Home/Posts Tagged ‘Africa’
Posts Tagged ‘Africa’
Climate Change, Conservation, Videos & Documentaries, Wildlife & Flora, Dec 23rd, 2011,
According to a UN report an increase in global temperatures puts up to 1/3 of all Earth’s animals at risk of extinction. The gorillas of Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains in central Africa are already at risk from rising temperatures. Changes in rainfall and hotter weather mean the vegetation the gorillas depend on changes growth patterns, moving up the mountain into higher altitudes. The gorillas provide Rwanda with tourist revenue and the rainfall in the Virunga Mountains feeds rivers and provides hydro electricity for the already poor and vulnerable African nation. From Reuters: Many ecosystems have already been stressed by increasing population,…
Tags: Africa, Climate change, gorillas, Rwanda, Virunga
Natural disasters, Politics, Dec 17th, 2011,
A million children living in the Sahel countries are at risk of famine or dramatic malnutrition in 2012. This is two times more than today, warned the United Nations Fund for Children. Famine threatens children in Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mauritania and Mali and the northern territories of Nigeria and Cameroon, said David Gressly, regional director of UNICEF responsible for the countries in West and Central Africa. In 2011 in the region half a million children suffered from extreme malnutrition. In the Sahel countries, a drought caused lack of water in the tanks, its levels also decreased in the…
Tags: Africa, children, drought, famine, malnutrition, Sahel
Climate Change, Politics, Pollution, Dec 15th, 2011,
According to Yale University’s 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) Canada ranked as the 46th greenest country in the world, a shameful and sudden drop from #12 in 2008. Why? Mostly due to Canadian ‘tar sands’ or ‘oil sands’ in the province of Alberta, where huge petroleum reserves lie in the form of bitumen, a heavy black form of crude that is energy intensive, highly polluting and more greenhouse gas intensive than conventional oil extraction. And now Canada has pulled out of the Kyoto Treaty, citing that it would be too expensive. Canadian environment minister Peter Kent claims that it would…
Tags: Africa, Canada, energy, Germany, Solar
Health, Pollution, Nov 23rd, 2011,
The use of mercury in gold mining and gilding (covering something in a thin layer of gold) has a long history of poisoning in the Western world and a continuing legacy of death and disease in developing countries as the global demand for gold increases. What was commonly known as ‘gilder’s palsy’ occurs due to inhalation or unintentional ingestion when the toxic metal comes in contact with a worker’s hands and later mixes with their food or water. See the following historical example of mercury poisoning in Russia, from the Montreal Gazette: About 100 kilos of gold were mixed with…
Tags: Africa, gold, gold mining, mercury, poisoning, TOXIC
Climate Change, Wildlife & Flora, Nov 4th, 2011,
The ‘doomsayers’ brayed about climate change. They said ignore it at your peril. And despite some token political efforts and changes in public consciousness concerning environmental issues, governments and industries pretty much did just that: ignored it. An article by the Associated Press states that greenhouse gasses have increased even the worst predictions made by climate scientists only four years ago. This information comes from the US Department of Energy. Global CO2 emissions jumped by 6% in just one year from 2009 to 2010, mostly due to China and the US. The biggest source of CO2 is from coal burning,…
Tags: Africa, Burkina Faso, Climate change
Politics, Oct 6th, 2011,
I love watching celebrities curse. It’s such a guilty pleasure. Having grown up in the 80s in the USA – without HBO or Showtime – upon moving to the UK I reveled in the obscenities thrown around on British television with self-indulgent abandon. And I still do. That’s right – give me an f-, s- or even dreaded c-word over a ‘gosh-darn’ any day. If you don’t like it, f-you. Seriously though, as puerile as it sounds, Jessica Alba and Bono swearing in a YouTube video while the Stooges’ ‘Now I Wanna Be Your Dog’ blasts in the background is…
Tags: Africa, celebrities, clive owen, f-word, famine, Somalia, swearing
Uncategorized, Sep 26th, 2011,
Throat cancer has claimed the life of one of Africa’s and indeed the world’s luminaries of environmental and human rights activism. Wangari Maathai, Kenya’s founder of the Green Belt Movement, has died from throat cancer at the age of 71. The Green Belt Movement combined ecological causes with social justice issues and planted 20-30 million trees on the African continent. In 2004 Maathai became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism on behalf of the environment, women’s rights and political transparency. She also served as a government minister and Member of Parliament in her…
Tags: activist, Africa, Kenya, Wangari Maathai
Climate Change, Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Jan 21st, 2011,
After reading a National Geographic article about the modern challenges of agricultural, I wanted to post something related to the global water crisis and water in general. Sure, there is a lot of it coming down in parts of Australia and Brazil at the moment – and not in a good way. But in places like Africa’s Sahel region, famine and drought are constant and increasing threats. From the NatGeo News piece Agriculture Becomes Our Top Environment Issue: Many existing agricultural methods have stripped soils of nutrients, sucked aquifers dry, and polluted water with pesticides and fertilizers. And now, working…
Tags: Africa, amata, global water crisis, Green Revolution, National Geographic, Sahel, water, water song
Conservation, Nature, Weird Stuff, Wildlife & Flora, Sep 29th, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature takes us to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar archipelago (which is off the coast of Tanzania, Africa). Unfortunately, this primate has a bad reputation because locals believe it has an evil influence on the trees they (the colobus) feed on, claiming their feeding habits are killing the trees. Locals also refer to it as “kima punju” (“poison monkey” in Swahili) due to its strong smell. The Zanzibar Red Colobus (aka Kirk’s Red Colobus) is an Endangered Species, with populations on the decline. Their fur ranges from dark red to black in color, with a…
Tags: Africa, Conservation, Creature Feature, endangered species, Kirk's Red Colobus, poison monkey, primate, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Zanzibar Red Colobus
Climate Change, Health, Pollution, Sep 24th, 2010,
Indoor air pollution from cooking stoves is the a serious health risk in developing countries. According to UN figures, it causes cardio-pulmonary diseases and low birth weight, killing some 1,9 million people every year – mostly women and children. Rudimentary cooking stoves in poor nations are usually fueled by foraged wood, crop waste, coal and dung. Besides being a major health hazard, the use of such stoves has substantial and manifold effects on the environment. The soot, or black carbon, produced by these stoves has a fast acting, though short-lived impact on global warming. Gathering wood for the stoves has…
Tags: Africa, clean, Clinton, cooking, developing, fuel, Hillary, nations, poor, stoves
Conservation, Nature, Weird Stuff, Wildlife & Flora, Sep 22nd, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature takes us along the coasts of Africa and Europe, particularly from the Mediterranean Sea area all the way up to Scandinavia. Don’t be fooled by this creature’s name, though: it may be called an Angel Shark, but it has one hell of a temper. The Angel Shark (sometimes also referred to as the Monkfish, Angel Ray, or Fiddle Fish—among other names) is a Critically Endangered species. Unlike other species of shark (like the Great White), this particular kind has a flattened body with enlarged pectoral and pelvic fins. Given their Ray-like appearance, they are excellent at…
Tags: Africa, Angel Ray, Angel Shark, Balearic Islands, Creature Feature, critically endangered species, Europe, Fiddle Fish, Mediterranean Sea, Monkfish
Science & Technology, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 20th, 2010,
Multinational chocolate giant Mars, working with the US Department of Agriculture and IBM, have sequenced the genome of the cocoa tree. Rather than patenting the genome, it’s been released into the public domain. Unlocking the genetic secrets of chocolate, scientists say, could revolutionize cocoa farming in the developing world, especially in West African nations. Cocoa production is severely hampered by pests and fungal diseases, which regularly cause hundreds of millions of euros in losses in West African chocolate producing nations like Ghana and the Ivory Coast as well as Brazil, the world’s second largest producer. From an article in the…
Tags: Africa, African, cacao, chocolate, code, farmers, genetic, genome, Ghana, Mars, scientists, slavery, West
Politics, Pollution, Recycling, Sep 13th, 2010,
Old computers and other e-waste from British government departments have been discovered at dumpsites in African countries and in containers headed for the continent, according to the UK’s environment agency. The chairman of the agency, Lord Smith, warned that the amount of illegally exported e-waste is rising and that in addition to health and environmental concerns, it is also a threat to British national security, due to the risk that sensitive information could still be stored in the computers’ hardware. He said that waste from the UK, which includes computers, monitors, televisions and DVD players, is sent to countries in…
Tags: Africa, British, computers, e-waste, Europe, European, government, Greenpeace, illegal, Nigeria, UK
Climate Change, Conservation, Videos & Documentaries, Sep 10th, 2010,
The Prince of Wales’ has launched the Size of Wales initiative, with the aim of protecting or reforesting an area in Africa the size of the country of Wales. Because he’s Prince of Wales, get it? The Size of Wales charity will raise money and send Welsh volunteers to help with deforestation programs. Climate change and deforestation have long been issues close to the future king’s heart. From an article in the Telegraph: The people of Wales will be the first in the world to mobilise such a national response to the problem of tropical deforestation and climate change. It…
Tags: Africa, Charles, Climate change, deforestation, Prince, project, rainforest, Wales
Health, Aug 17th, 2010,
The diet of the West, high in animal products, fat, salt and sugar, is increasingly associated with wealth and development. The growing middle and upper classes in China are causing meat consumption to skyrocket in that country. Those with more disposable income in characteristically poor places buy more imported, packaged and processed foods, which all tend to be higher in salt, sugar and fat. Meat becomes more of a staple than a luxury. In contrast, the poor of the developing world generally eat traditional diets that are high in fruit and vegetables. In the West it’s the opposite. The cheapest…
Tags: Africa, allergies, bacteria, children, developing, diet, disease, European, fat, food, guy, heath, meat, microbial, poor, rich, salt, study, sugar, vegetables, Western
Conservation, Nature, Weird Stuff, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 28th, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature takes us to Africa and the Middle East, where you’ll find a rather odd member of the Ibis family. The Northern Bald Ibis (aka the Hermit Ibis or Waldrapp) is a decent sized member of the Ibis family (about 28-31 inches or 70-80 cm). Once found across northern Africa, southern Europe, and the Middle East, this critically endangered bird is now limited to Morocco (about 500) and Syria—where less than 10 remain. Although there have been some semi-wilding breeding colonies or reintroduction programs added to a few countries, including Turkey, Austria, and Spain, these birds are…
Tags: Africa, bird, Creature Feature, critically endangered species, Europe, Hermit Ibis, Middle East, Northern Bald Ibis, spiritual, Thoth, Waldrapp
Conservation, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 19th, 2010,
The last female rhino at Krugersdorp Nature Reserve in South Africa was killed by poachers on Wednesday. The poachers are suspected to have entered the game reserve – near South Africa’s largest city, Johannesburg – by helicopter, where they then shot the white rhino cow with tranquilizers before cutting off her horn with a chainsaw. This latest killing marks the 136th rhino in South Africa that has been murdered for its horn this year – already more than last year’s total of 129, suggesting that the number of killings this year will double. The sophistication of the operation leaves conservationists…
Tags: Africa, animal, Asia, calf, CITES, Krugersdorp, park, poachers, poaching, Reserve, rhino, South, white
Conservation, Videos & Documentaries, Jul 11th, 2010,
Africa’s rhinos are facing a constant threat due to poachers and trophy hunting. The increasing demand for rhino horn used in traditional Chinese medicine – especially in new markets such as Vietnam – is fueling an illegal trade involving corruption and organized crime. In a recent poaching attack in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, poachers entered a wildlife reserve via helicopter and cut the horns off of a drugged white rhino with a chainsaw. The rhino miraculously survived the brutal attack. From a report in South Africa’s Independent: It appears that the poachers may also have captured the cow’s…
Tags: Africa, brutal, Chinese, endangered, horn, medicine, rhino, rhinos, South
Conservation, Nature, Weird Stuff, Wildlife & Flora, Jul 7th, 2010,
This week’s Creature Feature takes us to Round Island: an uninhabited nature reserve off the coast of Mauritius—which is also an island and approximately 560 miles east of Madagascar. The Round Island Boa (or Round Island Keel-scaled Boa) is an endangered species and the only existing member of the Bolyeriidae family. They can grow to a length of 5 feet (150 cm), are typically dark brown in color (with lighter-colored stomachs) and the males are typically smaller than the females. They can also shift their color from a darker shade during the day to a lighter color during the night…
Tags: Africa, Creature Feature, endangered species, Mauritius, reptile, Round Island, Round Island Boa, Round Island Keel-scaled Boa, snake
Conservation, Jul 1st, 2010,
Primatologist Ymke Warren has been murdered in her home in the upscale neighborhood of Limbe, Cameroon. The murder took place on Tuesday morning when an assailant, who had presumably been hiding in Warren’s attic, attacked her with a machete. Warren lived together with partner Aaron Nicholas, also a primatologist and director of a gorilla project in Cameroon, who returned home minutes after the attack. Nicholas took Warren to the hospital, but her injuries were too severe. The couple were working on the Takamanda-Mone Landscape Project, run by the American Wildlife Conservation Society. They were studying Cross River gorillas, one of…
Tags: Africa, British, Cameroon, Cross River, Dian, Fossey, gorilla, gorillas, killed, Limbe, murdered, Nicholas, primatologist, Warren, Ymke
