Tree rings help predict monsoon weather patterns
Historical rainfall across Asia has been documented for the first time from tree-ring data from more than 300 sites in the region. This data has provided information on monsoon rains dating back as far as 1300 AD, which will prove valuable for climate modelling. Much of the world's population lives in monsoon Asia and depends…
Challenges of sharing knowledge – including volcanoes
The struggle to make agricultural information more widely available faces many challenges, but they do not normally include volcanic eruptions. For the last few days, the IAALD conference on Scientific and Technical Information and Rural Development’s website has been providing updates on the effects of activity from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. So it was a big…
Don’t kill birds with kindness
With my son starting to show an interest in feeding our garden birds, I was interested to read two reports this month reminding us to do so with care. Researchers from the Scottish Agricultural College have highlighted the fact that Salmonella can build up on feeders or drinkers, with the potential to kill birds already…
A personal choice: smoking tobacco or your kid’s health?
Staff at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital claimed in a BBC Panorama programme, (Spoilt Rotten? BBC One, Tuesday, 13 April ) that it was costing them over £1 million annually to treat preventable diseases in children. I picked up on this report via Radio 4: my ears pricked up as I had a pretty good…
The effects of the Icelandic volcano that didn’t make the news!
Image from National Geographic. Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption on 12th April made the news yesterday (3 days later) mainly because of its effect on air traffic movement around the UK, Scandinavian countries and other European countries, with airports in many countries still being shut today. The particles of rock and silica in the volcanic ash…
Capturing and reusing rainwater in L A – it’s the law!
In a news item I read in the IWA publication online, Water 21, it was reported that the Los Angeles Department of Public Works has agreed a new law that will require the use of one of several means of capturing, reusing or redirecting rainwater runoff such as rain gardens, infiltration swales and rain storage…
Model building in Bournemouth saves lives
NO, not sandcastles, although if it could be said to improve your health then the 2010 annual meeting of UKPHA* (“Confronting the Public Health Crisis”) would have offered it in Bournemouth (alongside Nordic walking, Tai chi, handclapping exercises (I kid you not!) cycling and vegetarian food (see my colleague's blog Wot no conference bag?). NO what…
Wot no conference bag?
Leading by example is important in public health. How can you convince someone to change if you haven’t tried yourself? UKPHA was leading by example by reducing its carbon footprint this week in Bournemouth. Bag making workshop at UKPHA. (photo courtesy Wendie Norris)
World Water Day 2010 – Clean Water for a Healthy World
World Water Day is held annually on the 22nd of March and this year’s UN selected theme is “Clean Water for a Healthy World.” With over 1.1 billion people (around one sixth of the world’s population) in the world today lacking access to clean water and with less than 1% of the world’s freshwater being…
Too much tourism traumatising dolphins
Dolphin watching. Image: Zanzibar-island.com In many parts of the world, watching whales and dolphins in their natural habitat has become a vital and growing part of the tourist industry. Cetacean tourism is also often used in arguments for the protection and conservation of whales, dolphins and other iconic marine animals, by presenting a potentially…