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Regards,
Hemal Kansara
http://hemal.mp
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Best and worst paying college degrees
We look at the value of a university education, tell you which degree is the best value, explain the premium you earn for post-graduate training.
Graduates could be asked to pay back their student loans earlier and at a higher rate of interest, after a group of the UK's leading universities demanded more investment to avert a £1.1bn funding crisis.
The Russell Group, which represents the UK's top 20 leading univerisities, told the Government that the current repayment rate on student loans was "generous" and that "it might be reasonably increased without putting undue pressure on low earners".
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The review of whether students should pay higher university fees will continue with further evidence expected to be submitted next week.
In the light of this, we ask how great is the financial benefit of attending university? Do degrees always pay off in the long run, despite the costs associated with them? And what are the best and worst paid subjects to study?
All the comparisons we make in this article are between graduates and those who could have gone to university but didn't (i.e. they had two or more A levels or equivalent qualifications).
Subject matters
It's no surprise that there are wide variations in average earnings depending on the subject studied. Arts graduates earn just £35,000 extra (compared to non-graduates) whilst medicine graduates earn a massive £340,000 extra, on average, during their lives.
Average extra earnings for graduates by subject studied
Subject studied | Average extra earnings (compared to non-graduates) |
Medicine | £340,000 |
Law | £245,000 |
Engineering | £245,000 |
Maths | £240,000 |
Physics | £190,000 |
Chemistry | £185,000 |
Business | £185,000 |
European languages | £165,000 |
Psychology | £100,000 |
Linguistics and English | £95,000 |
Humanities | £50,000 |
Arts | £35,000 |
Data from 2005 and 2007
Earnings growth steady in early years
Regardless of which degree you take, earnings grow at a constant rate in the first few years. However, they typically balloon in the mid-years in some subjects, such as chemistry.
Averages can be misleading...
...to say the least. There is massive variation within each field, which explains why some people get irate at so-called 'average earnings'. One graduate working in the same field or even the same job as another can easily earn one-third less than some colleagues.
Average graduate earnings
While graduates often start off earning a similar amount to non-graduates, this changes quickly over the years.
For example, in 2008 (the latest statistics we could find), a typical 21-year-old graduate earned just £17,472 a year, while a non-graduate with A levels earned £15,912 a year.
However, the typical 33-year-old graduate earned £37,960 a year, while the typical 34-year old non-graduate earned just £27,768 a year.
Age in 2008 | Degree or equivalent | A-level, GCE or equivalent |
21-22 | £17,472 | £15,912 |
23-24 | £20,696 | £18,200 |
25-26 | £24,960 | £20,436 |
27-28 | £28,912 | £22,256 |
29-30 | £32,916 | £24,180 |
31-32 | £34,632 | £24,336 |
32-33 | £37,960 | £27,768 |
All ages (21 -34) | £28,860 | £21,268 |
Average extra lifetime earnings
On average, graduates earn an extra £160,000, or 23% throughout their lifetime (which is even greater after tax). That's an extra £3,600 per year, compared to non-graduates. That's despite increasing numbers of young people getting degrees: a third now do, compared with just 15% 20 years ago.
Public sector benefits less visible
Most graduates in the public sector seeing earnings statistics over the years will probably conclude they are unrealistic, but in return for a lower income most get greater job security and pension benefits.
Do degrees always pay off?
No, not always. The evidence is limited, but it seems that men with arts degrees usually earn slightly less than their counterparts who chose not to go to university. A case of those who can, do - perhaps?
It's also true that, without a degree, you can still earn more than the average graduate. Those taking training places from one of the big accountancy or law firms, for example, can circumvent the need and cost of a degree.
Also, degrees are expensive. The average student leaves university with debts totalling £15,700 and the current average graduates starting salary is just £22,300. Even if your salary goes up every year by almost 5%, it will still take you around 12 years to pay off your debt, which will cost you even more than you think .
Finally, it's worth bearing in mind that 20% of students drop out of university and a third of graduates end up with non-graduate jobs. On the plus side, graduates are less likely to be unemployed.
Degrees are more beneficial for women
On average, research shows that women gain greater financial benefits from a university education than men do. Women who don't go to university tend to earn a great deal less than men who don't go to university.
However, women's incomes, on average, are boosted more by a degree to make it a more level playing field. To take an example, men's incomes are boosted 43% by an economics degree, but women's are boosted 63%.
Similarly, men from poorer backgrounds also benefit more from university than men from affluent ones. Discrimination, it seems, is more difficult for employers when you've got a degree.
There is still discrimination towards graduates
However, there is still a big difference in average earnings between male and female graduates, with men earning at least £14,000 more over their working lives. (We suspect it's quite a bit more on average, but unfortunately there seems to be little research on this topic. If you know a better statistic, please share it on lovemoney.com using our comments section.)
Law comes top
This is the most important section in the article. Whilst medicine earns more, it also costs more. What's more, you lose out on income, because you're studying (and so not working) for more years. When you factor all these things together, law is the better investment with an average rate of return of more than 17% per year:
The annual rate of return on your degree
Subject | Rate of return |
Law | 17.2% |
Management | 16.9% |
Engineering | 15.5% |
Chemistry | 15.0% |
Physics | 14.9% |
European languages | 14.0% |
Medicine (excluding dentistry) | 11.6% |
Chemical sciences | 10.2% |
Psychology | 10.1% |
Linguistics and English | 9.7% |
History | 8.8% |
The average rate of return for all degrees is 12.1% per year. This makes a degree the best possible investment (on average), trouncing the stock market or property over the long term.
Surprisingly, medicine has a lower return than the average at 11.6% (although dentists were excluded from the figures) meaning that perhaps we focus too much on doctors' wages and not enough on support staff.
However, weI suspect that these figures (from 2005) will be out-of-date now. 130,000 doctors earn now, at the very least, £13bn between them, with many earning as much as £380,000 per year.
Also the figures in the above table may come down now that the cost of university is going up (to an average £23,000 for students starting this year, it's estimated). However, some researchers believe the reverse will happen!
The post-grad premium
Some - but far from all - employers offer a premium for those who go beyond a Bachelor's degree. If you're lucky enough to get work for an employer that pays such a premium, those with doctorates could earn an extra £6,000 from the start. Those with master's degrees could earn an extra £4,000 and those with an MBA an extra £12,000 (although very few employers offer a premium for MBAs).
That's a lot of statistics. You may need a degree just to take them all in!
Sources:
- Universities UK commissioned study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2007
- The Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Physics commissioned study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2005
- Study by Dept for Employment and Learning, 2008
- Stats from the Higher Education Statistics Agency
- Research by Ian Walker from University of Warwick and Yu Zhu, University of Kent, in 2003
- Association of Graduate Recruiters, 2008
- Callcredit.co.uk
Regards,
Hemal Kansara
http://hemal.mp
Stressed? Talk to your mom!
Stressed? Talk to your mom!
Are your stressed out? Wherever you are, just pick up the phone and talk to your mother, for a new study says that her voice is the best stress relief.
Researchers have carried out the study and found that hearing mother's voice can quickly calm frayed nerves -- and a telephone call often has the same effect as a hug, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
The findings could help explain why mother is often the first person people, even adults, turn to in tough times.
For the study, the researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison looked at the role of oxytocin, a hormone involved in sex, sexual attraction, trust and confidence.
Known as the "cuddle chemical", it's released into the blood during labour -- triggering the production of breast milk -- and floods the brain during breast feeding, helping mother and baby bond.
It also, it seems, is key to a mother's ability to calm her kid relieving stress when it is released in children.
The researchers made a group of seven to 12-year-old girls perform a speech and solve a series of maths problems in front of a panel of strangers. That sent the children's hearts racing and levels of cortisol -- a hormone associated with stress -- soaring.
Once stressed, a third of the girls were comforted in person by their mother, a third told to speak to her on the phone and a third given a film to watch. Levels of oxytocin rose quickly in those who saw or spoke to their mothers, the findings revealed.
And, to the researchers' surprise, within an hour, the girls who phoned their mothers were just as calm as those who were comforted in person.
"It was understood that oxytocin release in the context of social bonding usually required physical contact.
But it's clear from these results that a mother's voice can have the same effect as a hug," lead researcher Leslie Seltzer was quoted as saying.
The findings have been published in the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society B' journal.
Source: PTI
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
7 Steps to positive self talk
7 Steps to Positive Self Talk
Most of us are in constant mental chatter. We talk to ourselves all day long and, unfortunately, this self talk is frequently negative. Often it is tainted with guilt about our past or anxiety about our future. This negativity can destroy any seed of hope that we may otherwise have in striving for our dreams.
Our actions are inspired by our thoughts. If we can change the way we think, we can begin to change the actions we take. It is human nature to seek personal growth; whether financially, emotionally, physically or spiritually. Practicing positive self talk can help us set in motion actions that will bring us greater rewards.
The following are seven steps to positive self talk. By following these steps you will begin to rid your inner conversations of negativity and instead have empowering thoughts.
1. Eliminate Internal Negative Chatter
The first step is one of awareness. It will be hard to make a change to positive thinking without being acutely intimate with the thoughts that run through your mind. Recently, I was amazed to discover deep buried emotions from negative thoughts that I had for fewer than 10 minutes. Without awareness, I would have carried the hurt and anger inside. Awareness helped me to bring them out to the open for me to deal with.
Undoubtedly it will not be easy to make a switch if you have a long history or negative self talk. Your talk became negative over the years due to various factors. For instance, if your first grade teacher repeatedly told you that you were "stupid", you might believe it to be truly the case. You would find that your inner chatter would often be filled with talk of "I am so slow" and "it is so hard to learn". If you constantly tell yourself such negative stories, your actions are going to reflect your low self esteem. It will be difficult to get very far if you are always putting yourself down.
A common negative talk involves telling yourself "I can't". When you say to yourself "I can't" or "it is too difficult", you are creating a resistance. Having such a mental block will prevent you from achieving a task you could otherwise succeed at.
Anytime you catch yourself saying "I can't…", turn around and challenge your own claim with, "Why can't I?" Research shows that most geniuses became the people they are also because of the hard work they put in. So if you would like to be successful, you need to start saying "I can" a lot more.
A great method that I have also found useful is to say "Cancel Cancel" each time I find myself saying something negative, whether in the mind or verbally. The method works if you sincerely have the intent of becoming a positive thinker.
2. Positive Affirmations
Affirmations are positive statements of a desired outcome or goal. They are usually short, believable and focused. By repeating them over and over again, you build inroads into your subconscious mind, opening up the possibility of a new state of thoughts.
An important step when repeating affirmations is that you need to read your affirmations aloud with feeling. The mere reading of the words bears no consequence unless you put some emotions behind them. Of significant fact is that your subconscious mind takes any orders given in complete faith and after repeated self talk. So the daily practice of repeating affirmations is important.
Initially you may be skepticism toward the statement of your positive affirmation. However, if you follow this simple set of instructions your skepticism will soon give way to a new set of beliefs and then crystallized into absolute faith.
3. Positive Scripts
One thing that you may observe is on how easy it is for your mind to build negative thought upon negative thought. The chatter not only does not stop but it spins a drama that traps and limits you.
From now on, regularly do this exercise instead. Spin an uplifting story that runs like a movie script. Some visualization will be helpful. You build on a story with a positive outline. The longer you can tell this story to yourself the better. It is also best if you can make this story one about having all your goals achieved. When you do this, you start to internalize your goals and dreams, as if they are something that you have already achieved.
4. Replace Negative Influences with Positive Ones
It is important that you identify external negative factors in your life which may be holding your thoughts hostage. For instance, your mental state can become toxic by being around friends who are negative. If you are not vigilant enough, you will start to adopt their thoughts as your own. Hence, be alert to what your negative influences are. If they come from certain friends, limit your exposure to them as much as you can. Refrain from discussing your plans with people who will be unsupportive of your dreams and goals.
Instead surround yourself with thoughts and actions from people who will empower you.
From being uninspired and de-motivated, you will begin to feel uplifted and driven to greater self growth. The positive energy that they vibrate will start affecting the self talk that you engage in as well.
5. Present Tense Messages
You may find yourself daunted by the many things you need to do in order to reach your goals. It just seems overwhelming to become the success that you secretly desire for. Your mind gets caught up in an endless stream of worry.
What may be helpful is to concentrate on steps you can take in the present. If you find yourself becoming stuck, stop and say, "What can I do right now?" Change your internal talk from a future anxiety ridden one to one that is about the more manageable present. You cannot control what will happen in the future but you can take the necessary steps now that will build a better tomorrow. Taking the necessary steps require you to focus your thoughts and inner talk on Now.
6. Confront Fears
Fear is often what holds you back from your success. You are scared of taking chances because you fear losing the security that you enjoy now. You try to convince yourself that you are happy in your current state when in fact, you are not. Your self talk may sound positive in your attempt to lie to yourself. But somehow, there is an inner knowing that you are short changing yourself.
Ask yourself what you are afraid of. What can be the worst that can happen? Take a step-by-step approach in breaking down your fears and see if there is any way round to looking at things more positively. When you confront your fears, you will often realize that the worst case scenario is not as bad as you think. In fact, the benefits of change are worth the risk. Your inner talk begins to change at this point.
7. Focus on Enjoyable Moments
It is much easier to have a positive attitude if you focus on the enjoyable moments in life rather than the difficult ones. While there will inevitably be challenges, you need to remember that life consists of ups and downs and the good times are forged through the bad.
So choose to fill your mind with positive images and thoughts. Make it a conscious habit. Simply bring your mind back every time it goes astray in its thoughts. For a start, if you can be grateful for what you have presently, your self talk will also change to be in alignment with one of joy. A state of gratitude does wonders to your psyche.
Conclusion
Replacing self talk from a negative to a more positive one is not going to happen overnight. If your mind has ingrained habits of thinking negatively, it will take some work and time. However, if you find yourself often struggling, unable to achieve your goals and talking yourself down, then you should grit your teeth and commit to the process of change.
By following the above tips to positive self talk, you will experience an improvement in the quality of your life. The rewards are plentiful with greater happiness, peace and joy. Best of all, you feel empowered. With the change in energy, you are more likely to reach your highest potential and achieve success.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Critically Polluted Places In India
Top 20 critically polluted places in India
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in conjunction with IIT-Delhi recently surveyed 88 industrial clusters around the country, and found 43 "critically polluted" (score above 70 on a 100 point scale) while 32 were "severely polluted" (score 60-70).
We list the TOP 20 places from this infamous record.
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ANKLESHWAR
Pollution score: 88.5/ 100
Ankleshwar in the Bharuch district of Gujarat takes the top spot in the 'critically polluted places' with a score of 88.5.
Ankleshwar is known for its industrial township called GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation), which is one of the biggest in Asia. Ankleshwar also has an office of the ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited). Today, Ankleshwar has over 5000 big and small chemical plants. These chemical plants produce products such as pesticides, pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, and paint.
VAPI
Pollution score: 88.09/ 100
Located in the in Valsad district of Gujarat, for Vapi, the cost of growth has been severe: levels of mercury in the city's groundwater are reportedly 96 times higher than WHO safety levels, and heavy metals are present in the air and the local produce.
The industrial township of Vapi holds its place of importance on the "industrial" map and it is the largest industrial area in Asia in terms of small-scale industries, dominated by chemical industry plants, along with their unfortunate hazards.
Vapi has also been listed in the Top 10 most polluted places in the world by the US-based Blacksmith Institute.
GHAZIABAD
Pollution score: 87.37/ 100
The industrial city of Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, has industries that manufacture railway coaches, diesel engines, bicycles, tapestries, glassware, pottery, paint and varnish, heavy chains, etc. Also It has ordinance factory (Muradnagar) & Bharat electronics ltd. for manufacturing defense products.
CHANDRAPUR
Pollution score: 83.88/ 100
Chandrapur in Maharashtra is very rich in mineral wealth such as iron ore, limestone and coal and this boon has been its bane. Many cement factories are located in this region. Due to large number of coal mines present around the city, the city is also known as City of Black Gold. The mammoth coal mines in an around the city also contribute to the heavy industrialization of the city.
KORBA
Pollution score: 83/ 100
This city in Chattisgarh, is the Power Capital of Central India with the NTPC's Super Thermal Power Plant in Korba is working at 90% Plant Load Factor. There are huge coal reserves in the vicinity, offering cheap pithead power generation opportunities and there is enough water from the State's largest reservoir of Hasdeo Bango. 84% of India's coal is in Chhattisgarh and two other States. Korba is also the site of an aluminium facility operated by Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO).
BHIWADI
Pollution score: 82.91/ 100
Located in the Alwar district of Rajasthan, Bhiwadi has around 1,000 tiny, small, medium, large, industries and including MNC industrial units manufacturing various types of products. They include all types of industries like steel, furnace, electronics, engineering, textiles, pharmaceuticals, printing, cables, rolling mills, food processing, herbal care etc.
ANGUL TALCHER
Pollution score: 82.09/ 100
Angul district is located in the center of the state of Orissa. Even though Angul district is blessed with rich natural resources, it is the hottest district in India where maximum temperature goes up to 50 C during summer. Many blame the Orissa government for destroying the natural greens of the district. And yet the industrialization of the district has not stopped in spite of the public anger for destroying jungles. The state government in its way to setup more and more mines, plants in the district.
VELLORE
Pollution score: 81.79/ 100
This city in Tamil Nadu is considered to be one of the oldest surviving cities in South India. The city, along with its nearby industrial towns has witnessed a consistent industrial growth, followed by the implementation of South Asia's second railway track between Chennai, Royapuram and Walajah. The Golden Quadrilateral road; has significantly improved the region's industrial activities. This city is a hub for leather industries, chemical industries as well as automobile and mechanical industries.
SINGRAULI
Pollution score: 81.73/ 100
Singrauli in Uttar Pradesh is fast emerging as an energy hub of India, especially for electric power and coal. The total installed capacity of all power plants at Singaruli is around ten percent of total installed capacity of India (as of 10 November 2006).
LUDHIANA
Pollution score: 81.66/ 100
This city in Punjab is also known as the 'Manchester of India' because it is the industrial hub of Punjab, Ludhiana has been reputed to be the most polluted city on Punjab. It is home to 8 large integrated knitwear factories, roughly 6,000 small to medium sized knitwear factories, 10 big hosiery yarn mills and 150 small- to medium-sized worsted and woollen yarns mills, factories of bicycles like Hero Cycles, Avon Cycles, and a number of machine tools, sewing machines, generators, diesel engines, tyres & tubes factories.
Industry is the main cause of water and air pollution in the city. Now a sewage treatment plant is being set up at Ludhiana to control pollution of surface water under the Satluj Action Plan.
NAJAFGARH DRAIN BASIN
Pollution score: 79.54/ 100
Najafgarh drain basin in East Delhi (including Anand Parvat, Naraina, Okhala and Wazirpur which are industrial hubs) is in the eleventh place in the over all list. Najafgarh drain basin is also the biggest polluter to Yamuna.
NOIDA
Pollution score: 78.90/ 100
This suburb of Delhi is a major hub for automobile ancillary units, with companies like Escorts, Honda-SIEL and New Holland Tractors operating from the city's SEZ.
DHANBAD
Pollution score: 78.63/ 100
Located in Jharkhand, Dhanbad is also known as the 'Coal Capital of India' and is 79th amoung the fastest growing cities of the world. Dhanbad is famous for its coal mines and industrial establishments; it has 112 coal mines with a total produce of 27.5 million tonnes. Many sponge iron factories and ceramic factories are located in the Dhanbad district.
DOMBIVLI
Pollution score: 78.41/ 100
Dombivli as the 14th most polluted city in the country and second in the state of Maharashtra. Dombivli is an industrial township in Thane district of Maharashtra. Any taxi driver can point it out to you from a distance. This small town with a big industrial estate, comprising some 50 chemicals units manufacturing dye intermediaries, is perpetually engulfed in smog. For the 100,000 residents, life is worse than hell. "The factories emit gases at night. They discharge effluents openly into the drain passing through our colony. Any complaint against them will only mean that we lose our jobs," laments Saroj Panicker, a resident of Dombivli, whose father works in a chemicals factory.
KANPUR
Pollution score: 78.09/ 100
The nineth most populous city in India, Kanpur is located on the banks of the river Ganga and is an important industrial centre. The city is famous for its leather products and cotton wears. Unfortunately, because of the heavy industrialization, Kanpur is also famous for its pollution.
Kanpur went into decline after the 1960s; many industries shut down or left the city, and those that remained -- like the tanneries -- acquired a bad reputation because they were so polluting.
CUDDALORE
Pollution score: 77.45/ 100
Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu has a large number of industries incluing one industrial pocket -SIPCOT - which has secured it a place in the dubious club of global toxic hotspots owing to the area's high levels of pollution. A report for the Tamil Nadu Pollution Board by the Nagpur-based National Environmental Engineering Research Institute found that residents of the SIPCOT area of Cuddalore were at least 2000 times more likely to contract cancer in their lifetimes due to their exposure to high levels of toxic gases from chemical industries in the region.
AURANGABAD
Pollution score: 77.44/ 100
This city in Maharashtra is surrounded with many historical monuments, including the Ajanta Caves and Ellora Caves, which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Many renowned Indian and MNCs have established themselves in the Industrial Estates of Aurangabad including Videocon, Skoda Auto, Wockhardt, Siemens, Bajaj Auto, Goodyear etc. Many firms have their manufacturing bases in Aurangabad, in the sectors of automotive and auto components, pharmaceuticals and breweries, consumer durables, plastic processing, aluminium processing, agriculture and biotech.
FARIDABAD
Pollution score: 77.07/ 100
Faridabad's residential and industrial areas are in the grip of severe air pollution. The air in the Delhi suburb is full of deadly elements like carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide along with dust particles.
It is a major industrial city home to many units manufacturing tractors, motorcycles, switch gears, refrigerators, shoes and tyres. Numerous brick kilns located around Faridabad have emerged as one of the greatest air pollutants and use rubber tyres and other high polluting materials to bake mud bricks.
The result of the large scale environmental pollution is that public health has taken a severe beating. In many parts of Faridabad people suffer from diseases like asthma, cancer, skin problems etc.
AGRA
Pollution score: 76.48/ 100
The city of the Taj, has expanded rapidly without much planning, leading to residential and business areas that lack civic amenities. Diesel generators, diesel vehicles and numerous tanneries add to high levels of air pollution.
As it flows into Agra, the river Yamuna is hugely contaminated -- because 80 percent of the city's sewage flows into it. Choked drains and piled up garbage are common sights.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Myths and facts about Global Warming
Myths and facts about Global Warming
There is a lot of noise about global warming – some fact and some fiction. Find out if what you know about this phenomenon is true or false.
Myths and facts about Global Warming
MYTH
Life can adapt. Civilization has survived droughts and temperature shifts in the past.
FACT
Humans may have survived the vagaries of drought, stretches of warmth and cold and more, one cannot ignore that entire societies and species have collapsed from dramatic climatic shifts. Remember the mammoth and the dinosaur?
Unless we limit the amount of greenhouse gases that are being released into the atmosphere, the earth will face a warming trend unseen since human civilization began 10,000 years ago. Climate change will bring major hardships and economic dislocations for our future generations.
MYTH
Addressing the problem of climate change will hurt industry and workers of developed economies.
FACT
A well designed trading program can jumpstart a new carbon economy that can decrease heat-trapping pollution cost-effectively.
Companies that are already reducing their greenhouse gas emissions have discovered that cutting pollution can save money. Properly designed emissions trading programs can reduce compliance costs significantly compared with other regulatory approaches. Furthermore, a mandatory cap on emissions could spur technological innovation that could create jobs and wealth.
MYTH
Global warming and extra CO2 will actually be beneficial -- they reduce cold-related deaths and stimulate crop growth.
FACT
Any beneficial effects will be far outweighed by damage and disruption.
Despite the fact that higher levels of CO2 can act as a plant fertilizer under some conditions, scientists now believe that "CO2 fertilization" effect can diminish after a few years as plants acclimatise to it.
Moreover, increasing CO2 levels will cause sea levels to rise and inundate coastal areas and affect large populations across the globe and have devastating effects on marine life and fisheries.
MYTH
Hasn't the Arctic warmed up before? Global warming is just part of a natural cycle.
FACT
What the earth is experiencing today is not natural. The current global warming is caused by mankind.
The Arctic has warmed up before, but then people were not burning fossil fuels (like oil, coal and natural gas) and cutting down forests at the level it is being done today. Human activity is releasing far more CO2 into the atmosphere than was ever released in hundreds of thousands of years.
Natural amounts of CO2 have varied from 180 to 300 parts per million (ppm), but today's CO2 levels are around 380 ppm. That's 25% more than the highest natural levels over the past 650,000 years.
MYTH
Recent cold winters and cool summers don't feel like global warming to me.
FACT
Different parts of the earth have experienced some cold winters here and there, but the overall trend is warmer winters.
"I don't recall any Diwali that I celebrated without wearing a sweater when I was a child," says Tarang Mathur of Delhi. "But now we don't really get into our woollens till December."
Over the last century the Earth's climate has warmed overall, in all seasons, and in most regions. Despite the statements of climate sceptics that "this was the coldest winter in the past 100 years... blah blah blah," a single year of cold weather in one region of the world is not a benchmark for an average trend in global climate.
MYTH
If global warming was actually happening, how come some glaciers and ice sheets are growing, not shrinking?
FACT
In most parts of the world, the retreat of glaciers has been dramatic. The best available scientific data indicate that Greenland's massive ice sheet is shrinking.
Some glaciers in western Norway, Iceland and New Zealand have been expanding over the past few decades, but that expansion is a result of regional increases in storm frequency and snowfall rather than colder temperatures. Between 1961 and 1997, the world's glaciers lost 890 cubic miles of ice.
National Snow and Ice Data Centre states that the summer melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet increased by 30 percent as a result of a warmer climate between 1796 and 2006. The temperature of the Antarctic Peninsula has also increased by 2.5 degrees Celsius since 1950.
MYTH
How can we predict climate projections decades from now accurately when even precise weather predictions a few days in advance are hard to come by?
FACT
Climate prediction is fundamentally different from weather prediction, just as climate is different from weather.
The accuracy of weather forecasting is critically dependent upon being able to exactly and comprehensively characterize the present state of the global atmosphere. Climate prediction relies on other, longer ranging factors.
For instance, we might not know if it will be below freezing on a specific December day in New England, but we know from our understanding of the region's climate that the temperatures during the month will generally be low.
MYTH
As the ozone hole shrinks, global warming will no longer be a problem.
FACT
Global warming and the ozone hole are two different problems.
The ozone layer resides in the stratosphere (9 to 31 miles above the earth's surface) and surrounds the entire Earth, protecting it from the effects of ultraviolet rays. Ozone hole is a thinning of the stratosphere's ozone layer.
Global warming, on the other hand, is the increase in the earth's average temperature due to the buildup of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere from human activities.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
10 Things to do Before You Retire.....!!!
Retirement is an inseparable phase life, and this is the most crucial stage of human life cycle. People have different kinds of needs in different phases of life; it changes according to age, income, lifestyle, etc. Generally we can say that a person has five types of needs such as;
- Physiological
- Safety and security
- Social
- Esteem
- Self actualization
These needs differ from people to people, as we have already mentioned there are many factors that determine peoples need. For example; need of a teen ager is entirely different from that of an aged person. Aged people have social and security need. It does not mean that they had not felt this need before; they had felt it and had satisfied it too. But with the passage of time they spent the major portion of their earnings either in their children's education, in building a home, for their parents' health, etc. At the end of the day they forget to keep aside a part of their earning to fulfill their post retirement needs. This situation is common in most of the Indian homes.
As we reach our old age then we realize that the time and money that they have saved for themselves may not be sufficient for them to lead a tension free life after the retirement. In this case it becomes the duty of their children to look after their parents without facing any financial problems.
10 things to do before Retirement
There are some points that you need to know and follow before you reach the retirement age. This will help you to lead a comfortable post retirement life without facing any financial problems.
- Prepare a Balance sheet of yourself
- Review your savings and borrowings
- Prepare a budget & review it
- Assess Your life insurance needs
- Eliminate unwanted expenses
- Consult a Planner to plan your investments
- Create a portfolio using the Right Financial Ingredients
- Have a review of your Investment Mix
- Invest for Income
- Set Aside Emergency Funds
1. Prepare a Balance sheet of yourself
We recommend you to prepare a balance sheet of yours, showing your assets and liabilities. The very objective of this is to determine your net worth. Assets include personal possessions of value, such as;
- Cash
- Real estate
- Investments
Liabilities are;
- Your debts
- Legal obligations
You can prepare your balance sheet by using a spreadsheet, this will help you in determining your net worth and there on to plan your finance.
2. Review your Savings and Borrowings
It is very important to have a close eye on your Savings and Borrowings. It's a fact of financial world that the cost of borrowings is always more than earnings from savings. For instance; if you take personal loan from a bank, they will make you to pay 20-30% annual interest. At the same time if you investing I bank they offer you 7-8% annual interest. So it is always better to clear off the debt if you have cash to spare.
3. Prepare a Budget & Review it
Retirement is the period during which you will not work. So it is necessary to prepare a paper budget or spending plan to update yourself about what your actual living expenses will be once you are not working.
Every person will have two kind of expenditure Fixed & Variable. In this variable expenditure is more, we mean to say that most of your expenditure can be controlled if you wish to do so. There are some expenses that go away once you are not working, like travel, food, dress, etc. Food costs may go down if you used to eat lunch at house. So think before taking any decision related to expenditure, a wise decision can save you from losing money unnecessarily. Avoid unnecessary expenditure and accumulate a portion of this towards your post retirement expenditure.
-- 4. Assess Your life insurance needs
Every person should have life insurance cover so that their family will be in a safer side if anything wrong happens to you. Term and life insurance are two important types of insurance that can cove the risk of your life. If you are planning to go for a life insurance once you are 50 or more, it will cost you more so it is always better to have a life insurance cover you are young.
Most of the life insurance companies are offering Retirement Plans, if you are going for a retirement plan, it will help you to replace your salary once if you are retired. If the right decisions are made when electing your pension options, your spouse will be able to continue the pension. Term insurance is generally recommended for young people who have debt, dependents and few assets. However, a life insurance policy may be necessary for estate planning or other purposes.
There are so many types of insurance policies that fulfil your different needs. You have to think and choose the right one that can fulfill your needs.
5. Eliminate unwanted expenses
Expenditure heads should be identified and also given proper attention. Always make sure that you are eliminating unnecessary expenditure, including your children's educational expenditure. The time to fund your children's college educations is when they're small and not when they are Graduating and you are counting down to retirement.
As we have discussed already, list out the expenditure according to priority and avoid all possible expenditures.
6. Consult a Planner to plan your Investments
Most of the times people feel difficulty in planning their finances. So it is better to consult a financial planner for guidance. An efficient financial expert can get a comprehensive perspective on your whole financial situation and determine if everything is in order and you are really prepared to face retirement. He can guide you from re-evaluating your portfolio to your investments structure.
7. Create a portfolio using the Right Financial Ingredients
Most of the studies done on retirement planning had proved that a large percent of people allocate their money to just one single fund. Another major percent of people allocate their money to only two funds. Only a small percentage of the people understand the importance of diversifying their funds. Use of diverse mix of funds or multiple ingredients will help you to achieve your investment goals.
8. Have a review of your Investment Mix
We will understand this point with the help of an example; if your music player is too loud, do you throw it out the window? Of course not! You simply adjust the volume and get it back to an tolerable listening level. The same applies to your retirement plan. Instead of dropping your plan into the garbage, get an acceptable mix of investments that match your risk tolerance and financial goals.
9. Invest for Income
You may have built up a sum of money in the bank, from the sale of a property or by investing wisely, yet at some point, it will be important for you to actually see the benefit of your hard work. You may then need to consider changing your investment strategy from 'growth' to 'income'. In order to achieve better returns you may have been happy taking a risk with some of your money. But can you now afford to lose what has been taking you years to build up? Investing for income generally means taking a lower risk and seeing the benefit each month or each year in the form of an income payment. Ultimately, it's your money and you should enjoy it!
10. Set Aside Emergency Funds
Before reaching your retirement age you need to make sure that you have set aside sufficient funds for unexpected costs. This buffer will ensure that you avoid using assets allocated for income or growth purposes. As a general rule of thumb, we suggest saving about three to six months worth of expenses for your emergency fund.
Emergency can be anything like your car repairs, dental work, or travel expenses for a family member's illness or death. Make sure your emergency fund is liquid. Remember to replace emergency funds as you use them.
Hyderabad Masti
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Wednesday, June 9, 2010
How to Treat a Snake Bite
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via How to of the Day on 6/9/10
Snakes are carnivorous reptiles that live a wide variety of habitats around the world. While most snakes are not venomous, a minority carry venom that can cause painful injury or even death to humans. 
Steps
Non-Venomous Snakebites
Although not likely to be life-threatening, bites from non-venomous snakes can still be painful and lead to infection.
- Clean the wound carefully. Wash with clean water. Use an alcohol-soaked pad if one is available.
- Treat the wound with an antibiotic ointment. Apply a thin coating of antibiotic ointment.
- Bandage the wound. This will protect it and help to discourage infection. Pay attention to the wound as it heals for redness or streaking or other signs of infection.
Venomous Snakebites
These steps for treating venomous snakebites assume that you have no special equipment such as a snakebite kit and do not have immediate access to medical services.[1]
- Get the victim away from the snake. Your first priority is to make sure that neither you nor the victim receive any additional snakebites.
- Remove clothing or constricting items. Bites from venomous snakes can cause rapid and severe swelling. Remove clothing or jewelry from the area.
- Minimize activity. Higher levels of activity will increase blood flow and increase the spread of poison through the body.
- Do not cut the bite site or use your mouth to suck out the poison. These are likely to be ineffective and can increase the likelihood of infection.
- Clean the bite site with soap and water. Cover the wound with a dressing.
- Wrap the bite site with a tight elastic bandage. You can use something like an Ace bandage for this, or can fashion one from a stretchy shirt or other article of clothing.
- The intent of this step is to slow capillary and venous blood flow (flow back to the heart), but permit arterial blood flow (away from the heart).
- Check for a pulse below the overwrap. It should be present.
- Splint the bitten limb to prevent motion. Keep a the splinted extremity below the level of the heart.
- Keep the victim calm and protected from the environment. Let the victim rest until you can get him medical attention. If the victim is conscious, make him drink fluids.
Video
Tips
- Most snakes are not venomous.
- Your best option is to avoid a snakebite. Take care in places where snakes are common.
Warnings
- Do not attempt to cut open the wound and suck out venom, either with your mouth or a snakebite kit. This has not been shown to remove a significant amount of toxins and may lead to greater damage to skin in the area.[2][3]
- Even non-venomous snake bites may lead to infections.
Things You'll Need
- Antibiotic ointment
- Wound dressing
- Elastic bandage
Related wikiHows
Sources and Citations
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