BBC Blame Darfur Genocide on Global Warming

[Teddy Bear]

One couldn't make it up - I had to read the article twice to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me.
The BBC have now managed to achieve double bias at one go -they found research to indicate that conflicts in Africa, like the Darfur genocide are not due to a militant Islamic mindset, but global warming. How convenient! Now rather than avoid mentioning which religious group is assumed responsible for murder and mayhem round the globe, as for example they did today in the slaughter of 46 in the Philippines (guess which group - but you'd have to go to other news-sites to find out), they can just attribute it to their pet subject - global warming.

I wonder if they'll now stop blaming Israel for the Mid-East conflict for the same reason - yeah right.

[djfearross]

"Climate Change" aka "Global Warming".

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10917611

11 August 2010 Last updated at 00:31 GMT

Climate change 'will increase heart deaths'
By Michelle Roberts

Health reporter, BBC News

Many more people will die of heart problems as global warming continues, experts are warning.

Climate extremes of hot and cold will become more common and this will puts strain on people's hearts, doctors say.

A study in the British Medical Journal found that each 1C temperature drop on a single day in the UK is linked to 200 extra heart attacks.

Heatwaves, meanwhile, increase heart deaths from other causes, as shown by the events in Paris during summer 2003.

Over 11,000 people died in France's heatwave in the first half of August of that year when temperatures rose to over 40C.

Many of these were sudden cardiac deaths related to heart conditions other than heart attack.

That same summer, record-breaking temperatures led to 2,000 excess deaths in the UK.

And experts predict that by the 2080s events similar to these will happen every year.

The risks posed by extreme spells of hot and cold are largely within two weeks of exposure and are greatest for the most frail - the elderly and those with heart problems already, say experts.

In the BMJ study, researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine analysed data on over 84,000 patients admitted to hospital with a heart attack between 2003 and 2006 and compared this with daily temperatures in England and Wales.

They found that a 1C reduction in average daily temperature was linked with a cumulative 2% increase in risk of heart attack for 28 days, even in the summer.

Vulnerable to extremes

Although a 2% increase in risk may sound small for any given individual, for the population of the UK it equates to 200 extra heart attacks a day, say the researchers.

Most of the casualties were people in their 70s and 80s, but people who had been taking aspirin long-term appeared to be less vulnerable for some reason.

The researchers speculate that the cold may make blood more prone to clotting, and that this raises heart attack risk.

It would also explain why the blood-thinning drug aspirin might offer some protection.

Lead researcher Krishnan Bhaskaran and his team say further studies need to be conducted to see what measures could be used to avoid the increased risk, such as advising patients, particularly the elderly, to wear suitable clothing and to heat their homes sufficiently.

Last year's low temperatures saw the highest number of "excess deaths" - the number of those who perished over and above what is normal for the time of year - for nearly a decade.

The 36,000 "excess deaths" in England and Wales during the winter of 2008/09 represented a rise of nearly 50% from the previous year.

In an accompanying editorial in the BMJ, Dr Paola Michelozzi and Manuela De Sario, of the Lazio Region Department of Epidemiology in Rome, say although rising global temperatures will bring some health benefits, such as lower cold-related mortality, any benefits will be outweighed by the health risks linked to heatwaves.

"Actions to reduce greenhouse gases based on lifestyle changes at the population and individual level may have substantial benefits for health and climate protection.

"For example, lowering saturated fat intake by reducing consumption of animal products is a healthy food choice recommended in prevention guidelines for coronary heart disease and a recognised strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emission," they say.

Ellen Mason, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "Although the increased risk is small, if there is a nationwide drop in average temperature it could equate to a significant number of heart attacks each day.

"This timely piece of research reminds us that older people and anyone with heart disease should keep warm in their homes after the summer draws to a close."

[djfearross]

10 August 2010 Last updated at 08:14 GMT

Climate change 'partly to blame' for sweltering Moscow

Extreme heat and wildfires have led to a blanket of smog over Moscow
Global climate change is partly to blame for the abnormally hot and dry weather in Moscow, cloaked in a haze of smoke from wildfires, say researchers.

The UK Met Office said there are likely to be more extreme high temperatures in the future.

Experts from the environmental group WWF Russia have also linked climate change and hot weather to raging wildfires around the Russian capital.

Meteorologists say severe conditions may linger for several more days.

The Moscow health department said earlier that the number of people dying daily in the city had reached about 700 - twice the usual number.

Jeff Knight, a climate variability scientist at the UK Met Office, attributed the situation in Moscow to a number of factors, among them greenhouse gas concentrations, which are steadily rising.

The recent El Nino, a climate pattern that occurs across the tropical Pacific Ocean and affects weather around the world, and local weather patterns in Russia may have also contributed to this summer's abnormal conditions.

"The Russian heatwave is related to a persistent pattern of circulation drawing air from the south and east (the very warm steppes)," said Dr Knight.

"Circulation anomalies tend to create warm and cool anomalies: while it has been very hot in western Russia, it has been cooler than average in adjacent parts of Siberia that lie on the other side of the high pressure system where Arctic air is being drawn southwards.

"Some long-term records have been broken - for example the highest daily temperature in Moscow. We expect more extreme high temperatures as the climate changes. This means that when weather fluctuations promote high temperatures… there is more likelihood of records being broken."

The head of the climate and energy programme at WWF Russia, Alexei Kokorin, said the abnormal temperatures soaring to up to 40C increased the likelihood of wildfires around the capital.

And though this summer in Moscow had proven harsh for people and animals alike, it was possible that temperatures would continue to rise over the years to come, he warned.

"We have to get ready to fight such fires in the future because there is a great possibility that such a summer will be repeated. This tendency won't stop in the coming 40 years or so, until the greenhouse gas emissions are reduced," he said.

"In a few decades, fires may affect the main forest regions of Russia. Of course, there are a lot less people living there, but we could lose a lot more forests.

"We can now say that the wave of abnormal phenomena that the rest of the world has been experiencing has finally reached central Russia," Dr Kokorin added. need we spell it out....!
Temperatures have been record-high for weeks and smoke from wildfires has driven airborne pollutants levels to the worst ever recorded in the capital and the Moscow region.

How peat bog fires spread


1.Peat is formed from decayed vegetation in bogs, moors or swamps.
2.Deliberate drainage or drought can expose peat to air.
3.Peat can then be ignited by wildfires or spontaneously combust. The air flow allows the peat to continue burning.
4.Once alight, the smouldering fire spreads slowly through the peat and can cause the ground above to collapse.
Besides people suffering and entire villages burnt down, Russian wildlife has been hit hard as well.

Greenpeace Russia has criticised the Russian authorities for poor handling of the catastrophe, and mainly for abolishing a centralised woodland fire control system several months ago.

Environmentalists say the number of personnel employed to spot wildfires has been slashed by over a half.

This has greatly contributed to the massive loss of forests and wildlife around the capital, Mikhail Kreyndlin, head of Greenpeace Russia's programme on specially protected natural areas, told BBC News.

"If bigger animals are able to escape the fires, smaller ones, including insects, have perished," he said.

Smog has also been a major issue, he added, especially for birds.

"Birds have very intensive breathing, and such extreme levels of air pollutants have definitely affected them," he said, explaining that it was possible for birds to basically drop dead from the skies.

Dr Kokorin said global warming creates another problem.

"If it gets warmer in the winter and in the spring and hotter in the summer, fauna changes.


Wildfires have been raging around Moscow for weeks
"For example, we have never had as many regions in Russia affected by malaria, and the same goes for ticks carrying encephalitis. This is because winters are becoming much warmer, and less and less of these organisms die during the freezing periods."

There have also been reports of freshwater jellyfish, commonly found in warm lakes and rivers in North America, Europe and Asia, fished out from the abnormally warm waters of the Moscow river.

-------------------------------------------

Not a very balanced report. You admit there are other factors but don't state what they are. Then you quote every agency who believes this is due to pollution, without quoting anyone who belives otherwise.

[Teddy Bear]

Don't think for a moment that the government doesn't want this line (lyin') promulgated.
Business facing a wave of green taxes