CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

Polar bear’s epic nine-day swim

(image from CABI Images)

Whilst browsing through my Facebook friends’ status update, I came across a post of a recent news report in the BBC Earth News webpage reporting that a polar bear swam continuously for over nine days, covering 687 km, and then intermittently swam and walked on the sea ice surface an additional 1,800 km. The epic journey was recorded by scientists studying bears around the Beaufort Sea, in north of Alaska. Polar bears are known to swim between land and sea icecaps to hunt seals, but this is the first time an animal that spends most of its time on the surface of the sea ice was observed swimming for such a long distance in extremely cold water. Read on to find out why.

Redesigning the global food system

Two weeks ago I wrote on Hand picked about a Worldwatch Institute report on how agricultural innovations could help to feed our growing population. This week saw the launch of another major report on global food security. The report by Foresight, the UK Government's futures think tank, argues for fundamental change to the global food system if a rapidly expanding global population is to be fed over the next 40 years.

The Foresight project 'Global Food and Farming Futures' has examined how a rapidly expanding global population can be fed in a healthy and sustainable way. With threats to the food system including changes in the climate, competition for resources such as water supply and energy, and changing consumption patterns, the report highlights the considerable challenges to sustaining the world's food supply.

Nourishing the planet: Agricultural innovations to feed the world

With nearly a billion people still undernourished, and the global population projected to hit 7 billion later this year, the world continues to grapple with the issues of how to feed our growing population. Changing dietary patterns in countries such as China as the population becomes more affluent, and diversion of some agricultural land for biofuel production, add to the pressure to produce affordable food for more people with finite land area and resources. The need is especially acute in Africa, where the population is growing more rapidly than in the rest of the world, but where food production has been lagging behind. The Worldwatch Institute yesterday released its State of the World 2011 report, which looks at how agricultural innovations may help to feed Africa.

Talking up the humble apple

Photo: Robert Taylor

After moving house recently I gained a tree full of Bramley apples, a variety used for cooking. This autumn I stored some, ate quite a lot and gave away more. Now as January wears on I still have loads that won't keep much longer. Our apple consumption has increased. My colleagues' and friends' apple consumption has increased. Visitors beware. I can believe the stats that say apples are one of the most consumed fruits. But what about that old adage 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away'? is it true...is apple consumption good for you?

Off the bee-ten track

 
When I was at university and my professor’s papers were published in a journal, he would crack open a bottle of champagne, but I imagined that something a little softer was shared amongst the recently-published researchers of ‘Blackawton Bees’ in Biology Letters, because they are 8 to 10 years old! 

Sudden Oak Death – the ‘foot and mouth’ of trees

Hundreds of thousands of trees are being felled in the UK to try and prevent spread of Sudden Oak Death. The disease, caused by the fungus Phytophthora ramorum, came to the UK in 2003 via imported plants from America where it mainly infects oaks. European species of oak have a high resistance to the disease but it has jumped to other species such as larch and is spreading quickly.

Recipe to mitigate Climate Change in 182 steps

Protect Our Water and Environment Resources (POWER), a North Halton Hill’s environmental organization, has released a 32-page online publication listing 182 steps that we can take in the home and on the move (transportation) to mitigate global warming and climate change. The publication explains, in a clear and accessible language, the reasons for adopting each step in terms of climate change and cost saving. The steps were made interesting by being related to types of meals and were divided into levels called fast food, home cooking and gourmet cuisine. The introduction explains global warming and climate change and describes the causes for the increase in CO2 concentrations, which is also done in an accessible manner for the non-expert.

How will climate change affect plant health?

As weather patterns shift around the world due to changing climates, so this brings new challenges to crop protection. Pests and diseases can become a problem in new areas, or appear earlier, making it necessary to change crop protection practices. Conversely, some pests and diseases may become less of a problem as conditions become less favourable to them. In Brazil, the Climapest project is examining the potential effects of climate change on crop health, in order to guide policies and provide options enabling one of the world's biggest agricultural producers to adapt to changing conditions. As IPS (Inter Press Service) reports, the project recently brought together 134 researchers from 37 institutions to discuss the issues.

 
Oil palm plantation