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GreenFacts Newsletter - Winter 2006Table of contents
Celebrating GreenFacts’ 5th anniversary December 2006 marks not only the beginning of winter and the approach of yet another holiday season, but also the fifth anniversary of the creation of GreenFacts and its innovative approach to bringing complex scientific consensus reports to the reach of non-experts. The website www.greenfacts.org is now a well established source of reliable scientific information on topics ranging from climate change and the state of ecosystems to the health effects of chemical substances or lifestyle choices. Five successful years of faithful science communication on health and the environment prove that GreenFacts is responding to a need in society. This year’s achievements:
In 2007, GreenFacts will pursue this positive development, in terms of recognition, Digests published, and contracts signed. The number of visitors on www.greenfacts.org is expected to reach about 3.5 million in 2007 alone. Health and Consumer Protection – working for the European Commission Latest Digests on www.greenfacts.org AIDS – status and challenges of the epidemic GreenFacts’ most recent online publication assesses the spread of HIV/AIDS and what can be done to halt it. In just 25 years, the virus has spread relentlessly from a few widely scattered “hot spots” to virtually every country in the world, infecting 65 million people and killing 25 million. The GreenFacts Digest on AIDS is a faithful summary of the Report on the global AIDS epidemic 2006 by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). It is available in English, Spanish, and French. Arctic Climate Change – affecting the entire planet Our climate is already changing, particularly in the Arctic where permafrost is melting, glaciers are receding, and sea ice is disappearing. Changes in the Arctic will not only affect local people and ecosystems but also the rest of the world, because the Arctic plays a special role in global climate. How has the climate changed in the Arctic so far, and what future changes are expected? To provide some answers, GreenFacts has published its Digest on Arctic Climate Change in collaboration with the International Polar Foundation. The Digest is a faithful summary of the ACIA report entitled Impacts of a Warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment. Psychoactive Drugs – understanding dependence and effects on the brain Psychoactive drugs such as tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs impose a substantial health burden on society. How do they affect the brain and how does drug dependence develop? GreenFacts has published a Digest on Psychoactive Drugs, a faithful summary of the WHO report Neuroscience of psychoactive substance use and dependence. Desertification – causes and consequences Desertification has already affected many drylands and the livelihoods of millions of people. To give an overview of the current extent of desertification, its consequences, and possible countermeasures, GreenFacts has faithfully summarised the Desertification Synthesis Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The Digest on Desertification was written in collaboration with and with the financial support of the World Bank, the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and is available in English, Spanish, and French. Upcoming Digest on www.greenfacts.org Forests – to be released this monthForests play a crucial role in climate change mitigation and in the conservation of biodiversity as well as of soil and water resources. If managed sustainably, forests also contribute significantly to local and national economies and to the well-being of current and future generations. However, deforestation continues in some places at an alarmingly high rate, and more efforts are globally needed to progress towards sustainable forest management. The GreenFacts Digest on Forests is a faithful summary of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005: Progress towards sustainable forest management. It is published with the support of the FAO. We wish all our readers a merry Christmas and a happy New Year 2007! We would like to thank you for your ongoing interest in our work. Thanks to our faithful readers, www.greenfacts.org is becoming the reference for unbiased scientific information. We are looking forward to welcoming you again on our website in the next year.
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