DES ABEND NEWS

The use of genetically modified (GM) crops is underway in Kenya after a ban was reversed last month, but not everyone is so certain of GM’s role in the country. Credit: Alliance for Science. By: Derry Salter. For the latest four seasons, Kenya has seen no annual rain, with fellow African counties like Ethiopia and Somalia succumbing to the same fate. 1.5 million have fled their homes in the last year to seek for food and water. 4 million people in Kenya remain starving. Earlier last month, Kenya lifted their ban on the use of genetically modified crops after seeing the worst drought to affect the country in over 40 years. Reversing the ban was the first move to hopefully improve crop yields and the future of food security in the country. GM was first banned in Kenya in 2012, with a scientific report concerning a close relationship between cancer in rats and GM crops providing the basis for the ruling. Scientists celebrated the lift of the ban and many see GM crops as the answ...

World leaders are meeting in Egypt this week to discuss climate change and what action should be taken to tackle it.   Credit: yahoo.com. By: Sam Feierabend. After initially saying he would not attend, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be present in Sharm-El-Sheikh. The annual COP meetings are held by the United Nations where governments agree to measures to combat global temperature rise. This year’s meeting has a lot to focus on, given the record-breaking heatwave across Europe and devastating floods that hit Pakistan.    More than 200 nations have been invited to the conference, with Sunak stating how the conference should highlight the Russian invasion of Ukraine will reinforce the need to end dependence on fossil fuels.    Russian delegates will attend, and it is not clear if China will send any representatives. The host nation Egypt has said that countries attending should put aside their differences and focus on dealing with the climate crisis.   Ahead...

On Tuesday 1 st November, Australia introduced a ban of single-use plastic in New South Wales in a bid to reduce waste. Credit: WWF Australia. By: Derry Salter. 3.4 billion tonnes of plastic is used and thrown away in Australia each year. 30% of this is single-use. Over half of Australia’s states and territories have a ban in place for single-use plastic and now its most populous state, New South Wales, is set to be part of the move to a cleaner future.   Single-use plastic included in the ban are: straws, drink stirrers, cotton buds, cutlery, polystyrene take-away containers and micro beads used in shampoo. New South Wales took their first step in June this year banning lightweight plastic bags, before taking this massive, but positive, step.   Australian Marine Conservation Society’s plastic campaign manager Shane Cucow said: ‘It’s been incredible progress considering just two years ago not a single state and territory had banned single-use plastics.’   ...

Mississippi’s capital, Jackson, is the latest victim of environmental racism, with over 150,000 residents left without safe drinking water. The government’s continuous failures means that there is little to be done to put an end to this catastrophe. Credit: BBC. By: Derry Salter. There is no drinking water in Jackson, but the residents continue to receive water bills. There is no investment in infrastructure, so the residents are forced to become beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program just to afford to buy clean bottled water. There is no care for the residents, so children are receiving online schooling because the schools can’t ensure safe running water. With numerous residents going at least 18 months without running water, Jackson is a city in crisis. The population of Jackson is more than 80% Black and the city has been drained of resources by the White Republican leaders for many years. Wealthy White people began fleeing Jackson in the late 70s after t...

A third of Pakistan is underwater. Citizens remain homeless, sitting on beds outside worn tents in flooded streets strewn with litter. Pools of dirty flood water have collected and are slowing down any drainage. Credit: Sky News. By: Derry Salter. On Friday 26 August, the National Disaster Management Authority said that more than 900 people have been killed since June – 34 of which were in the 24 hours prior. Just two and a half weeks later, and the death toll has surpassed 1,300. Sadly, one in three victims are said to be children.   The UN’s disaster relief agency Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has stated that at least 184,000 are in relief camps. On Friday 2 September, another 2,000 people were rescued from the floodwaters. The problem will not simply go away.   People in Southern Pakistan have been hit the hardest as surges of water continuing to flow down the Indus river threatening nearby communities. 1.2 million people in the Sindh provi...

In July, a friendly faced appeared near Norway’s Capital city in the Oslo Fjord – a 600kg walrus. Locals affectionately named the walrus Freya and she quickly shot to fame with videos of her struggling to scramble on boats. Credit: Koninklijke Marine. By: Derry Salter. Freya began her journey in the Arctic, gracing Europe with her large presence before resting in Norway. Large crowds gathered on the waters edge within touching distance. However, soon after, the media reported Freya chasing a woman into the water. Another report saw a kayaker’s ‘scary encounter’ with the animal when she approached his vessel.   Yet on 14 August, the mammal was killed by the government. In less than a month, her celebrity status declined and she was painted as a danger to the public. Erik Born, a senior scientist at the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources said: ‘Walruses are unpredictable in their behaviour and are perfectly well able to catch a seal between their front flippers and stab...

The wildfires of the recent days and weeks are a stark warning sign of the desperation our world is in. Parts of the UK suffered greatly and received their first ever red warning for extreme heat, with fires quickly breaking out on July 19. Credit: Al Jazeera. By: Derry Salter.   Wildfires are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and account for 8% of the 3.3 annual premature deaths from poor air quality. Climate change is the cause for this; it increases temperatures and worsens dry conditions in which fires thrive; they spread faster and burn longer. These hot spells sap moisture from grasslands and vegetation, making the conditions even drier.   With months of below average rainfall and an unusually high temperature, wildfires sparked across the UK, hitting Cornwall, Kent and Pembrokeshire. Britain’s hottest day in history also gave the London Fire Brigade its busiest day since World War Two.  More than 40 houses and shops across the UK were destroye...

Greenwashing is a widespread practice across businesses and government as is impacting people’s reality of the climate emergency by giving a false impression of their business efforts. Buzzwords like 'eco-conscious' and 'going green' are key perpetrators in pushing the false environmentally friendly narrative. Credit: Reuters. By: Derry Salter. Brands continue to sell products claiming a start towards a sustainable future, but the reality is that these marketed commodities are unrecyclable or have little impact. Plastic packaging in the UK makes up nearly 70% of the country’s plastic waste, but only 10% of this gets recycled. Growing concerns about the environment has seen an increased awareness of green-washing. In a 2015 poll, 72% of consumers argued they are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products. But what is the real truth behind this faux sustainability? Many big brands are guilty of greenwashing, predominantly those who claim their plastic p...