Madagascar has long been at the top of my list of places to experience, so it's been quite upsetting to read the news about what's going on there now. Cyclone Ivan hit earlier this week and has left the country in shambles. AP is reporting 145,000 are now homeless, and UN OCHA is saying that 30% (18.000 hectares) of the country's rice fields have been totally flooded out. Evidently Cyclone Hondo is now about 1500 km off the coast and a month ago Cyclone Fame hit, leaving about 5000 people homeless. This is not good, i mean how much crazy climate phenomenon can one country take?? In addition to the tragedy of human suffering, Madagascar's many environmental programs have got to be taking a real beating now and this is also tragic, because the island is an amazing place in terms of biodiversity: essentially, the Galapagos of the Indian Ocean. While most people think of it as the land of lemurs, the Giant Boababs are truly amazing trees, which also have been losing habitat though much work has been done to protect them. So, just wanted to say something about this, as it ties into the many dreadful impacts of the climate crisis, as well as issues of food scarcity and importance of UN relief missions.
Segueing directly into my next heads-up item, the balancing act between food production and production of crops for bio-fuels. FAO and various European universities have come up with an analytical model for countries to use in determining the food scarcity impacts that could ensue relative to increasing bio-fuel production. Obviously, this question is important to consider before we all start buying up seats on Virgin Airlines. This article discusses the model, and i'm just going to stick in this one quote to give you an idea of what some are projecting:
Lastly, this has been a month of important elections globally, but the seas
on continues into March, with voting in Zimbabwe scheduled for 29.03. Monster Mugabe just had a birthday party, which was crashed by 120o demonstrators. Here's a great photo from the demo
[note: the only way i could get into into the blog was by saving and pasting, it comes courtesy of allafrica.com] and you can read more about what's going on with these elections and the country in general at SW Radio Africa. Bush's recent statements about Mugabe during his and Laura's little Africa jaunt could just as easily been said about himself:
Segueing directly into my next heads-up item, the balancing act between food production and production of crops for bio-fuels. FAO and various European universities have come up with an analytical model for countries to use in determining the food scarcity impacts that could ensue relative to increasing bio-fuel production. Obviously, this question is important to consider before we all start buying up seats on Virgin Airlines. This article discusses the model, and i'm just going to stick in this one quote to give you an idea of what some are projecting:
... the increase in crop prices resulting from expanded biofuel production is also accompanied by a net decrease in availability and access to food. "Food-calorie consumption decreases the most in sub-Saharan Africa, where calorie availability is projected to fall by more than eight percent if biofuels expand drastically," said the IFPRI paper, The World Food Situation: New Driving Forces and Required Actions, by Joachim von Braun.George Monbiot has been covering this issue from day one, here's his latest, in which he again points out the food-fuel connection (in his typically stark terms). i don't know enough about this issue to claim to have the right answer or best alternative solution... but i'm trying to understand what's being (im)balanced and how the rapid growth of consumerism, especially in populous Asian countries, is driving the demand for industrial fuel up and hence, putting nutritional food supplies at greater risk. It is a complex. vicious circle.
Lastly, this has been a month of important elections globally, but the seas
on continues into March, with voting in Zimbabwe scheduled for 29.03. Monster Mugabe just had a birthday party, which was crashed by 120o demonstrators. Here's a great photo from the demo [note: the only way i could get into into the blog was by saving and pasting, it comes courtesy of allafrica.com] and you can read more about what's going on with these elections and the country in general at SW Radio Africa. Bush's recent statements about Mugabe during his and Laura's little Africa jaunt could just as easily been said about himself:"In Zimbabwe, a discredited dictator presides over food shortages, staggering inflation, and harsh repression," he said. "The decent and talented people of that country deserve much better."i know i'm hardly alone is saying it will be good to see both of them gone before this year is over, and then see them again in the defendant's box at The Hague. (ok, not holding my breath on that, but i'm allowed to wish, am i not?)
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