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Although the Grand Canyon segment of the Colorado River features one of the most remote ecosystems in the United States, it is not immune to exposure from toxic chemicals such as mercury according to newly published research in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. The study, led by the U.S. Geological Survey, found that concentrations of mercury and selenium in Colorado River food webs of the Grand Canyon National Park, regularly exceeded risk thresholds for fish and wildlife. 

In 2007, drought struck the bread baskets of Europe, Russia, Canada, and Australia. Global grain stocks were already scant, so wheat prices began to rise rapidly. When countries put up trade barriers to keep their own harvests from being exported, prices doubled, according to an index of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Just 3 years later, another spike in food prices contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings. Such weather-related crop disasters will become more likely with climate change, warns a detailed report released today by the Global Food Security (GFS) program, a network of public research funding agencies in the United Kingdom.

There can be no question that the epic story of our time is our struggle to endure against the threatening demons of our own creation. In that story, China must be the sleeping giant. As the story opens, the giant awakens, searching for a way to improve the livelihood of his people, inadvertently trampling on a number of the Earth’s delicate structures in doing so. Realizing this, a second awakening occurs. But can the giant change direction quickly enough, before too much harm is done?

The damage that re-directed the giant was the realization that fossil fuel emissions, particularly from coal-fired power plants, are pushing atmospheric carbon levels to dangerously high levels. China’s emissions have grown 7 percent annually — far faster than the rest of the world, which is growing at 2.8 percent. Now that we all realize that emissions have to start decreasing, fast, China has pledged to achieve peak emissions by 2030, after which its emissions will begin to decrease.

Las personas que comen alimentos picantes casi a diario, tienen un riesgo 14% menor de muerte en comparación con aquellos que consumen alimentos picantes menos de una vez a la semana, de acuerdo con un nuevo estudio. Los comedores de alimentos picantes regulares tienen también menos probabilidades de morir de cáncer, del corazón y de enfermedades respiratorias, que los que comen alimentos picantes con poca frecuencia.

"Los resultados son muy novedosos", dijo Lu Qi, profesor asociado en el Departamento de Nutrición de la Escuela de Salud Pública de la Universidad Harvard TH Chan, y co-autor principal del estudio. "Basados en nuestro mejor conocimiento, este estudio es el primer reporte de un vínculo entre el consumo de la comida picante y la mortalidad."

El estudio fue publicado en internet el 04 de agosto 2015 en BMJ.

Los investigadores analizaron los datos de salud y dietéticos recogidos de 487,375 personas, de edades entre 30 y 79 años, que se inscribieron entre 2004 a 2008 en el Biobanco de China Kadoorie. Los participantes con un historial de cáncer, enfermedad cardíaca y accidentes cerebrovasculares fueron excluidos del estudio. Durante una mediana de seguimiento de 7,2 años, hubo 11,820 muertes entre hombres y 8,404 muertes entre las mujeres.

Australian and Chinese scientists have made significant progress in determining what causes soil acidification – a discovery that could assist in turning back the clock on degraded croplands.