Concurrent shocks affecting the food security of households in the Horn of Africa in 2022. Graphic: FAO

New data show how drought in the Horn of Africa is driving up acute hunger – “The scale of the devastation in terms of hunger and lost livelihoods will be appalling”

ROME, 12 April 2022 (FAO) – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) today warned that dire new hunger data out of Somalia sheds additional light on extended drought’s crippling impacts on the Horn of Africa region and underscores the criticality of large-scale agricultural aid to keep rural families self-reliant, fed, and […]

Satellite view of container yards with strewn shipping containers in Durban, South Africa, after record flooding, 14 April 2022 Photo: Maxar Technologies

South Africa flood toll rises to 443 in deadliest flood and worst rains in 60 years – “This is a catastrophe of enormous proportions”

17 April 2022 (AFP) – The death toll from floods that have battered South Africa’s east coast has risen to 443, including a rescuer, a regional official said today, as dozens more are still missing. “The death toll now stands at 443,” Sihle Zikalala, the premier of the KwaZulu-Natal province told a media briefing, adding […]

A haze caused by dust covers the capital Nicosia, in the southeast Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on Monday, 4 April 2022. The World Health Organization (WHO), the U.N. health agency, says nearly everybody in the world breathes air that doesn't meet its standards for air quality. WHO is calling for more action reduce fossil-use use that generate pollutants that cause respiratory and blood-flow problems and lead to millions of preventable deaths each year. Photo: Petros Karadjias / AP Photo

Millions dying across the world due to poor-quality air that 99 percent of world’s population breathes – “After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have 7 million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution”

By Jamey Keaten 4 April 2022 GENEVA (AP) – The U.N. health agency says nearly everybody in the world breathes air that doesn’t meet its standards for air quality, calling for more action to reduce fossil-fuel use, which generates pollutants that cause respiratory and blood-flow problems and lead to millions of preventable deaths each year. The […]

Map showing projected global changes in the number of undernourished people under the severe scenario over the medium term, March 2022. Graphic: FAO

FAO alarmed by uncertainty over wheat harvest in Ukraine – “War could seriously escalate food insecurity globally, when international food and input prices are already high and volatile”

By Marta Rullan 26 March 2022 ROME (EFE) – The planting of the next wheat season in Ukraine, “which could significantly affect world food insecurity, is still extremely uncertain” because of the war, the director general of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Qu Dongyu, told EFE, who was also very concerned about […]

Regional Trends of Negative Affect and Stress, 2006-2021. Negative affect as a whole was highest and rising in MENA and South Asia, with the increase greatest in South Asia. All regions have more negative affect now than ten years ago, except for Eastern Europe. Graphic: SDSN World Happiness Report

Amid war and disease, World Happiness Report 2022 shows bright spot, but anger grows in South Asia

18 March 2022 (McGill University) – In this troubled time of war and pandemic, the World Happiness Report 2022 shows a bright light in dark times. According to the team of international researchers, including McGill University Professor Christopher Barrington-Leigh, the pandemic brought not only pain and suffering but also an increase in social support and benevolence. As the […]

A woman weeps in front of a residential building that was damaged during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, 11 March 2022. Alexander Ermochenko / REUTERS

Russia invasion in “world’s breadbasket” threatens global food supply – Number of undernourished people could increase by 8 to 13 million in 2022-2023 – “Wars mean shortages, and shortages mean price hikes”

By Frances D’Emilio 11 March 2022 ROME (AP) – Poorer countries in northern Africa, Asia, and the Middle East that depend heavily on wheat imports risk suffering significant food insecurity because of Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the conflict is poised to drive up already soaring food prices in much of the world, the U.N. food agency […]

Map showing no-contest elections, coups, and power grabs globally in 2021. Numbers indicate score declines for events in 2021, on a 100-point scale, in the 2022 edition of the “Freedom in the World” report. Coups were more common in 2021 than in any of the previous 10 years. Graphic: Freedom House

The global expansion of authoritarian rule – “The present threat to democracy is the product of 16 consecutive years of decline in global freedom”

By Sarah Repucci and Amy Slipowitz 24 February 2022 (Freedom House) – Global freedom faces a dire threat. Around the world, the enemies of liberal democracy—a form of self-government in which human rights are recognized and every individual is entitled to equal treatment under law—are accelerating their attacks. Authoritarian regimes have become more effective at […]

Raw data and modelled estimates for the percentage of pathogen isolates that are resistant by country and territory, 2019. Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (A), isoniazid and rifampicin co-resistant (excluding XDR) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (B), third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli (C), carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (D), fluoroquinolone-resistant E coli (E), carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (F), and third-generation cephalosporin-resistant K pneumoniae (G). Locations with no data or modelled estimates are presented in white. XDR=extensively drug resistant. Graphic: Murray, et al., 2022 / The Lancet

Drug-resistant bacteria kill 1.2 million globally – “This new study clearly demonstrates the existential threat that resistance poses to global health and modern medicine”

By Mike Stobbe 20 January 2022 NEW YORK (AP) – Antibiotic-resistant germs caused more than 1.2 million deaths globally in one year, according to new research that suggests that these “superbugs” have joined the ranks of the world’s leading infectious disease killers. The new estimate, published Thursday in the medical journal Lancet, is not a […]

Satellite view of South Sudan in November 2020 and after historic floods in November 2021. Photo: European Union Copernicus Sentinel-2

Photo gallery: South Sudan’s worst flooding in decades

17 December 2021 (CNN) – South Sudan is experiencing its worst floods in 60 years. The deluge began as early as June 2021, swallowing up homes, farms, and markets across swaths of the African nation. For years, South Sudan has seen wetter-than-usual wet seasons, and its dry seasons have become even drier. This twin problem […]

Map showing the near-surface air temperature differences from the 1981-2010 average for January to September 2021. Data are from the ERA5 reanalysis product. Graphic: C3S / ECMWF

State of the Climate in 2021: Past seven years are on track to be the seven warmest on record – “Extreme events are the new norm”

GENEVA, 31 October 2021 (WMO) – Record atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations and associated accumulated heat have propelled the planet into uncharted territory, with far-reaching repercussions for current and future generations, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The past seven years are on track to be the seven warmest on record, according to the provisional WMO […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial