EU worries over pig virus

The EU Commission has agreed new rules to limit the spread of a deadly swine disease that has  killed millions of piglets n the US.





Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea virus (PEDv) has wiped out around 10% of the American herd in a year.
While the EU rejected an outright ban on live pig imports, it has restricted blood products used in pig feed.

However a Canadian minister said measures were "disappointing" and not based on science. While the virus isn't harmful to humans or food, concern has grown in Europe over its potential economic impact PEDv is spread in faecal matter and attacks the guts of pigs, preventing them from absorbing liquids and nutrients they need to survive .

Older animals can survive, but fatality rates among piglets run between 80% and 100%.
Deadly spoon. So virulent is the agent that one expert estimated that a spoonful of infected manure would be enough to sicken the entire US herd.

France announced last week that it was set to suspend imports of live pigs and sperm from the US, Canada, Japan and Mexico.However the French have delayed their ban to allow the EU Commission to consider a pan-Union response.

At a meeting in Brussels, experts from member states reviewed the most recent scientific information on PEDv and decided against a ban on imports of live pigs. They argued that live imports aren't a major problem, with around 250 animals being brought in from Canada and the US last year. No live consignments are scheduled to be sent to Europe at present.

EU officials did toughen up the rules on the imports of blood products from countries where the virus is active.

Jet stream may cause prolonged weather

The main system that helps determine the weather over Northern Europe and North America may be changing, research suggests.The study shows that the so-called jet stream has increasingly taken a longer, meandering path.This has resulted in weather remaining the same for more prolonged periods.

All though the uk has been drench with rain, the US have been
nseasonably hot

                                                                                                                                                               The work was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancements of Science (AAAS) in Chicago.The observation could be as a result of the recent warming of the Arctic. Temperatures there have been rising two to three times faster than the rest of the globe.

Aircraft flying from North America to Europe typically take advantage of the northern hemisphere polar jet to speed their journeys.The jet stream's path is far from uniform and its location can vary.In summer it usually sits to the north of the UK, making British weather a slightly cooler version of what continental Europe is experiencing.

UK weather: 100mph winds hit mainland england

Winds gusting over 100mph are lashing parts of the UK in what the assistant chief of the defence staff describes an "almost unparalleled natural crisis".It comes after the Met Office issues its first "red warning" of the winter, meaning there is a "risk to life", with widespread damage expected. 

Power to thousands of homes has been cut off and transport has been disrupted by the hurricane-force winds.Sixteen severe flood warnings remain for Berkshire, Surrey and Somerset.Assistant chief of the defence staff Major General Patrick Sanders, who is coordinating the armed forces response, described the floods as an "almost unparalleled natural crisis".

The British Prime Minister

In the Commons, David Cameron, The British Prime minister, repeated his pledge that "money is no object in this relief effort". He unveiled a package of measures to help businesses and homeowners repairing flood-damaged property to build in new defences and said small businesses affected by flooding would get 100% relief from business rates.

Pollination by Insects Cause Bigger Apples

Cox's Orange Pippin is an apple cultivar first grown in England,

Pollination can occur in several different ways, but usually plants rely on animals or wind to help pollinate them and help distribute their pollen and seeds.However, a new study shows that apple trees produce bigger, rounder, and more desirable fruit when pollinated by insects in particular.

Researchers studied Cox and Gala apples, two popular varieties in Britain, and valued the annual contribution of insects to these fruits at just under £37 million which is about 60 million American dollars.

The research was conducted on six Cox and Gala orchards in UK. At each site, some of the branches were covered with a fine PVC mesh, allowing wind and rain to get through but keeping insects out.
As a result, trees that were left open to bugs yielded both more fruit, and a larger proportion of higher-value class-one apples.

However, unfortunately in the past 30 years, the number of managed honeybee colonies has fallen by more than half. Due to disease outbreaks, pesticide use, and a decline in the number of bee-keepers, bee populations are on the brink of collapse.According to study by PLOS ONE, more than half of European countries no longer have enough honeybees to pollinate their crops.

GM purple tomatoes coming to shops

The prospect of genetically modified purple tomatoes reaching the shelves has come a step closer.

Their dark pigment is intended to give tomatoes the same potential health benefits as fruit such as blueberries.It was developed in Britain, large-scale production is now under way in Canada with the first 1,200l of the purple tomato juice ready for shipping.

The pigment, known as anthocyanin, is an antioxidant which studies on animals show could help fight cancer.Scientists say the new tomatoes could improve the nutritional value of everything from ketchup to pizza topping.

The tomatoes were developed at the John Innes Centre in Norwich where Prof Cathie Martin hopes the first delivery of large quantities of juice will allow researchers to investigate its potential.

European Union outlines 2030 environmental target

The European Commission has outlined its plans for climate and energy policy until 2030.The Commissioners want a binding target to reduce carbon emissions by 40% from 1990 levels. Renewables will need to provide 27% of EU energy by 2030, but while the target will be binding at EU level there will be no mandatory targets for member states.

The policy proposals are subject to review by heads of government.Green groups have said the new targets lack ambition and the 40% emissions cut is "dangerously low".This wide ranging White Paper will have a significant impact on the way Europe generates its power from 2020 onwards.

The Commission wants to give clarity to investors in renewable energy while at the same time maintaining their leadership role in global climate negotiations. A critical part of that is the headline figure on emissions cuts. The target that was set for 2020 was 20% but the EU as a group had almost reached the goal by 2012.

Some countries including the UK urged the Commission to propose a bigger target of 50% by 2030 whereas others held out for 35%. The move was welcomed by investors. According to the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, who's members manage 7.5 trillion euros, the new target was a good first step.

Honeybee shortage threatens crop pollination

In more than half of European countries, there are not enough honeybees to pollinate crops, according to new research by the scientists at Plos One.

                                   

Scientists believe that a boom in biofuels has sparked a massive increase in the need for pollination.The shortage is particularly severe in the untied kingdom (UK) which has only a quarter of the honeybees required.Researchers believe that wild pollinators including bumblebees and hoverflies are making up the shortfall.


Little is known about the number of wild pollinating species as they are not being monitored in the UK. The researchers believe this reliance on them could be hampering yields and putting UK crops at risk.

Pesticides May Impact Human Nervous System

Recent research by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has found that Bee-harming and other pesticides may impact on the complex human nervous system.They hound that current safety guidelines for two pesticides—acetamiprid and imidacloprid—may be too lax to protect humans, especially the developing brains of unborn children.

 The finding is based on recent research published in PLoS ONE where scientists found that newborn rats exposed to the chemicals experienced movement issues, shrinking brains and weight loss.The EFSA recommends raising the safety limits of both the chemicals based on the research, though it notes that . However, the recommendation still has to be accepted by the European Commission.

Europe has recently installed a two-year partial ban on three neonicotinoids—imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam—due to research linking the pesticides to the collapse in bee colonies and other pollinators. Scientists have found that while the pesticides don't kill bees outright, they impact their nervous systems, altering behavior to such an extent that eventually whole colonies collapse. 

½ of the uk suitable for fracking

More than half of the UK could be suitable for shale gas fracking, according to the government-commissioned report.
Under the maximum scenario, up to 2,880 wells could be drilled for oil or gas in a new licensing round, the report says, generating around 16,000 to 32,000 jobs.

Fracking – a process that involves splitting shale rocks deep underground - uses huge amounts of water, and in some places this would need to be shipped in by tanker. This means fracking will squeeze water supplies for local communities around the shale gas site.

Around ¾ of water will used for fracking flows back with the addition of extra water to be used again for fracking.

Greenhouse gases during the exploration phase could be up to 0.96 million tonnes of CO2 – totalling just over 15% of the UK’s emissions from all oil and gas production.