed during his recent "Get Closer World Tour 2011," and in Monday's video Urban took note of the fans who had turned out to see him perform during what he called his "crazy great phenomenal year.

"The tour was incredible for me, and seeing you guys sing along with my new songs was heartening for me. Personally I had an incredibly great time and I was sad to see it end," he said.

Urban is not the only singer to have problems with his vocal cords. In the past month, British pop singer Adele had similar surgery as did Kiss frontman Paul Stanley.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/music/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/music_nm/us_keithurban

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Moderate Islamists claim Moroccan election win (Reuters)

RABAT (Reuters) ? Morocco's Justice and Development Party (PJD) claimed victory on Saturday in a parliamentary election that should produce a stronger government after King Mohammed ceded some powers to prevent any spillover from Arab Spring uprisings.

The PJD, which finds its support largely among Morocco's poor, would be the second moderate Islamist party to lead a North African government since the start of the region's Arab Spring uprisings, following Tunisia.

But the party, which hopes to push Islamic finance but vows to steer clear of imposing a strict moral code on society, will have to join forces with others to form a government.

"Based on reports filed by our representatives at polling stations throughout the country, we are the winners. We won Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Kenitra, Sale, Beni Mellal and Sidi Ifni to cite just a few," Lahcen Daodi, second in command of the moderate Islamist party, told Reuters.

"Our party has won the highest number of seats," he said.

Government officials could not immediately confirm the party's assertion.

The king revived a reform process this year hoping to sap the momentum out of a protest movement and avoid the violence-ridden revolts in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Syria.

He has handed over more powers to the government, although he retains the final say on the economy, security and religion.

Some 13.6 million Moroccans out of a population of about 33 million were registered to vote in the country's ninth election since independence from France in 1956.

Voter turnout stood at 45 percent, Interior Minister Taib Cherkaoui said, up from a record low in 2007 when only 37 percent of 15.5 million registered voters turned out. The ministry has not accounted for the change in registered voters.

The polls "took place under normal conditions and a under a climate of mobilisation marked by fair competition and respect of electoral laws," Cherkaoui told reporters.

The first results will be issued later on Saturday, the minister added. In contrast to previous elections, Friday's vote was expected to be a closely-run contest between PJD and a new coalition of liberals with close ties to the royal palace.

But Mustapha Al Khalfi, a member of PJD's politburo, sounded a note of caution among the cries of victory.

"We have to wait for the final results because there was a lot of fraud, so we hope that it will not cost us what should be a resounding victory for our party," he said.

Lahcen Haddad, a prominent member of the so-called Alliance for Democracy, declined to comment.

Driss Yazami, who heads the official National Council for Human Rights, told the private Aswat radio that observers had recorded violations, including some potential voters being given food. "It did not reach a scale that can affect the overall course of the polls," Yazami said.

BOYCOTTED POLLS?

The king will pick the next prime minister from the party that wins the biggest number of seats. But whichever party or bloc comes first is unlikely to be able to form a government on its own.

PJD has said it aims to obtain a majority by joining forces with three parties in the current governing coalition, including the left-wing Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) and the nationalist Istiqlal of Prime Minister Abbas Al Fassi.

Economists are keen to see the polls leading to the creation of a cohesive government that would be able to narrow a growing budget deficit, cut a 30-percent-plus youth unemployment rate and address the needs of 8.5 million destitute Moroccans.

Since becoming king in 1999, King Mohammed won international praise for his efforts to repair a dark legacy of human right abuses under the 38-year rule of his late father King Hassan. But his reform drive lost momentum over the last few years.

There remains a vocal minority who say his revived reforms are not enough. Thousands of people joined protests in several cities last weekend to back calls for a boycott of the election.

"Today marked a victory for the boycott," said Najib Chawki, an activist with the February 20 Movement, which has been leading protests since February to demand a British- or Spanish-style monarchy and an end to corruption.

"Only 6 million out of 21 million Moroccans eligible to vote took part in the polls. This sends a strong signal to authorities that Moroccans are not buying the proposed reforms. We will not give up until our demands are met," Chawki said.

The movement plans new nationwide protests on December 4.

(Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111126/wl_nm/us_morocco_election

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Goldson, Doucet fined for scuffle (AP)

NEW YORK ? San Francisco safety Dashon Goldson was fined $25,000 by the NFL on Friday for punching Arizona receiver Early Doucet in last Sunday's game.

Doucet was fined $10,000 for unnecessary roughness when he struck Goldson in the helmet area. Goldson then threw his punches.

At the end of a play early in the fourth quarter, Goldson was down away from the ball when he got blindsided and slapped on the back of the helmet by Doucet. Goldson jumped up, confronted him and both began swinging wildly. Goldson then threw a series of punches to Doucet's facemask and received a 15-yard personal foul penalty before being ejected.

Denver linebacker Von Miller was fined $25,000 for roughing the passer. The rookie struck Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez in the chest area with his helmet. It was Miller's second infraction of the season; the other was when he struck Raiders QB Carson Palmer the same way earlier this month.

Seattle safety Kam Chancellor was fined $40,000 for unnecessary roughness against Rams tight end Lance Kendricks. The previous week, Chancellor was docked $20,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit against Baltimore wide receiver Anquan Boldin.

Philadelphia receiver-kick returner DeSean Jackson was fined $10,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct; he flipped the ball toward Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell after a 50-yard reception.

Eagles DT Trevor Laws was fined $7,500 for unnecessary roughness; he struck Giants QB Eli Manning late and away from the play after an Eagles interception.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_nfl_fines

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Blacks with diverticulitis have worse outcomes (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? Blacks need emergency surgery more often than whites for a common type of intestinal disease, and they tend to fare worse afterwards, suggests a study of older Americans on Medicare.

It's not the first time researchers find racial differences in rates of complications and death from the disease, called diverticulitis. But those disparities have been blamed on lack of health insurance and access to care among blacks.

The new study hints there may be cultural differences or treatment disparities between races that explain why blacks are more likely to die or be sent back to the hospital after treatment, even when they have health insurance.

For example, blacks seem to be less likely to see a primary care doctor regularly, experts said, or may be treated in more-crowded, poorly-funded hospitals.

"You're left with this very disturbing finding that the treatment of blacks and whites in the United States remains disparate," said Dr. Selwyn Rogers, Jr., who studies inequalities in surgical care at Harvard Medical School in Boston but wasn't involved in the new work.

"You're more likely to die if you happen to be black," he told Reuters Health.

In diverticulitis, pouches in the intestine become infected or inflamed. The condition may affect up to one in four elderly Americans at some point, researchers wrote in the Archives of Surgery, and can be dangerous when not caught early. It causes severe stomach pain and sometimes nausea and vomiting.

The study, led by Eric Schneider from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, included more than 50,000 patients who were treated for diverticulitis, either with emergency or elective surgery, between 2004 and 2007. All of them were at least 65 years old and covered by Medicare, the government health insurance for the elderly.

More than two-thirds of the procedures done in blacks were emergency surgeries, compared to about 55 percent of those in white patients.

Blacks were more likely to die in the hospital than whites: Close to seven percent of them didn't survive their stay, versus five percent of white patients.

That difference persisted when the researchers looked only at people who were admitted for emergency care, and when they took into account pre-existing medical conditions, such as heart failure and diabetes.

Death rates were one or two percent in both blacks and whites who had elective surgery before their symptoms were severe, but rose to up to nine percent in blacks getting emergency surgery.

On average, black diverticulitis patients also had longer and more expensive hospital stays, and they were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within a month of their surgery.

Even when they do have insurance, blacks may wait longer to see a doctor if they're having stomach symptoms, or might have less accessible places to get treated, according to researchers who spoke with Reuters Health.

They may also have worse general health that wasn't reflected in the data Schneider and his colleagues were using.

Another explanation may be in the type of care patients receive -- for example, blacks may be more likely to be treated at hospitals that are smaller and not as well-staffed, the researchers wrote.

"Some of these observed differences despite Medicare coverage reflect the hospitals in which patients receive care," agreed Rogers.

"A patient can walk in with Medicare coverage, but if those hospitals are struggling (financially), that's going to be reflected in the services they can provide," he told Reuters Health.

He pointed to the effect of poverty and lack of education on health and disease outcomes, adding that "every time we turn over a rock" there are disparities by race, ethnicity and income.

Schneider's team called for further studies to tease out the reasons why blacks with diverticulitis specifically tend to have worse outcomes than whites, even when they're both covered by insurance.

For now, he emphasized that having regular primary care visits and being aware of anything that's not quite right are key to preventing the worst.

"The one thing that's clear, regardless of who you are, seeking treatment early is better than waiting," he told Reuters Health.

"If you were being followed on a regular basis and it was determined you needed to have this surgery and it was done (electively), that's a much better way to go."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/vhUek3 Archives of Surgery, online November 21, 2011.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/seniors/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111122/hl_nm/us_blacks_diverticulitis

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Tottenham wins, rises to 3rd in Premier League

updated 5:25 p.m. ET Nov. 21, 2011

LONDON - Tottenham beat Aston Villa 2-0 on two goals by Emmanuel Adebayor on Monday, advancing to third place in the Premier League. Villa extended its unbeaten streak to nine matches, including eight victories.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp made his first appearance on the bench since minor heart surgery three weeks ago.

Adebayor, on loan from Manchester City, scored in 14th and 40th minutes.

Tottenham hasn't lost in the league since the 5-1 thrashing by Man City in August. The Spurs moved past Chelsea and Newcastle in the standings and are nine points behind first-place City and four behind second-place Manchester United but with a match in hand on both. Villa is eighth, 19 points off the pace.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45391995/ns/sports-soccer/

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