Agriculture must transform to feed a hotter, more crowded planet, UN says on World Food Day

16 October 2016 (UN) – To mark World Food Day 2016, the United Nations is highlighting the close links between climate change, sustainable agriculture, and food and nutrition security, with the message: “The climate is changing. Food and agriculture must, too.” “As the global population expands, we will need to satisfy an increasing demand for […]

92 percent of world population lives where air quality levels exceed safety limits: World Health Organization

GENEVA , 27 September 2016 (WHO) – A new WHO air quality model confirms that 92% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality levels exceed WHO limits*. Information is presented via interactive maps, highlighting areas within countries that exceed WHO limits. “The new WHO model shows countries where the air pollution danger […]

Global warming threatens world’s coffee supply

By Jonah Engel Bromwich22 September 2016 (The New York Times) – A report examining the many ways climate change threatens coffee and coffee farmers has alarmed people who are now imagining what it would be like getting through the day without their caffeine fix. The report, released this month by the Climate Institute, a nonprofit […]

‘We are thirsty’, say Tunisians as drought creates tensions

TUNIS, 25 September 2016 (Associated Press) – Struggling with extremism and economic woes, Tunisia now faces another menace: persistent drought across several regions that is creating new social tensions and threatening farming, a pillar of the economy. Farmland is too parched to cultivate crops and rural protesters have tried disrupting water supplies to the capital, […]

Increasing cases of enforced disappearances ‘just the tip of the iceberg,’ UN warns

16 September 2016 (UN) – In its latest report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances expressed deep concern and frustration at the rising number of cases, and underlined the need to prevent such acts and hold the perpetrators to account. “We are seriously concerned that […]

New UN report reveals millions of refugee children ‘missing out’ on education

15 September 2016 (UN) – In a new report, the United Nations refugee agency said that more than some six million school-age children under its mandate have no school go to and that refugees are five times more likely to be out of school than the global average. “This represents a crisis for millions of […]

Number of South Sudan refugees passes one million – ‘Most of those fleeing South Sudan are women and children’

16 September 2016 (UN) – As instability and violence persist in the world’s newest country, the number of South Sudanese seeking safety and shelter in neighbouring countries has crossed the one million mark, the United Nations refugee agency said today. “Most of those fleeing South Sudan are women and children,” Leo Dobbs, a spokesperson for […]

Study finds ‘catastrophic declines’ of wilderness worldwide – ‘The amount of wilderness loss in just two decades is staggering and very saddening’

9 September 2016 (UQ News) – A University of Queensland-led international study released today reports catastrophic declines in wilderness areas around the world over the past 20 years. UQ School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management and Wildlife Conservation Society in New York researcher Associate Professor James Watson said findings demonstrated alarming losses comprising a […]

Four out of six great ape species one step away from extinction – Updated IUCN list shows ‘just how quickly the global extinction crisis is escalating’

Honolulu, Hawai’i, 4 September 2016 (IUCN) – The Eastern Gorilla – the largest living primate – has been listed as Critically Endangered due to illegal hunting, according to the latest update of The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ released today at the IUCN World Conservation Congress taking place in Hawai’i. Four out of six […]

Poachers are wiping out giraffes in central Africa just for their tails

By Jani Actman10 August 2016 (National Geographic) – Documentary filmmaker David Hamlin recalls the adrenalin rush when he was flying over the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Garamba National Park in late June and spotted three giraffes standing in a small clearing. “Seeing these giraffes from the air was really exciting,” says Hamlin, who was […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial