(National Science Foundation) The virulence of plant-borne diseases depends on not just the particular strain of a pathogen, but on where the pathogen has been before landing in its host, according to new research results.

Earth Day Network applauds President Barack Obama’s decision to issue a Presidential Proclamation for the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day lauding the Department of Education’s new Green Ribbon Schools program. We believe, as does the Administration, that green schools provide a solid educational and environmental foundation for our nation’s schoolchildren.

For more than seven years, Earth Day Network has been a national leader in the burgeoning movement to green America’s schools and played an instrumental role in creating the Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools program. This initiative is not only the first comprehensive green schools program at the federal level, it is a galvanizing force for schools seeking to save money, improve student and staff health, and reduce pollution.

Yet, the Obama Administration’s FY13 budget is at odds with its commitment to green schools and environmental education.

Only a few weeks ago, President Obama’s budget proposal to Congress recommended eliminating nearly $40 million for environmental education programs at the EPA, NOAA and NSF. These proposed cuts – the equivalent to one-fourth of the cost of one F-22 fighter jet – would cripple local and national environmental education programs across the country.

America’s students deserve the knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in today’s competitive world. Environmental education and green schools play a critical role in advancing America’s competitiveness in an increasingly complex and challenging world.

As a result, we call upon the Administration and Congress to fully fund environmental education at the federal level.

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Earth Day Network mobilizes over one billion people in 192 countries through year-round advocacy, education, public policy and consumer campaigns to protect the environment. www.earthday.org

New shocking image clearly show the enormous pit in Malmberget area, Sweden. The 200 foot wide open pit is called the “Fabiangropen” (Fabian pit) and is in the Malmberget area is located at Gällivare, 75km from Kiruna, Sweden.

Credit photo: Message To Eagle

Scariest Sink Holes Known To Man

A new survey today revealed that 95% of Europeans think that access to energy is an important precondition for overcoming poverty in developing countries. In fact, nine out of ten EU citizens want the EU to help people in developing countries to gain access to energy.

The Flash Eurobarometer survey comes shortly ahead of the EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit in Brussels on the 16th April, which will bring together the EU, UN and developing countries with industry, civil society and the private sector. Participants will include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Commission President Barroso, Dr Yumkella, Director General of UNIDO and Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women.

“I’m happy to note that Europeans see energy as a vital requisite for overcoming poverty in developing countries. Energy is essential for delivering health, education, food, and all basic needs. Investing in access to clean energy in the poorest countries will help to achieve the double goal of sustainable and inclusive growth and mitigating climate change”, EU Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs commented. He added: “During the upcoming EU Energy Summit, the EU will announce its ambition to move up a gear to “energise development”. We will remain a leader in helping developing countries to achieve universal access to energy for all.”

Key results of the Flash Eurobarometer

95% of Europeans think that having access to energy is important for overcoming poverty (61% think it is very important; 34% think it is fairly important). This is slightly lower than other areas that were also tested in this survey, such as water and sanitation (100%), food (98%) or peace and security (99%).

90% think that the EU should support developing countries in their efforts to improve access to energy (48% totally agree and 42% tend to agree).

82% think that the percentage of EU development aid that is spent on improving energy access should be higher than its current level of 2% (42% totally agree and 40% tend to agree).

77% of respondents believe that the main future source of energy for developing countries should be renewable energies, such as wind, hydropower and solar. Few respondents think that oil, coal or gas (7%), nuclear (6%), or biomass (4%) should be prioritised.

A majority of respondents think that not having access to energy creates the biggest problems in people’s lives when it comes to cooking and preserving food (58%) and having access to healthcare (52%). (A maximum of two answers was possible.)

83% think that the EU itself benefits from supporting developing countries in their efforts to improve access to energy, through things such as increased trade or the creation of jobs (41% totally agree and 42% tend to agree).

Background

The Flash Eurobarometer

The fieldwork for this Flash Eurobarometer 348 “Energy for all: EU support for developing countries” was conducted by telephone between 19 and 21 March 2012. 13,528 randomly selected citizens aged 15 and over were interviewed; approximately 500 individuals in each of the 27 EU Member States.

The EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit

On 16 April, 2012 the European Commission and the Danish Presidency of the EU Council will host the EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit in Brussels. This event will bring together main actors committed to achieving the objectives of the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative, which aims to provide universal access to energy for all by 2030.

The Summit will be opened by European Commission President Barroso and UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon. EU Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, will co-chair the event and give the closing speech.

Energy and development

Energy determines if a society can grow and develop. Worldwide around 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity and the opportunities it provides for working, learning or operating a business. Some 2.7 billion use wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste to cook their meals and heat their homes, thereby exposing themselves and their families to smoke and fumes that damage their health and which directly contribute to the deaths of nearly 2 million people every year.

The European Union is the leading donor in supporting developing countries in their efforts to improve access to energy services. The European Commission alone devoted €278.5 million to energy programmes in 2010.

For more information

Link to the results of the Flash Eurobarometer 348 on the public opinion website:

http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm

Each year, EU citizens and companies have to move some 3.5 million vehicles to another Member State, and need to get them registered according to the national legislation. However, what should be a simple registration procedure in the 21st century Single Market remains a cumbersome and lengthy administrative procedure because of the diversity of rules and the various conflicting requirements. It takes on average 5 weeks to complete the procedure and the cost is estimated at €400 for citizen and for businesses. Moreover, these problems also represent a significant barrier to the free movement of goods, services and workers, and therefore for growth and jobs creation in Europe. This is why the European Commission is acting today to dramatically reduce this unnecessary administrative burden. The proposal presented by Vice-President Antonio Tajani would lead to a very substantial administrative simplification with total savings of at least € 1.5 billion per year for businesses, citizens and registration authorities.

The proposal is straightforward and tackles very concrete issues. The re-registration of vehicles coming from another EU country will be limited, for example citizens who work in another EU country using a car registered by their employer will not need to re-register it. Generally administrative formalities for the re-registration within the EU of cars, vans, buses and trucks will be greatly simplified, for example when moving residence from one EU country to another and when purchasing a second hand car from another EU country. It will also become impossible to register a stolen car in another EU country. Car-rental companies will save substantially, as they will be able to transfer cars to another EU country during the holiday periods without re-registration. This is good news for tourists as it is expected that renting a car will become cheaper, once today’s proposal will be approved.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said: ”With today’s proposal the Commission wants to make it as easy as possible for citizens and companies to move and register cars across borders in the European Union. Greatly simplified rules for cross-border car registration and a substantial reduction of administrative burden will bring us a step closer to a smooth functioning Single Market, our engine for growth and jobs.”

European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship said: “20 years after the entry into force of the internal market it is unacceptable that there are still so many obstacles for citizens and business. Our proposal puts an end to many car registration formalities and lengthy procedures. This means substantial savings for rent-a-car companies. Economy as a whole will win, and in particular the tourism industry.”

Registration of motor vehicles coming from another EU country

Formalities for re-registering a car in another EU country will be radically reduced

The proposal put forward today means an improvement for persons who spend a part of the year in another EU country who are currently often requested to re-register their vehicle. The proposal introduces the principle that a car should be registered in the EU country where its owner lives, and that all other Member States may not ask her/him to register the car with them, even if the car owner spend a longer period there.

When the proposal is adopted by the European Parliament and the Council, this will imply:

• Citizens who spend part of the year in a holiday residence in another EU country will not have to re-register their car there.
• Citizens who move permanently to another EU country will have 6 months to re-register their car there.
• Citizens who buy or sell a second-hand car in another EU country will not have to face additional technical controls and administrative problems.
• Citizens who work in another EU country and use a car registered by their employer there will no longer have to register it in their home country.
• Car-rental companies will be able to transfer cars to another EU country during the holiday periods without re-registration (e.g. keeping the same cars at the sea side during summer and in the Alps during the winter). This should lower the price of car rentals.
• For companies, the same principle applies: the cars, buses, vans and trucks should be registered in the EU country where the main office is established, and other EU countries must accept this.
• Registration authorities will increasingly cooperate with each other, making it easier to track stolen cars. It will become impossible to register a stolen car in another EU country.
• Many controls will be abolished altogether, with authorities getting any technical information they need about the car directly from their colleagues in the country where it is already registered.

Background

In the 2010 EU Citizenship Report “Dismantling the obstacles to EU citizens rights”¹ (IP/10/1390, MEMO/10/525), the Commission identified car registration problems as one of the main obstacles faced by citizens when exercising their rights under EU law in their daily lives and announced, as one of the 25 concrete actions envisaged to remove such obstacles, the simplification of the formalities and conditions for the registration of vehicles registered in another Member State.

The 651 citizens and 151 businesses responding to the public consultation in 2011 mentioned the following problems:

Registration problems have a negative impact on citizens and businesses. Long procedures (for 77.8 % of citizens and 83.1 % of businesses) and extra costs (for 86.5% of citizens and 81.4 % of businesses) are identified as the main effects, with 50.8% of businesses being discouraged from moving cars from one Member State to another. This is why 55.9 % of the businesses consulted feel that their productivity is seriously affected. For 64.4 %, they also affect growth. Finally, 23.7% of citizens and 28.8 % of businesses stated that, in the end, they could not register a vehicle in the Member State concerned.

Next steps

The proposal will now be discussed by the European Parliament and the Council. Once it will be approved Member States will be given one year to prepare for the new procedures, such as software for data exchange etc.

The Commission will take an initiative later this year to clarify EU rules that Member States must respect when car registration and circulation taxes are applied. The Commission will make recommendations to improve the single market, in particular to avoid double taxation of cars when citizens move from one Member State to another and to remove obstacles for cross-border car rentals.

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Friday the final rule for standards for living organisms in ships’ ballast water discharged into waters of the United States is scheduled for publication March 23 in the Federal Register.

A public inspection copy of the final rule is available online. Go to http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/public-inspection and select the option “View the Special Filing Document List.”

The Coast Guard is amending its regulations on ballast water management by establishing a standard for the allowable concentration of living organisms in ballast water discharged from ships in waters of the United States. The Coast Guard is also amending its regulations for engineering equipment by establishing an approval process for ballast water management systems.

“These new regulations will aid in controlling the introduction and spread of nonindigenous species from ships’ ballast water,” said Jeffrey Lantz, director of the Coast Guard’s Office of Commercial Regulations and Standards. ”This final rule establishes a ballast water discharge standard that is protective of the marine environment and is also consistent with the discharge standard adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2004.”

The numerical limits set by the discharge standard in this final rule are supported by reports from the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board in 2011 as the most stringent that vessels can practicably implement and that the Coast Guard can enforce at this time.

The final rule is effective 90 days after publication in the Federal Register, which is available through the new Federal Digital System at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/.

A storm packing typhoon-strength winds pummeled Japan on Tuesday, cancelling flights, paralyzing traffic, and causing at least two deaths.

The low pressure system in the Sea of Japan (East Sea) packed winds of 67 miles per hour with gusts over 90 miles per hour.

 The storm, said to be the most powerful to hit Japan since 1959, knocked out power for more than 10,000 households and businesses, forcing many stores and major companies like Sony, Canon, and Fujitsu to close early. The dramatic winds also halted commuter trains and grounded more than 600 flights in and around Tokyo.

The storm comes at a bad time for the nation as it works to recover from a major earthquake and Tsunami one year ago that left a confirmed 15,850 dead, 6,011 injured and 3,287 missing. It was the most powerful earthquake known to have hit Japan and one of the five most powerful earthquakes in the world since modern record-keeping began in 1900.

Earthquake Details
Magnitude 6.3 – OAXACA, MEXICO
2012 April 02 17:36:43 UTC

This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
Magnitude
6.3
Date-Time
Monday, April 02, 2012 at 17:36:43 UTC
Monday, April 02, 2012 at 12:36:43 PM at epicenter
Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location
16.477°N, 98.287°W
Depth
12.3 km (7.6 miles)
Region
OAXACA, MEXICO
Distances
158 km (98 miles) SSW of Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca, Mexico
174 km (108 miles) SE of Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico
175 km (108 miles) ESE of Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico
338 km (210 miles) SSE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
Location Uncertainty
horizontal +/- 15 km (9.3 miles); depth +/- 7.7 km (4.8 miles)
Parameters
NST=379, Nph=379, Dmin=329.5 km, Rmss=1.01 sec, Gp= 47°,
M-type=regional moment magnitude (Mw), Version=B
Source
Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

Source: Preliminary Earthquake Report
U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center
World Data Center for Seismology, Denver

The global temperature dataset compiled by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit has been updated.

Mexico was hit Tuesday by an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale. Although currently not identified major damage, images during natural calamities are impressive and dramatic.

Earthquake occurred at around 18 GMT, at 10 km depth, the Guerrero region. Earthquake epicenter was identified at 52 kilometers from the city Ometepec. Communication lines were jammed, and buildings from the old districts were affected.

In the video below, a Mexican earthquake recorded near a swimming pool. You can see dramatic water movement caused by earthquake.