If nothing else, existentially important goods include food. Although countries such asGermany are almost self-sufficient when it comes to the basic supply of foodstuffs, peak oil could well have serious consequences in some areas of agriculture. Potential supply bottlenecks would above all jeopardise countries with high food import quotas since the cost of importing food […]
New York, Sep 25 (IBNS) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a long-term approach by national authorities and the international donor community to tackle the root causes of recurring drought-related food shortages in the Horn of Africa, which is facing the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. “Addressing underlying risk factors is among the keys to […]
September 19 (www.mongabay.com) – Converting West African rainforests into cropland reduces rainforest in adjacent forest areas, reports research published in Geophysical Research Letters. The study, based on a computer model used to simulate rainfall under different land-use conditions, found that cutting down tropical forests in West Africa reduces precipitation over neighboring forest areas by about […]
By Sally Williams17 September 2011 It was the death of their last cow that did it for Abdi. He told his wife, Sarura, and their four children that they had to leave. In Bakool, Somalia, they packed some clothes and cooking pots and set out for Dadaab, the world’s largest refugee camp, on the edge […]
ISIOLO/MARSABIT, 13 September 2011 (IRIN) – Pastoralists in the drought-hit northern and eastern part of Kenya are often caught up in conflict over resources as well as movements of livestock in search of water and pasture. Here IRIN offers the latest information from the region and testimony from pastoralists to illustrate the challenges they cope […]
Washington (AFP) Sept 8, 2011 – The weather phenomenon known as La Niña is returning for another season, likely bringing more drought, heavy rains and severe weather to some parts of the world, US forecasters said Thursday. Experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center upgraded last month’s La Niña Watch […]
By Karimeh Moukaddem, www.mongabay.com9 September 2011 In Agbogbloshie, a slum outside the capital city of Accra, Ghana, tons of electronic waste lies smoldering in toxic piles. Children make their way through this dangerous environment, desperate to strip even a few ounces of copper, aluminum, brass, and zinc from worn-out electronics originating from the United States […]
By Evan V. Symon 6 September 2011 If you turn on the news and hear that some city is being devastated by its fourth flood in 20 years, or that a village at the foot of some volcano has just been buried under lava, there is a 100 percent chance that someone in the room […]
By Samuel Okocha4 September 2011 There is reportedly growing evidence that Eritrea, like other countries in the horn of Africa, is suffering famine despite government’s claims that the population has the food it needs. Over 12 million people are said to be affected by drought and famine-the worst in the region in 60 years. Eritrea […]
Bodo, Nigeria, August 16 (AFP) – The air smells like poison, the creek water carpeted with crude, and the boat operator covers his nose as he steps on a jetty in a region hit by what may be the world’s worst oil contamination. “We have been living with this mess for years,” says 31-year-old Friday […]
