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The following letters are
in response to an
editorial that ran Wednesday. The editorial is HERE!
Cause of climate change is human greed Dear A.M. Costa Rica: The point of your editorial on climate change was not entirely clear to me. However, it was never “scientific” consensus that the world was flat and that the universe revolved around it. That was theological consensus and science, first in the persons of Galileo and Copernicus, who were excommunicated by the Catholic Church, started to provide the evidence that the theology was not based on fact. Currently, there are many who want to hold onto their “beliefs” and ignore science. Now just yesterday we find that the Harvard scientist Wei-Hock Soon, whom climate deniers love the most, did not disclose the fact that he had received millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests to fund his “research.” He stood alone in claiming that the fluctuations of the sun explained climate change. Wake up! There are natural phenomena that contribute, but the evidence is clear that natural phenomena alone do not explain the climate change patterns of the last 50 years. Human greed in the form of an unfettered free market is making a huge contribution to the problem. I’m not sure which “cause” is more likely to be reversed. Greed can be a powerful force! Richard Jazwinski
New York, New York Climate change is human induced Dear A.M. Costa Rica: This discussion gets so heated that it may also be part of the cause of global warming. (just kidding) The A.M. Costa Rica article couldn't have come out at a better time then this week. Unfortunately, too many of us believe what we read in the printed press, the spoken press or from politicians, instead of reading the actual publications on the topic or field. This is a case in point regarding the front page article questioning the legitimacy of global warming. This article started off by saying, "The much-promoted scientific consensus on human-induced global warming is troubling." The article was referring to the evidence may not be accurate and is therefore troubling. From published papers I have read on the subject I feel the real troubling issue is that there is human-induced climate change and we are not really doing anything substantial about it. The article mentions several different points I would like to respond too. "Science is supposed to be where opposing ideas collide and duke it out with evidence. Much of the global warming research relies on computer models and extrapolation." There is overwhelming evidence with observations of ongoing actions and past records that have taken place caused by global warming that the models are not even needed to show that. Also there is less duking it out when there is so much compelling evidence in regards to human induced climate change. According to Scientific America, climate scientists examined 4,014 abstracts on climate change and found 97.2 percent of the papers found humans play a role in global warming. Also in another article it was pointed out that 13,926 out of 13,950 peer-reviewed scientific articles published between 1991 to 2012 said human activity is affecting the climate. That’s right, only 24 out of nearly 14,000 peer-reviewed articles reject the scientific consensus that human activity is affecting the climate. The A.M. Costa Rica article goes on to say, "Then there is the problem of academic publishing. Professors get good marks at their universities when a scientific paper is published. Published papers and books result in promotion and tenure." Academic publishing is more about bringing research to the forefront and making it available to others in the field. The real problem is the force driving the global warming deniers. A couple of articles have been written this week in regards to this subject. Here is a part of those articles. For decades, the fossil-fuel industry has been underwriting a huge, successful campaign to lie about climate change. Like the tobacco industry before it, energy companies have created a body of pseudoscience. This week, that campaign took a serious body blow, as one of its leading pseudo-scientific voices Wei-Hock Soon was exposed as a liar and a fraud, having accepted 1.2 million dollars to pose as a climate-change skeptic. According to a report from The New York Times, politicians fighting climate change legislation often cite the work of the scientist, Willie Hock, who is employed by the Smithsonian Institution on a part-time basis. Though he’s often referred to as a “Harvard astrophysicist” on conservative news shows, Soon has never worked for the Ivy League school. His degree is in aerospace engineering. According to recently released documents, he’s received at least $1.2 million from fossil-fuel companies while omitting that connection in the majority of his scientific papers over the past decade. Since 2008, he failed to disclose conflicts of interest in at least 11 studies, a violation of the guidelines of the journals that released them. This is par for the course. The Heartland Institute, one of the leading Climate Truther think tanks, put together “58 experts [who] don’t believe global warming is a crisis.” But a review of those “experts,” found that only three of the 58 actually have any credentials in climatology or atmospheric science. (16 are conservative political pundits, 11 are meteorologists, six are conservative economists, and the rest a hodgepodge.) Indeed, not only individual scientists, but the entire network of climate denier think tanks is a result of industry funding. ExxonMobil alone has supported the Competitive Enterprise Institute ($2m), Center for Strategic and International Studies ($2.4m), Annapolis Center for Science-Based Public Policy ($1.0m), American Enterprise Institute ($2.8m), and Heritage Foundation ($630k). I guess I will stick to those academic published articles instead of what comes from the naysayer's sources, when it comes to this topic. Responding helps bring down my boiling point when it comes to this heated discussion. Henry Kantrowitz
Punta Leona Editorial is called truly amusing Dear A.M. Costa Rica: I've read your rag for years, carefully gleaning the few bits of useful news and information from the litter strewn, mostly hollow pages of "news." The "news" that you present, although hardly unbiased, usually has its' biases fairly well concealed. Editorial or opinion pieces are just that, not news. I'm writing in reference to your latest little ditty regarding global warming. It is truly amusing, as well as revealing. I'm sure that your latest exposure of your true colors will continue to enlighten and entertain those of us who are interested in the real news, as opposed to your "news." I love to be entertained, and you are doing a good job! I especially liked your statement "Proponents of global warming see a placid past." Who are these people? The Koch Bros. ? I have a lot of time on my hands lately. Think I'll write some of your advertisers a nice letter. William Jackson
Cuervito Media thrives on scare tactics Dear A.M. Costa Rica: Your editorial was right on. Even the president of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, who just had to resign, said global warming was his religion and his faith, meaning, that like faith in all religions is believing without evidence, or despite evidence. There has never been such a concerted effort to suppress dissent, while using bad science to support doubtful opinion. Just recently, all the newspapers in the world had a headline: "2014 hottest year on record - IPPC" Only at the end of the article did it give the facts. 2014 was hotter by 0.02 degrees, with a margin of error of 0.20 degrees. No self-respecting scientist would make such a meaningless statement. And no scientist would ever say "The debate is over." It is never over. The whole basis of science is to depend on evidence, and any new evidence has to be accounted for. To get back to the margin of error, there has been no increase in global temperature for the last 18 years. This is a huge embarrassment to the IPPC, and they are desperate to come up with a reason. So far this century the deniers have been right, and the IPPC wrong. As you rightly observe, we cannot preach in favor of pollution, but we must not be panicked into expensive measures which are neither needed nor necessary. They cannot continue to scare us by failing to mention things that do not support their dodgy computer predictions: That Antarctic ice is increasing and now at a maximum. That sea levels have not increased. I was in the Maldives, and there is no measurable change. That bad weather is not caused by warming. That the 97 percent of scientists, they love to quote, only agreed that there is climate change (surprise, surprise), and that man-made emissions had "some effect." Hardly a ringing endorsement to make us change our way of life. Unfortunately, if climate change is your religion, it is goodbye to rational discourse, and goodbye truth and logic. The press might help by giving both sides of the story, but they thrive on scare tactics. Need I say I am not supported by oil companies. On the contrary, I am supporting them. Dr. John Cocker.
Stouffville, Ontario
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 40 | |
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The slide area at kilometer 33 is at a point known as La Cangreja. Workmen have cut into the adjacent hillside with the landowners permission to create space for another lane. |
 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad photo
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| Now road officials say that the Interamericana Sur might
reopen Friday |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The slide on the Interamericana Sur probably will not be reopened to traffic until at least Friday, road officials said Wednesday. They had hoped to open the section today. In addition to a layer of clay and needed drainage work, workmen have to work around an underground fiber optic cable, said the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad. The clay becomes unstable when wet, which may be the way the outside |
lane of the
two-lane highway slipped down a cliff in late January. The
road is the most important highway in southern Costa Rica, and
the collapse had caused truckers and others to make lengthy detours
over secondary roads. Even when opened, the new section will be temporary. However, asphalt will be laid down. Workmen have dug into the adjacent hillside to make room for a second lane. The work is at kilometer 33 at a point known as La Cangreja. |
| Improving the national menu could have a favorable impact on
tourism |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Expats sometimes complain about what they see as a limited menu in Costa Rica. Rice and beans do play a big role in the diet of many Ticos. But there are options. For example there is the Caribbean culture where rondón, the traditional soup, takes many forms. And there is the patty, the Jamaican meat pastry. Like most countries, the menu is highly regionalized. The culture ministry has embarked on a number of annual contests to have locals bring out their regional dishes. The result has been a series of booklets preserving the recipes of the regional dishes. Then there is a formal effort to tickle the local palates. The Plan Nacional de Gastronomía Sostenible y Saludable has as one goal the creation of new food products both for exportation and for local consumption. Costa Rica is in the big time next week when chefs Luis Guillermo Castro and Lizbeth Rodríguez Benavides and Alejandro Madrigal, director of the restaurant chamber, go to Galacia, Spain, to show off Costa Rican cuisine. Costa Rica is the invited country for the annual Feria Xantar 2015 in Ourense. Madrigal also is the national coordinator of the Plan Nacional de la Gastronomía as well as the executive director of the Cámara Costarricense de Restaurantes e Afins. The food fair runs from Wednesday through the weekend and attracts thousands. Other presenters will be from Galicia and nearby Portugal. |
 A.M. Costa Rica archives
The casado is a popular
lunch mealThe fair already is promoting on its Web site Costa Rican favorites like the casado, the marriage of rice, beans, meat and platanos that is a typical lunch. Fair goers also are promised sopa negra, mondongo, the patty and even rondón. For the restaurant chamber and other Costa Rican officials this development of a unique Costa Rican cuisine also is a way to draw tourists. Local chefs have been experimenting for years using perhaps a thousand plant species that can be incorporated into cooking. The chamber, the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, the Instituto Costarricnse de Turismo and a host of other government agencies are involved. |
| You need to see Costa Rican tourism information HERE! |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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2015 and may
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 40 | |||||
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| Casa Presidencial again labels a
public document as a state secret |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Luis Guillermo Solís administration is surprising newspeople and lawmakers by designating certain documents as secret. The situation started when a La Nación reporter sought to get totals of the number of inmates being housed at the country's various prisons. This is a routine request, but the reporter was denied the information. La Nación brought a Sala IV complaint, and the court ruled that the reporter should get the information. But La Nación said Wednesday that the minister of Justicia y Paz, Cristina Ramírez Chavarría, has declined to do so despite the court order. She has appealed the decision. She also was the |
first to use
the
term state secret. Lawmakers said Wednesday afternoon that there is another state secret. A reporter sought a list of those who have visited Casa Presidencial. Again this is a document that usually is provided without problems. Casa Presidencial has declined to provide the list with the contention that it contains the names of informants' visits to speak with members of the Dirección de Inteligencia y Seguridad del Estado. Rolando González Ulloa, a lawmaker, said he would propose a bill that would define exactly what is a state secret. He also questioned if informants should be visiting Casa Presidencial in the first place. |
Here's reasonable medical care
Costa Rica's world class medical specialists are at your command. Get the top care for much less than U.S. prices. It is really a great way to spend a vacation. See our list of recommended professionals HERE!amcr-prom
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A.
2015 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth
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Three foreign nationals held as terror supporters By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. authorities on Wednesday arrested and arraigned two foreign nationals living in New York on charges of plotting to support the Islamic State group in Syria and kill President Barack Obama, police and FBI agents in the United States. A third foreign national was charged separately. The U.S. Department of Justice said Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, a citizen of Kazakhstan, was arrested at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, where he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul. Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, of Uzbekistan, had a ticket to travel to Istanbul next month and was arrested in Brooklyn. Abror Habibov, 30, also of Uzbekistan, is accused of helping fund Saidakhmetov's efforts. He was arrested in Florida, where he appeared in a federal court and was appointed a public defender. Juraboev and Saidakhmetov appeared in a Brooklyn court later Wednesday and were held without bail. All three are charged with attempt and conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization. If convicted, each faces a maximum of 15 years in prison. The Justice Department said Juraboev was set to engage in terrorism in the U.S. if ordered to do so by Islamic State, and Saidakhmetov intended to do the same if he was not able to travel overseas to join Islamic State fighters. "This is real," New York Police Commissioner William Bratton told a news conference. "This is the concern about the lone wolf inspired to act without ever going to the Mideast, or the concern once they get to the Mideast to acquire fighting skills, capabilities and then attempt to return to the country." U.S. officials said they first became aware of the three men after Juraboev made an August 2014 posting on an Uzbek-language Web site that promotes Islamic State. The U.S. said Juraboev offered to kill Obama if Islamic State ordered it. The authorities alleged that more recently, Saidakhmetov said he wanted to buy a machine gun and shoot police officers and U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents if thwarted in his attempt to join Islamic State in Syria. According to the criminal complaint in the case, Saidakhmetov said, "We will go and purchase one handgun ... then go and shoot one police officer. Boom ...Then, we will take his gun, bullets and a bulletproof vest ... then, we will do the same with a couple of others. Then we will go to the FBI headquarters, kill the FBI people." The U.S. said Saidakhmetov called his mother last week to ask for his passport. The government said that when she asked him where he was going, he said, "If a person has a chance to join Islamic State and does not go there, on judgment day he will be asked why, and that it is a sin to live in the land of infidels." In one of the online messages, the U.S. said one of the suspects wrote, "I am in U.S.A. now but we don't have any arms. Is it possible to commit ourselves as dedicated martyrs anyway while here? What I'm saying is, to shoot Obama and then get shot ourselves, will it do?" Attorney Adam Perlmutter, who is representing Saidakhmetov, questioned the government's tactics and said the U.S. needs to find alternate ways to approach Muslims who may be drawn to radicals. "There was no attempt to intervene, to speak, to explore, to understand, there is just the rush to prosecution, to arrest and to conviction," Perlmutter told reporters. Western officials estimate more than 20,000 foreigners have joined militant groups in Iraq and Syria in the last three years, with as many as 4,000 from Western Europe. This week, British police said three teenage girls from London flew to Turkey to join Islamic State militants. It is believed that they have now crossed into Syria. The federal prosecutor in New York, Loretta Lynch, nominated by Obama to be the U.S. attorney general, said, “The flow of foreign fighters to Syria represents an evolving threat to our country and to our allies.” A U.S. law enforcement official said there are Islamic State-related investigations in all 50 U.S. states. Sam Mullins, counterterrorism professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, said foreign fighters don't necessarily always travel together. Many travel weeks or months apart or are part of a group at home. Mullins, who studies the flow of foreign fighters from Europe, North America and Australia to militant groups like the Islamic State, said the planning is almost never done alone. "When people radicalize, it's very often a group process. When we look at radicalization more generally, the groups or network are very important," he said. "The number of people who entirely self-radicalize with no social interaction, even online, is very, very rare," said Mullins. Australian jihadi brides causing official concerns By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Australian officials are increasingly concerned about young women supporting radical Islamic groups. Ministers warn that some citizens have traveled to Syria and Iraq to become so-called jihadi brides. Canberra believes there are between 30 and 40 Australian women who have taken part in terror attacks or are supporting the Islamic State terror network. While some are providing active backing at home, others have traveled to the Middle East. Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop has told parliament that an increasing number of Australian women were heading to Iraq or Syria to join husbands fighting with Islamic State or to marry a militant. She has warned potential Islamic State recruits, however, that the group’s attitudes towards women were utterly appalling and said that if they travel to the Middle East, it will be no romantic adventure. She warned that foreign women had ended up as sex slaves and in some cases suicide bombers. Homegrown extremism has become a growing concern for Australia’s security agencies, and officials fear what might happen if radicalized women return home. About 90 young Australian men are thought to be fighting with the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Ms. Bishop told MPs that females accounted for nearly 20 per cent of all foreign jihadis in Syria and Iraq, and said the number of Australians joining their ranks was a worrying sign. “There is this phenomena of jihadi bride, and this means that young women are either attracted to a male foreign terrorist fighter, they are going with their male partner to Syria and Iraq - or in some instances they are actually looking for a partner and are being told online that there are opportunities for them in Syria and Iraq. Others are just supporting a terrorist organization because they've been radicalized, either through a group or online,” said Ms. Bishop. Meanwhile, it is reported that an Australian man fighting with Kurdish militants against Islamic State has been killed in northern Syria. Monday Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced new counter-terrorism laws to tighten citizenship and immigration regulations along with a crackdown on groups inciting religious or racial hatred. Last September, Canberra raised its domestic terror threat level from medium to high. Obama blames Republicans in talk to Miami gathering By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
President Barack Obama raised the political pressure on the opposition over immigration Wednesday, telling members of Miami's Latino community that Republicans were to blame for stalling the reform. "For the next set of presidential candidates," he told a town hall meeting hosted by the Spanish-language TV network Telemundo, "when they start asking for votes, the first question should be, 'Are you really going to deport 11 million people? If not, what's your plan?' " Obama defended his plan to protect up to 5 million undocumented immigrants and said he disagreed with a federal judge in Texas who blocked his order from taking effect. The president said it could take months for an appeals court to overturn that ruling. He said he remained confident that he was within his legal rights to protect such a broad group of undocumented immigrants, and he urged those who would qualify for the program to continue preparing their applications. "Until we pass a law through Congress, the executive actions we've taken are not going to be permanent. They are temporary," he said. He said he would veto attempts by the GOP leadership to halt his executive orders through a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security, which will run out of money Friday if no deal is struck. "The pressure has to continue to stay on Congress. The pressure has to continue to stay on the Republican Party that is currently blocking the passage of comprehensive immigration reform," he said. Obama rejected accusations that he failed to act on immigration reform early in his administration while Democrats controlled Congress. He became a little piqued when a member of the public accused Democrats and Republicans of playing political ping pong with immigration. "That's just not true. … Democrats have consistently stood on the side of comprehensive immigration reform," the president said. The president suggested Americans, particularly young people, who fail to vote have to shoulder some of the blame for the lack of progress on immigration. He pointed out that two-thirds of eligible voters stayed home in the last election, while in some war-torn countries voter turnout can be as high as 60 or 70 percent. "So, my question, not just to the immigrant community, but the country as a whole, is, 'Why are you staying at home? Why are you not participating?' " But he predicted that the immigration issue eventually would be solved, "because at some point there is going to be a President Rodriguez or Chin," Obama said to applause. Senate passes a clean bill to fund Homeland Security By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Senate has broken a political deadlock that threatens funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the government agency that patrols the country's borders and airports against possible terrorists. Senators voted 98 to 2 Wednesday to debate and vote on a so-called clean funding bill for the department, one without any other issues attached to it. The House of Representatives passed a Homeland Security bill several weeks ago. But it included Republican provisions banning funding for President Barack Obama's executive order blocking more than 4 million people who came to the U.S. illegally from deportation. Senate Democrats refused to accept the House bill and Obama had threatened to veto it. Wednesday's Senate vote splits the bill into two separate measures, one to fund the Department of Homeland Security and another on immigration. If Congress cannot pass a Homeland Security funding bill by Friday night, the department will run out of money. About 30,000 workers could be laid off while 200,000 others would be working without pay. Homeland Security patrols the country's borders, staffs security checkpoints at airports, and protects Obama and his family. Republicans opposed to the president's immigration policies accuse him of overstepping his authority. But the president insists he is acting legally. His executive order includes expanding a program protecting young immigrants from deportation if their parents illegally brought them to the United States. The government had planned to start taking applications to avoid deportation last week. But a judge in Texas halted the president's orders. The government is appealing that decision. D.C. mayor says pot law going into effect today By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser said a voter-approved measure legalizing marijuana would take effect today, despite warnings from some in Congress that the city would be breaking federal law. Voters passed the marijuana law in November. It legalizes possessing and smoking in private a fifth of a kilogram of pot. It also legalizes growing small amounts of the plant. Buying, selling and smoking in public still would be against the law. The District of Columbia joins Alaska, Colorado and the state of Washington in legalizing marijuana. But the district is not a state, and the federal government oversees its spending. The Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, warned the mayor that she and other city officials could go to jail for implementing the law. Bowser was not intimidated. "Bullying the District of Columbia is not what his constituents expect, nor do ours," she said Wednesday. "We do disagree on a matter of law. There are reasonable ways to resolve this without us threatening him or he us." A House spending bill passed in December did not include funds for the city to implement the marijuana law. City officials contend voters passed the law a month before Congress approved the spending bill. Legal experts from both the city and Congress say it is highly unlikely the mayor or anyone else will be jailed over the new law. But there are other punitive measures Congress could take against the city. U.S., Cuba meeting again on opening embassies By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. and Cuban officials will sit down for a second round of talks Friday to discuss the process of restoring diplomatic ties. After having an initial meeting in Havana in January, the two sides now will meet in Washington to talk about issues that include the process for reopening embassies. As the two sides prepare to discuss diplomatic relations, there are continued questions about Cuba’s human rights record, as well as its designation by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism. Rep. Eliot Engel, a Democrat, is part of a U.S. delegation that recently visited Cuba. He said U.S. officials raised the issue of human rights in all of their meetings with Cuban officials. “I believe the ball is now in the Cuban government’s court to respond by ending the harassment of political activists and releasing political prisoners,” said Engel. As Secretary of State John Kerry testified before a House panel Wednesday, Republican lawmaker Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the Cuban government has arrested more than 300 opposition activists within the past two weeks. She said among them was Berta Soler, a leading dissident who recently testified in Washington. “She returned to Cuba on a Saturday. She was arrested Sunday. Yet, the U.S.-Castro talks are still scheduled to go on here at the State Department on Friday,“ said Ms. Ros-Lehtinen. Secretary of State John Kerry said Cuba should be judged by its future actions. “Don’t measure it by where it is today. Measure it by what begins to happen as this process of normalization takes place and we have an opportunity to be able to press those issues,” said Kerry. A senior State Department official says Cuba’s human rights record is not expected to be a focal point of Friday’s talks, but that the U.S. hopes to set up dates for future dialogue on the issue. The official said having that dialogue is likely to be more effective after the two countries move forward with reopening embassies and restoring diplomatic ties. Some Cuban officials also have indicated that they want to link the country’s removal from the state sponsor of terrorism list to re-establishing ties. The State Department official says that, for now, the two processes remain separate. Life under ice shelf shocks 40-person research team By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
There is life, hundreds of meters under Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf. Northern Illinois University geology professor Reed Scherer saw the thriving marine community on video monitors connected to a remotely operated vehicle sent down a borehole in the ice. The vehicle, known as Deep SCINI for Submersible Capable of under Ice Navigation and Imaging, explored a 400-square meter cavity 740 meters below the ice. “It is a very mobile environment,” Scherer marvelled. “The bottom is changing constantly. We saw things that swim and things that crawl. Obviously they are getting enough nutrition that they can thrive. Some of the little crustacean-like creatures swam quickly and were quite active.” The location is the farthest south that fish have ever been seen. Scherer was on a 40-person team that has just wrapped up a National Science Foundation-funded expedition to the Ross Ice Shelf, the world’s largest floating ice sheet, about the size of Spain. He admits he was surprised to find fish. “The central focus of the research was to try to get some actual physical constraints on what the ice sheet looks like over time and what it is doing right now.” His colleague Ross Powell led the expedition, which put tractors on the ice to pull electric generators, tents, science labs, heavy equipment and other supplies1,000 kilometers from the McMurdo Station to their research site. It was downstream from the subglacial lake where the two geologists worked in 2012 to 2013. That project discovered abundant microbial life. DNA analysis of the lake water and sediment found some 4,000 viable species in the lake water and about 2,500 in lake sediment. “We tried to understand the environment there, both ecologically and in terms of the ice dynamics about how the lake operates, how the sediment underneath the ice sheet operates as well.” Powell says. “It is the water and the sediment underneath the ice that controls how fast the ice is flowing into the ocean.” During this expedition, the researchers targeted an area called the grounding zone, where Antarctic ice, land and sea converge. Powell says the site may provide new evidence that can help predict the effect of climate change on rising sea levels. “We have found these are very sensitive areas to the stability of how dynamic the ice is and how fast the ice may react to increases of melting both from the ocean and the atmosphere.” Using a new hot water drill developed and built by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, researchers cleanly bore down 740 meters. For the first time, they collected water and sediment samples from the grounding zone and by chance, discovered the fish, some of which, Powell says, may be new to science. Ice and sediment cores were also extracted for future analysis. They may offer clues about how the creatures got here, what they feed on and the impact the retreating ice might have on them. “We know that the ice is melting there at the moment and so by opening up the cores once they get back, we hope to be able to understand what the ice was doing in the past, relative to what it is doing now," Powell explained. He says the work raises more questions than it answers. Together with other researchers, he is planning to apply for another grant to return to the frozen continent. |
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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contents of
this Web site are copyrighted by Consultantes Río Colorado S.A.
2015 and may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use are permitted. Check HERE for details |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Asamblea Legislativa for the second and final time approved a plan to borrow $395 million from the People's Republic of China to improve Ruta 32 from Limón to Río Frio, some 107 kilometers. The approval was expected because the majority of lawmakers passed the bill on first reading Monday. The vote Wednesday was 46 to 6. The money comes from the Chinese Import Export Bank, and a Chinese government company will do the work. The interest rate is 4 percent. Costa Rica still has to enter into a formal agreement to build the highway. A plan for widening the highway is expected to be finished in about nine months. That there was no plan caused some lawmakers concern because without a plan the cost of the job cannot be determined adequately. In addition to the highway widening, there are plans for a number of overpasses. The job is considered vital for the nation's road network because much of the freight from the docks in Limón and Moín travel on this road. Health ministry to survey 8,000 homes By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The health ministry plans to send 34 surveyors out to 8,000 homes to find out how tobacco is used there. The $245,000 project will last 14 weeks. The survey firm, Iniciativas de Desarrollo Empresarial S.A., is testing the questionnaire today and tomorrow in the canton of Mora and in Hatillo. Health officials said that the survey would be a benchmark for the country. A.M. Costa Rica incorrectly reported Wednesday that the survey already had been done. The ministry said that the survey results will help officials assign resources to needed areas. Among other questions, the surveyors will seek information on exposure to secondhand smoke. Little Theatre Group presents two plays Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The Little Theatre Group will open its 2015 season with two one-act plays: The "Gnadiges Fraulein" by Tennessee Williams and "The Dumb Waiter" by Harold Pinter. Directed by Ann Antkiw, these productions will be performed on two consecutive weekends at the Adila Cultural Center in La Asunción de Belen: March 6, 7, and 8, and March 13,14, and 15. The Tennessee Williams title translates as "The Gracious Lady." It is a one-act play. Friday night performances start at 8 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2.30 p.m. Tickets are 6,500 colons and 3,000 colons for students. Further information and reservations are available on the Little Theatre Group Web site: LittleTheatreGroup.org or by calling 8858-1446. |
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| From Page 7: Venezuelan currency creates a headache By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Several major companies with operations in Venezuela are trying to prepare their annual income statements. Good luck. The firms say that the Venezuelan currency has jumped around so much that doing accurate accounting is difficult. One of these firms is Coca-Cola FEMSA, S.A.B. de C.V., the Mexican soft drink firm. The company reported that revenue grew 23.3 percent for the fourth quarter of 2014 and 24.7 percent for the full year. But for income from Venezuela the company used an arbitrary 50 bolivars to the U.S. dollar. There are several exchange rates in the country. Government authorities have clearly stated that the applicable exchange rate for the majority of the total imports of the country including food, medicines and other basic goods such as raw materials, will continue to be the 6.30 bolivars per U.S. dollar rate, the company said. Coca-Cola FEMSA said it continues to have access to this rate for raw material purchases. Coca-Cola FEMSA said it remains committed to the market and will continue producing, selling and distributing the products that Venezuelan consumers enjoy on a daily basis. |
