Two years on, Katine offers much to celebrate – and much to feel frustrated about

Every time I visit Katine, in north-east Uganda, an image remains in the mind for months afterwards. In May, it was a long queue of girls laughing and chatting as they waited at a dirty water pump for hours to fill their jerrycans. In September, it was the eager face of an 18-year-old boy who proudly showed me his school report and told me how it took him three and a half hours to walk to school – and three and a half hours back. I looked with incredulity at the teachers' praise for his schoolwork. When could he find time to do his homework?

Two years on, Katine offers much to celebrate – and much to feel frustrated about | Madeleine Bunting | Comment is free | The Guardian

Qatar Food Company Signs $1 billion Deal to Use Sudan Farmland

Qatar furthers the trend of Gulf Arab Countries off-shoring their agricultural production to secure food supplies for its citizens and other populations in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Qatar’s Hassad Foods signed a deal last week, worth potentially $1 billion, to develop 20,000 acres of land in northern Sudan, Reuters reports. Cultivation could expand to 250,000 acres.Hassad foods was established a year ago by the Qatari Investment Authority (QIA) to establish the country’s current and future means of maintaining food security. The food company is hoping to develop six other deals in Latin America and Africa.

Qatar Food Company Signs $1 billion Deal to Use Sudan Farmland | Circle of Blue | WaterNews

Is surf reef good for Boscombe?

Boscombe is on a big mission to improve its rundown image and attract a new crowd of visitors all year round. The Dorset town's centrepiece is the multimillion-pound artificial surf reef, the first of its kind in Europe which, it is hoped, is set to enhance the quality of waves and improve surfing conditions.

BBC NEWS | England | Dorset | Is surf reef good for Boscombe?

World of work

The Future Of Work

View more documents from Jeff Brenman.
Thanks to Alan Parkinson for the Heads up.

Climate change glossary: C-D

How does adaptation differ from mitigation? And what is REDD? The jargon of climate change can be hard to grasp. Use this glossary to decode it.

BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Climate change glossary: C-D

Aerial Virtual tour of London

 

Aerial Virtual tour of London, England. Visit London, great hotels, historic landmarks, art galleries, museums, great restaurants and live music.

China Resettles 300,000 for Plans to Redirect Water North to Combat Drought

The operators of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River have pushed back filling the reservoir for winter storage for a week to discharge more water for drought-stricken areas downstream, Xinhua reports.Nearly 1.5 million people in the Hunan, Jiangxi and Guangdong provinces have reported drinking water shortages over the last month.The reservoir is filled in the autumn to prepare for the dry season, which runs from December to March. Winter releases then drop the water level by 30 meters, providing space to regulate the spring and summer flood season.

China Resettles 300,000 for Plans to Redirect Water North to Combat Drought | Circle of Blue | WaterNews

What - About April Salome - April Salome Rainforest

  Papua New Guinea is one of the founder members of the Kyoto Treaty and is one of the first National Government in the world to seek to adopt the UNFCCC (REDD) initiative to structure a revenue for the preservation of carbon-sink programme, specifically designed to financially compensate landowners for not continuing to pursue commercial logging, thus protecting the remaining rainforest.

What - About April Salome - April Salome Rainforest

How the recession has changed your High Street

 A year after we first visited Shirley High Street, the Magazine returns to witness how it has fared in the recession. Further down, we look at five ways the typical High Street has changed in the downturn.

BBC NEWS | Magazine | How the recession has changed your High Street

Geocube - The world of Geography at your fingertips

Geocube…… re-inventing the way to explore Geography
The world of Geography at your fingertips and just a mouse click away!Geocube is an attractive online resource about Geography. Geocube is based on the principle of the Rubik Cube with six faces and 54 topics. It is a virtual and easily accessible website which is available online for free. Move the Geocube around with your mouse and explore the faces and topics.Geocube provides an accessible way to read, see and watch what Geography is and geographers do. This is a European initiative developed by HERODOT, the European Network for Geography in Higher Education and is available to anyone who is interested in Geography.

Geocube - The world of Geography at your fingertips

Interactive: Climate map shows world after 4C rise | Environment | guardian.co.uk

A map launched at the Science Museum in London has been developed using the latest peer-reviewed science from the Met Office Hadley Centre and other leading impact scientists. It shows that the land will heat up more quickly than the sea, and high latitudes, particularly the Arctic, will have larger temperature increases

Interactive: Climate map shows world after 4C rise | Environment | guardian.co.uk

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Ethiopia asks for urgent food aid

The Ethiopian government has asked the international community for emergency food aid for 6.2 million people.The request came at a meeting of donors to discuss the impact of a prolonged drought affecting parts of East Africa. The UN's World Food Programme says $285m (£173m) will be needed in the next six months. Some aid officials say the numbers of hungry could rise. Aid agency Oxfam has called for a new approach to tackling the risk of disaster in the country.

BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Ethiopia asks for urgent food aid

Tropical Rainforests Project

Rainforests: The Burning Issue – new online interactive booklet

The PRP has just released a new online, interactive booklet that describes how rainforests are in the front line in the fight against climate change and explains how a new form of international collaboration could help to reduce tropical deforestation, with many benefits for developed and developing countries.

 Click here to experience The Burning Issue

The Prince's Rainforests Project

ShelterBox - Disaster Relief

We instantly respond to earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict by delivering boxes of aid.Each box supplies an extended family of up to 10 people with a tent and lifesaving equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. The contents are tailored depending on the nature and location of the disaster, with great care taken sourcing every item to ensure it is robust enough to be of lasting value.The cost of a box is £490, including delivery direct to those who need it. Each box bears its own unique number so as a donor you can track your box all the way to its recipient country via the website

ShelterBox - Disaster Relief

Adapting to climate change

This America.gov Video Player requires the Adobe Flash 8 plugin or higher.
Download the most recent Adobe Flash Player here.

Environmental Treaties - TIMELINE

During the past half century, we learned we share a fragile biosphere. Our view of life on Earth, whether through a microscope or from a space station, is colored by the knowledge that everyday human activities can threaten our future.
This list of key environmental treaties shows how nations are working together, politically and scientifically, to safeguard our planet and respond to a global threat. The United States, whose pollution control laws serve as models for other nations, remains a leader in identifying, mitigating and remediating environmental hazards.

Photo Gallery - America.gov

Crime mapping for English and Welsh police forces - CrimeMapper

Welcome to CrimeMapper. This website provides you with information on crime and antisocial behaviour in your neighbourhood, wherever you live in England or Wales.It also enables you to access and compare the latest information on a range of crime types with other neighbourhoods.You will also be able to access the details of your local neighbourhood policing team, policing priorities and information on the policing pledge.

Crime mapping for English and Welsh police forces - CrimeMapper

Global hunger worsening, warns UN

 

"FAO estimates that 1.02 billion people are undernourished worldwide in 2009," it said. "This represents more hungry people than at any time since 1970 and a worsening of the unsatisfactory trends that were present even before the economic crisis."

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Global hunger worsening, warns UN

What will tourism be like in the twenties? | Forum For The Future

 

Postcards from the future: Tourism 2023 scenarios

Boom and burst
With carbon-scrubbers in place to suck in and store any carbon emissions, the sky is awash with jetsetters. More hotels are popping up to satisfy new touring trends – like cheap beauty breaks to India. Are they built to last, you wonder…? 
Divided disquiet
With wars raging over water shortages and food supply, home seems a good place to be. A bunch of friends are off to Kilimanjaro to see Africa’s last snow, but you don’t think it’s worth the risk.

Price and privilege
After years of saving, you’ve finally bought the golden ticket: that once in a lifetime trip to the Andes. You’re dying to taste the cevicha – you hope it’ll be worth the wait.
Carbon clampdown
You’re on a life-swap holiday in Lithuania – wondering how the other family’s getting on with Voluntary Action Liverpool. The train journey over was pleasant enough, but it still used 20% of your carbon for the year – perhaps better spent at home?

• Tourism 2023 Animations

• Tourism 2023 – creating a sustainable tourism industry

• Travel & Tourism

What will tourism be like in the twenties? | Forum For The Future

Rainforest – SKY project

Through Sky Rainforest Rescue we aim to tackle climate change.By joining forces with WWF and our customers we will do this by helping to save 1 billion Amazon Rainforest trees in the Brazilian state of Acre.

Home, Sky Rainforest