OSLO, February 7^th 2018 – EAT is pleased to announce the appointment of Alessandro Demaio, MD, MPH, PhD, as its new chief executive officer. Currently a Medical Officer at the World Health Organization, Demaio will assume his role in April 2018.

 “Sandro encapsulates the essence of EAT: a visionary thinker who is led by science, a relationship-builder who dares to be disruptive,” said Gunhild A. Stordalen, President and Founder of EAT. “He brings a wealth of experience to the role, from his years at the WHO, to teaching public health and co-founding NCDFREE, a global social movement against noncommunicable diseases. Sandro has been an advisor to EAT since its inception. I am confident that with his scientific knowledge, his deep understanding of our organization and his passion for our mission, he is well equipped to lead EAT on its journey to becoming the leading platform for global food systems transformation. We are delighted to have him onboard.”

 A medical doctor by training, Demaio is an expert on issues of noncommunicable diseases, public health, nutrition and health policy. He joined the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development at the World Health Organization’s global headquarters in 2015, as Medical Officer for Noncommunicable Conditions and Nutrition. Since 2017, he is also co-host of the ABC television show Ask the Doctor – an innovative and exploratory factual medical series broadcasting weekly across Australia.

 “Food is our missing silver bullet for both planetary and human health,” said Demaio. “It is at the heart of almost every culture; our common language in an increasingly fragmented world. I am thrilled to join this dynamic and fast-growing organization, with such a critical mission—providing healthy and sustainable food for all. The mission of EAT has never been more important, nor urgent.“

 Demaio trained and worked as a medical doctor at The Alfred Hospital in Australia. While practicing as a doctor he completed a Masters in Public Health, including fieldwork to prevent diabetes in Cambodia. He completed his PhD with the University of Copenhagen, focusing on noncommunicable diseases. Demaio held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School from 2013 to 2015, and was Assistant Professor and Course Director in global health at the Copenhagen School of Global Health, in Denmark. To date, he has authored over 23 scientific publications and more than 85 articles.

 His appointment follows an extensive five-month global search.

Demaio will take over from EAT’s Interim CEO Clare Matterson, who will return to EAT’s Board of Trustees. Matterson served as Vice Chair of EAT’s Board of Directors from 2014 to 2017, representing the Wellcome Trust, one of EAT’s three co-founders. Matterson starts her new position as Director of Engagement for the Natural Museum of History in London in March 2018, initially dividing her time with her commitment to EAT.

(N.Sethu)

Climate change is real, and it’s happening. But will you survive it?

Melting ice caps, record high temperatures and rising sea levels are just some of the telltale signs.

Climate change is one of the most pressing crises facing humanity. Caused by an immense and continual buildup of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere as a result of human activity, climate change is already causing a series of alarming environmental events.

Once snowy landscapes are slowly melting away to leave an uninhabitable and baron wilderness, rising sea temperatures are killing thousands of miles of coral reef and marine life, while freak weather events are becoming more common and costing affected nations billions of pounds. For example, early estimates suggest that 2017’s hurricane Harvey caused between £48 billion and £134 billion worth of damage.

These serve as a worrying indication of the catastrophic effect that climate change could have on our planet in the future if nothing is done to tackle the phenomenon.

Whilst it’s clear that no single corner of the globe is safe from the changes that are happening to our climate, we wanted to find out which countries are the most (and least) at risk of the effects of climate change.

To answer this question, we looked at data from the University of Notre-Dame’s ND-Gain Index. This report analysed 181 countries on their vulnerability to climate change and how ready they are to adapt to a warming planet, based on factors such as healthcare, food supply and government stability.

We also scrutinized how much carbon dioxide all 181 countries emit every year to give an indication of each nation’s contribution towards climate change. This allowed us to compare a country’s likeliness to survive changes to the global climate against their responsibility for the phenomenon.

So which country is the most likely to survive climate change?

The answer is Norway, thanks to its low vulnerability score and high readiness score. The nation’s Nordic neighbours also fared well, with Finland (3rd), Sweden (4th), Denmark (6th) and Iceland (8th) landing 5 out of the 10 top spots for survivability. So we should all flee to the countries of northern Europe and the north Atlantic to live out our final days should our planet become uninhabitable.

Interestingly the UK and US did not make the top 10, ranking 12th and 15th respectively. Both these nations were named amongst the 10 countries most likely to survive climate change in our 2015 version of this map, but an overall worsening of their vulnerability and readiness scores led to this slip in rank.

Even more surprising is China’s position in the ranking – 59th. Despite arguably being the world’s biggest contributor towards climate change – emitting a massive 9,040 metric tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere every year – the country is somewhat sensitive to the effects of a warming planet. This is largely due to the nation’s growing population which is putting a strain on China’s natural resources and public services. Rather ironically, China’s vulnerability to climate change therefore means that they may eventually reap what they sow.

And who are the biggest losers?

At the other end of the scale, it comes as no surprise that the world’s poorest and least developed nations have the lowest chance of surviving climate change. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa fill the bottom 10 spaces for survivability, with Somalia being named the country least likely to survive climate change.

Chad, Eritrea, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo also fared badly, owing to their unstable governance, poor infrastructure, lack of healthcare and a scarcity of food and water.

These findings serve as a stark reminder of the need for wealthier, more established countries to support the world’s most vulnerable nations. This is particularly true given that many of the world’s richest economies contribute the most to climate change but are in fact the least likely to be affected by it, whilst impoverished countries who hold little responsibility for the phenomenon are left suffering the most. To put this into perspective, Eritrea emits just 0.01% of the total carbon dioxide that the US does each year – a mere 0.6 metric tons of CO₂ compared to 4,997 tons of the greenhouse gas.

Whilst it’s true that climate change will impact the entire global community in some way, this map clearly shows which countries are likely to be the most (and least) affected. The pressure is now mounting for global leaders to come up with an effective solution to stop climate change before it is too late and nations begin to succumb to the disastrous consequences of a warming world.

(N.Sethu)

In a new find, researchers have traced around 2000 ancient artifacts near the Norway glaciers. A group of archaeologists, while exploring Norway’s glaciers got hold of theses artefacts that can reveal many information about ancient Norway and the history of mountain populations.

The archaeologists are from Norway and the United Kingdom, and they have been surveying the edge so of glaciers in Norway’s highest mountains in Oppland since the year 2011 as part of the Glacier Archaeology Program and its Secrets of the ice projects. During their explorations, the archaeologists have discovered thousands of ancient artifacts like wooden skis, near complete bronze-age arrows, wooden shafts, Viking swords, clothing as well as the skulls of pack horses.

After analyzing those artefacts, the researchers found out that they date as far back as 4000 B.C. that means the artefacts are almost 6000 years old. Lars Pilø, co-director of the Glacier Archaeology Program said that in the glaciated mountain passes one can find basically anything. “Obviously because of the fantastic artefacts, there’s a lot of focus on the individual finds. But I think what is more important, perhaps, is the bigger picture,” he said.

The researchers were successful in getting ages of 153 artifacts out of those thousands of object. They found out that the unearthed artefacts were not spread out evenly over time. The archaeologists got surprised when they found out that the activities got intensified during the Late Antique Little Ice Age (c. 536 – 660 AD). At that time the earth was gradually cooling thus resulting in failure of harvest and falling of populations. The study indicated that during the Late Antique Little Ice Age the hunters and foragers dominated the mountain ranges and mountain hunting was a top priory work so as to supplement failing agricultural harvests in times of low temperatures.

The weapons and artefacts used by those hunters and foragers became frozen in glaciers over the years. But now, due to climate change, the glaciers are melting, and that has resulted in exposure of these 6000 years old artifacts. Although researchers are excited to study those artifacts, at the same time they are concerned that that exposure of these fragile artefacts to the elements might lead to their degradation. The ice of Norway’s mountains had perfectly preserved those artifacts. The latest study was published in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

(tecake)