'Unseen' News and Views – By Baher Kamal & The Like
The ongoing fires in the Amazon rainforest are a harsh reminder of the environmental crises facing the world – of climate, of biodiversity and of pollution.
We cannot afford more damage to this precious natural resource, which is home to 33 million people – including 420 indigenous communities -, 40,000 plant species, 3,000 freshwater fish species and more than 370 types of reptiles.
Forests do more for us than we realize. They clean our water and filter our air, and they provide food, medicine and fuel for more than a billion people worldwide. ©PhotoSky/shutterstock.com (Photo posted here from FAO).
For too long we have seen trees as purely functional or ornamental, objects in the backdrop or on the sideline. They decorate city streets. They give us shady spots for resting and relief from the sun. They provide us with paper and fuel, fruit and nuts. These benefits are fairly obvious.
Myanmar’s military must stop using sexual and gender-based violence to terrorize and punish ethnic minorities, according to a new report released on Thursday [22 August 2019] by the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission.
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“Extreme physical violence, the openness in which it is conducted … reflects a widespread culture of tolerance towards humiliation and the deliberate infliction of severe physical and mental pain or suffering on civilians,” the report said.
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23 August 2019 (UN Environment)* — Tree planting is capturing the minds of those who look for fast climate action. Earlier this month, the Ethiopian Government announced a new world record: thousands of volunteers planted 353 million trees in one single day.
This came shortly after a team of scientists identified suitable places in the world where up to 1 trillion new trees could be planted. Such a massive effort could absorb about 20 years’ worth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Continue reading
The tree species, whose name is a generic one for several dark-red hardwood species found in tropical regions across the globe, fetches very high prices because it’s strong, heavy, has a beautiful red hue and takes well to polishing.
Changing patterns and worsening impacts of natural disasters in Asia and the Pacific, coupled with environmental degradation and climate change, are not only making efforts to predict such catastrophes more difficult, but are also a “sign of things to come”, the United Nations development arm in the region has warned.*
DAYLESFORD, Australia, 23 August 2019 — Something is causing the worlds glaciers and mountain ice fields to melt. And, despite your first thought, it is not the ongoing climate catastrophe.
Photo: Chris Marquardt/Unsplash | @chrismarquardt | Germany
chrismarquardt.com
It does not matter where on Earth the glaciers and mountain ice fields are located, they are all melting. Moreover, the projected timeframe for some of them to disappear altogether is ‘imminently’; that is, within years.
Farmers on the Indus River Delta. Over the years the water has dried up and sea has ingressed inland. Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS
“That is all that I and my brothers discuss day and night,” he told IPS over telephone from his village which lies near Kharo Chan, in Sindh province’s Thatta district.
21 August 2019 (Wall Street International)* — The theocratic revolution of 1978 led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini which ended the monarchy and dictatorship of the Shah, Reza Pahlavi, had several consequences on the political map of the Middle East.
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We must not forget that the United Kingdom and the United States were great allies of Iran and of Pahlavi.
The United Nations announced on Wednesday [21 August 2019] that it is being forced to close down several humanitarian programmes in Yemen because money pledged by Member States to pay for them has “failed to materialize”.
At a pledging event for Yemen held in February, the UN and humanitarian partners were promised $2.6 billion to meet the urgent needs of more than 20 million Yemenis. To date, less than half of this amount has been received.
