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A couple of months ago, astronomers announced that they had discovered a new planet that might be capable of sustaining life. They got the star right?a brown dwarf called Gliese581?but they picked the wrong planet. Gliese 581c is too hot to support water or life, but its neighbor, Gliese 581d, might be perfect for both.

In Space.com, Ker Than quotes astronomer Manfred Cuntz as saying, “This planet is actually outside the habitable zone. It appears at first sight too cold. However, based on the greenhouse effect, physical processes can occur which are heating up the planet to a temperature that allows for fluid water.” In other words, if this newly-discovered planet ALSO goes through global warming, life may arise there.
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A new and mysterious type of cloud has been identified by NASA. These bright and shiny clouds originate in the polar regions of the earth, and may be caused by global warming. In LiveScience.com, Dave Mosher quotes atmospheric scientist James Russell as saying, “These observations suggest a connection with global change in the lower atmosphere and could represent an early warning that our Earth environment is being changed.”

Art credit: NASA
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UPDATE – As we celebrate Independence Day, we need to ask ourselves: have our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which were supposed to free those citizens, actually improved the lives of people in those countries, especially women? Alas, the answer appears to be “no.” UPDATE: We haven’t even given the Iraqis any of the JOBS our invasion created there!

Despite Western intervention, the women of Afghanistan continue to suffer. In BBC News, Soutik Biswas writes that for months, a female government official in Afghanistan has been receiving threatening letters saying she may be the target of a suicide bomber.
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Floods Drown Europe, Pakistan, US Midwest as Drought Withers Australia, California – Rarely have such weather extremes been observed as are taking place around the world now. Parts of Australia remain crippled by drought, and Southern California has experienced is driest 12 months since records began being kept in 1877. Meanwhile, violent weather and floods have struck the US Midwest, Pakistan, India, England and much of Europe.British weather forecasters are predicting that this will be a year without a summer in the UK, and flooding so far has caused an astonishing two billion dollars worth of damage. Meanwhile,storms have dumped billions of gallons of rain on northernEurope while Greece was experiencing the highesttemperatures ever recorded
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