E.U. Climate Chief Says U.N. Talks Hinge on 2015 Deal 

By: Karl Ritter


What are we going to do about global warming? It almost seems like nothing concrete is occurring. (Ritter) In Warsaw, Poland, a U.N. conference was a just completed about the climate and what the future plans should be. "The European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard says the process needs to provide a "substantial answer" to global warming in two years to remain relevant." (Ritter 1). All of these questions are being asked and there is no complete answer. If this uncertainty keeps on occurring the U.N. needs to start having more meetings about the climate. People are now suggesting that all of the topics spoken during the conference should be broken up into pieces to get more ideas out and things done. All of this carbon gas is warming the planet and the U.N. has completely failed to do something effective. "Besides those emissions, the U.N. talks deal with a range of complex issues, including monitoring and verification of climate actions, accounting rules, and helping developing countries cope with sea level rise, desertification and other climate impacts as they transition to clean energy". (Ritter 1). These developing countries need work in industrialization, not more and improved technology. (Ritter)

During this conference, countries were arguing throughout the course of two weeks and ended in a complete unknown. (Ritter) There were no concrete or set ideas that were settled in this conference. These countries were speaking about the way to do things and simple explanations that should not be irrelevant when making plans about climate. Meanwhile, local and national governments are making many efforts to reduce carbon energy and increase efficiency. (Ritter) In fact, this year, China and the United States decided to partner up to help with energy efficiency. "The U.N. is the one place where all countries come together and everyone has a voice. World leaders simply need to set their sights higher and empower their teams to engage in a more constructive way. Without much greater ambition and action, we will soon be headed to a far more turbulent and dangerous world". (Jennifer Morgan). 


http://science.time.com/2013/11/25/e-u-climate-chief-says-u-n-talks-hinge-on-2015-deal/

Visitors from Beyond the Galaxy Reach the Antarctic 

By: Michael D. Lemonick  

For so many years astronomers have been trying to detect infrared light, ultraviolet light, and gamma rays. (Lemonick) "They've seen bursts of energy from black holes halfway across the universe, blips of radio noise from neutron starts spinning at hundreds of revolutions per second, and even the faint glow of microwaves emitted more than 13 billion years ago, in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang itself". (Lemonick 1). What these scientists are ultimately trying to look more into are neutrinos. This is a very difficult process because neutrinos are particles that move so rapidly. They usually are traveling throughout the universe in packs, passing through our bodies. 

In order to help to see these amazing neutrinos, a neutrino telescope was developed by many scientists from twelve different countries. (Lemonick) This powerful telescope is called the IceCube which is set at the South Pole. By using the IceCube, scientists have discovered 28 neutrinos. Even though that this IceCube was successful, it was not the first telescope created. There was another nuclear reactor throughout the 1950's, where neutrinos were detected. "But IceCube puts those earlier efforts to shame. It's made up of more than 5,000 individual detectors, strung on 86 cables and sunk up to 1.5 miles into the East Antarctic Ice Sheet". (Lemonick 1). Even though scientists say that they have seen the neutrinos, really they have seen a blue light called Cherenkov radiation. When looking at the intensity and the direction of this blue light, scientists are able to look at the energy level for intensity and the flight path for the direction. Out of the hundred thousand neutrinos detected throughout the first two years, only 28 were extragalactic. This number was around what people were saying was going to be. Overall, the IceCube is a successful new addition of helping us discover more neutrinos. (Lemonick)



http://science.time.com/2013/11/21/visitors-from-beyond-the-galaxy-reach-the-antarctic/

How Greenhouse Gases Saved Mars

By: Michael D. Lemonick 


"The same heat trapping processes that are causing so much trouble on Earth once made Mars a very pleasant place". (Lemonick 1). There have been so many arguments about what the atmosphere is made out of. The general things include carbon dioxide and water vapor but what is it, beyond that? Recent findings have been told in the Nature Geoscience that, "massive quantities of hydrogen gas belched from Martian volcanoes". (Lemonick). There are so many differences, when comparing the sun from now and the sun 3.8 billion years ago. "Not only is the planet again as far from the Sun's warmth as Earth is, but 3.8 billion years ago, when Martian rivers flowed, the Sun was only about three fourths as bright as it is today." (Lemonick 1). When first starting this project many years ago, scientists understood that the carbon dioxide was not the answer. When observing water, scientists found that when ice evaporates and turns into water vapor, that then turns into yet another greenhouse gas. Most of the leftover water would then fall to create other bodies of water. 

"Hydrogen is transparent to incoming solar light but blocks much of the resulting heat from escaping the same way other greenhouse gases do. On Earth we rarely see its effects since free hydrogen in our atmosphere combines too easily with other molecules". (Lemonick 1). Some factors of the atmosphere disappearing includes, Mar's gravity, solar wind, which would affect the outer layers of the atmosphere. This all remains unquestionable but scientists are still searching for more possibilities. (Lemonick)    
http://science.time.com/2013/11/25/how-greenhouse-gasses-saved-mars/

'Forest Giraffe' Now Endangered: Okapi Populations Drop 50 Percent in 18 years 

By: John R. Platt 


This past week, a new animal has been put on the endangered species list by the International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources. (Platt) The okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is very rare and hard to find. This species is shockingly related to giraffes but have somewhat similar characteristics to the zebra and a large deer. People disagree and say that this animal should have been on the list, starting in 2008, but has not made it on until this past week. "This species has lost at least 50 percent of its population since 1995 due to poaching and habitat loss. The species had previously been listed under the Red List category of "near threatened", "(Platt 1).

The Okapi Specialist Group has reported that this species can only be found in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Platt) There has been so much reoccurring violence throughout this area and this species has not been well payed attention to. The DRC has been remaining in civil conflict and suffering from extreme poverty. "The DRC already has laws in place to protect okapi, which are considered the country's national animal, but the constant presence of armed rebels and militias makes enforcement difficult if not impossible". (Platt). In result of this, the Okapi Conservation Project was created, which facilitated that this species is so important and there has to be specific changes made in order help these endangered animals. The organization realizes that these animals are officially marked on the endangered list and they need to be saved. (Platt)


http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2013/11/25/okapi-endangered/