Wednesday, 11 June 2008
Monday, 9 June 2008
Sunday, 8 June 2008
FOOD CRISIS
Global food crisis http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7432583.stm UN food response http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10926579 rising food prices http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/09/food.unitednations - global food crisis http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7284196.stm food facts http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/12/egypt.food http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/polit ics/the-other-global-crisis-rush-to-biofuels-is-driving-up-price-of-food-808138.html http://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/news/events/gecafs-0408.php food stories http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7432972.stm rural people fight back in Lesotho
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Meteo satellite images - Sat24.com - Realtime weather satellite images of Europe
Meteo satellite images - Sat24.com - Realtime weather satellite images of Europe
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Plan for quake 'warning system'
Nasa scientists have said they could be on the verge of a breakthrough in their efforts to forecast earthquakes.
Researchers say they have found a close link between electrical disturbances on the edge of our atmosphere and impending quakes on the ground below.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Plan for quake 'warning system'
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Monday, 2 June 2008
Saturday, 31 May 2008
Greener and leaner - how the west could stave off disaster
The crisis will require a complex package of policy responses over the short to long term
Food aid Seeds Fertilisers Export Bans Free trade
BioFuels Agricultural Investment GM Crops Sustainabiity
Interactive VIDEOS on the food crisis from China, Egypt, Scotland and the Phillipines.
INTERACTIVE Global food crisis
Greener and leaner - how the west could stave off disaster | Environment | The Guardian
Thursday, 29 May 2008
South West tops long-life table
People in the South West are more likely to live into their mid 70s than those living elsewhere in England and Wales, official data shows.
BBC NEWS Health South West tops long-life table
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
Nuclear clean-up costs 'to soar'
The cost of cleaning-up the UK's ageing nuclear facilities, including some described as "dangerous", looks set to rise above £73bn, the BBC has learned.A senior official at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said the bill would rise by billions of pounds. Nineteen sites across the country, some dating from the 1950s, are due to be dismantled in the coming decades.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Nuclear clean-up costs 'to soar'
Climate Change Encyclopedia of Earth
The last two decades of the 20th century produced mounting evidence that climate change posed significant risks to society. At the beginning of the 21st century, climate change has become a defining issue of our time. The importance of this issue is underscored by its magnitude and complexity: it is a global problem with wide geographic and economic disparity between the largest sources of the problem and those who will experience the greatest impacts. Many solutions often run counter to powerful entrenched interests and long-held patterns of individual behavior. All of this is happening amidst a global community that is increasingly connected by flows of information, people, commerce and environmental change. This collection brings together some of the world’s leading scientists and organizations and presents the essential knowledge underlying the issue of climate change.
Climate Change (collection) - Encyclopedia of Earth
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Sunday, 18 May 2008
19.20.21 WORLD CITIES
There are going to be 19 cities with over 20 million people in the 21st century.
19.20.21.
World Hunger - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum
The world produces enough food to ensure every person a healthy and productive life, yet more than 800 million people suffer from chronic malnutrition, while large numbers of others suffer from obesity. The UN’s Millennium Development Goals seek to reduce the percentage of hungry people by half by the year 2015. Considering the plentiful resources available and the terrible consequences of starvation, hunger and malnutrition, it is a very modest commitment. Political leaders of virtually every country have endorsed the goal. But these same leaders are doing very little to build a strategy or to implement required change.
World Hunger - Social and Economic Policy - Global Policy Forum
Defra, Noise Mapping England
The noise maps on this site have been produced by Defra to meet the requirements of the Environmental Noise (England) Regulations 2006, and are intended to inform the production of noise action plans for large urban areas, major transport sources, and significant industrial sites in England.
Defra, Noise Mapping England
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Two disasters, contrasting reactions
Two Asian countries reeling from the horror of tens of thousands of people probably dead and hundreds of thousands more made destitute and homeless.
And two governments, one a military junta and the other a Communist oligarchy, both traditionally suspicious of outside intervention.
But what a contrast between the different ways they are handling their situations.
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Two disasters, contrasting reactions
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Search for China quake survivors
A massive search and rescue operation is under way in south-western China after one of the most powerful earthquakes in decades.
Troops have arrived in Wenchuan county at the epicentre, which was largely cut off by the quake - but heavy rain is hampering rescue operations.
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Search for China quake survivors
Barcelona Drought
Barcelona has begun the unprecedented move of shipping in drinking water as the region experiences its worst drought in at least 60 years.
Barcelona Drought: Gallons Of Drinking Water Shipped In |Sky News|World News
Monday, 12 May 2008
Chinese quake 12th May
China kills more than 8,500 in one region (Financial times) http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/06c839fc-1ff2-11dd-80b4-000077b07658,dwp_uuid=9c33700c-4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1
* Thousands feared dead as strong quake hits China (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/world/asia/13china.html?_r=1&partner=MOREOVERNEWS&oref=slogin
* Thousands feared dead in China Quake (LA Times) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-chinaquake13-2008may13,0,6114570.story
* Frantic search for 900 buried schoolchildren as massive China earthquake kills 7000 (Daily Mail) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=565912&in_page_id=1811
* In Pictures – China earthquake (BBC News) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7396502.stm
* ‘Buried teenages crying for help’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7396650.stm
* China earthquake kills thousands (The Guardian) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/12/china?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
* At least 7,000 are killed in China earthquake http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3917473.ece
* Red Cross on Death toll (BBC News video) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7396786.stm
* China Earthquake – News and Videos about China Earthquake (iReport) http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=21421
o Thousands dead in Chinese Quake (BBC News) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7396400.stm
o China kills more than 8,500 in one region (Financial times) http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/06c839fc-1ff2-11dd-80b4-000077b07658,dwp_uuid=9c33700c-4c86-11da-89df-0000779e2340.html?nclick_check=1
o Thousands feared dead as strong quake hits China (New York Times) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/world/asia/13china.html?_r=1&partner=MOREOVERNEWS&oref=slogin
o Thousands feared dead in China Quake (LA Times) http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-chinaquake13-2008may13,0,6114570.story
o Frantic search for 900 buried schoolchildren as massive China earthquake kills 7000 (Daily Mail) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=565912&in_page_id=1811
o In Pictures – China earthquake (BBC News) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7396502.stm
o ‘Buried teenages crying for help’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7396650.stm
o China earthquake kills thousands (The Guardian) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/12/china?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
o At least 7,000 are killed in China earthquake http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article3917473.ece
o Red Cross on Death toll (BBC News video) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7396786.stm
o China Earthquake – News and Videos about China Earthquake (iReport) http://www.ireport.com/ir-topic-stories.jspa?topicId=21421
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Thousands dead in Chinese quake
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
BBC NEWS | England | Landslide on Dorset beach
A landslip described as "the worst for 100 years" has destroyed more than 400 metres (1,312 ft) of Dorset's World Heritage Jurassic Coast.
The earth movement blocked a stretch of beach between Lyme Regis and Charmouth at 2031 BST on Tuesday.
A Coastguard spokeswoman said the site was "still rumbling" when crews left for the night. It was too dark to see but work resumed at first light.
Boulders "the size of cars" are still at risk of falling onto the beach.
The area is part of 95 miles (153 km) of Dorset and east Devon known as the Jurassic Coast, with rocks recording 185 million years of the earth's history.
FILM CLIP available
BBC NEWS | England | Landslide on Dorset beach
footprint_mx_2005.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)
INTERACTIVE site with calculator
footprint_mx_2005.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Energy - Introduction - BERR
Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Department for Trade and Industry)
Energy Group deals with energy-related matters from production to supply. It is committed to delivering the Government’s policy goals of safe, secure and sustainable energy supplies and ultimately a low-carbon economy, through competitive and independently regulated energy markets.
Energy is essential in almost every aspect of our lives and for the success of our economy, but we face two long-term challenges:
- tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions both within the UK and abroad; and
- ensuring secure, clean and affordable energy as we become increasingly dependent on imported fuel.
CLICK on Energy review report in 2006
SCROLL DOWN to The energy challenge. Energy review report 2006
Energy - Introduction - BERR
Cumbria County Council : Welcome To Cumbria County Council
In search box type
Allerdale population... PDF's and Excel files appear
Cumbria County Council : Welcome To Cumbria County Council
Monday, 5 May 2008
Water and Poverty in the United States
The United States (US)—contrary to reports of 100 percent access to safe water and sanitation in international surveys—has a complex landscape of low-income water problems. Also, during the late-20th century, the US has had a declining role in international water programs providing infrastructure and monitoring to support access and sanitary conditions. This has contributed to limited international awareness of low-income water programs in the US, and has limited US awareness of low-income water issues. On the one hand, these trends reflect dramatic historical improvements in water and sanitation during the 20th century, for the poor as well as those better off, and this has relevance for international programs. Close inspection indicates that the US has significant geographic areas of low-income water problems that warrant attention, and a study of comparable problems and approaches would be of benefit locally and internationally. This
EarthPortal » Environment In Focus
BBC NEWS | England | Cumbria | Bid to create UK 'energy coast'
The government is considering plans which could transform West Cumbria into "Britain's Energy Coast".
It is claimed the plan, put forward by regeneration bosses, business leaders and MPs, could create 16,000 jobs and a £700m boost to Cumbria's economy.
It includes the creation of business parks, an academy for nuclear skills, a new hospital and major improvements to transport links and housing.
Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling is considering the plan.
BBC NEWS | England | Cumbria | Bid to create UK 'energy coast'
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Chile volcano prompts evacuation
A volcano has erupted in southern Chile, scattering ash over the surrounding area and forcing more than 4,000 people to leave their homes.
The eruption of the Chaiten volcano caught local authorities by surprise, as experts say it has been dormant for at least 450 years.
News Stories
One dead as Chilean volcano spews ash for third day http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN0434134120080504
Chaiten volcano erupted, hundreds evacuate http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/national_world&id=6119658
Town evacuated as volcano erupts (Sky) http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1314939,00.html?f=rss
Tourists and locals flee Chaiten http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23638788-5013605,00.html
Hundreds of Chileans flee volcano (CBS News) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/02/world/main4068577.shtml
Volcano blows its top in Chile (Newsround) http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_7380000/newsid_7381700/7381752.stm
Chile volcano prompts evacuation (includes video clip) – BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7381652.stm
In Pictures: Chile Volcano erupts – BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7381702.stm
Eruption at Chaiten Volcano, Chile (The Volcanism Blog) http://volcanism.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/eruption-at-chaiten-volcano-chile/
Satellite Image of Chaiten (The Volcanism Blog) http://volcanism.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/satellite-image-of-chaiten-2-may-2008/
Chaiten Update – 3rd May (The Volcanism Blog) http://volcanism.wordpress.com/2008/05/03/chaiten-update-3-may-2008/
Chile Volcano Erupts, village evacuated (The Guardian) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/7498036
Chilean town nearly deserted after Chaiten volcano erupts, spews ash http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/03/news/Chile-Volcano-Eruption.php
Thousands flee as Chilean volcano erupts (Telegraph) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/chile/1924533/Thousands-flee-as-Chaiten-volcano-erupts-in-Chile.html
Photographs – Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/islachiloe/2459659127/
Chaiten Volcano Photos http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/chaiten,volcano/100/250/Recent
Chaiten Volcano – Flickr – a good set of photographs http://www.flickr.com/photos/guano/2460298398/
Videos:
Chaiten Volcano – clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6btWVddhkaY
Volcano forces villages to be evacuated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm-SiMJmWo4
Locals stay put as volcano erupts http://video.news.sky.com/skynews/video/?&videoSourceID=1314947&flashURL=/feeds/skynews/latest/flash/volcano_p6299.flv
BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Chile volcano prompts evacuation
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Hundreds killed by Burma cyclone
Death toll rises in devastating Burma Cyclone (ABC News) http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/05/2234974.htm
Hundreds feared dead in Myanmar Cyclone http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/04/myanmar.cyclone/?iref=hpmostpop
Over 350 dead as cyclone pounds Myanmar http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSBKK1919620080504?feedType=RSS&feedName=top News
Myanmar cyclone kills at least 351 http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/newsmlmmd.c3d3441dc4f2f005fe9687f85725a30b. 811.html
Cyclone leaves at least 350 dead in Burma (Guardian) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/05/burma.naturaldisasters
Aid effort for cyclone-hit Burma http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7383573.stm
Burma cyclone damage assessed http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Burma-cyclone-damage-assessed-249930073.html
Burma Cyclone - Eyewitness Reports http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7383821.stm
Images
Nargis Cyclone http://www.flickr.com/photos/tza/2463807874/
Cyclone Nargis map http://www.flickr.com/photos/chanmyasoe/2463112092/
In Pictures: Burmese Cyclone (BBC News) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7382836.stm
In Pictures: Burmese clean up http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7383733.stm
Videos:
ITN – Burma Cyclone Video http://itn.co.uk/videos/a8d2efc7f141912790b8bc7bd8b035a4.html
Cyclone batters Myanmar’s main city Yangon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4NjDAKLxo4
Hundreds die in Myanmar Cyclone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUcL1mHYYMo
Burma Must allow agencies in (Video from the BBC) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/7382685.stm
Burma's storm toll 'nears 4,000'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7384041.stm
The death toll from a devastating cyclone that hit western Burma on Saturday has now climbed to 3,939 people, state television says.
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Hundreds killed by Burma cyclone
Sunday, 4 May 2008
The Urban Regeneration Companies - Companies
West Lakes Renaissance is private-sector led but with the full commitment of the key public partners - Cumbria County Council, Allerdale, Barrow and Copeland Borough Councils and NWDA.
The Urban Regeneration Companies - Companies
West Lakes Renaissance - The Urban Regeneration Company for Furness and West Cumbria
West Lakes Renaissance is the dynamic urban regeneration company leading the economic revival of Furness and West Cumbria.
Over the next 10 years we will invest £200 million into a series of exciting projects; create 5,000 new jobs; encourage substantial private sector investment; and open up new and exciting opportunities for businesses and the proud communities we serve.
Our aim is to build on the area’s reputation as a world-leader in the nuclear, maritime and manufacturing industries to create a diverse, knowledge-based economy revolving around skills and business growth.
West Lakes Renaissance - The Urban Regeneration Company for Furness and West Cumbria
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Affordability of houses in cumbria
Examining Affordability of Houses in Cumbria using StreetValue and Paycheck PDF
38880131356.pdf (application/pdf Object)
Allerdale Borough Council
Index of Multiple Deprivation 2007
This is the latest version of The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD), based on the premise that deprivation is made up of separate dimensions, or 'domains' of deprivation. Within the IMD, these domains are made up of a number of indicators which cover aspects of deprivation as comprehensively as possible. The IMD 2007 contains seven domains of deprivation, each of which is now outlined.
Income Deprivation Domain
The Income domain measures people who are on a low income. Income deprivation is one of the most important aspects of deprivation. The indicators in this domain are made up of the counts of people in families in receipt of means tested benefits.
Employment Deprivation Domain
This domain measures employment deprivation conceptualised as involuntary exclusion of the working age population from the world of work.
Health Deprivation and Disability Domain
This domain identifies areas with relatively high rates of people who die prematurely or whose quality of life is impaired by poor healthy or who are disabled, across the whole population.
Education, Skills and Training Deprivation Domain
This domain captures the extent of deprivation in terms of education, skills and training in a local area. The indicators fall into two sub-domains: one relating to education deprivation for children / young people in the area and one relating to lack of skills and qualifications among the working age adult population.
Barriers to Housing and Services Domain
The purpose of this domain is to measure barriers to housing and key local services. The indicators fall into two sub-domains: 'geographical barriers' and 'wider barriers' which also includes issues relating to access to housing, such as affordability
Crime Domain
This domain measures the incidence of recorded crime for four major crime themes, representing the occurrence of personal and material victimisation at a small area level.
The Living Environment Deprivation Domain
This domain focuses on deprivation with respect to the characteristics of the living environment. It comprises two sub-domains: the 'indoors' living environment which measures the quality of housing, and the 'outdoors' living environment which contains two measures about air quality and road traffic accidents.
Outputs
Outputs for the IMD 2007 are given at the level of Super Output Area (SOA). SOAs are geographically defined areas that have been designed for the collection and publication of small area statistics.
To enable comparisons to be made between the level of deprivation in different SOAs, each one has been ascribed an overall national rank for 2007, determined by the aggregation of the 7 domains of deprivation outlined above. There are 32,482 SOAs in England, with the most deprived given a rank of 1 and the least deprived ward given a rank of 32,482. The overall rank of an SOA can as such be used to show how it compares to all the other SOAs in the country as regards to level of deprivation.
Allerdale Borough Council - Index of Multiple Deprivation
Friday, 2 May 2008
NWRA :: The Region
The North West of England, has an area of 14165 square kilometres and with 6.9 million inhabitants has the second largest population of the United Kingdom's regions and is three times more densely populated than the European average. Our economy is larger than five European member states - Republic of Ireland, Finland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Greece.
The North West has 5 sub-regions:
- Cheshire
- Cumbria
- Greater Manchester
- Merseyside
- Lancashire
NWRA :: The Region
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
BBC NEWS | UK | Migration from new EU countries, in figures
Every local authority in the UK has seen migration from the eight Eastern European countries that joined the EU in May 2004, a report from the Institute of Public Policy Research has revealed.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Defra UK; LEADER+
LEADER+ is a European Community Initiative for assisting rural communities in improving the quality of life and economic prosperity in their local area. Twenty five areas in England benefit from the funding.
Defra UK; LEADER+
Excellent Development - Education
Excellent Development's Sustainable Farming & Development Resource Pack comprises two original films and supporting materials illustrating our community development work.
In this section you can watch our sustainable farming and development films and download most of the supporting materials online. You can also order your own copy of the resource pack or find out how to sign up to our teachers e-newsletter, to keep you up-to-date with the latest news. The curriculum page goes into more detail about where our work fits into the KS3 and GCSE curriculum.
You can also read feedback and comments received from teachers about the resource pack, or submit your own feedback.
Excellent Development - Education
World food crisis turns rice into gold - Times Online
All over the country, Thais are returning to the paddies like prospectors chasing gold. After a global surge in the price of grain, a gruelling, unglamorous occupation has become highly lucrative. The economic opportunities have also brought risks as farmers get deeper into debt, fight over scarce water resources and are forced to defend their fields from a new breed of rice bandit.
World food crisis turns rice into gold - Times Online
Sunday, 27 April 2008
Saturday, 26 April 2008
Thursday, 24 April 2008
AidsinAfrica.net - HIV AIDS Epidemic Map
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to over 70% of the total world HIV-positive population. In the southernmost region we find countries with HIV prevalence rates of over 30%, the highest in the world. There is no overriding explanation for why HIV has exploded in some areas and not others. We tend to draw over-simplistic correlations between HIV/AIDS and demographics such as wealth, literacy, or fertility. This map allows you to view HIV prevalence along with other forms of demographic data to illustrate that many of these generalizations do not hold true.
Identifying what causes HIV to spread is a complicated and growing area of research. Specific factors that seem to play a role include patterns of sexual networking, levels of condom use with different partners, incidence of other sexually transmitted diseases, population mobility, and societal make-up. While over 90% of the world's HIV+ population live in poorer developing countries, some of the more wealthy countries, such as Botswana and South Africa, have higher HIV rates. This is in part because wealth facilitates population mobility, therefore increasing the spread of HIV.
AidsinAfrica.net - HIV AIDS Epidemic Map
Monday, 21 April 2008
Africa plans biggest dam project
A plan to build the largest and most powerful hydroelectric dam in the world is being discussed in London.Financiers and African politicians will look at how to finance the $80bn (£40bn) cost of the Grand Inga project. The plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo would generate twice as much energy as China's Three Gorges dam.
BBC NEWS | Business | Africa plans biggest dam project
IRIN | In-depth | Tomorrow’s Crises Today: The Humanitarian Impact of Urbanisation | GLOBAL: Publication
Chapter 1: overview: tomorrow's crises today city of darkness/ city of light
Chapter 2: DELHI i: drinking the city dry water insecurity
Chapter 3: LAGOS: crisis of management governance and planning
Chapter 4: DHAKA: reaping the whirlwind vulnerability to natural disasters
Chapter 5: ADDIS: putting food on the table food insecurity
Chapter 6: RIO: fighting for the favelas human insecurity
Chapter 7: JAKARTA: battling to breathe pollution control
Chapter 8: CAIRO: sheltering the urban poor The housing crisis
Chapter 9: EL ALTO: labouring to survive employment insecurity
Chapter 10: LUANDA: living in the Hot Zone health and sanitation
Chapter 11: ULAANBATAR: painful transitions cultural change
IRIN | In-depth | Tomorrow’s Crises Today: The Humanitarian Impact of Urbanisation | GLOBAL: Publication
The Happy Planet Index
The Happy Planet Index is an innovative new measure that shows the ecological efficiency with which human well-being is delivered.
It is the first ever index to combine environmental impact with human well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which country by country, people live long and happy lives.
The Happy Planet Index
Change in farming can feed world - report
Sixty countries backed by the World Bank and most UN bodies yesterday called for radical changes in world farming to avert increasing regional food shortages, escalating prices and growing environmental problems.
Bio-energy The report says biofuels compete for land and water with food crops and are inefficient. They can cause deforestation and damage soils and water.
Biotechnology The use of GM crops, where the technology is not contained, is contentious, the UN says. Data on some crops indicate highly variable yield gains in some places and declines in others.
Climate change While modest temperature rises may increase food yields in some areas, a general warming risks damaging all regions of the globe. There will be serious potential for conflict over habitable land.
Trade and markets
Subsidies distort the use of resources and benefit industrialised nations at the expense of developing countries.
Change in farming can feed world - report | Environment | The Guardian
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Monday, 14 April 2008
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania - Encyclopedia of Earth
Ngorongoro Conservation Area (2°30'-3°30'S, 34°50'-35°55'E) is a World Heritage Site located 180 kilometers (km) west of Arusha in the far north of Tanzania, adjoining the south-eastern edge of Serengeti National Park. An immense concentration of wild animals live in the huge and perfect crater of Ngorongoro. It is home to a small relict population of black rhinoceros and some 25,000 other large animals, largely ungulates, alongside the highest density of mammalian predators in Africa. Nearby are lake-filled Empakaai crater and the active volcano of Oldonyo Lenga. Excavations carried out in the Olduvai Gorge to the west, resulted in discoveries which have made the area one of the most important in the world for research on the evolution of the human species.
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania - Encyclopedia of Earth
Vertical farming - Encyclopedia of Earth
What is proposed here that differs radically from what now exists is to scale up the concept of indoor farming, in which a wide variety of produce is harvested in quantity enough to sustain even the largest of cities without significantly relying on resources beyond the city limits. Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, and other large farm animals seem to fall well outside the paradigm of urban farming. However, raising a wide variety of fowl and pigs are well within the capabilities of indoor farming. It has been estimated that it will require approximately 300 square feet of intensively farmed indoor space to produce enough food to support a single individual living in an extraterrestrial environment (e.g., on a space station or a colony on the moon or Mars). Working within the framework of these calculations, one vertical farm with an architectural footprint of one square city block and rising up to 30 stories (approximately 3 million square feet) could provide enough nutrition (2,000 calories/day/person) to comfortably accommodate the needs of 50,000 people employing technologies currently available. Constructing the ideal vertical farm with a far greater yield per square foot will require additional research in many areas – hydrobiology, engineering, industrial microbiology, plant and animal genetics, architecture and design, public health, waste management, physics, and urban planning, to name but a few. The vertical farm is a theoretical construct whose time has arrived, for to fail to produce them in quantity for the world at-large in the near future will surely exacerbate the race for the limited amount of remaining natural resources of an already stressed out planet, creating an intolerable social climate
Vertical farming - Encyclopedia of Earth
The other global crisis: rush to biofuels is driving up price of food - World Politics, World - The Independent
The world's most powerful finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in Washington tomorrow; but as they preoccupy themselves with the global credit crunch, another crisis, far more grave, is facing the world's poorest people.
The other global crisis: rush to biofuels is driving up price of food - World Politics, World - The Independent
Global rice supply: Video snapshots
From Ghana in west Africa to the west coast of the US, BBC correspondents around the world examine the impact of steep rises in the price of rice.
BBC NEWS | Business | Global rice supply: Video snapshots
Focus: Hunger. Strikes. Riots. The food crisis bites
Four key factors behind the spreading fear of starvation across the globe
Growing consumption
Six months ago Zhou Jian closed down his car parts business and launched himself as a pork butcher. Since then the 26-year-old businessman's Shanghai shop has been crowded out - despite a 58 per cent rise in the price of pork in the past year - and his income has trebled.As China's emerging middle classes become richer, their consumption of meat has increased by more than 150 per cent per head since 1980. In those days, meat was scarce, rationed at around 1kg per person per month and used sparingly in rice and noodle dishes, stir fried to preserve cooking oil. Today, the average Chinese consumer eats more than 50kg of meat a year. To feed the millions of pigs on its farms, China is now importing grain on a huge scale, pushing up its prices worldwide.
Palm oil crisis
The oil palm tree is the most highly efficient producer of vegetable oil, with one acre yielding as much oil as eight acres of soybeans. Unfortunately, it takes eight years to grow to maturity and demand has outstripped supply. Vegetable oils provide an important source of calories in the developing world, and their shortage has contributed to the food crisis. A drought in Indonesia and flooding in Malaysia has also hit the crop. While farmers and plantation companies hurriedly clear land to replant, it will take time before their efforts bear fruit. Palm oil prices jumped nearly 70 per cent last year, hitting the poorest families. When a store in Chongqing in China announced a cooking-oil promotion in November, a stampede left three dead and 31 injured.
Biofuel demand
The rising demand for ethanol, a biofuel that is mixed with petrol to bring down prices at the pump, has transformed the landscape of Iowa. Today this heartland of the Midwest is America's cornbelt, with the corn crop stretching as far as the eye can see. Iowa produces almost half of the entire output of ethanol in the US, with 21 ethanol-producing plants as farmers tear down fences, dig out old soya bean crops, buy up land and plant yet more corn. It has been likened to a new gold rush. But none of it is for food. And as the demand for ethanol increases, yet more farmers will pile in for the great scramble to plant corn - instead of grain. The effect will be to further worsen world grain shortages.
Global warming
The massive grain storage complex outside Tottenham, New South Wales, today lies virtually empty. Normally, it would be half-full. As the second largest exporter of grain after the US, Australia usually expects to harvest around 25 million tonnes a year. But, because of a five-year drought, thought to have been caused by climate change, it managed just 9.8 million tonnes in 2006.Farmers such as George Grieg, who has farmed here for 50 years, have rarely known it to be so bad. Many have not even recovered the cost of planting and caring for their crops, and are being forced into debt. With global wheat prices at an all-time high, all they can do is cling on in the hope of a bumper crop next time - if they are lucky.
Food in figures
93,000,000 Acres of corn planted by US farmers last year, up 19 per cent on 2006.
76% Amount of US corn used for animal feed.
8kg Amount of grain it takes to produce 1kg of beef.
20% Portion of US corn used to produce five billion gallons of ethanol in 2006-07.
50kg Quantity of meat consumed annually by the average Chinese person, up from 20kg in 1985.
10% Anticipated share of biofuels used for transport in the EU by 2020.
$500m The UN World Food Programme's shortfall this year, in attempting to feed 89 million needy people.
9.2bn The world's predicted population by 2050. It's 6.6bn now.
130% The rise in the cost of wheat in 12 months.
16 times The overall food consumption of the world's richest 20 per cent compared with that of the poorest 20 per cent.
58% Jump in the price of pork in China in the past year.
$900 The cost of one tonne of Thai premier rice, up 30 per cent in a month.
Focus: Hunger. Strikes. Riots. The food crisis bites | Environment | The Observer
Thursday, 10 April 2008
Food price rises threaten global security
Rising food prices could spark worldwide unrest and threaten political stability, the UN's top humanitarian official warned yesterday after two days of rioting in Egypt over the doubling of prices of basic foods in a year and protests in other parts of the world.
As well as this week's violence in Egypt, the rising cost and scarcity of food has been blamed for:
· Riots in Haiti last week that killed four people
· Violent protests in Ivory Coast
· Price riots in Cameroon in February that left 40 people dead
· Heated demonstrations in Mauritania, Mozambique and Senegal
· Protests in Uzbekistan, Yemen, Bolivia and Indonesia
UN staff in Jordan also went on strike for a day this week to demand a pay rise in the face of a 50% hike in prices, while Asian countries such as Cambodia, China, Vietnam, India and Pakistan have curbed rice exports to ensure supplies for their own residents.
Food price rises threaten global security - UN | Environment | The Guardian
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)