Frontiers | Science News

Science News post list

74 news posts in Sustainability

Sustainability

15 Dec 2020

Prof Mat Collins is inaugural Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Climate

Frontiers in Climate will assess solutions to help humanity mitigate and adapt to climate change. Prof Collins, will be providing strategic insights into developments in the field of climate research.   Mat Collins is Professor of Climate Change at the University of Exeter and Joint Met Office Chair in Climate Change. He recently led the launch of the Predictions and Projections section in Frontiers In Climate. He will continue to hold the post of Section Chief Editor.  Prof Mat Collins will now lead Frontiers in Climate How did you get interested in climate change?   My first degree was in Mathematics and when I finished I had no idea what I wanted to do next. My PhD at the University of Reading on modelling the atmosphere of Mars was almost chosen at random as it sounded exciting. After my PhD and a post-doc in Oxford, I joined the Met Office Hadley Centre which was where my research on climate change really started.   What does your current work involve?   I currently split my time between running my research group and a leadership role as Associate Dean for Research in my college. Our current research projects are on the impact of climate change on the hydrological cycle in the tropics, remote impacts of El Niño, decadal variability of sea surface temperature and […]

Sustainability

23 Aug 2019

The fat of the land: estimating the ecological costs of overeating

Overeating is bad for our planet’s health, not just our own. Image: shutterstock. Overeating wastes far more food than we throw away, suggests research — by Matthew Prior, Frontiers science writer With every unfinished meal since Band Aid, you’ve heard it: “people are starving in Africa, y’know”. True, the UN estimates that rich countries throw away nearly as much food as the entire net production of sub-Saharan Africa – about 230 million tonnes per year. But is it any less a waste to eat the excess food? Morally, it’s equivocal. Nutritionally, it depends. However: the land, water and carbon footprints are just the same. In fact, researchers in Italy have proposed a way to measure the ecological impact of global food wastage due to excessive consumption. First, they estimated the net excess bodyweight of each country’s population – based on BMI and height data – and distributed its energy content among foods groups according to national availability. Published in Frontiers in Nutrition, the results suggest that direct food waste – thrown away or lost from field to fork – is a mere hors-d’œuvre. Metabolic Food Waste and Ecological Impact of Obesity in FAO World’s Region► Read original article► Download original article (pdf) […]

Sustainability

03 Jun 2019

Edible insects? Lab-grown meat? The real future food is lab-grown insect meat

Lab-grown insect meat – fed on plants, and genetically modified for maximum growth, nutrition and flavor – could be a superior green alternative for high volume, nutritious food production. Image: Shutterstock. Cultured insect tissue could combine the planet-saving best of insect farming, GM livestock, labriculture and plant-based meat substitutes — by Matthew Prior, Frontiers science writer Livestock farming is destroying our planet. It is a major cause of land and water degradation, biodiversity loss – and of course, climate change. Several potential solutions have been proposed. Popular options are plant-based diets, insect farming, lab-grown meat and genetically modified animals. Which is best? All of these combined, say researchers at Tufts University. Writing in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, they explain why lab-grown insect meat – fed on plants, and genetically modified for maximum growth, nutrition and flavor – could be a superior green alternative for high volume, nutritious food production. Possibilities for Engineered Insect Tissue as a Food Source► Read original article► Download original article (pdf) Alternatives to conventional meat farming “Due to the environmental, public health and animal welfare concerns associated with our current livestock system, it is vital to develop more sustainable food production methods,” says lead author Natalie Rubio. […]