Niger struggling to feed refugees, as well as its own growing population

Feb 07, 2012 12:17 PM

Over recent weeks, an estimated 12,000 people have fled fighting in northern regions of Mali.

Over recent weeks, an estimated 12,000 people have fled fighting in northern regions of Mali.

Fresh conflict has arisen between Tuareg rebel groups and the Malian army since mid-January. Groups of militant Tuareg fighters want to create an independent state across the regions of Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu and have been using weapons released from the Libya conflict in a fresh campaign, causing many villagers to flee their homes.

An estimated 7,000 Malians have taken refuge in western areas of Niger. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is just one agency that has expressed its concern over the extra strain placed on communities in Niger, particularly around the Tiallabéri region. Villagers here have been hit hard by the drought of 2011 and with the likelihood of ongoing poor harvests this year, locals are facing increasing food insecurity. Niger’s government has already asked for assistance from the international community, predicting nearly half its population will face food shortages in 2012. In response to the refugee situation, some agencies have sent emergency supplies to western Niger, an ICRC spokesperson told the news agency IRIN, but there would only be enough “to meet immediate needs”.

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/niger-struggling-to-feed-refugees-as-well-as-its-own-growing-population

Victory in sight for revolution over female genital mutilation

Nina Lakhani,

Monday 06 February 2012

Amid the horrors surrounding female genital mutilation (FGM) there is a quiet revolution, which experts hope could lead to the eradication of the practice.

Thousands of rural communities across Africa, which have practiced FGM for centuries, are starting to abandon the tradition in response to grass-roots education programmes. Analysts are even daring to talk of eradication within two generations – something that was unimaginable even five years ago.

Another 2,000 communities in countries including Sudan, Somalia and Egypt rejected the practice in 2011.

FGM is a harmful social convention in which part, or all, of a girl’s external genitals are removed. Each year around three million girls – 8,000 a day – face FGM. An estimated 130 million girls and women are living with painful complications.

See: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/victory-in-sight-for-revolution-over-female-genital-mutilation-6579560.html

Ever-increasing Nonrenewable Natural Resource (NNR) Scarcity

There will always be plenty of NNRs in the ground.

Unfortunately, there are not enough economically viable NNRs in the ground

to perpetuate our industrialized lifestyle paradigm going forward.

I have argued elsewhere that nonrenewable natural resource (NNR) scarcity is becoming increasingly prevalent globally. That is, globally available, economically viable supplies associated with an ever-increasing number of the fossil fuels, metals, and nonmetallic minerals that enable our industrial lifestyle paradigm.

To read a full report on nonrenewable resource scarcity, please click here: http://www.wakeupamerika.com/PDFs/Increasing-Global-Nonrenewable-Natural-Resource-Scarcity_Prelude-to-Global-Societal-Collapse.pdf

http://www.prb.org/Articles/2012/familyplanning-environment-Africa.aspx

Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar Connect Family Planning With Environmental Health

by Eric Zuehlke

(January 2012) Remote rural communities in developing countries typically face the related challenges of extreme poverty, poor health, and environmental degradation. And population growth often exacerbates these challenges. In communities that face environmental challenges along with high fertility and high maternal and child mortality, health programs that include family planing can have great benefits for the health and well-being of women and families, with positive influences on the local environment. Meeting the reproductive health needs of women and ensuring environmental sustainability by connecting family planning with environment programs has proven to be a “win-win” strategy. Yet this connection has often been seen as controversial or irrelevant to environmental policymaking.

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.prb.org/Articles/2012/familyplanning-environment-Africa.aspx

January 31, 2012

2011: A Year of Weather Extremes, with More to Come

Janet Larsen and Sara Rasmussen
The global average temperature in 2011 was 14.52 degrees Celsius (58.14 degrees Fahrenheit). According to NASA scientists, this was the ninth warmest year in 132 years of recordkeeping, despite the cooling influence of the La Niña atmospheric and oceanic circulation pattern and relatively low solar irradiance. Since the 1970s, each subsequent decade has gotten hotter-and 9 of the 10 hottest years on record have occurred in the twenty-first century.

Each year’s average temperature is determined by a number of factors, including solar activity and the status of the El Niño/La Niña phenomenon. But heat-trapping gases that have accumulated in the atmosphere, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, have become a dominant force, pushing the Earth’s climate out of its normal range. The planet is now close to 0.8 degrees Celsius warmer than it was a century ago. Hidden within annual averages and expected variability are startling instances of new temperature and rainfall records in many parts of the world-weather extremes that would once be considered anomalies but that now risk becoming the new norm as the Earth heats up.

Worldwide, 2011 was the second wettest year on record over land. (The record was set in 2010, which also tied 2005 as the warmest overall.) Heavier deluges are expected on a warmer planet; each temperature rise of 1 degree Celsius increases the amount of moisture the atmosphere can hold by about 7 percent. Higher temperatures also can fuel stronger storms.

Brazil started the year with the deadliest natural disaster in its history: in January, a month’s worth of rain fell in a single day in Rio de Janeiro state, leading to floods and landslides that killed at least 900 people. That same month, flooding in eastern Australia covered an area nearly the size of France and Germany combined. Overall, it was the third wettest year in Australia since recordkeeping began in 1900.

The most expensive weather disaster of 2011 was the flooding in Thailand in the second half of the year, which ultimately submerged one third of the country’s provinces. At $45 billion worth of damage-equal to 14 percent of Thailand’s gross domestic product-it was also the costliest natural catastrophe the country ever experienced.

In October, more than 100 people died as two storms-one from the Pacific and the other from the Caribbean-pounded Central America with rain. In western El Salvador, nearly 1.5 meters of rain (almost 5 feet) fell over 10 days. And in December, Tropical Storm Washi hit the Philippines, creating flash floods that killed more than 1,200 people.

The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season had 19 named storms. Hurricane Irene brought extreme flooding to the northeastern United States in August, with total damages topping $7.3 billion. The year was the wettest on the books for seven states in the country, while it was among the driest for several others. Although the extremes appear to balance out, making for a near-average year, in fact a record 58 percent of the contiguous United States was either extremely wet or extremely dry in 2011.

Indeed, as is expected on a hotter planet, while some parts of the globe were overwhelmed by rain in 2011, others were distinguished by dryness. A severe drought in the Horn of Africa that began in 2010 devolved into a crisis situation in 2011, characterized by crop failure, exorbitant food prices, and widespread malnutrition. Exacerbated by chronic political instability and a belated humanitarian response, the death toll may have exceeded 50,000 people.

Back in North America, a drought that began in late 2010 and worsened over 2011 led hundreds of farmers from northern Mexico to march to that nation’s capital in January 2012 to draw the government’s attention to their suffering. Nearly 900,000 hectares of farmland (some 2.2 million acres) and 1.7 million head of livestock were lost due to the dryness-the worst in Mexico’s 70+ years of data collecting.

Scorching heat, drought, and wildfires across the U.S. Southern Plains and Southwest caused farm, ranch, and forestry damages that exceeded $10 billion in 2011. Wichita Falls, Texas, experienced 100 days over 100 degrees Fahrenheit-far more than the previous record of 79 days set in 1980. Oklahoma and Texas had the hottest summers of any states in history, breaking by a wide margin the record set in 1934 during the Dust Bowl. James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, writes that the likelihood of such extreme heat waves “was negligible prior to the recent rapid global warming.” Texas also had its lowest rainfall on record. Invigorated by the heat and drought, wildfires burned across an estimated 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) in the state.

For the continental United States, summer 2011 was the second warmest in history. Nearly three times more weather stations hit record highs than lows in 2011, in line with a trend of increasing heat extremes. Whereas in the middle of the 20th century there were close to the same number of record highs and lows-as would be expected absent a strong warming trend-in the 1990s highs began outpacing lows. In the first decade of this century, there were twice as many record highs as record lows.

Worldwide, seven countries set all-time temperature highs in 2011: Armenia, China, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Republic of the Congo, and Zambia. Interestingly, Zambia also was the only country to experience an all-time low temperature when it dropped to -9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) in June. Kuwait experienced the year’s highest temperature, with thermometers measuring a searing 53.3 degrees Celsius (127.9 degrees Fahrenheit), the highest temperature ever recorded on Earth during the month of August. Even more threatening to health than daytime highs are extra hot nighttime minimum temperatures, which do not allow any respite from the heat. The world’s hottest 24-hour minimum ever-41.7 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit)-was recorded in Oman in June 2011.

Even the Arctic had a notably warm year, with the 2011 temperature a record 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 degrees Fahrenheit) above the mean for 1951-80.  Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost U.S. city, spent a record-breaking 86 consecutive days at or above freezing, far more than the previous record of 68 days set in 2009.

In fact, over the last 50 years temperatures in the Arctic have risen more than twice as fast as the global average, melting ice and thawing permafrost. Arctic sea ice has been shrinking more rapidly, falling to its lowest volume and second lowest area on record during the 2011 summer melt season. (See data.) With the summertime ice loss outpacing wintertime recovery, Arctic sea ice has thinned, making it increasingly vulnerable to further melting. Scientists expect a completely ice-free summertime Arctic by 2030 or even earlier.

As the reflective ice disappears, it exposes the dark ocean, which more readily absorbs solar energy, further warming the region. This sets forth a climate cascade, accelerating ice loss both in the ocean as well as on nearby Greenland, which contains enough ice to raise global sea level by 7 meters (23 feet) if it completely melted. The warming also thaws Arctic permafrost, releasing carbon dioxide and methane, further accelerating global warming.

Even without fully incorporating such climate feedback, models show that continued reliance on fossil fuels could raise the global temperature by up to 7 degrees Celsius (over 12 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of this century. Such an elevated temperature would amplify temperature and precipitation extremes enough to make the weather events of recent years look tame in comparison. Only a rapid, dramatic reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can hold future temperatures in a range bearing any resemblance to what civilization has known.

Copyright © 2012 Earth Policy Institute

For the article in question, click here: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/02/02/top-komen-staffer-quit-over-policy-targetting-planned-parenthood-others-point-to-

Top Komen Staffer Quit Over Policy Targetting Planned Parenthood; Others Point to Politics Behind Decision

by Jodi Jacobson, Editor-in-Chief, RH Reality Check

February 2, 2012 – 11:22am (Print)

Writing in The Atlantic today, Jeffrey Goldberg provides substance to what most of us already knew: the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to eliminate breast-cancer screening grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates was politically motivated.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to put these things together:

• Komen hires Karen Handel, far-right former GOP Georgia gubernatorial candidate who campaigned in part on de-funding Planned Parenthood, Healthy Babies Initiatives and other services for poor women, and who has openly expressed hostility with Planned Parenthood’s “mission.”

• Koman puts on their board Jane Abraham, Chair of the Susan B. Anthony List, major anti-choice political organization, for which de-funding Planned Parenthood is a major goal, and which engages in misinformation campaigns about Planned Parenthood funding, services, abortion and breast cancer links, and other issues.

• Both of the above are strongly allied with groups boycotting Planned Parenthood.

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/02/02/top-komen-staffer-quit-over-policy-targetting-planned-parenthood-others-point-to-

Children’s Books Increasingly Ignore Natural World

A survey of award-winning children’s picture books from 1938 to 2008 suggests our increasing estrangement from the natural environment.

By Tom Jacobs

January 30, 2012

Picture an illustrated children’s book – one that has won a prestigious award – and your mind conjures up images of furry animals, puffy clouds, and eager boys and girls enjoying adventures in the wild.

In fact, our kids are entering a much different world in their earliest literary experiences – one in which nature plays an increasingly minor role. That’s the conclusion of a newly published study, which suggests these books reflect our growing estrangement from the natural environment.

A group of researchers led by University of Nebraska-Lincoln sociologist J. Allen Williams Jr. studied the winners of the American Library Association’s prestigious Caldecott Medal between 1938 (the year the prize was first awarded) through 2008. They looked at more than 8,000 images in the 296 volumes.

They noted whether each image depicted a natural environment (such as a forest), a built environment (such as a house), or a modified environment (such as a cornfield or manicured lawn). In addition, they observed whether the illustrations contained any animals, and if so, rated them as either domestic, wild or anthropomorphized (that is, taking on human qualities).

The results, published in the journal Sociological Inquiry, are sobering. “There have been significant declines in depictions of natural environments and animals, while built environments have become much more common,” the researchers report.

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.miller-mccune.com/environment/childrens-books-increasingly-ignore-natural-world-39391/

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=world-lacks-enough-food-fuel-as-pop

World Lacks Enough Food, Fuel as Population Soars

The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N.

By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) – The world is running out of time to make sure there is enough food, water and energy to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and to avoid sending up to 3 billion people into poverty, a U.N. report warned on Monday.

As the world’s population looks set to grow to nearly 9 billion by 2040 from 7 billion now, and the number of middle-class consumers increases by 3 billion over the next 20 years, the demand for resources will rise exponentially.

Even by 2030, the world will need at least 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water, according to U.N. estimates, at a time when a changing environment is creating new limits to supply.

And if the world fails to tackle these problems, it risks condemning up to 3 billion people into poverty, the report said.

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=world-lacks-enough-food-fuel-as-pop

January 26, 2012, 9:15 pm
Soap Operas With a Social Message

Every Sunday evening, seven million Kenyans sit in front of their television sets to watch “Makutano Junction,” a soap opera set in a fictional village. In one episode, audiences watch as a woman, Mama Mboga, holds her crying infant. “I need some money to take Joni to hospital,” she tells her husband, Erasmus, after he wakes up and takes a swig from a bottle. “I think he has malaria.” Erasmus insists that his son is healthy, that she is overreacting and that he has no money to give her.

Erasmus eventually gives her some money, but only enough for chloroquine, which is not always effective in fighting malaria. When Joni gets sicker, Mama Mboga takes him to the emergency room, but he dies even before seeing the doctor. Her friends rush to console her as she begins crying, “My baby is dead!” in the waiting room.

As with traditional soap operas, the above story line is full of emotion, conflict and suspense. Scattered cliffhangers leave the audience wondering what will happen next. As I watched it, I found myself beginning to wonder, Will Joni survive? Will Erasmus stop drinking? Will Mama Mboga stand up to her deadbeat husband?

To read the full article, please click here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/steamy-plots-with-a-social-message/#

Can Family Planning Programs Reduce High Desired Family Size in Sub-Saharan Africa?

By John Bongaarts

During the past half century, fertility declines have been pervasive in Asia and Latin America. Between the early 1950s and the early 2000s, the total fertility rate (TFR)-the average number of live births a woman would have during her lifetime, assuming constant fertility rates-dropped from 5.7 to 2.4 births per woman in Asia and from 5.9 to 2.3 births per woman in Latin America.1 Only a handful of countries in these regions still have fertility rates higher than four births per woman. In Sub-Saharan Africa, however, fertility remains high in the large majority of countries.

Although some declines have occurred, the average total fertility rate in 2005-2010 exceeded 5.1 births per woman-more than double the levels observed in Asia and Latin America.

Several factors contribute to the high fertility rate in Sub-Saharan Africa. Compared with populations in Asia and Latin America, the continent’s people are on average poorer, less educated and have higher child mortality. These factors contribute to a desire for large families, which in turn leads to high fertility. In addition, with few exceptions, governments in Sub-Saharan Africa have made family planning programs a low priority.2,3 Continued high fertility, combined with lower-than-expected mortality from the AIDS epidemic, are producing very rapid population growth. By 2050, Sub-Saharan Africa will have a billion more inhabitants than in 2005, according to the United Nations’ medium projections.

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3720911.html