Jan 18th

Win-Win-Win: Slash Carbon, Methane and Black Carbon Emissions, for better Climate, Human Health and Agriculture

By Nell Crowden

Study: Simple measures could reduce global warming, save lives

By Brian Vastag and Juliet Eilperin,
Published: January 12                                    

Simple, inexpensive measures to cut emissions of two common pollutants will slow global warming, save millions of lives and boost crop production around the world, an international team of scientists reported Thursday.
Jan 12th

Carbon Trust Public Sector Programmes 2012/13

By Nell Crowden
Call for Expressions of Interest: Carbon Trust Public Sector Programmes 2012/13
 
The Carbon Trust is pleased to be able to offer the following public sector programmes in 2012/13.  Please consider carefully where you are in your carbon management journey and let us know which programme(s) you would be interested in working with us on by emailing publicsector@carbontrust.co.uk .  The collaborative nature of our programmes allows us to provide uniquely cost-effective support, as well as allowing you to learn from similar organisations doing similar projects.
 
Jan 11th

UK members, reclaim your sunshine!

By Nell Crowden
Join 10:10's Lighter Later campaign - Parliament votes on 20th January, so contact your MP asap via the website here. It's super easy!

"The idea is simple: we shift the clocks forward by one hour throughout the entire year. We would still put the clocks forward in spring and back in autumn, but we would have moved an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening, when more of us are awake to enjoy it...... Cutting carbon and making life better can and should go hand in hand."
Jan 9th

Ideas for your resolution...

By Sarah Walpole
I enjoyed this blog suggesting new years resolutions that you could make for a healthier planet. I challenge anyone to say that they already do all of these actions for more sustainable living!..

http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/going-green-12-simple-steps-for-2012/
Jan 4th

Climate Change, Rising Sea Levels and Mosquito-Borne Diseases

By ranjan ramasamy
Mosquito-borne diseases, like malaria, filariasis, dengue and chikungunya, are a major cause of ill health and deaths in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The impacts of global climate change on the biology of mosquito vectors and therefore the transmission of the diseases has attracted significant attentions and many models have been generated. In general the models predict that the diseases can spread to higher latitudes and altitudes as a result of climate change. We have recently proposed that a rise in sea levels, consequent to global warming, can expand larval development habitats of salinity-tolerant mosquitoes, and lead to greater disease transmission in coastal areas [1]. This effect may be particularly pronounced in small islands and countries with long stretches of coastline in the tropics.
Jan 3rd

Happy new year, let's fight some GLOBESITY!

By Nell Crowden
Hello all, I'd love to introduce you to my current favourite book - a fabulous way to kick-start your new year with some really inspiring stories, very easy to read, and smuggles in lots of solid science too. 

Fighting Globesity by Philip and Jackie Mills, M.D.,

"Globesity is a term we use to describe the relationship that currently operates between personal fitness, national health systems and global sustainability.
Dec 16th

How to avoid an 18th COP out.

By robin stott

Three separate  images from the recent COP 17  in Durban, where I was as an observer on behalf of the Climate and Health council, frame my view  of how we can rescue the COP process from its terminal decline. We might then have a better chance of  rescuing the Globe from a three degree increase in temperature , with the 70% predicted species extinction and the  unimaginable human catastrophe that  this will produce.

The first is the widely distributed photo of The UNFCC executive secretary Ms Christiana Figueres  ,the EU chief negotiator Ms Connie Hedegaard , and the South African chair of the conference Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane turning the tables in the last few hours of negotiations. The caption could well have been ‘It takes the efforts of three women to rescue some semblance of progress from the negotiations,and to avert catastrophe.’

Dec 14th

WHO: Health issues gain traction at UN Climate Conference

By Nell Crowden

Health issues gain traction at UN Climate Conference

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change - Conference of the Parties (COP-17) Nov 28–Dec 9 2011

For the first time since the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was signed in 1992, health is gaining notice as a key goal of climate policies and as a priority in climate mitigation and adaptation actions.

Up until recently, the level of health representation in the negotiations has taken very low, usually with just a single side event dedicated to the issue.

This year's meeting, in contrast, hosts the largest health presence to date. Nearly a dozen side events are highlighting different dimensions of the links between health and climate,

Dec 13th

Hugh's views on COP17

By Nell Crowden

Professor Hugh Montgomery reports back on COP17:

Let us deal first with available data, and the latest climate science. 
1990 was the benchmark year for emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol. Since then, world emissions have risen- not fallen- by 49%. Average increases have been 3.1% per year for each and every one of the last ten years, with emissions rising by nearly 6% last year alone.  These rises are FAR in excess of the past 'worst case' projections.

Dec 11th

Health leaders call for urgent action on climate

By Taruna Gupta
International health leaders in Durban for the global climate talks have called on negotiators 
to push for the most ambitious commitments possible, warning that the direction of current
negotiations risks the lives of billions of people around the globe.

See online:
http://www.climateandhealthcare.org/health-leaders-call-for-urgent-action-on-climate-2/

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=yz2D7RCcFZVjZNYMmQn%2BWaWWTkBiL7XY>