Bringing the mammoth back from the dead
In a very interesting news feature in Nature, Henry Nicholls discusses the real possibilities of inverting the course of evolution by bringing the mammoth back to life.During the last decades, hundreds of animal genomes have been published and the genome of the charismatic extinct Mamuthus primignenius has very recently joined the list. Henry Nicholls’s paper…
Science and technology mitigating the impact of tropical cyclones
When intense winds blow over large surfaces of water, such as the sea, the seawater piles up against the coast causing flooding that threatens lives and crops, as well as infrastructure and property. This happens especially where water is bounded by shallow basins. Storm surges are serious hazards along the east coast of Bangladesh, India…
High risk of increase in pollutant mobilisation through water erosion due to climatic change
It is currently estimated that 2.2 million tons of topsoil are eroded in the UK annually. When contaminated sites are eroded away by water erosion it is the off-site impacts which are a problem because the sediment produced is transported to water courses, lakes, estuaries and coastal zones. A recent survey by DEFRA showed that…
Making tourism sustainable – there is no plan B
The World Travel Market (WTM) is being held in London this week, and yesterday I was able to attend as editor of Leisuretourism.com. Two issues appear to be centre-stage at this years event. One is the impact of the economic downturn on the travel industry. The other is the need for tourism to be sustainable…
Will Barack Obama’s victory bring about changes to the US environmental policy?
A change in leadership usually results in changes in policies or at least in some policies; it’s only natural as a new leader will surely aspire to improve on his/her predecessor’s achievements and try to succeed where he/she failed. According to an article in the Guardian, Obama is no different; his advisors told the Guardian…
Beekeepers March on Whitehall
<!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> Wallingford is not only where our community of bloggers resides, but it is also home to Rowse Honey, the ‘UK’s…
Carbon-neutral online conference – Climate 2008 / Klima 2008
I have been participating on this since yesterday and thought it was worth a mention. Yesterday (3rd November 2008) the online climate conference CLIMATE 2008 / KLIMA 2008 opened its virtual doors. If you want to join the conference, go to www.climate2008.net – from now until 7 November 2008. Once you have registered (for free)…
Neglected diseases at the APHA conference
Professor Peter Hotez told some shocking truths in his talk about neglected tropical diseases at the APHA conference in San Diego this week. Some of these diseases are taking hold in the southern USA.
The next Green Revolution
A few months ago, in the ‘silly season’ of summer, we were fretting about the future of food – how we were ever going to produce enough to feed and fuel the world, whether we were all going to be subsisting on fermented barley sludge and have to give up milk. Since then, I’ve been…
Beetle threat to ‘leaf peeping’ tourism
Looking out of the office window at this time of year, I’m fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the sight of trees turning all possible shades of red and orange. In parts of the USA, autumn foliage is big business for tourism, with ‘leaf peepers’ descending on New England every autumn to see forests…