Apr 22, 2020 04:24 AM
(This post was last modified: Apr 22, 2020 05:11 AM by C C.)
Coronavirus pandemic will cause 'famine of biblical proportions'
https://www.theguardian.com/global-devel...roportions
EXCERPT: The world is facing widespread famine “of biblical proportions” because of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief of the UN’s food relief agency has warned, with a short time to act before hundreds of millions starve.
[...] said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme. “We are not talking about people going to bed hungry. We are talking about extreme conditions, emergency status – people literally marching to the brink of starvation. If we don’t get food to people, people will die. This is truly more than just a pandemic – it is creating a hunger pandemic...."
Beasley took his message to the UN security council on Tuesday [...] He urged them to bring forward about $2bn (£1.6bn) of aid that has been pledged, so it can get to the frontline as quickly as possible. Another $350m (£285m) is also needed to set up the logistics network to get food and medical supplies – including personal protective equipment – to where it is needed, including air bridges where ground transport is impossible.
[...] earlier this year East Africa was hit by the worst locust swarms for decades, putting as many as 70 million people at risk. ... According to a report produced by the UN and other organisations on Thursday, at least 265 million people are being pushed to the brink of starvation by the Covid-19 crisis, double the number under threat before the pandemic.
None of those looming deaths from starvation are inevitable, said Beasley. “If we get money, and we keep the supply chains open, we can avoid famine,” he said. “We can stop this if we act now.”
[...] Money alone will not be enough, he added. It is difficult for relief workers to get through lockdowns around the world and set up air bridges when transport is paralysed. ... Also crucial is ensuring that supply chains stay open in the face of lockdowns and the difficulty of getting workers into the fields to tend crops ... “We are in this together. We can stop this becoming a widespread famine. But we need to act quickly and smartly.” (MORE - details)
There are 10 catastrophic threats facing humans right now, and coronavirus is only one of them
https://theconversation.com/there-are-10...hem-136854
EXCERPT: A report titled Surviving and Thriving in the 21st Century, published today by the Commission for the Human Future, has isolated ten potentially catastrophic threats to human survival. Not prioritised over one another, these risks are:
(1) decline of natural resources, particularly water
(2) collapse of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity
(3) human population growth beyond Earth’s carrying capacity
(4) global warming and human-induced climate change
(5) chemical pollution of the Earth system, including the atmosphere and oceans
(6) rising food insecurity and failing nutritional quality
(7) nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction
(8) pandemics of new and untreatable disease
(9) the advent of powerful, uncontrolled new technology
(10) national and global failure to understand and act preventatively on these risks. (MORE - details)
https://www.theguardian.com/global-devel...roportions
EXCERPT: The world is facing widespread famine “of biblical proportions” because of the coronavirus pandemic, the chief of the UN’s food relief agency has warned, with a short time to act before hundreds of millions starve.
[...] said David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme. “We are not talking about people going to bed hungry. We are talking about extreme conditions, emergency status – people literally marching to the brink of starvation. If we don’t get food to people, people will die. This is truly more than just a pandemic – it is creating a hunger pandemic...."
Beasley took his message to the UN security council on Tuesday [...] He urged them to bring forward about $2bn (£1.6bn) of aid that has been pledged, so it can get to the frontline as quickly as possible. Another $350m (£285m) is also needed to set up the logistics network to get food and medical supplies – including personal protective equipment – to where it is needed, including air bridges where ground transport is impossible.
[...] earlier this year East Africa was hit by the worst locust swarms for decades, putting as many as 70 million people at risk. ... According to a report produced by the UN and other organisations on Thursday, at least 265 million people are being pushed to the brink of starvation by the Covid-19 crisis, double the number under threat before the pandemic.
None of those looming deaths from starvation are inevitable, said Beasley. “If we get money, and we keep the supply chains open, we can avoid famine,” he said. “We can stop this if we act now.”
[...] Money alone will not be enough, he added. It is difficult for relief workers to get through lockdowns around the world and set up air bridges when transport is paralysed. ... Also crucial is ensuring that supply chains stay open in the face of lockdowns and the difficulty of getting workers into the fields to tend crops ... “We are in this together. We can stop this becoming a widespread famine. But we need to act quickly and smartly.” (MORE - details)
There are 10 catastrophic threats facing humans right now, and coronavirus is only one of them
https://theconversation.com/there-are-10...hem-136854
EXCERPT: A report titled Surviving and Thriving in the 21st Century, published today by the Commission for the Human Future, has isolated ten potentially catastrophic threats to human survival. Not prioritised over one another, these risks are:
(1) decline of natural resources, particularly water
(2) collapse of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity
(3) human population growth beyond Earth’s carrying capacity
(4) global warming and human-induced climate change
(5) chemical pollution of the Earth system, including the atmosphere and oceans
(6) rising food insecurity and failing nutritional quality
(7) nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction
(8) pandemics of new and untreatable disease
(9) the advent of powerful, uncontrolled new technology
(10) national and global failure to understand and act preventatively on these risks. (MORE - details)