Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
Noting that climate change and energy security are the two greatest challenges of the present time, US and China have vowed to work together to address the two issues affecting the mankind. "The two sides view climate change and energy security as two of the greatest challenges of our time," …
Introductions or invasions of nonnative organisms can mediate major changes in the trophic structure of aquatic ecosystems. Here we document multitrophic level impacts in a spatially extensive system that played out over more than a century.
The U.S. offshore drilling chief on Thursday said he would be "stunned" if no new deepwater drilling permits were approved during the first half of year, as he pledged to push forward with reforms despite industry opposition. Michael Bromwich, head of the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, pushed …
Defending new regulations on the emission of greenhouse gases will be a top priority for the Obama administration this year as challenges emerge, a senior U.S. Justice Department official said on Thursday. The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered states to begin issuing greenhouse gas permits that would allow emissions by …
Thiruvananthapuram: The State Women's Commission's proposal to the State government to consider framing laws for making pre-marital HIV testing compulsory has drawn flak from various quarters for being
Files complaint in WTO; says China unfairly helping equipment makers. After scuttling talks on transfer of technology in the recently concluded climate change conference in Cancun, the US now wants China to stop its clean energy programme. The US, on December 22, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization …
Cancun has restored the sanctity of multilateral negotiations under the UN climate convention. People had lost faith in it by the end of the Copenhagen meet last year. But what is the cost of the Cancun success?
On the night of December 10, Patricia Espinosa shed a tear and received a standing ovation. The foreign secretary of Mexico and president of the 16th Conference of Parties (CoP) on Climate Change held in Cancun had just read out her speech urging all negotiating parties to accept a draft …
World leaders applauded the Cancun agreement even though it violated the right of developing countries to grow with an equal access to global carbon space. Bolivia was the only country that pointed out the inequity. When its ambassador to the UN, Pablo Solon, called the deal a step backward, others …
Fundamentally, there is no difference between the Copenhagen Accord of 2009 and the Cancun Agreement on Long-term Cooperative Action. Both turn the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility” of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on its head—all countries, rich and poor, have a common protocol under which …
AMID predictions by climate scientists that half the coastal marshes may not survive rising sea level, comes a glimmer of hope. A study published in Geophysical Research Letters in December says vegetated wetlands with high tidal ranges—remaining flooded for longer periods—and sediment concentration may survive sea level rise. The researchers …
MERCURY contamination in Florida’s rivers is turning a bird species homosexual. A study by the University of Florida in the US claimed that exposure to the toxic chemical made male American white ibises mate with other males—a phenomenon unknown in the species. Previous scientific studies focussed on how methylmercury—the most …
NOW a novel technique speedily kills pathogens in water. The water filter created by scientists from Stanford university, uses electrically treated cotton fabric to deactivate bacteria instead of just filtering the water. The fabric combines carbon nanotubes and silver nanowires, which are good conductors of electricity. The team tested the …
Around 1820 a certain John James Audubon decided to paint every bird in North America. His efforts resulted in a book called The Birds of America, more than 3 feet by 2 feet in size. On December 7, a copy of the book was auctioned at Sotheby’s. It was bought …
A New York Times investigation has revealed that months before the BP disaster, some Congressional officials in the US were pressing federal regulators about numerous safety concerns related to offshore drilling, potential oil spills and BP itself. But they were rebuffed. The officials raised concerns about the safety of a …
Last fortnight we discussed the clandestine endgame afoot at Cancun to change the framework of the climate change negotiations to suit big and powerful polluters. Since then Cancun has concluded and a deal, in the form of a spate of agreements, has been gavelled into existence by the chair. Commentators …
U.S. oil refiner Valero Energy Corp will invest up to $50 million in a plant that will produce ethanol from wood, a major mainstream backing for the emerging technology. The investment in venture capital-backed Mascoma Corp includes a deal for Valero to purchase the facility's 40 million gallons of cellulosic …
The Obama administration revoked a permit on Thursday for Arch Coal Inc's proposed Spruce 1 mountaintop coal mine in West Virginia, effectively shutting one of the biggest in the United States. "The proposed Spruce No. 1 Mine would use destructive and unsustainable mining practices that jeopardize the health of Appalachian …
Northern Indiana Public Service Co, a distribution company of NiSource Inc, has agreed to settle allegations it violated the Clean Air Act and invest about $600 million in pollution control technologies, U.S. authorities said on Thursday. The agreement also requires NIPSCO to spend $9.5 million on environmental mitigation projects and …
