In a world of higher electricity demand growth, clean electricity is stepping up to the challenge. Spearheaded by exponential solar expansion, clean power is set to grow faster than demand, marking the start of a permanent decline in fossil generation. 2024 both clarified and consolidated the shape of the global …
Prevalence of walking and cycling for transport is low and varies greatly across countries. Few studies have examined neighborhood perceptions related to walking and cycling for transport in different countries. Therefore, it is challenging to prioritize appropriate built-environment interventions. The aim of this study was to examine the strength and …
Transitioning away from our current global energy system is of paramount importance. The speed at which a transition can take place—its timing, or temporal dynamics—is a critical element of consideration. This study therefore investigates the issue of time in global and national energy transitions by asking: What does the mainstream …
This analysis examines the environmental risks of the commercialization of diesel passenger cars in Brazil, including a potential increase in NOX and PM2.5 emissions, both of which contribute to poor air quality and negatively impact human health, as well as greenhouse gases and other species that contribute to climate change. …
Activists alleging decades of neglect and the repeated failure of authorities to make good on clean up promises have effectively killed one of Rio de Janeiro’s most iconic waterways staged a protest on Saturday. The protesters held a symbolic “burial of Guanabara Bay, the sewage-filled waters where Olympic sailing competitions …
A first case of Zika spread through sexual transmission has been recorded in France after a woman was infected when her partner returned from Brazil, Heath Minister Marisol Touraine told AFP on Saturday. The case was detected several days ago in "a woman who is not pregnant," the minister told …
This paper investigates climate policy integration and coherence in land use policies in Brazil. Unlike other policy analyses a key aim is to assess ‘internal policy coherence’ in the climate change domain, or the extent to which positive and negative interactions between mitigation and adaptation are taken into account in …
World Health Organization (WHO) chief Margaret Chan is in Brazil to assess the Zika virus situation and response, a UN spokesman said. Chan is visiting Brazil along with the director of the Pan American Health Organization, Carissa Etienne, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here on …
US health officials are investigating 14 reports of the Zika virus that may been transmitted through sex, including to several pregnant women, raising new questions about the role sexual transmission is playing in the growing outbreak. In two of the suspected cases, the infection has been confirmed in women whose …
Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered eight new whip spider species in the Brazilian Amazon, which nearly doubles the number known to inhabit the region. Think you live along? Think again. Any of over 500 different kinds of insects are likely living in your house right now. A …
In what experts describe as another piece of evidence linking Zika with the risk of birth defects, researchers on Wednesday reported finding the virus in the amniotic fluid of two pregnant women whose foetuses were diagnosed with microcephaly. In a study in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the scientists said …
Water levels at the main reservoir in Brazil's largest city of Sao Paulo have more than doubled since the El Niño climate phenomenon ended a two-year drought, although industrialists and activists warn fresh shortages may be just a matter of time. Sufficient rains since late last year have eliminated fears …
A widespread epidemic of Zika virus (ZIKV) infection was reported in 2015 in South and Central America and the Caribbean. A major concern associated with this infection is the apparent increased incidence of microcephaly in fetuses born to mothers infected with ZIKV. In this report, we describe the case of …
The incidence of microcephaly in Brazil in 2015 was 20 times higher than in previous years. Congenital microcephaly is associated with genetic factors and several causative agents. Epidemiological data suggest that microcephaly cases in Brazil might be associated with the introduction of Zika virus. We aimed to detect and sequence …
New and potentially controversial techniques including releasing genetically modified or irradiated mosquitos could be deployed to hamper the spread of the Zika virus, according to a statement from the World Health Organisation (WHO) today. Zika is a disease transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. The disease originated in Africa, but …
As planetary boundaries are rapidly being approached, humanity has little room for additional expansion and conventional intensification of agriculture, while a growing world population further spreads the food gap. Ample evidence exists that improved on-farm water management can close water-related yield gaps to a considerable degree, but its global significance …
Brazil typifies the land use changes happening in South America, where natural vegetation is continuously converted into agriculturally used lands, such as cattle pastures and croplands. Such changes in land use are always associated with changes in the soil nutrient cycles and result in altered greenhouse gas fluxes from the …
Since the origins of agriculture, the scale of human cooperation and societal complexity has dramatically expanded. This fact challenges standard evolutionary explanations of prosociality because well-studied mechanisms of cooperation based on genetic relatedness, reciprocity and partner choice falter as people increasingly engage in fleeting transactions with genetically unrelated strangers in …
New details about the possible effects of the Zika virus on the fetal brain emerged Wednesday as U.S. health officials say mosquito eradication here and abroad is key to protect pregnant women until they can develop a vaccine. European researchers uncovered an extremely abnormal brain—not only a fraction of the …
A group of Brazilian researchers has developed a molecular exam for diagnosing Zika within five hours, a much shorter time than current exams, and the new test will begin being used next week to facilitate studies on methods to combat the virus, academic sources reported Wednesday. The exam, which is …
Kenya could pull out of this summer's Rio Olympics if the Zika virus in Brazil reaches "epidemic levels", says the head of Kenya's Olympic committee. The outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease in South America is being linked to severe birth defects. Kipchoge Keino said: "We are not going to risk …
