Despite suggestions that animal pollinators are crucial for human nutritional health,
no studies have actually tested this claim. Here, we combined data on crop
pollination requirements, food nutrient densities, and actual human diets to predict
the effects of pollinator losses on the risk of nutrient deficiency. In four developing
countries and across five nutrients, we found that 0 to 56% of populations would
become newly at risk if pollinators were removed. Increases in risk were most
pronounced for vitamin A in populations with moderate levels of total nutrient intake.
Overall, the effects of pollinator decline varied widely among populations and
nutrients. We conclude that the importance of pollinators to human nutrition
depends critically on the composition of local diets, and cannot be reliably predicted
from global commodity analyses. We identify conditions under which severe health
effects of pollinator loss are most likely to occur.
Author: WHES
Refugees at levels not seen since WWII
In Central African Republic, they ran from home and slept under the trees. In Colombia, they dared not return to their villages. From Syria, they fled by the hundreds of thousands, escaping barrel bombs and summary executions.
Briefing: Punitive aid cuts disrupt healthcare in Uganda
Since the enactment of a draconian anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda just over a month ago, donors have been slashing or suspending aid to the country in protest. Health officials, activists and NGOs warn that this could have a major impact on healthcare services, particularly for HIV/AIDS patients.
Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram awarded 2014 World Food Prize for critical breakthroughs in wheat
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How equal rights boosts food security
Eliminating the gender gap in agriculture is widely seen as crucial to alleviating poverty and improving food security, and the effects of inequality are likely to be further compounded by climate change.
Fear and trauma prevent displaced South Sudanese from returning home
Civilians displaced by brutal fighting in South Sudan are ignoring calls from government officials to return to their homes, preferring the safety of squalid UN bases to the risk that conflict could again engulf towns already devastated in the six-month conflict.
Panel’s warning on climate risk: Worst is yet to come
YOKOHAMA, Japan — Climate change is already having sweeping effects on every continent and throughout the world’s oceans, scientists reported on Monday, and they warned that the problem was likely to grow substantially worse unless greenhouse emissions are brought under control.
Cities are passing higher minimum wages – and leaving the suburbs further behind
Last week, Seattle’s city council voted to raise the local minimum wage to an unprecedented $15 an hour, more than twice the federal wage threshold and well above the next most generous cities in America. That rate, which will be phased in over seven years for the smallest businesses, currently tops $10.74 in San Francisco, $10.66 in Santa Fe, N.M., and $10.15 in San Jose. It’s significantly higher than the $11.50 wage planned for the District, and the $13.09 hoped for in San Diego.
Borrowed time on disappearing land: Facing rising seas, Bangladesh confronts the consequences of climate change
DAKOPE, Bangladesh — When a powerful storm destroyed her riverside home in 2009, Jahanara Khatun lost more than the modest roof over her head. In the aftermath, her husband died and she became so destitute that she sold her son and daughter into bonded servitude. And she may lose yet more.
General who led overthrow of Egypt’s first elected government and is now the defacto ruler to run for president of Egypt
CAIRO — Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the defense minister and military officer who led last summer’s takeover of the elected government in Egypt, formally announced on Wednesday that he was resigning from the army and running for president as he moved to consolidate his power.
