Half of England and Wales suffer from ‘water stress’
Nearly half of the population in England and Wales now live in areas of “water stress” where supply might not keep up with demand - a problem usually associated with parched regions such as north Africa and the Middle East. The huge pressure on water supplies from large and wealthy populations in areas with [...]
Food needs ‘fundamental rethink’
A sustainable global food system in the 21st Century needs to be built on a series of “new fundamentals”, according to a leading food expert. Tim Lang warned that the current system, designed in the 1940s, was showing “structural failures”, such as “astronomic” environmental costs.
The new approach needed to address key fundamentals like biodiversity, [...]
Third of Britain’s mammals ‘at risk’
The hedgehog, water vole and hazel dormouse are among a number of British mammals that face becoming seriously endangered, research published today reveals. Climate change and habitat loss have led to a dramatic increase in the number of mammals whose future survival is a cause for concern among conservationists, the study commissioned by the [...]
Baby boom among badly-educated women after Government increased benefits
A study claims there has been a “sizeable” increase in the birth rate among poor women since Labour made welfare payouts to parents far more generous. It estimates that badly educated mothers had an additional 45,000 children in the year after the reforms were introduced, with many admitting they had stopped using birth control [...]
Climate change threatens South Asian water resources
The impacts of climate change in the form of higher temperatures, more variable precipitation, and more extreme weather events threaten the water supply to millions of people living near South Asia’s numerous river basins.
The great civilizations of the world have evolved around water and South Asia is no exception. In South Asia, water encompasses the [...]
UN split over homosexuality laws
“Sixty-six countries at the United Nations have called for homosexuality to be decriminalised. Sixty other countries of the UN’s 192 member states, including a number of Arab and African states, rejected the non-binding declaration. Homosexuality is a criminal offence in more than 80 countries, while in at least seven nations, including Saudi Arabia, [...]
Merry Xmas - Optimum Population Trust blog round up for 2008
There has been some good news in 2008 on the population front in the UK. A government minister has stated that there is a limit to population growth and the government has put in place measures to limit immigration. There is also continuing government action to improve sex education and the provision of [...]
Gloomiest climate change predictions ever
At a high-level academic conference on global warming at Exeter University this summer, climate scientist Kevin Anderson stood before his expert audience and contemplated a strange feeling. He wanted to be wrong. Despite the political rhetoric, the scientific warnings, the media headlines and the corporate promises, he would say, carbon emissions were soaring way out [...]
Immigration ‘must be slashed’ to keep population below 70m
The balance of those settling here over those leaving must be cut to just 50,000 a year if the population is not to pass the landmark total. But that would require an enormous reduction from the current net level of 237,000 a year and makes a mockery of immigration minister Phil Woolas’ pledge to [...]
Another warm year/ Swiss glaciers ‘in full retreat’/ Arctic melt passes the point of no return/ Sea level could rise by 150cm by 2100
In a preliminary report, released today on behalf of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the global mean temperature for 2008 is 14.3 °C, making it the tenth warmest year on a record that dates back to 1850.
Climate scientists at the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at University of East Anglia [...]
Global oil supply will peak in 2020, says energy agency
Global oil production will peak much earlier than expected amid a collapse in petroleum investment due to the credit crunch, one of the world’s foremost experts has revealed. Fatih Birol, chief economist to the International Energy Agency, told the Guardian that conventional crude output could plateau in 2020, a development that was “not good [...]
Scottish birth rate at 13-year high/ E & W teen pregnancies up
The birth rate has reached a 13-year high, according to official figures. There were a total of 15,520 babies born in July, August and September of this year, the highest for this quarter since the mid-1990s. There were 45,500 births for the year up to September, more than 2,000 up on the same period last [...]
2008 one of worst years for climate led disaster losses
Weather-related disasters and earthquakes are likely to make 2008 the second most costly year for insurers after 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck the United States, a leading insurer said on Wednesday.
Munich Re said in a study with the U.N. Environment Programme that weather-related disasters seemed to be on the rise, in line with forecasts by [...]
World Migration Day - facts and figures
There are more than 200 million estimated international migrants in the world today. Migrants comprise 3.0 per cent of the global population.
There are roughly 20 to 30 million unauthorized migrants worldwide, comprising around 10 to 15 per cent of the world’s immigrant stock.
In 2007, there were 26 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in at least [...]
Climate change may cause more coral extinction
The world has lost about a fifth of its corals and many of the remaining reefs could die in the next 20 to 40 years unless humans reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a report said on Wednesday. Further coral loss will have alarming consequences for some 500 million people who depend on reefs for their [...]
UK women not being given real contraceptive choice
One in three PCTs are rationing GP access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), according to an audit by a leading expert on contraception. NICE guidance published in 2005 recommended women should be offered the choice of a LARC, as they are more reliable and cost-effective than other forms of contraception. Three new QOF indicators and [...]
World’s hungry ‘close to one billion’ says FAO
The Rome-based organisation said that a preliminary estimate showed the number of undernourished people rose this year by 40m to about 963m people, after rising 75m in 2007. Although food commodity prices have fallen about 50 per cent from this summer’s all-time highs, they remain well above pre-crisis levels.
The vast majority of the world’s undernourished [...]
Climate talks in Brussels and Poznan hit stumbling block
Blog comment: So, back to population then…
From the BBC
‘So what has it all meant, those two intensive days, now that the dignitaries have flown away and the plates have been cleared and the convention centre cloakroom staff have been allowed to go home? The EU package, certainly, did not emerge as strong as developing countries [...]
Climate change may uproot 6 million annually
The impact of climate change could uproot around six million people each year, half of them because of weather disasters like floods and storms, a top U.N. official said on Monday.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) was making plans based on conservative estimates that global warming would force between 200 million and 250 million [...]
Crises - economic, environmental, exponential
What will the effect of the economic crisis be on issues related to overpopulation?
Falling consumption may reduce the depletion of finite mineral resources. But falling investment in extraction might hasten shortages.
Reduced demand may also reduce environmental degradation. But desperate poor producers may be driven to put more pressure on fragile habitats and wildlife.
What [...]
Pollution threatens human fertility
Blog comment: we’d like lower fertility, but due to conscious choice, not man-made pollution.
The male gender is in danger, with incalculable consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling scientific research from around the world reveals. The research – to be detailed tomorrow in the most comprehensive report yet published – shows that a host of [...]
Only reserves can save overexploited UK fish species
The Co-operative Group wants 30% of UK waters to become “no-take” reserves by 2020 to reverse decades of overfishing. It says just eight out of 47 fishing stocks are healthy and warns once-common species now face extinction. The campaign, backed by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS), calls for the measures to be included in the [...]
Noise pollution in seas threatens wildlife
Man-made noise in the world’s seas and oceans is becoming an increasing threat to whales, dolphins and turtles who use sound to communicate, forage for food and find mates, wildlife experts said on Wednesday. Rumbling ship engines, seismic surveys by oil and gas companies, and intrusive military sonars are triggering an “acoustic fog and [...]
Environment loses out to coal/ oil extraction
Britain was once peppered with collieries, providing fuel for the country’s energy, industry and transportation needs. Nowadays nearly three quarters of the coal we burn is shipped in from Russia, South Africa and even Australia. But with overseas energy supplies becoming alarmingly unpredictable, the UK government is keen to secure greater domestic supplies [...]
Global warming is for ever
Global warming is for ever, some of the world’s top climate scientists have concluded. Their research shows that carbon dioxide emitted from today’s homes, cars and factories will continue to heat up the planet for hundreds of thousands of years.
It comes as a shock because most governments, and even many scientists, have assumed that carbon [...]
Rich countries shelve CO2 cuts as crisis sears and costs soar
Many industrialized nations are shelving ambitions for the deepest cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 as economic slowdown overshadows the fight against climate change. About 190 countries meet for U.N. climate talks in Poznan, Poland, next week with scant mention of a deal in Vienna last year by almost all rich nations to consider [...]
Price driven underinvestment threatens near term oil supplies
Edited article - for full version see link at bottom of page
When oil almost topped $150 back in July, politicians flew around the world trying to quell the panic it created. Now the price has sunk below $50. Many analysts declare that with the recession, and the drop in demand for the black stuff, cheap [...]
Long acting contraceptives the solution to varied routines
Women whose working lives and home lives are chaotic are putting themselves at high risk of becoming pregnant when they think they have already completed their families.
A new survey by Bayer Schering Pharma found the chaos of their lives had resulted in 84 percent of women forgetting to take their daily contraception at some point. [...]
Sex clinics recommended for UK schools, colleges
Every 11 to 18-year-old in England should be able to receive advice on contraception, pregnancy tests and screening for sexually transmitted diseases between lessons, according to a leading charity. In a controversial conclusion, it is recommended that “all schools, together with their local authorities and primary care trusts, consider setting up on-site sexual health services”.
The [...]
Climate change threatens wetlands birds, forests
There has been a big drop in the numbers of ducks, geese, swans and wading birds visiting some of Britain’s internationally important wetlands, according to the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust report.
The report says climate change and particularly milder winters have persuaded many birds to shorten their migration routes and stay closer to their breeding grounds [...]
Quarter of Atlantic sharks and rays face extinction
A “red list” report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) found that 26% of all sharks, rays and related species in the regional waters are threatened with extinction. Seven per cent are classed as critically endangered, while a fifth are regarded as “near-threatened”.
The total number of at-risk species may well be [...]