Low Levels of Contraceptive Use Threaten Filipino Women’s health
New Study Highlights the Benefits of Improving Contraceptive Services in the Philippines
Low levels of contraceptive use in the Philippines result in high rates of unintended pregnancy and a broad range of negative consequences for women, their families and the national health care system. “Meeting Women’s Contraceptive Needs in the Philippines,” a new report from the [...]
Biodiversity is the spark of life
Biodiversity is not getting the attention it deserves on the international agenda, says Barry Gardiner. In this week’s Green Room, he warns that we need to understand the true value of ecological services before it is too late.
Well-intentioned campaigning organisations have fed us with sentimental descriptions of the polar bear, giant panda and blue [...]
The story of Mattu;it’s never too late
Kinema, Eastern Sierra Leone, near the Liberia/Guinea border
March 6 2009. 6:30AM
I met Mattu yesterday afternoon in the village of Gala, a 4 hour drive from Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown, and an hour on a dirt road outside of Sierra Leone’s 2nd largest city, Bo. Mattu is 35 years old. Pregnant 8 times, she has 7 [...]
Yes, it’s THAT teenage pregnancy video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRGgWBROuWs
Global warming could be twice as bad as forecast
Global warming’s effects this century could be twice as extreme as estimated just six years ago, scientists reported on Tuesday.
Earth’s median surface temperature could rise 9.3 degrees F (5.2 degrees C) by 2100, the scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found, compared to a 2003 study that projected a median temperature increase of 4.3 [...]
Fears of rat plague in UK grow
Rats are becoming resistant to existing poisons, according to pest control experts who warn that the government must allow the use of more powerful pesticides if the burgeoning rodent population is to be contained.
Amid concerns that the number of rats is soaring out of control, the British Pest Control Association says it has identified two [...]
Europe’s frogs and snakes in danger
One fifth of Europe’s reptiles and nearly a quarter of its amphibians are in danger because of the threat humans pose to their natural habitat, according to a study carried out for the European Commission.
The tortoise family, vipers, wall lizards such as the Tenerife speckled lizard, and pond turtles are among those threatened, said the [...]
Birds at risk reach record high
A record number of bird species are now listed as threatened with extinction, a global assessment has revealed.
The IUCN Red List evaluation considered 1,227, or 12%, of all known bird species to be at risk, with 192 species described as critically endangered.
The main threats affecting bird numbers continued to be agriculture, logging and invasive species, [...]
Energy initiatives increasingly dangerous
Russia to build floating Arctic nuclear stations
Russia is planning a fleet of floating and submersible nuclear power stations to exploit Arctic oil and gas reserves, causing widespread alarm among environmentalists.
A prototype floating nuclear power station being constructed at the SevMash shipyard in Severodvinsk is due to be completed next year. Agreement to build a further [...]
More Eastern Europeans leaving UK
The number of Eastern Europeans leaving the UK doubled in the year up to September 2008, officials have said.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that more foreign nationals left during the same 12 months than compared with the previous year.
The population is still growing from migration - but the rate has slowed because of [...]
New labour architect attacks government on climate change
One of the most important thinkers behind New Labour has attacked the government for failing to convince people that radical action on climate change is needed.
Lord Anthony Giddens, the former director of the London School of Economics and a key architect of the New Labour project, said that global warming was such vital issue that [...]
Major report warns of climate change risk to world health
A major report on managing the health effects of climate change, launched jointly by The Lancet and UCL (University College London) today, says that climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st Century. Furthermore, lead author Professor Anthony Costello’s major report says that failure to act will result in an intergenerational injustice, [...]
China’s gender imbalance ‘likely to get worse’
The problem of too many men and not enough women in Chinese villages is likely to become much worse, a leading researcher in the field has warned.
China has 32m more men aged under 20 than women, according to a paper published last month by Therese Hesketh, of University College London. Her latest research suggests that [...]
China tells rich nations to cut emissions by 40%
Rich nations should cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels as part of a new global climate change pact, China said on Thursday, spelling out its stance ahead of negotiations.
The pact must ensure wealthy nations “take on quantified targets to drastically reduce emissions,” said the statement, issued [...]
Key coral reefs ‘could disappear’
The world’s most important coral region is in danger of being wiped out by the end of this century unless fast action is taken, says a new report.
The international conservation group WWF warns that 40% of reefs in the Coral Triangle have already been lost.
The area is shared between Indonesia and five other south-east Asian [...]
Baltic Sea dying, coastal states must act: Finnish PM
Pollution is killing the Baltic Sea and coastal states must mount an urgent salvage operation, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said Tuesday.
“The state of the sea is alarming,” Vanhanen told a meeting of the 47-nation Council of Europe parliamentary assembly in Helsinki.
“It is, in fact, suffering a slow death — unless we do something, fast. [...]
Roads expose environment
There’s no such thing as a free ride. In Ecuador’s Yasuní National Park, one road, built by a foreign oil company, came with unlimited free transportation for local people. Environmentalists now say these free rides transformed local tribes and fuelled a bushmeat trade that might not have otherwise existed.
The situation, they say, illustrates the importance [...]
What do shrimps, frogs and wild fruit trees have in common?
Shrimp tuned to ocean temperature
Stocks of northern shrimp, the essential ingredient in the ubiquitous prawn cocktail, could be badly affected if ocean temperatures rise.
Researchers report, in the journal Science, that shrimp eggs hatch within days of each spring phytoplankton bloom - the main food source for the larvae.
They conclude that shrimp are adapted to [...]
Number of UK children with sex diseases soars
The number of British children being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections (STIs) has soared in recent years, according to government figures.
The increase in those under 16 diagnosed with a sexual disease was 58 percent - to 3,913 in 2007 from 2,474 in 2003.
The greatest increase was the number of cases of Chlamydia, the world’s most [...]
Male ‘contraceptive jab’ closer
A male contraceptive jab could be as effective at preventing pregnancies as the female pill or condoms, work shows.
The monthly testosterone injection works by temporarily blocking sperm production and could revolutionise birth control, experts believe.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8033218.stm
Climate change could cause gravity shift
AFP
The disintegration of the Antarctic ice sheet could cause catastrophic flooding on the east and west coasts of America
The melting of one of the world’s largest ice sheets would alter the Earth’s field of gravity and even its rotation in space so much that it would cause sea levels along some coasts to rise [...]
Alien pests wreak vast economic damage
Many governments are ignoring alien invasive species such as weeds or rats that may be causing $1.4 trillion damage a year to the world economy, the head of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) said on Friday
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE54LO6T2009052
Pollution threatens millions
Toxic hotspots affect 600 million in developing world
As many as 600 million people will die early from exposure to industrial waste, most of them in the developing world, the head of a non-profit group warned on Tuesday.
Tanneries, mines and car battery recycling sites are often “toxic hotspots” in developing countries, causing cancer, retardation in children [...]
Lakes face ‘complex’ challenges
Urgent measures are needed to protect lakes in England and Wales from pollution and climate change, according to the Environment Agency.
The call for action comes as experts gather at Windermere in Cumbria to discuss ways to safeguard England’s largest lake.
Windermere faces threats including invasive species and farming pollution.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cumbria/8056860.stm
Water shortages plague Mexico City
t’s been three weeks since the taps in Carlos Sandana’s Mexico City home ran dry.
Even when water flows from his faucet, Sandana says it’s brown and “terrible” quality, despite pipes being replaced several months ago.
Jorge Villalón Efrén Figaredo, a general director with Mexico’s National Water Commission, known by the Spanish acronym CONAGUA, says the neighbourhood [...]
Amazon land giveaway outrages conservationists
BRASILIA (Reuters) - A law expected to be approved by Brazil’s Congress granting 1.2 million people and numerous companies titles to a huge chunk of the Amazon rain forest could provoke a new wave of land-grabbing and deforestation, conservationists warn.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNewsidUSTRE54K52N2009052
Fertilisers ‘reducing diversity’
Scientists have identified why excessive fertilisation of soils is resulting in a loss of plant diversity.
Extra nutrients allow fast growing plants to dominate a habitat, blocking smaller species’ access to vital sunlight, researchers have found.
As a result, many species are disappearing from affected areas.
A team from the University of Zurich, writing in Science, warned that [...]
Birth rate highest since 1973
Women are having more children than at any time in the past 35 years, according to figures released today by the Office of National Statistics.
The birth rate in England and Wales, which reached a low point of 1.63 children per woman in 2001, now appears to be on a sustained upward trend.
The latest ONS figures, [...]
Bathing recommended at fewer beaches
The number of UK beaches recommended for bathing in the new Good Beach Guide has fallen by almost a sixth owing to last year’s heavy rain and floods.
The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is recommending 370 UK beaches out of 777 tested - a drop of 74 since 2008.
This is the biggest annual fall in the [...]
Many Catholics Leave Faith Over Dissatisfaction With Teachings On Abortion, Other Issues, Study Finds
Many adults who were raised Roman Catholic and leave the faith do so because of a dissatisfaction with the church’s teachings on abortion, birth control and other social issues, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.
The report, titled “Faith in Flux: Changes in Religious Affiliation in the [...]
UK funds sea acidification study
The UK government has launched an £11m ($16m) five-year research programme into ocean acidification.
Researchers say seas are becoming more acidic as a result of CO2 from human activities being absorbed by seawater, which alters the oceans’ chemistry.
Ministers say acidification of the oceans will be one of the major environmental concerns of this century.
The study will [...]
Threat to European biodiversity ‘as serious as climate change’
The natural world across Europe is suffering a crisis as serious as the threat of climate change, Europe’s environment chiefs are to warn this week.
A report from the European Environment Agency (EEA) to be published next month sounds the alarm that most species and habitats across the continent are in poor condition and the risk [...]
Ice melts
Melt from Andes to Arctic may spur U.N. climate pact
A fast melt of ice from the Andes to the Arctic should be a wake-up call for governments to work out a strong new United Nations treaty this year to fight climate change, Norway said on Tuesday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE53R33020090428?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews
The world’s melting glaciers (16 pictures)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2009/apr/28/glaciers-melting-climate-change?picture=346586112
Climate change hitting entire Arctic [...]
Pollution ‘fights global warming’
Air pollution may be helping the fight against global warming by enhancing the ability of plants to absorb carbon dioxide, scientists say.
Since the 1960s, increased levels of atmospheric pollution have enhanced plant productivity by as much as one quarter, research has found.
In terms of carbon dioxide, this means that an extra 10% has been stored [...]
Mara wildlife in serious decline
Wild grazing animals in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve are steadily disappearing, a study has found.
Numbers of giraffe, warthog, impala, topi and hartebeest fell by 50% or more between 1979 and 2002.
The falls are linked to rapid growth of Maasai settlements around the reserve, say scientists from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).
Their analysis is [...]
Food emergencies continue in 32 countries despite supply rise
High food prices persist in developing countries despite an improved global cereal supply and a sharp decline in international food prices, the United Nations agricultural agency warns in a report released today.
“This is creating further hardship for millions of poor people already suffering from hunger and undernourishment,” says the latest Crop Prospects and Food Situation [...]
Orchard losses ‘threaten species’
Traditional fruit orchards are vanishing from England’s landscape - with serious consequences for wildlife, conservationists have warned.
The National Trust says 60% have disappeared since the 1950s, putting local varieties of apples, cherries, pears, plums and damsons under threat.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8014873.stm
In Pictures: Orchards under threat
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/8015045.stm
Orchards may vanish by the end of the century, conservationists warn
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/24/traditional-orchards-biodiversity
David Attenborough speaks out on population on UK TV
The One Show
OPT Patron Sir David Attenborough and trustee Dr Pippa Hayes both featured on BBC’s The One Show yesterday evening in an item on the environmental impact of population. In case you missed it, you can catch it again on BBC iPlayer at
http://ukimages.images11.com/sendlink.asp?HitID=1242316836728&StID=8059&SID=6&NID=109129&EmID=9146386&Link=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5iYmMuY28udWsvaXBsYXllci9lcGlzb2RlL2IwMGtmc3gwL1RoZV9PbmVfU2hvd18xM18wNV8yMDA5Lw%3D%3D
Asia-Pacific population growth falls to lowest of developing regions – UN report
The Asia-Pacific region’s annual population growth has fallen to 1.1 per cent, the lowest rate among the world’s developing regions, according to a statistical snapshot released today by the United Nations.
Death rates have fallen but birth rates have come down more rapidly, according to the Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the Pacific 2008, released today [...]
UK ranked low on youth wellbeing
A table of young people’s wellbeing in 29 European states - the EU plus Norway and Iceland - has ranked the UK 24th.
The Netherlands was top while only Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania and Malta came lower than the UK.
The table, about youngsters aged up to 19, was compiled by York University researchers for the Child [...]
Premature deaths caused by London pollution ‘three times higher than claimed
The government was today challenged on the number of premature deaths caused by poor air quality as new figures suggested it may be three times higher than previously claimed.
The Campaign for Clean Air in London (CCAL) has written to the health secretary, Alan Johnson, to ask for clarification on the “full extent” of the health [...]
U.N. food agencies see “win-win” farmland deals
Rich nations buying farmland in less developed countries to boost own food supplies should also contribute to improving agriculture overseas, heads of two United Nations’ food agencies said.
Food supply scare after last year’s food riots has pushed several countries, such as China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea, to buy or lease farmland overseas to feed [...]
Climate change could worsen African “megadroughts”: Oxfam warns of climate disasters
The recent decades-long drought that killed 100,000 people in Africa’s Sahel may be a small foretaste of monstrous “megadroughts” that could grip the region as global climate change worsens, scientists reported on Thursday.
Droughts, some lasting for centuries, are part of the normal pattern in sub-Saharan Africa. But the added stress of a warming world will [...]
Forests could become source of warming
The world’s forests are at risk of becoming a source of planet-warming emissions instead of soaking them up like a sponge unless greenhouse gases are controlled, scientists said.
Deforestation emits 20 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide when people cut and burn trees, but standing forests soak up 25 percent of the emissions.
If the Earth heats [...]
Asia may see more conflicts over water: World’s major rivers ‘drying up’
Asia may see more conflicts over scarce water resources in the coming years as climate change and population growth threaten access to the most basic natural resource, a report warned on Friday.
Water problems in Asia are already severe, with one in five people, or 700 million, not having access to safe drinking water and half [...]
Ban calls for unified strategies on health, environment, food and energy
Anyone see the common underlying factor?
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30489&Cr=climate+change&Cr1=
The emissions reductions gospel is failing – we need something more
Research since the IPCC’s last assessment reveals that the threat of climatic disaster is more serious than previously supposed. Several threats exist but the most imminent is probably a collapse of substantial areas of land-based ice into the oceans, as studies of ancient climates show happened in previous warming phases. This seems likely to be [...]
Migration - UN report selected highlights
In 2005, the number of international migrants in the world reached almost 191 million, which
was 3 per cent of the world population. Between 1990 and 2005, the world gained 36 million
international migrants
Developed countries absorbed most of the increase in the number of international migrants
between 1990 and 2005 (33 out of 36 million). As a result, [...]
“Solutions” hit problems
Germany deals blow to GM crops
Agriculture minister Ilse Aigner joins European mutiny over genetically modified crops by banning corn variety MON 810.
“I have come to the conclusion that genetically-modified corn from the MON 810 strain constitutes a danger to the environment,” Aigner told reporters in Berlin.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/14/germany-gm-crops
Water worries cloud future for U.S. biofuel
Critics argue that precious [...]
If the well runs dry — climate change adaptation and water
‘Our water is shut off once or twice a month, sometimes more,’ says Baris Tekin from his apartment in Besiktas, an historic district of Istanbul, where he lives with his wife and daughter. ‘We have about 50 litres of bottled water in the apartment for washing and cleaning, just in case. If the [...]
World will not meet 2C warming target
Almost nine out of 10 climate scientists do not believe political efforts to restrict global warming to 2C will succeed, a Guardian poll reveals today. An average rise of 4-5C by the end of this century is more likely, they say, given soaring carbon emissions and political constraints.
Such a change would disrupt food and water [...]
Fishing fleets squander half their catches: EU fisheries paper catches the drift
Huge volumes of captured fish go to waste either because they’re non-target species or because fishing fleets make no effort to record and manage non-target species sustainably.
That’s the conclusion of an international study by WWF, which estimates how much of the fish harvest goes to waste as bycatch, the species thrown back dead into the [...]