02.28.07
Ocean Fisheries: Common Heritage or Tragic Commons?
Ocean Fisheries: Common Heritage or Tragic Commons?
Source: National Center for Policy Analysis
For centuries, North America’s coastal fisheries ranked among the most bountiful on the planet. For instance, five hundred years ago the English explorer John Cabot reported the waters off Newfoundland were so thick with cod you could catch them by hanging baskets over the ship’s side. But the boom is over. American and world fisheries have entered a period of rapid and unprecedented decline:
- In the past 50 years, populations of large fish species – including tuna, swordfish, marlin, sharks, cod, halibut and flounder – have decreased 90 percent worldwide.
- A total of 98 species are overfished, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service; as a result, half of all U.S. fisheries and a quarter of the major fish stocks worldwide are in jeopardy of an abrupt, severe decline from which they may never recover.
- Fish stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of all ocean fisheries, and all commercially valuable world fish stocks could completely collapse by 2048.
Unless something is done quickly, American waters may go from being the world’s most abundant fisheries to a virtual undersea wasteland within just a few years.
Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable
Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable
Source: United Nations Foundation
From press release:
The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) and Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, released today “Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable, ” the final report of the Scientific Expert Group on Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The report, prepared as input for the upcoming meeting of the UN’s Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), outlines a roadmap for preventing unmanageable climate changes and adapting to the degree of change that can no longer be avoided.
Two years in the making, the report was written by a panel of eminent scientists from around the world. The panel was co-chaired by Dr. Peter Raven, Director of the Missouri Botanical Garden, and Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment. The expert team was invited by the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Secretariat to the CSD, to make recommendations on key mitigation and adaptation needs. This year’s 15th Session of the CSD is reviewing national and international efforts on energy and climate change.
+ Executive Summary (PDF; 3.16 MB)
+ Full Report (PDF; 13.1 MB)
An Historical Overview of Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary Education, by State: Fiscal Years 1990-2002
This comprehensive publication contains data from the Common Core of Data, National Public Education Financial Survey, Fiscal Years 1990 through 2002 adjusted to 2002 dollars using the Consumer Price Index. Full dollar amounts and per pupil amounts are presented for each data item. Appendix C contains unadjusted data. This publication contains state-level data on revenues by source and expenditures by function, including expenditures per pupil. All data were reported to NCES by state education agencies.
Neurological disorders affect millions globally: WHO report
Neurological disorders affect millions globally: WHO report
A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that neurological disorders, ranging from epilepsy to Alzheimer disease, from stroke to headache, affect up to one billion people worldwide. Neurological disorders also include brain injuries, neuroinfections, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson disease.
The report, Neurological disorders: Public health challenges, reveals that of the one billion people affected worldwide, 50 million suffer from epilepsy and 24 million from Alzheimer and other dementias. Neurological disorders affect people in all countries, irrespective of age, sex, education or income.
Full Text: Neurological disorders: Public health challenges, (232 pages; PDF)
Source: World Health Organization
Prevalence of HPV Infection Among Females in the United States
Prevalence of HPV Infection Among Females in the United States
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association
“Our study provides the first national estimate of prevalent HPV infection among females aged 14 to 59 years in the United States. Overall, HPV prevalence was high (26.8%), and prevalence was highest among females aged 20 to 24 years. Our data indicate that the burden of prevalent HPV infection among women was higher than previous estimates. However, the prevalence of HPV vaccine types was relatively low.”
No Escape From Diesel Exhaust
No Escape From Diesel Exhaust
Source: Clean Air Task Force
“Every day, Americans are needlessly sickened from exposure to air pollution in the form of fine particles. Overall, health researchers estimate that fine particles, such as those found in diesel exhaust, shorten the lives of 70,000 Americans each year. Legions of published, peer-reviewed studies have documented the increased exposure and resultant health risk from particles in and around nearby roadways. When during our day are we exposed to these particles? According to the California Air Resources Board, although we spend only about six percent of our day commuting to and from work, it is during that time when we receive over half of our exposure. Using comparable instruments and research techniques as those employed by health researchers at major universities, Clean Air Task Force (CATF) investigated the exposure to diesel particles during typical commutes in four cities: Austin, Texas, Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, and Columbus, Ohio. In addition, CATF tested the air quality benefits due to emission control retrofits of transit buses in Boston and transit buses and garbage trucks in New York City. CATF’s investigation demonstrated that whether you commute by car, bus, ferry, train, or on foot, you may be exposed to high levels of diesel particles.”
+ Read report online and watch embedded movies
+ Download printable report (PDF; 2 MB)
+ Download printable executive summary (PDF; 1 MB)
+ Videos
+ Download full 82-page white paper (PDF; 5 MB)
+ National press release (PDF; 29 KB)
+ Frequently Asked Questions (PDF: 58 KB)
02.27.07
Latest Report: Implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons safeguards agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran
The latest report from the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran, Implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons safeguards agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran, has been released as a UN document, S/2007/100
The report is 8 pages and is a PDF file.
Source: United Nations, IAEA (via UN Pulse)
02.25.07
A semi-qualitative study of attitudes to vaccinating adolescents against human papillomavirus without parental consent
A semi-qualitative study of attitudes to vaccinating adolescents against human papillomavirus without parental consent
Source: BioMed Central Public Health
“In the UK, the principle of adolescent autonomy is recognised and logically should include the right to HPV vaccination, but this may concern parents who would otherwise approve vaccination.”
02.23.07
America’s High School Graduates: Results from the 2005 NAEP High School Transcript Study
America’s High School Graduates: Results from the 2005 NAEP High School Transcript Study
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
This report presents information about the types of courses 2005 high school graduates took during high school, how many credits they earned, and the grades they received. Information on the relationships between high school records and performance in mathematics and science on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is also included. Transcripts were collected from a nationally representative sample of 26,000 high school graduates. The 2005 results are compared to the results of earlier transcript studies, and differences among graduates by race/ethnicity, gender, and parent education are examined.
Study findings include: 2005 graduates earned approximately three more credits (about 360 additional hours of instruction during their high school careers) than their 1990 counterparts. In 2005, the overall grade point average (GPA) was approximately a third of a letter grade higher than in 1990. Graduates with stronger academic records obtain higher NAEP scores. For example, graduates whose highest mathematics course was geometry or below had average NAEP mathematics scores below the Basic achievement level, while graduates who took calculus had average NAEP scores at the Proficient level. Female graduates’ GPAs overall and in mathematics and science were higher than the GPAs of male graduates during each year the HSTS was conducted.
Among those who took higher level mathematics and science courses, male graduates had higher NAEP scores than female graduates. Increased percentages of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander graduates completed at least a midlevel curriculum in 2005 compared with 1990. The GPAs of all four racial/ethnic groups also increased during this time. In 2005, both Black and Hispanic graduates were less likely than White graduates to have completed calculus or advanced science courses and to have higher GPAs.
+ Full Report (PDF; 2.47 KB)
