Nepal Quake Death Toll Rises Above 4000

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Jim Brennan

The New York Times reports on the aftermath of a recent earthquake in Nepal:

The death toll from Saturday’s earthquake has risen above 4,000 people.

Nepal police say on their Facebook page late Monday evening that 3,904 deaths had been counted in Nepal and 7,180 people were injured.

In addition, an avalanche caused by the earthquake Saturday killed 18 people at Mount Everest’s base camp, 61 people were killed in neighboring India, and China reported 25 people died in Tibet.

The toll is expected to rise as assessments are made in vulnerable mountain villages that have been inaccessible since the quake.

To read more on the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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The potential future of the African continent

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Jim Brennan

The Mail & Guardian Africa reports on the potential future physical state of the African continent if trends of sea level rise and desertification continue:

Desertification will greatly affect the future of Africa and is affecting communities there already. Image credit: photoeverywhere on freeimageslive.co.uk uk

Desertification will greatly affect the future of Africa and is affecting communities there already.
Image credit: photoeverywhere on freeimageslive.co.uk uk

Africa could see climate change adaptation costs rise to $50 billion per year by 2050, even assuming international efforts keep global warming below 2°C this century, according to a recent United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report. That is a mind-freezing cost, but Africa can only ignore the underlying story it tells at its peril.

Within the next 1,000 years the face of the African continent is set to alter drastically through two processes – desertification and rises in sea levels.

Over the past century, the Global Mean Sea Level has risen by 10 to 20cm. If we are to crudely assume this rate will continue, even though there is evidence that due to increasing global temperatures, warmer oceans and melting ice sheets that it is accelerating, by 3015 we will see a rise of between 1-2 metres.

The effects will be devastating. Continental Africa comprises 48 countries of which 33 have coastlines and there are also seven adjacent island nations and territories. Today it is estimated that at least 25% of Africa’s population lives within 100km of a sea coast.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Peru: Dengue epidemic expands to 16 regions

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Jim Brennan

Peruthisweek.com reports on an epidemic of Dengue affecting the country:

The Department of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health reported that Peru is currently enduring an epidemic of dengue, according to El Comercio.

Of the most affected regions, Piura, Tumbes, and Loreto have the highest rates of infection of the mosquito-transmitted disease.

So far these regions have recorded 2,603; 2,211; and 1,362 cases of dengue respectively. These three regions alone represent 70% of all of Peru’s 8,505 cases reported so far.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Hundreds of immigrants leave South Africa after recent anti-immigrant violence

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Jim Brennan

Infotel.ca reports on the aftermath of recent anti-immigrant violence in South Africa:

Worried about their safety, hundreds of African immigrants headed out of South Africa in buses on Monday following deadly attacks on foreign-owned shops.

South Africa’s anti-immigrant attacks, in which seven people have been killed this month, have angered many across the continent. South African diplomats in at least two other African countries reported threats of reprisal attacks because of the violence at home.

The outbreak of violence in South Africa against immigrants has tarnished the reputation of a country that has one of the biggest economies on the continent and has been a destination for people seeking opportunity and an escape from turbulence elsewhere in Africa. South Africa was also dubbed the “rainbow nation” for its relatively peaceful transition to democracy after the end of white racist rule in 1994.

Now the government is struggling to contain negative fallout from attacks on immigrants in some areas of Durban and Johannesburg that killed seven people since the end of March. Activists in some African countries organized protests and called for a boycott of South African goods, as South Africa is a powerful trading partner in the region.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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China to implement measures to curb pollution in its water supply

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Jim Brennan

Reuters reports on new measures by the Chinese Government to reduce river pollution:

China will ban water-polluting paper mills, oil refineries, pesticide producers and other industrial plants by the end of 2016, as it moves to tackle severe pollution of the country’s water supply.

The long-awaited plan comes as the central government steps up its “war on pollution” after years of industrial development that have left one-third of China’s major river basins and 60 percent of its underground water contaminated.

(Break)

The new plan – published by the State Council, China’s cabinet – aims to raise the share of good quality water, ranked at national standard three or above, to more than 70 percent in the seven major river basins, and to more than 93 percent in the urban drinking water supply by 2020.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.newmessage.org

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New strain of bird flu has pandemic potential

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Jim Brennan

Schi-Tech Today reports on an emergent strain of bird flu that has been infecting people in eastern China:

A new strain of bird flu has been infecting people in parts of China since February 2013. Image credit: Simon Howden on freedigitalphotos.net

A new strain of bird flu has been infecting people in parts of China since February 2013.
Image credit: Simon Howden on freedigitalphotos.net

Scientists in China have identified an influenza virus that they say has the potential to spread around the world, sickening and killing people whose immune systems have never faced a threat like it.

The H7N9 flu emerged in humans in eastern China in February 2013, sickening 133 people and killing about a third of them before winding down in May. It seemed that the outbreak was over, but it reemerged in October 2013 and has been spreading steadily since.

“H7N9 viruses should be considered as a major candidate to emerge as a pandemic strain in humans,” they wrote in a study published Wednesday by the journal Nature.

According to the World Health Organization, 571 people have had laboratory-confirmed H7N9 infections and 212 people have died. All but three cases were in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The others involved a Chinese traveler to Malaysia and two Canadians who had visited China.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Saudi air war struggles to make gains as Yemen fragments

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Jim Brennan

The Washington Post reports on developments in Yemen as the situation there deteriorates:

Yemen has become more fragmented internally since Saudia Arabia and allied governments began military operations there. Image credit: zdiviv on freedigitalphotos.net

Yemen has become more fragmented internally since Saudia Arabia and allied governments began military operations there.
Image credit: zdiviv on freedigitalphotos.net

Two weeks into a Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen, the airstrikes appear to have accelerated the country’s fragmentation into warring tribes and militias and done little to accomplish the goal of returning the ousted Yemeni president to power, analysts and residents say.

The Yemeni insurgents, known as Houthis, have pushed ahead with their offensive and seem to have protected many of their weapons stockpiles from the coalition’s bombardments, analysts say. The fighting has killed hundreds of people, forced more than 100,000 people to flee their homes and laid waste to the strategic southern city of Aden.

The battles are increasingly creating problems that go beyond the rebels opposing President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi and the forces supporting him. The conflict has reduced available water and food supplies in a country already suffering from dangerous levels of malnutrition, and created a security vacuum that has permitted territorial advances by al-Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula (AQAP).

(Break)

“What’s a potential game-changer in all of this is not just the displacement of millions of people, but it’s this huge spread of disease, starvation and inaccessibility to water, combined with an environment where radical groups are increasingly operating in the open and recruiting,” said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The Yemen conflict, he added, could become a situation where “nobody can figure out either who started this fight or how to end it.”

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Nearly one in 10 of Europe’s wild bee species face extinction, says study

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Jim Brennan

The Guardian reports on the findings of a recent study done into the condition of the wild bee population in Europe:

Europe’s wild bee population is in dramatic decline with nearly one in 10 species facing the threat of extinction, according to the first ever assessment of all the continent’s nearly 2,000 bee species.

Another 5.2% of bee species are likely to be threatened in the near future, while more than a quarter of species such as the European bumblebees are at risk of dying out, said the study by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Population trends for 79% of the continent’s pollinators – mostly wild honeybees – are still unknown, but over a third of bee populations for which data was collected were shown to be in decline.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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Farming plan takes root to help north Mali despite drought, conflict

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Jim Brennan

Reuters reports on a plan being implemented by a U.N. agency and the government of Mali to help those living in the north of the country who have recently been affected by drought and conflict:

The Malian government and a U.N. agency plan to try to revive farming in the desert northern region, which has been badly hit by drought and conflict, and have pledged $5 million for the first phase of the scheme, U.N. officials said.

The farm support program will focus on the farms and livestock of 33,000 families affected by fighting in northern Gao, Mopti and Timbuktu regions, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official Etienne Juvanon Du Vachat said.

(Break)

The scheme is part of a broader $100 million recovery project for Mali, backed by the World Bank.

Three quarters of Malians depend on agriculture for their living, the World Food Programme reported last month.

Nearly two million people in the country have difficulty feeding themselves and their families.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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The Problem Of Environmental Crime

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Jim Brennan

This post on Transconflict.com discusses environmental crime and its contributing factors:

Environmental crime, such as illegal logging, poses a threat to ecosystems around the world and human habitancy of the planet. Image credit: Chris Sharp on freedigitalphotos.net

Environmental crime, such as illegal logging, poses a threat to ecosystems around the world and human habitancy of the planet.
Image credit: Chris Sharp on freedigitalphotos.net

Environmental crime is an understated organised criminal activity which is not only placing human lives at risk but is also responsible for the wholesale destruction of the environment and the Earth’s fragile ecosystems. It is arguably one of the most dangerous crimes of our time as its effects can be so wide-ranging that they are more harmful than drug trafficking, an illegal trade which receives far more international attention.

(Break)

Politically the impact of environmental crime is high. There have long been links between civil unrest, terrorism, separatist groups and environmental crime. For one example the illegal charcoal industry in Africa has been instrumental in providing funding for the militant group Al-Shabaab. This has involved the deforestation of vast swathes of forest coverage, which are burned to finance the purchase of weapons. According to Mongabay, between 2011 and 2013, an area of around 5,000 square kilometres produced enough charcoal to earn as much as 10 million euros for the group when sold.

Likewise wildlife trafficking has been linked to militant groups who are engaging in the ivory trade to fund their own activities. A lack of enforcement around trafficking of wildlife is pervasive throughout the globe, particularly in Africa where many countries have struggled to cope with poaching as it thrives in areas afflicted by political strife. In a cycle of instability the poaching of wildlife allows militia groups to fund their conflicts which can further destabilise an area or region, thus allowing further damaging environmental activity to continue unchecked. It is for this reason that elephant poaching rates have been higher in politically unstable countries and regions affected by militancy. Kenya, South Sudan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of Congo all suffer poaching on a massive scale due to instability in either their own or neighbouring countries whereas politically stable countries such as Namibia and South Africa have been able to maintain their population’s security.

To read more about the changing world and what you can do to prepare, visit: www.greatwavesofchange.org

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