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Geoff Dabelko, Ensia
The Periphery Isn’t Peripheral: Barriers to Cross-Sectoral Collaboration in Development
›February 14, 2014 // By Wilson Center StaffWhat do melting Himalayan glaciers have to do with food security in Cambodia? Not much, thought an aid practitioner trying to boost food security along the lower reaches of the Mekong River – until she heard a colleague working on the Tibetan Plateau describe the downstream implications of climate change in the Himalayas. Everything she was working on, she suddenly realized, could be literally washed away.
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Better Mapping for Better Journalism: InfoAmazonia and the Growth of GeoJournalism
›Nearly every local story has a global context. This is especially true when it comes to the environment, and there may be no better way to show that context than through visualization. But in developing countries, where so many important changes are happening, journalists often lack the resources or skills to make data visualization a part of their repertoire.
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Susannah Fisher, International Institute for Environment and Development
In Nepal, Measuring Climate Change Resilience From the Community Up
›February 11, 2014 // By Wilson Center StaffThe original version of this article, by Susannah Fisher, appeared on the International Institute for Environment and Development.
Nepal’s vulnerability to a warming climate became clear in May 2012 when the Seti River burst its banks during flash floods and landslides that killed more than 60 people. Scientists say such events are likely to become more common as the world warms, so communities need to adapt.
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State of the Oceans 2013: Acidification, Overfishing Major Threats to Ecosystem Health
›“The rate of speed of change in the global oceans are greater than [that] of any time in known history,” said Karen Sack of the Pew Charitable Trusts, speaking at the Wilson Center on November 13. She was joined by Paul Schopf, professor of oceanography and associate dean for research and computing at George Mason University, and Libby Jewett, director of the Ocean Acidification Programs at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to discuss the latest State of the Ocean Report. [Video Below]
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Ready for Change: Notre Dame Launches the Global Adaptation Index
›In 2008 and 2010, the price of many basic food stuffs soared, sparking a series of riots and food crises around the world. People in the poorest countries – those living with the smallest margins – were most affected, while the economies of developed nations were able to absorb the price changes. According to Notre Dame’s Global Adaptation Index, how climate change will impact different countries depends not only on their vulnerability to physical changes, but also their ability to absorb these impacts. [Video Below]
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Can China Solve Its Water-Energy Choke Point? Wilson Center Launches ‘China Environment Series 12’
›Factories in China’s Pearl River Delta tick-tock around the clock, rapidly churning out gadgets from iPhones and Barbie dolls to forks and light bulbs, shipped off to village shops in Uganda and super Walmarts in America’s sprawling suburbs. But far from the global consumer’s view, manufacturing and rapid development are placing unrelenting pressure on China’s environment.
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Our Last Best Hope? Family Planning and Women’s Empowerment
›January 7, 2014 // By Laurie MazurThe original version of this article appeared on the Aspen Institute blog.
When journalist Alan Weisman proposed a new book on the challenges posed by human population growth, his editor said, “That one’s a live wire; don’t touch it.”
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The Year That Resilience Gets Real
›2014 promises to be a superlative year – and that’s not necessarily a good thing. Complex, “super” disasters like Super Typhoon Haiyan are becoming more frequent, more systemic, and more destructive. Global trends, from population dynamics to food, water, and energy scarcities, threaten to further complicate the playing field. But by finally getting serious about resilience – the much discussed buzzword of 2013 – we might reduce our vulnerability, restore our communities, and build back better, rather than just picking up the pieces.
Showing posts from category water.