HEALTH: Predicting the next zoonotic pandemic

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfrrRa2Uu5jcto_lb8Gziuvh8pmRBgNXMyRhtAD_qbYw3NErQTe5YRSPxOKmWXWmK80qEOGC32mNCHVXolvuEQOOGKZQdjoagrP_DDDi0CCNldLq5qC1IBgq9aekgigVpHzh6FJO4ZQo/s1600/201211301525500403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcfrrRa2Uu5jcto_lb8Gziuvh8pmRBgNXMyRhtAD_qbYw3NErQTe5YRSPxOKmWXWmK80qEOGC32mNCHVXolvuEQOOGKZQdjoagrP_DDDi0CCNldLq5qC1IBgq9aekgigVpHzh6FJO4ZQo/s400/201211301525500403.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: small;">Photo: <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/">The Lancet</a><o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: small;">Next big pandemic most likely to break out in orange-red<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: small;">zones on this map according to one projection</span></div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">LONDON (IRIN) - Chances are high the world’s next pandemic will be a disease originating in animals, like 60 percent of current documented human infectious diseases. Even after hundreds of thousands of human deaths from zoonoses (diseases transmitted from animals to humans), experts say there is still limited information about how zoonoses are spread or just how to predict the next outbreak.<br /> <br /> “There is no question of whether we will have another zoonotic pandemic,” wrote Stephen Morse, a public health professor at <st1:placename w:st="on">Columbia</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> in <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state>, in a November 2012 <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/series/zoonoses" target="_blank">series on zoonoses</a> in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">UK</st1:place></st1:country-region> medical journal, The Lancet. “The question is merely when, and where, the next pandemic will emerge.”<br /> <br /> Despite <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/nathan_wolfe_hunts_for_the_next_aids.html" target="_blank">virus hunters’</a> best efforts, no zoonotic pandemic has, thus far, been predicted before it infected humans.<br /> <br /> “The continuing effect of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is a reminder of the risk of zoonotic pathogens spreading from their natural reservoirs to man,” wrote William Karesh from <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>’s EcoHealth Alliance in the Lancet series. The NGO, formerly known as Wildlife Trust, works to prevent the outbreak of emerging diseases by preserving biodiversity. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /> An estimated 1.8 million people <a href="http://www.unaids.org/en/media/unaids/contentassets/documents/unaidspublication/2011/jc2216_worldaidsday_report_2011_en.pdf" target="_blank">die annually from AIDS</a>, caused by HIV, which originated in primates. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /> “What is far less broadly appreciated is that none of the approaches commonly used to search for potential new human pathogens… probably would have identified simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) as a potential risk to man,” said Karesh.<br /> <br /> <b>Early warning?<o:p></o:p></b></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><br /> The US Agency for International Development launched its <a href="http://www1.usaid.gov/press/releases/2009/pr091021_1.html" target="_blank">Emerging Pandemic Threats Programme</a> in late 2009 to build an early warning system to detect and reduce the impacts of zoonotic diseases.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS';">But there are thousands of species of birds and animals that each host different diseases; where do you concentrate efforts? A virologist may focus on diseases easily spread from animal relatives, like chimpanzees, while a social scientist points out how rare contact is between humans and chimpanzees and focuses, instead, on poultry, with which people live and work in close quarters worldwide.</span></div> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Between 2003 and 5 November 2012, 608 laboratory-confirmed human cases of infections from H5N1 bird flu were reported to the <a href="http://www.who.int/influenza/human_animal_interface/Influenza_Summary_IRA_HA_interface_05November12.pdf" target="_blank">World Health Organization</a> from 15 countries, of which 359 died. </div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Disease hunters are homing in on emerging disease “hotspots”, mammal-rich areas with high, changing population densities. A group of experts led by <st1:placename w:st="on">Columbia</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>’s Morse are creating a disease map, in which <st1:country-region w:st="on">Rwanda</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Burundi</st1:country-region> are bright red, as is the Indonesian <st1:placetype w:st="on">island</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Java</st1:placename>, one of the world’s most densely populated islands, and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Egypt</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s Nile Delta. Other potential sites for future outbreaks include north <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bangladesh</st1:country-region>, northern and western <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region></st1:place>, and - to a lesser extent - more densely populated parts of western Europe and along the west African coast.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <b><div style="text-align: justify;"> <b>Urbanization</b></div> </b> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> “Urbanization has boosted zoonoses’ outbreak risks as people get closer to animals,” Sarah Schlesinger, a scientist from <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state>’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Rockefeller</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>, told IRIN on the sidelines of a recent HIV vaccine conference.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Cities are growing, with roads and industries penetrating previously uninhabited wildlife habitats; some 3.3 billion people live in urban areas (cities and their outskirts), according to the UN. By 2030, the world’s urban population is expected to exceed five billion, with 80 percent located in the developed world. In places where animal “hosts” to disease start to disappear (as their habitats shrink), pathogens are finding a new home in human hosts.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Some 800 million people worldwide are engaged in urban agriculture, according to the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/67301608/Urban-Agriculture-for-Sustainable-Poverty-Alleviation-and-Food-Security" target="_blank">World Bank</a>, which identifies peri-urban livestock as a fast-growing sector that produces 34 percent of the world’s meat and nearly 70 percent of its eggs.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The Nairobi-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) has pointed out how urban livestock and agriculture can breed disease in some of the world’s most crowded places. In a <a href="http://mahider.ilri.org/bitstream/handle/10568/24453/FactSheet_urbanzoonoses_oct2012.pdf?sequence=5" target="_blank">recent survey</a> in Dagoretti, one of eight districts of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Kenya</st1:country-region>’s capital, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Nairobi</st1:place></st1:city>, the institute found up to 11 percent of households were affected by cryptosporidiosis, a diarrhoeal disease caused by a pathogen found in cattle, raw milk, soil, vegetables and contaminated water.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> Changing harvests  may be another contributor to the spread of zoonoses. In the southwestern <st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region> where El Niño (rising sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Ocean</st1:place>) dumped more rain, vegetation growth increased, which then attracted more rats. Hantavirus is not fatal in rats - which carry the disease - but is in humans who became infected through the rats.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> The interplay of biology, ecology and sociology make forecasting the next pandemic difficult, say experts in the Lancet series who call for boosting cooperation between experts (<a href="http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96590/HIV-AIDS-Breaking-science-silos-to-find-a-vaccine" target="_blank">often working in silos</a>) to meet the “huge, and rising” threat of zoonoses.</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">  </div> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <!--[endif]--></span></div>

HEALTH: Predicting the next zoonotic pandemic

Photo:  The Lancet Next big pandemic most likely to break out in orange-red zones on this map according to one projection LO...

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New Evidence Links Mayan Collapse to Climate Change

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The ancient Mayan civilization, which developed a sophisticated culture in the Central American rainforests, vanished mysteriously a thousand years ago.  Now, an international team of anthropologists, archeologists, chemists and climatologists says it has identified the cause of the Mayan collapse: climate change.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">To create a weather record for the past 2,000 years, the scientists analyzed a natural mineral formation called a stalagmite from a cave in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Belize</st1:place></st1:country-region>, using oxygen-isotope dating to determine how much rain fell on the region over the centuries. Stalagmites build up incrementally, like tree rings, as water drips through the cave ceiling, preserving an accurate climate record.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Mayan rulers commissioned stone monuments to record important events such as their rise to power, major battles, civic unrest and strategic alliances.  Pennsylvania State University Anthropology professor Douglas Kennett, the study's co-author, says the team was able to compare changes in the society documented on those monuments with their new climate timeline. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: Arial;">​​</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">On</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> a podcast for the journal Science, he said the team saw a relationship between rainfall levels and political stability.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"The growth of Maya civilization and increases in population and levels of sophistication actually correlate with a very wet interval that spans several hundred years and the decline of the Maya actually appeared to correlate with a downturn generally in climate and climate drying," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Abundant rainfall led to bumper crops and a population boom, but a climate reversal and drought triggered famine, political competition, increased warfare and eventually, the society's collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Scientists have long suspected that climate change played a role in the fall of the Mayan civilization, but the precise timeline - published in Science  - provides them with new confidence in that connection.  Kennett suggests their methodology could be used to increase understanding of the influence of climate on other ancient cultures that also have nearby cave systems. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div> </div>

New Evidence Links Mayan Collapse to Climate Change

The ancient Mayan civilization, which developed a sophisticated culture in the Central American rainforests, vanished mysteriously a ...

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CLIMATE CHANGE: Fungi Offer Non-GM Way to Enhance Food Crops

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwH6zsCtETo5BADiUUxMXYGr0aHPHNRgbiYpJBQQBgHXB0HDUR7GtxIzr-hCDb64OQbaLDMIII1g9vRl-o6Uyee-uQzmFMouLsBA0tuSyheYqFwlklRQlVy8jtwN4_CVSwY877cS5TwI/s1600/201205151222210806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwH6zsCtETo5BADiUUxMXYGr0aHPHNRgbiYpJBQQBgHXB0HDUR7GtxIzr-hCDb64OQbaLDMIII1g9vRl-o6Uyee-uQzmFMouLsBA0tuSyheYqFwlklRQlVy8jtwN4_CVSwY877cS5TwI/s1600/201205151222210806.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 8pt;">Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plantstoriesproject/6931910350/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Plant Stories Project</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div> <div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 8pt;">Race is on to find ways to be able to produce enough</span></div> </td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">JOHANNESBURG</span></st1:city></st1:place><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"> (IRIN) - As temperatures soar and droughts increase in frequency, scientists around the world are working to create food crops tolerant of extreme temperatures - often an expensive and laborious process. But a cheaper and quicker alternative could be in sight, new research suggests. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Fungi and other microbes could enable food crops like maize, wheat and rice to grow in high temperatures and salty soils, and even withstand erratic rainfall, say microbiologists, who have begun to look at the relationship between plants and micro-organisms for clues to their mutual survival through thousands of years of climate change. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Making food crops tolerant to climatic stresses could be as simple as coating seeds with micro-organisms that can confer desired traits. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A matter of urgency<o:p></o:p></span></b></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Helping food crops weather climate change is a matter of urgency, said experts from 15 research centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research’s (CGIAR) Research Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security. The programme had been asked by the UN to summarize the effects of climate change on 22 of the most important agriculture crops, from staple cereals to potatoes, lentils and commercial fruit crops like bananas. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Time is of the essence, as droughts have already become more frequent and rainfall more erratic in various parts of the world. By 2050, climate change could cause irrigated wheat yields in developing countries to fall by 13 percent, says a CGIAR review by senior scientist Philip Thornton. Irrigated rice yield could fall by as much as 15 percent. In <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>, many farmers of maize could lose 10 to 20 percent of their yields. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">We have always thought that plants had learned to adapt to climatic stresses like high temperatures and drought, but now we find that microbiomes [communities of microbes] within plants have conferred traits on them to be able to withstand the stressSome temperature-tolerant new crops are already being grown in Asia, developed by subjecting grain plants to stresses such as drought conditions, then isolating genes from those that survive. But this kind of conventional breeding is long-drawn process, often taking 10 to 15 years to develop a successful crop variant. It is widely used because many Asian and African countries do not accept genetically modified (GM) products. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Micro-organisms could provide a faster option. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Microbiomes aid survival <o:p></o:p></span></b></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">"We have always thought that plants had learned to adapt to climatic stresses like high temperatures and drought, but now we find that microbiomes [communities of microbes] within plants have conferred traits on them to be able to withstand the stress," said Rusty Rodriguez, a microbiologist affiliated with the University of Washington, who recently established his own non-profit organization (Symbiogenics) to conduct more research into the plant-microbe symbiosis.  <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Human and plant life is intertwined with that of micro-organisms. A human body contains more bacteria than human cells; in several studies published this year, members of the Human Microbiome Project reported that microbes "contribute more genes responsible for human survival" than humans themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The new plant studies show that microbiomes are similarly crucial in the plant world. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Scientific American reported in 2010 that Mary Lucero, a molecular biologist at the US Department of Agriculture, had found fungi could help plants capture more nitrogen from the atmosphere, reducing the need to apply chemical fertilizers. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">More recently, Rodriguez and his team have shown how a certain fungus, when introduced to the seeds of maize, wheat, tomatoes, watermelons and other plants, enabled those plants to withstand more than 50-degree Celsius temperatures. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">‘Results within a year’ <o:p></o:p></span></b></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Rodriguez says he took fungi from plants near the <st1:city w:st="on">hot springs</st1:city> in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>’s <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Yellowstone</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">National Park</st1:placetype></st1:place>. The stress tolerance traits are only found in microbes found in those conditions; the same fungus isolated from a non-stressed condition do not have those traits. His teams have also undertaken missions to collect fungi from extreme conditions in the Antarctic, Mount Everest in the Himalayas and the <st1:placename w:st="on">Great Basin</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Desert</st1:placetype> in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Rodriguez said he and his team could likely find similar microbes in any part of the world - for instance, in the <st1:place w:st="on">Sahel</st1:place> - and conduct trials within the region to isolate the useful microbes. "We could have results within a year," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He has already conducted trials in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> with maize and rice, and found that yields can grow up to 10 percent in the case of rice in cold temperatures, and up to 80 percent in the case of maize in high temperatures. The team is awaiting the results of a trial in which maize was grown during the worst drought to hit the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> in decades. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">He has also isolated a virus in the fungus that makes plants even more resilient to heat. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The plan is to keep the costs of providing the technology to farmers very low. "Corn in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> is sold in 42lbs [about 20 kg] bags. We want to keep the cost of coating the seeds with microbes to under US$20 [per bag]," said Rodriguez <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Another peer-reviewed study has shown that certain fungi can make rice plants more tolerant to drought, salt and even cold while reducing water consumption by 20 to 30 percent. Salt tolerance is a sought-after trait in regions affected by rising sea-levels and storm surges that cause saltwater intrusion, such as the rice-growing regions of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Bangladesh</st1:country-region> and <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Vietnam</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Rodriguez said he and others are looking for opportunities and funding to conduct trials in <st1:place w:st="on">Africa</st1:place>, where this technology is desperately needed. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">This point was also made by CGIAR’s <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Thornton</st1:place></st1:city> in his paper Recalibrating Food Production in the Developing World: Global Warming Will Change More Than Just the Climate, which explores the complexities of climate change’s impact on crops. Some crops might be able to withstand high temperature but could be sensitive to changes in rainfall. "Other crops can tolerate seasonal flooding but are susceptible to new or increased levels of pests and diseases brought on by high temperatures." <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">A variety of changes must take place, including changes to the mix of crops being grown, <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Thornton</st1:place></st1:city> said in an email to IRIN. Research can help by "showing farmers not only how to grow new crops but also how to utilize them in different ways (e.g., different ways of preparing and cooking cassava). The socio-cultural aspects may be difficult to deal with, but through a combination of market forces (changes in relative prices of staples) and time, diets may change slowly,” he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><b>Circumventing controversy? </b><o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Meanwhile, other researchers are exploring the use of GM to increase crop resilience. But the safety of GM has been heatedly debated, with many activist groups, governments and regulatory bodies calling for products containing GM ingredients to carry special labels. <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The American Association for the Advancement of Science has recently come out against labelling requirements. “These efforts are not driven by evidence that GM foods are actually dangerous. Indeed, the science is quite clear: crop improvement by the modern molecular techniques of biotechnology is safe.” <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The microbiome studies might offer a way to circumvent these controversies, offering faster and cheaper solutions without the patina of “mad science” often attributed to GM products. The journal New Scientist reported this year that, unlike genetic engineering, which takes years to induce plants to switch various metabolic pathways to become more drought-tolerant, fungi can activate "them all in one go." <o:p></o:p></span></div> </div>

CLIMATE CHANGE: Fungi Offer Non-GM Way to Enhance Food Crops

Photo:  Plant Stories Project Race is on to find ways to be able to produce enough JOHANNESBURG (IRIN) - As temperatures soar ...

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Environmentalists Worried Over Increased Production of Autos

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <iframe frameborder="0" height="429" scrolling="no" src="http://www.voanews.com/flashembed.aspx?t=vid&id=1533626&w=640&h=429&skin=embeded" width="640"></iframe> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">By Zulima Palacio<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The production of passenger vehicles around the world reached an all-time high this year: 80 million new cars and light trucks, according to a study by the Worldwatch Institute in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:state w:st="on">Washington</st1:state></st1:place>.  The new production record is heightening concerns among environmentalists, since petroleum-fueled automobiles are a major source of air pollution and climate-changing carbon emissions.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">With the new cars and light trucks added to the global fleet, the world is nearing a milestone - one billion vehicles on the roads. Most are petroleum-fueled internal combustion engines, whose emissions cause environmental problems like air pollution and contribute to global warming.  <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Michael Renner of the Worldwatch Institute wrote the analysis of worldwide auto production.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The strongest producer by far right now is <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">China</st1:country>, which had a tremendous period of growth over the last decade and have overtaken <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Germany</st1:country>, <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">Japan</st1:country> and the <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country>, which used to be the three big producers worldwide," Renner said.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Hybrid and electric vehicles represent less than two percent of the total output, the study says.  <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But representatives of the auto industry say they care about the environment.  Steven Brooks, an analyst at Edmunds.com, which compiles data on the automobile market, says the industry is responding to the desire for greener products.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“There are 43 different vehicles that are going to get introduced into the shopping arena by the end of 2015, like this Honda CR-Z here. This is a hybrid electric vehicle,” Brooks said.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">But Renner says unless we move to cleaner and more efficient fuels, as well as alternative propulsion systems, electric cars won't solve the environmental problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“If we don’t significantly change the bases on which our electricity systems are functioning, in other words if we use large amounts of coal and fossil fuels to produce electricity, then going with the electrical vehicles is not getting us all that far,” Renner said.   <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">Industry experts say hydrogen fuel cells and experimental new materials, such as strong, lightweight magnesium and carbon composites, could dramatically improve energy efficiency in tomorrow's passenger vehicles.  But such improvements are still years away.  In today's car market, Steven Brooks says, gasoline prices are still driving people’s vehicle choices.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">“The mid-size sedans are still the number-one-selling segment in the country, but the adoption of the small and hybrid vehicles is on the rise as the gas prices go up,” Brooks said.<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">According to the United Nations, emissions from road transport constitute more than 20 percent of greenhouse gases.  <o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS";">The Worldwatch study notes that even in developing countries, car travel distances have doubled in the past decade. Experts agree that to counter the public health and environmental impact of this trend, governments must develop better systems of public transportation. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"> <br /></div> </div>

Environmentalists Worried Over Increased Production of Autos

By Zulima Palacio The production of passenger vehicles around the world reached an all-time high this year: 80 million new cars an...

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INDIA: Mobile Towers Affect Wildlife

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">NEW DELHI, India (NNN-BERNAMA) -- The Environment Ministry feels radiation emitted by mobile towers has ill effects on wildlife, especially birds and bees, and has asked the Department of Telcommunication not to permit such structures within one-km radius of each other, reports Press Trust of India (PTI). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In an advisory, the Ministry has said that there is an "urgent need" to refine the Indian standard on safe limits of exposure to electro-magnetic radiations (EMR). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Till it is reformed, "a precautionary approach shall be preferred to minimise the exposure levels and adopt stricter norms possible, without compromising on optimum performance of the networks," it said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It noted that the radiations could be having varying negative impact on wildlife, particularly birds and bees. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Accordingly, it asked the DoT to ensure that new mobile towers are not constructed within one-km radius of the existing ones "so as not to obstruct flight path of birds, and also not to increase the combined radiations from all towers" in the area. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"To prevent overlapping of high radiation fields, new towers should not be permitted within a radius of one kilometre of the existing towers. Sharing of passive infrastructure if made mandatory for Telecom Service Providers can minimise need of having additional towers," it said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Ministry asked the DoT that location and frequencies of cellphone towers and other towers emitting EMR, should be made available in public domain. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">"This can be at city/district/village level. Location- wise GIS mapping of all cellphone towers should be maintained which would, inter alia, help in monitoring the population of birds and bees in and around the mobile towers and also in and/or around wildlife protection areas," the advisory said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The advisory has been issued on the basis of an expert committee study on the possible impacts of communication towers on wildlife and bees. The panel was constituted by the Environment Ministry in 2010. -- NNN-BERNAMA<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div></div>

INDIA: Mobile Towers Affect Wildlife

NEW DELHI, India (NNN-BERNAMA) -- The Environment Ministry feels radiation emitted by mobile towers has ill effects on wildlife, especiall...

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ENVIRONMENT: Air Pollution Threat Grows

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By Joe DeCapua<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A lot of attention is being paid to greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But scientists warn that other pollutants may make it harder to breathe in some places in years to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By the year 2050, taking a deep breath in eastern China, northern India, the Middle East and North Africa could be hazardous to your health. That’s what a new study says unless nations take action now to curb air pollution.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dr. Andrea Pozzer of Germany’s Max Planck Institute of Chemistry says that “strong actions and effective legislation are essential to avoid a drastic deterioration of air quality.” He says there are five main air pollutants.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide. Then we have nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and finally we have this so-called PM2.5 – particulate matter, which is below 2.5 micrometers. That’s the size of the particulate matter,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says particles of 2.5 micrometers are “small enough to invade even the smallest airways,” such as deep inside the lungs. These pollutants are not the same as those that contribute to climate change.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He said, “The ones driving global warming are so-called greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane, for example, and ozone as well. While in this case these pollutants needed for air quality calculation are rather different. And in this case, these are traces and gasses that are more dangerous for human health.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pozzer said the particles that pollute come from both nature and humans, also referred to as anthropogenic emissions.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“This could be natural dust, for example, in the desert where you find a lot of particles. So there’s a very high concentration of PM2.5, or even in very polluted locations like close to a factory. When there are smoke films coming out, these generally contain [a[ high level of particles. Let’s take, for example, sulfur dioxide. These are emitted by volcanoes and at the same time it’s manmade, also emitted by factories. And in this case nowadays anthropogenic emissions are by far the major emitters of sulfur dioxide,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">India and China have rapidly growing economies, and with growth comes greater pollution. Pozzer said it’s happened before.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“Let’s suppose for U.S. or Europe. This would have been the same during the 60s and the 70s and the 80s. Big growth in the economy, and there was the appearance of acid rains and so on. So it’s history that comes back,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He said China, India and the Middle Eastern and North African countries should take strong action before 2025. He calls that year the “tipping point” when air pollution could start getting extremely bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">While North African countries could face worsening air pollution, sub-Saharan African countries could be largely spared.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He said, “There will be local pollution due to these megacities or huge cities that they will form of course – an increase of population. So very localized hotspots like huge cities, while in general, in Africa, the air will be more than clean I would say.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pozzer added that China, India and the other countries should follow the example of the U.S. and Europe in curbing air pollution. He says while pollution controls are expensive, they pay for themselves through better health of the population. ---VOA News<o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

ENVIRONMENT: Air Pollution Threat Grows

By Joe DeCapua A lot of attention is being paid to greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. But scientists warn that o...

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Global Warming: In Geoengineering We May Trust

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By <a href="http://www.groundreport.com/Stephen"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">David Stephen</span></a>  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.groundreport.com/Media_and_Tech/Global-warming-In-geoengineering-we-may-trust_1/2947148"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">GroundReport</span>-</a>-- At least, there is reason to believe in a short-term source for respite, geoengineering, if a feared level of climate change is about. Geoengineering is now likely for large scale-deployment more than ever, as weather anomalies globally have become a serious cause for concern and news of rising levels of carbon emissions continue to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Geoengineering is the scientific answer to the tepidity of world leaders, towards a global agreement to mitigate global warming-causing greenhouse emissions. Geoengineering (or climate engineering) is a general name for certain technologies aimed at reducing solar radiation available to the earth, or at removing carbon dioxide (a major greenhouse gas) from the atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Geoengineering technologies range from simple to complex, with a technology as ‘simple’ as afforestation, and another as complex as putting giant reflectors in space to return inbound solar radiation. Geoengineering technologies have their controversies, as their effects can be tied to international conflicts; or threats to biodiversity & urbanization; or further weather catastrophe, and unknowns.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Geoengineering is also expensive and will have to be sustained for a number of years after initial deployment. All these worries are there, but are placed a little less than the good it will do as an alternative. Geoengineering had a big week, with two major announcements. The bigger one, a carbon dioxide removal test, reported findings from a research on iron fertilization, conducted in 2004, that showed the ability of phytoplankton to sequester carbon at sea depths.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The other announcement, a solar management one, is an intention to test the effects of injecting sulphate particles to about 24km above sea level, to know their effects on ozone chemistry. These steps-forward in geoengineering, point to form. Geoengineering is gradually taking shape, and as time goes, most of the several questions asked in the 2009 UK’s Royal Society Report on geoengineering, will find a home.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Geoengineering research is advocated, and the plea is for more public funds to come in. The US government via the National Science Foundation is involved, and the British government recently supported a proposed research on geoengineering. Geoengineering research in Canada, Europe and Australia is getting some support from the government, and the subject in these places is rising.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Several other governments who can support too are probably waiting on their scientists and local researchers to work. Russia had a test some time ago, and China may be looking at a right time to do something. Field tests will hew new observations and are superior to lab tests in this respect.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Season and geography is known to differentiate climate at locations, and tests or finding somewhere may require expansion somewhere else or may allege ‘effects here’. This may lead to new interests in research that may not be guided by the carefulness with previous ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Geoengineering tests will eventually go around, since pat locations to deploy it would (or maybe) be needed in future. But how is this to be regulated and centered on the objective? A US scientist gave a hint this week, he said, it must be publicly funded and must be approved by government agencies.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This, a possibility in the States, may not be the same elsewhere, which possibly may spark new controversies. Regulating geoengineering research, even though scientists have asked about what may be classed as geoengineering or not, is necessary. Outlining the ways a research should go, making it public and inviting colleagues to join the discussion is an ethics part that should be attended to, quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This conversation will also be boosted if ‘pioneering’ tests follows the ‘guideline’. Scientists have the might to shape geoengineering, to avoid it becoming another small ball of global disagreement, even at this research stage. It may also be necessary for scientists leading geoengineering research, to clear the air about myths that may limit government funds available for their work.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the developing world, especially Africa, usually bashed by climate change, it is possible for activists to presume that big economies are sponsoring geoengineering instead of mitigating emissions. Supporters of this and, haters of geoengineering in these big economies may further loud it and cause a furor that may limit or intermit geoengineering funding by the government.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Addressing this ‘myth’ may still not prevent this, but will be the case to be evoked while defending the move. A point that may be used in defense is “We are researching geoengineering as a possible alternative, as the world may need to cap rise in the average temperature of the earth; because of its controversies, government funding is preferred for outdoor experiments against individual or corporate funding. And government ‘token’ on this does not affect their mitigation commitment, which is the main solution, not geoengineering”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Geoengineers have some work to do, to give the subject shape, aside increased studies and reports. Those that don’t even believe in anthropogenic global warming may support geoengineering, but not substantially,  in an unshaped state. Many who already know about geoengineering are coming to trust its temporal ability, and many more around the world likely will, if bad weather events suddenly line. We can be afraid of rise in the average temperature of the earth, and resulting effects, but geoengineering may get us to trust it, for reprieve, if scientists decide to give it shape.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This work is licensed under a </span><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></div></div>

Global Warming: In Geoengineering We May Trust

By David Stephen    GroundReport - -- At least, there is reason to believe in a short-term source for respite, geoengineering, if a feare...

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Global View of Staggering Light Pollution

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDsLXIvxxJRZDTMfOof3Nn6KCj0JjhhaVe__X5xLiKSutMVsz9r3_MojfL2DvxvamphhcrZF5O7owEg7Xw3t8nSpsEoCb9bpHrGrIdv1fkXIS33tHlg8e72u7JY3JkcbfPrQn3BUlylM/s1600/2012070916082877.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizDsLXIvxxJRZDTMfOof3Nn6KCj0JjhhaVe__X5xLiKSutMVsz9r3_MojfL2DvxvamphhcrZF5O7owEg7Xw3t8nSpsEoCb9bpHrGrIdv1fkXIS33tHlg8e72u7JY3JkcbfPrQn3BUlylM/s1600/2012070916082877.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">A satellite image of the energy waste in the West and darkness in the rest of world showing how much more energy the rich world uses than other areas. Third World countries in Africa, South America and large swathes of Asia lie in almost complete darkness, barely registering any light at night in contrast to the West, apart from an amazing trail of light from Cairo running down the Nile in Egypt. Just goes to show the extent to which the West is guilty of wasting energy and polluting light on a staggering scale.Photo courtesy barcroft media ---NNN</span></div></div>

Global View of Staggering Light Pollution

A satellite image of the energy waste in the West and darkness in the rest of world showing how much more energy the rich world uses than ...

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FOOD: More Milk and Meat at a Price

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9x72tQMEGSPyFAung5xRLRlhnpwB84xkrMtFqxMey7vTU3ppJTFMNEsg6yK71J46E6ffxxBM2A4Zkstif-A8ew3lL0SinSXozfup8Ev1gg9WskEW0tgXl1-HfmiAQt0Aq99U7lgCYVzQ/s1600/200802073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9x72tQMEGSPyFAung5xRLRlhnpwB84xkrMtFqxMey7vTU3ppJTFMNEsg6yK71J46E6ffxxBM2A4Zkstif-A8ew3lL0SinSXozfup8Ev1gg9WskEW0tgXl1-HfmiAQt0Aq99U7lgCYVzQ/s400/200802073.jpg" width="265" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Photo: </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.irinnews.org/photo"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Zofeen Ebrahim/IRIN</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Poultry is often kept and sold in unhygienic<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">conditions in south Asian countries like India<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; unicode-bidi: embed;"><br /> </div></td></tr> </tbody></table><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">JOHANNESBURG (IRIN) - Only 13 diseases or infections transmitted from animals to humans like tuberculosis (TB) and Rift Valley fever, are responsible for around 2.4 billion cases of human illness and 2.2 million deaths per year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> In the least developed countries, 20 percent of human sickness and death was due to zoonoses - diseases that had recently jumped species from animals to people - according to a new study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), based in Nairobi, Kenya, the Institute of Zoology in Britain, and the Hanoi School of Public Health in Vietnam.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> The World Health Organization (WHO) has noted that at least 61 percent of all human diseases, and 75 percent of emerging infectious diseases, are zoonotic or caused by a bacterium, virus, fungus or other communicable disease agent picked up from an animal source.<br /> <br /> While zoonoses can be transmitted to people by either wild or domesticated animals, and at times domestic animals also crossbreed with those in the wild, most human infections are acquired from the world’s 24 billion livestock, including pigs, poultry, cattle, goats, sheep and camels.<br /> <br /> The new study mapped poverty, livestock-keeping, hunger and zoonoses, and found a strong link between them. The good news is that most of the burden of zoonoses, and the opportunities for tackling them, are found in just a few countries - Ethiopia, Nigeria and India. These three countries not only have the highest number of poor livestock-keepers, but also the highest number of malnourished people.<br /> <br /> Over 600 million people living on less than two dollars a day, who depend on animals to some extent, are found in South Asia, mostly in India. Sub-Saharan Africa has over 300 million poor livestock-keepers, concentrated in East and West Africa, and fewer in southern and central Africa.<br /> <br /> In a survey of 28 countries identified as geographical hotpots for zoonoses by the study, Ethiopia tops the list of countries where Leptospirosis - haemorrhagic jaundice - is prevalent. Nigeria is saddled with the highest burden of Query fever (Q fever), a bacterial infection that can affect the lungs, liver, heart and other parts of the body. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="left" dir="ltr"><table align="right" border="1" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 102, 153); border-bottom-width: 1pt; border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(0, 102, 153); border-top-width: 1pt; width: 300px;"><tbody> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why we need to worry about zoonoses in poor countries</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 510.0pt;" width="680"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">12 percent of animals have recent or current brucellosis infections, reducing production by 8 percent<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 510.0pt;" width="680"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">10 percent of livestock in Africa are infected with trypanosomosis - sleeping sickness - reducing their production by 15 percent<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 510.0pt;" width="680"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">7 percent of livestock are infected with tuberculosis (TB), reducing their production by 6 percent, and 3-10 percent of human TB cases may be caused by zoonotic TB<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 510.0pt;" width="680"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">17 percent of pigs on smallholder farms show signs of current infection with cysticercosis - tapeworm - reducing their value and creating the enormous burden of human cysticercosis<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 510.0pt;" width="680"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">27 percent of livestock show signs of current or past infection with bacterial food-borne diseases, a major source of food contamination and illness in people<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 510.0pt;" width="680"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">26 percent of livestock show signs of current or past leptospirosis infection - affecting milk production and calving - reducing production and acting as a reservoir for infection<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 510.0pt;" width="680"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">25 percent of livestock show signs of current or past Q fever infection<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="background: #EBEBEB; border: none; padding: 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt 3.0pt; width: 510.0pt;" width="680"><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Source: ILRI<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr> </tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">India has a heavy burden of Brucellosis - which causes spontaneous abortion in animals, and in humans leads to severe joint pain and weakness, and can become chronic if untreated – as well as TB, Q fever, and illnesses caused by food-borne bacteria, such as salmonella, which can also be fatal. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> The goal of the research was to identify areas where better control of zoonotic diseases would most benefit poor people.<br /> <br /> Among the high-priority studies of transmitted diseases were ”endemic zoonoses” like brucellosis, which cause most cases of illness and recorded deaths in poor countries; “epidemic zoonoses”, which typically occur as outbreaks, such as anthrax and Rift Valley fever; and the relatively rare “emerging zoonoses” like bird flu. Of the emerging zoonoses, HIV/AIDS has had by far the most severe global impact. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> <b>Higher demand<o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span><br /> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">A rising demand for milk and meat, prompted by a growing population and higher incomes in developing countries, has led to the practice of keeping more animals in smaller and often unhygienic enclosures - a major factor in the spread and growth of zoonoses.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> <br /> The selection and breeding of livestock in these conditions, without proper care, creates an environment where a new pathogen (an infectious bacterium, virus or other agent) can develop and infect the animals. The study also found that systems for disease control and reporting were relatively weak in these countries.<br /> <br /> Animals are often transported for long distances and over extensive routes, and sold live either along the way or at the destination, with poor waste management during transportation - which all contribute to the birth and transmission of infections.<br /> <br /> One of the biggest threats is posed by the booming trade in poultry and pigs. Ongoing research is being led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), which is part of a global research network funded partly by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). “Historically, high-density pig and poultry populations have been important in maintaining and mixing influenza populations," said John McDermott, director of the CGIAR Research Programme on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health.<br /> <br /> "A major concern is that as new livestock systems intensify, particularly in small- and medium-sized pig production, more intensive systems will allow the maintenance and transmission of pathogens. A number of new zoonoses, such as Nipah virus infections, have emerged in that way.”<br /> <br /> Nipah virus, first identified on pig farms in Malaysia, and the related Hendra virus, which has particularly affected horses, can cause pneumonia and encephalitis in humans. A million pigs were culled in Malaysia to get rid of the virus.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> <b>Should we all become vegetarians? <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /> </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">More pigs and poultry "will lead to more, cheaper food, which is on the whole good for poor people. At the same time, they may lead to more disease, which is bad. Scientists can provide evidence, but societies need to have a conversation about the benefits, risks and trade-offs for keeping livestock,” Delia Grace, a researcher at the livestock research institute and lead author of the new study, told IRIN via email.<br /> <br /> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"For sure, there are both benefits and harms associated with producing any food type. It is important to factor in the cost of disease when assessing the benefits of more livestock, and to support systems which are "disease-proofed" - that is, designed in such a way as to minimize disease risks,” she noted.<br /> <br /> “We already have some ideas on how to do this. However, more livestock food (which could be milk and eggs, not just meat) has great potential in alleviating the 'hidden hunger' of micro-nutrient deficiency, which is such a huge problem in India and other countries." <o:p></o:p></span><br /> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Livestock can bring advantages. "At least one in two poor households benefits from livestock-keeping, and the benefits are big - [they can contribute from] 12 to 38 percent of household income. Our best estimates are that at least half the poor families get a quarter of their income from livestock - that's big! Poor people don't get much of their calories from livestock, but livestock products are not best used in providing calories - cheap staple foods, like rice, are better for that,” Grace pointed out.<br /> <br /> "But livestock can provide high biological value protein, and vitamins and minerals that staple foods are deficient in. Hence, a contribution of 6-36 percent of total protein in the diet is quite important. But we certainly need more research on the appropriate role of livestock products in the diets of the poor, and especially of children. We are currently looking at which type of production is best for poor children's nutrition: is it milk and dairy, or fish, or monogastric [animals with a single stomach, like pigs and poultry]?"<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Prevention<br /> <br /> </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Public agricultural extension services to support farmers in developing countries need to step up to prevent the growth and transmission of zoonoses. "They [extension services] have been neglected and underfunded in many countries. There is also an important role for the media, and for NGOs and civil society. We find that many people in the food chain are 'well-intentioned but ill-informed', and big improvements are possible if people are given more information and simple solutions, like… cheap tests for food safety,” Grace said.<o:p></o:p></span><br /> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" dir="LTR" style="direction: ltr; text-align: justify; unicode-bidi: embed;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"The ongoing technology revolution offers great opportunity for this. For example, encouraging people to report diseases and get advice using special mobile phone apps [applications], or thermo-sensitive stickers that change colour if food is kept at the wrong temperature," she wrote in her email.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

FOOD: More Milk and Meat at a Price

Photo:  Zofeen Ebrahim/IRIN Poultry is often kept and sold in unhygienic conditions in south Asian countries like India JOHANNESBURG ...

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Illegal Felling: Microchips to be Fitted in Sandalwood Trees in S. Indian State

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (NNN-PTI) -- In a bid to check illegal felling of sandalwood, trees will be fitted with microchips soon in south Indian state Kerala. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The state Forest Department is considering a plan to implant microchips in sandalwood trees to prevent its widespread theft in the state. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the initial phase, the project will be implemented at the sandalwood forest in Marayur, state Minister for Forests K B Ganesh Kumar said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Located 42 kms north of Munnar, the Marayur reserve forest is a paradise of naturally grown sandalwood trees. Many recent surveys have found that around 20,000 of nearly 60,000 sandalwood trees there have been plundered in the last eight years. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Ganesh Kumar said his department was holding discussions with Keltron for getting technical support for installing chips to guard against thieves. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“At present, the government has to deploy 68 forest guards every night to protect the precious sandalwood at Marayur," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">R Rajaraja Varma, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, said it is for the first time that the department is considering plan to insert chips in trees to protect them. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">"It is not new to insert chips in animals to track its movements. With the implantation of chips, forest personnels would get alerts if anybody try to steal sandalwoods," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According to market sources, the base price of Marayur sandalwood is Rs 1,100 (USD 19.7) per kilogram. -- NNN-PTI <o:p></o:p></span></div></div>

Illegal Felling: Microchips to be Fitted in Sandalwood Trees in S. Indian State

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (NNN-PTI) -- In a bid to check illegal felling of sandalwood, trees will be fitted with microchips soon in south...

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Earth Just Decades From Doomsday – Scientists

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">MOSCOW (RIA Novosti)--- The Earth is threatened with an abrupt change in the global ecosystem that may cause "a state shift," in as soon as a few decades, a report published on Thursday in the scientific Nature magazine says.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The research by a group of 22 international scientists, including biologists, geologists, paleontologists, ecologists and theoreticians claimed the global ecosystem could soon reach a tipping point as the human population and consumption rates continue to grow. A global “state shift” occurs when from 50 to 90 percent of ecosystems are disrupted, the study says.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">   </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Humans now dominate Earth, changing it in ways that threaten its ability to sustain us and other species," Nature quoted the report as saying.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The consequences of such a global change in the ecosystem are unknown, but the researchers think it could trigger severe changes in world's agriculture, forests, water resources and fisheries, Nature said, adding all these effects could lead to the “widespread social unrest, economic instability and loss of human life.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The scientists deliberately avoided the word “doomsday” in their findings, calling it a “tipping point.”</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"It really will be a new world, biologically, at that point," Nature quoted Anthony Barnosky, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley as saying.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Barnosky suggested half of the Earth's land would be altered by humans by 2025, adding it would be "disturbingly close" to a potential global tipping point.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div></div>

Earth Just Decades From Doomsday – Scientists

MOSCOW (RIA Novosti)--- The Earth is threatened with an abrupt change in the global ecosystem that may cause "a state shift," in ...

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KENYA: Vanishing Fish Income Forces Livelihood Switch

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jfdK9eN2oOKbG0iqTwavqxHPa2PI48JrVNaP0YGNXXPsqx72i_MHwrmjfRbq-VI0tPq4UiXZm1nLKgT_WrdlsMuySBmlumuQBtbGNjNfESb7n2Yhjt8RPa4esynugZ5iWi4pxnCWTMg/s1600/201206050744140398.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3jfdK9eN2oOKbG0iqTwavqxHPa2PI48JrVNaP0YGNXXPsqx72i_MHwrmjfRbq-VI0tPq4UiXZm1nLKgT_WrdlsMuySBmlumuQBtbGNjNfESb7n2Yhjt8RPa4esynugZ5iWi4pxnCWTMg/s320/201206050744140398.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Overpopulation and overfishing have forced fishing<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">communities to look elsewhere for their income (file photo)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"></span>Photo:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.irinnews.org/photo/"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none;">Kenneth Odiwuor/IRIN</span></a><o:p></o:p></div></td></tr> </tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">KISUMU  (IRIN) - Joseph Obiero, a 35-year-old father of seven, has been a fisherman on Lake Victoria since he was a teenager, but a decline in earnings in recent years means his family can no longer depend solely on fishing. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"When I was a boy helping my father in the lake, he could get five baskets full of fish in a night; now I struggle to get even one basket. I get very little money from fishing these days - there is no fish," he told IRIN. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"These days… I go to Kisumu town [the largest town in western Kenya's Nyanza Province] where I use my 'tuk tuk' [three-wheeled motorcycle taxi] to ferry people for money. If I don’t do that, I can't even take my children to school… I used to save money in the bank, but now it is not easy to feed or clothe my family. It is a struggle to make ends meet," he said. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">When the fishermen return with boats almost empty after a night of fishing on the lake, fish trader Anastasia Magero has to supplement her income by selling vegetables. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Selling vegetables doesn't bring enough money. I used stay at the nearby market centre where I used to pay rent, but I can't do that anymore - I have to walk to the beach from my rural home," she said. "With reduction in fish, I am getting to know what poverty means."</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">An estimated 65,000 people have already lost some income due to reduced earnings from fishing, and another 100,000 could be affected in the next two years, according to Nyanza's provincial planning office. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The Ministry of Fisheries Development says the fisheries sector supports about 80,000 people directly and about 800,000 indirectly. An estimated 60 percent of households in western Kenya rely on fish for food and as a source of income. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Our statistics show that many people who used to sell their goods to fishermen can't do so because they have quickly lost their purchasing power... As fishermen lose jobs, others who depend on them to buy their stuff also do the same," Dickson Mutwi, senior planning officer in Nyanza, told IRIN. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Lake under pressure </b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Experts say rising population and overfishing are deepening poverty for millions of residents around Lake Victoria, the world's second largest fresh water lake. "Population explosion around the lake means many people turn to the lake and also destroy the environment around it, and in just a matter of years these people will experience poverty and hunger on a large scale," warned Charles Mboya, a fisheries lecturer at Western Kenya's Maseno University. "International and local demand for fish and its products is on the increase against a backdrop of reducing fish stocks, which might lead to a vicious struggle for it. We might witness fish wars soon," he said. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The ministry notes that cross-border fish and trade conflict is one of the industry's challenges; an estimated 3.5 million people depend on the lake for their livelihood, either directly or indirectly in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the three countries that share the lake (Kenya’s share of the shoreline is 6 percent). </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In 2009 a diplomatic row broke out between Kenya and Uganda over fishing rights on the tiny disputed island of Migingo, which is near a rich breeding ground for Nile perch. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In addition to overfishing, the effects of climate change - including prolonged droughts and increased lake salinity - are also contributing to the reduction in fish stocks. "Reducing fish catch is not just a matter of overfishing but also climate change... There is increased salinity and acidification of water and this destroys the natural habitats of fish," Paul Obade, a researcher at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, told IRIN. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"The biggest threat to Lake Victoria is the unsustainable use of its waters and the resources in it; excessive fishing devoid of any measures to replenish what is being used has seen fish diminish very fast, and particularly Nile perch," said Mboya.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Support for fish farming </span></b></span><br /> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"It is important to have alternative ways to ensure that not all our fish resources come from the lakes, and for that reason the government is promoting fish farming as an alternative sources of food and income," said Okumu Makogola, an official at the Fisheries Ministry. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The government has started a number of measures to boost fish production and provide employment to fishing communities; to date, 48,000 fish ponds have been constructed in160 constituencies across the country, creating 120,000 jobs, according to government officials. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">At Dunga Fishermen Cooperative Society in Kisumu, local fishermen working on an International Labour Organization project are breeding thousands of fish which they later release into the lake. The cooperative is also discouraging fishermen from using nets that trawl smaller fish and deplete species. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">"Through aquaculture, we have cages where we raise fish inside the lake, where they breed. Today we have some 20 cages each carrying 2,000 fish. We will breed more, and we will spread this initiative to other 285 fish landing beaches," said Maurice Ochieng, head of the cooperative. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The cooperative is also discouraging fishermen from using nets that trawl smaller fish and deplete species. "The use of chemicals to catch fish is also increasing but we have started to help the police arrest such people," said Ochieng. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /> </div></div>

KENYA: Vanishing Fish Income Forces Livelihood Switch

Overpopulation and overfishing have forced fishing communities to look elsewhere for their income (file photo) Photo:   Kenneth Odiwuor/IR...

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