Entries tagged with ‘international issues’
Climate and human migration
What does climate change mean for human migration? Will the world be overrun with climate refugees? Wilfrid Laurier University geographer Robert McLeman, the author of the recent book Climate and Human Migration, provides an interesting interview in the weekly news magazine Maclean’s. “People are already on the move, in the same way they’ve always responded […]
Global map of deforestation, 2000-2012
Geographers working with Google cloud computing experts have released a new interactive map of forest losses and gains between 2000 and 2012.The map is created from Landsat satellite imagery. Humans are the main cause of forest lost, followed by fire, especially in temperate boreal forests. Nearly a third of deforestation occurred in the tropics, with […]
Sri Lankan beach tourism: Sustainable development of the coastline
When Sri Lanka’s internal conflict ended in 2009, miles of tropical beaches became ripe for international development and tourism. In this Al Jazeera opinion piece, Geographers William Moseley and Vinad Malwatte argue that tourism development in Sri Lanka must take into account local communities and environmental impacts. They critique current plans for large resort-style hotels […]
Illegal Clearings in ‘Isolated Indigenous Peoples’ Reserve – Peru
Photos released by the Peruvian government confirm the presence of illegal clearings in the Kaguapakori-Nahua-Nanti Reserve (KNNR). The KNNR was created in 1990 in an effort to protect the territorial rights of the Nahua and Nanti, who had limited contact with the outside world. The creation of the Reserve was based primarily on contact between […]
Drugs, Guns, and US Policies in Mexico
Gustavus is proud to host human rights activist Francisco Cerezo in a talk presented by Witness for Peace of the Upper Midwest and sponsored by LALACS. What: “Drugs, Guns and U.S. Policies in Mexico” When: October 9 at 7 pm Where: Confer 127, Gustavus Adolphus College When Francisco Cerezo’s three brothers were arrested in Mexico for […]
China signs deal to farm 5% of Ukraine
Earlier this year, China signed a deal that will allow China to lease and farm 3 million hectares of agricultural land in Ukraine, or five percent of Ukraine. With fertile plains and a climate similar to the wheat-growing regions of Manitoba, Ukraine is one of the world’s top grain-producing countries. According to Mandy Zuo of […]
Whose ecosystem is it anyway?
Here’s a nice essay on the concept of ecosystem services and some of the problems it presents by Joy Merwin Monteiro, a PhD student at the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. The essay is published in Dimensions, the magazine of the International Human Dimensions Programme on […]
Escalating war in Congo
Violence has been escalating in the eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), in central Africa. Foreign Policy writes that Goma, “one of Congo’s biggest eastern cities fell to a powerful rebel force on Tuesday, Nov. 20, in a war that may redefine the region but has produced little political action […]