http://steeve.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/2053379 Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:08:00 -0400 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/2053379 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1938949 engagement ring for their ladies. Moreover, with Beyonce's song "single ladies" hitting the women, most of them are waiting to raise their left hands for receiving the diamond engagement ring. Yes, the engagement ring says it all. Even though the diamond prices have increased tremendously, research indicates that men are ready to spend more on the rings. It should be noted that this trend is in spite of global recession.

According to a study conducted by Bride magazine in 2009, the average cost of an engagement ring has increased 43 percent from 2006 to $6,348 from $4,435. Michelle Preli, editor-in-chief of Brides.com says that clearly the sparkle and value of diamonds has captured the attention and wallets of couples who are keen on making a significant investment when it comes to engagement rings.

Moreover the local jewelers also think the same and said that economy isn’t dampening couples’ desire for wedding bling. According to Jeremy Kennedy of Kennedy Jewelers on East Main Street, there are certain things in life you have to have; food, health care etc. And if you’re getting married you have to have diamond rings and wedding bands, Jeremy added. Jewelers from all around also believe that grooms are often willing to spend more than they originally planned to find a ring.]]> Sat, 15 May 2010 05:10:00 -0400 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1938949 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1932459
Courtesy: Mail Today]]> Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:02:00 -0400 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1932459 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1930799
Chennai played well and the advantage of drop catches by Mumbai Indians helped them and they clinked victory by 22 runs. Suresh raina played exceptional knock with 2 wickets and was declared Man of the Match. Sachin Tendulkar was declared Man of the Series for more than 600 Runs in this DLF IPL 2010.

As a very popular saying, “Catches win Matches” and every body agrees with and so was Sachin in the Presentation Ceremony said. Chennai bowled very well and Bollinger bowled well.

In the IPL 2010 Finals Top Scorer was Suresh Raina 57* of 37 balls. From Mumbai Indians side Sachin Tendulkar was top scorer with 48 runs of 45 balls.

Chennai Super Kings were deserved winner of this Championship coz of there consistent performance and the boys played really well. M.S.Dhoni said in the presentation ceremony that the Bollinger really made the difference in the squard and he contribution was tremendous.

Chennai Scored 168 for 5 wickets of which Mumbai replied with 146 for 8 wickets falling short of 22 runs. Now, all the things in one, Chennai Super Kings are Champions of DLF IPL 2010.

Thanks for Reading...]]> Wed, 28 Apr 2010 03:01:00 -0400 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1930799 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1900946 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 02:15:00 -0400 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1900946 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1898774
The most notable feature of jewelry today is that the jewelry trend changes almost each and every moment. In the past, only those who visit the online jewelry shops constantly can be updated with the latest trends and fashions. The new jewelry trends increase the beauty and style for men and women. However, in this age of online shopping, anyone can be up to date with changing trends. There are a number of online jewelry stores who offers latest and top quality jewelry at considerable lower prices than brick and mortar jewelry stores. Novori Jewelry is one of the leading online retailers with a great selection of online diamond rings. A wide collection of gold, diamond and other precious metal jewelry are provided at Novori Jewelry.

The consumers are given an opportunity to compare and pick certified diamonds of highest quality, engagement rings, matching bridal sets and fine jewelry at outstanding prices. These online jewelry stores guarantees risk free and highly secure purchasing and 100% customer satisfaction. Novori is an online leading retailer for engagement rings, wedding rings and other diamond jewelry. Best of all the savings are considerable when shopping online for certified diamonds and diamond jewelry.

While considering jewelry for men, many designs are emerging as new jewelry trends. Designs such as rings, crosses and few other designs are gaining popularity among the fashion conscious men. But the choices are comparatively limited for men. They are left with fewer options while the women are bombarded with a wide array of diamon jewelry choices. However, men have not been disappointed; they try to find the best designer jewelry that would look fashionable on them.]]> Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:12:00 -0400 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1898774 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1898772 wedding ring and the engagement ring were two separate pieces of jewelry. Nowadays, some couples are choosing a diamond band as an engagement ring as well as a wedding ring.

Our ladies' diamond bands come in a variety of designs and prices. At Novori, our vast selection provides something to appeal to all tastes.]]> Sat, 20 Mar 2010 03:00:00 -0400 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1898772 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1913210
After years of preparation for climate talks taking place in Copenhagen through Dec. 18, 2009, President Obama and other leaders announced on Nov. 15 what had already become evident — that no formal treaty could be produced anytime soon. Instead, the leaders pledged to reach a placeholder accord that would call for reductions in emissions and increased aid to help developing nations adapt to a changing climate and get access to non-polluting energy options.

This would in theory give the nations more time to work out the all-important details. Negotiators would then seek a binding global agreement in 2010, complete with firm emission targets, enforcement mechanisms and specific dollar amounts to aid poorer nations.

At the heart of the debate is a momentous tussle between rich and poor countries over who steps up first and who pays most for changed energy menus.

Within the United States, Congress is similarly fighting over legislation on climate change. The House in the summer of 2009 passed a bill outlining a cap-and-trade system that could, over the next few decades, lead to an early end to conventional use of coal and oil, fuels that have underpinned prosperity and growth for more than a century. But between stiff opposition from energy interests and the overwhelming distractions of health care reform and the economy, the legislation has stalled in the Senate.

In international discussions over climate, Mr. Obama has urged other countries not to be discouraged by the stasis on Capitol Hill, pointing to big investments in energy efficiency, solar and wind power and his move to restrict greenhouse gases using environmental regulations.

In the meantime, recent fluctuations in temperature, seized on by opponents of emissions restrictions, have intensified the public debate over how urgently to respond. The long-term warming trend over the last century has been well-established, and scientists immersed in studying the climate are projecting substantial disruption in water supplies, agriculture, ecosystems and coastal communities. Passionate activists at both ends of the discourse are pushing ever harder for or against rapid action, while polls show the public locked durably in three camps — with roughly a fifth of American voters eager for action, a similar proportion aggressively rejecting projections of catastrophe and most people tuned out or confused.

Scientists learned long ago that the earth's climate has powerfully shaped the history of the human species — biologically, culturally and geographically. But only in the last few decades has research revealed that humans can be a powerful influence on the climate as well.

A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world's climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from unfettered burning of fossil fuels and the razing of tropical forests. Such activity adds to the atmosphere's invisible blanket of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping "greenhouse" gases. Recent research has shown that methane, which flows from landfills, livestock and oil and gas facilities, is a close second to carbon dioxide in impact on the atmosphere.

That conclusion has emerged through a broad body of analysis in fields as disparate as glaciology, the study of glacial formations, and palynology, the study of the distribution of pollen grains in lake mud. It is based on a host of assessments by the world's leading organizations of climate and earth scientists.

In the last several years, the scientific case that the rising human influence on climate could become disruptive has become particularly robust.

Some fluctuations in the Earth's temperature are inevitable regardless of human activity — because of decades-long ocean cycles, for example. But centuries of rising temperatures and seas lie ahead if the release of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation continues unabated, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The panel shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former Vice President Al Gore for alerting the world to warming's risks.

Despite the scientific consensus on these basic conclusions, enormously important details remain murky. That reality has been seized upon by some groups and scientists disputing the overall consensus and opposing changes in energy policies.

For example, estimates of the amount of warming that would result from a doubling of greenhouse gas concentrations (compared to the level just before the Industrial Revolution got under way in the early 19th century) range from 3.6 degrees to 8 degrees Fahrenheit. The intergovernmental climate panel said it could not rule out even higher temperatures). While the low end could probably be tolerated, the high end would almost certainly result in calamitous, long-lasting disruptions of ecosystems and economies, a host of studies have concluded. A wide range of economists and earth scientists say that level of risk justifies an aggressive response.

Other questions have persisted despite a century-long accumulation of studies pointing to human-driven warming. The rate and extent at which sea levels will rise in this century as ice sheets erode remains highly uncertain, even as the long-term forecast of centuries of retreating shorelines remains intact. Scientists are struggling more than ever to disentangle how the heat building in the seas and atmosphere will affect the strength and number of tropical cyclones. The latest science suggests there will be more hurricanes and typhoons that reach the most dangerous categories of intensity, but fewer storms over all.

Steps Toward a Response:

The debate over such climate questions pales next to the fight over what to do, or not do, in a world where fossil fuels still underpin both rich and emerging economies. With the completion of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the Earth Summit in 1992, the world's nations pledged to avoid dangerously disrupting the climate through the buildup of greenhouse gases, but they never defined how much warming was too much.

Nonetheless, recognizing that the original climate treaty was proving ineffective, all of the world's industrialized countries except for the United States accepted binding restrictions on their greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, which was negotiated in Japan in 1997. That accord took effect in 2005 and its gas restrictions expire in 2012. (The United States signed the treaty, but it was never submitted for ratification, in the face of overwhelming opposition in the Senate because the pact required no steps by China or other fast-growing developing countries.

It took until 2009 for the leaders of the world's largest economic powers to agree on a dangerous climate threshold: an increase of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) from the average global temperature recorded just before the Industrial Revolution kicked into gear. (This translates into an increase of 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the Earth's current average temperature, about 59 degrees).

The Group of 8 industrial powers also agreed this year to a goal of reducing global emissions 50 percent by 2050, with the richest countries leading the way by cutting their emissions 80 percent. But they did not set a baseline from which to measure that reduction, and so far firm interim targets — which many climate scientists say would be more meaningful — have not been defined.

At the same time, fast-growing emerging economic powerhouses, led by China and India, still oppose taking on mandatory obligations to curb their emissions. They say they will do what they can to rein in growth in emissions — as long as their economies do not suffer. The world's poorest countries, in the meantime, are seeking payments to help make them less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, given that the buildup in climate-warming gases so far has come mainly from richer nations. Such aid has been promised since the 1992 treaty and a fund was set up under the Kyoto Protocol. But while tens of billions of dollars are said to be needed, only millions have flowed so far.

In many ways, the debate over global climate policy is a result of a global "climate divide.'' Emissions of carbon dioxide per person range from less than 2 tons per year in India, where 400 million people lack access to electricity, to more than 20 in the United States. The richest countries are also best able to use wealth and technology to insulate themselves from climate hazards, while the poorest, which have done the least to cause the problem, are the most exposed.

In Copenhagen in December 2009, negotiators had planned to try to settle on the basic terms of two new global climate agreements. One would renew the commitments of countries bound by the Kyoto emissions limits; the other would rein in emissions of all countries to varying extents, depending on their wealth and emissions history. Given the many competing interests, and the reality that any big emissions shifts would have substantial economic impacts, the negotiations have been called one of the most complex diplomatic challenges ever.

Democratic leaders in the United States Senate continue to try to follow the lead of the House of Representatives by securing passage of a bill aiming to sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The chief mechanism would be a "cap and trade" system that sets a gradually declining ceiling for over all emissions. Companies and institutions could buy and sell credits from one another as a way to curb emissions at the lowest cost. Companies that made deeper cuts than required could sell credits to companies that fell short of their targets.

But a national preoccupation with the slow economy and competing issues, led by health care, threaten to delay or weaken such legislation. Another impediment is the shortage of money flowing to basic energy research and large-scale demonstrations of non-polluting energy technology. While the Obama administration and Congress directed some stimulus money toward such efforts, such spending comes only after decades of declining investment in these areas.

President Obama came into office vowing to take swift action on climate change, and under him, the Environmental Protection Agency has declared that it will regulate carbon dioxide emissions. But with the cap-and-trade bill facing an uncertain future in the Senate, his ability to take big steps on the issue has been severely constrained, and without significant actions by the United States, China and India had made it clear they would remain on the sidelines. Just weeks before the planned Copenhagen session, he and other leaders gathered for an Asian summit announced that no treaty would be reached in 2009. Instead, leaders will try to reach a political agreement that could be the basis for new treaty talks in 2010.

In the meantime, a recent dip in emissions caused by the global economic slowdown is almost certain to be followed by a rise, scientists warn, and with population and appetites for energy projected to rise through mid-century, they say the entwined challenges of climate and energy will only intensify.

Original Post : http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming]]> Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:41:00 -0400 http://steeve.tigblog.org/post/1913210