The Poor Suffer Most
It was the statement on BBC just now, during the noon news I see on PBS here, that the global conference on environment just ending concluded that the poorest on the planet suffer the most from climate change, that I thought ought to be a matter of serious concern from our enlightened posters and commenters here. The illustration the BBC report used was the Massai of Kenya. These people have always been of particular interest to me, as I acquired during the 60's a tall ebony sculpture of a Massai herder, and learned that the culture is devoted to cattleherding, the men perpetually exchange the cattle for goods of other types, they stay constantly on the alert for raids by rivals and hunting lions. The men are very tall, and ritually drink the cattle's blood to give them strength.
As drought plagues the region the Massai inhabit for the fifth year, like areas of North Dakota, conditions are impossible for the cultivation of those herds.
From recent visitors John and Shirley Waters:
Visiting Nairobi this time we were shocked by the weather – yes it was very warm and sunny fine for tourists but the locals are praying for rain. Kenya is suffering from severe draught that has impacted so many things.
In the northern areas of Kenya it is estimated that over 3 million people are starving due to the lack of rain. The school in Nairobi has been on mains water for about a year but now they have to fill water tanks when there is water available in the pipes.
The cost of food has risen by between 20 – 50% and this has made a big impact on the school’s budget and feeding programme. Everywhere is very dry and dusty and water is scarce. The animals are dying in the game parks and the Massai now bring their cattle into Nairobi to find food. Each day we saw lots of very thin scraggy cattle eating whatever they could from the grass verges along the sides on the roads.
The concerned nations of the world that have taken the responsibility for their own actions in adding to global warming by pollution of the air have taken on some of the burden of alleviating suffering like this.
Under our present lack of responsible leadership, the U.S. continues in adding to the suffering of these and other victims of climate changes. Yesterday a worldwide conference on the Climate concluded in Nairobi. The U.S. was not part of it.
"The science tells us that we need faster and deeper political progress if we are to avoid the social, economic and humanitarian consequences of unchecked climate change," a joint statement said. "Every country has a part to play in the drive to prevent dangerous climate change."
The 1997 Kyoto pact obliges 35 industrial nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The United States rejects that accord, with U.S. President George W. Bush contending it would damage the U.S. economy and should have given poorer countries obligations as well.
Scientists attribute at least some of the past century's 0.6 Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) rise in global temperatures to the atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, byproducts of power plants, automobiles and other fossil fuel-burning sources. Continued temperature rises could seriously disrupt the climate, they say.
Another innovative approach is being promoted by the World Food Program;
If experts with the World Food Program and the World Bank have their way, future donations for natural disaster victims will no longer depend on the whims of private donors or the political needs of governments, but on agreements with international financial corporations. The plan is to create famine insurance for the Third World.
In other words, the capital markets will jump in where donations tend to be insufficient and an insurance policy will protect against draught-induced malnutrition. High finance instead of alms.
This country has elected new leadership, one committed to principled action instead of the muddled business sycophancy that it has seen in effect for the past six years. Catastrophe looms in many areas, with the threat of increasing resentment against the U.S.'s role in inflicting that catastrophe on the other inhabitants of the globe. We can let our leaders know that we care about the well-being of the world, and the U.S.'s responsibility in damaging it.
As drought plagues the region the Massai inhabit for the fifth year, like areas of North Dakota, conditions are impossible for the cultivation of those herds.
From recent visitors John and Shirley Waters:
Visiting Nairobi this time we were shocked by the weather – yes it was very warm and sunny fine for tourists but the locals are praying for rain. Kenya is suffering from severe draught that has impacted so many things.
In the northern areas of Kenya it is estimated that over 3 million people are starving due to the lack of rain. The school in Nairobi has been on mains water for about a year but now they have to fill water tanks when there is water available in the pipes.
The cost of food has risen by between 20 – 50% and this has made a big impact on the school’s budget and feeding programme. Everywhere is very dry and dusty and water is scarce. The animals are dying in the game parks and the Massai now bring their cattle into Nairobi to find food. Each day we saw lots of very thin scraggy cattle eating whatever they could from the grass verges along the sides on the roads.
The concerned nations of the world that have taken the responsibility for their own actions in adding to global warming by pollution of the air have taken on some of the burden of alleviating suffering like this.
Under our present lack of responsible leadership, the U.S. continues in adding to the suffering of these and other victims of climate changes. Yesterday a worldwide conference on the Climate concluded in Nairobi. The U.S. was not part of it.
"The science tells us that we need faster and deeper political progress if we are to avoid the social, economic and humanitarian consequences of unchecked climate change," a joint statement said. "Every country has a part to play in the drive to prevent dangerous climate change."
The 1997 Kyoto pact obliges 35 industrial nations to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. The United States rejects that accord, with U.S. President George W. Bush contending it would damage the U.S. economy and should have given poorer countries obligations as well.
Scientists attribute at least some of the past century's 0.6 Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit) rise in global temperatures to the atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, byproducts of power plants, automobiles and other fossil fuel-burning sources. Continued temperature rises could seriously disrupt the climate, they say.
Another innovative approach is being promoted by the World Food Program;
If experts with the World Food Program and the World Bank have their way, future donations for natural disaster victims will no longer depend on the whims of private donors or the political needs of governments, but on agreements with international financial corporations. The plan is to create famine insurance for the Third World.
In other words, the capital markets will jump in where donations tend to be insufficient and an insurance policy will protect against draught-induced malnutrition. High finance instead of alms.
This country has elected new leadership, one committed to principled action instead of the muddled business sycophancy that it has seen in effect for the past six years. Catastrophe looms in many areas, with the threat of increasing resentment against the U.S.'s role in inflicting that catastrophe on the other inhabitants of the globe. We can let our leaders know that we care about the well-being of the world, and the U.S.'s responsibility in damaging it.
posted by Ruth at 10:24 AM
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