A morning-after pill is best served without a sermon
…
You can now buy the morning-after pill from a pharmacy without a prescription. But at the moment, pharmacists are able to decline services with which they disagree on moral or religious grounds. A significant number, mainly Christians and Muslims, refuse women the morning-after pill because they believe it is a form of abortion. I can’t [...]
Wigan top of booze shame list
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Among sexually active 13 and 14-year-olds in the UK, 40% say they were drunk when they had intercourse for the first time. And the report to the council’s building stronger communities scrutiny committee points out that Wigan has the eighth highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the North West.
…
http://www.wigantoday.net/wigannews/Wigan-top-of-booze-shame.5942477.jp
Free morning-after pills in Swansea
Swansea’s teenage girls and women have been offered free emergency contraceptives from pharmacies to reduce unwanted pregnancies over the festive period.
Lost inhibitions at Christmas and New Year parties could lead to more women accidentally falling pregnant, health bosses warned.
Girls under 16 will also be able to get the “morning-after pill” for free at 18 city [...]
Teenage girls ‘pressured’ into sex
New research has shown that around 87% of girls between 12 and 18 think their friends are having sex.
According to the study, carried out by teen magazine Sugar, many teenage schoolgirls feel pressured into having sex as a result.
The survey of 985 girls found that almost a third lie about their sex lives, while around [...]
Breeding crops for the next decade
PLANT breeder Bill Angus talks to Teresa Rush about his hopes for the next decade in terms of wheat breeding and how breeders will meet the challenges.
The next 10 years, in wheat breeding terms, will be about achieving a massive boost in production, against a backdrop of increasing environmental constraints.
Nonetheless, the next decade could potentially [...]
news watch is having a festive break till Dec 30th
Season’s greeting to all our readers!
Never go beyond what is just enough
by Rob Tippetts
The real optimum population for the earth is not a figure or a limit we, as
intelligent beings, could ever work out on the basis of the earth’s capacity
to produce food to support a chosen level of life for all. When we work things
out and try to predict what will happen in order to [...]
Gutless, yes. But the planet’s future is no priority of ours
Despair is not acceptable, but it may be inevitable. Social democrats are the world’s optimists, knowing human destiny is in our own hands if we have the will to change. Leave pessimism to the world’s conservatives, ever fearful of the future and yearning for a better yesterday. But today optimism feels impossible. The chance of [...]
Europe says conditions not met to deepen CO2 cuts
The European Union plans to cut climate-warming carbon emissions to 20 percent below 1990 levels over the next decade. It had said it would deepen those cuts to 30 percent if other rich nations at the U.N. talks take similar steps.
“If we can move from 20 to 30 percent, we want to,” British Environment Minister [...]
Threat of rising seas looms over coastal Africa
Speaking as talks on a global climate deal in Copenhagen ran into disagreements over how to share the burden of emissions cuts, some residents of low-lying coastal Africa said they had more pressing concerns.
“We want the authorities of the world powers to come and rescue the poor people from the sea,” said Diakite Abdullaye, 46, [...]
‘Meaningful’ deal reached at Copenhagen climate summit
Key states have reached what they call a “meaningful agreement” at the Copenhagen climate summit.
A US government official said the deal was a “historic step forward” but was not enough to prevent dangerous climate change in the future.
Analysts welcomed the fact that a deal had been done, but said its achievements were modest.
US President Barack [...]
As a good green citizen, I’ll stick to just two children
It is the real inconvenient truth. For all the calls in Copenhagen for more cash to tackle climate change, it was left to the Chinese to state the obvious last week: one of the easiest ways to cut carbon emissions is to have fewer children.
But this isn’t just a message for people in the poorest [...]
Stop having babies to save the world, says (father of four) Boris
Boris Johnson today urged the world to stop having so many babies to protect the planet.
The London Mayor also called on the City to join the green crusade and restore its battered reputation.
Father-of four Mr Johnson said: “There is no doubt that humanity faces a risk of environmental catastrophe We are replicating too fast, hurtling [...]
Charting our water future
Growing competition for scarce water resources is a growing business risk, a major economic threat, and a challenge for the sustainability of communities and the ecosystems upon which they rely. It is an issue that has serious implications for the stability of countries in which businesses operate, and for industries whose value chains are exposed [...]
International Migrants Day
On 4 December 2000, the General Assembly, taking into account the large and increasing number of migrants in the world, proclaimed 18 December International Migrants Day (resolution 55/93). On that day, in 1990, the Assembly adopted the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (resolution [...]
China’s Population to Peak at 1.4 Billion Around 2026
Census Bureau Projects India to Become Most Populous Country in 2025
China’s population is projected to peak at slightly less than 1.4 billion in 2026, both earlier and at a lower level than previously projected. Meanwhile, India’s population is projected to surpass China’s population in 2025, according to new data being released by the U.S. Census [...]
Bigfoot Endorses Population Reduction
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A neglected climate strategy: Empower women, slow population growth
Thanks to Laurie Mazur for letting me know about the launch of her new website, which has information about her forthcoming book and various related events around the country: www.popjustice.org. Also, thanks to Laurie for her op-ed in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, entitled “A Neglected Climate Strategy: Empower Women, Slow Population Growth.” See [...]
Ozone pollution could kill millions
Ozone pollution could cause hundreds of billions of dollars worth of damage to human health and result in millions of premature deaths around the world by 2050 if left unchecked, according to a new study. These damage figures are substantially higher than previous estimates that did not take into account long-term health costs.
“We estimate that [...]
Study forecasts 9m sea-level rise if temperatures meet 2C threshold
Global sea levels could rise by up to 9m in the next few hundred years, even if the world manages to stabilise average temperatures to 2C above pre-industrial levels, according to a new study.
In this scenario, hundreds of millions of people around the world would be affected as low low-lying coastal areas became inundated. New [...]
Development lobby “disgrace” on population
The Optimum Population Trust today criticises development groups for “wilfully misinterpreting” its recently launched PopOffsets initiative, under which individuals can offset their carbon emissions by funding family planning services in the developing world.
It describes the response of parts of the development lobby to the initiative as “frankly disgraceful”, adding: “The world badly needs a grown-up, [...]
‘Acidifying oceans’ threaten food supply, UK warns
Acidification of the oceans is a major threat to marine life and humanity’s food supply, Hilary Benn has warned as the UN climate summit resumes.
The UK environment secretary said that acidification provided a “powerful incentive” to cut carbon emissions.
Ocean chemistry is changing because water absorbs extra CO2 from the air.
Some believe this impact of rising [...]
Environment Agency: British wildlife faces climate change devastation
Rising temperatures and sea levels brought on by climate change could have devastating effects on British wildlife from salmon to wildfowl, the Environment Agency warned today as climate talks entered a second week in Copenhagen.
The agency said the country’s waterways could be hit by invading species, such as African clawed toads and South American water [...]
Uganda: Anti-gay bigots plunge Africa into new era of hate crimes
Uganda is likely to pass a law within months that will make homosexuality a capital offence, joining 37 other countries in the continent where American evangelical Christian groups are increasingly spreading bigotry.
“Learned behaviour can be unlearned,” said David Bahati. “You can’t tell me that people are born gays. It is foreign influence that is at [...]
The ‘human’ factor is missing in Copenhagen
YES, THERE is something more foreign than being offered kippered herring for your breakfast. It’s being offered PopOffsets for your conscience.
After seven hours and 3,325 miles, I arrive here, open the paper, and discover that a British think tank, Optimum Population Trust, is ready to make me a deal. As a good environmentalist, I can [...]
Contraception fights global warming
Recent research has demonstrated that among the many strategies that need to be brought to bear to reduce global warming, one of the most humane and cost-effective would be meeting the global need for contraception. Two hundred million women worldwide are without it as they try to prevent becoming pregnant.
But if President Obama tries to [...]
Spectre Of Rising Global Food Prices Returns
Falling production in commodities from rice to milk is bad news for just about everyone except investors. (..) Economic growth may revive shortages, according to Josette Sheeran, the executive director of the UN’s World Food Program. “Volatility in price and supply are with us for the predictable future,” she said. “Risk is the new normal [...]
The idea behind our global climate simulator
The idea behind our new global carbon emissions interactive is that it does for global climate policy what our quick carbon calculator does for individuals. You specify the year when global emissions will peak and the annual rate at which they decline thereafter and it tells you what will happen. For each scenario, three graphs [...]
This is bigger than climate change. It is a battle to redefine humanity
Excerpts from article by George Monbiot…
It’s hard for a species used to ever-expanding frontiers, but survival depends on accepting we live within limits…
This is about much more than climate change. This is about us…
No longer may we live without restraint…
We may no longer live in the moment, as if there were no tomorrow…
We will lurch from [...]
Majority of disaster deaths in 2009 climate-related, says UN
More than three quarters of those people who died in disasters this year lost their lives to extreme weather events, which caused nearly $15 billion in damages worldwide, the top United Nations official on disaster risk reduction announced today.Preliminary figures for the period from January to the end of November 2009 show that 224 of [...]
Oceans acidifying rapidly due to carbon dioxide emissions, says UN-backed study
The levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would be much higher if oceans did not absorb the amount they do, but this has lead to their rising acidity levels, according to a new United Nations-backed study issued today.Approximately one quarter of the emissions resulting from human activities – including deforestation and the burning of [...]
Chinese farmers struggle with climate change
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ZHONGZHUANG, China (Reuters) - Across the brown hills of Zhongzhuang Village in northwest China, farmers count the costs of a changing climate in lost crops, dry wells and lives weighed down by poverty.
Villagers here plough their narrow, terraced fields dug [...]
Why Britain faces a bleak future of food shortages
It was an ecological disaster that occurred on the other side of the planet. Yet the drought that devastated the Australian wheat harvest last year had consequences that shook the world. It sent food prices soaring in every nation. Wheat prices across the globe soared by 130%, while shopping bills in Britain leapt by 15%.
A [...]
Africa’s babies: Population boom traps kids in poverty, women in childbearing
…
Although it’s frequently portrayed as a continent decimated by epidemics, starvation and war, Africa is gripped by one of the greatest population explosions ever recorded. Over the past 60 years, while birth rates in the rest of the developing world declined by half, Africa’s population quadrupled to 1 billion, an epic baby boom that threatens [...]
How to survive the party season
…
If you get lucky at the end of the evening get your new friend’s phone number and arrange to continue the party spirit another night. Friends MAKE a pact to watch out for each other. Discuss what you’re going to do if somebody gets lucky and wants to go off alone and make sure nobody [...]
Study reveals impact of immigration on UK faiths
The finding will be published in a report by the IPPR, the respected left-of-centre think-tank, which will conclude that thousands of Muslims have moved to the UK because it is more sympathetic towards Islam than other European countries.
It comes days after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the proportion of the UK population [...]
Copenhagen climate conference: Who will dare mention population growth?
….
….
…
The real “elephant at the summit”, however, is population growth. In spite of it being the core cause of climate change, everyone is running a mile from having a serious, frank discussion on how it can be halted. True, it’s a sensitive subject, but it will be impossible to feed an expanding population while reducing [...]
China says population controls help fight climate change
China’s “one-child” policy has created heart-ache for millions of Chinese couples but has also allowed the country to grow economically without having to deal with the exploding population numbers faced by many developing countries.
According to Chinese calculations, the one-child policy has resulted in 400 million fewer people than would otherwise have been born.
“Such a decline [...]
Copenhagen and population growth: the topic politicians won’t discuss
According to the UN, population growth is a driving force behind emission increases yet it will not be on the agenda at any of the upcoming climate talks
World population has doubled to more than 6 billion in the past 50 years. It’s expected to reach 9 billion by 2050.
The population of the USA is projected [...]
Rising seas threaten 20 million in Bangladesh
Rising seas threaten 20 million in Bangladesh
DHAKA
Fri Dec 11, 2009 8:49am EST
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DHAKA (Reuters) - Rising sea levels, triggered by global warming, will displace [...]
The real inconvenient truth
The “inconvenient truth” overhanging the UN’s Copenhagen conference is not that the climate is warming or cooling, but that humans are overpopulating the world.
A planetary law, such as China’s one-child policy, is the only way to reverse the disastrous global birthrate currently, which is one million births every four days.
The world’s other species, vegetation, resources, [...]
Government faces legal proceedings over London air quality
The UK government was today facing legal proceedings and the threat of multi-million pound fines after the European commission turned down a request for more time to meet a legally-binding limit on an the PM10 air pollutant in London.
The commission ruled that the proposals put forward to improve air quality in the Greater London Zone [...]
Teenage girls to get contraceptive pill in pilot scheme
A controversial NHS pilot is providing the contraceptive pill to teenage girls without prescription in pharmacies.
Southwark and Lambeth, two inner-city areas in London with the highest teenage pregnancy rates, are the first to try the approach.
Experts have warned the government is struggling to meet its target of halving teenage pregnancies by 2010.
But opponents said there [...]
Copenhagen climate conference: Who will dare mention population growth?
Right, that’s it. Next year, I’m going to reduce my alcohol intake by 40 per cent. I’m going to stop driving to the gym, and using the lift during the day. Also, if my neighbour stops his dog leaving its doings in my garden, I promise [...]
Ocean acidification rates pose disaster for marine life, major study shows
The world’s oceans are becoming acidic at a faster rate than at any time in the last 55m years, threatening disaster for marine life and food supplies across the globe, delegates at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen have been warned.
A report by more than 100 of Europe’s leading marine scientists, released at the climate [...]
Climate change will leave 100million more hungry this century, UN warns
Climate change will see a further 100million people going hungry by the middle of this century, UN experts warned today. (..) A report released by the World Food Programme said the number affected by hunger could rise by between 10 per cent and 20 per cent without action to tackle global warming, with two thirds [...]
Global average temperature may hit record level in 2010
The global average temperature could reach a record high in 2010, according to the UK’s Met Office.
Forecasters predict that the annual figure for 2010 will be 14.58C (58.24F), 0.58C (1.04F) above the long-term average of 14.0C (58.2F).
They say the combination of climate change and a moderate warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean are set to [...]
Parents talk about sex too late
New research has suggested that parents are waiting for too long before they start talking about sex with their teenage children.
The study, which surveyed teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17, found that 40% had not had ‘the chat’ until after they had become sexually active.
A total of 141 parents were also surveyed about [...]
Earth’s response to CO₂ underestimated
Global warming resulting from slowly changing Earth systems could be up to 50% greater than previously thought, according to research by UK and US scientists.
Issue of sensitivity Climate models may be too short-sighted
The study reinforces the notion that certain poorly understood systems such as ice sheets or vegetation are integral to accurately predicting future temperatures. [...]
UK program reduces repeat teen pregnancy, study says
Repeat teen pregnancy is much lower than average among mothers who participate in the University of Kentucky’s Young Parents Program, according to a study.
The study followed 1,386 teen mothers who took part in the program and showed that less than 1 percent had a repeat pregnancy within three years, compared with 18.7 percent of teen [...]
Campaign is cutting teenage pregnancies
LATEST figures show work to reduce teenage pregnancies in Derbyshire is having an effect.
In the three months ending in September 2008, 108 under 18s became pregnant – the lowest number of pregnancies in the age group in any quarterly period for five and a half years – and the sixth successive quarter that conception rates [...]
Attenborough on climate change
AMID fears about climate change, the world’s future looks gloomy. Yet there is another worry - our booming population. Sir David Attenborough, 83, has made a BBC documentary about the issue. Here, he explains the threat of the huge strain on Earth’s resources.
THERE are nearly seven billion human beings living on the [...]
Human Factor Goes Missing In Copenhagen
Yes, there is something more foreign than being offered kippered herring for your breakfast. It’s being offered PopOffsets for your conscience.
After seven hours and 3,325 miles, I arrive here, open the paper and discover that a British think tank, Optimum Population Trust, is ready to make me a deal. As a good environmentalist, I can [...]
‘Only 50/50′ chance that 2C climate target will be met
Keeping the global temperature rise caused by climate change to C, which is widely regarded as the limit of what the Earth can safely stand, is going to be extremely difficult and will involve an enormous effort by the world, new research by British scientists indicates.
The C target, first proposed by the European Union in [...]
Population: In the family way
Outreach work: condoms on offer in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The World Bank, which let family planning fall to 2 per cent of its health budgets, is preparing a new strategy for Africa
F ive years ago, Boniface K’Oyugi began to receive troubling news. After 30 years during which family planning programmes had halved the number of [...]
Worldwide water crisis: time is running out
Water is the oil of the 21st century
Water security, like food and energy security, is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity. Businesses everywhere are beginning to find out that their water supply can no longer be taken for granted.
At a time when TV screens and newspapers are filled with images of flooding, and with [...]
Virtual contraception?
Online game targets safe sex habits
An online game in which players can control the situation in which their two virtual characters have sex, including their method of contraception, has been launched by a leading Irish teenage pregnancy agency.
The role-playing game ‘A Night to Remember’, released by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, allows players to choose to [...]
Watch David Attenborough on population again (for a week)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pdjmk/Horizon_20092010_How_Many_People_Can_Live_on_Planet_Earth/
On UK TV 9th December 2009
Horizon
9pm, BBC2
David Attenborough, who is Patron of the Optimum Population Trust and presents this Horizon special, has seen the world’s population more than double in his lifetime, from 2.5 billion in 1950 to over seven billion today. As well as being concerned at how much the planet can take, he also looks at the impact [...]
Copenhagen climate summit issues: population growth
The argument is that more people consume more resources, therefore producing more greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
The global population is currently at 6 billion and could rise to 11 billion by 2050 if fertility rates continue, not only threatening the climate, but food shortages and [...]
Met Office figures confirm noughties as warmest decade in recorded history
The past 10 years have been the warmest in recorded history, according to the UK Met Office.
Figures released today at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen show that despite 1998 being the warmest year on record, the noughties has been the warmest decade recorded in 160 years.
The Met Office also released the raw data from [...]
Climate change to drive up to 1 bln from homes: IOM
Climate change stands to drive as many as one billion people from their homes over the next four decades, the International Organization for Migration said in a study Tuesday.
Green Business
The IOM report, launched on the second day of international climate talks in Copenhagen, estimated 20 million people were made homeless last year by sudden-onset environmental [...]
A changing climate: UNEP maps extreme weather events worldwide
From Atlantic hurricanes to Australian droughts, extreme weather events are more frequent and more violent
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The United Nations Environment Programme has published a map to illustrate some of the extreme weather events over recent years.
In the run-up to Copenhagen, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) published its Climate Change Science Compendium, [...]
Maries Stopes International: Adults under 35 years old may be at increased risk of unplanned pregnancies and STIs over Christmas
More than one in four 18-34 year olds (27 per cent) admit to having unprotected sex due to being too drunk to remember contraception
Adults under 35 years old may be at increased risk of unplanned pregnancies and STIs over Christmas
Adults aged under 35 may be putting themselves at increased risk of unplanned pregnancies and sexually [...]
Water summit to hear of farmers’ crucial role - NFU
The NFU and the Environment Agency are to host a joint water summit to discuss the Agency’s Water Resources strategy with invited industry stakeholders.
The strategy - Water for people and the environment - recommends a series of actions and measures to ensure that all parts of society have continued access to water against a backdrop [...]
NYT Environment Reporter Floats Idea: Give Carbon Credits to Couples That Limit Themselves to One Child
Andrew Revkin, who reports on environmental issues for The New York Times, floated an idea last week for combating global warming: Give carbon credits to couples that limit themselves to having one child.
Revkin later told CNSNews.com that he was not endorsing the idea, just trying to provoke some thinking on the topic.
Revkin participated via Web [...]
Is six children a blessing or three a crowd?
As the Copenhagen summit gets under way, we meet a large and a small family to assess their carbon footprints
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Analysis
Neither family is typical in that both try hard to be less wasteful. In our snapshot their carbon footprint was well below the national average.
The Watsons made some changes, such as choosing Ecotricity, that could [...]
Number of foreigners in UK hits record 6.7m
The number of people from overseas living in the UK reached a record high of 6.7m last year, the Office for National Statistics has said.
In its annual overview of population figures, the ONS said one in 11 people in the UK had been born abroad.
Nearly 25% of all births in England and Wales in 2008 [...]
Migrant marriage teenagers lose High Court battle
A couple have lost a High Court battle against a government immigration policy aimed at combating forced marriages.
The policy meant Briton Amber Aguilar, 18, from London, left her UK life to live in Chile, her husband’s country of origin, after his student visa expired.
Under the policy her husband Diego, 19, cannot have a new visa [...]
Nitrous oxide concerns cloud future of biofuels
Scientists at the European commission have cast doubt on whether biofuels could ever be produced sustainably in significant quantities, dealing a blow to the aviation industry, which sees such fuel as a key way to reduce its emissions.
The researchers argue that the greenhouse gases emitted in making biofuel may well negate most of the carbon [...]
Border Agency bonuses criticised by MPs
UK Border Agency documents show a raft of cases where there is “no formal record” of applicants having left the UK, the Home Affairs Committee found.
The MPs said a 2011 target for clearing its case backlog must be accelerated.
Ministers said there had been major improvements to procedures and bonuses were paid only for outstanding work.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8400678.stm
Sea levels may rise three times more than first thought
Sea levels may rise three times faster than the official predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the global average sea level may increase by as much as 1.9 metres (6ft 3in) by 2100, scientists said yesterday.
The new assessment comes just one week after another international scientific body concluded that the IPCC [...]
Increase in water meters use urged by review
An independent review has called for a huge increase in the use of water meters to encourage people to use water more efficiently.
It recommended an approach that would put meters in 80% of homes in England by 2020, compared with 35% currently.
The review for England and Wales found that charging based on property’s rateable value [...]
Do Governments Promote Overpopulation?
Do Governments Promote Overpopulation?
By
Fred Westmark
The modern welfare states provide many services and help to their citizens. Which programs provided by governments promote overpopulation? The issue here is not whether these programs are necessary or useful. If people need help, governments should provide that assistance.
But services and programs have differing effects on [...]
Poor families ‘lack emotional support not just cash’
Fragile families in the UK face a shortage of emotional support and friendship as much as a lack of material support, says a think tank.
A report, Sinking and Swimming, published by the Young Foundation, looks at society’s “unmet needs”.
It warns that many families cannot provide support to help teenagers move successfully into adulthood.
It warns of [...]
Foreign student visa review call by UK advisory body
Rules allowing non-European students to stay in the UK after attending further education colleges should be reviewed, a government advisory panel says.
The Migration Advisory Committee says it is concerned students can obtain two-year visas regardless of the standard of the teaching or degree.
more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8394374.stm
New contraception help for teens
Primary care professionals are to be given a new toolkit to help them engage better with teenagers about sexuality and contraception.
Engaging Teenagers about Contraception has been developed by a team of sexual health experts who investigated teenagers’ attitudes to sexual health and their experiences discussing contraception with healthcare professionals.
Dr Paula Briggs, lead clinician at the [...]
Glacier threat to Bolivia capital
Fears are growing for the future of water supplies in one of Latin America’s fastest-growing urban areas - Bolivia’s sprawling city of La Paz and its neighbour El Alto.
Scientists monitoring the glaciers high in the Andes mountains - a key source of water - say the ice is showing signs of shrinking faster than previously [...]
Australia migration numbers hit record high
New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that the number of permanent migrants and long-term visa holders arriving in Australia has risen to more than 500,000 a year.
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Preliminary figures show that Australia grew by 443,139 in the first 6 months of 2009. While part [...]
Guidelines urge councils to set aside homes for locals
Councils in England are being urged to set aside homes for people with a connection to their local area.
Authorities already have the power to do this - but not all use it.
Housing Minister John Healey says he wants them to be more flexible in the way they apply the rules and tailor allocation more closely [...]
UK should open borders to climate refugees, says Bangladeshi minister
Up to 20 million Bangladeshis may be forced to leave the country in the next 40 years because of climate change, one of the country’s most senior politicians has said. Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh’s finance minister, called on Britain and other wealthy countries to accept millions of displaced people.
In a clear signal to the [...]
Concern at repeat abortion figures
The high number of women undergoing more than one abortion has prompted renewed concern about the effectiveness of UK sexual health policy.
Official figures, revealed in parliamentary answers from the Department of Health, showed that more than 5,000 women under 20 had had an abortion for at least the second time in 2008. Conservative shadow health [...]
U.N.: $24 billion could slash infant, maternal deaths
Maternal deaths in developing countries could be slashed by 70 per cent and newborn deaths cut by nearly half if investment in family planning and pregnancy care was doubled, the United Nations said Thursday.
A U.N.-backed report said investments in family planning and birth control would boost the effectiveness spending on pregnancy and newborn health care, [...]
Sea Ice At Lowest Level In 800 Years Near Greenland
New research, which reconstructs the extent of ice in the sea between Greenland and Svalbard from the 13th century to the present indicates that there has never been so little sea ice as there is now. The research results from the Niels Bohr Institute, among others, are published in the scientific journal, Climate Dynamics.
There are [...]
Unlimited emissions will warm planet 4 degrees: U.K.
The Met Office launched a new map exploring the impacts on the world if temperatures were allowed to climb to 4 degrees above pre-industrial average temperatures.
“If emissions are allowed to continue unchecked, our research shows that they are likely to lead to warming of 4 degrees centigrade or more by the end of the century,” [...]
Horizon Special on population
I imagine most people are aware of this programme next Wednesday on BBC2 at 9pm, but just in case …
In a Horizon special, naturalist Sir David Attenborough investigates whether the world faces a population crisis. He reflects on the impact of a doubling in world population during his career. While much of the projected population [...]
Middle class insulated from immigration, says Denham
The middle classes are “insulated” from the effects of immigration and find it hard to understand fears about housing and jobs, John Denham has said.
In a speech the communities secretary said while “the affluent” could see opportunities in immigration poorer communities saw it as a threat.
more
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8389701.stm
Antarctica may heat up dramatically as ozone hole repairs, warn scientists
The hole in the Earth’s ozone layer has shielded Antarctica from the worst effects of global warming until now, according to the most comprehensive review to date of the state of the Antarctic climate. But scientists warned that as the hole closes up in the next few decades, temperatures on the continent could rise by [...]
California water allocation hits record-low level
California officials said on Tuesday that drought and environmental restrictions have forced them to cut planned water deliveries to irrigation districts and cities statewide to just 5 percent of their contracted allotments.
Although the state Water Resources Department typically ends up supplying more water than first projected for an upcoming year, its 5 percent initial allocation [...]
Global warming threatens China harvests: forecaster
Droughts and floods stoked by global warming threaten to destabilize China’s grain production, the nation’s top meteorologist has warned, urging bigger grain reserves and strict protection of farmland and water supplies.
Extreme weather damage can now cause annual grain output in China, the world’s biggest grain producer, to fluctuate by about 10 to 20 percent from [...]
Religious groups challenge new rules on pre-consent lessons
Ed Balls is facing legal challenges from faith groups and individuals over his announcement of mandatory sex education lessons for pupils before they reach the age of consent.
Religious groups reacted with anger to the move by the Schools Secretary, which will make it compulsory for all pupils aged 15 will learn about [...]
Website appeal to fund family planning ‘to cut CO2′
Wind turbines are said to be not the best way to tackle global warming
Meeting the demand for family planning in poor nations is a cheap and effective way to cut CO2 emissions, a new website initiative claims.
The UK-based Optimum Population Trust says fast-rising population levels lead to growing emissions.
The website is urging wealthy [...]
Europeans could save planet for $3 a day: study
Europeans could help cut climate warming emissions to much safer levels for just 2 euros ($3) each per day, but they would also have to cut back on driving and meat eating, a report said Tuesday.
Other long-term changes would include using the train instead of flying for journeys of under 1,000 km, said the report [...]
CIWEM call for couples to “stop at two”
CIWEM’s new publication Fitting the Bill: A Manifesto for Environmental Action sets out the Institution’s policies for the next five years to help mitigate and adapt to climate change and other serious environmental threats. The Manifesto includes calls for the creation of a low carbon society, a national programme to retrofit appropriate water and energy saving technologies into the [...]
Climate change special: Twelve days to save the world
Mohammed Nasheed knows what global warming means, because he sees it every day. He survived years of imprisonment and torture to lead his country – the Maldives – to democracy. But now, as its President, he is being forced to watch as his homeland is wiped [...]
World’s zoos unite over climate change
Zoos and aquariums will become the last places on Earth to see species such as polar bears and coral if climate change negotiations fail at Copenhagen, warns the global zoo community.
Over 200 zoos belonging to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) have signed a petition calling on governments to set targets of atmospheric [...]
World carbon emissions overshoot “budget”: PwC
The world has emitted extra greenhouse gases this century equivalent to the annual totals of China and the United States above a maximum for avoiding the worst of climate change, a study estimated on Tuesday.
Global accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers said in the report that almost all major nations, including European Union countries that pride themselves on [...]
Major sea level rise likely as Antarctic ice melts
The Southern Ocean is the world’s most important feeding ground for whales
Sea levels are likely to rise by about 1.4m (4ft 6in) globally by 2100 as polar ice melts, according to a major review of climate change in Antarctica.
Conducted by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), it says that [...]
More action needed to protect wild plants in Europe against climate change
Current conservation efforts across Europe are inadequate to protect wild plants from climate change. These are the findings from a report by scientists at the University of Reading, which will be presented this week ( 23-26 Nov ) at a meeting of the Council of Europe’s Bern Convention.
The Bern Convention was set up 30 years [...]
Campaign Aimed at Cutting Teenage Pregnancies in UK Launched Countrywide
With the aim to cut teenage pregnancies, which are currently the highest in UK compared to all other European nations, a new campaign to encourage youngsters to freely talk about sex and contraception has been launched countrywide.
The campaign is being seen as a direct result of a recent research conducted among the 16 to 24 [...]