Is the world better or worse than it was 20 years ago?
Focussing on the UN Sustainable Development Conference – Rio+20, which starts tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I came across an interesting interactive way to quickly assess if the world is doing better or worse than it did 20 years ago.
Rio+20 – Platform now open for voting on solutions to achieve ‘the future we want’
Banner from http://vote.riodialogues.org/?l=en It is only 8 days to the start of the Rio+20 UN Conference, where world leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, will come together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equility and ensure environmental protection to get to the future…
The Future of Our Forests
I recently attended ‘Future Forestry’, the Institute of Chartered Foresters’ Annual Conference. The speakers were excellent and covered a wide range of topics – from the changing world in forest management through to forest research in a changing climate. The presentations are all now freely available to view on the ICF website if you’d like…
REDD and forest carbon – finding a path through the trees
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is a key concept in trying to tackle climate change. The core idea is that a way can be found to fund the avoidance of deforestation and forest degradation, thus reducing carbon emissions. But will it work? Rainforest, Santa Elena, Costa Rica Dirk van der Mad Frances Seymour,…
“Precipitationsheds” – a new concept for water science!
It is well known that precipitation derives in part from evaporation from oceans and in part from recycled moisture from terrestrial surfaces. In fact, a new model by van der Ent et al. (2010), which was highlighted in an International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF) presentation demonstrates that up to 50% of rainfall in many areas…
Jumping the red light – Do consumers pay attention to nutritional labels?
There have been many labelling schemes to make clearer to consumers the healthiness of foods, such as traffic light codes with green for healthy and red for less healthy. But do consumers actually make use of the labels and choose healthier foods?In a paper in CAB Reviews, Sophie Hieke and Jo Wills of the European…
Where’s my ball? How practical is it to give farm animals a better environment?
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that giving animals a better environment makes them less stressed, less likely to behave abnormally, and sometimes more productive. However, most of that evidence comes from small-scale trials, and scaling improvements up to the practicalities of large farms could prove costly and burdensome. Is it environmental enrichment…
Why are we still in a drought during floods?
It has been the wettest April on record for England and Wales, yet in the past few weeks, I have often heard people asking the question: how can we be told we’re in a drought in the UK, when at the same time we’re being told many areas of the country are experiencing floods? Since…
Mobilize the Earth – Earth Day 22 April 2012
More than 1 billion people now participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.
Planet under Pressure
A major international conference ‘Planet under Pressure (PUP)’ is being held in London, United Kingdom, this week, 26–29 March 2012. The meeting is being attended by scientists, industry leaders and decision makers. It will show whether science can, not only diagnose our environmental crisis, but also provide effective solutions, says David Dickson, SciDev’s editor, the official organisation…