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Not What the Doctor Ordered: Rapid Environmental Change Threatens the Foundations of Human Health

by Press on November 4, 2009

Changes to the Earth's land cover, climate, and ecosystems are endangering the health of hundreds of millions, possibly billions, of people worldwide and now represent the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century. The scale of these global changes is rapidly undermining human life-support systems and threatening the core foundations of healthy communities around the globe: access to adequate food, clean air, safe drinking water, and secure homes. These are the findings of the new report, Global Environmental Change: The Threat to Human Health, published today by the Worldwatch Institute and the United Nations Foundation.

Degraded Habitats Push More Species to Extinction

by Ben Block on November 3, 2009
The 2009 update of the Red List of Threatened Species announced that 17,291 species are threatened with extinction, and an additional 11 species are extinct outside of captivity.

“Reverse Trick-or-Treaters” Deliver Fair Trade Chocolate

by Ben Block on November 2, 2009
Participants in a unique twist on a Halloween tradition sought to raise awareness about the prevalence of child labor on West African cocoa farms.

Conservationists Fight Proposed Amazon Road

by Ben Block on October 29, 2009
A proposed 250-kilometer corridor between Brazil and Peru may improve local economies, but at the risk of imperiling already-threatened ecosystems and indigenous communities.

Grain Production Continues Growth After Mixed Decade

by Press on October 29, 2009
For the second year in a row, world grain production rose in 2008, with farmers producing some 2.3 billion tons. The record harvest was up more than 7 percent over the previous year and caps a decade in which only half the years registered gains.

India Summit Strives for Global Access to Climate-Friendly Technologies

by Anna da Costa on October 28, 2009
A high-level technology summit in Delhi made progress on several key issues that will confront governments at the international climate negotiations in December.

U.S. Public Still Unconvinced on Climate Change

by Ben Block on October 26, 2009
The latest Pew survey finds that fewer U.S. residents consider climate change to be a "serious" threat, compared to previous surveys. The results suggest that those who disseminate climate science are losing ground, analysts said.

Pesticide Endosulfan Ruled “Highly Toxic”

by Ben Block on October 23, 2009
An international scientific review committee ruled that endosulfan, a widely used pesticide, should be classified as a persistent organic pollutant (POP).

Cheap Energy Comes at High “Hidden” Cost

by Ben Block on October 21, 2009
U.S. consumers pay less for their energy than consumers in most industrialized nations. Yet electricity and fuel prices typically fail to reflect the full cost of energy production and consumption, especially in terms of health effects.

Livestock Emissions: Still Grossly Underestimated?

by Press on October 20, 2009
The environmental impact of the lifecycle and supply chain of animals raised for food has been vastly underestimated, and in fact accounts for at least half of all human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs), according to Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang, co-authors of "Livestock and Climate Change" in the latest issue of World Watch magazine.
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