Cost of combating climate change surges as world delays: study

OSLO (Reuters) - An agreement by almost 200 nations to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 will be far more costly than taking action now to tackle climate change, according to research published on Wednesday.

Quick measures to cut emissions would give a far better chance of keeping global warming within an agreed U.N. limit of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6F) above pre-industrial times to avert more floods, heatwaves, droughts and rising sea levels.

"If you delay action by 10, 20 years you significantly reduce the chances of meeting the 2 degree target," said Keywan Riahi, one of the authors of the report at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria.

"It was generally known that costs increase when you delay action. It was not clear how quickly they change," he told Reuters of the findings in the science journal Nature based on 500 computer-generated scenarios.

It said the timing of cuts in greenhouse gases was more important than other uncertainties - about things like how the climate system works, future energy demand, carbon prices or new energy technologies.

The study indicated that an immediate global price of $30 a tonne on emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the main greenhouse gas, would give a roughly 60 percent chance of limiting warming to below 2C.

Wait until 2020 and the carbon price would have to be around $100 a tonne to retain that 60 percent chance, Riahi told Reuters of the study made with other experts in Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia and Germany.

And a delay of action until 2030 might put the 2C limit - which some of the more pessimistic scientists say is already unattainable - completely out of reach, whatever the carbon price.

"The window for effective action on climate change is closing quickly," wrote Steve Hatfield-Dodds of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia in a separate commentary in Nature.

Governments agreed to the 2C limit in 2010, viewing it as a threshold to avert dangerous climate change. Temperatures have already risen by 0.8 degree C (1.4F) since wide use of fossil fuels began 200 years ago.

ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN

After the failure of a 2009 summit in Copenhagen to agree a worldwide accord, almost 200 nations have given themselves until 2015 to work out a global deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions that will enter into force in 2020.

Amid an economic slowdown, many countries at the last U.N. meeting on climate change in Qatar in December expressed reluctance to make quick shifts away from fossil fuels towards cleaner energies such as wind or solar power.

Each U.S. citizen, for instance, emits about 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. There is no global price on carbon, only regional markets - in a European Union trading system, for instance, where industrial emitters must pay of they exceed their CO2 quotas, 2013 prices are about 6.7 euros a tonne.

The report also showed that greener policies, such as more efficient public transport or better-insulated buildings, would raise the chances of meeting the 2C goal.

And fighting climate change would be easier with certain new technologies, such as capturing and burying carbon emissions from power plants and factories. In some scenarios, the 2C goal could not be met unless carbon capture was adopted.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/cost-combating-climate-change-surges-world-delays-study-103541590.html

protect ip act jim caldwell internet blackout jessica capshaw seattle times seattle times walker recall

It's not over yet: Bigger budget battles looming

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans looked ahead on Wednesday toward the next round of even bigger budget fights after reaching a hard-fought "fiscal cliff" deal that narrowly averted potentially devastating tax hikes and spending cuts.

The agreement, approved late on Tuesday by the Republican-led House of Representatives after a bitter political struggle, was a victory for Obama, who had won re-election on a promise to address budget woes in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

But it set up political showdowns over the next two months on spending cuts and on raising the nation's limit on borrowing. Republicans, angry the deal did little to curb the federal deficit, promised to use the debt ceiling debate to win deep spending cuts next time.

"Our opportunity here is on the debt ceiling," Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said on MSNBC, adding Republicans would have the political leverage against Obama in that debate. "We Republicans need to be willing to tolerate a temporary, partial government shutdown, which is what that could mean."

Republicans, who acknowledged they had lost the fiscal cliff fight by agreeing to raise taxes on the wealthy without gaining much in return, vowed the next deal would have to include significant cuts in government benefit programs like Medicare and Medicaid health care for retirees and the poor that were the biggest drivers of federal debt.

"This is going to be much uglier to me than the tax issue ... this is going to be about entitlement reform," Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on CNBC.

"This is the debate that's going to be far more serious. Hopefully, now that we have this other piece behind us - hopefully - we'll deal in a real way with the kinds of things our nation needs to face," he said.

Obama urged "a little less drama" when the Congress and White House next address thorny fiscal issues like the government's rapidly mounting $16 trillion debt load.

The fiscal cliff showdown had worried businesses and financial markets, and U.S. stocks soared at the opening after lawmakers agreed to the deal.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged 262.45 points, or 2.00 percent, at 13,366.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 29.79 points, or 2.09 percent, at 1,455.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 77.45 points, or 2.57 percent, at 3,096.97.

The crisis ended when dozens of Republicans in the House of Representatives buckled and backed a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate that hiked taxes on households earning more than $450,000 annually. Spending cuts of $109 billion in military and domestic programs were delayed only for two months.

Economists had warned the fiscal cliff of across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts would have punched a $600 billion hole in the economy this year and threatened to send the country back into recession.

RELUCTANT REPUBLICANS

House Republicans had mounted a late effort to add hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts to the package and spark a confrontation with the Senate, but it failed.

In the end, they reluctantly approved the Senate bill by a bipartisan vote of 257 to 167 and sent it on to Obama to sign into law. "We are ensuring that taxes aren't increased on 99 percent of our fellow Americans," said Republican Representative David Dreier of California.

The vote underlined the precarious position of House Speaker John Boehner, who will ask his Republicans to re-elect him as speaker on Thursday when a new Congress is sworn in. Boehner backed the bill but most House Republicans, including his top lieutenants, voted against it.

The speaker had sought to negotiate a "grand bargain" with Obama to overhaul the U.S. tax code and rein in health and retirement programs that will balloon in coming decades as the population ages.

But Boehner could not unite his members behind an alternative to Obama's tax measures.

Income tax rates will now rise on individuals earning more than $400,000 and families earning more than $450,000 per year, and the amount of deductions they can take to lower their tax bill will be limited.

Low temporary rates that have been in place for the past decade will be made permanent for less-affluent taxpayers, along with a range of targeted tax breaks put in place to fight the 2009 economic downturn.

However, workers will see up to $2,000 more taken out of their paychecks annually with the expiration of a temporary payroll tax cut.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill will increase budget deficits by nearly $4 trillion over the coming 10 years, compared to the budget savings that would occur if the extreme measures of the cliff were to kick in.

But the measure will actually save $650 billion during that time period when measured against the tax and spending policies that were in effect on Monday, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an independent group that has pushed for more aggressive deficit savings.

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Richard Cowan; Editing by Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/house-republicans-weigh-last-ditch-challenge-fiscal-deal-005743252--business.html

tebow jets romney etch a sketch jeb bush sherry arnold snooty fox el debarge portland weather

2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid: Test Drive Review

Cars like the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid are not supposed to be liked by adrenaline-fueled auto writers, but after a week behind the wheel, I found myself pleasantly surprised. The ride is smooth and quiet, the interior is spartan but comfortable, and I had enough fun behind the wheel that the soft steering didn?t bother me at all. That was, until I reviewed my average fuel economy figures.

Besides a couple of subtle badges, there isn't much to visually differentiate the Camry Hybrid from the gasoline-powered Camry. That's a very good thing. The Camry has been the No. 1 selling car in America over the past decade because it's solidly built, extremely comfortable and quiet. Its suspension swallows up imperfections in the road without transmitting them to your butt, and wind and engine noise are basically nonexistent. Inside, Toyota uses quite a bit of plastic but does so tastefully, with interesting design and contrasting materials. I drove the Camry LE Hybrid, but you can also spring for the Camry XLE Hybrid with optional Navigation if you're looking for a little more jazz.

The 2012 Toyota Camry LE Hybrid is EPA rated at 41 MPG, or 43 city and 39 highway, which had me excited to analyze the car as a fuel-saving tool for the common commuter. More and more people are buying new cars based on fuel efficiency, and the trusty 2.5L four-cylinder hybrid from Toyota always promises some of the best returns around. But after 347 miles of combined city/highway driving, I had only managed 34.5 overall MPG. What gives?

Part of it may have been my driving style, I suppose. There are actually several different ways to drive the 2012 Camry Hybrid, and I tried messing around with all of them.

The most intriguing is EV Mode, which runs the car on pure electric power for up to 1.6 miles. I tried to use this as much as possible, but it proved to be difficult. Accelerate too quickly off the line? EV Mode deactivated. Exceed 25 miles per hour? EV Mode deactivated. The funny thing is that these are perfect conditions for bumper-to-bumper gridlock. It might actually make sense to purposefully get stuck in traffic if you own a Toyota Camry Hybrid.

My preferred method was to charge the regenerative brakes as much as possible, to build up juice for EV Mode. Simply braking will do the trick, but you can increase the force, and therefore the energy to recharge the EV battery, by switching to the B gear. This slows your car the instant you let off the accelerator, and makes braking extremely abrupt even under normal conditions. I only used it when slowing to a stop sign or red light (otherwise I was just wasting momentum) and it occurred to me that this may be the ?manual transmission? of the future; shifting between Drive and Regen Braking, and toggling from Eco Mode to EV Mode to save as much fuel as possible. Anyone who grew up with three pedals probably just threw their cup of yogurt at the computer monitor.

Anyway, after a few days of this, I felt that I had found a rhythm suitable for as much EV driving as possible. I could hardly believe that it had fallen nearly ten miles per gallon short. All kinds of factors could be blamed ? from the 50-degree Southern California temperatures and dense ocean air to my use of the defroster and spirited on-ramp acceleration tests ? but in the end I drove the car exactly as intended.

At a base price of $25,995 MSRP, the 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid is a sizeable value for a comfortable mid-sized sedan with a truly smooth ride. It?ll even surge forward when you need, and steering is noticeably tighter than in past generations. Beware that those MPG ratings are highly dependent on how and where you drive, but in the end, the 2012 Toyota Camry LE Hybrid is a solid choice for those looking for a dependable car with more character than your standard egg-shaped eco-mobile.

*

Visit the?autoMedia.com?Toyota Research Center?for quick access to reviews, pricing, photos, mpg and more. Make sure to follow?autoMedia.com?on?Twitter?and?Facebook.

Find local Toyota Camry Hybrid Clearance Pricing and Blue Book Values

Source: http://www.automedia.com/Blog/post/2012-Toyota-Camry-Hybrid-Test-Drive-Review.aspx

Teen Choice Awards 2012 Aurora victims usher James Holmes Minka Kelly sex tape Colorado shooting Colorado shooting victims

The 124th Rose Parade kicks off on a cold morning

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ? The 124th Rose Parade in Pasadena kicked off on a chilly New Year's morning with the theme "Oh the Places You'll Go!" named in honor of the Dr. Seuss book.

Led by this year's grand marshal, British primatologist Jane Goodall, the parade features 42 floats covered with flowers and plant material, 23 marching bands and 21 equestrian units from across the country.

An estimated 700,000 spectators are lining the streets to view the 5-mile-long spectacle, which is broadcast around the world. This year's parade features the first-ever float entered by the Defense Department and a couple getting married on a float.

The $247,000 military float is a replica of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington to commemorate the veterans from that conflict.

The float that scooped up the parade's grand "Sweepstakes" prize for the most beautiful floral presentation and design was "Dreaming in Paradise" by fruit and vegetable producer Dole.

Die-hard parade fans staked out their spots early Monday with folding chairs, hammocks and portable barbeque grills.

They brought in the new year by throwing marshmallows, shaving cream and tortillas, and then hunkered down to stay warm in sleeping bags during a particularly cold night for Southern California.

The wave of under-40-degree temperature spurred a number of cold-weather exposure calls to emergency personnel, police department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian told City News Service.

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, police had made a total of 22 arrests along the parade route since 6 p.m. Monday, said police Lt. Rick Aversan.

All but one arrest were for public intoxication. The other was for possession of burglary tools that could have been used to break into cars, police said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pasadenas-rose-parade-kicks-off-cold-morning-163334793.html

peoples choice awards 2012 ford recalls robert kardashian chicago weather forecast narcolepsy narcolepsy weather st louis

The 124th Rose Parade kicks off on a cold morning

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) ? The 124th Rose Parade in Pasadena kicked off on a chilly New Year's morning with the theme "Oh the Places You'll Go!" named in honor of the Dr. Seuss book.

Led by this year's grand marshal, British primatologist Jane Goodall, the parade features 42 floats covered with flowers and plant material, 23 marching bands and 21 equestrian units from across the country.

An estimated 700,000 spectators are lining the streets to view the 5-mile-long spectacle, which is broadcast around the world. This year's parade features the first-ever float entered by the Defense Department and a couple getting married on a float.

The $247,000 military float is a replica of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington to commemorate the veterans from that conflict.

The float that scooped up the parade's grand "Sweepstakes" prize for the most beautiful floral presentation and design was "Dreaming in Paradise" by fruit and vegetable producer Dole.

Die-hard parade fans staked out their spots early Monday with folding chairs, hammocks and portable barbeque grills.

They brought in the new year by throwing marshmallows, shaving cream and tortillas, and then hunkered down to stay warm in sleeping bags during a particularly cold night for Southern California.

The wave of under-40-degree temperature spurred a number of cold-weather exposure calls to emergency personnel, police department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian told City News Service.

As of 8 a.m. Tuesday, police had made a total of 22 arrests along the parade route since 6 p.m. Monday, said police Lt. Rick Aversan.

All but one arrest were for public intoxication. The other was for possession of burglary tools that could have been used to break into cars, police said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pasadenas-rose-parade-kicks-off-cold-morning-163334793.html

carlos pena amanda bynes arrested f 18 jet crash in virginia beach john tortorella nicki minaj beez in the trap video food network

List: No love for 'fiscal cliff,' 'spoiler alert'

DETROIT (AP) ? Spoiler alert: This story contains words and phrases that some people want to ban from the English language. "Spoiler alert" is among them. So are "kick the can down the road," ''trending" and "bucket list."

A dirty dozen have landed on the 38th annual List of Words to be Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness. The nonbinding, tongue-in-cheek decree released Monday by northern Michigan's Lake Superior State University is based on nominations submitted from the United States, Canada and beyond.

"Spoiler alert," the seemingly thoughtful way to warn readers or viewers about looming references to a key plot point in a film or TV show, nevertheless passed its use-by date for many, including Joseph Foly, of Fremont, Calif. He argued in his submission the phrase is "used as an obnoxious way to show one has trivial information and is about to use it, no matter what."

At the risk of further offense, here's another spoiler alert: The phrase receiving the most nominations this year is "fiscal cliff," banished because of its overuse by media outlets when describing across-the-board federal tax increases and spending cuts that economists say could harm the economy in the new year without congressional action.

"You can't turn on the news without hearing this," said Christopher Loiselle, of Midland, Mich., in his submission. "I'm equally worried about the River of Debt and Mountain of Despair."

Other terms coming in for a literary lashing are "superfood," ''guru," ''job creators" and "double down."

University spokesman Tom Pink said that in nearly four decades, the Sault Ste. Marie school has "banished" around 900 words or phrases, and somehow the whole idea has survived rapidly advancing technology and diminishing attention spans.

Nominations used to come by mail, then fax and via the school's website, he said. Now most come through the university's Facebook page. That's fitting, since social media has helped accelerate the life cycle of certain words and phrases, such as this year's entry "YOLO" ? "you only live once."

"The list surprises me in one way or another every year, and the same way every year: I'm always surprised how people still like it, love it," he said.

Rounding out the list are "job creators/creation," ''boneless wings" and "passion/passionate." Those who nominated the last one say they are tired of hearing about a company's "passion" as a substitute for providing a service or product for money.

Andrew Foyle, of Bristol, England, said it's reached the point where "passion" is the only ingredient that keeps a chef from preparing "seared tuna" that tastes "like dust swept from a station platform."

"Apparently, it's insufficient to do it ably, with skill, commitment or finesse," Foyle said. "Passionate, begone!"

As usual, the etymological exercise ? or exorcise ? only goes so far. Past lists haven't eradicated "viral," "amazing," ''LOL" or "man cave" from everyday use.

___

Follow Jeff Karoub on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jeffkaroub

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-31-Banned%20Words/id-73ccf26b147e4780a0f14d654ea7856e

Dicks Sporting Good office max office max jcp Sports Authority Hollister old navy

Become Skinny Without Starving Yourself

Often when people ask themselves the question: how to become skinny fast, they make a mistake of overdoing their weight loss by starving themselves. There are actually a lot of diets that promise serious weight loss in a week and sometimes even without exercise. The diets make use of almost anorexic ways of no calorie intake and this is dangerous for your body and health. If you have worked for losing weight a while and you try to optimize your effort by starving yourself you will reverse your weight loss result and could end up with injuries, eating disorder, muscle loss and malnutrition.

Exercising is a great way of losing weight but it is only 50% of the healthy natural way to lose weight no matter what diet you use. You need to understand why nutrition and physical activity are like an old married couple who need each other to function properly. Your body need fuel for performing and the nutrition you intake is the fuel required for the physical activity and this is the reason why your body needs both nutrition and exercising for shedding weight.

How do you know when you are under-eating then? To answer this question you need to know these starvation facts; if you lose more than 2-3lbs. a week you are probably not having the calorie intake you should have. A male of 250 pounds needs a calorie intake of 2700 for the body's basic energy. In order to lose 2 lbs. a week this male would need to cut 7000 calories out of the 18900 calorie intake he needs for the week and this leaves 11900 calories for the entire week. This gives you a daily calorie intake of 1700!

Shredding 1000 calories each day when you need a daily intake of 2700 calories is starving yourself. Check out these symptoms you could have if you are starving yourself: Mood changes, stress increase, depression, insomnia, headache, sore throat, low resting blood pressure, skipped period for women and constipation. You might not have these symptoms but they may arrive if you start reducing your calorie intake too much and it is really not a natural way to become skinny fast.

What you will normally experience after you have lost the initial water weight on a diet is that your body will start using your stored fat for the last means of energy. If you starve yourself for losing weight the first thing you lose right after the initial water weight loss will be your muscles instead of stored fat.

Another thing you risk by starving is a decrease in your energy level, eating disorder and loss of calories could lead to serious conditions or illness. If you remembered the example of cutting 1000 calories to lose 2 lbs. a week there is a healthy natural alternative. Only cut the 500 calories through your nutrition and burn the other 500 calories by exercising. The 500 calories you need to cut through nutrition could be the unhealthy sugar bombs you might eat or drink and this should actually be enough for most people. 1 hour of walking each day will make you burn 500 calories on exercising. This is the healthy way of how to become skinny fast way without starvation.

Discover more tips for your wellbeing body at http://wellbeingbodysite.com - About Author: Morten Olesen and I'm 40 year old male from Denmark. Personally experience with overweight, losing all the weight again, how to push fitness to maximum, coaching soccer and because of these things I have great interest and experience in the weight loss, nutrition & fitness area.

Source: http://articles.submityourarticle.com/become-skinny-without-starving-yourself-309972

blue ivy carter photos purple squirrel blade runner close encounters of the third kind norovirus beyonce and jay z baby droid 4