China finds major dinosaur site

By Steve Jackson BBC News

The new discoveries include a large hadrosaur, or "duck-billed" dinosaur

Scientists in China say they believe a group of dinosaur fossils discovered in the east of the country could be the largest collection ever found.

The researchers, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, say they have unearthed 7600 dinosaur bones since March in Shandong province.

Most of the bones date back to the late Cretaceous period which is around the time when dinosaurs became extinct.

The scientists hope the find will help to explain why the creatures died out.

"Dinosaur City"

Zhucheng in Shandong province is known locally as "dinosaur city" and has been the scene of several important finds since the 1960s.

However, the researchers say a new fossil field discovered during mining explorations earlier this year appears to be even more important.

The discoveries are expected to contribute to research on the mystery of dinosaur extinction Prof Zhao Xijin, Chinese Academy of Sciences

About 3000 dinosaur bones have been dug up from a single pit just a few hundred metres long and thousands of others have been unearthed at a number of sites nearby.

Professor Zhao Xijin, the palaeontologist in charge of the excavations, told Chinese state media: "This group of fossilised dinosaurs is currently the largest ever discovered in the world... in terms of area."

The full details of the findings have not yet been published. But they are reported to include tyrannosaurus and ankylosaurus bones, as well as what could be the largest duck-billed dinosaur ever excavated.

Extinction clues

Mr Zhao said the uncovering of so many remains in such a small area is significant.

Zhao Xijin is renowned for fossil finds, such as this parrot-beaked dinosaur

"The discoveries are expected to contribute to research on the mystery of dinosaur extinction", he said.

Detailed information on the fossil find is not expected to be published in scientific journals until later in 2009.

However, a leading palaeontologist, Dr Paul Barrett, of London's Natural History Museum, told BBC News that the claim this find is the "world's largest" is likely to be credible.

Excavations are currently suspended for the winter but will resume when the weather gets warmer. The scientists say they're expecting to find even more dinosaur remains.

The local authorities in Shandong are making plans to set up a fossil park in the area.

Plants 'more important than ever'

Kew has a DNA bank with nearly 32,000 samples of plant DNA

Plants have never been as important to the environment, the director of Kew Gardens has said, ahead of the London conservation site's 250th anniversary.

They were vital to reduce the impact of climate change and "vast numbers of humans" needed them for medicine and food, Professor Stephen Hopper added.

Several major events will be held in 2009 to celebrate Kew's role as a world leader in plant science.

The first of these sees free public entry to the gardens on New Year's Day.

"We believe that at no other point in history have plants been so important to people," said Professor Hopper.

"They have importance as carbon sinks in a time of climate change.

"We have to care for what remains and address the serious business of repairing and restoring vegetation if we're going to have the buffers to climate variation that plant life offers."

This year saw the opening of a walk through the trees at Kew Gardens

There was an urgency to protect the plants which were essential to human welfare and quality of life, he added, as well as continuing to care for "green companions".

More than seven million preserved specimens of plants from around the world can be found in Kew's Herbarium.

An extension to this will open in 2009 to coincide with the 250th anniversary, helping Kew to cope with the 30,000 new specimens it receives each year.

A display of UK flowers such as orchids will also be held in the coming 12 months.

And there will be the Garden Photographer of the Year competition, plus the reopening of the Marianne North gallery, with a display of paintings by the Victorian artist.

Extra second to keep UK on time

The timekeepers who look after Big Ben will have to adjust its clock

A "leap second" will be added onto official clocks around the world at midnight to account for the Earth's slowing spin on its axis.

London's Big Ben, whose bongs bring in the new year across the UK, will have its Great Clock adjusted.

And the BBC will add an extra "pip" to mark the delayed start to 2009.

Twenty-three leap seconds have been introduced since 1972 to keep GMT - internationally defined time - and the Earth's rhythms in synch.

Revellers all over the UK will have an extra second to celebrate Peter Whibberley, NPL New Year to arrive a tick later

Timekeepers at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) will make sure Britain remains up-to-date by adding a second to the UK's atomic clocks, kept at the NPL's Teddington base in Middlesex.

While atomic time is extremely consistent, the Earth's rotation - the traditional way of measuring time - varies unpredictably.

This is due to factors such as changes in the atmosphere and the molten core.

As a result, the two methods of measuring time slowly drift apart and leap seconds occasionally have to be added or subtracted to the atomic clocks to make sure astronomical and atomic time remain synchronised, and to ensure the Sun remains overhead at noon.

Peter Whibberley, senior research scientist in NPL's Time Group, said atomic clocks like those at the laboratory are now "more than a million times more stable than the Earth's rotation".

"The difference between atomic time and Earth time has now built up to the point where it needs to be corrected, so this New Year's Eve we will experience a rare 61 second minute at the very end of 2008 and revellers all over the UK will have an extra second to celebrate," he said.

Vegetable oil tested on NZ flight

Rob Fyfe (C) described the flight as a milestone for aviation

A passenger plane has successfully completed a two-hour test flight partly powered by vegetable oil.

Air New Zealand hailed the flight as a "milestone" in the development of sustainable fuels that could lower aeroplane emissions and cut costs.

One engine of the Boeing 747-400 was fueled by a 50-50 mixture of jatropha plant oil and standard A1 jet fuel.

A Virgin Atlantic test flight in February used fuel derived from a blend of Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts.

In Auckland on Tuesday, a range of tests were completed both on the ground and during the flight, said Air New Zealand Chief Pilot David Morgan.

He said the oil from the plum-sized jatropha fruit performed "well through both the fuel system and engine".

Fewer emissions

Air New Zealand said it was the first time a second-generation biofuel had been used to partly power a passenger plane.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe said the completion of Tuesday's flight was "a milestone for the airline and commercial aviation".

Second-generation biofuels are said typically to use a wider range of plants and release fewer emissions than traditional biofuels such as ethanol.

The International Air Transport Association says it wants a 10th of aviation fuel to come from biofuels by 2017.

Critics of biofuels are opposed to turning farmland over to the cultivation of energy crops at the expense of growing food.

Grim details of Columbia disaster

The space shuttle disintegrated as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere

Nasa has released a detailed report into what happened to the space shuttle Columbia and its crew.

It comes almost six years after the orbiter disintegrated when re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

The report includes grim details of the crew's final moments as the shuttle broke up over the state of Texas.

It also concluded that the astronaut's seat restraints, suits and helmets did not work well, leading to "lethal trauma".

"This report confirms that although the valiant Columbia crew tried every possible way to maintain control of their vehicle, the accident was not ultimately survivable," said Nasa's deputy associate administrator, Wayne Hale.

The accident happened on 1 February 2003.

Forty-one seconds

When the space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the orbiter's left wing was damaged by a piece of insulating foam.

COLUMBIA'S FATAL FOAM Piece of insulating foam falls during launch, piercing one of shuttle's wings On re-entry, hot atmospheric gases blast inside the breach and melt ship's structure Crew cabin breaks away from ship and starts spinning rapidly Astronauts try to regain control of craft, flipping cockpit switches as alarms sound Rapid depressurization causes crew to lose consciousness Lack of safety restraints cause crew traumatic injuries

That proved fatal for the seven astronauts when they re-entered the Earth's atmosphere days later, says the BBC's Andy Gallacher in Washington.

The world watched as the shuttle disintegrated, its vital heat shield pierced by hot gasses, and its crew lost.

Nasa's extensive 400-page report into their last moments found that the crew knew for as long as 41 seconds that they did not have control of the orbiter before, investigators think, they were knocked unconscious.

Nasa also found that the astronauts did not have the necessary training that may have increased their chances of survival.

The tragedy happened on the 28th mission for Columbia and the report is thought to be the most comprehensive investigation into a shuttle incident ever carried out.

Mr Hale, who oversaw the shuttle programme during its return to flight after the accident, urged spacecraft designers in the US and overseas to read the report and apply the "hard lessons which have been paid for so dearly".

Grim details of Columbia disaster

By Andy Gallacher BBC News, Washington

The space shuttle disintegrated as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere

Nasa has released a detailed report into what happened to the space shuttle Columbia and its crew.

It comes almost six years after the orbiter disintegrated when re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

The report includes grim details of the crew's final moments as the shuttle broke up over the state of Texas.

It also concluded that the astronaut's seat restraints, suits and helmets did not work well, leading to "lethal trauma".

The accident happened on 1 February 2003.

When the space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, the orbiter's left wing was damaged by a piece of insulating foam.

That proved fatal for the seven astronauts when they re-entered the Earth's atmosphere days later.

The world watched as the shuttle disintegrated, its vital heat shield pierced by hot gasses, and its crew lost.

Now Nasa has published an extensive 400-page report into their last moments.

The report found that the crew knew for as long as 41 seconds that they did not have control of the orbiter before, investigators think, they were knocked unconscious.

Nasa also found that the astronauts did not have the necessary training that may have increased their chances of survival.

The tragedy happened on the 28th mission for Columbia and the report is thought to be the most comprehensive investigation into a shuttle incident ever carried out.

Green Room: Our writers talk back

Over recent weeks, a number of leading voices in the environmental debate brought you their views on a range of issues in the Green Room.

This week, we have offered the writers an opportunity to respond to your comments.

FIONNUALA WALRAVENS - Ozone protection feels the heat

Read Fionnuala's original article

Read your comments on Fionnuala's article

My original intention was to spark discussion on how environmental treaties need to work in synergy with one another.

However, other than the comments around whether climate change is human induced or not, the majority asked the question: if natural refrigerants are so good then why did we not stick with them in the first place?

it's time to stop coveting convenience and start embracing challenges

It helps to look back at the history of how synthetic refrigerants have developed.

Natural refrigerants were widely used up until the 1950s, but they did have their drawbacks. Ammonia is toxic and hydrocarbons are flammable.

These problems are far from insurmountable as both substances are used widely today; filling a car up with petrol (a hydrocarbon) is not what I'd call a life threatening activity.

But to use these refrigerants safely, it requires a level of engineering maintenance and good product design.

However, in the 1950s along came CFCs, inert gases with good thermodynamic properties. And so the age of synthetic refrigerants was born.

But as CFCs, and more recently HCFCs, are phased-out, we should now be asking how good are HFCs, the current synthetic alternatives?

Well, we know they're bad in terms of their global warming potential but are they as good as refrigerants as their predecessors?

The chemical industry is keen to focus on the energy efficiency argument; they may be shocked to hear that I agree with that approach.

But it's not as black-and-white as saying one is more efficient than the other. In fact, the thermodynamic properties of many HFCs are far worse than the CFCs and HCFCs they replaced.

In countries with high ambient temperatures, hydrocarbons are gaining popularity as a result of their impressive efficiency compared with HFCs.

So yes, phasing out HFCs is a technical dare, but in an era where the threat of rapid global warming is upon us, it's time to stop coveting convenience and start embracing challenges.

Fionnuala Walravens is part of the Environmental Investigation Agency's (EIA) global environment campaign team

COLIN CHARTRES - Growing problems of water scarcity

Read Colin's original article

Read your comments on Colin's article

My contribution to the Green Room triggered many responses that demonstrated that the severity of the water crisis and its link to food production are well understood.

The solution lies not only in developing sustainable population policies, but also in ensuring we invest in water and agricultural R&D

Several responses correctly indicated that population growth is potentially the most serious factor facing water and food production.

Projections indicate that world population will rise by about two-and-a-half-billion people over the next three to four decades.

Many people consider a population of just over six billion to be unsustainable, yet alone nine billion, but it appears unlikely that growth in numbers can be reined in, at least in the short term.

Similarly, increases in dairy and meat consumption have been shown to use more water than diets based on cereals and vegetables, adding further stress to scarce water resources.

Rather than await the gloomy forecasts of doom mentioned by a couple of respondents, scientists continue to look at new ways of producing more food with less water.

This increase in water productivity is achievable and will be based on improving yields through better water management, introduction of better yielding cultivars, pest and disease control and capacity building of farmers.

Improvements will also be made by developing water harvesting and supplementary irrigation schemes to adapt to climate variability and change.

Some of the concepts of organic farming that improve soil organic matter and health, while also sequestering carbon, will also be important but artificial fertilisers will still have a major role in achieving increased crop yields.

At the time of the "Green Revolution", yield increases were running at 3% per year and were generally keeping up with population growth.

Subsequently, focus was diverted away from agriculture into other areas of the economy.

Consequently, investment in the research and development to sustain crop productivity increases became politically less important until the recent food crisis emerged.

As a result of less investment in R&D, productivity increases fell to 1-2% per annum.

The solution lies not only in developing sustainable population policies, but also in ensuring we invest in water and agricultural R&D, infrastructure, improved governance and capacity building.

Dr Colin Chartres is director-general of the Sri Lanka-based International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a not-for-profit research organisation focusing on the sustainable management of water resources for food, livelihoods and the environment

PETER BAKER - Feeling the heat of food security

Read Peter's original article

Read your comments on Peter's article

Well, some respondents had a problem with the T-word - thermodynamics. I agonised about using the term in this context, but now confess to an ulterior motive.

It will soon be 50 years since CP Snow's The Two Cultures. In that historic lecture, he used an appreciation of the T-word as an indicator of which culture you belong to: science or humanities. It became widely debated, but nothing changed.

No one has yet provided a convincing and accessible narrative for how we are to live peacefully in a world of scarce energy and resources

I suggest it's time to revisit Snow's notion and re-examine its relevance in this time of anxiety and doubt.

Your diverse replies reinforce my belief that the broader understanding, synthesis, prediction and application of science are in a mess and many are understandably mistrustful.

But science can at least offer a more coherent vision of how the world functions than, say, a banker, or a trade commissioner.

Some comments referred to the relationship between energy and money: a crucial point that takes us back another 50 years to Frederick Soddy, a brilliant scientist who dared to cross the divide.

"The flow of energy should be the primary concern of economics," he suggested and predicted "a period of reflection in which awkward interviews between civilization and its banker are in prospect".

For his prescience, he was widely derided.

No one has yet provided a convincing and accessible narrative for how we are to live peacefully in a world of scarce energy and resources.

It will have to involve a much improved universal understanding of the physical, chemical and biological limits to which we are all subject.

This is a challenge that science must now urgently face.

Sadly, we live in an age of fundamentalists (religious, market and others), so my viewpoint was a foray into science fundamentalism - that which ultimately supports all our livelihoods and beliefs.

Finally, sincere thanks to you all for so vividly sharing your own thoughts and concerns.

Dr Peter Baker is a commodities development specialist at CABI, a not-for-profit agricultural research organisation

---

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Private firms to haul ISS cargo

By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News

The Dragon capsule is designed to carry cargo or crew

Cut off in the seclusion of space, crew members living aboard the International Space Station (ISS) depend on regular deliveries of air, water, food and fuel for their survival.

But when the ageing space shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, the US space agency (Nasa) will lose a principal means of ferrying crew and cargo to the ISS.

The shuttle's replacement - Ares-Orion - will not enter service until 2015 at the earliest.

And in April, Nasa told legislators it would stop asking for Congressional permission to buy cargo space on Russian Progress re-supply vehicles after 2011.

I don't think the market can support more than two companies. And it's going to be hard for it even to support two Antonio Elias, executive VP, Orbital

That leaves the US dependent on European and Japanese spacecraft for delivering supplies to the space station.

But Nasa has also been pursuing a commercial approach.

Three years ago, the space agency took the unprecedented step of fostering the development of private spacecraft designed to carry crew and cargo to the ISS.

It offered $500m (

'Huge year for natural disasters'

The Sichuan quake was one of several disasters to strike Asia in 2008

The past year has been one of the most devastating ever in terms of natural disasters, one of the world's biggest re-insurance companies has said.

Munich Re said the impact of the disasters was greater than in 2007 in both human and economic terms.

The company suggested climate change was boosting the destructive power of disasters like hurricanes and flooding.

It has called for stricter curbs on emissions to prevent further uncontrollable weather scenarios.

Although there were fewer "loss-producing events" in 2008 than in the previous year, the impact of natural disasters was higher, said Munich Re in its annual assessment.

More than 220,000 people died in events like cyclones, earthquakes and flooding, the most since 2004, the year of the Asian tsunami.

Meanwhile, overall global losses totalled about $200bn (

Artistic clues to coastal change

Julian Siddle Science reporter, BBC News

Farmland views from the 19th century are now urban areas.

Nineteenth Century artwork is a useful tool for studying coastal erosion, according to a retired coastal engineer.

Robin McInnes assessed the accuracy of geological and topological features in more than 400 paintings of the Isle of Wight and Hampshire coastline.

Dr McInnes said such old masters gave engineers the chance to see coastal features before they were changed by industrial development.

He was standing in London's Tate Gallery, admiring a painting entitled Pegwell Bay, Kent - a recollection of October 5th 1858 by Pre-Raphaelite artist William Dyce, when the thought struck him that the detailed accurate depiction of groynes and foreshore, despite being painted 150 years ago, might be of use in his work as a coastal engineer.

Over the years, Dr McInnes had amassed quite a collection of paintings, prints and etchings depicting the coastlines of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, where he ran the island's coastline management strategy.

Combining his interests in paintings of the local environment, geology and coastal erosion, he looked at hundreds of artworks and came up with a method to assess their value as indicators of coastal change - especially erosion.

"From the late 18th Century, Europe was cut off by the Napoleonic wars, this resulted in travellers and artists paying greater attention to the picturesque landscapes of the British Isles," said Dr McInnes.

Artists such as William Turner visited the Hampshire coast and produced panoramic paintings in aquatint and water colour.

Geological forms are shown in views of undeveloped coastline

Dr McInnes began to examine images from the 1770s to the 1920s. From more than 400 paintings, prints and illustrations he drew up a scale to asses how useful such artworks were as coastal engineering tools.

"The ranking system is based on four or five factors, it is a qualitative assessment," he said.

"I looked at issues such as the material and the nature of the media, oil paintings versus prints; generally, water colour allowed the most accurate depiction.

"The next question was what do they actually show, do they provide understanding of the geology or beach levels? I gave each a score for that.

"Also to time periods, from a coastal engineers point of view, the most relevant period is when rapid coastal development took place."

Dr McInnes said the Victorian era saw a dramatic change in the coastline as towns, such as Portsmouth, grew with the opening up of railway links.

He also gave marks for the accuracy of the artistic style, and whether the painting showed the topography.

Many Victorian artists painted beaches and coastal defences in precise detail.

"In Italian landscape style accuracy was not the prime consideration, (whereas) traditional Victorian coastal painting was the most accurate as the idea was to provide an exact image to take home.

"Followers of the pre-Raphaelites captured in precise detail this period, it coincided with an interest in geology and natural sciences. "

He added that the paintings of the period were not just a tool for categorising physical change, but also environmental and developmental issues.

"Many artists returned to the same spot to capture the same scenes over a period of years.

"The study shows how Victorian development has radically changed the coastline; it's nice to strip it back because it helps you understand what might be the underlying problems of erosion and instability.

"Natural processes in the past are largely masked by coastal development," Dr Innes explained.

"Looking back 150 years, it's easier to understand the geography and topography when you don't have this coastal development covering the slopes."

The study - carried out with help from Portsmouth University, the Crown Estate and the National Maritime Museum - has been well received by organisations concerned with coastal erosion.

Dr McInnes recently presented his findings at a coastal engineering conference in Venice, where he learned of similar research that used Caravaggio's paintings to asses historic water levels in the sinking Italian city.

"A lot of people think it can be applied to other parts of the coast that are well illustrated," he says.

The study could be extended, he suggested, to cover areas of south-east England where the erosion of soft rocks, combined with human development, has led to dramatic coastal change.

Food needs 'fundamental rethink'

By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News

Food crops, agriculture and biodiversity cannot be separated from one another

A sustainable global food system in the 21st Century needs to be built on a series of "new fundamentals", according to a leading food expert.

Tim Lang warned that the current system, designed in the 1940s, was showing "structural failures", such as "astronomic" environmental costs.

The new approach needed to address key fundamentals like biodiversity, energy, water and urbanisation, he added.

Professor Lang is a member of the UK government's newly formed Food Council.

"Essentially, what we are dealing with at the moment is a food system that was laid down in the 1940s," he told BBC News.

"It followed on from the dust bowl in the US, the collapse of food production in Europe and starvation in Asia.

"At the time, there was clear evidence showing that there was a mismatch between producers and the need of consumers."

Professor Lang, from City University, London, added that during the post-war period, food scientists and policymakers also thought increasing production would reduce the cost of food, while improving people's diets and public health.

We all know that waste is everywhere; it is immoral what is happening in the world of food Raymond Blanc,Chef and food campaigner

"But by the 1970s, evidence was beginning to emerge that the public health outcomes were not quite as expected," he explained.

"Secondly, there were a whole new set of problems associated with the environment."

Thirty years on and the world was now facing an even more complex situation, he added.

"The level of growth in food production per capita is dropping off, even dropping, and we have got huge problems ahead with an explosion in human population."

Fussy eaters

Professor Lang lists a series of "new fundamentals", which he outlined during a speech he made as the president-elect of charity Garden Organic, which will shape future food production, including:

• Oil and energy: "We have an entirely oil-based food economy, and yet oil is running out. The impact of that on agriculture is one of the drivers of the volatility in the world food commodity markets."
• Water scarcity: "One of the key things that I have been pushing is to get the UK government to start auditing food by water," Professor Lang said, adding that 50% of the UK's vegetables are imported, many from water-stressed nations.
• Biodiversity: "Biodiversity must not just be protected, it must be replaced and enhanced; but that is going to require a very different way growing food and using the land."
• Urbanisation: "Probably the most important thing within the social sphere. More people now live in towns than in the countryside. In which case, where do they get their food?"

Professor Lang said that in order to feed a projected nine billion people by 2050, policymakers and scientists face a fundamental challenge: how can food systems work with the planet and biodiversity, rather than raiding and pillaging it?

The UK's Environment Secretary, Hilary Benn, recently set up a Council of Food Policy Advisers in order to address the growing concern of food security and rising prices.

The 21st Century is going to have to produce a new diet for people, more sustainably, and in a way that feeds more people more equitably using less land Professor Tim Lang

Mr Benn, speaking at the council's launch, warned: "Global food production will need to double just to meet demand.

"We have the knowledge and the technology to do this, as things stand, but the perfect storm of climate change, environmental degradation and water and oil scarcity, threatens our ability to succeed."

Professor Lang, who is a member of the council, offered a suggestion: "We are going to have to get biodiversity into gardens and fields, and then eat it.

"We have to do this rather than saying that biodiversity is what is on the edge of the field or just outside my garden."

Michelin-starred chef and long-time food campaigner Raymond Blanc agrees with Professor Lang, adding that there is a need for people, especially in the UK, to reconnect with their food.

He is heading a campaign called Dig for Your Dinner, which he hopes will help people reconnect with their food and how, where and when it is grown.

"Food culture is a whole series of steps," he told BBC News.

"Whatever amount of space you have in your backyard, it is possible to create a fantastic little garden that will allow you to reconnect with the real value of gardening, which is knowing how to grow food.

"And once you know how to grow food, it would be very nice to be able to cook it. If you are growing food, then it only makes sense that you know how to cook it as well.

"And cooking food will introduce you to the basic knowledge of nutrition. So you can see how this can slowly reintroduce food back into our culture."

Waste not...

Mr Blanc warned that food prices were likely to continue to rise in the future, which was likely to prompt more people to start growing their own food.

Sustainable food helps protect rare breeds and varieties Raymond Blanc on good food

He was also hopeful that the food sector would become less wasteful.

"We all know that waste is everywhere; it is immoral what is happening in the world of food.

"In Europe, 30% of the food grown did not appear on the shelves of the retailers because it was a funny shape or odd colour.

"At least the amendment to European rules means that we can now have some odd-shaped carrots on our shelves. This is fantastic news, but why was it not done before?"

He suggested that the problem was down to people choosing food based on sight alone, not smell and touch.

"The way that seeds are selected is about immunity to any known disease; they have also got to grow big and fast, and have a fantastic shelf life.

"Never mind taste, texture or nutrition, it is all about how it looks.

"The British consumer today has got to understand that when they make a choice, let's say an apple - either Chinese, French or English one - they are making a political choice, a socio-economic choice, as well as an environmental one.

"They are making a statement about what sort of society and farming they are supporting."

Growing appetite

The latest estimates from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that another 40 million people have been pushed into hunger in 2008 as a result of higher food prices.

This brings the overall number of undernourished people in the world to 963 million, compared to 923 million in 2007.

The FAO warned that the ongoing financial and economic crisis could tip even more people into hunger and poverty.

"World food prices have dropped since early 2008, but lower prices have not ended the food crisis in many poor countries," said FAO assistant director-general Hafez Ghanem at the launch of the agency's State of Food Insecurity in the World 2008 report.

"The structural problems of hunger, like the lack of access to land, credit and employment, combined with high food prices remain a dire reality," he added.

Professor Lang outlined the challenges facing the global food supply system: "The 21st Century is going to have to produce a new diet for people, more sustainably, and in a way that feeds more people more equitably using less land."