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. …
Phosphorus has been used extensively for over 100 years as a fertiliser in modern industrial agriculture. This underappreciated resource is still decades from running out. This paper published in Scientific American advises us to act now to conserve it, or the future agriculture could collapse. As complex as the chemistry …
Rich nations as a group are unlikely to reach the deep 2020 cuts in greenhouse gas emissions urged by developing nations as part of a new UN climate treaty, the top US climate envoy said on Friday. China, India and other developing nations say the rich must do most to …
As the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen scheduled in December approaches, the debate over responsibility for the danger we have created is heating up. The industrialised world is urging developing nations such as China and India to accept limits on carbon-dioxide emission as a pre-condition for their own emissions-reduction …
Herbal products could soon be prescribed by allopathic doctors (ABP) During a recent visit to the US, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivered an eloquent speech to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials on the medicinal properties of Indian Ayurvedic herbs. One official asked him:
In this commentary the authors summarize the health risks of climate change in the United States and examine the extent of federal funding devoted to understanding, avoiding, preparing for, and responding to the human health risks of climate change.
The US submission to the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) proposes an agreed outcome for the UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in the form of
Industrialized aquaculture is the world's fastest-growing animal food production system and is regarded by some experts as an integral part of the long-term solution to growing global food demands. Others, however, contend that the aquaculture industry has no place in sustainable food production, citing an overuse of wild fish to …
As biofuel production ramps up, WRI economist Liz Marshall explains in this factsheet, why counting all the greenhouse gas impacts associated with producing these new fuels is critical to good energy and climate policy.
Wind and solar power could become a major source of electricity for the United States, but only if the nation adopts new policies that promote renewable energy and that place a price on carbon. The report cites figures showing that renewable energy sources currently provide only a small fraction of …
The CO2 emission performance standard policies outlined in this paper could complement a cap-and-trade program that puts a price on carbon and serve to significantly reduce the CO2 emissions from coal use for electricity generation. Emission performance standards have a long history in the United States and have been successfully …
This paper examines the interaction between socio-demographic characteristics (electrical energy usage, population density, and percentage of owner occupied dwellings) and the ability of these characteristics to predict urban leaf area index using ordinary least squares regression (OLS). Urban leaf area index was estimated using a combination of field work, remote …
Climate change is moving up the agenda of mutual funds, with an increasing number voting in favour of resolutions that ask companies to assess the impact climate change is having on their business.
The US Environmental Protection Agency released its expected Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) detailing the implementation of changes to the existing Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS1) as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA). The proposed rulemaking for RFS2 establishes new specific volume standards for cellulosic biofuel, …
Making good on U.S. President Barack Obama's promise to accelerate the greening of the federal fleet, the U.S. General Services Administration has ordered 14,105 fuel efficient vehicles this month and will use $210 million in Recovery Act money to pay for them. The GSA said that it ordered the vehicles …
Current global warming affects the composition and dynamics of mammalian communities and can increase extinction risk; however, long-term effects of warming on mammals are less understood. Dietary reconstructions inferred from stable isotopes of fossil herbivorous mammalian tooth enamel document environmental and climatic changes in ancient ecosystems, including C3/C4 transitions and …
