Read at : Google Alert – images of the Africa Drought
http://www.peopleandplanet.net/?lid=30205&topic=27§ion=33
COMMENTARY: World must wake up to the coming crisis in the Sahel
Posted: 23 January 2012
Author: Malcolm Potts
If forecasters could draw isobars outlining human suffering, then the high pressure zone of human pain would surely be in the failed, and failing states, along the Sahel, and across to Somalia, Yemen and Afghanistan, says Professor Malcolm Potts. This powerful Commentary is a wake-up call for new strategies to avert an environmentally-induced human catastrophe.
Along the edge of the Sahara desert, rapid population growth, global warming, poor governance and a hideous mistreatment of women are combining in a perfect storm which could lead to unprecedented levels of environmental stress, starvation, escalating conflict and massive waves of migration.
The potential for human misery is colossal. The need to act is pressing. The scale of problems in the Sahel goes beyond the usual response to a potential humanitarian disaster. New international strategies need to be built about food security, family planning, gender equity and governance that have major geopolitical implications for the rest of the twenty-first century.
Our brains weren’t evolved to deal with millions, let alone billions. We are easily numbed by numbers. Huge but slowly moving catastrophes may be the most difficult of all to bring to public attention, but these mega-catastrophes, taking decades to fully build, are ultimately the most important.
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