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Remember how before Anderson Silva beat Chael Sonnen at UFC 148, Sonnen said he wanted Silva's wife to make him a steak, and then after the fight, Silva invited Sonnen to a a barbecue? Well, the barbecue happened, but Sonnen didn't show.
Silva says it wasn't just some hamburgers on the grill affair, but a true Brazilian gaucho barbecue. Sonnen now has his sights on UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, and he's forgotten all about his pal Andy.
If you are taking your permit test soon, you definitely want to make sure that you are getting your practice in. One way to do this is to take a practice permit test online. Taking the time to do this, as well as other things that will be described below, you will get the help you need to easily pass this test, no matter what state you are in. As they say, ?practice makes perfect? and if you really want to make sure that you pass the test, the only way to really go about it is to get enough practice in.
What is the DMV Permit Test?
The test that you will be practicing for, known as the permit test, is the test that you will need to take in order to get your driving permit. Most states will just require a written test on the computer in order to take your permit test, but others may also have a road test, depending on the level you are at in a graduated driving program. This test will evaluate your knowledge on road signs, driving laws and other things that all drivers are required to know. Each state has their own test as each state has their own laws.
How Difficult is the Permit Test?
When it comes to difficulty, the permit test would be considered to be moderately difficult. It would be very impressive if someone went in to take the test and passed it with no practice or study. This is why it is extremely important for you to prepare for this test. One way that you can do it is by taking a practice permit test online.
Getting the Most Out of the Practice Permit Test Online
It is recommended that when you take the practice permit test online that you take it more than once. If you take it blindly, without any study or practice, you should not be surprised if you get a lot of questions incorrect. However, don?t let that dishearten you, as that is how you learn and how you will be able to get the most out of the test. The more you take the practice permit test online, the better you will be when you take the actual test at your local DMV office.
What Else Can I Do to Pass the Test?
There are many hints and tips that you can employ in order to ensure that you take the test and pass. One of these hints is to actually read the DMV handbook. You can get the DMV handbook for your state at the local DMV office in your area. It has every single answer in it that you can need, but you won?t be able to get the answers unless you read and study the book.
Another hint that can be quite useful is to make flash cards of terms or ideals that you find are tripping you up. Anytime you study for a test, if you are like most people, there are a few things that will be more difficult to understand than others. By using these cards, you can focus on the information that you need to know that may be tripping you up.
Finally, you can make sure that before you take the actual test, you get a good night?s sleep as well as have something to eat. You may be nervous about the test, but making sure you do those things will help to keep your brain sharp. If you have time, you should try to take the practice permit test online once more before the real test. You can find a great practice test here: http://practicepermittestonline.com/
Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum and two Republican senators ? one of whom previously called for Todd Akin to step down ? threw support behind the congressman Wednesday.
By David Grant,?Staff writer / September 26, 2012
Missouri Republican Senate candidate, Rep. Todd Akin speaks during a news conference at the start of a statewide bus tour, Tuesday, Sept. 25, in St. Louis.
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The Missouri Republican?s senatorial campaign, rocked by his remarks regarding ?legitimate rape? last month, was left for dead by scores of national Republicans. Weeks ago, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and Crossroads GPS, a Republican heavyweight ?super PAC,? pulled advertising from the Show-Me State.
But on Wednesday, the day after Representative Akin could pull out of the race and his name not appear on the ballot, his campaign against Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) was supported by former presidential candidate Rick Santorum (who won Missouri?s Republican presidential primary) and two Republican senators ? one of whom previously called for Akin to step down.
"If Republicans are to win back the Senate and stop President Obama's liberal agenda, we must defeat Senator Claire McCaskill in Missouri. Her support of President Obama's job-killing, big-spending policies are sending our country into an economic abyss,? said Mr. Santorum and Sen. Jim DeMint (R) of South Carolina in a jointly released statement.
Senator DeMint, a leading figure of the Senate?s most conservative wing whose political-action committee has supported many stridently conservative candidates, is weighing whether to put financial support behind his political vote of confidence.
The other senator voicing support for Akin? Sen. Roy Blunt (R) of Missouri.
?Congressman Akin and I don?t agree on everything, but he and I agree the Senate majority must change,? Senator Blunt said in a statement. ?From Governor Romney to the county courthouse, I'll be working for the Republican ticket in Missouri, and that includes Todd Akin."
In August, however, Blunt joined all four living former Missouri senators in calling for Akin to step down.
?We do not believe it serves the national interest for Congressman Todd Akin to stay in this race,? the five men said in a joint statement. ?The issues at stake are too big, and this election is simply too important. The right decision is to step aside.?
Blunt?s about-face seems to be about making the best of a bad situation, says Dave Robertson, a professor of political science at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. With control of the US Senate hanging in the balance, the GOP can?t afford to give up on a race that many thought would be one of its easiest takeover opportunities before Akin?s debacle.
?Whether Akin loses or wins, Blunt is doing this for the party,? Professor Robertson says. ?I think it?s not going to be remembered that he did much of this, besides by people who support Akin. For Blunt, it probably is mostly pluses and not many minuses.?
Will any of this backup make a difference for Akin?
It?s unlikely, says Brian Calfano, a political science professor at Missouri State University in Springfield, that Santorum and DeMint will move the needle for the congressman.
?They?re both appealing to a strongly partisan or ideologically pure element of the electorate,? Professor Calfano says. ?And Akin already has that support.?
Blunt, on the other hand, may help.
?He?s not as associated with the kinds of tea party or strident social conservatism that DeMint or Santorum are,? Calfano says. ?Being as he is the hometown senator, he?s going to have a lot more influence? with more center-right voters.
Yet it?s going to take money, and lots of it, to get Akin back on top against the flush McCaskill campaign.
That?s what DeMint may offer ? and possibly other national Republicans who have turned off the spigots.
?There?s no way they?re going to ignore the possibility of knocking [McCaskill] off,? Calfano says. ?You?re probably still going to see some support from a [political-action committee] or a NRSC to come in and do something, even though they said they wouldn?t. They?re going to need that seat.?
It has become very popular to work with apersonal trainer to achieve fitness goals. It is easy to let someone else stand over you and give you instructions much like a drill sergeant would; you do not have to think about what to do, how long to do it, when to do it or even how to do it, a personal trainer takes care of all that for you. But if the idea of someone controlling your fitness regime does not excite you, do not worry, you can still get to where you want to be without the help of a personal trainer.
Frustration, Embarrassment and the Gym
Sometimes, having someone that looks great in a tiny bathing suit tell you how you should be working out can give you a poor feeling of self-image. You may be embarrassed when you are not sure how to do something or when he or she tries to talk to you about your eating habits or how out of shape you are. If you meet with your trainer at a public gym, the embarrassment can be doubled. Quite often, this can lead to you missing appointments and just wasting your money.
Motivation and Dedication
It is true that having a personal trainer may get you through when you lack motivation but if you are missing appointments it will not do you any good. Believe it or not, it does not take very long to get into the routine of doing your exercises. Once you have created a habit, you will not need any added motivation from someone you pay. Find a friend to help you get through the beginning part. If they are willing to exercise with you, that?s even better. A workout buddy is the perfect motivator (as long as you choose that workout partner wisely). No one can make you dedicated to exercising; that has to come from within, and for some, it?s a wake up call. Hopefully, you won?t wait for any life-threatening wake up call to get you to begin taking your health seriously.
Understanding your Strengths, Weaknesses and Fitness Goals
You know yourself. It might take some deep thinking to admit some of your weaknesses and you may tend to over exaggerate your strengths, but when it comes right down to it, you know what? you are capable of and how far to push yourself. While there are some common fitness goals such as lowering blood pressure or improving overall health, a personal trainer may try to have you reaching for a goal you really do not care about. Again, having a friend to work out with may be better for you in the long run. You are more apt to open up and tell them how you feel and what it is you are trying to achieve than talk to someone you do not know and who cannot relate to you. Most people do not even like to talk to a doctor about certain issues, and weight is one of them.
Taking Classes or Working out with Videos
It is not necessary to have apersonal trainer to design different routines for you. There are many different classes at gyms or community centers you can attend. This also gives you a chance to meet and talk with people who are experiencing the same problems you have. If you do not feel you are ready to go public with your exercising, there are thousands of videos available to buy or rent; many can be viewed online.
The important thing is to take charge of your exercise regimen; get up and get moving. The more you do, the better you will feel. With our without a trainer, doing anything is better for you than doing nothing at all.
About the Author: Victoria Heckstall is a freelance writer who believes that fitness goals can be achieved without the assistance of a personal trainer. Additionally, she invites you to use this Nutrisystem referral code and learn more about weight loss after pregnancy.
If you enjoyed this post, I?d be very grateful if you?d help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or Facebook. Also if you haven't done so yet, go grab your Gymboss Interval Timer below. Thank you!
Looking for something to replace that lackluster 8-Track, cassette, or CD player that came with your car? Instead of using some goofy adapter or FM transmitter, why not replace the entire unit with a Samsung Galaxy S III?
That was the train of thought for Steve, aka youtube user philstuffs. He had an old JVC head unit that just wasn't cutting it. So instead of spend the money on a stand-alone head unit for his vehicle, he used his trusty SGS3. He modified a standard car charger so the phone charges when the car is on and he hooked up the audio-out from his phone to the amplifier in his trunk. Simple and effective.
Before you get on his case for the phone not being centered, he knows this. He states in his youtube?video description that he still needs to come up with a "prettier facia" and is even thinking about using fiberglass.?
What I want to know is: How does he take the phone with him when he leaves the vehicle? From the looks of it, that facia?he cooked up is removable, and he can unhook his SGS3 and be on his way. Not the most practical solution. Maybe his final design will be more practical and user friendly.
Would you replace your entire head unit with your smartphone? How do you listen to music from your phone in your car? Let us know in the comments. Video after the break.
There have been much talk during the last few years concerning British housing economy. Ensure you build a savings fund expertise of any most respected as well as recognized provider that could connect your current prerequisite plus employ space appropriately. If you may have finished walls and ceiling it?ll cost you less and spend less time. Select flooring for garage conversions on the many options-wood, carpet, laminate, tile or vinyl fabric. Should there be described as a problem after the is completed marketing and advertising to have an individual nearby who is going to come and rectify however, the problem rather than call someone who?s miles away. So decide if you would like the floor leveled or considering leaving it simply because is, covering it away with wood, tiles etc. Most satisfactory projects start with removing the garage doorway, converting it for an actual wall with doors and windows. Having an establishment to relax and even unwind by demand is unparalleled. But a downside to adding a location is the excessive cost.
Bring a disused garage in through the cold, and make it an important part of your warm loved ones household. Whether you transform into a master suite, a royal bathroom as well as a home gym, it?s more convenient versus building a different living area. Take assistance from a Garage conversion/ restorations professional: It is far better to consult professionals though attempting garage sales. Have an established contractor check out your garage and provide you some ideas for the conversion. There will also need to be a principal door that accesses home and electrical connections end up being modified to satisfy building code demands. Never try a builder that only contains a form to inquire or perhaps mobile phone. Some with the ideal points that can be discussed before that start of conversion includes coping with right kind with access, circulation space plus ventilation. It?s a really a boon to get a growing family to create a spacious home as well as a relaxed life and there?s lots of ways of renovating the garage pertaining to home improvement looked after involves a detailed study on the garage before we opt for the conversion. You will be able to decorate it and also turn one part in to a makeshift living location. You have got to modify your house by installing heating many cages, as well simply because providing soft places to enable them to lounge and if you can, access to ones garden so there?s no need to deal with numerous litter trays.
A complete conversion could be rather costly, depending on a complexity. Fabrics will run anyone between $200 plus $2000 for general conversions and can move up to $20000 to get complete conversions. While you are starting from the start, a foundation needs to be poured, outside walls be built, and windows is required to be purchased. Vehicles growing larger and properties have become more pricey, so having a powerful unused garage can be quite a lost area at your house. Here are some very nice ideas that will help you come up through something. You are able to either cut out and about swaths of concrete flooring to perform drainage pipes or elevate a floor. We may advise on every relevant planning matters and introduce the services of any local Architect whenever necessary. I?ve even seen a residential area once that possessed two boards and yes it was an around throw, not fun, but effective.
Visit our website today and find all the information you need on attic conversions specialist.
Where in Sydney?is Manly? Certainly not in Balgowlah.
FORTUNE -- Unbeknownst to me, I've been feeding geographical information into Google's (GOOG) mapping database for years -- searching for addresses, sharing my location, checking for traffic jams on Google Maps.?Google, for its part, has been scraping that data for every nugget of intelligence its computers can extract. Without consciously volunteering, I've been participating in a massive crowdsourcing experiment -- perhaps the largest the world has ever seen. Who knows what I might have been teaching Google Maps if I'd been navigating the surface of the planet with an Android phone in my pocket?
Apple (AAPL), by building its much-loved (and now much-missed) iPhone Maps app on Google's mapping database, has been complicit in this Herculean data collection exercise since the launch of the first iPhone in 2007. The famous Google cars that drive up and down the byways of the world collecting Street View images get most of the attention, but it's the billions upon billions of data points supplied by hundreds of millions of users that make Google Maps seem so smart and iOS 6's new Maps app seem so laughably stupid.
In Saturday's New York Times, Op Ed columnist Joe Nocera asks: "If?Steve Jobs?were still alive, would the new map application on the?iPhone?5 be such?an unmitigated disaster? Interesting question, isn't it?"
No Joe, it's not an interesting question. It's the No. 1 clich??of the post-Jobsian era.
Besides, the decision to pull the plug on Google's mapping database at the end of what was probably a five-year contract had to have been made while Jobs was running the company.
"Not doing its own Maps would be a far bigger mistake," says Asymco's Horace Dediu, who addressed the issue at length in last week's Critical Path podcast. "The mistake was not getting involved in maps sooner, which was on Jobs' watch. Nokia saw the writing on the wall five years ago and burned $8 billion to get in front of the problem. The pain Apple feels now is deferred from when they decided to hand over that franchise to Google at the beginning of iPhone."
It's easy to poke fun at Apple's Maps app in its current state. I've had my share of laughs, starting last June (see?here?and here), and now everybody is piling on.
But the fact is, the company found itself in the position of feeding its customers' priceless location information into the mapping database of its mortal enemy. That couldn't go on forever.
Weaning itself from Google Maps will not be easy. It may be one of the hardest things Apple has ever tried to do.
If you've seen enough examples of the boneheaded mistakes Apple Maps is making and want to get a sense of what's involved in correcting them, I recommend Mike Dobson's?Google Maps announces a 400 year advantage over Apple Maps.
Dobson, a former professor of geography at SUNY Albany, was Rand McNally's chief cartographer from 1986 to 2000 and now runs a consulting service called TeleMapics.
"Perhaps the most egregious error," he writes, "is that Apple's team relied on quality control by algorithm and not a process partially vetted by informed human analysis. You cannot read about the errors in Apple Maps without realizing that these maps were being visually examined and used for the first time by Apple's customers and not by Apple's QC teams. If Apple thought that the results were going to be any different than they are, I would be surprised. Of course, hubris is a powerful emotion."
Dobson has been fielding and answering questions from readers in the comment stream of his Exploring Local blog. It's like a graduate seminar in cartography. I hope someone at Apple is auditing it.
A Few Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence, Idiot Systems, Implant Computing and other Topics
Here are some key issues and technologies that should be part of a strategic planning exercise no matter what business you are in.
1. Even with the explosive pace of technology, human endeavors in artificial intelligence are still very primitive.
2. The pace of the pursuit of human-made systems remains, for the most part, an extension of machines rather than an extension of human knowledge processing. If this approach continues, there will be vastly sophisticated high-speed processing devices that will provide elegant simulations of real- world conditions. However, these conditions will parallel the real world rather than interact with it.
3. The development of new technology continues to outstrip society?s ability to absorb its effects, much less its potential consequences. However, technology is like the extension of a rubber band stretched far ahead. While society is anchored in the past and holds the rubber band back, technological change stretches the rubber band ahead. The rubber band keeps getting stretched further until, sometime, it will break, splintering society into widely diverse factions. Everything from terrorism to AIDS is being impacted by the increasing rate of communication and the knowledge of underlying issues.
4. With the acceleration of technology, the concept of artificial intelligence becomes an even more perplexing enigma. There have been business problems that have always existed: labor, working conditions, inventory, supply, and finance, and now there are issues, such as environmental impact, career planning, telecommuting, and productivity. Other new problems are on the horizon, and these merge with the old problems. Together with the needs of competitive advantage, new market demands, and global distribution, networks provide little opportunity for human-made systems to be up-to-the-moment. This doesn?t make the study of artificial intelligence worthless. AI permits organizations to exist where none were possible before. Much as one 100-horsepower motor took the place of 100 workers in textile mills a century ago, AI will become the intelligent worker of the future.
Some of the major technologies that offer the greatest potential are:
1. Neural networks. The subtle but truly amazing ability of the mind, upon a second?s glance, to recognize a face unseen for ten years and, at the same moment, forget where the car keys are. Automated neural networks offer nearly all industries and humankind new intelligent tools that become increasingly more human with use. This is partially due to the fact that most business is based on human interaction and human thinking processes. Systems that begin to learn about humans in humanlike ways, rather than humans adapting to machinelike ways, offer an incredible business opportunity.
2. Visualization systems. Visualization systems are those systems that convey and process information graphically. Rather than machines that see, these are complex machines that are able to potentially understand doodles, notes, ideas, and images as humans do. Humans interact with one another and their world in nearly a totally sensory way, and for the most part, in a totally visual way. Images are formed, sequences are organized, events are cataloged, and life-spans are archived, frame after frame. Visualization systems process information and provide, like pages in a book, frames or windows of events, concepts, and emotional situations. With advances in image processing and storage technology, we are now able to record every moment of everyone?s lives at a phenomenally low cost. The ability to record every moment is less critical in itself than the ability to use this information as part of a person?s expertise or skill, not unlike the skill of a successful CEO or manager whose ability and related compensation come from their knowledge, manipulation, and organization of certain facts to the financial benefit of an organization. By capturing personal information and by organizing it in a certain way, individuals will be able to market their own automated data bases to organizations, much like ?human? software programs. Throughout history, the power of information derives from, among other things, its ability to move from one point to another?its portability?and its usability when it arrives. Employment potential has also meant being in the right place with the right skill at the right time. The greatest problem with the demise of the industrial era is that in an information society skills can rarely be transmitted from one generation to the next. New skills are required, and people?s ability to organize information and themselves is critical to their overall success.
The development of systems and software that allow people to develop their own personal knowledge systems of information and provide that as marketable information will be as important in the near future as the latest generation of hybrid was to a farmer one hundred years ago. Visualization systems are not robot vision devices that can navigate through a maze; they are systems that interact with humans and with the world in a visual way. More than intelligent graphics, these systems convey knowledge and interact with other visual systems via visual language, operating in much the same way as a speaker who might begin a presentation by saying, ?Let me tell you a story.?
3. Idiot systems (dumb expert systems). The problem that presently exists with most expert systems is that they either require so much expertise that it takes an expert to use one, or they solve problems within too narrow a scope to be useful in the real world. What is really needed is an ignorant machine or idiot system (IS) machine. An IS knows nothing but is willing to learn about anything; it?s a system that does not pretend to be the expert, but makes a good apprentice. This system can tolerate enormous amounts of ambiguity, logic jumps, and gut reactions. It?s more like a pencil than a personal computer/tablet.
4. Training tools. The greatest limitation to computer technology is the instruction manual. People, whether they know how to or not, do not read the manuals. On-line ?help? files are hardly any better. Tools are needed that communicate with the students/users rather than teach them. Use of the computer as a communication tool may be its single most useful function for most people. It may take more than voice recognition to make the computer really useful, and it will probably take a lot more than that, because most people don?t have computers today. Learning systems in the future may take the form of not only the idiot system mentioned above, but also those systems designed to learn about you. Future teaching and training systems will not only have to provoke and motivate the student into learning what is needed today, but also teach people how to learn. In this sense, the people and the learning system can adapt to whatever working or living situation they encounter in the future.
5. Implant computing (IC). The evolution of the computer now permits serious consideration of machine-based systems that replace, or more importantly, augment or enhance biological functions. Much like technological steroids, there are systems that offer humans not only an aid to their biological functions but increased potential as well. Early systems of this type are now in the laboratories, such as those which allow persons with spinal injury to walk again and those devices that are able to detect certain types of diseases. With the expansion of IC, enormous improvements in medicine are possible. Detection and automatic insertion of corrective medicine may eliminate many diseases. This does not necessarily mean that the disease is eradicated but, in many cases, the disease can be stopped with early detection and some corrective measures can be taken. The development of implant computing will also allow direct access (at the user?s choice) to and from other ?true? machines as well as other people. This will, over the long term, blur the distinction between humans and machines, supporting and enhancing each other?s ability to survive and function.
In conclusion, technology always changes over the long-term much faster than we are able to predict, and society always changes at rates equally unpredictable, though often vastly slower than we think possible. I would like to leave you with my favorite quote from the Scottish psychiatrist, R.D. Laing, ?But what we think is less than what we know; what we know is less than what we love; what we love so much less than what there is. And to that precise extent we are so much less than what we are.?
It may be impossible for a machine to understand this, but when one does, and I think it will, we will understand so much more about ourselves than we ever thought possible.
UN, other experts warn of 'water bankruptcy' for many regions after reviewing 200 major global projectsPublic release date: 23-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Terry Collins
tc@tca.tc
416-538-8712
United Nations University
Study highlights horizon issues for world's freshwater and marine systems
Bangkok, 24 September 2012 - A study of almost 200 major international water-related projects over the past 20 years has identified a suite of existing and emerging challenges and how science can offer remedies.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment and promote sustainable development, partnered with the United Nations University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to extract lessons from a portfolio of major transboundary water projects involving investments of more than US$7 billion.
Insufficient and disjointed management of human demands on water and aquatic systems has led to situations where both social and ecological systems are in jeopardy and have even collapsed, says the report.
River basins in particular are set to experience growing pressures due to urbanization, rising water scarcity and poor water quality.
Investing in science, in order to identify emerging issues and track trends relating to the use of water resources, can help to reduce such risks, according to the study. Links between science and policymaking also need to be strengthened.
Several success stories of research investments that paid rich dividends are also highlighted in the report.
These include efforts to rid Lake Victoria of alien water hyacinths, where an unsuccessful project using harvesting and chopping machines was replaced with biological control of the hyacinths using a weevil. The GEF-backed approach yielded immediate positive results for biodiversity and local communities.
The new report, Science-Policy Bridges over Troubled Waters, synthesizes findings of over 90 scientists worldwide assigned to five GEF International Water Science (IW:Science) working groups focusing on groundwater, lakes, rivers, land-based pollution sources, and large marine ecosystems and the open ocean.
According to the report: "The consequences of poor decision-making are dire: we face a 'water bankruptcy' in many regions of the world with implications for food and energy security, adaptation to climate variability and change, economic growth and human security challenges."
The report was launched on the opening day of the GEF International Waters Science Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference aims to set priorities for international waters science over the next decade and to enhance the use of science in GEF projects and beyond.
Other key findings include:
Levels of dissolved oxygen levels in marine areas (a critical ecological indicator) have dropped significantly over a relatively short time. In 2008, over 400 marine dead zones were known to span a total area of more than 245,000 square kilometers.
The report also highlights a major increase of stored heat in oceans. Such changes could have negative impacts on ecosystems, sea levels and human livelihoods.
The management of groundwater remains isolated from other ecosystems, and the limitations in recharge capacity of aquifers are not well understood by decision makers.
Zafar Adeel, director of the United Nations University International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), and a report co-author, said: "This study underscores how often early 'alarm bells' with respect to emerging issues can be heard and must be heeded. The report offers helpful recommendations to the GEF to foster this process."
Ivan Zavadsky, GEF's International Waters Focal Area Coordinator, notes that over 20 years GEF had catalyzed the largest investment of its kind in human history. GEF's $1.3 billion catalyzed a total of $7 billion of investment in managing shared waters fresh and marine in almost every part of the planet, above and below its surface.
"One of the principal lessons from this review is that science must play a more central role in determining the nature and priority of these investments," he said. "This examination of work in the recent past contributes significant insights into the challenges ahead."
"World leaders agreed at the Rio+20 summit in June to strengthen the science-policy interface and to foster international research collaboration on sustainable development. This is especially important in respect to water resources at a point in time of unprecedented pressures from climate change and urbanization to pollution and over extraction," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"Some positive steps are being made, however. UNEP's recent Global Environment Outlook-5 report analyzed progress on 90 key environmental goals. It found that significant progress is being made in improving research to reduce pollution of the marine environment. These achievements need to be registered across the water management challenge including lakes, rivers and aquifers in order to bring water into the centre of development plans en route to an inclusive Green Economy", added Mr Steiner.
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The reports of the five IW: Science Working Groups Groundwater, Lakes, River Basins, Land-based Pollution Sources, and Large Marine Ecosystems and the Open Ocean and the synthesis report are available online at www.inweh.unu.edu/River/IWScienceReports.htm
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.
UN, other experts warn of 'water bankruptcy' for many regions after reviewing 200 major global projectsPublic release date: 23-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Terry Collins
tc@tca.tc
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United Nations University
Study highlights horizon issues for world's freshwater and marine systems
Bangkok, 24 September 2012 - A study of almost 200 major international water-related projects over the past 20 years has identified a suite of existing and emerging challenges and how science can offer remedies.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment and promote sustainable development, partnered with the United Nations University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to extract lessons from a portfolio of major transboundary water projects involving investments of more than US$7 billion.
Insufficient and disjointed management of human demands on water and aquatic systems has led to situations where both social and ecological systems are in jeopardy and have even collapsed, says the report.
River basins in particular are set to experience growing pressures due to urbanization, rising water scarcity and poor water quality.
Investing in science, in order to identify emerging issues and track trends relating to the use of water resources, can help to reduce such risks, according to the study. Links between science and policymaking also need to be strengthened.
Several success stories of research investments that paid rich dividends are also highlighted in the report.
These include efforts to rid Lake Victoria of alien water hyacinths, where an unsuccessful project using harvesting and chopping machines was replaced with biological control of the hyacinths using a weevil. The GEF-backed approach yielded immediate positive results for biodiversity and local communities.
The new report, Science-Policy Bridges over Troubled Waters, synthesizes findings of over 90 scientists worldwide assigned to five GEF International Water Science (IW:Science) working groups focusing on groundwater, lakes, rivers, land-based pollution sources, and large marine ecosystems and the open ocean.
According to the report: "The consequences of poor decision-making are dire: we face a 'water bankruptcy' in many regions of the world with implications for food and energy security, adaptation to climate variability and change, economic growth and human security challenges."
The report was launched on the opening day of the GEF International Waters Science Conference held in Bangkok, Thailand. The conference aims to set priorities for international waters science over the next decade and to enhance the use of science in GEF projects and beyond.
Other key findings include:
Levels of dissolved oxygen levels in marine areas (a critical ecological indicator) have dropped significantly over a relatively short time. In 2008, over 400 marine dead zones were known to span a total area of more than 245,000 square kilometers.
The report also highlights a major increase of stored heat in oceans. Such changes could have negative impacts on ecosystems, sea levels and human livelihoods.
The management of groundwater remains isolated from other ecosystems, and the limitations in recharge capacity of aquifers are not well understood by decision makers.
Zafar Adeel, director of the United Nations University International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), and a report co-author, said: "This study underscores how often early 'alarm bells' with respect to emerging issues can be heard and must be heeded. The report offers helpful recommendations to the GEF to foster this process."
Ivan Zavadsky, GEF's International Waters Focal Area Coordinator, notes that over 20 years GEF had catalyzed the largest investment of its kind in human history. GEF's $1.3 billion catalyzed a total of $7 billion of investment in managing shared waters fresh and marine in almost every part of the planet, above and below its surface.
"One of the principal lessons from this review is that science must play a more central role in determining the nature and priority of these investments," he said. "This examination of work in the recent past contributes significant insights into the challenges ahead."
"World leaders agreed at the Rio+20 summit in June to strengthen the science-policy interface and to foster international research collaboration on sustainable development. This is especially important in respect to water resources at a point in time of unprecedented pressures from climate change and urbanization to pollution and over extraction," said UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"Some positive steps are being made, however. UNEP's recent Global Environment Outlook-5 report analyzed progress on 90 key environmental goals. It found that significant progress is being made in improving research to reduce pollution of the marine environment. These achievements need to be registered across the water management challenge including lakes, rivers and aquifers in order to bring water into the centre of development plans en route to an inclusive Green Economy", added Mr Steiner.
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The reports of the five IW: Science Working Groups Groundwater, Lakes, River Basins, Land-based Pollution Sources, and Large Marine Ecosystems and the Open Ocean and the synthesis report are available online at www.inweh.unu.edu/River/IWScienceReports.htm
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Public release date: 23-Sep-2012
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