Image: 'Our findings prove that there is a strong scientific agreement about the cause of climate change, despite public perceptions to the contrary'. Photograph: John McConnico/AP

guardian.co.uk - May 15th, 2013 - Suzanne Goldenberg

A survey of thousands of peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals has found 97.1% agreed that climate change is caused by human activity.

Authors of the survey, published on Thursday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, said the finding of near unanimity provided a powerful rebuttal to climate contrarians who insist the science of climate change remains unsettled.

The survey considered the work of some 29,000 scientists published in 11,994 academic papers.

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Image: It is crunch time on tar sands. (photo: Greenpeace)

readersupportednews.org - May 11th, 2013 - Dr. James Hansen

Today 36 Norwegian organizations sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stoltenberg expressing opposition to development of Canadian tar sands by Statoil (the Norwegian state is majority shareholder of Statoil). Signatories include not only environmental organizations, but a broad public spectrum, including, appropriately, many youth organizations. It is encouraging that Norwegian youth press their government to stop supporting tar sands development, given the fact that Norway saves much of its oil earnings for future generations and given the fact that Norway is not likely among the nations that will suffer most from climate change.

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A human shadow is seen on a dried out field after drought in Germany. Photograph: Patrick Pleul/EPA

guardian.co.uk - by Fiona Harvey - May 19, 2013

Some of the most extreme predictions of global warming are unlikely to materialise, new scientific research has suggested, but the world is still likely to be in for a temperature rise of double that regarded as safe.

The researchers said warming was most likely to reach about 4C above pre-industrial levels if the past decade's readings were taken into account.

That would still lead to catastrophe across large swaths of the Earth, causing droughts, storms, floods and heatwaves, and drastic effects on agricultural productivity leading to secondary effects such as mass migration.

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Study - Energy budget constraints on climate response
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v6/n6/full/ngeo1836.html

who.int

World Health Statistics 2013 contains WHO’s annual compilation of health-related data for its 194 Member States, and includes a summary of the progress made towards achieving the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and associated targets.

This year, it also includes highlight summaries on the topics of reducing the gaps between the world’s most-advantaged and least-advantaged countries, and on current trends in official development assistance (ODA) for health.

For additional information, see link below:
http://who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/2013/en/index.html

World Health Statistics 2013 - (Full Report - 172 page .PDF report)
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/81965/1/9789241564588_eng.pdf

usatoday.com - May 29th, 2013 - Maria Cheng

A detailed look at two cases of a deadly new respiratory virus called MERS suggests people who have the disease should be isolated for at least 12 days to avoid spreading it, doctors reported Wednesday.

The new germ, a respiratory infection, was first seen in the Middle East and so far has sickened more than 40 people worldwide, killing about half of them.

In the report published online in the journal Lancet, French scientists said the first patient visited Dubai.

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submitted by Samuel Bendett

(SEE LINKS TO CONFERENCE AND DECLARATION BELOW)

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - May 28, 2013

A conference of 500 leading water scientists from around the world, held last week in Bonn, issued a stark warning that, without major reforms, “in the short span of one or two generations, the majority of the nine billion people on Earth will be living under the handicap of severe pressure on fresh water, an absolutely essential natural resource for which there is no substitute. This handicap will be self-inflicted and is, we believe, entirely avoidable.”

The scientists pointed to chronic underlying problems led by mismanagement, and offered a prescription to policy makers in a 1,000-word declaration issued at the end of a 4-day meeting in Bonn, Germany. The conference, Water in the Anthropocene, was organized by the Global Water System Project (GWSP).

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Image: A dead agricultural field.

foreignpolicy.com - April 20th, 2010 - James Elser and Stuart White

From Kansas to China's Sichuan province, farmers treat their fields with phosphorus-rich fertilizer to increase the yield of their crops. What happens next, however, receives relatively little attention. Large amounts of this resource are lost from farm fields, through soil erosion and runoff, and down swirling toilets, through our urine and feces. Although seemingly mundane, this process cannot continue indefinitely.

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The average carbon dioxide reading surpassed 400 parts per million at the research facility atop the Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii for the 24 hours that ended at 8 p.m. on Thursday.  Chris Stewart/Associated Press

nytimes.com - by Justin Gillis - May 10, 2013

The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years.

Scientific instruments showed that the gas had reached an average daily level above 400 parts per million — just an odometer moment in one sense, but also a sobering reminder that decades of efforts to bring human-produced emissions under control are faltering.

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) monitoring program
http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/weekly.html

Chinese researchers have identified the origins of the novel H7N9 influenza virus

asianscientist.com - April 29, 2013

In March 2013, a novel H7N9 influenza virus was identified in China as the source of a flu-like disease in humans. A group of scientists, led by Professor Chen Hualan of the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, investigated the origins of this novel H7N9 influenza virus.

“We suggest that strong measures, such as continued surveillance of avian and human hosts, control of animal movement, shutdown of live poultry markets, and culling of poultry in affected areas, should be taken during this initial stage of virus prevalence to prevent a possible pandemic. Additionally, it is also imperative to evaluate the pathogenicity and transmissibility of these H7N9 viruses, and to develop effective vaccines and antiviral drugs against so as to reduce their adverse effects upon human health,” say the authors.

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ushahidi.com - by Rob Baker - May 7, 2013

Ushahidi is a team of programmers and mappers who are constantly on the move.

Being constantly handicapped with spotty internet access has led us to realize that the way the entire world is connecting to the web is changing.

So Ushahidi set out to redesign the modem for the changing way we all connect to the web.

Enter BRCK: The easiest, most reliable way to connect to the Internet, anywhere in the world.

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BRCK
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1776324009/brck-your-backup-generator-for-the-internet

A swarm of the Red Locusts passes through the Madagascar town of Sakaraha, on April 27, 2013 (AFP, Bilal Tarabey) Experts estimate there are currently 100 swarms across Madagascar, made up of about 500 billion ravenous locusts

submitted by Luis Kun

Agence-France Press (AFP) - by Gaelle Borgia - May 9, 2013

ANTANANARIVO — For three quarters of an hour a giant swarm of locusts streams across the sky above southwest Madagascar.

Along National Route Seven, normally an artery for tourists enjoying breathtaking views of the island's vast open spaces, a 15 kilometre long (nine mile) swarm clouds the sky.

Travellers today see little more than a natural disaster in progress -- a plague of locusts which has already destroyed half of the Indian Ocean island's crops.

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