[DIALOGnews] DIALOG and DISCCRS News 05/12/2006

Fri May 12 09:46:41 CDT 2006

DIALOG and DISCCRS News
05/12/2006
************************************
TABLE OF CONTENTS
RESOURCES
The World Ocean Observatory
    http://www.thew2o.net (see below)

SCIENCE NEWS
For the U.S., the cost of the Iraq war will soon exceed the  
anticipated cost of the Kyoto Protocol... For both, the cost is  
somewhere in excess of $300 billion.
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/09/ 
AR2006050901502.html
The "RealClimate" scoop on Al Gore's movie:
    http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/05/al-gores- 
movie/#more-299
New World Bank project to promote clean energy in developing countries.
    http://www.tiempocyberclimate.org/newswatch/index.htm
Tibet Provides Passage for Chemicals to Reach the Stratosphere
    http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2006-074
Monster Hurricanes: New research calls into question the linkage  
between major Atlantic hurricanes and global warming (EurekAlert!)
    http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2006/2006GL025757.shtml
No winner in future climate league (New Scientist)
    (see below)
Plankton Blooms Linked to Quakes
    (see below)
Shivering and Unsung, Scientists Monitor the Arctic Year After Year  
After Year
    (see below)

SUMMER PROGRAMS, COURSES, INTERNSHIPS, MEETINGS, OPPORTUNITIES
Second Announcement and Call for Registration for the 2006 World  
Water Week in Stockholm
    (see below)

JOBS
Postdoctoral Positions, Science, Technology and Society - University  
of Texas at Austin
    (see below)
***************************************************
Resources
The World Ocean Observatory
    http://www.thew2o.net
    The World Ocean Observatory is dedicated to information,  
education and public discourse about the ocean defined as an  
integrated global social system. We believe that informed citizens  
worldwide can unite to sustain the ocean through mitigation and  
change of human behavior on land and sea. Our intent is to  
communicate the full spectrum of ocean issues — climate, fresh water,  
food, energy, trade, transportation, public health, finance,  
governance, recreation and culture — as a realization of our belief  
that the sea connects all things.
    The w2o.net is a place of exchange for ocean information,  
education and public discourse about the future of the ocean and its  
implication for human survival. Incorporating The Physical Ocean, the  
UN Atlas of the Oceans and other useful sites; The World Ocean  
Directory, an indexed network of organizations worldwide with ocean  
interests; The World Ocean Forum, a digest of ocean conferences,  
publications, exhibits, news and media; and The World Ocean  
Classroom, an inventory of curriculum, ocean exemplars and  
educational resources for global distribution.
    For Breaking Waves, an on-line posting of ocean-related news,  
please follow this link:  http://www.thew2o.net/oceanForum.html.
To subscribe to our monthly newsletter, The W2O Observer, please  
follow this link:  http://www.thew2o.net/subscribeNewsletter.html.
***************************************************
Science News
  No winner in future climate league (New Scientist)
    FLASH floods in the Mediterranean, more snow for north-eastern  
Europe and irregular weather patterns across eastern North America.  
That's the forecast for later this century, according to the most  
recent climate-change predictions.
    Using the latest data from 20 global climate simulations, Filippo  
Giorgi of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical  
Physics in Trieste, Italy, has calculated which parts of the world  
will have experienced the biggest swings in climate by the end of  
this century. Based on projected changes in precipitation,  
temperature and climate variability, he developed a climate-change  
index that he used to rank regions according to the severity of  
change they will experience.
    The Mediterranean and north-eastern Europe came out top of the  
list of climate-change extremes (Geophysical Research Letters, DOI:  
10.1029/2006GL025734). The Med can expect less rainfall overall but  
more variability in summer rain, making both droughts and flash  
floods more likely. North-eastern Europe looks set to have much more  
snow. Eastern North America was also high up on the list, with a  
variety of changes in different locations.
********************
Plankton Blooms Linked to Quakes
    from BBC News Online
    Concentrations of the natural pigment chlorophyll in coastal  
waters have been shown to rise prior to earthquakes.
    These chlorophyll increases are due to blooms of plankton, which  
use the pigment to convert solar energy to chemical energy via  
photosynthesis.
    A joint US-Indian team of researchers analysed satellite data on  
ocean coastal areas lying near the epicentres of four recent quakes.
    Details of the research appear in the journal Advances in Space  
Research.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4750557.stm
    or
    http://tinyurl.com/z43p8
********************
Shivering and Unsung, Scientists Monitor the Arctic Year After Year  
After Year
    from the New York Times (Registration Required)
    On April 22, two divers from the University of Washington entered  
a manhole-size opening in the veneer of floating sea ice around the  
North Pole.
    For the fifth year in a row they descended into the blue-green 29- 
degree water in pursuit of the least glorious, and perhaps most  
important, facet of earth and ocean science: the collection of basic  
information on conditions in the same place year after year.
    Their task was to retrieve a two-mile-long strand of instruments  
that for a year had been anchored to the sea floor recording shifting  
currents, temperatures, salinity, ice thickness and other vital  
signs. Now, after an acoustic signal released it from the anchor, the  
strand was bunched in a tangle of floats and Kevlar line under the ice.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/09/science/09arct.html
    or
    http://tinyurl.com/z46jb
***************************************************
Summer Programs, Courses, Internships, Meetings, Opportunities
  Second Announcement and Call for Registration for the 2006 World  
Water Week in Stockholm
    The 2006 World Water Week in Stockholm will continue its  
important role at the nexus of the water, environment, development  
and poverty reduction fields when it takes place August 20-26 at the  
Stockholm City Conference Centre in the Swedish capital. The full  
programme has just been announced and can now be found online at  
www.worldwaterweek.org.
    (To view, save or print the programme announcement directly in  
Adobe Acrobat PDF Format, click here: http://www.worldwaterweek.org/ 
Downloads/2006_WWW_2nd_%20Announcement.pdf)
    In 2006, the World Water features 10 workshops, 35 seminars and  
23 side events and an overarching theme of “Beyond the River –  
Sharing Benefits and Responsibilities”. Some 90 diverse organisations  
are on board as convenors or co-convenors of different activities.  
Plenary sessions, panel debates, technical tours, social events,  
exhibitions and special events, including the 2006 Stockholm Water  
Prize presentation and the international Stockholm Junior Water Prize  
competition, round out the programme for the 2006 World Water Week in  
Stockholm.
    Among the many events and activities taking place in Stockholm  
are the 10th anniversary celebration of the Global Water Partnership,  
the presentation of the results of the Comprehensive Assessment of  
Water Management in Agriculture, the multi-stakeholder meeting of the  
European Union Water Initiative, and much more.
    For more on these and the other events in Stockholm, visit  
www.worldwaterweek.org.
***************************************************
Jobs
Planktonnet: Great listserv for aquatic-science jobs
To subscribe to the list, send an empty email to:
planktonnet-subscribe at yahoogroups.com
Or, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/planktonnet/ and click on  
'Join this group'
  Postdoctoral Positions, Science, Technology and Society -  
University of Texas at Austin
    The Science, Technology & Society Program at the University of  
Texas at Austin is pleased to announce two positions for postdoctoral  
research in its growing program in societal impacts of science and  
technology. The successful applicants will conduct research on some  
aspect of the societal impacts of science and technology. As  
postdoctoral fellows they will teach one seminar course per semester  
and will work with faculty and graduate students in activities  
designed to foster the understanding of social impacts of science and  
technology. Major focus areas can include: impacts of nanoscience,  
biotechnology, emerging communication technologies, digital gaming,  
the environment, as well as other areas. Fellows will be expected to  
participate in the STS Program's educational and outreach activities.  
The University of Texas at Austin provides many opportunities for  
collaboration, with leading programs in public policy, business,  
engineering, the sciences, law, and liberal arts.
    Applicants should be recent recipients of a PhD degree; areas of  
specialization and disciplinary approach open. The positions are 12- 
month positions with a flexible starting date. Salary $35,000, plus  
benefits. Postdocs are expected to be in residence in Austin, Texas  
for the time of the fellowship.
    Please send a detailed cover letter, CV, and 1-page proposal for  
research work during the postdoc period to Professor Elizabeth  
Keating, Director, Science, Technology & Society Program at:  
ekeating at mail.utexas.edu
    Applications received by July 1 will be given first  
consideration. For further information about the program, please see  
the website of the STS program www.sts.utexas.edu
**************************************************
This newsletter has been developed by C. Susan Weiler to distribute  
information of potential interest to recent PhDs engaged in  
interdisciplinary aquatic science or climate-change research, and to  
build an international sense of community among recent grads. It  
provides an international forum for the exchange of information and  
opinions regarding research, professional and social issues. The  
views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the  
funding agencies or sponsoring societies. Dr. Weiler reserves the  
right to edit or reject material submitted to the list.
         Please submit announcements of interest to recent PhDs to  
phd at whitman.edu.  Send a short message in the body of an e-mail  
message, and link to any appropriate websites. Do not send attachments.
         Moving? Send address changes to dialog at whitman.edu or  
disccrs at whitman.edu
**********
C. Susan Weiler, Ph.D.
Office for Earth System Studies    Tel:   509-527-5948
Whitman College                          Fax:  509-527-5961
Walla Walla, WA 99362
    weiler at whitman.edu
    Programs for Recent PhDs                 http://aslo.org/phd.html
    DIALOG poster        http://www.aslo.org/phd/dialogposter.pdf
    DISCCRS poster       http://www.aslo.org/phd/disccrsposter.pdf
   Workshop Report, Meeting the Needs of
     Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Graduates in a
          Changing Global Environment
http://marcus.whitman.edu/~weilercs/biocomplexity/


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://aslo.org/pipermail/dialognews/attachments/20060512/85c9230c/attachment-0001.htm