University of Costa Rica scientists discovered a new species of frog in a mountainous region of their country. The frog is about 2 cm. in length and lives in the Altamira-Valle de Silencio area at an altitude of around 8,000 feet. The habitat there is rainforest with cool temperatures.
Many associates and friends have said to me, they were thinking about moving their money and or business, or starting a new business in Central America… and ask “what can I do there?” Well, it is an “underdeveloped region” which means pretty much everything needs development. The lure of the tropics, new markets, corporate incentives, lower labor costs are attractive, and the Central Americas are an “emerging market”, so opportunities abound. 





AFP/Getty Images/File – The Department of Water and Power (DWP) San Fernando Valley Generating Station is seen in Sun Valley, …
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Climate change is "largely irreversible" for the next 1,000 years even if carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be abruptly halted, according to a new study led by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The study's authors said there was "no going back" after the report showed that changes in surface temperature, rainfall and sea level are "largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after CO2 emissions are completely stopped." NOAA senior scientist Susan Solomon said the study, published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, showed that current human choices on carbon dioxide emissions are set to "irreversibly change the planet."
Researchers examined the consequences of CO2 building up beyond present-day concentrations of 385 parts per million, and then completely stopping emissions after the peak. Before the industrial age CO2 in Earth's atmosphere amounted to only 280 parts per million. The study found that CO2 levels are irreversibly impacting climate change, which will contribute to global sea level rise and rainfall changes in certain regions. The authors emphasized that increases in CO2 that occur from 2000 to 2100 are set to "lock in" a sea level rise over the next 1,000 years.
Rising sea levels would cause "irreversible commitments to future changes in the geography of the Earth, since many coastal and island features would ultimately become submerged," the study said. Decreases in rainfall that last for centuries can be expected to have a range of impacts, said the authors. Regional impacts include -- but are not limited to -- decreased human water supplies, increased fire frequency, ecosystem change and expanded deserts.
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For Daily Updated Arrival & Departure Info visit http://www.thecostaricanews.com

It takes between 2 ½ and 6 hours to fly to Costa Rica from most U.S. cities. Most international flights still land in San Jose's International Airport. However, more and more direct international flights are touching down in Liberia's International Airport. Also, the regional airport in Quepos can easily be reached from the San Jose Airport by way of Sansa or Nature Air. A quick 30 minute flight brings you to the coast and opens up all that the Central and South Central regions have to offer.
Daily flights begin early in the morning and continue into the afternoon. Delta, American, US Airways, America West, and Continental have regular nonstop commercial flights to Liberia from their hubs in Atlanta, Miami, Charlotte, Phoenix, and Houston. Liberia is the gateway to the beaches of the Guanacaste region and the Nicoya Peninsula, and a direct flight here eliminates the need for a separate commuter flight in a small aircraft.
The new Palma Sur International Airport is scheduled for operation in 2010 (it will be the largest in Central America). It will be about a forty ‐five minute drive south from Dominical, all on a very smooth, paved road. The airport has been in the works for a couple years now, but very recently, a significant amount of necessary funding was received and the project is moving forward.
Numerous airlines fly into Costa Rica. These are some of the major carriers and major cities: American Airlines has flights from Los Angeles, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Dallas ‐Fort Worth to San José and Liberia. Continental offers flights daily from Houston and Newark to San José, and a daily flight from Houston to Liberia. Delta offers two daily flights from Atlanta to San José and one daily flight from Atlanta to Liberia. Delta also has a once ‐weekly direct flight from Los Angeles to Liberia. Frontier offers non ‐stop service between Denver and San Jose. Mexicana flies from many North American cities, most connecting through Mexico City. Spirit Air has three weekly direct flights between Ft. Lauderdale and San José. US Airways has direct flights from Charlotte to San José and Liberia. Taca is a group of Central American airlines, with direct flights or connections to and from Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, New Orleans, New York, Miami, and Washington.
Here are some flight times from some major U.S. cities:
New York: 4 ‐5 hours non ‐stop or 6 ‐7 hours via Miami
Los Angeles: 5 ‐6 hours non ‐stop or 7 ‐8 hours via Mexico
Miami: 2 hours
Chicago: 4 ‐5 hours
Atlanta: 4 hours
Houston: 3 hours
Seattle: 7 hours
Ft. Lauderdale: 2 ½ hours


Biofuel investing has seen a sharp rise over the past year, but spiked just since President Obama took office. Obama’s push for green energy investment and growing demand for Green Fuels is seen as the major cause for the increase in investors shifting focus to Biofuels in Costa Rica. 
The UBA consortium consists of agricultural entities, industrial companies, universities, non-profit organizations and governments with the objective of developing Biofuel standards and promoting Biofuel research, development and commercialization. UBA organizes and develops feedstock producers to provide market channels and the highest quality control and standards for the end users. 
United Biofuels of America (UBA), announces the 1,000,000 Gallon Challenge to meet US government contract for Jatropha Crude Oil (JCO). This will require significant plantation developments to ensure feedstock to Biofuel capacity for USA Aerospace government contracts for conversion of JCO to Jet Fuel and Green Diesel. This project will require over 800,000 hectares of Jatropha plantation development over the next 5 years. 
VP Joe Biden
Costa RicaPresident Oscar Arias
(CNN) – Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Latin America later this month, according to White House statement released Friday.
Biden will head south of the border March 27-30, arriving in Chile and Costa Rica to meet with Latin American leaders to discuss the Summit of the Americas — a meeting between heads of state and government taking place April in Trinidad and Tobago.
The vice president will also attend the Progressive Governance conference in Chile, along with the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, and the Prime Ministers of Norway and the United Kingdom.
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What is an intentional community?
There are thousands of intentional communities all over the world: for a better idea, just visit the intentional community international directory at www.ic.org. There are hundreds of intentional communities in Costa Rica alone. There are so many of these communities in Costa Rica that an online, open-source directory of these Costa Rican communities is currently being constructed, called the Intentional Conscious Communities of Costa Rica (ICCCR) directory (coming soon to www.icccr.info).

By definition, an intentional community is a planned, usually residential community designed, operated and maintained by a group. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision. Community members also share responsibilities and resources.
Intentional communities are all inclusive; they include co-housing communities, residential land trusts, eco-villages, communes, holistic and alternative health retreat centers, organic farms, kibbutzim, ashrams, student co-ops, and housing cooperatives. They are often called "Conscious Communities" throughout Costa Rica. Usually new members of an intentional community are selected by the community's existing membership, rather than by real-estate agents or land owners (if the land is not owned collectively by the community.)
The ICCCR’s definition of an intentional conscious community is any shared work and housing group, community or program that seeks to do a combination or elements of mind-body-spirit-earth work that is eco-sustainable and empowers the local community (Ticos!): nonprofit organizations, social entrepreneurial programs, and small businesses alike.
The ICCCR, seeks to identify, assess, and unify these communities through an informational, open-source web portal, with the ultimate objective of empowering these communities through networking; skills-share; marketing their products and services locally, domestically and internationally; information exchange; capacity-building workshops; matching them with conscious investors and stewards; as well as keeping them up to date on funding opportunities such as social entrepreneurial grants and carbon credits.
Ultimately, the ICCCR seeks to empower these intentional conscious communities in Costa Rica in order that they can be economically sustainable, as well as eco-sustainable, stimulate their local economies, and protect Costa Rica’s natural resources (the rainforests are just one of many!) from big development. The ICCCR seeks to be a valuable tool for Costa Rica’s natural resource management.
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The ICCCR, in collaboration with Fincas Amanecer and Fincas Paraiso Verde (both organic farm communities in Londres, Quepos) are holding their very first workshop for intentional communities in Costa Rica:
Intentional Conscious Community Planning Hands-On Workshop (For Beginners/Forming Communities to Established Communities): March 27-30, 2009
Workshops include how to write a short-term and long-term business plan for people who do not speak Business; how to market your products and services on the internet (social media network marketing); how carbon credits work; how to procure social entrepreneurial grants and seed money; pigs for propane; an edible and medicinal plant tour (which can be used as an income generation tool for eco-communities!); and then valuable information about legal, business and residency issues in Costa Rica.
More details about the development of the ICCCR and the upcoming workshops can be found at
http://icccr.wordpress.com.http://thenonprofitguru.wordpress.com/
http://icccr.wordpress.com/
http://www.examiner.com/x-2454-SF-Alternative-Recreation-Examiner
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of