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Forget the world ending, $5 gas could be the real plague of 2012 according to oil big shot
For more than two years, former Shell Oil president John Hofmeister has predicted $5-a-gallon gasoline prices by the end of 2012. And as the date that the Mayans coincidentally also think the world will end approaches, Hofmeister is sticking to that.
With 2011 national averages topping $3.50, gas prices have reached record-breaking levels. But, $5 a gallon would still represent an awfully steep climb for 2012.
“Right now, the basic supply and demand balance is at a serious point of escalation,” the straight-talking Hofmeister told CultureMap in a phone interview.
American gas prices are still rising, even in the midst of a sluggish economy.
Fuel prices were once easy to trend, rising with a good United States economy and dropping with a bad one. But in last decade, the conventional wisdom seems somewhat out of step.
American gas prices are still rising, even in the midst of a sluggish economy.
For Hofmeister — who founded the Read more…
Panetta: Iran could have nuclear weapons, delivery vehicles in 2-3 years
Iran could build and set off a nuclear weapon within two to three years if it decided to pursue one, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in a television interview aired Sunday.
“The consensus is that, if they decided to do it, it would probably take them about a year to be able to produce a bomb and then possibly another one to two years in order to put it on a deliverable vehicle of some sort in order to deliver that weapon,” Panetta said during a profile on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
Tensions with Iran have mounted in recent months over Tehran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz and the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist. Iran has said its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.
Panetta, who served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency for two-and-a-half years before heading to the Pentagon, reiterated the Obama administration’s position that it would do everything it could to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. “If they proceed and we get intelligence that they’re proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps are necessary to stop it,” he said. Asked if that meant a possible Read more…
Nasa study solves case of Earth’s ‘missing energy’
Clouds play a vital role in Earth's energy balance, cooling or warming Earth's surface depending on their type. This painting, "Cumulus Congestus," by JPL's Graeme Stephens, principal investigator of NASA's CloudSat mission, depicts cumulus clouds, which transport energy away from Earth's surface. Image credit: Graeme Stephens
(PhysOrg.com) — Two years ago, scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., released a study claiming that inconsistencies between satellite observations of Earth’s heat and measurements of ocean heating amounted to evidence of “missing energy” in the planet’s system.
Where was it going? Or, they wondered, was something wrong with the way researchers tracked energy as it was absorbed from the sun and emitted back into space?
An international team of atmospheric scientists and oceanographers, led by Norman Loeb of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and including Graeme Stephens of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., set out to investigate the mystery.
They used 10 years of data — spanning 2001 to 2010 — from NASA Langley’s orbiting Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System Experiment (CERES) instruments to measure changes in the net radiation balance at the top of Earth’s atmosphere. The CERES data were then combined with estimates of the heat content of Earth’s ocean from three independent ocean-sensor sources.
Their analysis, summarized in a NASA-led study published Jan. 22 in the Read more…
Fiercest Solar Flare of 2012 Yet: X Class – January 28/29
In the last week or so we’ve been reporting on solar flares that have been released and solar storms impacting earth, with more intense northern lights displays and concerns that radio communications and satellites could be disrupted. We can now tell you that yesterday the largest solar flare yet of 2012 occurred, this time an Read more…
6.3 Peru Earthquake: Tremor Strikes Central Coastline
A powerful earthquake of 6.3-magnitide has struck the central coastline of Peru, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Peruvian officials said at least 110 people have been injured by the quake; however, it is too early to assess the overall damage wrought by the natural disaster.
“The majority [of wounded] are suffering trauma and cuts,” Fernando Leon Castaneda, manager of a local hospital, told Radio Programas del Peru (RPP).
The tremor hit right after midnight, with its epicenter about 9 miles southeast of the city of Ica. Reportedly, it was felt across the southern and central parts of the mountainous Andes nation.
Ica is about 168 miles south of the capital city of Lima.
Ica itself has suffered damage to some buildings, as well as the loss of electrical power.
“We felt a terrible earthquake that’s really scared us,” Ica resident Blanca Cabanilla told the local radio. “It was similar to Read more…
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