Friday April 24, 2009

13 Breathtaking Effects of Cutting Back on Meat
By Kathy Freston, AlterNet
Posted on April 22, 2009, Printed on April 22, 2009
My first post on the effect of eating meat on the environment provoked quite a bit of discussion, so in honor of Earth Day, I thought I should follow up with more information about how our natural resources (e.g., air, water, and soil) are depleted and devastated by animal agriculture.
Of course, Earth Day is also a good time to remember that animal agriculture only exists at astronomical levels because people are purchasing vast quantities of chicken, beef, pork, and fish. The market for meat (i.e., we, the consumers) drives the depletion and destruction.

1. Excrement produced by chickens, pigs, and other farm animals: 16.6 billion tons per year -- more than a million pounds per second (that's 60 times as much as is produced by the world's human population -- farmed animals produce more waste in one day than the U.S. human population produces in 3 years). This excrement is a major cause of air and water pollution. According to the United Nations: "The livestock sector is... the largest sectoral source of water pollution, contributing to eutrophication, 'dead' zones in coastal areas, degradation of coral reefs, human health problems, emergence of antibiotic resistance and many others."

2. Water used for farmed animals and irrigating feed crops: 240 trillion gallons per year -- 7.5 million gallons per second (that's enough for every human to take 8 showers a day, or as much as is used by Europe, Africa, and South America combined). According to the UN: "[t]he water used by the sector exceeds 8 percent of the global human water use." As just one example, "[O]n average 990 litres of water are required to produce one litre of milk." So drinking milk instead of tap water requires almost 1,000 times as much water.

3. Emissions of greenhouse gases from raising animals for food: The equivalent of 7.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, according to the UN report. Concludes the UN: "The livestock sector is... responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions." That's about 40 percent more than all the cars, trucks, planes, trains, and ships in the world combined (transport is 13%). And "The sector emits 37% of anthropogenic methane (with 23 times the global warming potential-or GWP-of CO2)... It emits 65% of anthropogenic nitrous oxide (with 296 times the GWP of CO2). These figures are based on the power of these gases over 100 years; in fact, over 20 years-a more important timeframe for dealing with global warming-methane and nitrous oxide are 72 times and 289 times more warming than CO2. And Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the IPCC (which shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore) has been saying that the 18% figure is probably an underestimate.

4. It takes more than 11 times as much fossil fuel to make one calorie of animal protein as it does to make one calorie of plant protein.

5. Soil erosion due to growing livestock feed: 40 billion tons per year (or 6 tons/year for every human being on the planet-of course if you don't eat meat, none of this is attributed to you; if you're in the U.S. where we eat lots more meat than most of the world, your contribution is many times greater than 6 tons/year). About 60% of soil that is washed away ends up in rivers, streams and lakes, making waterways more prone to flooding and to contamination from soil's fertilizers and pesticides. Erosion increases the amount of dust carried by wind, polluting the air and carrying infection and disease.

6. Land used to raise animals for food: 10 billion acres. According to the UN: "In all, livestock production accounts for 70 percent of all agricultural land and 30 percent of the land surface of the planet." And "70 percent of previous forested land in the Amazon is occupied by pastures, and feedcrops cover a large part of the remainder." And "About 20 percent of the world's pastures and rangelands, with 73 percent of rangelands in dry areas, have been degraded to some extent, mostly through overgrazing, compaction and erosion created by livestock action."

7. According to the UN, animal agriculture is a leading case of water pollution. The main water pollutants in the US are sediments and nutrients. Animal agriculture is responsible for 55 percent of the erosion that causes sedimentation, and for a third of the main nutrient pollutants, nitrogen and phosphorous. On top of that, animal agriculture is the source of more than a third of the United States' water pollution from pesticides, and half of its water pollution from antibiotics.

8. Livestock are also responsible for almost two-thirds of anthropogenic ammonia emissions, which contribute significantly to acid rain and acidification of ecosystems.

9. Grain and corn raised for livestock feed that could otherwise feed people, according to the UN: 836 million tons per year (note that the more commonly used figure, 758 million tons, is metric). That's more than 7 times the amount used for biofuels and is much more than enough to adequately feed the 1.4 billion humans who are living in dire poverty, and the number doesn't even include the fact that almost all of the global soy crop (about 240 million tons of soy) is also fed to chickens, pigs, and other farmed animals.

10. An American saves more global warming pollution by going vegan than by switching their car to a hybrid Prius.

11. Razing the Amazon rainforest for pasture and feed crops: 5 million acres of Amazon per year. Former Amazon rainforest converted to raising animals for food since 1970 is more than 90% of all Amazon deforestation since 1970.

12. According to the UN: "Indeed, the livestock sector may well be the leading player in the reduction of biodiversity..." And "[l]ivestock now account for about 20 percent of the total terrestrial animal biomass, and the 30 percent of the earth's land surface that they now pre-empt was once habitat for wildlife." And "Conservation International has identified 35 global hotspots for biodiversity, characterized by exceptional levels of plant endemism and serious levels of habitat loss. Of these, 23 are reported to be affected by livestock production. An analysis of the authoritative World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species shows that most of the world's threatened species are suffering habitat loss where livestock are a factor."

13. United Nations scientists, in their 408-page indictment of the meat industry, sum up these statistics, pointing out that the meat industry is "one of the ... most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global," including "problems of land degradation, climate change and air pollution, water shortage and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity."

Lung tumors destroy cancer-fighting vitamin

LIFE EXTENSIONS April 20, 2009
At the 100th annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, held April 18 to 22, 2009 in Denver, Pamela Hershberger, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) revealed that lung tumor cells eliminate vitamin D, a nutrient that has been associated with anti-cancer activity.
Dr Hershberger and her colleagues previously discovered that an enzyme which breaks down 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (the active form of vitamin D in the body) is significantly overexpressed in lung cancer. Inhibiting this enzyme was demonstrated to increase the potency of vitamin D3 to suppress cell growth in studies using cultured cells.
"High levels of vitamin D help the body produce proteins with anti-tumor activity," explained Dr Hershberger, who is a research assistant professor at UPCI's Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology. "We've discovered that lung cancer cells make an enzyme called CYP24, which counteracts the positive effects of vitamin D. To better study it, we developed the first radioactive-free assay that measures the amount of vitamin D in tissues and blood."
For the current research, mice that received implanted lung tumors were given 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, and tumor and plasma levels of the vitamin were analyzed periodically over the following 24 hours using the new test. The team found that the peak concentration of vitamin D achieved in the tumor induced a rapid increase in CYP24 . Analysis of the data resulted in further evidence that reduced tumor concentrations of vitamin D were attributable to increased expression of the enzyme.
"We hope this new assay will help identify the best approaches to maintain therapeutic levels of vitamin D in tissues," Dr Hershberger stated. She predicted that vitamin D could one day be used as a preventive agent for this deadly form of cancer.
http://www.lef.org/whatshot/2009_04.htm#lung-tumors-destroy-cancer-fighting-vitamin

Walnuts may protect against breast cancer
Last Updated: 2009-04-21 15:00:27 -0400 (Reuters Health)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Eating walnuts may provide women with essential omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and phytosterols that can help reduce the risk of breast cancer, according to the results of an animal study presented today at the American Association for Cancer Research's 100th annual meeting in Denver.
"Walnuts can be considered a valuable part of a healthy diet," principal investigator Dr. Elaine Hardman of Marshall University School of Medicine in Huntington, West Virginia, told Reuters Health. "When you need or want a snack, a few walnuts would be a far better choice than cookies, chips or soda," she said.
Hardman and her colleagues fed genetically altered mice a diet containing what they estimated was the human equivalent of two ounces of walnuts per day. A separate group of mice were fed another diet without walnuts.
Tests showed that walnut consumption significantly decreased the number of mice with at least one tumor, the number of glands containing a tumor and the size of the tumors.
"These laboratory mice typically have 100 percent tumor incidence at five months; walnut consumption delayed those tumors by at least three weeks," Hardman noted in a meeting statement.
Further analysis showed that the walnut-rich diet boosted omega-3 fatty acid concentrations, which contributed to the decline in tumor occurrence, but other components of the walnut contributed as well, the researchers say.
"With dietary interventions you see multiple mechanisms when working with the whole food," Hardman explained. "It is clear that walnuts contribute to a healthy diet that can reduce breast cancer."
http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2009/04/21/eline/links/20090421elin005.html

Low magnesium levels may increase stroke risk

Nutraingredients.com, 22-Apr-2009

Low blood levels of magnesium may increase the risk of stroke by 25 per cent, suggest findings from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.
According to findings published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, increasing levels of the mineral could decrease the risk of ischemic stroke, with the effects related to magnesium’s benefits on blood pressure and for diabetics.
Diet is known to have an impact on a person's risk of having a stroke, and in particular a connection has been made between intake of sodium and hypertension. Conversely, more magnesium, potassium and calcium has been inversely linked to hypertension in some observational studies.
The new study supports the potential of magnesium to reduce the risk of stroke possibly via an anti-hypertensive mechanism, suggest the researchers, led by Aaron Folsom from the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health.
Dietary sources of magnesium include green, leafy vegetables, meats, starches, grains and nuts, and milk. Earlier dietary surveys show that a large portion of adults does not meet the RDA for magnesium (320 mg per day for women and 420 mg per day for men).
Study details
Over 14,000 men and women aged between 45 and 64 took part in the study, and during the course of 15 years of follow-up the researchers documented 577 cases of ischemic stroke. The incidence of stroke was highest amongst diabetics and people with hypertension, added the researchers.
Blood levels of magnesium were negatively associated with the risk of stroke, they said, with levels of 1.6, 1.7, and 1.8 mEq/L linked to a 22, 30, and 25 per cent reduction in stroke, respectively, compared to 1.5 mEq/L.
After the results were adjusted for hypertension and diabetes, the researchers found that the links became non-significant.
"Dietary magnesium intake was marginally inversely associated with the incidence of ischemic stroke," wrote Folsom and his co-workers.
"Low serum magnesium levels could be associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke, in part, via effects on hypertension and diabetes," they concluded.
Magnesium and diabetes
A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies by researchers at Stockholm's Karolinska Institutet, reported that for every 100 milligram increase in magnesium intake, the risk of developing type-2 diabetes decreased by 15 per cent.
Writing in the Journal of Internal Medicine Susanna Larsson and Alicia Wolk concluded that while it is too early to recommend magnesium supplements for type-2 diabetes prevention, increased consumption of magnesium-rich food "seems prudent."
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology
Published online ahead of print, 16 April 2009, doi:10.1093/aje/kwp071
"Serum and Dietary Magnesium and Risk of Ischemic Stroke - The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study"
Authors: T. Ohira, J.M. Peacock, H. Iso, L.E. Chambless, W.D. Rosamond, A.R. Folsom
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/Low-magnesium-levels-may-increase-stroke-risk

Vitamin D may boost heart health during weight loss: Study

Nutraingredients.com, 22-Apr-2009

Supplements of vitamin D may improve cardiovascular health during weight loss, without impacting on how many pounds are shed, suggests a new study.
Writing in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, German researchers report that a daily dose of vitamin of 83 micrograms per day had lower levels on triglycerides and markers of inflammation like tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha).
"The results indicate that a vitamin D supplement of 83 micrograms/d does not adversely affect weight loss and is able to significantly improve several cardiovascular disease risk markers in overweight subjects with inadequate vitamin D status participating in a weight-reduction program," wrote the authors, led by Armin Zittermann from the Clinic for Thorax and Cardiovascular Surgery in Bad Oeynhausen.
With obesity rates still high – not only in developed countries but also, increasingly, in newly wealthy emerging markets, there is considerable attention to ways to trim down waistlines. The results of the new randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial indicate that vitamin D supplements may be useful as a means of boosting heart health during weight loss.
The details on D
Vitamin D refers to two biologically inactive precursors - D3, also known as cholecalciferol, and D2, also known as ergocalciferol. The former, produced in the skin on exposure to UVB radiation (290 to 320 nm), is said to be more bioactive.
While our bodies do manufacture vitamin D on exposure to sunshine, the levels in some northern countries are so weak during the winter months that our body makes no vitamin D at all, meaning that dietary supplements and fortified foods are seen by many as the best way to boost intakes of vitamin D.
In adults, it is said vitamin D deficiency may precipitate or exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases. There is also some evidence that the vitamin may reduce the incidence of several types of cancer and type-1 diabetes.
Study details
Zittermann and his co-workers recruited 200 healthy overweight people with average 25(OH)D levels of 30 nmol/L (12 ng/mL) and randomly assigned them to receive either placebo or vitamin D for one year. All the subjects also participated in a weight-reduction program.
At the end of the study, 25(OH)D levels increased in the D group by 55.5 nmol/L, but by only 11.8 nmol/L in the placebo group. Furthermore, a 26.5 per cent reduction in levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) were observed in the D group, compared with 18.7 per cent in the placebo group. "High blood concentrations of parathyroid hormone […] are considered new cardiovascular disease risk markers," explained the authors.
Improvements in triglycerides levels were also observed in the vitamin D group, with a 13.5 per cent decrease noted compared with a 3.0 per cent increase in the placebo group.
Finally, levels of the marker of inflammation TNF-alpha decreased by 10.2% per cent following vitamin D supplementation, compared with 3.2 per cent in the placebo group.
"The beneficial biochemical effects were independent of the loss in body weight, fat mass, and sex," noted the researchers.
On the downside, the researchers noted that participants receiving the vitamijn D supplements did experience an average 5.4 per cent increase in their levels of LDL-cholesterol.
Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
May 2009, Volume 89, Pages 1321-1327, doi:10.3945/ajcn.2008.27004
"Vitamin D supplementation enhances the beneficial effects of weight loss on cardiovascular disease risk markers"
Authors: A. Zittermann, S. Frisch, H.K. Berthold, C. Götting, J. Kuhn, K. Kleesiek, P. Stehle, H. Koertke, R. Koerfer
http://www.nutraingredients.com/Research/
Vitamin-D-may-boost-heart-health-during-weight-loss-Study

What Obama means for functional foods and supplements

 20-Jan-2009

As we enter the Obama era today, NutraIngredients-USA.com examines the likely effects of the much-awaited Congressional shift on the functional foods and dietary supplements industries. According to industry veteran Loren Israelsen, the road ahead could be less than positive – especially for supplements.
By all accounts, the election and inauguration of Barak Obama as 44th President of the United States is an event matched by few others in modern American history.
Despite a very severe financial crisis and economic recession, there is a palpable sense of hopefulness that he will reestablish America as a global partner that listens, cooperates and understands the role of government to act as a protector and conservator of natural resources, and as a sensible regulator that protects consumers’ interests while not stifling business growth and opportunity.
Big job. But first, let’s take a look at the truly big picture. President Obama inherits: A deep recession; a jobless rate that will likely climb into the double digits; an auto industry on life support; a massive federal deficit that will push past $2 trillion; banking and retail industries that teeter on the edge; and a tremendous urgency to address and repair Medicare, Medicaid and, most important, America’s healthcare system.
Against this backdrop, the dietary supplement and functional food industry is a minnow in a sea of sharks. Notwithstanding, there are big issues awaiting us. In this article, we will look at some of the players on the supplement/functional food chess board.
The White House chess board
President Obama comes to our industry tabula rasa. We know little about his personal views or use of supplements. His only legislative history is sponsoring a bill to ban the sale of ephedra in the state of Illinois while in that state’s legislature. There are many tantalizing – possibly mythical – rumors of organic gardens on the White House grounds, which if true suggest he and his well-liked wife Michelle fit the profile of LOHAS consumers. But all of this remains to be seen.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services will be Tom Daschle – former majority leader of the Senate and author of a book titled ‘Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis’.
Widely seen as a good choice, Secretary Daschle’s biggest challenge will be entitlement programs: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. He will also have to deal with rebuilding a dispirited and ‘broken’ FDA that has been heavily criticized for approving new prescription drugs only to have them withdrawn from market for safety problems, bungling the management of food safety, and losing many of their best and brightest employees who grew weary over the political meddling of the past White House.
Joining Secretary Daschle is Bill Corr, Deputy Secretary of HHS and a former staff member to Congressman Henry Waxman. Another name to remember is Mark Childress who has been named HHS Chief of Staff. Mr Childress was formerly of Senator Kennedy’s staff and not a friend to the supplement industry.
Finally, another former Waxman staffer, Phil Schillero, has been named White House Legislative Director. We will return to Congressman Waxman shortly.
The Senate threat to DSHEA
Elsewhere in the Senate, our long-time champions Senators Hatch and Harkin remain the primary defenders of DSHEA and the natural products industry. They remain very senior and respected members of the Senate, and yet they will be called upon once again to protect and build on DSHEA, with no new champions of equal stature on the horizon. There are a number of younger members who have signaled their interest and support for natural health issues, and must now be seasoned and tested to demonstrate they can share the work of advancing DSHEA and related matters in the new Congress.
The two key players to follow will be Senator Richard Durbin, Senior Senator of Illinois and No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, and Chairman Henry Waxman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
Senator Richard Durbin was one of the first important political figures to endorse Senator Obama and has become a trusted friend, confidant and advisor. Senator Durbin is the most vocal critic of DSHEA in the US Congress.
Herein lies the greatest threat to DSHEA – not an open legislative challenge of current law but rather a quiet discussion between the President and a key advisor that would both set a tone and create the pathway to change DSHEA or grant FDA new authority that could have the effect of limiting access to dietary supplements.
Then we have Chairman Henry Waxman, also a vocal critic of supplements in the Congress and now Chairman of the most powerful committee in the House (Energy and Commerce) which has direct jurisdiction over FDA.
Many of the key White House and HHS appointments noted above have worked for Chairman Waxman, thus creating a fraternity of experienced and now very influential policy makers who have both motive and means to take up the issue of how supplements should be regulated. Again, there are many other pressing issues that demand first attention, but we are now on notice that a battle once won may not be over yet.
Principle piece of the puzzle
The final piece of this puzzle will be the FDA Commissioner yet to be named. There are several names being floated, but at this writing there has been no one confirmed as yet.
That position will truly determine the political zeitgeist for the supplement and functional food world for years to come.
If I had to list a few flashpoint issues that will likely arise in the coming months, they would include:
· The use of stimulants in foods and supplements. How should they be regulated?
· The role of supplements in the military.
· A crack-down on imported drugs and dietary ingredients that contain undeclared spiked pharmaceuticals.
· The need to ‘sift’ the materials coming from China to screen out the bad while encouraging the high end manufacturers that produce superior quality ingredients.
· June 2009 is the effective date for the majority of the supplement industry for GMP compliance. Will FDA dramatically increase inspections, and will we see a true reform of manufacturing quality as a result?
In the coming months, we will have a much clearer understanding of how this new cast of players will begin to affect the world of supplements and functional foods. One thing I can say for sure is there will be changes.
After weeks of behind-the-scenes negotiating, President Obama has named Margaret Hamburg and Joshua Sharfstein as FDA Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner respectively.
What can the dietary supplements and functional food industries expect from this duo?
The clues come from President Obama himself. On March 14, 2009, in a radio speech, he stated: “There are certain things only a government can do, and one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat and the medicines we take are safe and do not cause us harm.”
He also noted that many of the US food safety laws have “not been updated since they were written in the time of Teddy Roosevelt [a reference to 1906] and that FDA is underfunded and understaffed”. These comments are a direct reference to food safety failures of melamine, spinach, ground beef, and peanut butter as well as the Rx drug heparin and other important prescription drugs withdrawn from the market due to safety reasons.
The President has given the FDA money, manpower and a mandate to fix the food and drug safety systems.
Clampdown
But how exactly will this new FDA team affect the supplements and functional food sectors? The expected measures will not be specific attacks on these categories but rather the effect of a rising tide on all FDA-regulated industries. Here are specifics:
· Expect a significant increase in dietary supplement GMP inspections in Q3 and Q4 of 2009 continuing through 2010. These will be tough, no-nonsense inspections.
· There will be a sharp increase in imported food inspections along with more testing, delays and rejections at the point of import. Manage your supply chain and inventory accordingly.
· There will likely be confrontations over the use of irradiation, which the FDA has specifically noted as illegal under the new dietary supplements GMP regulation.
· The FDA is implementing fast and efficient search engines to survey key words such as ‘shark cartilage + cancer’. Expect an increase in warning letters over disease-related claims.
· I predict the FDA will show a new interest in nanotechnology. Specifically, nanotech food and supplement ingredients will be regarded as either new dietary ingredients or unapproved food additives. Either way, nanotech is on the radar.
· The FDA will likely publish a new dietary ingredient guidance document this year, which has been languishing at the agency for at least 12 months.
· Congress is preparing to debate and pass major food safety legislation that will likely include requirements for either third party certification or external audit systems to manage supply chains extending all over the world.
In short, the FDA, with a strong mandate, new funding and more staff, will soon reemerge as a regulatory power, not just in the US but on the world scene.
Backgrounder: Hamburg and Sharfstein
But who are Margaret Hamburg and Joshua Sharfstein, and why have they been chosen to head the FDA? Their backgrounds seem to have many interesting parallels.
Both are medical doctors. Both graduated from Harvard Medical School. Their parents were all physicians and prominent ones at that. Dr Sharfstein’s father was past president of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr Hamburg’s mother was the first African American Woman to attend Vassar College (a very elite Ivy League Women’s College).
Dr Hamburg’s expertise ranges from neuro-pharmacology, AIDS research and bioterror defense program. Dr Sharfstein is a pediatrician with interests in AIDS, tobacco regulation and, more recently, safety issues with children’s cough and cold medicine.
Both have run large public health programs – Hamburg as New York City Health Commissioner, and Sharfstein as Baltimore’s Health Commissioner. This was seen as an essential requirement to manage an agency with over 11,000 employees.
Finally, and importantly, both have Capitol Hill experience and champions. Hamburg is well liked by Senator Kennedy’s office, and Sharfstein is a former senior staffer to House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, who many regard as the key player on FDA oversight in the Congress.
It is widely thought that Sharfstein’s close ties to the Waxman office would have set up a confirmation battle with Senate conservatives concerned about the direct pipeline to the Waxman office, and the pharmaceutical industry saw Sharfstein as an unsettling choice, given his historic criticism about unseemly ties between the drug industry and funding of ‘medical education programs’ of dubious nature.
Dr Hamburg, the lesser known, was considered both well qualified and politically unburdened – both essential characteristics. Perhaps most importantly, the Deputy Commissioner position does not require Senate confirmation, thus avoiding a potential showdown in the Congress with Dr Sharfstein.
The new Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner will be given the green light to re-establish FDA as a global regulatory power.
Neither one has any history relating to supplements and functional foods that provides specific guidance on how they may view the Dietary Supplements and Health Education Act (DSHEA) or related matters. But, as noted, a re-energized FDA will surely affect the regulatory and enforcement environment that will only become tougher and more focused under this new administration.
Loren Israelsen is executive director of the dietary supplements trade group United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA ), which was instrumental in the development and passage of DSHEA in 1994.
http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/On-your-radar/The-Obama-effect/
What-Obama-means-for-functional-foods-and-supplements-Part-II

Vitamin B3 may reduce acrylamide formation: Study

Nutraingredients.com, 21-Apr-2009

Vitamin B3 may inhibit the formation of acrylamide in French fries by over 50 per cent, according to a new study from China.
In a model system, both vitamins B3 and B6 in the pyridoxine form were able to inhibit over 70 per cent of the formation of the carcinogen, suggest findings published in the journal Food Chemistry.
“The effectiveness of vitamin B3 was eventually corroborated in fried potato strips, thus suggesting its great potential for application in food processing to decrease acrylamide formation,” wrote the authors, led by Xiaohui Zeng from the University of Hong Kong.
The study potentially adds another option to formulators seeking to reduce the acrylamide content of their fried or baked foods.
Approaches already used by the food industry to help reduce acrylamide levels include converting asparagine into an impotent form using an enzyme, binding asparagine to make it inaccessible, adding amino acids, changing the pH to alter the reaction products, cutting heating temperatures and times, and removing compounds from the recipe that may promote acrylamide formation.
Enzymes such as DSM’s Preventase and Novozyme's Acrylaway, work by converting asparagine into aspartic acid, thereby preventing it from being converted into acrylamide. The effect is a reduction in acrylamide in the final product by as much as 90 per cent.
While the new study reports acrylamide reduction of only 51 per cent in the final product for vitamin B3, there may exist room for improvement.
Study details
Zeng and co-workers tested the effects of 15 vitamins, both water- and fat-soluble, on the formation of acrylamide in a model chemical system containing asparagines and glucose (the precursors for acrylamide), and in a model food system (fried potato strips).
According to their findings, only vitamins B3 (nicotinic acid) and B6 (pyridoxine) inhibited acrylamide by over 70 per cent in the chemical model. Several other water-soluble vitamins, including biotin (vitamin B7), B6 in the pyridoxamine form, and vitamin C, also produced acrylamide reduction of over 50 per cent.
When tested in the model food system, several of the vitamins, including thiamin (B1), B3, B6, biotin, and vitamin C, reduced acrylamide formation by at least 40 per cent, report the researchers.
The best performance was observed for B3, with a 51 per cent inhibition of acrylamide formation in fried potato strips. No unpleasant odours were recorded when B3 was used, they added.
“Further studies are needed to characterise the action mechanism of the vitamins that showed strong inhibitory activity against the formation of acrylamide,” concluded the researchers.
Acrylamide story
Acrylamide is a suspected carcinogen that is formed during by heat-induced reaction between sugar and an amino acid called asparagine. Known as the Maillard reaction, this process is responsible for the brown colour and tasty flavour of baked, fried and toasted foods.
Despite being a carcinogen in the laboratory, many epidemiological studies have reported that everyday exposure to acrylamide in food is too low to be of concern.
The compound first hit the headlines in 2002, when scientists at the Swedish Food Administration first reported unexpectedly high levels of acrylamide, found to cause cancer in laboratory rats, in carbohydrate-rich foods.
Since the Swedish discovery a global effort has been underway to amass data about this chemical. More than 200 research projects have been initiated around the world and their findings co-ordinated by national governments, the EU and the United Nations.
Source: Food Chemistry
Volume 116, Issue 1, Pages 34-39
“Inhibition of acrylamide formation by vitamins in model reactions and fried potato strips”
Authors: X. Zeng, K.-W. Cheng, Y. Jiang, Z.-X. Lin, J.-J. Shi, S.-Y. Ou, F. Chen, M. Wang
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Science-Nutrition/
Vitamin-B3-may-reduce-acrylamide-formation-Study

Drinking 100 percent fruit juice is associated with lower risk of obesity and metabolic syndrome

Kellen Communications, 22-Apr-2009
New Orleans (April 22, 2009) – If you enjoy a glass of 100% juice as part of your daily routine, chances are you also have fewer risk factors for several chronic diseases when compared to your non juice-drinking peers. New research presented today at the Experimental Biology (EB) 2009 meeting highlights this association among adult men and women, with evidence showing that 100% juice drinkers were leaner, had better insulin sensitivity and had lower risk for obesity and metabolic syndrome – a cluster of conditions that increases risk for stroke, heart disease and diabetes.
Looking at data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2004 – an ongoing data collection initiative through the Centers for Disease Control and Promotion – University of Minnesota's Dr. Mark Pereira and co-author Dr. Victor Fulgoni found that, compared to non-consumers, 100% juice consumers had lower mean Body Mass Index (BMI), smaller waist circumference and lower insulin resistance (as estimated by homeostasis model assessment, HOMA). The researchers noted an inverse association between level of juice intake (oz/day) and these parameters.
Based on the analysis, risk for obesity was 22% lower among 100% juice drinkers, while risk for metabolic syndrome (defined as the presence of three or more of the following: central obesity, elevated blood glucose, elevated fasting triglycerides, low HDL-cholesterol, elevated blood pressure) was 15% lower compared to non-consumers.
"We know that maintaining a healthy diet rich in fruits and vegetables is linked to decreased risk of some chronic diseases," notes Dr. Pereira, who is an associate professor in the University of Minnesota's Division of Epidemiology and Community Health. "One cup of 100% fruit juice counts as a serving of fruit and, based on our analysis, 100% juice consumption is associated with some of these same benefits."
According to the researchers, intake of 100% juice was generally associated with other healthful behaviors. Among more than 14,000 participants in the survey – a multiethnic sample of U.S. adults ages 19 and older – juice consumers had higher physical activity levels and more favorable dietary intake patterns (including: lower fat intakes, higher fiber intakes, lower added sugar intakes). After taking these lifestyle factors into account, the inverse relationship between 100% fruit juice consumption and metabolic syndrome was no longer statistically significant. However, risk for obesity remained 14% lower among juice consumers even after the adjustment.
Few studies have looked at the role of foods that naturally contain sugar, like 100% juice, in relation to obesity and related metabolic outcomes. Many previously published analyses have failed to separate 100% fruit juice from those juices with less than 100% juice and those containing added sugar. Recent studies in children and adolescents that have isolated 100% juice intake, report a similar positive association between juice consumption and an overall healthier diet, and no significant differences in weight status among young juice drinkers and non-drinkers.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/kc-d1f042109.php

Medicare recipients see declines in continuity of care

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston: 21-Apr-2009
GALVESTON, Texas — According to a study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, elderly Medicare recipients transitioning from outpatient to hospital settings were more likely to experience lapses in continuity of care in 2006 than 1996. The researchers ascribe part of the reduction in continuity of care to the increasing use of hospitalists, physicians who specialize in the care of hospitalized patients.
Dr. Gulshan Sharma, an assistant professor in the department of internal medicine at UTMB, was first author on the study, appearing in the April 22 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. The members of the study research team examined data on more than 3 million hospital admissions of people over 66 years old.
According to the study, in 1996, 50.5 percent of hospitalized Medicare patients were seen by at least one physician who had seen them in an outpatient setting at least once during the previous year. By 2006, however, that percentage had declined to 39.8 percent. Similarly, in 1996, 44.3 percent of patients who were hospitalized were visited at least once by a primary care physician who had seen them prior to hospitalization. By 2006, this percentage had declined to 31.9 percent.
"Approximately one-third of the decrease in continuity [of care] between 1996 and 2006 was associated with growth in hospitalist activity," according to the study. Continuity of care consists of three dimensions: Continuity in information, continuity in management and continuity in the patient-physician relationship.
In addition to the increased use of hospitalists, the study notes that Medicare payment formulas discourage primary care physicians from continuing to care for their patients when a hospitalist becomes involved. Direct communication between primary care physicians and hospitalists occurred less than 20 percent of the time.
The researchers recommended additional study on the effect of reduced continuity of care on patient outcomes and whether interventions could be developed to minimize any detrimental effects.
In a New England Journal of Medicine article published March 12, UTMB researchers described how they used the same Medicare database to calculate that the percentage of internal medicine physicians practicing as hospitalists jumped from 5.9 percent in 1995 to 19 percent in 2006. That study marked the first quantitative survey of the increase in hospitalist care, and raised questions about the effects of the growth of hospitalist care on continuity of patient care, the role of the primary care physician, patient satisfaction and the patient-physician relationship.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/uotm-mrs042109.php

As world warms, water levels dropping in major rivers: Colorado, Yellow, Ganges, Niger among those rivers affected

National Science Foundation: 21-Apr-2009
Rivers in some of the world's most populous regions are losing water, according to a comprehensive study of global stream flows.
The research, led by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colo., suggests that the reduced flows in many cases are associated with climate change, and could potentially threaten future supplies of food and water.
The results will be published May 15 in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate. The research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), NCAR's sponsor.
"The distribution of the world's fresh water, already an important topic," says Cliff Jacobs of NSF's Division of Atmospheric Sciences, "will occupy front and center stage for years to come in developing adaptation strategies to a changing climate."
The scientists, who examined stream flows from 1948 to 2004, found significant changes in about one-third of the world's largest rivers. Of those, rivers with decreased flow outnumbered those with increased flow by a ratio of about 2.5 to 1.
Several of the rivers channeling less water serve large populations, including the Yellow River in northern China, the Ganges in India, the Niger in West Africa and the Colorado in the southwestern United States.
In contrast, the scientists reported greater stream flows over sparsely populated areas near the Arctic Ocean, where snow and ice are rapidly melting.
"Reduced runoff is increasing the pressure on freshwater resources in much of the world, especially with more demand for water as population increases," says NCAR scientist Aiguo Dai, the lead author of the journal paper. "Freshwater being a vital resource, the downward trends are a great concern."
Many factors may affect river discharge, including dams and the diversion of water for agriculture and industry.
The researchers found, however, that the reduced flows in many cases appear to be related to global climate change, which is altering precipitation patterns and increasing the rate of evaporation.
The results are consistent with previous research by Dai and others showing widespread drying and increased drought over many land areas.
The study raises wider ecological and climate concerns.
Discharge from the world's great rivers results in deposits of dissolved nutrients and minerals into the oceans. The freshwater flow also affects global ocean circulation patterns, which are driven by changes in salinity and temperature, and which play a vital role in regulating the world's climate.
Although the recent changes in freshwater discharge are relatively small and may only have impacts around major river mouths, Dai said the freshwater balance in the global oceans and over land needs to be monitored for long-term changes.
Scientists have been uncertain about the impacts of global warming on the world's major rivers. Studies with computer models show that many of the rivers outside the Arctic could lose water because of decreased precipitation in the mid- and lower latitudes, and an increase in evaporation caused by higher temperatures.
Earlier, less comprehensive analyses of major rivers had indicated, however, that global stream flow was increasing.
Dai and his co-authors analyzed the flows of 925 of the planet's largest rivers, combining actual measurements with computer-based stream flow models to fill in data gaps.
The rivers in the study drain water from every major landmass except Antarctica and Greenland and account for 73 percent of the world's total stream flow.
Overall, the study found that, from 1948 to 2004, annual freshwater discharge into the Pacific Ocean fell by about 6 percent, or 526 cubic kilometers--approximately the same volume of water that flows out of the Mississippi River each year.
The annual flow into the Indian Ocean dropped by about 3 percent, or 140 cubic kilometers. In contrast, annual river discharge into the Arctic Ocean rose about 10 percent, or 460 cubic kilometers.
In the United States, the Columbia River's flow declined by about 14 percent during the 1948-2004 study period, largely because of reduced precipitation and higher water usage in the West.
The Mississippi River, however, has increased by 22 percent over the same period because of greater precipitation across the Midwest since 1948.
Some rivers, such as the Brahmaputra in South Asia and the Yangtze in China, have shown stable or increasing flows. But they could lose volume in future decades with the gradual disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers feeding them, the scientists say.
"As climate change inevitably continues in coming decades, we are likely to see greater impacts on many rivers and the water resources that society has come to rely on," says NCAR scientist Kevin Trenberth, a co-author of the paper.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/nsf-aww042009.php

Charred Meat May Increase Risk Of Pancreatic Cancer

ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2009) — Meat cooked at high temperatures to the point of burning and charring may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, according to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 100th Annual Meeting 2009.
Kristin Anderson, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, said the finding was linked to consumption of well and very well done meats cooked by frying, grilling or barbecuing. Cooking in this way can form carcinogens, which do not form when meat is baked or stewed.
Anderson and colleagues conducted a prospective analysis that included 62,581 participants. "My research has been focused on pancreatic cancer for some time, and we want to identify ways to prevent this cancer because treatments are very limited and the cancer is often rapidly fatal," she said.
Anderson and colleagues used information from surveys that were a part of the PLCO (Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian) Multi-center Screening Trial. Participants provided information about their meat intake, preferred cooking methods and doneness preferences.
Over the course of nine years, researchers identified 208 cases of pancreatic cancer. Preferences for high temperature cooked meat were generally linked with an increased risk; subjects who preferred very well done steak were almost 60 percent as likely to get pancreatic cancer as compared to those who ate steak less well done or did not eat steak. When overall consumption and doneness preferences were used to estimate the meat-derived carcinogen intake for subjects, those with highest intake had 70 percent higher risk than those with the lowest intake.
"We cannot say with absolute certainty that the risk is increased due to carcinogens formed in burned meat," said Anderson. "However, those who enjoy either fried or barbecued meat should consider turning down the heat or cutting off burned portions when it's finished; cook meat sufficiently to kill bacteria without excess charring. In addition, the precursors of cancer-causing compounds can be reduced by microwaving the meat for a few minutes and pouring off the juices before cooking it on the grill."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090421154327.htm

Damage To Forests From Climate Change Could Cost The Planet Its Major Keeper Of Greenhouse Gases, Study Warns

ScienceDaily (Apr. 21, 2009) — The critical role of forests as massive "sinks" for absorbing greenhouse gases is "at risk of being lost entirely" to climate change-induced environmental stresses that threaten to damage and even decimate forests worldwide, according to a new report released April 17. The report will be formally presented at the next session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) taking place 20 April-1 May 2009 at the UN Headquarters in New York City.
"Adaptation of Forests and People to Climate Change – A Global Assessment" was coordinated by the Vienna-based International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) through the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), an alliance of 14 international organizations that each has substantial forestry programs.
Authored by 35 of the world's top forestry scientists, it provides the first global assessment to date of the ability of forests to adapt to climate change and is expected to play a key role in the UNFF discussions. The report presents the state of scientific knowledge regarding the current and projected future impacts of climate change on forests and people along with options for adaptation.
"We normally think of forests as putting the brakes on global warming, but in fact over the next few decades, damage induced by climate change could cause forests to release huge quantities of carbon and create a situation in which they do more to accelerate warming than to slow it down," said Risto Seppälä, a professor at the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) and Immediate Past President of IUFRO, who chaired the expert panel that produced the report.
Scientists hope the new assessment will inform international climate change negotiations, set to resume in December in Copenhagen, where forest-related deliberations thus far have focused mainly on carbon emissions from deforestation. The analysis shows that officials also must consider how the world's forests are likely to suffer—and perhaps severely—as the earth gets warmer.
While deforestation is responsible for about 20 percent of greenhouse gases, overall, forests currently absorb more carbon than they emit. The trees and soils of the world's forests are capturing and storing more than a quarter of the world's carbon emissions. The problem, scientists say, is that this critical carbon-regulating service could be lost entirely if the earth heats up 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) or more relative to pre-industrial levels, which is expected to occur if emissions are not substantially reduced.
The study notes that the higher temperatures—along with the prolonged droughts, more intense pest invasions, and other environmental stresses that could accompany climate change—would lead to considerable forest destruction and degradation. This could create a dangerous feedback loop in which damage to forests from climate change significantly increases global carbon emissions which then exacerbate the greenhouse effect.
The warning from scientists that forests are in danger of flipping from a net sink to a net source of carbon emerged from an exhaustive analysis of how different forest ecosystems worldwide would be affected under specific climate change scenarios developed by the Nobel-prize winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The authors of the report, some of whom also serve on the IPCC panel, noted that the impacts in different ecosystems would vary over time.
In fact, the authors found that the risk of losing forests as a net carbon sink is significant even in relatively conservative scenarios in which countries achieve modest emissions reductions and stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations. The loss becomes much more likely in scenarios where curbs fail to take effect and emissions continue on their current, upward trend.
"Policymakers should focus greater attention on helping forests and the people who live around them adapt to anticipated problems," said Professor Seppälä. "For example, wider application of well-understood sustainable forestry practices, which offer a range of benefits, could help forests avoid some of the damage induced by climate change."
Threats, But also Benefits, of Climate Change
The study observes that as climate change progresses over the next decades:

• Droughts are projected to become more intense and frequent in subtropical and southern temperate forests, especially in the western United States, northern China, southern Europe and the Mediterranean, subtropical Africa, Central America and Australia. "These droughts will also increase the prevalence of fire and predispose large areas of forest to pests and pathogens," the study says.
• In some arid and semi-arid environments, such as the interior of the American west, forestry experts worry that climate change could be so dramatic that timber productivity could "decline to the extent that forests are no longer viable."
• Decreased rainfall and more severe droughts are expected to be particularly stressful for forest-dependent people in Africa who look to forests for food, clean water and other basic needs. For them, the scientists predict climate change could mean "deepening poverty, deteriorating public health, and social conflict."
• In certain areas, climate change could lead to substantial gains in the supply of timber. The combination of warming temperatures and the fertilizing effect of increased carbon in the atmosphere could fuel a northward expansion of what is known as the boreal forest, the coniferous timber lands that run across the earth's northern latitudes and include forests in Canada, Finland, Russia and Sweden. Research from the report indicates that climate change could cause more than a 40 percent increase in timber growth in Finland. In fact, the study concludes that the increased growth in boreal forests could be large enough to spur a drop in timber prices worldwide. However, over the long-term, if climate change continues at the current pace the boreal expansion eventually will be offset by an increase in insect invasions, fires, and storms.

The scientists warn that efforts to adapt to climate change may end up providing forests with only a temporary respite.
"Even if adaptation measures are fully implemented, unmitigated climate change would, during the course of the current century, exceed the adaptive capacity of many forests," said Professor Andreas Fischlin of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, who is one of the lead authors of the study and a coordinating lead author with the IPCC. "The fact remains that the only way to ensure that forests do not suffer unprecedented harm is to achieve large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions."
Forestry experts acknowledge that more research is needed to better understand precisely how climate change will impact forests and how effective different adaptation responses will be. But they say the challenge to policy makers is that they must act even in the face of imperfect data because "climate change is progressing too quickly to postpone action."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090417084128.htm

Increasing Antarctic Sea Ice Extent Linked To Ozone Hole

ScienceDaily (Apr. 22, 2009) — Increased growth in Antarctic sea ice during the past 30 years is a result of changing weather patterns caused by the ozone hole, according to new research.
Reporting in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, scientists from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and NASA say that while there has been a dramatic loss of Arctic sea ice, Antarctic sea ice has increased by a small amount as a result of the ozone hole delaying the impact of greenhouse gas increases on the climate of the continent.
Sea ice plays a key role in the global environment – reflecting heat from the sun and providing a habitat for marine life. At both poles sea ice cover is at its minimum during summer. However, during the winter freeze in Antarctica this ice cover expands to an area roughly twice the size of Europe. Ranging in thickness from less than a metre to several metres, the ice insulates the warm ocean from the frigid atmosphere above. Satellite images show that since the 1970s the extent of Antarctic sea ice has increased at a rate of 100,000 square kilometres a decade.
The new research helps explain why observed changes in the amount of sea-ice cover are so different in both polar regions.
Lead author Professor John Turner of BAS says: “Our results show the complexity of climate change across the Earth. While there is increasing evidence that the loss of sea ice in the Arctic has occurred due to human activity, in the Antarctic human influence through the ozone hole has had the reverse effect and resulted in more ice. Although the ozone hole is in many ways holding back the effects of greenhouse gas increases on the Antarctic, this will not last, as we expect ozone levels to recover by the end of the 21st Century. By then there is likely to be around one third less Antarctic sea ice.”
Using satellite images of sea ice and computer models the scientists discovered that the ozone hole has strengthened surface winds around Antarctica and deepened the storms in the South Pacific area of the Southern Ocean that surrounds the continent. This resulted in greater flow of cold air over the Ross Sea (West Antarctica) leading to more ice production in this region.
The satellite data reveal the variation in sea ice cover around the entire Antarctic continent. Whilst there has been a small increase of sea ice during the autumn around the coast of East Antarctica, the largest changes are observed in West Antarctica. Sea ice has been lost to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula – a region that has warmed by almost 3ºC in the past 50 years. Further west sea ice cover over the Ross Sea has increased.
Turner continues: “Understanding how polar sea ice responds to global change – whether human induced or as part of a natural process – is really important if we are to make accurate predictions about the Earth’s future climate. This new research helps us solve some of the puzzle of why sea-ice is shrinking is some areas and growing in others.”
Background
Floating sea ice caps the ocean around the Antarctic and although it is mostly only 1-2 m thick, it provides effective insulation between the frigid Antarctic atmosphere and the relatively warm ocean below. The ice extent has a minimum in autumn, but by the end of the winter covers an area of 19 million square kilometres, essentially doubling the size of the continent. Instruments flown on polar orbiting satellites have been able to map the distribution and concentration of sea ice since the late 1970s and this study used a new data set of Antarctic sea ice extent created by NASA.
The ozone hole was discovered by BAS scientists in the mid-1980s and found to be a result of CFCs in the stratosphere that destroyed the ozone above the continent each spring. The loss of the ozone resulted in marked cooling in the Antarctic stratosphere, which increased the winds around the continent at that level. The effects of the ozone hole propagate down through the atmosphere during the summer and autumn so that the greatest increase in surface winds over the Southern Ocean has been during the autumn. CFCs have a long lifetime in the atmosphere and despite the Montreal Protocol, which has banned the use of CFCs, there is currently no indication of a recovery of springtime ozone concentrations. However, over approximately the next half century there is expected to be a return to the pre-ozone hole concentrations of ozone.
Strong winds are a major feature of the Southern Ocean with the remoteness of the Antarctic from other landmasses allowing active depressions to ring the continent. The Antarctic continent is slightly off-pole, which results in a large number of storms over the Amundsen Sea (the Amundsen Sea Low) giving average northerly winds down the Antarctic Peninsula and cold, southerly winds off the Ross Ice Shelf. The stronger winds around the continent in Autumn as a result of the ozone hole have deepened the Amundsen Sea Low, giving the positive and negative trends in sea ice over the Ross Sea and to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula respectively. Although there has been a loss of some sea ice to the west of the Antarctic Peninsula, this is negated by the larger increase of ice in the Ross Sea, giving a net increase in the amount of ice around the Antarctic.
There has been contrasting climate change across the Antarctic in recent decades. The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed as much as anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere, with loss of ice shelves and changes in the terrestrial and marine biota. The warming during the summer, which has the greatest impact on the stability of the ice shelves, has been linked to the ozone hole and increasing greenhouse gases. Recent research has suggested that the warming extends into West Antarctica. In contrast, East Antarctic has shown little change or even a small cooling around the coast, which is consistent with the small increase in sea ice extent off the coast. The increase in storm activity over the South Pacific sector is also consistent with the pattern of temperature change observed, with warming down the Antarctic Peninsula in the stronger northerly flow.
J Turner, JC Comiso, G J Marshall, T A Lachlan-Cope, T Bracegirdle, T Maksym, MP Meredith, Z Wang, and A Orr. Non-annular atmospheric circulation change induced by stratospheric ozone depletion and its role in the recent increase of Antarctic sea ice extent. Geophysical Research Letters, 2009; DOI: 10.1029/2009GL037524
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090421101629.htm

The greening of cities

By Kevin Diakiw - Surrey North Delta Leader
Published: April 21, 2009 3:00 PM
by Kevin Diakiw
About 75 per cent of this country’s harmful greenhouse gas emissions occur within cities, and about half of those global warming effects are associated “directly with decisions made at city hall,” according to an expert with the David Suzuki Foundation.
Ian Bruce, climate change specialist with the organization, rates Surrey and Delta with a fair performance on environmental issues, but says there’s room to improve.
Bruce was a scheduled speaker during the unveiling of Surrey’s Sustainability Charter last year, and says it’s an impressive document.
“Certainly I liked what I saw on paper,” Bruce told The Leader. He noted the true test will be in how the framework is implemented.
While better positioned than some cities, Bruce said there’s still a lot Surrey and Delta can do to limit ozone-depleting emissions.
“Through zoning and better planning, and then there’s also public transit service where municipalities decide to put transit lines and rapid bus routes,” Bruce said. “I hear a lot from residents in Surrey that they’re frustrated with the lack of transit service, it’s not reliable currently. They’d like to see a fast and reliable transit service.”
Bruce believe the cities are on the right track, and said Surrey is positioned to take a leadership role.
“I think there’s a lot of potential,” Bruce said. “Surrey’s one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Canada right now and there seems to be significant leadership to carry out a sustainability plan and build a more pedestrian-friendly and transit-friendly community. There seems to be a lot of political will to do so.”
The city recently announced a six-point economic plan, which includes tax breaks for big residential and commercial projects locating in City Centre and Bridgeview/Southwestminster.
John Werring, a marine biologist with the David Suzuki Foundation, likes the idea. Concentrated areas of development, especially in urban cores, are preferred to green fielding, such as the business development in Campbell Heights in South Surrey.
Werring wrote a study a few years ago which identified that development as one of the worst examples of habitat destruction in the province.
He said a lot of mitigation work has since been undertaken on the site, which helps feed the fish-rich Little Campbell River. But it will never be the same.
He notes the lesson learned in Campbell Heights should be that good planning can avoid the damage – and the subsequent expensive repair work.
What both Surrey and Delta need, he said, is a comprehensive watershed management plan, which details where development can safely occur.
Bruce said both municipal councils could do more in terms of lobbying for better transit, rather than relying on funding for roads.
“By spending billions of dollars on roads, that will only encourage people to use cars more,” Bruce said. “For example, when Seattle expanded their highways just over five years ago, the first day they opened, they saw a 20 per cent increase in traffic.”
The counter from the province has been that better roads reduce idling, which is the real greenhouse emitter.
Bruce said that notion is bunk.
“That’s not supported by any credible study. It does tend to put more cars on the road which burn more fuel, which leads to more traffic congestion,” Bruce said.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/news/43383922.html

Earth's tribes unite against climate threats

NEW SCIENTIST  16:20 21 April 2009 by Debora MacKenzie
The Indigenous Peoples' Global Summit on Climate Change aims to unite tribes severely affected by climate change with national governments before the revision of climate protocol (Image: Gilles Mingasson / Getty)
From Arctic Inuit to Pacific Islanders, indigenous peoples from 80 countries are meeting at a summit in Anchorage, Alaska (pdf), this week to forge a common position on climate change. They want an official voice alongside national governments in upcoming negotiations to agree a successor to the Kyoto protocol.
The meeting is emphasising indigenous peoples' histories of adapting to change. But beneath it is the fear that they will be trampled by rich countries trying to cut greenhouse emissions by managing indigenous lands.
"Indigenous peoples have contributed least to the global problems of climate change, but will almost certainly bear the greatest brunt of its impact," says Patricia Cochran, chair of the summit and head of the Inuit Circumpolar Conference. Arctic peoples are hurting as sea ice changes and permafrost melts. The Yup'ik village of Newtok, Alaska, is now moving to higher ground to escape storm surges unleashed by disappearing sea ice and another 26 villages in Alaska are similarly threatened.

On the margins

A report last year (pdf) by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature found that indigenous peoples are concentrated in the marginal lands likely to suffer most from climate change. Pastoralists such as Africa's Samburu already suffer from drought, and islanders face dispossession by rising seas.
But Sam Johnston of the United Nations University, which is helping to organise the Anchorage meeting, says indigenous peoples are also threatened because they are impoverished and have little political power or entitlement to their lands. Many feel their interests are not served by their national governments.

Culture shock

This makes some post-Kyoto plans to pay for cuts in greenhouse emissions worrying. Forest dwellers such as the Dayak tribe of Borneo or the pygmies of Cameroon fear they will be dispossessed by forest developers rushing to grab carbon credits by cutting and replanting trees.
Other indigenous peoples are already being displaced as foreign companies grab "unoccupied" indigenous lands to plant biofuels or "carbon offset" trees to compensate for fossil fuel use elsewhere.
"We're having the hardest time we've faced in 500 years," says Dennis Martinez, an ecologist and O'odham (Pima) Indian at the meeting. He says indigenous peoples living off natural resources could be highly resilient to climate change – but not if their cultures are destroyed as the rest of the world tries to respond.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16994-earths-tribes-unite-against-climate-threats.html?full=true&print=true

Climate change threatens Ganges, Niger and other mighty rivers

The Guardian, Wednesday 22 April 2009
Some of the mightiest rivers on the planet, including the Ganges, the Niger, and the Yellow river in China, are drying up because of climate change, a study of global waterways warned yesterday.
The study by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado found that global warming has had a far more damaging impact on rivers than had been realised and that, overwhelmingly, those rivers in highly populated areas were the most severely affected. That could threaten food and water supply to millions of people living in some of the world's poorest regions, the study warned.
"In the subtropics this [decrease] is devastating, but the continent affected most is Africa," said NCAR's Kevin Trenberth. "The prospects generally are for rainfalls, when they do occur, to be heavier and with greater risk of flooding and with longer dry spells in between, so water management becomes much more difficult."
The scientists examined recorded data and computer models of flow in 925 rivers, constituting about 73% of the world's supply of running water, from 1948-2004. It found that climate change had had an impact on about a third of the major rivers. More than twice as many rivers experienced diminished flow as a result of climate change than those that saw a rise in water levels.
In addition, those rivers that did see a rise were in sparsely populated, high latitude areas near the Arctic Ocean where there is rapid melting of ice and snow.
The authors said their study brought new clarity to an understanding of the long-term effects of climate change on waterways. "I think our study settles the question regarding long-term trends in global streamflow," said Aiguo Dai, the lead author of the report.
The greatest danger was posed to those dependent on the Niger in West Africa, the Ganges in South Asia and the Yellow river in China. The Colorado river in the US was also experiencing a drop in water levels.
Other big rivers in Asia, such as the Brahmaputra in India and the Yangtze in China, remained stable or registered an increase in flow. But the scientists said they too could begin shrinking because of the gradual disappearance of the Himalayan glaciers.
The only rivers that could gain strength from climate change were those that flow north of the 50th parallel. "Global warming raises temperature and precipitation there and it may not be a bad thing," said Dai. "However, these are sparsely populated regions."
The study found that climate change, which had disrupted rain patterns and evaporation, had a far greater and more damaging effect on the world's rivers than other human-made factors such as dams, and diverting water for irrigation. "For many of world's large rivers the effects of the human activities on yearly streamflow are likely small compared with that of climate variations during 1948-2004," the study said.
It also had a knock-on effect because the rivers empty into the world's oceans. As the rivers shrink, oceans were growing saltier. During the lifespan of the study, fresh water discharge into the Pacific ocean fell by about 6% – or roughly the annual volume of the Misssissippi.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/22/drought-environment-waterways

The summer thickness of Arctic sea ice is about half of what it was in 1950. Melting ice may lead to changes in ocean circulation. Melting sea ice is also speeding up warming in the Arctic.
When solar radiation hits snow and ice, approximately 90% of it is reflected back out to space. As global warming causes more snow and ice to melt each summer, the ocean and land that were underneath the ice are exposed at the Earth's surface. Because they are darker in colour, the ocean and land absorb more incoming solar radiation, and then release the heat into the atmosphere. This causes more global warming. A recent study concluded there may be no more sea ice left in the Arctic Ocean during summer within the next few decades.
Species that depend on one another may become out of sync. For example, plants could bloom earlier than their pollinating insects become active.
Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10% over the next 50 years.
Floods and droughts will become more common. Rainfall in Ethiopia, where droughts are already common, could decline by 10% over the next 50 years.
There are more diseased corals today than there were several decades ago due to bacteria, fungi and viruses brought on by pollution.
If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to melt at its current rate it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either.
If the Quelccaya ice cap in Peru continues to melt at its current rate it will be gone by 2100, leaving thousands of people who rely on it for drinking water and electricity without a source of either.
Areas of Eastern and Central Africa may see a rapid rise in the number of malaria cases as temperatures rise.
The malaria parasite develops faster in warmer temperatures. A study from Kenya has identified a significant increase in cases of malaria over a 30-year period, apparently caused by a rise in temperature of just half-a-degree Celsius.
Agriculture and forestry production is expected to decline over much of Southern and Eastern New Zealand by 2030 due to drought.
Currently, global sea level is rising about 3 mm per year (about 1/8 inch)
It is projected that by 2020, between 75 and 250 million people in Africa will be suffering from stressed water supplies.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/2009/04/22/9199106-sun.html

Global warming disasters will affect 375 million every year by 2015 – Oxfam

Natural disasters caused by climate change will affect up to 400 million people within six years, Oxfam has warned.

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Telegraph UK: 5:45PM BST 20 Apr 2009
The charity examined more than 6,000 climate-related disasters in the last 20 years in order to calculate how many people on average suffer as a result of floods, droughts and other catastrophes.
At the moment around 252 million people are affected by "natural disasters" - not including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other emergencies unrelated to the weather.
However this number is set to increase by 54 per cent to 375 million every year by 2015 as the number of people living in vulnerable areas like Bangladesh increases and levels of poverty mean more die. Densely populated slums in coastal cities like Mumbai mean millions more people are living in flimsy shacks and are at risk of water-born disease caused by rising temperatures.
Oxfam said the current humanitarian aid system is not "fit for purpose" to deal with the predicted levels of suffering. It warned that unless spending is almost doubled the international community will be unable to cope. This would mean at least $25 billion (£17 billion) a year compared to $14.2 billion (£9.7 billion) in 2006 but, the charity says, it is a tiny fraction of what has already been spent on the banks.
In addition, the aid agency wants the world to commit at least $50 billion (£34 billion) every year to helping poorer countries adapt to global warming as part of any international agreement decided at the end of the year to tackle climate change.
The new report, "The Right to Survive", highlighted recent events in developing countries like Haiti where thousands die, compared to flooding in the rich nations where few people are affected.
Dame Barbara Stocking, Oxfam's Chief Executive, described it as "a postcode lottery on a global scale" where countries are given money based on political expediency rather than need.
"The response is often fickle – too little, too late and not good enough. The system can barely cope with the current levels of disasters and could be overwhelmed by a substantial increase in numbers of people affected. There must be a fundamental reform of the system so that those in need are its first and foremost priority," she said.
Dame Barbara said the international aid community will be unable to cope unless more money goes to helping national governments prevent future shocks through engineering and development.
"Climate change is already threatening our work to overcome poverty, increasing the pressure on an already-difficult task of bringing relief to millions. It is crucial that we tackle climate change head-on. We need governments to raise their game. The world must agree a global deal to avoid catastrophic climate change, stop the fickle way it delivers aid, and radically improve how it responds to disasters," she said.
Joan Ruddock, the climate change minister, said the UK Government would be pushing for a fair deal for developing countries as part of any climate change agreement.
She said: “Oxfam rightly points out that climate change is not tomorrow’s crisis and is already affecting millions of people across the world. The UK is working with vulnerable and developing countries to help them cope with the challenges of climate change, and to minimise the risks to their future development.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/globalwarming/5187776/
Global-warming-disasters-will-affect-375-million-every-year-by-2015---Oxfam.html

Green Bible a new tool for Earth's believers
Green Bible gives theological backing from Old and New Testaments to eco-friendly believers
April 22, 2009
Stuart Laidlaw
Faith and Ethics Reporter
The Christian Bible doesn't say anything about global warming, greenhouse gases or overpackaging. And when it mentions pollution by name, it tends to mean things like "blood pollutes the land," as discussed in Numbers.
So those looking for Biblical references to back up their eco-friendly outlooks have had to look far deeper into their readings.
The newly published Green Bible, complete with essays and an index of environment-related references throughout the Old and New Testaments, can help.
"It's a wonderful tool," says Katharine Vansittart of the Greening Sacred Spaces program, which helps worship spaces get green retrofits.
Vansittart keeps a copy of the Green Bible on her desk, and uses it to help her find the Biblical references she needs to get parishioners thinking green.
"We try to help people make a connection between their faith and the environment," she says.
Vansittart says churchgoers of all faiths are concerned about the poor. From there, it's a short jump to get them to also think about the environment.
"Those most hurt by global warming are the poor and the disadvantaged," particularly in developing countries, she says, adding "a light goes on" when she makes that connection for people.
Vansittart isn't alone in liking the Green Bible. Last Sunday, as part of a sermon for Earth Day today, she heard a guest speaker at her Leaside church speak from the Harper Collins publication, which is endorsed by such groups as the Sierra Club and the Humane Society of the United States. Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote the foreword.
The book is a reprinting of the common New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, with more than 1,000 passages highlighted in green that relate to the environment, as well as numerous essays on faith and the environment and dozens of quotes from famous writers and thinkers on the subject.
The book, sometime referred to as the Green Letter Bible because of the green highlights, is an eco-version of the century-old Red Letter Bible, which uses red ink for the words in the New Testament attributed to Jesus directly.
Vansittart says consumerism is responsible for many of our environmental problems, but sees no problem with purchasing a Green Bible to supplement the others in her possession, saying its numerous references, essays and a list of religious groups concerned about the environment are very helpful.
Besides, it uses recycled paper, soy ink and has a cloth cover.
Christopher Lind, former director of the University of Toronto's School of Theology, says the connection between faith and the environment is strong.
"I don't think of it as the environment. I think of it as creation," says Lind, now a member of the eco- justice committee of the Kairos interfaith group.
Too often, Lind says, people tend to think of the environment as separate from their own lives. But by thinking of the Earth, including humans, as part of creation, he says, it's tougher to make that separation.
"There's a unity to that," he says.
Lind took a break from getting insulation installed in his house to talk. For him, that insulation is faith in action.
"For three days, I've had the workers in here installing insulation," he says.
"I'm doing it not just to save money, but to reduce my ecological footprint. And that's an expression of my faith."
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/622120