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12 January 2013 | NewScientist | 3 AT THIS time of year it is traditional to take stock of one’s life and resolve to be a better person. For many people with an indulgent holiday season under their belts, that involves cutting down on alcohol. Easier said than done. Booze is relatively cheap, widely available and addictive. This toxic combination has created a public health disaster: alcohol is now the world’s third-biggest cause of illness and premature death, behind only smoking and high blood pressure. The alcohol industry is well aware of this and understands that it bears some responsibility for taking action. But it has not been very successful. Alcohol consumption is roughly the same as it was 20 years ago and is a more pressing public health problem now than it was then. The industry must shoulder part of the blame for this failure. Its strategy for tackling alcohol harm largely consists of promoting policies that don’t work especially well, while disputing the effectiveness of those that do (see page 42). This is a classic strategy from an industry whose bottom line is threatened by scientific evidence. We have seen it time and again, from tobacco and fossil fuels to salt. Up until now, politicians have generally been content to let the alcohol industry regulate itself. Not for much longer. Drinking has become so problematic that some governments are ready for a showdown. Scotland is taking the lead with a proposed minimum price for a unit of alcohol. England, Wales and Ireland are considering following suit. Alcohol companies will not lie down and just let this happen. Scotland’s proposals are already the subject of a legal challenge by groups led by the Scotch Whisky Association. One plank of their argument is that minimum pricing “will be ineffective in tackling alcohol misuse”. That flies in the face of extensive scientific evidence (The Lancet, vol 373, p 2234). If the industry is serious about reducing harm, it should come out in support of minimum pricing. New year’s resolutions usually fail, and so do alcohol policies that are based on personal restraint. n Get serious about drinking EDITORIAL Curbing harmful consumption can no longer be left to the industry ABOUT 12,000 years ago, as the world warmed after the last ice age, temperatures in the far north plummeted. This was probably caused by a huge injection of fresh water from melting ice sheets. Could something similar happen over the next century? Most climate scientists would say no, because they expect it to take centuries for the great ice sheets to begin melting in earnest. But renowned climate scientist James Hansen thinks that with the planet warming more rapidly than ever before, the ice sheets will melt faster, leading to rapid sea level rise. His work suggests that the average surface temperature of the entire planet will temporarily fall as a result, leading to even more climate chaos (see page 9). Is Hansen being alarmist about sea level rise? It will be decades before we know. But a recent study looking at how the climatic changes seen so far compare with predictions concluded that most scientists “err on the side of least drama” (Global Environmental Change, doi.org/jv9). So the next time you see a climate scientist being accused of alarmism, bear in mind that, so far, more extreme projections are tending to be more accurate. n A climate of caution “The drinking has got so problematic that some governments are ready for a showdown” YOU probably haven’t heard of Lim Yo-Hwan – but his name might soon be everywhere. Known as the Michael Jordan of video games, he is one of a growing number of e-sports stars from South Korea. Professional gaming has been big business there for years. Now it’s going global (see page 20). To traditional sports fans, watching video games might seem pointless. They should give it a chance. Players are often extraordinarily skilful and tournaments can be as gripping as any major sporting event. It is worth remembering that today’s spectator sports evolved from pastimes that people also happened to enjoy watching. Sports are just combinations of made-up rules, often absurd, designed for one purpose: to produce a compelling contest. Why can’t video games grab a slice of that action? n Give games a sporting chance © 2013 Reed Business Information Ltd, England New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079. Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Polestar (Colchester) LOCATIONS UK Lacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7611 1250 AUSTRALIA Tower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067 Tel +61 2 9422 8559 Fax +61 2 9422 8552 USA 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451 Tel +1 781 734 8770 Fax +1 720 356 9217 201 Mission Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105 Tel +1 415 908 3348 Fax +1 415 704 3125 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE For our latest subscription offers, visit newscientist.com/subscribe Customer and subscription services are also available by: Telephone +44 (0) 844 543 80 70 Email [email protected] Web newscientist.com/subscribe Post New Scientist, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH One year subscription (51 issues) UK £143 CONTACTS Contact us newscientist.com/contact Who’s who newscientist.com/people General & media enquiries Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] Editorial Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Picture desk Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1268 Display Advertising Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1291 [email protected] Recruitment Advertising UK Tel +44 (0) 20 8652 4444 [email protected] UK Newsstand Tel +44 (0) 20 3148 3333 Newstrade distributed by Marketforce UK Ltd, The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 OSU Syndication Tribune Media Services International Tel +44 (0) 20 7588 7588

Time to get serious about serious drinking

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Page 1: Time to get serious about serious drinking

12 January 2013 | NewScientist | 3

AT THIS time of year it is traditional to take stock of one’s life and resolve to be a better person. For many people with an indulgent holiday season under their belts, that involves cutting down on alcohol.

Easier said than done. Booze is relatively cheap, widely available and addictive. This toxic combination has created a public health disaster: alcohol is now the world’s third-biggest cause of illness and premature death, behind only smoking and high blood pressure.

The alcohol industry is well aware of this and understands that it bears some responsibility for taking action. But it has not been very successful. Alcohol consumption is roughly the same as it was 20 years ago and is a more pressing public health problem now than it was then.

The industry must shoulder part of the blame for this failure. Its strategy for tackling alcohol harm largely consists of promoting policies that don’t work especially well, while disputing the effectiveness of those that do (see page 42).

This is a classic strategy from an industry whose bottom line

is threatened by scientific evidence. We have seen it time and again, from tobacco and fossil fuels to salt.

Up until now, politicians have generally been content to let the alcohol industry regulate itself. Not for much longer. Drinking has become so problematic that some

governments are ready for a showdown. Scotland is taking the lead with a proposed minimum price for a unit of alcohol. England, Wales and Ireland are considering following suit.

Alcohol companies will not lie down and just let this happen. Scotland’s proposals are already the subject of a legal challenge by groups led by the Scotch Whisky Association. One plank of their argument is that minimum pricing “will be ineffective in tackling alcohol misuse”. That flies in the face of extensive scientific evidence (The Lancet, vol 373, p 2234).

If the industry is serious about reducing harm, it should come out in support of minimum pricing. New year’s resolutions usually fail, and so do alcohol policies that are based on personal restraint. n

Get serious about drinking

EDITORIAL

Curbing harmful consumption can no longer be left to the industry

ABOUT 12,000 years ago, as the world warmed after the last ice age, temperatures in the far north plummeted. This was probably caused by a huge injection of fresh water from melting ice sheets.

Could something similar happen over the next century? Most climate scientists would say no, because they expect it to take centuries for the great ice sheets

to begin melting in earnest.But renowned climate scientist

James Hansen thinks that with the planet warming more rapidly than ever before, the ice sheets will melt faster, leading to rapid sea level rise. His work suggests that the average surface temperature of the entire planet will temporarily fall as a result, leading to even more climate chaos (see page 9).

Is Hansen being alarmist about sea level rise? It will be decades before we know. But a recent study looking at how the climatic changes seen so far compare with predictions concluded that most scientists “err on the side of least drama” (Global Environmental Change, doi.org/jv9). So the next time you see a climate scientist being accused of alarmism, bear in mind that, so far, more extreme projections are tending to be more accurate. n

A climate of caution

“The drinking has got so problematic that some governments are ready for a showdown”

YOU probably haven’t heard of Lim Yo-Hwan – but his name might soon be everywhere. Known as the Michael Jordan of video games, he is one of a growing number of e-sports stars from South Korea.

Professional gaming has been big business there for years. Now it’s going global (see page 20).

To traditional sports fans, watching video games might seem pointless. They should give it a chance. Players are often extraordinarily skilful and tournaments can be as gripping as any major sporting event.

It is worth remembering that today’s spectator sports evolved from pastimes that people also happened to enjoy watching. Sports are just combinations of made-up rules, often absurd, designed for one purpose: to produce a compelling contest. Why can’t video games grab a slice of that action? n

Give games a sporting chance

© 2013 Reed Business Information Ltd, England

New Scientist is published weekly by Reed Business Information Ltd. ISSN 0262 4079.

Registered at the Post Office as a newspaper and printed in England by Polestar (Colchester)

LOCATIONSUKLacon House, 84 Theobald’s Road, London WC1X 8NS Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1200 Fax +44 (0) 20 7611 1250

AUSTrALIATower 2, 475 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW 2067Tel +61 2 9422 8559 Fax +61 2 9422 8552

USA225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451Tel +1 781 734 8770 Fax +1 720 356 9217

201 Mission Street, 26th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105Tel +1 415 908 3348 Fax +1 415 704 3125

SUbSCrIpTION ServICeFor our latest subscription offers, visitnewscientist.com/subscribe

Customer and subscription services are also available by:Telephone +44 (0) 844 543 80 70email [email protected] newscientist.com/subscribepost New Scientist, Rockwood House, Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex RH16 3DH

One year subscription (51 issues) UK £143

CONTACTSContact us newscientist.com/contact

Who’s who newscientist.com/people

General & media enquiriesTel +44 (0) 20 7611 1202 [email protected]

editorial Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 [email protected]@[email protected]

picture desk Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 1268

Display Advertising Tel +44 (0) 20 7611 [email protected]

recruitment Advertising UK Tel +44 (0) 20 8652 [email protected]

UK Newsstand Tel +44 (0) 20 3148 3333Newstrade distributed by Marketforce UK Ltd, The Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark St, London SE1 OSU

SyndicationTribune Media Services InternationalTel +44 (0) 20 7588 7588

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