May
17

Little rain for Europe before June

Tag: Climate

Parts of central Europe received than 40 percent of their mean rainfall from February to April. Dry conditions are expected to continue in most parts of Europe adding pressure to the commodity market. The unusually dry spring in top EU wheat producers France, Germany and Britain has revived drought fears after a dry summer in 2010 ravaged Russian and Ukrainian wheat harvests -- driving a surge in food prices around the world.News report:Little rain for Europe's farmers before June - LONDON (Reuters) - Drought in much of Europe looks set to continue with little relief for parched farmland until June at the earliest, forecasters say. [Reuters Environment]

May
17

Dubious assumptions prime population bomb

In a recent news article in Nature, the author Fred Pearce examined the assumption behind the latest estimate of the population growth. The global  population expected to rise one more billion by the end of the century. However, the author points to the paradox of the future fertility rate and suggests a change in perception in child birth. Since most life threatening diseases for the babies are declining now, modern women choose not to have more number of babies as compared to their grandmothers.

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Apr
29

More rain ; more virus ?

Tag: Ecosystem

Precipitation levels and species biodiversity may affect humans' exposure to zoonotic diseases (those carried by other animals) reports a new Nature article.

Apr
29

Agulhas system influences climate

Tag: Ocean

Role of the Agulhas system in ocean circulation and climate is recently reviewed by a series of authors in a Nature review article. As it is understood now that the Atlantic Ocean receives warm and saline water from the Indian and Pacific Ocean via Agulhas system around the southern tip of Africa.