A hard, dry future for the planet
The world is wasting water on a truly colossal scale, according to the United Nations. More than 80 per cent of the used water on Earth is neither collected nor treated – the equivalent to the planet leaving the taps full on and the plugs out. This and other equally worrying realities will be presented this week to around 35,000 people from 180 countries at the World Water Forum, a gathering held every three years, which will hear the most disturbing reports yet on the state of the world’s rivers, lakes and aquifers. Demand for water is expected to increase by 55 per cent over the next four decades, according to a new study to be presented at the forum in France. Framing the Water Reform Challenge, from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), points out that rapid urbanisation, climate change and the altering global economy are putting growing pressures on water supplies. In around 40 years’ time, more than 40 per cent of the world’s population – 3.9 billion people – are likely to be living in river areas in the grip of severe “water-stress”. The UN warns this could also be felt in parts of Europe, affecting up to 44 million people by 2070. Anthony Cox, head of a water programme run by the OECD, said the world is experiencing a water “crisis.” He added: “More people in cities now don’t have access to water than back in 1980. In developing countries, especially, there is a tremendous economic and human cost to this.” Since 1900, more than 11 million people have died because of drought, according to the UN, and more than 2 billion have been affected by it – more than any other physical hazard. The OECD is calling for “urgent reform” of water management and suggests using economic instruments, such as taxation, tariffs and transfers, to encourage greater “water efficiency”.
New worries about sleeping pills
Patients taking prescription sleep aids on a regular basis were nearly five times as likely as non-users to die over a period of two and a half years, according to a recent study. Even those prescribed fewer than 20 pills a year were at risk, the researchers found; heavy users also were more likely to develop cancer. Unsurprisingly, the findings, published online in the journal BMJ, have caused a quite a stir. Americans filled some 60 million prescriptions for sleeping pills last year, up from 47 million in 2006, according to IMS Health, a health care services company. Panicked patients have been calling doctors’ offices seeking reassurance; some others simply quit the pills cold turkey. Some experts were quick to point out the study’s shortcomings. The analysis did not prove that sleeping pills cause death, critics noted, only that there may be a correlation between the two. And while the authors suggested the sleeping pills were a factor in the deaths, those who use sleep aids tend as a group to be sicker than those who don’t use them. The deaths may simply be a reflection of poorer health. Still, the findings underscore concern about the exploding use of sleeping pills. Experts say that many patients, especially the elderly, should exercise more caution when using sleep medications, including the non-benzodiazepine hypnotics so popular today, like zolpidem (brand name Ambien), eszopiclone (Lunesta) and zaleplon (Sonata). The non-benzodiazepine sedative hypnotics, on the market since the late 1980s, are believed to be safer and less likely to be abused than benzodiazepines or barbiturates. But many people take them for years, even though most are approved only for short-term use and generally their safety and effectiveness have not been evaluated beyond several weeks in clinical trials.
Most children still in mixed-ability classes
Most classes in secondary schools are still mixed-ability, despite repeated Conservative and Labour promises to increase the use of streaming. Ofsted figures show that state school pupils are taught in streams or sets for just 45 per cent of their lessons. The split was the same 15 years ago. Tony Blair’s decision to drop Labour’s historic support for mixed-ability teaching in 1997 was seen as an acknowledgement that the practice had failed a generation. Labour education ministers repeated the commitment, claiming that sorting pupils by ability helped ‘raise standards’. While in opposition, the Conservatives also demanded changes. David Cameron called for a ‘grammar stream’ in every subject in all comprehensives, saying he was ‘passionate about the importance of setting by ability within schools, so that we stretch the brightest kids and help those in danger of being left behind’. Despite this claim, his party has said little on the issue since entering into a coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Responding to a Commons written question, Tory schools minister Nick Gibb said last week: ‘The Department [for Education] has not provided specific guidance to schools on setting. However, case studies showing the effective use of setting in schools are available on the Department’s website.’ Figures show that just 36 per cent of year seven lessons – for 11- to 12-year-olds – observed by Ofsted inspectors in 2010/11 were organised into ability groups. The rate rose to 48 per cent among 15- to 16-year-olds, and averaged 45 per cent across all age groups. In 1997/98, the average was also 45 per cent. Year seven pupils had 31 per cent of their classes split by ability, while in year eleven the rate was 46 per cent.