Recipe to mitigate Climate Change in 182 steps

Protect Our Water and Environment Resources (POWER), a North Halton Hill’s environmental organization, has released a 32-page online publication listing 182 steps that we can take in the home and on the move (transportation) to mitigate global warming and climate change. The publication explains, in a clear and accessible language, the reasons for adopting each…
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Would you miss the mistletoe?

I was thinking “what shall I write about in my Christmas blog?” I then remembered a news item I heard in one of the BBC radio stations about the mistletoe being under threat of disappearing from our landscape. I searched for the news item in their news webpage and found it still there. The article…
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Cold weather and lots of snow – is this the sign of things to come?

As I watched the news last night, I heard how the current unusually cold temperatures and snow fall in Europe has affected Christmas travelling and the Christmas trade across the continent. Heathrow and Gatwick airports in the UK had to cancel flights, with only one runway operating at Heathrow. Both Paris and Berlin airports had…
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REDD: Protecting forests or shirking responsibilities?

One of the main hopes for the CancĂșn summit held earlier this month was to find an answer to deforestation. Advances on the REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) mechanism, which aims to compensate developing countries for protecting their forests, are seen as a triumph by many, but others argue that the scheme…
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New: CABI Working Papers

We’ve just launched CABI’s new Working Paper series, which will make available the results of CABI research in preliminary form for discussion and comment. The first two papers focus on the links between climate change and two of CABI’s key research areas: invasive alien species and agricultural commodities.
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What was the outcome of the UN Climate Change conference in CancĂșn?

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP16) ended on Saturday, 11th December 2010 and during the second week of the conference, ministers from developed and developing countries were paired in an attempt to facilitate negotiations on the main issues, such as mitigation, adaptation, financing, REDD and technology. The outcome was the 'CancĂșn Agreements' as it is…
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Do current e-book models help or hinder the migration from print to online?

It seems that in 2010 we have been finally witnessing the “tipping point” for e-books, with more and more libraries making a positive choice to purchase e-books instead of print editions.  Do publishers’ business models make this migration easier for libraries to implement, or actually place obstacles in their way?  E-book collections versus individual title…
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Copenhagen couldn’t, but can CancĂșn?

The climate change summit in Copenhagen last year was a disappointment for many. This is mainly because of the lack of a concrete document to take big steps towards reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and stopping climate change. Has the delegates’ experience on negotiations improved since then? Can the next meeting in CancĂșn deliver something…
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NZ kiwifruits hit by bacterial canker

Biosecurity New Zealand announced on Saturday that samples of New Zealand pollen have tested positive for the bacterial kiwifruit disease, Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa). Results indicate that Psa may have been present in New Zealand for a number of years. The confirmation of Psa in New Zealand comes as a huge blow to the…
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Do Accents Help Plants Grow? Dey Do Dough, Don’t Dey Dough?

According to “research” by Plants4Life, a UK organisation set up to promote plants in the home and the office, “It is a fact that houseplants love a good chat!” and Liverpool accents in particular. The organization says, “Research has shown that talking to our houseplants can help them to grow big and healthy but no one…
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