This is a wonderful opportunity for the president to shame his critics and he did that without insulting anybody. Congratulations nigerians.

THEY ARE SHOUTING EKO o NI BAJE AND PEOPLE HAS BEEN DYING FOR SEVEN WEEKS. Only God can save this nation. Tomorrow they will be criticising Jonathan while their house is on fire. Na wa o

Haleluya

long live Africa, Up Ethiopia

I don't know their reason but that is the truth. This is verifiable.
I was there live and it was confirmed at the hospital.

I have been hearing this for a long time that it is a must for men to donate blood whenever their wives want to deliver at general hospitals.
I never belief until i follow one of my friends to a general hospital at Ifako Ijaye Local Government,Lagos and he was told in my presence that he has to, as a matter of must, donate blood before they can take delivery of his baby.
This, to me, is a serious matter that must be address here on Nairaland.

What is Acid Rain and What Causes It?
"Acid rain" is a broad term used to describe several ways that acids fall out of the atmosphere. A more precise term is acid deposition, which has two parts: wet and dry.

Wet deposition refers to acidic rain, fog, and snow. As this acidic water flows over and through the ground, it affects a variety of plants and animals. The strength of the effects depend on many factors, including how acidic the water is, the chemistry and buffering capacity of the soils involved, and the types of fish, trees, and other living things that rely on the water.

Dry deposition refers to acidic gases and particles. About half of the acidity in the atmosphere falls back to earth through dry deposition. The wind blows these acidic particles and gases onto buildings, cars, homes, and trees. Dry deposited gases and particles can also be washed from trees and other surfaces by rainstorms. When that happens, the runoff water adds those acids to the acid rain, making the combination more acidic than the falling rain alone.

Prevailing winds blow the compounds that cause both wet and dry acid deposition across state and national borders, and sometimes over hundreds of miles. Scientists discovered, and have confirmed, that sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are the primary causes of acid rain. In the US, About 2/3 of all SO2 and 1/4 of all NOx comes from electric power generation that relies on burning fossil fuels like coal.

Acid rain occurs when these gases react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and other chemicals to form various acidic compounds. Sunlight increases the rate of most of these reactions. The result is a mild solution of sulfuric acid and nitric acid.

How Do We Measure Acid Rain?

Acid rain is measured using a scale called "pH." The lower a substance's pH, the more acidic it is. Pure water has a pH of 7.0. Normal rain is slightly acidic because carbon dioxide dissolves into it, so it has a pH of about 5.5. As of the year 2000, the most acidic rain falling in the US has a pH of about 4.3.

Acid rain's pH, and the chemicals that cause acid rain, are monitored by two networks, both supported by EPA. The National Atmospheric Deposition Program measures wet deposition, and its Web site features maps of rainfall pH (follow the link to the isopleth maps) and other important precipitation chemistry measurements.

The Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) measures dry deposition. Its web site features information about the data it collects, the measuring sites, and the kinds of equipment it uses.

Effects of Acid Rain

Acid rain causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to damage of trees at high elevations (for example, red spruce trees above 2,000 feet) and many sensitive forest soils. In addition, acid rain accelerates the decay of building materials and paints, including irreplaceable buildings, statues, and sculptures that are part of our nation's cultural heritage. Prior to falling to the earth, SO2 and NOx gases and their particulate matter derivatives, sulfates and nitrates, contribute to visibility degradation and harm public health.

What Society Can Do About Acid Deposition

There are several ways to reduce acid deposition, more properly called acid deposition, ranging from societal changes to individual action.

Understand acid deposition's causes and effects

To understand acid deposition's causes and effects and track changes in the environment, scientists from EPA, state governments, and academic study acidification processes. They collect air and water samples and measure them for various characteristics like pH and chemical composition, and they research the effects of acid deposition on human-made materials such as marble and bronze. Finally, scientists work to understand the effects of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) - the pollutants that cause acid deposition and fine particles - on human health.

To solve the acid rain problem, people need to understand how acid rain causes damage to the environment. They also need to understand what changes could be made to the air pollution sources that cause the problem. The answers to these questions help leaders make better decisions about how to control air pollution and therefore how to reduce - or even eliminate - acid rain. Since there are many solutions to the acid rain problem, leaders have a choice of which options or combination of options are best. The next section describes some of the steps that can be taken to reduce, or even eliminate, the acid deposition problem.

Clean up smokestacks and exhaust pipes

Almost all of the electricity that powers modern life comes from burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil. acid deposition is caused by two pollutants that are released into the atmosphere, or emitted, when these fuels are burned: sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

Coal accounts for most US sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions and a large portion of NOx emissions. Sulfur is present in coal as an impurity, and it reacts with air when the coal is burned to form SO2. In contrast, NOx is formed when any fossil fuel is burned.

There are several options for reducing SO2 emissions, including using coal containing less sulfur, washing the coal, and using devices called scrubbers to chemically remove the SO2 from the gases leaving the smokestack. Power plants can also switch fuels; for example burning natural gas creates much less SO2 than burning coal. Certain approaches will also have additional benefits of reducing other pollutants such as mercury and carbon dioxide. Understanding these "co-benefits" has become important in seeking cost-effective air pollution reduction strategies. Finally, power plants can use technologies that don't burn fossil fuels. Each of these options has its own costs and benefits, however; there is no single universal solution.

Similar to scrubbers on power plants, catalytic converters reduce NOx emissions from cars. These devices have been required for over twenty years in the US, and it is important to keep them working properly and tailpipe restrictions have been tightened recently. EPA has also made, and continues to make, changes to gasoline that allows it to burn cleaner.

Use alternative energy sources

There are other sources of electricity besides fossil fuels. They include: nuclear power, hydropower, wind energy, geothermal energy, and solar energy. Of these, nuclear and hydropower are used most widely; wind, solar, and geothermal energy have not yet been harnessed on a large scale in this country.

There are also alternative energies available to power automobiles, including natural gas powered vehicles, battery-powered cars, fuel cells, and combinations of alternative and gasoline powered vehicles.

All sources of energy have environmental costs as well as benefits. Some types of energy are more expensive to produce than others, which means that not all Americans can afford all types of energy. Nuclear power, hydropower, and coal are the cheapest forms today, but changes in technologies and environmental regulations may shift that in the future. All of these factors must be weighed when deciding which energy source to use today and which to invest in for tomorrow.

Restore a damaged environment

Acid deposition penetrates deeply into the fabric of an ecosystem, changing the chemistry of the soil as well as the chemistry of the streams and narrowing, sometimes to nothing, the space where certain plants and animals can survive. Because there are so many changes, it takes many years for ecosystems to recover from acid deposition, even after emissions are reduced and the rain becomes normal again. For example, while the visibility might improve within days, and small or episodic chemical changes in streams improve within months, chronically acidified lakes, streams, forests, and soils can take years to decades or even centuries (in the case of soils) to heal.

However, there are some things that people do to bring back lakes and streams more quickly. Limestone or lime (a naturally-occurring basic compound) can be added to acidic lakes to "cancel out" the acidity. This process, called liming, has been used extensively in Norway and Sweden but is not used very often in the United States. Liming tends to be expensive, has to be done repeatedly to keep the water from returning to its acidic condition, and is considered a short-term remedy in only specific areas rather than an effort to reduce or prevent pollution. Furthermore, it does not solve the broader problems of changes in soil chemistry and forest health in the watershed, and does nothing to address visibility reductions, materials damage, and risk to human health. However, liming does often permit fish to remain in a lake, so it allows the native population to survive in place until emissions reductions reduce the amount of acid deposition in the area.

Look to the future

As emissions from the largest known sources of acid deposition - power plants and automobiles-are reduced, EPA scientists and their colleagues must assess the reductions to make sure they are achieving the results Congress anticipated. If these assessments show that acid deposition is still harming the environment, Congress may begin to consider additional ways to reduce emissions that cause acid deposition. They may consider additional emissions reductions from sources that have already been controlled, or methods to reduce emissions from other sources. They may also invest in energy efficiency and alternative energy. The cutting edge of protecting the environment from acid deposition will continue to develop and implement cost-effective mechanisms to cut emissions and reduce their impact on the environment.

Take action as individuals

It may seem like there is not much that one individual can do to stop acid deposition. However, like many environmental problems, acid deposition is caused by the cumulative actions of millions of individual people. Therefore, each individual can also reduce their contribution to the problem and become part of the solution. One of the first steps is to understand the problem and its solutions.

Individuals can contribute directly by conserving energy, since energy production causes the largest portion of the acid deposition problem. For example, you can:
Turn off lights, computers, and other appliances when you're not using them
Use energy efficient appliances: lighting, air conditioners, heaters, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.
Only use electric appliances when you need them.
Keep your thermostat at 68 F in the winter and 72 F in the summer. You can turn it even lower in the winter and higher in the summer when you are away from home.
Insulate your home as best you can.
Carpool, use public transportation, or better yet, walk or bicycle whenever possible
Buy vehicles with low NOx emissions, and maintain all vehicles well.
Be well-informed.

Adeboye's jet: Missing answers
By Pius Isiekwene

MANY writers maintain that facts are sacred and should be so treated. There is indeed a dictum in journalism that whenever in doubt, a reporter or writer should vacate the issue entirely. Those who are determined to bring an issue into the public domain because of its importance or urgency must go the extra kilometre to seek out the facts.

The treatment of facts is the essential distinction between the junk writers and publications on the one hand and the serious writers and publications on the other. The sober professional writer seeks to provide answers to the questions of what, who, when, where and how. Contemporary investigative journalism also explores the idea of "what next" or the probable consequences of the events or series of reported events.

A professional reporter or writer who cannot answer all the pertinent questions restrains himself from that subject mater or waits until he has the answers. Such self-censorship boosts the integrity of the reporter and his publications. Many readers look forward to such a self-censored reporter's story and tend to believe him even after reading other possibly different accounts of the same event.

There is of course, the tyranny of deadlines and the consequent pressure in the newsroom. Each newspaper seeks to beat its rivals to the story. There is also a dangerous band-wagonism as "less fortunate" reporters tend to replicate the "facts" in the story-breaking publication without any independent checks of their own.

In perhaps a few cases also, falsehood is known to have been published out of a deliberate mischief to misinform, vendetta, enemy-propaganda, reporter-advocacy and other non-professional and subjective considerations.

The reports of the Gulfstream 4XP jet with registration number 707EA supposedly bought by Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeobye, the general overseer of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (The RCCG), have been characterised by varying levels of inaccuracies, unanswered questions and mischief in most of the newspaper publications and postings on the internet.

A check on "what" was actually bought would have revealed, for example, that contrary to widespread reports, the jet was not brand new and cost an estimated N1.4 billion, a fraction of the reported N4 billion. A further check would also have revealed that the 1996 model aircraft attracted a down payment of only 30 per cent in a purely commercial transaction handled by one of Nigeria's first generation banks.

Almost without exception, the "who" and "how" questions were bungled by all the publications in what has become known as "Adeboye's Jet" or "Redeemed Jet." The truth, however, is that the jet does not belong to the mathematician turned preacher or the church. Rather, it belongs to a group of five members of the church who procured it to run private charter services. The only Adeboye connection is that he would be given priority to travel in the jet for his pastoral duties within and outside the country at little or no cost. It is not intended for his exclusive use as the sponsors of the jet expect to service the US$7 million procurement loan with the charter proceeds. The aircraft is the collateral for the loan.

Diverse emotions have also flowed from writers and commentators as they struggled with the "probable consequences" of the Adeboye jet, particularly at a time of global economic meltdown. Some have dismissed the jet as an ill-timed and needless luxury by the general overseer of a church whose members and pastors are struggling with poverty. Like Judas Iscariot who criticised Mary for anointing Jesus with expansive perfume at Bethany (John 12: 1-5), they argued that the money should have been spent on the poor. Quite a number also argued that the jet was out of character with the life of sacrifice and holiness for which Adeboye had hitherto been known.

But to Adeboye, as one of the internet discussants argued, a jet is no more a luxury than an air-conditioned car is to a busy executive transversing diverse locations. Also, unlike a busy executive whose operations may be confined to a single city or nation, Adeboye's church has parishes in more than 100 countries spread over Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas, the Middle/Far East and Australia. Again, unlike a busy transnational executive who does not need to be physically present at all operational locations, Pastor Adeboye's business is with men's souls and demands physical presence and contact. Even with an occasional free jet ride, he may still not be able to cover all the nations but the enhanced access to an aircraft and ease of travelling certainly make a difference.

To be sure Adeboye loathes poverty but deeply loves the poor who constitute the bulk of his target messages on how to conquer poverty. Under his leadership, The RCCG has numerous welfare programmes aimed at helping and empowering the poor. He regards the mass media with equal love as journalists who have interacted with him would testify.

The debate may not be yet over but a healthy quest and respect for facts are imperative for the Fourth Estate of the Realm - whether the subject matter is a private jet, a murder, fraud or bill. All the pertinent questions demand answers. And so do the readers.

Isiekwene lives in Lagos



SOURCE:GUARDIAN 16TH APRIL,2009

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