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Ethiopian dam plans spark regional tensions
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on October 18th, 2013
SciDevNet: A group of Egyptian academics and experts have declared their opposition to the current plans for the US$4.8 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam -- on which work has started, and which will be Africa's largest hydroelectric power plant when completed -- because they believe it will damage their country.
Egypt's Nile Basin Group was set up to assess the possible threat from the dam, which will lie close to Ethiopia's border with Sudan. Its members warn that the structure could slash the Nile's...
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Investing in people and evidence for sustainable farming
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on October 16th, 2013
SciDevNet: Food security is difficult to pin down. It can be explained simply as access to enough food. But behind that simplicity lies an interconnected web of factors -- from food prices to agricultural practices, nutrition, natural resources, technology, trade and social development.
Breaking down such complexity to its component parts is artificial, but is often necessary to gain understanding. It is in that spirit that the collection of articles this week focuses on just one, but fundamental, aspect...
Sustainable food production: Facts and Figures
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on October 16th, 2013
SciDevNet: Advances in agricultural science and technology (S&T) have contributed to remarkable increases in food production since the mid-twentieth century. Global agriculture has grown 2.5--3 times over the last 50 years. [1] This has let food production keep pace with human population growth so that, overall, there are enough calories produced per capita. However, progress toward reducing hunger is variable across the world (see figure 1).
Hunger and malnutrition affect every aspect of human development...
Nepal shifting rains and changing crops
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on October 16th, 2013
SciDevNet: With weather becoming more erratic every year as a result of climate change, Nepali farmers are progressively shifting their approach, turning vast areas of rice paddies into small-scale vegetable farming. Vegetables are more resilient as they can be hand watered in case of drought. Farmers say that with rains that used to come in April now shifting as late as mid-June, vegetables that can be sown at the time the rains finally fall are now a better investment.
But large parts of their fields now...
Record temperatures set to reach tropics first
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on October 10th, 2013
SciDevNet: Tropical regions will be the first to experience unprecedented climate change, leading to significant upheaval for biodiversity and communities, according to a study published in Nature today. Regions near the equator will be subject to mean temperatures hotter than anything experienced on record an average of 15 years before the rest of the world, putting a strain on their rich biodiversity, which is adapted to stable climate conditions, finds the study. "Species living at the poles are already...
Adapting to climate change in Bangladesh
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on September 17th, 2013
SciDevNet: Natural disasters -- particularly tropical cyclones, tornadoes, storm surges and flooding -- occur frequently in Bangladesh.
With changing weather patterns, these disasters are predicted to become both more frequent and more intense.
During the past century, over 400 tropical cyclones have struck Bangladesh's coast, causing widespread devastation and death.
Earlier this year, Cyclone Mohasen hit Bangladesh, forcing thousands of people into emergency accommodation, causing flooding and crop...
Well-managed mangroves ‘can survive rising sea levels’
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on September 4th, 2013
SciDevNet: The prevailing idea that sea-level rise will inevitably wipe out mangrove forests -- fragile ecosystems that protect nearby communities from natural hazards such as floods and storms -- is challenged by a recent report. Mangroves in some areas will be able to survive climate change-induced sea-level rise as they can slowly increase the level of soil in which they thrive, but only if they are managed and protected, according to 'The response of mangrove soil surface elevation to sea level rise' report....
Africa: Climate Change Could Be Double-Edged Sword for Farmers
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on March 28th, 2013
SciDevNet: On a global level, climate change could slash crop yields and increase reliance on irrigation in the 2030s, but in some regions, including Southern Africa, agricultural output could increase and farming become less dependent on water, according to a study published last month (27 February). The researchers, based in Canada, China and Switzerland, set out to predict the combined impact of climate change on food production and water levels globally, regionally and locally. "Such a study not only...
Costa Rican scientists trial aquatic agriculture to boost food security
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on January 31st, 2013
SciDevNet: Costa Rican researchers are pioneering 'aquatic agriculture' -- the method of growing crops on freshwater lakes and reservoirs -- to boost food security in the developing world.
The technique involves creating floating rafts on which vegetables, grains and flowers can be grown. Terrestrial crops such as grains and vegetables have their roots directly in the water or can be potted, with water being drawn up into their soil from the lake by capillary wicks, Ricardo Radulovich, a professor at the...
Sustainable development after Rio+20 is ‘in limbo’
Posted by SciDevNet: None Given on January 17th, 2013
SciDevNet: The weak wording of the Rio+20 summit agreement and delays in setting up the UN working groups on sustainable development have left progress on some of the post Rio+20 agenda in limbo, according to a science officer at the International Council for Science (ICSU), which represented the scientific community at the summit. The scientific community is unsure how to proceed towards setting up the new sustainable development goals (SDGs), agreed at the summit and expected to be finalised in 2015, and...