WEST POKOT COUNTY, SAMBURU COUNTY, Kenya, 3 February 2022 (UNFPA)* – There are two rainy seasons in Kenya: The long rains in March, April and May and the short rains in October, November and December.
The past three seasons have failed, and the next one is forecast to do the same. In some parts of the country, the severe drought – affecting more than 2.8 million people, including more than 730,000 women of reproductive age – has been declared a national disaster.
2 February 2022 (UN News)* — The massive volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga followed by another earthquake and aftershocks just days afterwards, has highlighted once again the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a meeting this week convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has heard.
The Global SIDS Solutions Dialogue, focused on the “severe challenge” these often impoverished low-lying nations face in being able to reach the goals of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said FAO Chief Economist, Máximo Torero Cullen.
(UN News)* — A new UN partnership announced on Wednesday [2 February 2022] aims to raise awareness about the environmental and health impacts of microplastics in cigarette butts, the most discarded waste item worldwide.
Unsplash/Brian Yurasits | Cigarette butts and vaping pods found during a beach cleanup in the USA.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Secretariat of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) will launch a social media campaign to highlight the issue.
The partnership is facilitated through UNEP’s Clean Seas campaign, a global coalition comprised of 63 countries devoted to ending marine plastic pollution.
MADRID, Feb 2 2022 (IPS)* – This is about Wetlands, which are considered as a natural solution to the global threat of climate change. They absorb carbon dioxide, help slow global heating and reduce pollution, hence they are often referred to as the “Kidneys of the Earth”.
Young mangrove plants, Puttalam Lagoon, Sri Lanka. Credit: Amantha Perera/IPS
Specifically, peatlands alone store twice as much carbon as all the world’s forests combined. However, when drained and destroyed, wetlands emit vast amounts of carbon, adds the UN on the occasion of the World Wetlands Day, marked 2 February. Continue reading →
RIO DE JANEIRO, Feb 2 2022 (IPS)* – People living in Jardim Pantanal, a low-income neighborhood on the east side of the Brazilian megalopolis of São Paulo, suffer floods every southern hemisphere summer. Many residents remember the three months their streets and homes were under water in late 2009 and early 2010. | En español
In Raposos, a Brazilian city of 16,500 inhabitants, two-thirds of the homes were flooded by the rising waters of the Das Velhas River. The city grew on both banks of the river, between hills, which led to recurrent flooding. CREDIT: Das Velas River CBH
SAN FRANCISCO, USA , Feb 2 2022 (IPS)*– Hidden in plain sight, the extreme hypocrisy of the U.S. position on NATO and Ukraine cries out for journalistic coverage and open debate in the USA’s major media outlets. But those outlets, with rare exceptions, have gone into virtually Orwellian mode, only allowing elaboration on the theme of America good, Russia bad.
I would like to announce the publication of a new book, which discusses worrying recent developments in the Antarctic and the Arctic, which warn us of catastrophic consequences if we neglect urgent climate action.
The book may be downloaded free of charge from the following link:
Diagonal cracks have been observed in Antarctica’s enormous Thwaites Glacier, and scientists fear that it might shatter into small pieces like a windscreen. Continue reading →
1 February 2022 (UN News)* — Marking the first anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar, the independent UN expert monitoring the country implored States on Tuesday to take more robust action, reiterating his call for an arms embargo to stop the killing of innocent people.
One of the less-discussed aspects of the current crisis in Eastern Europe is its huge sales potential
Russia‘s President Putin holds a meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council, via video conference from his Kremlin office, 21 January 2022 | Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin Pool/Alamy Live News
29 January 2022 (openDemocracy)* — As the Ukraine crisis evolves, the military machinery on both sides gears up for combat, with Russia moving troops and equipment towards Ukraine and NATO sending reinforcements to Eastern Europe.
Russia understandably fears the eastward expansion of NATO. Recently NATO countries, led by the United States, have supplied arms to Ukraine.
There is a threat that the tensions building up in the region will lead to war. Such a development would be catastrophic for the entire world. Against this backdrop, we examine the question of NATO’s illegality.
Recent Threats of War over Ukraine
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 