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Richard Choularton on 3 Steps to Avert the Famines We See Coming
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There has been great progress in anticipating famines in recent years, with most predicted six or more months ahead of time, says Richard Choularton, senior associate for food security and climate change at Tetra Tech, in this week’s podcast. But action to address their humanitarian impacts has lagged. Responses need to be more consistent and faster, he says, happening “almost without human intervention.” -
Insights on Ending Famine and Creating Food Security in a Changing World
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The effects of climate change combined with breakdowns in governance are leading to food insecurity “on a scale that we’ve rarely seen,” said Alex de Sherbinin, associate director of Columbia University’s Center for International Earth Science Information Network, at the Wilson Center on January 26.
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Torn Social Fabric: Water, Violence, and Migration in Central America
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In the first half of last year, 26,000 unaccompanied children were apprehended by U.S. law enforcement trying to cross the southern border. Most came from Central American states like El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Such displacement is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of migration in the region. Many more are moving from rural to urban areas and into neighboring countries seeking opportunity and fleeing violence.
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New “Backdraft” Podcast Series, on the Peace and Conflict Consequences of Climate Responses
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The science is clear: To prevent major disruption, the global community must take steps to address climate change. But it is also increasingly clear that efforts to address climate change can have major effects on societies that are not always anticipated. -
Building a Locus of Control: Protecting Yourself From “Climate Trauma”
›January 23, 2017 // By Lynae Bresser
With countries declaring drought emergencies and islands facing inundation, it can be difficult to turn away from the big picture when it comes to climate change. If we are to build a climate-resilient society, though, we must look to resilience at its origins, says one group of experts: the individual.
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Backdraft Revisited: The Conflict Potential of Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation
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Whether or not we respond to climate change – and the security implications of that decision – is a major public policy question. But increasingly experts are paying closer attention to how we respond.
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Paradox of Progress: National Intelligence Council Releases Global Trends Report
›January 11, 2017 // By Schuyler Null
Do you experience information overload? Feel like there’s always another crisis to worry about? Sense a kind of chaos? Well, you may be a citizen of the early 21st century.
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Rachel Cernansky, Ensia
How “Open Source” Seed Producers From the U.S. to India Are Changing Global Food Production
›December 29, 2016 // By Wilson Center Staff
Frank Morton has been breeding lettuce since the 1980s. His company offers 114 varieties, among them Outredgeous, which last year became the first plant that NASA astronauts grew and ate in space. For nearly 20 years, Morton’s work was limited only by his imagination and by how many different kinds of lettuce he could get his hands on. But in the early 2000s, he started noticing more and more lettuces were patented, meaning he would not be able to use them for breeding.
Showing posts from category risk and resilience.

There has been great progress in anticipating famines in recent years, with most predicted six or more months ahead of time, says Richard Choularton, senior associate for food security and climate change at Tetra Tech, in this week’s podcast. But action to address their humanitarian impacts has lagged. Responses need to be more consistent and faster, he says, happening “almost without human intervention.”
The science is clear: To prevent major disruption, the global community must take steps to address climate change. But it is also increasingly clear that efforts to address climate change can have major effects on societies that are not always anticipated.





