(Press-News.org) Researchers from the University of Southampton have contributed to a major international United Nation's (UN) report into the current status of the world's land and water resources for food and agriculture.
Dr Craig Hutton, Professor Mike Clark, both from the University's GeoData Institute, and demographer Dr Fiifi Amoako Johnson contributed as authors as well external editors to the recent United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation publication, 'State of the World's Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture' (SOLAW).
The report notes that with the task of feeding a world population expected to reach 9 billion people by 2050, food production is projected to increase by about 70 per cent globally and nearly 100 per cent in developing countries. This incremental demand for food, together with demand from other competing uses, will place unprecedented pressure on many agricultural production systems across the world. These 'systems at risk' are facing growing competition for land and water resources and they are often constrained by unsustainable agricultural practices.
The University of Southampton team substantially contributed to the development of spatial statistics and mapping of poverty and environmental variables, as well as providing strategic contribution to the overall message of the document.
Dr Craig Hutton, says:
"The first issue of SOLAW, which complements other State of the World reports published regularly by FAO, is intended to inform public debate and policy-making at national and international levels. The University of Southampton now has a substantial international profile in food security, poverty and resource management, particularly in the context of climate change. The GeoData Institute has been working closely with the FAO for a number of years in this field across a number of international settings."
### END
Southampton researchers help to outline world's land and water resources for food and agriculture
2011-12-22
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Pre-surgery exam rates vary widely among hospitals
2011-12-22
TORONTO, Ont. -- Hospitals vary greatly in the number of patients who see an internal medicine specialist before major non-cardiac surgery, with rates ranging from five per cent of patients to 90 per cent, new research has found.
The findings are important because they suggest there are no commonly agreed upon standards for which patients should have such consultations, said Dr. Duminda Wijeysundera, a scientist at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).
As a result, some patients may be ...
Bree Maresca-Kramer M.A. Presents: Keeping Your New Years Resolutions...It is Possible!
2011-12-22
Every year millions of people make new years resolutions to lose weight, shine in their career, improve their relationship, and find more balance in their lives.
However, every year millions of these resolutions are never met...why?
People make these resolutions with good intentions and a desire to change. So what happens? What goes so wrong?
Simply put, the person does not have the precise skills, encouragement, and direction necessary to make their resolutions a reality. This is the reason both men and women today are hiring a professional life coach for assistance! ...
Virginia Tech's Wu Feng unveils HokieSpeed, a new powerful supercomputer for the masses
2011-12-22
Virginia Tech crashed the supercomputing arena in 2003 with System X, a machine that placed the university among the world's top computational research facilities. Now comes HokieSpeed, a new supercomputer that is up to 22 times faster and yet a quarter of the size of X, boasting a single-precision peak of 455 teraflops, or 455 trillion operations per second, and a double-precision peak of 240 teraflops, or 240 trillion operations per second.
That's enough computational capability to place HokieSpeed at No. 96 on the most recent Top500 List (http://www.top500.org/), ...
Acclaimed Life Coach Bree Maresca-Kramer M.A. Presents: A New Year...A New Life...It Is Possible!
2011-12-22
Most people have the best of intentions when it comes to their New Years resolutions. As the year comes to an end, it is only natural to reflect on what we have accomplished and what we still want to change. This is actually what generates the desire within to make the changes needed to get to where we want to be. Whether it is to lose weight, find a significant other, or excel in the workplace for most people this true desire for change does exist.
So what happens?
Why do so many men and women with good intentions and true desire fall short of their New Years resolutions ...
How to build doughnuts with Lego blocks
2011-12-22
Scientists have uncovered how nature minimises energy costs in rings of liquids with an internal nanostructure made of two chemically discordant polymers joined with strong bonds, or di-blocks, deposited on a silicon surface, in an article about to be published in EPJE¹.
Josh McGraw and his colleagues from McMaster University, Canada, and the University of Reading, UK, first created rings of di-block polymers that they liken to building doughnuts from Lego blocks due to the nature of the material used. This material has an internal structure discretised like Lego blocks, ...
Divorce Attorney Recommends Modification of Child Support Order
2011-12-22
In this struggling economy many child support obligors have lost their jobs or have faced a reduction in income. This may qualify for a modification of their child support order.
John Griffith, a Del Mar, California divorce attorney, commented on a recent court ruling involving the modification of child or spousal support.
"Non-custodial parents may not realize that support orders don't adjust just because their situation has altered," said Griffith, who's also a child custody lawyer. "A motion to modify your support order should be filed as soon as ...
MIT research: Traditional social networks fueled Twitter's spread
2011-12-22
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - We've all heard it: The Internet has flattened the world, allowing social networks to spring up overnight, independent of geography or socioeconomic status. Who needs face time with the people around you when you can email, text or tweet to and from almost anywhere in the world? Twitter, the social networking and microblogging site, is said to have more than 300 million users worldwide who follow, forward and respond to each other's 140-character tweets about anything and everything, 24/7.
But MIT researchers who studied the growth of the newly hatched ...
Habit formation is enabled by gateway to brain cells
2011-12-22
AUGUSTA, Ga. – A brain cell type found where habits are formed and movement is controlled has receptors that work like computer processors to translate regular activities into habits, researchers report.
"Habits, for better or worse, basically define who we are," said Dr. Joe Z. Tsien, Co-Director of the Brain & Behavior Discovery Institute at Georgia Health Sciences University. Habits also provide mental freedom and flexibility by enabling many activities to be on autopilot while the brain focuses on more urgent matters, he said.
Research published in the journal Neuron ...
Coupon Roo, a New Website Started by a College Student, is Taking the Internet by Storm
2011-12-22
CouponRoo.Com, a leading discount coupon website in the USA, is taking the Internet by storm. The website is started by a college student, and quickly grew to include thousands of retailers. To date, it has included over ten thousand stores on the site.
Discount shopping online
On the Internet, price has always been transparent. In other words, buyers tend to go online to search and compare prices before making a purchase. Retailers are well aware of this fact. In order to capture new customers and retain existing ones, many have resorted to running attractive promotions. ...
Some 'low-gluten' beer contains high levels of gluten
2011-12-22
Beer tested in a new study, including some brands labeled "low-gluten," contains levels of hordein, the form of gluten present in barley, that could cause symptoms in patients with celiac disease (CD), the autoimmune condition treated with a life-long gluten-free diet, scientists are reporting. The study, which weighs in on a controversy over the gluten content of beer, appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.
Michelle Colgrave and colleagues explain that celiac disease (CD) affects more than 2 million people worldwide. Gluten, a protein found in foods and beverages ...