In 1962, Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, co-winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize in Medicine, wrote, “One can think of the middle of the twentieth century as the end of one of the most important social revolutions in history, the virtual elimination of the infectious diseases...
Fifty years ago (Feb 10, 1973), Science News published a short article, “Setting sail into a plastic sea.” The story noted that scientists on an oceanographic voyage in the North Pacific “recorded 53 manmade objects in 8.2 hours of viewing” even though “they were 600...
The first World Happiness Report (WHR) appeared in 2012. In 2013, the UN General Assembly declared March 20th the International Day of Happiness (Resolution 66/281). In 2013 and every subsequent year except 2014, the World Happiness Report, written by an expanding group of experts, was...
On March 2, 2022, the United Nations Environment Assembly (the world's environment parliament) passed a landmark resolution calling on the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to produce a report on the Nexus between animal welfare, the environment, and sustainable development. This Resolution offers enormous potential...
The world is tired of pandemics and the associated restrictions that new and emerging diseases have placed on our lives. But some disease threats are too severe to be ignored. Context In 2006, Lantern Books published "Bird Flu: A Virus of our Own Hatching," by Dr....
Introduction Initially scheduled to be held in Kunming, China, in 2020, the 15th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP15) for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its additional protocols was postponed because of the COVID pandemic and rescheduled into two parts. The first part...
Progress following the Passage of the 2022 Animal Welfare, Environment and Sustainable Development Resolution at the UN Environment Assembly In March of this year (2022), the UN Environment Assembly passed a Resolution (EA.5/Res.1) that requested the Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) in Nairobi,...
Under the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) opened in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on November 6 and runs through the 18th. World leaders, climate campaigners, and climate stakeholders are gathered amid challenging world economic dynamics,...
As attention to global biodiversity heats up because of the upcoming December meeting (COP15) of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, media stories on the state of the globe's biodiversity are becoming more numerous. Humans love lists, and someone would inevitably produce a list...
Introduction A sustainable global future requires the world to address the welfare of not only people but animals and the environment. This view is also the founding premise for WellBeing International (WBI). A one-minute video produced by WBI includes the following message. "A responsible caretaker of...
