Category Archives: Society

Climate Change, Environment, Science, Society

Scientists say that Climate Change could make cities 7C warmer

URBAN HEAT ISLANDS

According to a new study, cities will be hit the hardest by climate change because of the ‘urban heat island’. This is the effect that traps warmth, with the consequence of cities being several degrees warmer than rural areas due to the heat trapped by dark-coloured roads and buildings. The research, first published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that world cities will potentially face costs twice as big compared to their surroundings.

The study states that the phenomenon is so pronounced that it ‘enables olives to be grown next to a south-facing stone wall as far north as Aberdeen.’

Through an analysis of temperature data dating back to 1950 for 1,692 cities, the researchers predicted through extrapolation techniques that one in four of the world’s biggest cities might be up to 7C warmer by the end of this century.

Such a steep increase would likely have dire consequences for the health of city-dwellers, deny companies and industries of able workers, and put great pressure on already strained natural resources such as water.

Alarmingly, the study also predicts that the worst-affected cities could lose as much as 10.9 per cent of their GDP, the annual amount of national output.

Cities cover only one per cent of the earth’s surface, but are home to 54 per cent of the world’s population.

The authors say, however, that the unique environmental factors attributed to urban landscapes are often overlooked in climate change studies.

The researchers document that studies on climate change and its impacts are mostly focused on a limited set of countries and risks. They specifically cite sea-level rises and natural water resources, but do not take into account that large cities will experience additional warming due to the urban heat island effect.

Professor Richard Tol of Sussex University says the team’s findings highlight the pressing need for locally-tailored responses to climate change.

Professor Tol has signalled that any hard-won victories over climate change on a global scale could be wiped out by the effects of uncontrolled urban heat islands. He has also highlighted that ‘city-level adaptation strategies’ to limit local warming have important economic net benefits for almost all cities around the world.

The research paper suggests modifications to urban construction to minimise heat absorption, including using ‘cooler’ alternatives to asphalt for pavements, painting roofs with a reflective coating and the planting of more trees.

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Education, Government, Society

Geography not given enough prominence in state education

– Improving skills in ­literacy and numeracy are vitally important components of school education. But it is wrong to assume that these can only be achieved by teaching English and Mathematics respectively. Many other subjects can and do teach these skills using real life examples

Intro: The school curriculum undervalues geography. But it is needed in understanding the world.

A vital part of school education is to improve skills in literacy and numeracy. They are important components in any school curriculum. But, it is surely wrong to assume that these can only be achieved by teaching English and Mathematics respectively. Many other subjects can and do teach these skills and are able to be taught using real life examples.

Geography is clearly one of these subjects. Being able to articulate orally and in writing one’s understanding of the world is one sure way of increasing literacy. Collecting, using and analysing information about the world increases numeracy rates, and gives them a good if not better grounding as citizens and future employees.

But geography is much more than this. Teachers, parents and educationalists should surely aspire to children having a greater understanding of their world: what is happening around them, analysing the causes and assessing solutions.

Through primary and secondary education, children should be taught to have a better understanding of our world’s complexities and how society interacts. For example, everyone should be taught about the cause and consequences of flooding, and what can be done to reduce the effects and moderate the causes.

Equally, too, all students should understand what is the best use of the land and sea for providing food, for giving a home for nature and to understand the devastating effects of climate change.

In these, and many other topics, geography provides students with an ability to discuss issues that directly impact on their lives. We should ask, then, why is it that knowledge-based learning is so out of fashion? Ones that contribute more to pupils’ learning experience and in acquiring key skills? And why are students being restricted in the choice of subjects later in secondary school?

There is a built-in assumption that English and Maths are vital, plus a science and a foreign language, so that subjects like history and geography are left out. But geography covers the sciences, both natural and social, and it teaches literacy and numeracy skills. But, it is most certainly undervalued in subject choice.

We now have an unsystematic approach to subject choice at the discretion of the local education authority or the head teacher. But who benefits from this approach? Certainly not the students or subjects like geography.

Let’s ensure children are learning key skills for their future lives and careers by those who have enthusiasm and great knowledge of their subjects.

Geography is a key-subject for all future citizens, as it opens the whole world to pupils’ perspective, improves their global view, and provides a context for learning numeracy and literacy. Geography is clearly one of the subjects of our time.

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Government, Health, Medical, Science, Society

Diesel fumes study: The damage fumes do to lungs

AIR POLLUTION

Diesel Car

Diesel fumes, which are a major component of air pollution in many European cities, trigger respiratory reflexes which could potentially worsen underlying conditions, such as asthma. Researchers at Imperial College London have become the first to demonstrate how this happens.

CLEAR proof that diesel fumes causes breathing problems has finally been found by scientists.

Polluted air contains tiny particles that make nerves in the lungs misfire, triggering coughing and wheezing.

It is clear evidence of the precise way in which diesel fumes spark asthma attacks and leave sufferers in need of medical assistance, if not hospital attention. The particles are also linked to premature births as well as heart and lung disease.

Air pollution, including diesel fumes, has been blamed for up to 40,000 deaths a year.

A research team led by Imperial College London found that the particles were dangerous because they were so small the body did not recognise them as foreign objects.

Professor Maria Belvisi, the study’s lead author, said: ‘We knew that people exposed to traffic were more likely to suffer from asthma attacks, coughing and breathlessness.

‘This is the first direct evidence that diesel is doing it.

‘The symptoms are being caused by activation of the nerves in the airway. It is more of an issue for people with existing breathing problems and asthma, but this is happening to all of us.’

Diesels are so common because drivers were given financial incentives to buy them under the last Labour government.

Their engines were favoured because they emit less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.

Dr Penny Woods, of the British Lung Foundation, said the study confirmed the serious and potentially fatal consequences of diesel fumes.

She added: ‘Diesel emissions have become the major source of pollution in urban areas, where the majority of people live. We are storing up huge unknowns for the future of our nation’s respiratory health.

‘We need the next Government to urgently implement a new clean air act that recognises the modern-day source of traffic emissions and cleans up the air we breathe.’

The Government has published draft plans to offer drivers cash for scrapping their diesels. But campaigners are calling for clean air zones, keeping polluting vehicles out of urban areas altogether. Thirty-Seven cities persistently breach legal limits of air toxins.

Although diesel particles are mainly carbon, the chemicals on their surface – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – are dangerous.

Testing diesel fumes on human lung tissue, animal tissue and guinea pigs, the Imperial College team found these chemicals triggered coughing.

Dr Ian Mudway, of King’s College London, said: ‘This study shines a mechanistic light on how the very small particles emitted from diesel exhaust worsen respiratory symptoms by activating airway nerves and highlights the importance of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.’

The diesel particles are so tiny that the body mistakes them for natural molecules and draws them into the lungs. The study involved the University of British Columbia and is published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Professor Belvisi added: ‘The main message here is about prevention. A significant number of hospital admissions are for people suffering with exacerbations of respiratory disease.

‘In major cities we are already exceeding the recommended levels for air pollution.’

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