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Paper examines global health and climate change

In paper published online by the journal Globalization and Health, Kathryn Bowen and Sharon Friel of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University examine how global health fits into climate change adaptation activities.

30 May 2012

Better urban planning is key to improving health of 60% of global population that will be living in cities by 2030

The proportion of the world’s population that lives in cities has been steadily rising, so that 3 in 5 of all people globally will live in a city by 2030. The UCL (University College London)/Lancet Commission on Healthy Cities explores the many issues other than health services that contribute to population health in a city environment.

30 May 2012

Outcomes of next month's Rio+20 summit will have 'deep repercussions' for future generations

In this post in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog," Gro Harlem Brundtland and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, both of whom are involved in Elders+Youngers, an inter-generational dialogue on the future of the planet initiated by the Elders, a group of eminent global leaders working together for peace and human rights, comment on a "lack of urgency in the run-up to the Rio+20 summit next month," writing, "The meeting provides a historic opportunity to chart a sustainable future for the world," but "at the moment, there is a real chance the opportunity will be thrown away."

30 May 2012

Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly covers some of the biggest challenges facing public health

The Sixty-fifth World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues. The six days of discussions involved nearly 3000 delegates, including health ministers and senior health officials from amongst the 194 WHO Member States, as well as representatives from civil society and other stakeholders.

28 May 2012

NRDC's report estimates heat-related death in top U.S. cities

More than 150,000 additional Americans could die by the end of this century due to excessive heat caused by climate change, according to a detailed analysis of peer-reviewed scientific data by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

24 May 2012

Arctic accumulation of mercury comes from rivers

Environmental scientists at Harvard have discovered that the Arctic accumulation of mercury, a toxic element, is caused by both atmospheric forces and the flow of circumpolar rivers that carry the element north into the Arctic Ocean.

21 May 2012

To maintain growth, Africa needs to improve food security, UNDP report says

"Africa needs to boost agricultural productivity and address the debilitating hunger that affects 27 percent of its population if it is to sustain its economic boom, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said in a report on Tuesday," Reuters reports.

16 May 2012

Leishmaniasis vaccine trial begins in U.S., India

"A vaccine against one of the most neglected yet fatal tropical diseases is being tested for the first time in a clinical trial in India and the U.S.," IRIN reports. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), "also called kala-azar or black fever, infects an estimated half million persons or more annually," and "it is found most commonly in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Brazil and Sudan," the news service notes.

10 May 2012

DFG to establish seven new research units

The establishment of six new Research Units and one Clinical Research Unit has been decided by the Joint Committee of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation). These networks will offer researchers the opportunity to address current and pressing issues in their fields and to pioneer innovative approaches. As all DFG Research Units, the new groups will work across locations and disciplines. Clinical Research Units combine clinical, applied and basic research.

8 May 2012

Man-made waterways contribute to malaria breeding grounds, study suggests

A recent study, conducted by Elizabeth Whitcombe, visiting senior research scholar at the earth system science interdisciplinary center at the University of Maryland, and published in the May 13 issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, "mapped meteorological, irrigation and medical reports during British rule in India" and concluded modern-day India should learn lessons from the past to improve engineering plans and epidemiological "modeling of environmental factors controlling vector borne disease," especially malaria, SciDev.Net reports.

8 May 2012

Obama features health care law, contraception efforts in campaign kick-off speech

News outlets report that the president attacked his likely GOP rival, Mitt Romney, while highlighting his own health care record.

7 May 2012

Europe becoming 'hotspot' for emerging infections, study suggests

"Europe is becoming a 'hotspot' for emerging infections as those typically confined to tropical climates are making their way north, according to research that links climate change to the global spread of disease," the Financial Times reports.

3 May 2012

Researchers to examine how climate change may affect humans, societies

A new grant to awarded George Mason University's Center for Social Complexity will allow researchers to examine how climate change may affect humans and societies over the next 100 years.

3 May 2012

Two U-M hospitals receive LEED Silver certification

C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital have been awarded LEED Silver certification established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

19 Apr 2012

Earth Day prompts examination of health-care providers' roles in climate change

Physicians and nurses have a role if not "a moral and professional responsibility to act" to help to reduce climate change and help those impacted, say the authors of "Climate Change & Health: Is There a Role for the Health Care Sector?," published by the Catholic Health Association of the United States.

18 Apr 2012

Study: Sharp increase in airborne pollens across Europe

When trees and plants release their pollen, millions of hay fever sufferers are affected by sneezing fits and itchy, watery eyes. Today in Germany, roughly every fourth person suffers from allergies - and this figure is set to rise. Climate change is seen as one of the factors fuelling the increase in allergic responses.

17 Apr 2012

First study to examine long-term effects of climate change on life expectancy

New research from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) suggests that seemingly small changes in summer temperature swings-as little as 1-C more than usual-may shorten life expectancy for elderly people with chronic medical conditions, and could result in thousands of additional deaths each year.

10 Apr 2012

Blood levels of PCBs in polar bear cubs appear to have dropped

It's never been easy to be a polar bear. They may have to go months without eating. Their preferred food, seal, requires enormous luck and patience to catch. Add to that the melting of Arctic sea ice due to climate change, and the poisoning of the Arctic by toxic chemicals, and it's easy to see why polar bears worldwide are in trouble.

30 Mar 2012

Scientists create first full 3-D images of vitamin B12

In a paper published recently in the journal Nature, scientists from the University of Michigan Health System and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report they have created the first full 3-D images of B12 and its partner molecules twisting and contorting as part of a crucial reaction called methyltransfer.

27 Mar 2012

Water scarcity may cause global instability, U.S. intelligence agencies say in report

U.S. intelligence agencies released a report on Thursday warning that "[d]rought, floods and a lack of fresh water may cause significant global instability and conflict in the coming decades, as developing countries scramble to meet demand from exploding populations while dealing with the effects of climate change," the Associated Press reports.

23 Mar 2012