Teenagers to receive jabs to cut abortions
Ministers want to double the number of girls using contraceptive jabs and implants to cut down on teenage abortions. Under reforms, youngsters considered at risk of unplanned pregnancies will be advised by their GPs to use these methods of contraception, which could render them infertile for three years. In addition, abortion clinics will be [...]
Urban African population set to rise sharply
Africa’s urban population is projected to more than double by 2030, defying the global trend of slower growth in the number of residents of cities, a new report from the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) indicates.
The report shows that there will be about 759 million urban inhabitants across Africa by 2030, compared to [...]
China’s crops at risk from erosion; Yellow River from pollution
Over a third of China’s land is being scoured by serious erosion that is putting its crops and water supply a risk, a three-year nationwide survey has found.
Soil is being washed and blown away not only in remote rural areas, but near mines, factories and even in cities, the official Xinhua agency cited the country’s [...]
CO2, methane, NO2 concentrations still rising
Greenhouse gas emissions in many industrialised nations are still rising, especially in the former Soviet bloc, despite agreements to cut back, the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat said on Monday.
Emissions by 40 industrialized nations grew by 2.3 percent to the equivalent of 18.0 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2006 from 17.6 billion in 2000, it [...]
Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply
Rich governments and corporations are triggering alarm for the poor as they buy up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies.
This week, the South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics announced plans to buy a 99-year lease on a million [...]
Experts warn of severe water shortages by 2080
Half the world’s population could face a shortage of clean water by 2080 because of climate change, experts warned Tuesday.
Wong Poh Poh, a professor at the National University of Singapore, told a regional conference that global warming was disrupting water flow patterns and increasing the severity of floods, droughts and storms — all of which [...]
Births, longevity increasingly important in UK population growth
Since 1998, net migration has been the principal cause of the UK’s unprecedented level of population growth. However, a higher birth rate and increasing longevity are becoming more important and now account for almost half the increase.
Births in 2006 were up by over 3% on 2005 accordingly to recently published figures.
Life expectancy has now [...]
US Intelligence report warns of uncertain global future
Extracts from the Executive Summary of Global Trends 2025
Asia, Africa, and Latin America will account for virtually all population growth over the next
20 years; less than 3 percent of the growth will occur in the West. Europe and Japan will
continue to far outdistance the emerging powers of China and India in per capita wealth, but [...]
Giant Asian smog cloud masks warming impact
A three-kilometer thick cloud of brown soot and other pollutants hanging over Asia is darkening cities, killing thousands and damaging crops but may be holding off the worst effects of global warming, the U.N. said on Thursday. The amount of sunlight reaching earth through the murk has fallen by up to a quarter in [...]
UK failing to protect biodiversity at home and overseas
The government will miss its targets to stop the demise of wildlife in Britain unless it invests money in conservation and looks beyond protecting a few special sites, says a report from the environmental audit committee.
The parliamentary watchdog criticised several government departments which it said paid scant regard to wildlife when planning housing or business [...]
UK net immigration up to 237,000; 300,000 visas wrongly issued
Net immigration to the UK increased to 237,000 in 2007, according to the Office for National Statistics. That is 46,000 more than in 2006 - as a result of emigration falling faster than immigration.
The figures mean that the population has grown by 1.8 million because of immigration since Labour came to power in 1997. The [...]
Nov 19th is World Toilet Day and 2008 is International Year of Sanitation
Boosting the standard of sanitation in poor countries worldwide is a matter of basic human dignity, and yet 40 per cent of the global population still does not have access to toilets, a United Nations rights expert said today, calling for donor investment to be stepped up to save lives and reduce the spread of [...]
Scottish women urged to ditch pill for long term contraception
SCOTTISH women will be advised to ditch the contraceptive pill in favour of longer-lasting and more reliable implants and injections, under a revolutionary change to family planning aimed at reducing the rate of unwanted pregnancies.
Around a quarter-of-a-million Scottish women aged 18-40 who currently use the pill will be told they should consider switching to “long-acting [...]
Current warming sharpest climate change in 5,000 years
Research on Arctic and North Atlantic ecosystems shows the recent warming trend counts as the most dramatic climate change since the onset of human civilization 5,000 years ago, according to studies published Thursday. Researchers from Cornell University studied the increased introduction of fresh water from glacial melt, oceanic circulation, and the change in geographic range [...]
Energy Agency warns of 6°C rise/ cost of climate change
Our voracious appetite for energy is potentially putting the planet on the path for a 6°C rise in temperatures – which is far more than what climate specialists say the environment can cope with.
In its 2008 World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency says the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit will have to set ambitious carbon-limiting [...]
List of UK jobs open to migrants “not tough enough”
The list of jobs open to immigrants from outside the European Union has been published by the UK government. Ministers say it will cut by 200,000 the jobs available to non-EU workers.
The shortage occupation list replaces the current work permit system and is a central plank of the government’s new points-based migration system, [...]
New homes ‘will engulf greenbelt’ in UK and abroad
An area of greenbelt land the size of Birmingham will be swallowed up to build new homes, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England says.It warns ministers are ignoring local concerns in order to reach their target of three million new homes by 2020. The CPRE says the focus must instead be on [...]
Link for US teens between sex on TV and early pregnancy
Teenagers who watch Sex in the City, Friends and other TV shows featuring sex scenes and discussions of sex are far more likely to get pregnant or get someone else pregnant than their peers, a new study has found. The study was led by Anita Chandra, a behavioural scientist at RAND, an independent research [...]
Is water the new oil?
Parts of the world may have to be abandoned because severe water shortages will leave them uninhabitable, the United Nations environment chief has warned. Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme, said water shortages caused by over-use of rivers and aquifers were already leading to serious problems, even in rich nations. With [...]
Farmland bird numbers in UK fall to lowest level on record
Popular farmland birds like turtle dove, grey partridge and linnet have declined to their lowest level on record, with some species becoming extinct in regions of the UK, according to figures released today.
The latest survey, by the Department for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, shows the number of breeding pairs of farmland birds has now [...]
Climate-warming methane levels rose fast in 2007
Levels of climate-warming methane — a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide — rose abruptly in Earth’s atmosphere last year, and scientists who reported the change don’t know why it occurred.
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, has more than doubled in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times, but stayed largely stable over [...]
UK “faces peak oil crisis within five years”
The report, from the Peak Oil group, warns that the problem of declining availability of oil will hit the UK earlier than generally expected - possibly within the next five years and as early as 2011.
The report was issued today by the recently established UK industry taskforce on peak oil and energy security, a [...]
UK: Awareness of contraceptive options patchy but LARCs up
The pill remains the most popular form of contraception among women, new figures from the UK suggest.
A survey of attitudes towards sexual health by the Office for National Statistics found 28% of women aged 16 to 49 used oral contraceptives compared with 24% who relied on male condoms. Overall, three-quarters of those [...]
Carbon 80% reduction target not matched by action
The decision to commit Britain to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 is welcome. Recent research has made it clear that the government’s previous target of a 60 per cent reduction would be insufficient to help halt profound climate change this century.
But we should note that setting goals is the [...]
Arctic ice thickness ‘plummets’
The thickness of Arctic sea ice “plummeted” last winter, thinning by as much as 49 centimetres (1.6ft) in some regions, satellite data has revealed.
A study by UK researchers showed that the ice thickness had been fairly constant for the previous five winters. The team from University College London added that the results provided the [...]
Immigration tops London concerns as rules tightened
Immigration is the issue most Londoners are worried about for the next five years, a survey has shown. The London Matters poll asked more than 2,200 people from both London and across Britain for their views on a range of issues facing the capital.
Londoners cited immigration (34%) as the biggest issue, followed by [...]
Climate change ‘making seas more salty’
Global warming is making the sea more salty, according to new research that demonstrates the massive shifts in natural systems triggered by climate change.
Experts at the UK Met Office and Reading University say warmer temperatures over the Atlantic Ocean have significantly increased evaporation and reduced rainfall across a giant stretch of water from Africa [...]
Many pesticides in EU may damage human brain
OSLO (Reuters) - Many pesticides used in the European Union may damage brain growth in fetuses and young children, according to a study published on Friday. The study urged the European Union to tighten restrictions.
“Toxicity to the brain is not routinely included in testing pesticides,” Philippe Grandjean of the Havard School of Public Health and [...]
Soil health ‘threatens farming’
Some areas of England may not be fit for productive agriculture in future because of deteriorating soil quality, a new report warns.
The Royal Agricultural Society of England is worried that too much is being asked of the land in places.
The society said heavy machinery, drier summers and changing growing seasons are all taking their [...]
China warns of huge rise in emissions: EU asks for cuts
China’s greenhouse gas emissions have caught up with the United States and will not fall any time soon, a top Chinese official said on Wednesday, while warning of a huge economic blow from global warming.
Many experts believe China’s output of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from burning fossil fuels, has already outstripped the United [...]