Wish World Environment Day 2011 [Forests: Nature At Your Service] to you....
For More Details: www.unep.org/wed
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Environmental Tips: Maintain Your Vehicle to Save Money and Energy
Current high gas prices are giving people even more incentive to increase fuel efficiency. Plus, using less gas by following these tips will also help reduce smog and emissions that contribute to global warming:
Change your air filter.
Cleaning your air filter regularly can improve your gas mileage significantly.
Don’t speed.
Being a good driver can save you some dollars at the pump. Speeding uses extra gas. Rapid acceleration and hard braking are also inefficient and lower your gas mileage.
Cruise control.
Using your cruise control will keep you driving at a more consistent speed and can generally improve fuel efficiency.
Turn your car off.
Idling can use a lot of gas. Generally, it’s more efficient to turn the car off and restart when you are ready to go. If you are thinking of hitting the drive-through, consider parking and picking up food inside. For short waits, put your car in neutral to avoid burning gas.
Inflate tires properly.
Car tires that are under-inflated will lead to poor gas mileage. You can often find the correct pressure for your car printed on the edge of the driver’s side door.
Mileage still too low?
Consider getting a tune up. A tune up will generally make a modest, but sometimes significant, improvement in your miles per gallon
Change your air filter.
Cleaning your air filter regularly can improve your gas mileage significantly.
Don’t speed.
Being a good driver can save you some dollars at the pump. Speeding uses extra gas. Rapid acceleration and hard braking are also inefficient and lower your gas mileage.
Cruise control.
Using your cruise control will keep you driving at a more consistent speed and can generally improve fuel efficiency.
Turn your car off.
Idling can use a lot of gas. Generally, it’s more efficient to turn the car off and restart when you are ready to go. If you are thinking of hitting the drive-through, consider parking and picking up food inside. For short waits, put your car in neutral to avoid burning gas.
Inflate tires properly.
Car tires that are under-inflated will lead to poor gas mileage. You can often find the correct pressure for your car printed on the edge of the driver’s side door.
Mileage still too low?
Consider getting a tune up. A tune up will generally make a modest, but sometimes significant, improvement in your miles per gallon
Capture From: http://www.earthshare.org
5 Warning Signs You Need New Tires
Tread Depth
The tread on your tires should never fall below 1/16 of an inch (1.6 millimeters) in depth. If you regularly drive on slick, wet surfaces, you'd be even better off with twice that much. You can buy a gauge to measure the tread depth the way the professionals do, but there's an old trick that will give you a rough idea of how much tread depth you have left and it won't cost you more than a penny.
In fact, it requires a penny. Take a Lincoln-head penny, the kind you find in your change every day, and insert Abe's head (head-down) into the tread. If Lincoln's entire head remains visible, you don't have enough tread. Take your car into the mechanic and ask about getting a new set of tires.
The Tread Wear Indicator Bar
Newer tires have a convenience that older tires lacked. They have tread wear indicator bars built into the tires themselves. These bars, invisible or barely visible when the tires are new, gradually begin to appear as the tread wears down. They appear as flat rubber bars running perpendicular to the direction of the tread itself. If more than one or two of these are visible on a tire, the tread is getting low. This should be particularly obvious in the wet tracks that your tires leave after you drive through a puddle. Use the penny test described on the previous page to double check the depth, but if the bars are starting to appear on any or all of your tires, it's once again time to check with your mechanic or local tire dealer to see about getting your current tires replaced.
Cracks in the Sidewall
Not all problems with the tires are going to be in the tread. They can also appear in the sidewall. Fortunately, it's easy to do a visual check of sidewall problems. Look for tracks or cuts in the sidewall -- grooves that are distinct enough to be visible to the naked eye. This could be a sign that your tire is developing a leak (or worse, that it's nearly ready to blow out). This is definitely something you want to avoid. So if the cracks in the sidewall are starting to look serious, get that car to a repair shop at the next opportunity and start talking about getting them replaced. Better safe than sorry, as they say.
Bulges and Blisters on the Tire
Sometimes the outer surface of the tire begins to weaken. The result can be a bulge or blister that extends outward from the rest of the surface. This is similar to an aneurysm in one of your blood vessels and you know that if your doctor tells you that you have an aneurysm, you'd better get to the hospital as quickly as you can before you blow out an artery. It's the same with your tire. This weak spot can cause a sudden blow out, and if you don't put the car in the hospital (or service center, as the case may be) before this happens, it may end up putting you in the hospital when the tire blows out on the freeway. So keep your eye on those tire bulges and blisters.
Too Much Vibration
A certain amount of vibration is inevitable when driving, especially on poorly paved roads, but if you've been driving for a while, you probably know how much vibration feels right and how much means that something's going wrong. There can be any of a number of causes for the vibration -- maybe your tires are misaligned or unbalanced, or your shock absorbers are starting to go. But it could also indicate that there's some sort of internal problem in the tire itself. Even if the tire isn't the root cause of the vibration, the vibration could damage the tire and pretty soon you'll have a problem. So if your car has a bad case of the shimmy-shimmy shakes, especially if you notice this when you aren't driving on bad roads, take it to the mechanic right away to have it checked out. Too much vibration is almost always a sign that something is wrong
Capture From: http://auto.howstuffworks.com
The tread on your tires should never fall below 1/16 of an inch (1.6 millimeters) in depth. If you regularly drive on slick, wet surfaces, you'd be even better off with twice that much. You can buy a gauge to measure the tread depth the way the professionals do, but there's an old trick that will give you a rough idea of how much tread depth you have left and it won't cost you more than a penny.
In fact, it requires a penny. Take a Lincoln-head penny, the kind you find in your change every day, and insert Abe's head (head-down) into the tread. If Lincoln's entire head remains visible, you don't have enough tread. Take your car into the mechanic and ask about getting a new set of tires.
The Tread Wear Indicator Bar
Newer tires have a convenience that older tires lacked. They have tread wear indicator bars built into the tires themselves. These bars, invisible or barely visible when the tires are new, gradually begin to appear as the tread wears down. They appear as flat rubber bars running perpendicular to the direction of the tread itself. If more than one or two of these are visible on a tire, the tread is getting low. This should be particularly obvious in the wet tracks that your tires leave after you drive through a puddle. Use the penny test described on the previous page to double check the depth, but if the bars are starting to appear on any or all of your tires, it's once again time to check with your mechanic or local tire dealer to see about getting your current tires replaced.
Cracks in the Sidewall
Not all problems with the tires are going to be in the tread. They can also appear in the sidewall. Fortunately, it's easy to do a visual check of sidewall problems. Look for tracks or cuts in the sidewall -- grooves that are distinct enough to be visible to the naked eye. This could be a sign that your tire is developing a leak (or worse, that it's nearly ready to blow out). This is definitely something you want to avoid. So if the cracks in the sidewall are starting to look serious, get that car to a repair shop at the next opportunity and start talking about getting them replaced. Better safe than sorry, as they say.
Bulges and Blisters on the Tire
Sometimes the outer surface of the tire begins to weaken. The result can be a bulge or blister that extends outward from the rest of the surface. This is similar to an aneurysm in one of your blood vessels and you know that if your doctor tells you that you have an aneurysm, you'd better get to the hospital as quickly as you can before you blow out an artery. It's the same with your tire. This weak spot can cause a sudden blow out, and if you don't put the car in the hospital (or service center, as the case may be) before this happens, it may end up putting you in the hospital when the tire blows out on the freeway. So keep your eye on those tire bulges and blisters.
Too Much Vibration
A certain amount of vibration is inevitable when driving, especially on poorly paved roads, but if you've been driving for a while, you probably know how much vibration feels right and how much means that something's going wrong. There can be any of a number of causes for the vibration -- maybe your tires are misaligned or unbalanced, or your shock absorbers are starting to go. But it could also indicate that there's some sort of internal problem in the tire itself. Even if the tire isn't the root cause of the vibration, the vibration could damage the tire and pretty soon you'll have a problem. So if your car has a bad case of the shimmy-shimmy shakes, especially if you notice this when you aren't driving on bad roads, take it to the mechanic right away to have it checked out. Too much vibration is almost always a sign that something is wrong
Capture From: http://auto.howstuffworks.com
E. coli outbreak is a new strain
A leading microbiologist has warned the E. coli outbreak may worsen
The World Health Organization says the E. coli outbreak in Germany is a completely new strain of the bacteria.
The infection can cause the deadly complication - haemolytic-uraemic syndrome - affecting the blood and kidneys.
More than 1,500 people have been infected and 17 have died: 16 in Germany and one in Sweden.
In the UK, three British nationals have been infected - all had visited Germany.
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, a WHO spokesperson, is reported as saying: "This strain has never been seen in an outbreak situation before."
Scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute, in China, are also reported as saying: "This E.coli is a new strain of bacteria that is highly infectious and toxic."
Preliminary genetic analysis of the outbreak suggests the bacteria is unique.
Early evidence suggests the bacteria has genes from two distinct groups of E. coli: enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC).
The Health Protection Agency told the BBC that we were at the beginning of the learning curve in terms of understanding what this means.
Europe
The outbreak remains centred on Germany where there have been 1,064 cases of bloody diarrhoea and 470 cases of the potentially deadly complication in the blood and kidneys.
The source of the infection, originally blamed on Spanish cucumbers, is unclear.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute, which monitors the infection in Germany, said the outbreak could last for months and that "we may never know" the original source.
Fresh vegetables from the European Union have been banned in Russia and the country's chief medical officer said such produce will be seized.
Meanwhile Spain is threatening to seek compensation from the EU for lost vegetables sales.
UK cases
Three British nationals in the UK have been infected with E. coli linked to the outbreak in Germany, according to the Health Protection Agency.
It brings the total number of cases in the UK to seven, the other four are from Germany.
It is believed that all patients caught the infection in Germany and brought it back to the UK.
Continues Reading
The World Health Organization says the E. coli outbreak in Germany is a completely new strain of the bacteria.
The infection can cause the deadly complication - haemolytic-uraemic syndrome - affecting the blood and kidneys.
More than 1,500 people have been infected and 17 have died: 16 in Germany and one in Sweden.
In the UK, three British nationals have been infected - all had visited Germany.
Aphaluck Bhatiasevi, a WHO spokesperson, is reported as saying: "This strain has never been seen in an outbreak situation before."
Scientists at the Beijing Genomics Institute, in China, are also reported as saying: "This E.coli is a new strain of bacteria that is highly infectious and toxic."
Preliminary genetic analysis of the outbreak suggests the bacteria is unique.
Early evidence suggests the bacteria has genes from two distinct groups of E. coli: enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC).
The Health Protection Agency told the BBC that we were at the beginning of the learning curve in terms of understanding what this means.
Europe
The outbreak remains centred on Germany where there have been 1,064 cases of bloody diarrhoea and 470 cases of the potentially deadly complication in the blood and kidneys.
The source of the infection, originally blamed on Spanish cucumbers, is unclear.
The head of the Robert Koch Institute, which monitors the infection in Germany, said the outbreak could last for months and that "we may never know" the original source.
Fresh vegetables from the European Union have been banned in Russia and the country's chief medical officer said such produce will be seized.
Meanwhile Spain is threatening to seek compensation from the EU for lost vegetables sales.
UK cases
Three British nationals in the UK have been infected with E. coli linked to the outbreak in Germany, according to the Health Protection Agency.
It brings the total number of cases in the UK to seven, the other four are from Germany.
It is believed that all patients caught the infection in Germany and brought it back to the UK.
Continues Reading
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