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Farmworkers continue to experience excessive heat even after leaving the fields, shows research

Hot weather may be the work environment for the 1.4 million farmworkers in the United States who harvest crops, but new research shows that these workers continue to experience excessive heat and humidity even after leaving the fields.

14 Jun 2013

Weather may influence transmission of West Nile, chikungunya, and other viral disease

Urban epidemics resulting from viral diseases, such as West Nile fever and chikungunya fever, are transmitted by infected mosquitoes.

4 Jun 2013

Deaths linked to warming climate may rise in Manhattan, say researchers

Residents of Manhattan will not just sweat harder from rising temperatures in the future, says a new study; many may die. Researchers say deaths linked to warming climate may rise some 20 percent by the 2020s, and, in some worst-case scenarios, 90 percent or more by the 2080s.

20 May 2013

Wheat Initiative: 60% increase in wheat production needed by 2050

By 2050, a 60% increase in wheat production will be needed to meet the demand of a growing population. The Wheat Initiative, an international consortium gathering public institutions and private companies, was created as part of the 2011 action plan of the G20 Agricultural Ministries to coordinate global wheat research and participate to global food security.

18 May 2013

WHO: Single dose of vaccination sufficient to confer life-long immunity against yellow fever disease

The yellow fever 'booster' vaccination given ten years after the initial vaccination is not necessary, according to WHO.

17 May 2013

Humans: The primary cause of global climate change

Do most scientists agree that human activity is causing global climate change? Yes, they do, according to an extensive analysis of the abstracts or summaries of scientific papers published over the past 20 years, even though public perception tends to be that climate scientists disagree over the fundamental cause of climate change.

17 May 2013

Study: Certain racial groups are more likely to suffer from effects of climate change

Some racial groups are more likely to bear the brunt of extreme heat waves because of where they live, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

15 May 2013

Virginia Tech researchers identify leptospirosis as a major health threat in Botswana

The newest public health threat in developing countries may not be a cinematic-quality emerging disease but actually a disease from animals that was identified more than 100 years ago.

15 May 2013

Royal Society elects scientists from JIC for advances in antibiotic discovery and in crop improvement

Two scientists from the John Innes Centre have been elected as Fellows of the Royal Society, the premier scientific accolade in the UK. Their breakthroughs in fundamental research have pioneered advances in antibiotic discovery and in crop improvement from which we all benefit.

6 May 2013

Experts report new outbreaks and increased spread of Cassava Brown Streak Disease

Cassava experts are reporting new outbreaks and the increased spread of Cassava Brown Streak Disease or CBSD, warning that the rapidly proliferating plant virus could cause a 50 percent drop in production of a crop that provides a significant source of food and income for 300 million Africans.

6 May 2013

Agricultural biodiversity plays key role in food and nutritional security

While over 1 billion people are overweight and obese around the world, an estimated 868 million are undernourished. This paradox is explored in a new book, Diversifying Food and Diets, co-edited by Professor Danny Hunter who is an Adjunct Lecturer in Botany and Plant Science at NUI Galway.

2 May 2013

Packard Children's recognized for leadership in health care food service

Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford has been honored with the "Food, Climate, Health Connection Award" from the Health Care Without Harm Healthy Food in Health Care program.

25 Apr 2013

New study of Antarctic clams reveals age matters when it comes to adapting to effects of climate change

A new study of Antarctic clams reveals that age matters when it comes to adapting to the effects of climate change. The research provides new insight and understanding of the likely impact of predicted environmental change on future ocean biodiversity.

22 Apr 2013

Private sector involvement, measuring results are key to ending poverty

Noting two global development goals recently proposed by World Bank President Jim Kim -- "to end extreme poverty, with a target reduce the global extreme poverty rate to three percent by 2030" and "to promote shared prosperity, fostering income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country" -- Nigel Twose, director of International Finance Corporation's newly created development impact department, writes in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, "While many threats remain -- including, most notably, the risk that climate change will reverse past gains -- today many developing countries can realistically aspire to end extreme poverty within a generation."

17 Apr 2013

New data on T cells' protective role suggests need for new approach to dengue vaccine design

As efforts to create a strong and effective vaccine for the dreaded dengue virus continue to hit snags, a new study from researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology offers surprising evidence that suggests the need for a revamped approach to dengue vaccine design.

15 Apr 2013

Disease burden from air pollution underestimated, U.N. reports

"Air pollution is an underestimated scourge that kills far more people than AIDS and malaria and a shift to cleaner energy could easily halve the toll by 2030, U.N. officials said on Tuesday" at a conference in Oslo focusing on new development goals for the post-2015 development agenda, Reuters reports.

11 Apr 2013

New Orleans to host scientific conference on energy and food

Renowned for its cuisine and chefs and as a global hub of the energy industry, New Orleans this week hosts what news media have described as the "World Series of Science," one of the year's largest and most important scientific conferences.

8 Apr 2013

Global interconnectedness influences population health

In a global health review article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Anthony McMichael of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University examines the effects of globalization and "international connectivity" on "human health, international health care, and public health activities."

5 Apr 2013

Ending extreme poverty by 2030 is possible, World Bank President says

"World Bank President Jim Kim has unveiled a series of new institutional goals aimed at ending extreme poverty by 2030 and focusing on the promotion of 'shared prosperity' -- increasing the incomes of the poorest 40 percent in each country while placing increased focus on dealing with climate change," Inter Press Service reports.

4 Apr 2013

Policymakers should help improve food security in urban areas, report says

"Tackling hunger is not only a question of producing more food in rural areas, but requires looking at why poor urban populations struggle to eat enough -- a problem aggravated by climate change, a report from the International Institute for Environment and Development said on Thursday," AlertNet reports.

3 Apr 2013