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Peru’s farmers fight climate change using modern and Inca techniques
Posted by Guardian: Laurence Caramel on January 20th, 2014
Guardian: When he is not watching his flock Silverio Chiquenayra-Quispe takes care of the Pumatalya weather station, located between the brightly coloured local council building, the chapel and the bovine artificial insemination centre. At 3,800 metres above sea level, on the high plateaus of the Andes, the little town is four hours by road from the provincial capital of Cusco in Peru.
Three times a day, at 7am, 1pm and 5pm, Chiquenayra-Quispe records the temperature, wind speed and rainfall. He takes readings...
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Temperatures to rise by six degrees in Arab countries
Posted by Guardian: Laurence Caramel on January 8th, 2013
Guardian: Countries in the Middle East and north Africa will be among those hardest hit by global warming, unless the upward trend for greenhouse gas emissions can be checked, the World Bank warned last month at the Doha climate change conference.
There will be lower rainfall, higher temperatures and continuing desertification, said Rachel Kyte, World Bank vice-president for sustainable development, during her presentation of the report on Adaptation to a Changing Climate in the Arab Countries.
According...
Qatar builds farms in the desert
Posted by Guardian: Laurence Caramel on January 8th, 2013
Guardian: Jean-Pierre Moreau grows flowers – roses, gladioli and chrysanthemums – out in the desert, about 30km west of Doha. At the request of the emir of Qatar, Hamad Ben Khalifa al-Thani, the Frenchman is producing 4m flowers a year with a workforce of 60, mainly from Nepal and India.
Inside the 55,000 sq metres of greenhouses at Roza Hassad, the decor bears little resemblance to the stony, windswept landscape outside. At 30-second intervals the computerised control system adjusts the moisture and light...
Rwanda makes saving its forests a national priority
Posted by Guardian: Laurence Caramel on February 22nd, 2011
Guardian: The rolling green countryside of Rwanda's Thousand Hills area may look fertile and flourishing, but the area desperately needs help. At the launch of the United Nations International Year of Forests, the Rwandan minister of land and the environment, Stanislas Kamanzi, announced a forest landscape restoration initiative.
This is not just a gesture to placate conservation organisations trying to save mountain gorillas and one of their few remaining sanctuaries. "Without a sustainable environment...