A new book tells the story of a man jailed for impersonating a priest in 1693 Spain when he was likely trying to escape racial persecution. It gives readers a fascinating look at a centuries-old legal case against a man on pilgrimage and shows how Iberians of black-African ancestry faced discrimination and mistreatment. The book,...
Bright pink flamingos are more aggressive than paler rivals when fighting over food, new research shows. Pink plumage is a sign of good health in lesser flamingos, and a flush of colour often means they are ready to breed. So when the birds squabble over food, the pinkest flamingos – both male and female –...
A new study published in Economic Modelling by researchers at Ca’ Foscari University and CMCC shows that owning and using an Air Conditioner greatly increases the electricity bills of households, with important implications for the energy poverty of the less well-off. Previous studies, mainly focused on the US, estimated an increase of household spendings for electricity bills...
After a particularly long week of computer based work on my PhD, all I wanted was to hike somewhere exciting with a rich wildlife. A friend commiserated with me – I was based at Newcastle University at the time, and this particular friend wasn’t keen on the UK’s wilderness, its moorlands and bare uplands, compared...
In a study published in Nature Sustainability, an ecosystem scientist and an agricultural economist outline how to develop a more sustainable land management system through data collection and stakeholder buy-in. Bruno Basso, professor in the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University, and John Antle, professor of Applied Economics at Oregon State University, believe the...
Forestation is one of the main strategies recommended by the scientific community for climate change mitigation. But, would a European continent completely covered in forests be any cooler than one without forests? Asking these kinds of questions is fundamental to developing an understanding of the real effects of solutions that have been recommended by the...
While considerable resources are invested in seasonal forecasts and early-warning systems for food security, not enough is known about El Niño’s impact on the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, even though its name was given in the 1600s by fishers off the coast of Peru. To remedy that, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is...
A new study from the University of Helsinki presents the current state of knowledge on the exposure and vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples to environmental pollution, reviewing the innumerable impacts that pollution poses on Indigenous communities from all over the world. “While the number of studies examining the impacts of environmental pollution upon Indigenous Peoples is...
Half a century ago, cassava was a simple staple crop for some smallholder farmers in Asia eking out a living in harsh landscapes. The hardy crop that Europeans brought from Latin America many centuries before was a dependable source of nutrition – as long as it was skillfully processed to remove the toxins from bitter...
Globalisation has revolutionised food production and consumption in recent decades and cultivation has become more efficient As a result, diets have diversified and food availability has increased in various parts of the globe. However, it has also led to a situation where the majority of the world population live in countries that are dependent on,...
