Come on in, the water’s lovely……
Among the full text records recently loaded to Environmental Impact is one which examined the water quality of spa waters at Polish health resorts. Specifically the paper [1] examined the composition of the healing waters. Iron seems to be an important component present in 37 of 160 waters tested from 39 health resorts. Fluoride is…
Phosphorus – essential nutrient, pollutant and limited resource
The world's phosphorus (P) reserves are almost peaking! Yet excess P is polluting our water resources! What is going on with the phosphorus cycle and what can be done about it?
And now for the world’s most important plant viruses
Other than possibly the newly discovered leaping beetles of New Caledonia with a mysterious plant diet, few if any plant pests or diseases make it onto any one of the Time Top of Everything of 2011 lists. But pests and diseases are busy making their way into their own ‘Top 10’. CABI scientists put together…
Apps For Climate competition with World Bank cash prizes
Climate change is undeniably happening and it is expected to hit poorer and developing countries the hardest. It is well known now that its effects, such as higher temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, rising sea levels and more frequent weather-related disasters pose risks for agriculture, food and water supplies. All…
The environment in 2011 – the main extreme events!
Being one of the editors for the Cabi resource Environmental Impact and as 2011 comes to a close; I thought I should close the working year with a blog on what happened around the world with regard to environment. One thing that comes straight to mind is that 2011 saw a record rise in greenhouse…
COP17 the results – A step closer towards a legally-binding climate deal!
The high-level highly publicised UN climate change talks ended yesterday in Durban, South Africa. Most governmental and non-governmental organisations accept that climate change is inevitable and that we have to do something about it, i.e. have mitigation and adaptation measures in place. If the world ignore the changes and carry on with a business as…
From abstract to full text
Most people searching an abstracts database want to be able to click straight through to the full text of a relevant or interesting abstract. Full text availability is one of the real added value features of CAB Abstracts and the Global Health database, but where and how to find the full text can still be…
Working Together – Saving Tomorrow Today: 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17)
The climate talks in Durban, South Africa, entered their second week today, entwined in a weave of issues and with no expectations from observers of a guaranteed deal being reached by negotiators. The theme of this year’s meeting is ‘Working Together, Saving Tomorrow Today’. How much work and progress has been made so far, after…
The UN climate change summit opened in Durban today
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, begins today, 28 November, and will continue until 9 December 2011. The event includes the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 7th Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of Parties to…
Music enhances plant growth and keeps pests at bay
A recent AoB blog caught my eye (ear?). Do plants respond to music? The blog refers to an experiment in which plants were assembled in Cadogan Hall, London for a 3-hour recital performed by the UK’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to investigate the effects of music on plant growth. Knowing that CAB Abstracts is a good…