Following the heat wave – moths migration to the UK
Photo courtesy of Butterfly Conservation A number of moth species from other countries in Europe and areas as far away as the Mediterranean region have migrated to the UK in the past week, most probably due to the heat wave we have experienced this Autumn, reported various news channels this morning (e.g. BBC News). Some moths…
How green is bioenergy?
It is well known that there is an international effort to replace fossil energy with biomass in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and curb global warming. It was widely assumed that biomass combustion would be inherently 'carbon neutral' because it only releases carbon taken from the atmosphere during plant growth. However, there…
If I ruled the world…
On the way home yesterday I was musing about the UN summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) happening next week. If I was in charge what would I do? As we are dealing with limited resources in many countries, prevention could achieve more than concentrating on cure. What I’d do about NCDs would be to ban…
24 hours of reality – is this the beginning of a global climate crisis movement?
A total of 24 presentations on the climate crisis were broadcast via the internet, starting in Mexico City at 7 pm on the 14th of September and proceeding westward around the globe, so that the presentation happened at 7 pm in each city, ending at 7 pm on 15th September 2011 in New York, on…
24 Hours of Reality
24 Presenters, 24 Time Zones, 13 Languages, 1 Message: the climate crisis is real and we know how to solve it. Read on to find out more about this event.
Want to know your individual carbon footprint? Here is a quick carbon calculator tool
I found an easy and fun to use carbon footprint calculator in the Guardian online, which I thought I should share with handpicked readers. The carbon calculator tool is also available in the 10:10 webpage, an organisation which aims to inspire and support people and organisations to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in a…
Land sparing vs. land sharing: how best to reconcile food production and biodiversity?
In a world of climate instability and ever-growing population, global food security is becoming an increasing concern. How do we feed a population of some seven billion (set to reach 9 billion by 2050) without losing even more of our precious biodiversity by diverting ecosystems such as forests and grasslands to cropland? Do we squeeze…
Getting kids to eat healthy- mission impossible?
There’s a challenge! How to do it? Stealth, education, marketing, example. Which do you choose? Should we hide fruit and vegetables in meals so children eat them without realising as suggested in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently or use marketing to improve the image of healthy food, employing packaging and advergames? Or in fact…
Ever wondered what the carbon footprint of your spam emails is?
An article in Tuesday’s Guardian online quoted that a European Commission report, published in 2008, estimated that technologies such as email and mobile phone texts contribute 2% to the European greenhouse gases emissions and, furthermore, that this figure might double by 2020, if we continue using these technologies at the same rate. The article also…
Whoever said that science and religion didn’t mix?
Hello, here is a blog from our guest blogger Rosaline Hulse. Rosaline studied Human Biology at the University of Birmingham and is currently working for a renewable energy trade association in London. With a particular interest in engaging the public in scientific debate and communicating science in an accessible format, especially in relation to climate…