For quite some time now scientists have been predicting ice melting at the poles. In past few years we saw massive breaking of ice from the poles specifically the Larsen Ice Shelf. (The Larsen A ice shelf disintegrated in January of 1995. The Larsen B ice shelf disintegrated in February of 2002.).
Now in the past week scientist were again shocked by massive breakage of ice from Wilkins Ice Shelf. On March 25, 2008 a 405-square-kilometer (156 sq mi) chunk of the Wilkins ice shelf disintegrated, putting an even larger portion of the glacial ice shelf at risk. Scientists were surprised when they discovered the rest of the 14,000-square-kilometer (5,400 sq mi)ice shelf is beginning to break away from the continent. What is left of the Wilkins ice shelf is now connected by only a narrow beam of ice.
In 1993 Professor David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) predicted that the northern part of the Wilkins ice shelf was likely to be lost within 30 years if climate warming on the Peninsula were to continue at the same rate.
The breakage of ice would also have serious impacts on deep sea life and polar bears. Loss of ice shelves poses a grave danger to basic life like krill and crabs which are vital to regions ecology. There loss will eventually effect the larger creatures like penguins and disturb the eco balance.
If the current melting trend continues we will be facing grave consequences like rising sea levels, massive flooding and disturbance in Ecology of the region in not so distant future.
A new election, a new hope, a new Government but the same old problems. Election 08 has given anew hope to people of Pakistan. A hope that arises every time Government changes. Hope that arose in 1997 when Nawaz took over, Hope that arose again in 1999 after Musharaf Coup and now again in 2008.But will this time be any different, for the sake of Pakistan’s future I hope so yes. But it won’t be an easy ride for the new government as the ground realities haven’t changed much. The US war against terror is still on going, the spread of extremism in the masses is still ongoing, and there is still electricity and gas shortage so it won’t be a walk in the park for who ever takes over the government.
Has Pakistan reached a point from there is no return? Has the US lead war has put us in a dilemma to which there is no solution? are the main questions the new government has to address. People of Pakistan have spoken and given the politicians another chance, now its there turn to deliver cause God forbid if they don’t the trust people have entrusted in them will be shattered.
The performance and policies of the new government might very well determine our future and our existence as a nation.
A peaceful protest was held at FAST today. Around 500-600 students gathered backstage after Jumma Prayers for a Peaceful protest. All the students were Wearing Black Arm Bands as a sign of protest. Few faculty members also addressed the student gathering.
Today LUMS saw its biggest ever protest and it’s heartening to see that FAST and other reputable institutions have joined in as well. All these protest by students have been done peacefully and in good Faith.
Yesterday I was hearing Geo and Dr.Shahid and Insar Abbasi were commenting on current state of affairs in the country and the bottom line comment from both of them was that our nation has gone emotionally dead(Behis),reason that no people were coming out on the street. Perhaps they were not aware of the protest held at LUMS on Monday.
Well people come out on streets if they have strong leadership to follow and as present no politician or noticeable figures that can lead people have come out in protest.
That makes this student movement by LUMS, FAST and other leading universities even more commendable and appreciable as these movements and rallies are totally organized and arranged by students without involvement from any other source. This shows a bright light of hope and shows the youth of our Nation are aware and are willing to stand up and fight for the right causes. There is still along way to go but the good thing is that student voices have started to emerge and are being heard nationally and internationally.
In Lums there was a large gathering of 1000 students almost 3 times bigger than Mondays Rally. It was a big success. Though Police tried to stop it and there was a lot of Police presence outside Campus gate but students made there point with a well organized show of protest.
In Fast it was a totally different story. Police arrested 3 of the students and sources say they also beat one. Gate of Fast was closed and no one was allowed to go Inside or Come Outside. Campus was surrounded by police .
Video: Protest at Fast
It seems PUCIT is also planning to join in and it seems that on Friday there will be a combined Coordinated Rally joined by students of many leading universities in Lahore.
A small Anti - Emergency/Marshal Law Protest was held at LUMS Campus today. The Student body is really flared up against the steps taken by the Musharaff regime all over Pakistan. Till now only Lawyers were the main driving force in protest against Musharaff. Is this small Rally is the sign of things to come in the future. LUMS is a leading University of Social, Business and Computer Sciences in Pakistan. Few of its faculty members were also arrested in the government operation/crackdown against Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Head office in Lahore.
Former Us Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it. The award was announced in Oslo,Norway on Friday.
This prize comes just after Al Gore won the Oscar few months back. Here is the letter I received from Algore.com today. I also encourage you all to go there and sign up and show your support for Al Gore and more importantly for the issue of climate change and the future of our Planet.
Dear Abdul,
I am deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This award is even more meaningful because I have the honor of sharing it with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change–the world’s pre-eminent scientific body devoted to improving our understanding of the climate crisis–a group whose members have worked tirelessly and selflessly for many years. We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level.
My wife, Tipper, and I will donate 100 percent of the proceeds of the award to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a bipartisan non-profit organization that is devoted to changing public opinion in the U.S. and around the world about the urgency of solving the climate crisis.
Thank you,
Al Gore
Nobel Prize is a great honor for Al Gore an and he has really deserved it as he is tried tremendously in past few years to raise awareness on climate change and global warming issue throughout the world. It’s nice that the world has recognizing his efforts and soon the world governments will be pressurized enough to think and act seriously to tackle the climate crises we are facing today.
Just saw the trailer of this new movie which is due next month.I really liked the first Elizabeth movie and cant wait to watch the 2nd one.Holywood normaly produces one or two epic movies in a year and this seems to be one.
Yet another wonderful innovation from Google. I downloaded latest Google Earth 2 days back and it id full of surprising new innovations.
First of all there is a whole new thing which is Google Sky. Now you can view the sky view from a particular place in Earth. For example I can see the night sky as visible from Lahore. Then there is lot of detail like constellations planets and Hubble telescope imagery which is really wonderful.
Other additions are picture viewing and lots of new marker placement.You can see the picture of your favorite location by cliking on the marker and a the picture opens in anew window.
I watched “Khuda Ke Liye” Yesterday night and was really impressed by the movie. The Movie depicts exactly what is happening in Pakistani Society. The struggle between the Extremist and Moderate Forces.
Movie brought up many controversial topics like music, dressing, out of Islam marriages and many more.
So I really recommend all to go and see the movie because it is really a thought provoking movie and depicts the conflict within our society.
