Geotimes
Field Notes
Voyager spacecrafts stretch to
the edge World
summit over, energy issues linger
Voyager
spacecrafts stretch to the edge
Last summer marked
the 25th anniversary of the Voyager mission. Launched in 1977, the Voyager spacecrafts
represent the longest running and one of the most successful missions of NASA’s
space program. Now, Voyager 1 at 7.9 billion miles from Earth and Voyager 2
at 6.3 billion miles from Earth mark the furthest reaches of the solar system
recorded by a spacecraft.
Voyager 2 obtained this image of Saturn
on Aug. 11, 1981, from a range of 14.7 million kilometers. Above the planet
are the satellites Dione (right) and Enceladus.
Scientists have high hopes for the Voyager spacecraft, which should reach the
edge of the solar system within the next 10 years. First, scientists predict,
they will hit a region of termination shock where the supersonic winds of the
solar atmosphere abruptly slow and the effects of the Sun’s magnetic field
become negligible. After moving through this region, the spacecraft will reach
the heliopause boundary and then finally interstellar space, marking another
milestone in their long journey of discovery.
Learn more about their missions at the NASA
Voyager Web site.
Salma Monani
World
summit over, energy issues linger
The World Summit on Sustainable Development ended Sept. 4, after 10 days of
debate about achieving global environmental progress. Held in Johannesburg,
South Africa, the summit was the first of its kind since a decade ago in Rio
de Janeiro. In the end, all that the 64,000 delegates of this year’s summit
had to show for the meeting was a 70-page final agreement document filled with
many ideas but few specific courses of action. The document is not legally binding,
but many hope that the negotiations borne out of the summit will promote international
partnerships and change.
Among the agreements included in the implementation plan were to reduce by half
the 2 billion people worldwide who live without access to proper sanitation
by 2015; to set a target date of 2010 to significantly reduce the current rate
of biodiversity loss; and to prohibit fishing in areas over harvested. Countries
also agreed to establish a voluntary world solidarity fund to eradicate poverty
and to promote social and human development. The fund would not duplicate existing
United Nations (UN) funds and would encourage partnerships with the private
sector.
Notably missing from the plan were any agreements on energy resources. The summit
began with discussion on proposals to make renewable energy technologies account
for 15 percent of the total global energy production by 2010. Although the European
Union pressed hard for including that measure in the final agreement, several
developed countries and oil producers, including the United States, Saudi Arabia
and Japan, resisted this proposal. The United States argued that because renewable
energy is still more expensive than conventional energy sources, it is not always
appropriate.
Countries reached no compromise goal on renewable energy. “It is one of
the very difficult issues, and there are different approaches within the same
regions and groups,” Gustavo Ainchil, Councellor for the Permanent Mission
of Argentina to the UN, said in a statement. Ainchil facilitated the negotiations
on the energy sections of the summit’s final agreement.
On a related front, the Kyoto Protocol again emerged. Both Canada and Russia
announced that they support ratification of the 1997 agreement to reduce the
emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Russia’s Prime Minister
Mikhail Kasyanov told delegates that ratification would occur “in the very
near future.” Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said that he would
put a proposal for ratification to parliament by the end of the year. Canada’s
and Russia’s ratification will bring the Protocol into effect, satisfying
a key requirement that ratifying countries account for at least 55 percent of
global carbon dioxide emissions, based on 1990 data.
At the summit, delegates agreed that States which have ratified the Kyoto Protocol
“strongly urge States that have not already done so to ratify the Kyoto
Protocol in a timely manner.” The Bush administration rejected the pact
last year, in part because it felt the agreement would damage the U.S. economy.
President Bush came under criticism for not attending the summit. Secretary
of State Colin Powell led the U.S. delegation. Some delegates were also disappointed
that this year’s summit did not produce results as concrete as what came
out of Rio 10 years ago. Nevertheless, U.S. officials are declaring the summit
a success, especially in promoting partnerships between governments and corporations.
The U.N. identified more than 220 partnerships during the 10-day Summit, representing
$235 million in resources, to complement government programs.
Lisa M. Pinsker
