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 …
Tropical forests provide global climate regulation ecosystem services and their clearing is a significant source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and resultant radiative forcing of climate change. However, consensus on pan-tropical forest carbon dynamics is lacking. The researchers present a new estimate that employs recommended good practices to quantify …
The United States and Brazil pledged on Tuesday to increase their share of renewable energy in electricity generation from sources other than hydro-power to 20 percent by 2030 in an effort to show commitment to fighting climate change. The two countries made the announcement in a joint statement issued while …
As countries build more hydropower projects, new research warns that massive dams pose an extinction threat to mammals, birds and tortoises—at least in the Amazon. Brazil’s Balbina Dam has turned what was once undisturbed forest into an artificial archipelago of 3,546 islands where many vertebrates have disappeared, according to a …
Mega hydropower projects in tropical forests pose a major emergent threat to terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity worldwide. Despite the unprecedented number of existing, under-construction and planned hydroelectric dams in lowland tropical forests, long-term effects on biodiversity have yet to be evaluated. We examine how medium and large-bodied assemblages of terrestrial …
After more than a decade of major achievements, the AIDS response is at a crucial juncture, both in terms of its immediate trajectory and its sustainability, as well as its place in the new global health and development agendas. In May, 2013, the UNAIDS–Lancet Commission—a diverse group of experts in …
The Brazilian government has violated its own constitution and international law by developing hydroelectric power plants in the Amazon, according to an indigenous leader due to address the 29th United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday afternoon. Ademir Kaba Munduruku will argue that the Brazilian government failed to …
ISLAMABAD: “Bt”, the genetically modified cotton seed surreptitiously introduced in Pakistan in 2005, is proving a disaster than a boon to the country’s strategic crop. Growers say Bt has disproved its superiority over the indigenous seed which it has all but banished and in fact has introduced new pests, leaving …
To achieve WHO's target to halt the rise in obesity and diabetes, dramatic actions are needed to improve the healthiness of food environments. Substantial debate surrounds who is responsible for delivering effective actions and what, specifically, these actions should entail. Arguments are often reduced to a debate between individual and …
Federal prosecutors say Norte Energia, the consortium building the $11bn dam, has violated agreed-to items that are endangering locals’ means of survival Construction of a massive hydroelectric dam is endangering the livelihoods of at least 2,000 families in Brazil’s Amazon jungle state of Para, according to federal prosecutors who recommend …
Turkey , which assumed the presidency of the G20, will push for inclusive growth and investment to boost economic expansion and stem the tide of rising inequality , its sherpa has said. “We defined our priorities as the three Is -namely implementation, investment and also inclusive growth. One of the …
Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) has a large and well-documented global burden of disease. Our analysis uses high-resolution (10 km, global-coverage) concentration data and cause-specific integrated exposure-response (IER) functions developed for the Global Burden of Disease 2010 to assess how regional and global improvements in ambient air quality could reduce …
Health expenses push six per cent of people in low and middle income countries into extreme poverty, according to a new report released here Friday by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank. Speaking at the report's release, Tessa Tan Torres-Edejer, WHO co-ordinator of health systems financing, said …
BRASÍLIA—Brazil’s government is promising a more market-friendly approach to lure private-sector investors to upgrade the country’s roads, rail and ports. Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff is scheduled to announce Tuesday morning a package of projects that the government will invite private-sector companies to build in exchange for rights to operate them …
Up-to-date evidence about levels and trends in disease and injury incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) is an essential input into global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013), we estimated these quantities for acute and chronic diseases and injuries …
Girls' and women's health is in transition and, although some aspects of it have improved substantially in the past few decades, there are still important unmet needs. Population ageing and transformations in the social determinants of health have increased the coexistence of disease burdens related to reproductive health, nutrition, and …
Girls' and women's health is in transition and, although some aspects of it have improved substantially in the past few decades, there are still important unmet needs. Population ageing and transformations in the social determinants of health have increased the coexistence of disease burdens related to reproductive health, nutrition, and …
Tiny frogs smaller in size than bumblebees have evolved with fewer fingers and toes to reduce their size to adapt to life on isolated mountaintops Seven new species of miniature frog, smaller than bumblebees, have been discovered clinging to survival on isolated mountaintops in Brazil. The largest of the new …
Australian delegates have been questioned about the government’s climate policies at a United Nations conference in Germany. The hour-long grilling from developing nations such as China and Brazil came at a meeting in Bonn which is as part of a mutual assessment process ahead of a conference in Paris in …
Nature threads the very fabric of human lives in remote forest areas of developing countries. Unfortunately, we do not fully understand how ecosystem services (such as human health benefits) could be secured by conserving natural capital. Thus, we analyze a rich dataset on disease, climate, demography, land uses, and conservation …
The government promised to clean up Guanabara bay before 2016, but civil society is having to step in and do the job instead Entering the mangrove forest, trees tower overhead as crabs scuttle along the muddy floor and metre-wide spider webs take advantage of the overwhelming number of mosquitoes. Here, …
