by Erin Jones – Approximately 2.9 billion hectares of land is affected by shifting cultivation globally[1]. Often named ‘slash and burn’, shifting cultivation is an age-old practice unique to tropical locations in Africa, Asia and Latin America[2]. It involves the cutting and burning of natural material, which is replaced by agricultural crops, followed by an…
by Amelia Jones – The biosphere, where all life on Earth is, faces such extreme stress that the UN warns we have 12 years before catastrophic consequences [1]. Environmental degradation is inevitable in a capitalist-driven world, therefore, it’s futile to tackle climate action, a major UN Sustainable Development Goal [2], without systemic change. Despite this, ethical…
by Jessica Dean – It is 2020 and clean water is still inaccessible for 2 billion people worldwide. That is one in every three people living without a resource, that we would all agree, is a basic human right necessary for survival[1]. Kamau and Njiru (2018) address this global issue with a focus on water sanitation…
by Eleanor Egan – Meat Consumption has increased rapidly in the last century with a 20% expansion in the last decade alone[i]. This brings a host of environmental issues including effects on climate change. Developed countries are consuming over double the quantity of meat products compared to developing countries[ii], which has lead to unsustainable eating…
by Amrin Golam – Where do you buy your food? In the developed world, it has become the norm to go to local supermarkets. As we experience a nutrition transition on a global scale this is also becoming a more common occurrence in the developing world.[1] The growth of supermarkets is shifting the global diet.[2] This…
We all know we should aim to eat a healthy diet for ourselves, but have you considered the impacts of an unhealthy diet on the environment? Diets high in added sugars and saturated fats, are having a serious effect on the planet as well as human health. The Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable…
by Eleanor Lancaster – Air pollution has become a modern-day environmental issue stemming from the developing world, increasing global population and economic growth of the world. There has been significant increase in air pollution across developing countries (see figure 1) where rapid urbanisation and development has progressed throughout recent years, including China, creating negative, emerging…
by Tyler Broad Like everybody else, I am still haunted by the mental images that I took from the Blue Planet II series: turtles trapped inside plastic nets, an albatross dying from a plastic toothpick piercing through its insides, and a pilot whale refusing to let go of her dead child. As Attenborough tells us,…
by Trang Kowalkowska – The Global Nutritional Report found that there are around ‘820 million hungry or undernourished people’ [1] and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World estimated that about ‘3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet’ [2]. The figures are expected to rise due to rapidly increasing population growth…