Will There Be Blood?

Mexico's move to open its energy sector to foreign companies faces threats from the ruthless drug cartels already ravaging the country.

A Mexican police officer looks down a pipeline outside Altiplano prison July 12, where drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman escaped a day earlier with apparent help from authorities. The escape undercut hopes that the Mexican government can contain the drug violence and corruption that also threatens foreign investment in the energy sector.

By Alan NeuhauserJuly 29, 2015 | 12:01 a.m. EDT+ More

On one particular pipeline being built in Mexico's desert, work stopped at 5 p.m. No exceptions.

"After 5:30, when the cartels start moving drugs, they have to leave the site. And the cartel made it very clear that if they saw them after 5:30, they would be butchered. So they enter into an 'agreement,'" says Miriam Grunstein, a professor at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon and attorney who advised the unnamed pipeline construction company that entered into the understanding.

"It's very spooky, but that's how it works," she says.

Pick your euphemism, but oil and gas companies are certainly no strangers to working in "volatile," "dynamic" or "uncertain" settings, whether they be in Angola, Colombia, Indonesia, Nigeria or Papua New Guinea, not to mention Iraq after the U.S. invasion. Now Mexico may soon join that list: Last year, his country faced with a potential credit downgrade and hungry for cash, President Enrique Pena Nieto announced Mexico would begin allowing foreign companies to drill for oil and gas alongside the state-owned company, Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, which has controlled exploration and production since 1938.

RELATED

How Ending Iran Sanctions May Impact Oil Markets

But Mexico's plan for new profits comes with plenty of risk, as hopes for foreign investment in the country's ailing oil and gas sector hinge largely on the government's ability to contain powerful and often ruthless criminal organizations like Los Zetas and the Sinaloa Cartel, or at the very least to compel them not to attack foreign oil and gas sites.

Experts say that's a faint hope, and one that grew even dimmer recently following a massive security failure. With a single motorcycle ride through a mile-long tunnel that led from a prison cell to freedom earlier this month, one of the world's most notorious drug kingpins undercut what little confidence remained in Mexico's ability to shield even its most valued assets from criminals.

A Mexican soldier stands guard outside a Pemex plant.

"Look what happened with El Chapo," says Jorge Pinon, a Mexico energy expert at the University of Texas-Austin, referring to Joaquin Guzman, the head of the Sinaloa Cartel who escaped from a maximum-security prison July 11. "Mexico's political system, economy, growth – everything is at risk today because of what's happening, and they haven't been able to control it."

Cartels already control and charge "tolls" to cross most if not all the bridges in northern Mexico, which is home to huge shale deposits of oil and gas. Experts also say the gangs extort industrial facilities for rent or protection, and steal oil from pipelines – costing Pemex more than $1 billion in 2014 alone, according to the company's estimates. The heists can prove disastrous: One theft-related pipeline explosion in 2010 killed nearly 30 people, including around a dozen children.

RELATED

Clinton's Solar Pledge: 'Ambitious but Realistic'

Workers in the oil and gas sector are hardly immune, as two engineers from a Houston-based surveying company were kidnapped in 2013, freed only after being rescued by Mexican police and marines, according to The Wall Street Journal. Eight workers for a private Mexican energy company also reportedlydisappeared in 2012.

"In countries like Colombia, even if FARC would come and blow up a pumping station, you knew who they were, and sometimes they would give you a heads-up so you were able to remove your personnel," Pinon says. "In Mexico, these are not necessarily political organizations, these are criminal organizations: They're very violent – it's much harder to establish some sort of gentlemen's rules."

Antonio Garza, former U.S. ambassador to Mexico under President George W. Bush, says the Mexican government has a "gambler's shot" at best to provide adequate security, yet the need for some semblance of control is dire. Though Mexico sits atop large oil and natural gas reserves, it's been hamstrung by aging infrastructure, outdated technology, encrusted bureaucracy and entrenched corruption.

Foreign "majors" – companies like BP, ExxonMobil, Shell, Statoil and Total – have both the capital and know-how to potentially break through those binds.

"The credit rating of Mexico depends on a reliable flow of oil exports," says analyst George Baker, who edits and publishes the Houston-based industry newsletter "Mexico Energy Intelligence." "The cost of money – not only for Pemex and the government, but everybody in Mexico that has to rely on Mexico's risk and rating – is put in jeopardy by falling oil production."

Police stand next to equipment used to illegally tap fuel from Pemex pipelines. 

An auction held July 15 for 14 parcels in shallow waters off Mexico's shores resulted in the sale of just two plots – partly due to security concerns, but more the result of low oil prices and other financial issues, like Mexico's "take" of profits. Such snags are expected to be resolved ahead of the next round of bids this fall, Baker and other experts say, with an auction for deep-water parcels expected to prove more productive.

But then there's the onshore auction, expected in late 2016, for lucrative swaths of shale near the Texas border, the kind of oil and gas reservoirs that demand the expertise of U.S. fracking firms already exploiting the same formation on the Texas side of the border. Despite the American advantage, many parcels will likely go unsold, experts say.

RELATED

Solar Targets Small Businesses

"The security situation is so volatile, they're not going to see any investment," says David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center.

"You are going to see very few international oil companies bidding for this concession because of the issue of security," says Pinon, of UT-Austin. "They're not going to send their employees – especially their foreign-born employees – in this area in northern Mexico."

Already, sustained low oil and gas prices have discouraged much shale development, in which the break-even point can be higher compared with conventional drilling. But unconventional oil and gas sites that employ practices like hydraulic fracturing are also often more dispersed than a centralized drilling facility – making it far harder to protect workers from extortion, kidnapping and other attacks.

The Mexican federal police have reportedly established a special unit to help protect foreign energy firms, but experts are not optimistic: When El Chapo roared out of prison, so too went any faith in the government's ability to change the situation.

"In the wake of what happened … they've got to push all their chips to the rule of law," Garza says. "Whatever capital they have left, we've got to place it here." 

Read More

70 Years Later, The Bomb Still Casts Fear

On Aug. 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped a "super weapon" on Hiroshima, Japan, and launched a fundamental shift in the way we wage war.

At 2:45 on the fateful morning of Aug. 6, 1945, the Enola Gay took off from the tiny Pacific island of Tinian and began its journey into history. After a six-hour flight that covered more than 1,500 miles, the American B-29 bomber began circling over the Japanese mainland, reaching 31,000 feet. At 8:15 a.m., the crew dropped the first atomic bomb used in wartime, nicknamed "Little Boy," on the city of Hiroshima. What military leaders called the "super weapon" detonated at 1,900 feet and leveled 60 percent of the city, sending a mushroom cloud rising ominously into the sky; 70,000 people died in a matter of seconds.

This was the dawn of the atomic age, one of the most dangerous epochs in history.

TAKE QUIZ

U.S. News Quiz: 10 Questions To See What You Know About V-J Day

From the beginning 70 years ago, The Bomb generated a profound sense that something fundamental had changed and something dreadful had happened. Robert Lewis, the Enola Gay's co-pilot, wrote in the flight log, "My God, what have we done?" When J. Robert Oppenheimer, a physicist who was considered the father of the atom bomb, saw the results of an earlier test, he was awed and frightened by what he and the other scientists had wrought. He referred to a Sanskrit morality tale when he quoted from the Bhagavad-Gita holy text: "I am become death, destroyer of worlds."    

Sixteen hours after the first nuclear attack, President Harry Truman, who had authorized it, captured the moment. "It is an atomic bomb," he explained solemnly to the world in his unemotional Missouri monotone. "It is a harnessing of the basic power of the universe. The force from which the sun draws its power has been loosed against those who brought war to the Far East."

But the Japanese military would not give up.

Three days later, on Aug. 9, a second bomb, "Fat Man," was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 70,000.   

On Aug. 15, Japan's governmentsurrendered.

The 70th anniversary of Hiroshima is being marked in various ways around the world and the most noticeable will be the many anti-nuclear protests. To this day, Truman's decision to use the bomb remains hotly debated and widely criticized.

But Truman didn't second guess himself in the years that followed. He argued that he used the super-weapon justifiably to avoid an invasion of the Japanese home islands and prevent the immense casualties that would have resulted to both U.S. soldiers and Japanese armed forces and civilians. Most Americans agreed with him.

RELATED

Japan's Views of WWII History Rankles Some U.S. Vets

Certainly Paul Tibbets, the 30-year-old pilot of the Enola Gay (an aircraft he named for his mother), had no remorse. "Do you have any idea how many American lives would have been lost had we launched a ground invasion of Japan, instead of dropping the bomb?" Tibbets once said. "And how many Japanese lives? I sleep so well because I know how many people got to live full lives because of what we did."

The context of the times is important in considering Truman's decision. The war in Europe had ended in May 1945, but the conflict against Japan remained brutal, with Japanese soldiers digging in and inflicting massive casualties on American forces at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Some of Truman's critics say he could have ordered a blockade of the Japanese islands and didn't really have to insist on a land invasion, so use of the bomb wasn't necessary. Others say Truman should have dropped the super weapon on an unpopulated area as a demonstration of its devastating effects.

But Truman had only two  atomic bombs ready for use, and he and his advisers couldn't be sure they would both work, or that a demonstration blast or two would bring Japan to its knees. They also had little sympathy for Japanese leaders or the Japanese people because Japan had launched what was widely called a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, drawing the United States into the world war. Most Americans appeared to agree that the Japanese, as with the Germans, deserved whatever they got.

Certainly there was little second-guessing about the U.S. military's firebombing of Tokyo weeks before the Enola Gay completed its fateful mission, conventional attacks that killed more than 120,000 civilians. The United States had used this same firebombing tactic against Germany before the Nazis surrendered, with no big public outcry. So the bomb seemed to Truman simply a more efficient way than firebombing to force Tokyo to give in.

In addition, Truman wanted to show the Soviet Union the extent of U.S. power in order to discourage military advances by Kremlin ruler Josef Stalin.

And there was also the pressure Truman felt to continue the legacy of the beloved President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom he had succeeded after FDR's death in April 1945. "Truman could not ignore the fact that the decision to build the bomb at a cost of $2 billion had been Roosevelt's," historian Robert Dallek wrote in "Harry S. Truman," a biography. "If he had decided to rely on an invasion rather than atom bombs to force an end to the war, and this became public knowledge, he would have lost public confidence in his leadership and all that would mean for leading the nation for the next three years. He would have been seen as abandoning Roosevelt's agenda and giving in to sentimental concerns about saving the lives of Japanese civilians at a cost in American lives"--the death of up to 500,000 U.S. soldiers, according the military estimates.

Truman's conclusion was to use the bomb to end the war as quickly as possible, a decision that was really his only recourse, Dallek says. Americans hated the Japanese, and Truman might have been impeached if he hadn't used the bomb to hasten the end of the war and end U.S. casualties, Dallek says. adding: "He had no choice politically in terms of the politics of this country. People wanted the war to end."

Yet even the most articulate defense of Truman's decision has not deterred critics, who say the bomb should never have been used on population centers. Fueling this view were descriptions of the results of the attack, especially "Hiroshima," John Hersey's shocking report on the devastation first published in The New Yorker in August 1946 and released later as a book. It remains one of the most powerful accounts of the horrors of war ever written.

TAKE QUIZ

U.S. News Quiz: Do You Know Your Pearl Harbor History?

The subsequent nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union generated even more fear and dread for generations. Americans of a certain age--those who were children in the 1950s and 1960s--remember the precautions advised by the government, including the construction of fallout shelters, and the training of children in the now-ridiculed practice of "duck and cover." This called for the kids to duck under their desks at school and cover their heads with their arms in the event of a nuclear attack, as if this woud protect them from the falling bombs and the radioactivity that would follow.

Many people wondered if nuclear war was inevitable, resulting in the end of civilization. The collisions of the superpowers included the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union came perilously close to Armageddon.

Nuclear fears pervaded everyday life in other ways. There were the nuclear nightmares of children reported by their parents. There were the vivid and horrifying television images of open-air nuclear tests with ever more devastating bombs on display, marked by spectacular mushroom clouds that were far more extensive and fearsome than the ones at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There was an endless series of movies about nuclear war and nuclear radiation that gripped the public's imagination, including "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "Godzilla," "Failsafe," "Dr. Strangelove," and "On the Beach."

Today, nuclear fear  manifests itself in different ways. "The Cold War has been over since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the threat of nuclear Armageddon has largely faded from public consciousness," Joel Achenbach wrote in the Washington Post July 15. "Yet...nuclear weapons have once again leapt onto the front page, with the controversial agreement between Iran and a U.S.-led coalition that is designed to push back a decade or more the development of the Iranian bomb. The Iranian deal is a reminder that these weapons remain very much a presence on the planet."

In recent years, there have been various arms-control agreements and reductions in nuclear weapons by the United States and the Soviet Union and Russia. And nuclear weapons have never been used again in war since Hiroshima and Nagasaki

But those weapons remain a dire threat. By one estimate, the number of operational nuclear warheads has been reduced from 64,500 in 1986 to about 10,000 today. This leaves an enormous number of such warheads in existence, and there are nine nuclear powers, some of them in very volatile regions with a history of enmity among neighboring nations. The nuclear club consists of the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, according to the Federation of American Scientists and the Arms Control Association and other sources.

RELATED

Pearl Harbor Anniversary Offers Peek Into a Different World

Historian Dallek says, "The United States bears the historical burden of having used atomic bombs, used them in anger." And there are so many more nuclear nations today that the concerns about the use of nuclear weapons remains strong. "The nuclear issue won't go away," Dallek says. "It is a threat that hangs over humankind because of the power of those weapons."

This is becoming clear, again, in the debate over President Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, in which the United States and five allies negotiated an agreement with Tehran to reduce or end economic sanctions in return for curbs on the Iranian nuclear program. Many nations fear that program will lead to a nuclear bomb. The deal is now being considered by Congress. And there are many concerns about whether the United States is trusting Iran too much, whether the agreement represents too much of a risk for the United States, and whether it's the best way to prevent a nuclear arms race in the Mideast.

Underlying today's concerns is the vivid image of that deadly mushroom cloud over Hiroshima in August 1945, which changed the world 70 years ago and continues to resonate today. 

Read More

Wall Street Moves Lower on Apple, Interest Rate Worries

Wall Street ended lower on Tuesday for a third straight session as investors worried about a rise in interest rates while Apple's shares hit their lowest in over six months.

The iPhone maker's shares fell 3.21 per cent to $114.64, firmly below their 200-day daily moving average, a key technical level closely watched by traders. The stock was the biggest drag on the three major U.S. indexes.

A slowdown in China and scepticism over demand for iPhones were contributing to pressure on Apple's shares, traders said.

"Apple has been the weak sister in the market today," said Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist and director of asset allocation at RidgeWorth Investments in Atlanta, Georgia. "But if you look at the sectors, most everything is down with the exception of materials."

Stocks extended losses after Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart told the Wall Street Journal that September may be the right time for Fed to lift interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.27 per cent to end at 17,550.69 and the S&P 500 lost 0.22 per cent to 2,093.32. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.19 per cent finish at 5,105.55.

Eight of the 10 major S&P sectors fell, with the utilities index's 1.64 per cent decline leading the losers.

The Fed has said it needs to see a sustained economic recovery before it raises interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade.

Soft economic data had prompted some investors to argue that the Fed might hold off on raising rates until December. After the Fed meeting last week, investors expected a rate increase in September.

"The market is getting such a mixed bag of rhetoric from the Fed, it seems like the Fed isn't sure what it's going to do," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank in Chicago.

After the bell, shares of crafts website Etsy fell 9 per cent and Walt Disney lost 1.4 per cent after the companies posted quarterly results that disappointed Wall Street. First Solar posted better-than-expected quarterly results and guidance and its stock was up 10 per cent.

During the session, American International Group fell 2.82 per cent after the insurer's underwriting income fell in almost all of its units, while home and auto insurer Allstate fell 10.15 per cent after its profit missed expectations.

Declining issues outnumbered advancing ones on the NYSE by 1.23 to 1. On the Nasdaq, 1,414 issues fell and 1,376 advanced for a 1.03-to-1 ratio favouring decliners.

The benchmark S&P 500 index was posting 32 new 52-week highs and 26 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite was recording 91 new highs and 127 new lows.

Some 6.4 billion shares changed hands on U.S. exchanges, below the five-day average of 7.0 billion this month, according to BATS Global Markets.

© Thomson Reuters 2015

Read More

Yemen’s Houthi Rebels FaceFinancial Crisis

Group is squeezed by conflict with Saudi-led coalition, inability to sell oil

Blocked from selling Yemen’s oil, the Houthi-led government has slipped into a financial crisis after four months of conflict with a Saudi-led military coalition.

The Houthis wrested control of government in the capital San’a in February and sent Western-backed President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi into exile the following month. They have since held the levers of power, having taken over government ministries and the central bank.

Oil exports used to supply a large share of Yemeni government revenues. But a Houthi official says the country hasn’t exported any since March because of damage to energy infrastructure and a blockade imposed by the Saudi coalition. International aid, which was another major funding source for the Arab world’s poorest country, has also dried up amid the deteriorating security situation.

The rebels currently control most of Yemen’s major cities, though they have suffered setbacks in the south in recent weeks. Backed by airstrikes, forces allied with the Saudi-led coalition have taken over the southern port city of Aden. On Tuesday, those forces were fighting nearby for full control of Yemen’s biggest air base, Al Anad.

Despite their military successes, the Houthis are finding it increasingly difficult to stay afloat, which raises the question of whether financial troubles could push them toward an elusive political settlement.

Tax collection has also fallen dramatically among the population of around 27 million, who are suffering from immediate shortages of fuel, food and medicine, according to a senior Houthi official.

Hospitals are running over capacity in areas hard-hit by violence, while fighting has made it difficult for aid groups to reach millions of people in need of food, according to the United Nations’ World Food Program. Diseases including dengue fever have spread in the battle-scarred south.

“There is no income at all,” said Abdullah Shaban, a member of the Houthis’ revolutionary committee—a governing body formed in March. As a result, the Houthis face a significant budget shortfall.

The Houthis have appealed for outside help. In March, the rebels sent delegations to Iran, Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, seeking fuel assistance and to Russia seeking larger-scale investment in energy projects. There have been no indications that any deals were reached.

Houthi officials have said they received some assistance from Iran in the past, mainly in the form of cash and intelligence. Iran is critical of the Saudi-led airstrikes, but denies it provides the Houthis with weapons. An Iranian U.N. official couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Mr. Shaban, the Houthi official, said if Iran was planning to support the Houthis, it would have done so during the continuing crisis, but it had not.

The Houthis also extended separate appeals to some countries including Russia to help fill their foreign-exchange coffers, according to Hasan al-Sa’adi, another Houthi political leader. A Russian foreign ministry official couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

ENLARGE

“There are some within the Houthi movement who are beginning to understand the consequences of continuing on the current trajectory,” said a senior Western diplomat who is tracking the situation. Efforts to broker a compromise, including a round of U.N.-sponsored talks in Geneva in June, have failed so far.

The Saudi-led campaign aims to restore Mr. Hadi to power. Supported by the U.S., the coalition began airstrikes in late March and imposed a sea blockade, leaving the Houthis economically isolated and cash-strapped.

Abdulmalik al-Houthi, the movement’s top official said Sunday that political solutions were still possible, even as he vowed to reverse the gains of Saudi-allied forces in Aden. The Houthi losses were short-term and would be countered “despite all Saudi Arabia’s money,” he said in an address broadcast by the Houthi-run Al Masirah TV network.

The Houthis are taking steps to fix their flagging finances.

Houthi officials say Yemen’s foreign-currency reserves—an important measure of a country’s ability to withstand financial shocks—have seen only a slight decline since the beginning of the year and stand at about $4 billion. But that decrease is largely the result of the country not being able to spend reserves on imports with the blockades and the fuel shortage that makes the cost of deliveries prohibitive. Local banks are barred from giving out foreign currency.

The central bank has been selling short-term debt since airstrikes began to replace maturing debt and avoid a funding shortfall.

Last week, the rebels’ leader, Mohammed al-Houthi, said a new tax of four Yemeni rials (about two cents) per liter would be placed on sales of petroleum products. The bank received offers for about $237 million of debt over the weekend, the Houthi-run Saba news agency reported.

Mr. Sa’adi insisted the Houthis could hold out for months longer despite the financial difficulties. The central bank, finance ministry and other government departments had saved money by stamping out corruption and adopting austerity measures, he claimed.

Government spending is banned on all operations except hospitals, water and other essential utilities, he added.

“Yemenis won’t run out of solutions,” he said. “We won’t die of hunger and will never let others control our destiny.”

Read More

Want to beat alcoholism? Get married, says new study

Want to beat alcoholism? Get married, says new study

Washington: Marriage can cause dramatic reduction in alcohol intake even among people with severe drinking problems, according to a new study which suggests that tying the knot could be a key tool in helping combat alcoholism.

Research on alcohol-use disorders consistently shows problem drinking decreases as we age. Also called, "maturing out," these changes generally begin during young adulthood and are partially caused by the roles we take on as we become adults.

"A key conceptual framework psychologists use to explain maturing out and the 'marriage effect' is role-incompatibility theory," said Matthew Lee, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the College of Arts and Science at University of Missouri in US.

"The theory suggests that if a person's existing behavioural pattern is conflicting with the demands of a new role, such as marriage, one way to resolve the incompatibility is to change behaviour," Lee said.

"We hypothesised that this incompatibility may be greater for more severe drinkers, so they'll need to make greater changes to their drinking to meet the role demands of marriage," Lee said.

The researchers used previously collected data from a long-term, ongoing study of familial alcohol disorders led by Laurie Chassin, Regents Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University in US.

They examined how the drinking rates of the participants changed as they aged from age 18 to 40, and how this change was affected by whether or not participants got married.

About 50 percent of the participants included in the study of familial alcoholism were children of alcoholics.

"Confirming our prediction, we found that marriage not only led to reductions in heavy drinking in general, this effect was much stronger for those who were severe problem drinkers before getting married," Lee said.

"This seems consistent with role incompatibility theory. We believe that greater problem drinking likely conflicts more with the demands of roles like marriage; thus, more severe problem drinkers are likely required to more substantially alter their drinking habits to adapt to the marital role," Lee said.

The researchers suggest further studies are needed to better understand how these role-driven drinking reductions occur.

They believe this could uncover key insights into the nature of clinically significant forms of problem drinking and inform public policy and clinical efforts to help severe problem drinkers.

Read More

World's glaciers losing ice faster than ever recorded, study says

World's glaciers losing ice faster than ever recorded, study says

The world’s glaciers are retreating at a rate faster than any time in recorded history, according to a new study published online in the Journal of Glaciology.

Thirty-nine researchers with the World Glacier Monitoring Service compiled and analyzed data spanning more than a 120 years. They looked at observations from 2001 to 2010 and compared them with satellite images, field and aerial photographs and even drawings and writings that were produced in previous decades.

In the 21st century, the hundreds of glaciers observed in the study have lost about 1 1/2 to 3 feet of ice per year, according to the University of Zurich’s Michael Zemp, the lead author and director of the World Glacier Monitoring Service.

While the study is based on exact measurements from only several hundred glaciers, less granular data from tens of thousands of glaciers around the world confirm the findings, Zemp said in the statement.“The observed glaciers currently lose between half a meter and one meter of its ice thickness every year -- this is two to three times more than the corresponding average of the 20th century,” Zemp said in a statement issued by the University of Zurich.

Even if the climate stabilizes, glaciers in many parts of the world will continue to shed mass, the study concludes.

Dramatic loss over the past two decades has thrown glaciers in many parts of the world into “strong imbalance with current climatic conditions and, hence, destined to further substantial ice loss,” the study says.

Geophysicist Daniel McGrath of the U.S. Geological Survey said in an email Tuesday that the new study is “broadly consistent” with previous scientific research on glaciers. The Anchorage Science Center-affiliated researcher added that updated data in the study is “only possible through significant and coordinated international research efforts by the glaciological community.”

The loss of glacial mass measured in the study is driven by an increase in melting during summer months, according to McGrath.

“Glacier mass is inherently tied to glacier extent but is a more accurate and comprehensive means of assessing a glacier's health,” McGrath wrote. “As the paper details, trends in both glacier extent and glacier mass have been negative in recent decades.”

McGrath is also the lead author of a recent study in the Journal of Geophysical Research that demonstrates the complexity of measuring the thickness of Alaska’s glaciers.

The team behind the research combined radar surveys and field observations and found that snow depth of Alaska’s glaciers can be “highly variable” over short distances.

Read More

Ways to protect yourself from the harmful effects of the sun

Foods with lycopene such as tomatoes rejuvenate the skin. It is one of the prominent substances that protects the skin from the bottom layer to the top.

As temperatures increase, the risk of being exposed to the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays rises as well. Some ways to protect yourself from the sun's harmful rays include using sunscreen, avoiding cheap sunglasses that do not block UV rays and eating lycopene-rich foods

It's mid-summer and almost everyone is planning to take a vacation to fill their souls and skin with the sun. Besides the people who have had bad experiences with sunburns, most are looking to find a way to maximize their tan. Your skin needs sun, of course, but as with everything, you should not neglect your health while sunbathing.

Sunlight is the best natural source of vitamin D. In fact, sunlight is what enables your body to produce this remarkable vitamin. If you want to have a strong and healthy skeletal system, you must get enough vitamin D. The amount of vitamin D that your body needs can be obtained in a shorter amount of time than you think. Research shows that just 20 minutes of sunbathing a day is all you need. You do not have to put your whole body under the sun either; only a part of your arm and leg will suffice to make enough vitamin D.

When you are exposed to the sun for a long time, ultraviolet (UV) A and B rays may damage your skin cells by literally burning them. The time and degree of damage required for the formation of these types of burns varies according to your skin type. Light-skinned people are more sensitive to the sun than dark-skinned people, so this type of skin damage is more common for them.

In particular, mild redness on the first day in the sun that later turns into painful burns are called first-degree burns. First-degree burns affect the top layer of skin, which is called the epidermis. Second-degree sunburns burn the lower layers of the skin, where nerve endings are damaged and the healing process is more painful and time-consuming compared to first-degree burns. The possible occurrence of bubble-like lesions on your skin filled with fluid after receiving a second-degree burn can cause much pain as well. The bursting of these blisters can increase the risk of infection, which is extremely dangerous and must be treated. In order to protect your skin from dangerous ultraviolet A and B radiation, you should use sunblock with at least sun protection factor (SPF) 30 year-round. To obtain the maximum benefits from these creams, they must be applied correctly. They should be applied to your skin half an hour before sun exposure, and must be reapplied every two hours. If you are swimming in the pool or sea, then you should reapply sunscreen more frequently. Even if you are sunbathing with protective creams, however, using a sun hat or umbrella is also an important protective measure you can take.

When speaking about harmful rays from the sun, people often think about skin damage caused by the sun. However, the eyes are also threatened by the sun, which is less often discussed by society. Solar rays may cause cataracts to form on the lens of the eye, so the use of sunglasses is very important as well. Sunglasses are an important topic and should be explained in a separate article. As a precaution, though, be sure to use brands you trust, and always stay away from cheap, fake sunglasses where you don't even know where they were produced. The cheap ones generally do not have UV A and B radiation filters, but their lenses are dark in color. In turn, the dark color lens allows your lens to dilate and allow more UV A and B in your eye, which can then lead to cataracts.The sun's rays can also cause premature aging. Elastin fibers that give elasticity to the skin wears when exposed to the sun and causes your skin to sag much earlier than it should. Additionally, if protective tanning products are not used properly, it may lead to the formation of spots and freckles on your skin that you will carry throughout your life. These spots are usually located on the face and neck area, and beautification efforts may result in irreversible frustration.

So, what should you look for when choosing the right sunscreen? The market is full of products claiming to be of much better quality than others out there. When making your selection, look for products that include zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. Research shows that these two substances literally create a barrier against harmful UV rays. It is also extremely important that the cream of your choice should not contain skin irritating chemicals. As a general rule, SPF 30 is ideal for adults, but the SPF applied to children should be higher. Substances that block harmful UV rays include padimate o homosalate, octyl methoxycinnamate, benzophenone, octyl salicylate, phenylbenzimidazol sulfonic acid and octocrylene. When choosing your sunscreen, especially those who have allergies, you should definitely consult specialized physicians so you don't cause greater damage while trying to protect yourself from the sun.I really like the phrase "You are what you eat." Believe me, it is 99 percent correct! To protect your skin from the sun, you also should also eat the right way. Add skin rejuvenating foods to your diet, such as red foods. I previously mentioned lycopene in my article where I described the health benefits of tomatoes. Lycopene is one of the most important substances that protects your skin from the bottom layer to the top.A study conducted on volunteers in the U.K. revealed the miraculous benefits eating tomatoes has on the skin. Volunteers participating in the study were divided into two groups, and one group was fed 10 grams of olive oil added to five tablespoons of tomato paste daily for 12 weeks. The second group of participants was given only olive oil. Research results were studied in two groups and tomato eaters were found to be 33 percent less affected by UV rays when compared with those eating only olive oil. Summer's most wanted fruit, watermelon, also contains lycopene, so go ahead and eat some before going in the sun!

Read More

Russia makes suits for safer spacewalks

Russia makes suits for safer spacewalks

MOSCOW: A gen-next lightweight spacesuit equipped with climate control and unique safety systems for astronauts onboard the ISS has been developed by a Russian company. 

The unique new spacesuits for Russian cosmonauts on ISS use materials that substantially extend the useful life of spacesuits. The spacesuits will ensure that astronauts, even when affected by such aggressive environment as open space, feel absolutely comfortable and safe. They spacesuits have been fully tested and are being sent to the ISS this year. 

Developed by Zvezda NPP, part of Technodinamika of Rostec State Corporation, the suits will allow astronauts to carry out minor repairs during spacewalks. In case of depressurisation, due to damage or otherwise the spacesuit has a system that can maintain the required pressure within a spacesuit for as long as 30-50 minutes, which is sufficient for safe return to the space station. 

"New Technodinamika spacesuits greatly outperform their world analogues in many respects," said Maxim Kuzyuk, the CEO of Technodinamika. 

"Thus, in case of damage American ISS EVA suit spacesuits can maintain pressure for just 30 minutes, but Orlan ISS - for up to 50 minutes, which gives spacemen some extra time to return to the station," said Kuzyuk. 

"In addition to that, our development is 35 kg lighter. 

"Another fundamental distinction from the US version is that spacemen can 'step' into Orlan ISS rather than put it on. It means that a Russian astronaut can prepare for the exit into space without assistance of their colleagues," Kuzyuk said. 

"The climate control system introduced in the new Russian spacesuits provides thermal control based on the load level, amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide," Vasili Brovko, Head of Communications for Rostec told PTI. 

The spacesuit was displayed at the annual Innoprom international industrial exhibition held in Ekaterinburg, Russia. 

It is the outcome of several years of research and development by the engineering team at Zvezda NPP. 

"Due to a rubber cover replaced with a polyurethane one, engineers have managed to extend the useful life of spacesuits from four to five years and the number of times it can be used for outer space works will increase from 15 to 20," Brovko said. 

The Orlan suits currently used by cosmonauts aboard the ISS are the fourth-generation Orlan-MK suits, but they are nearing the end of their lifespan. They will be replaced with the newer upgraded fifth-generation models. 

Read More