Malaria

Great introductory video here on Malaria

Searching using Google

I know this is very American but these ideas may come handy to start off Adv Higher searches this year. A lot more needed though - in case you are thinking "I know this already"!

Biofuel caused food crisis

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% according to a World Bank report. Rising food prices have pushed 100m people worldwide below the poverty line, estimates the World Bank, and have sparked riots from Bangladesh to Egypt. Government ministers here have described higher food and fuel prices as "the first real economic crisis of globalisation". It argues that production of biofuels has distorted food markets in three main ways. First, it has diverted grain away from food for fuel, with over a third of US corn now used to produce ethanol and about half of vegetable oils in the EU going towards the production of biodiesel. Second, farmers have been encouraged to set land aside for biofuel production. Third, it has sparked financial speculation in grains, driving prices up higher. Supporters of biofuels argue that they are a greener alternative to relying on oil and other fossil fuels, but even that claim has been disputed by some experts. Read the complete Guardian article here.
Also of interest might be this page. The Independent also discusses this matter here.

Bioenergy: Fuelling the food crisis?

Biofuel uses the energy contained in organic matter - crops like sugarcane and corn - to produce ethanol, an alternative to fossil-based fuels like petrol.
But campaigners claim the heavily subsidised biofuel industry is fundamentally immoral, diverting land which should be producing food to fill human stomachs to produce fuel for car engines.
But all experts are at pains to highlight that the biofuel situation in Brazil and the US is very different. Find out how and why here.

Orang-utan protest

Environmental protesters dressed as orang-utans today staged demonstrations against Unilever to highlight the destruction of the Indonesian rainforest. A Greenpeace report says companies that supply Unilever with palm oil are destroying the Indonesian rainforest. Read here.

EU set to scrap biofuels target amid fears of food crisis

Under the proposals, to be turned into law within a year, biofuels are to supply a tenth of all road vehicle fuel by 2020 as part of the drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20%. Britain has set its own biofuels targets, which saw 2.5% mixed into all petrol and diesel fuel sold on petrol stations in the UK. The government wants to increase that to 5% within two years, but has admitted that the environmental concerns could force them to rethink. The target is being strongly criticised by the commission's own scientific experts and advisers to the EU. "The diversion of crops to fuel can raise food prices and reduce our ability to alleviate hunger," warned an agricultural scientist. Germany recently announced a retreat from its biofuel policies. Read the full article here.

Biofuel rules 'could make millions homeless'

The aid charity, Oxfam, has warned that 60 million people in Asia, Africa and South America are threatened with possible eviction to make way for "green" fuel plantations, whether palm oil, soya or sugar cane.
Article here

Biofuel Essay help

Lizzie - some help here with this article to help you explain the Brazil situation. Hope it is easy to understand! Independent article here.
Another one here to look at too! Might be a good idea to read others bits on this page.

Biofuels

Gordon Brown raised fresh concerns about the impact of biofuels yesterday, as he put rising food prices on the world agenda by writing to fellow G8 leaders to prepare an international package on food scarcity.
More here and other articles too here.
Independent article here.

Floodplain use

Jennifer try this one! Have a good (hard working!!!!) weekend
http://www.ilankelman.org/miscellany/BuildOnFloodplains.rtf

Kirsty two for you to look at on the one child policy here and here.

Sorry Lizzie nothing for you!

Biofuels: Fields of dreams

See link
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3489640.ece

2008: The year of global food crisis

Millions more of the world's most vulnerable people are facing starvation. More than 73 million people in 78 countries that depend on food handouts from the United Nations World Food Programme.
The threat of malnutrition is the world's forgotten problem'', says the World Bank. The increasing cost of grains is also pushing up the price of meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products. High prices have already prompted a string of food protests around the world, with tortilla riots in Mexico, disputes over food rationing in West Bengal and protests over grain prices in Senegal, Mauritania and other parts of Africa. In Yemen, children have marched to highlight their hunger, while in London last week hundreds of pig farmers protested outside Downing Street. In India last year, more than 25,000 farmers took their own lives, driven to despair by grain shortages and farming debts. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted that, over the next 100 years, a one-metre rise in sea levels would flood almost a third of the world's crop-growing land. Another key driver is the soaring cost of oil. Increased food prices and their threat - not only to people but also to political stability.

Why are we growing food to feed cars instead of people?

Biofuels, have been sold as the solution to global warming. Making fuels from growing crops is the way to cut climate pollution while continuing to drive, we are told. Is this correct? But now experts are warning that this could all be a huge mistake. Converting large amounts of land to crops for biofuels is reducing food production just when the world needs to increase it. There are plans by more than 20 countries to boost production of biofuels over the next decade. The European Union is aiming to make biofuels 10% of all transport fuels by 2020. Read the rest here. Read the comments too Lizzy.

Food crisis will take hold before climate change

A leading scientist said that climate change would lead to pressure on food supplies because of decreased rainfall in many areas and crop failures related to climate.
Read more on this here and here. Yes this means you Lizzy!

Biofuels move forward

Climate change talks in Brazil ended without a deal on carbon emissions, but progress was made on biofuels. Watch here.

Pros and Cons of biofuels

Biofuel demand leading to human rights abuses, report claims
EU politicians should reject targets for expanding the use of biofuels because the demand for palm oil is leading to human rights abuses in Indonesia, an environmental groups claimed today.
A new report, said that increasing demands for palm oil for food and biofuels was causing millions of hectares of forests to be cleared for plantations and destroying the livelihoods of indigenous peoples.
Good one to read Lizzie! Look at the links at the bottom of the page too. Click photo for link.

Biofuels make climate change worse, scientific study concludes.

Growing crops to make biofuels results in vast amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere and does nothing to stop climate change or global warming, according to the first thorough scientific audit of a biofuel's carbon budget.
Scientists have produced damning evidence to suggest that biofuels could be one of the biggest environmental con-tricks because they actually make global warming worse by adding to the man-made emissions of carbon dioxide that they are supposed to curb.
Read the rest here

Response to the great Global Warming Swindle

Two extreme viewpoints here and here. Good background reading for Higher and possible Issue topic for adv Higher. Some nice responses to the programme here.

Biofuels Issues

Lizzie Two for you!
Biofuel and those orangutans.

China Cheats

One for you Kirsty!

Good also for Higher revision of Development and Health and Int also.
China's celebrities 'buy' extra children· Anger over wealthy breaking one-child rule· Beijing to impose higher penalties to enforce law. Link here


Kirsty – also have a look at this site to get you going with your issues essay,

Raising use of biofuels would harm the planet, says report

Biofuels often increase greenhouse gas emissions and exacerbate the climate change that they were supposed to avoid, a committee of MPs concluded.
The report accused the Government and the European Union of reckless support for biofuels that encouraged the destruction of forests. MPs recognised that second-generation biofuels could be useful in the fight against climate change, but said that it would be a decade before they could make an impact. Read the rest here.

Biofuels 'do more harm than good'

Controversial plans to make cars greener by using fuel made from crops and animal fat will be thrown into doubt this week when MPs are expected to question whether they will do more harm than good. From April, petrol and diesel sold in the UK must have 2.5 per cent biofuels, drawn from sources such as tallow, rapeseed and sugar beet, rising to 5 per cent in two years' time. The EU wants to increase this to 10 per cent by 2020. Read the rest here.