Breaking: Oil spill off the coast of Nigeria. Exxon Mobil rigs. ›

Hopeful story about African women getting better educations. They’re marrying later, having fewer kids, and saving money. They’re also better decision makers and make are more reasonable managers. A major problem (separate-ish to the issue of women and women’s rights) is how Africans will manage their environment and dwindling natural resources. I’ve shown many times on this blog how women are key to sustainable development and political leadership in developing nations. But, men remain much more powerful both at the community and state levels, which means this progress can be reversed in mere moments.

unicef:

VIDEO REPORT: Agents of change

A new generation of female teachers in rural Nigeria sets standards for women in their communities.

Learn more: http://uni.cf/N18wte

Sudanese refugee camp is one of the worst places for the displaced to be dumped - a malaria infested swamp. Video report is not for the weak.

doctorswithoutborders:

This video, from the PBS Blog “The Rundown,” describes the plight of thousands of Sudanese refugees who fled violence in Blue Nile State only to face a humanitarian crisis in overcrowded camps in South Sudan.

Begins real rough, but there is progress.

unicef:

VIDEO REPORT: Rewriting Zimbabwe’s education system

UNICEF reports on the Education Transition Fund, which is is providing learning resources and improving school quality for the most vulnerable and marginalized children in Zimbabwe, including those with disabilities.

Learn more: http://uni.cf/NlWwm1

(via united-nations)

Fantastic map of Sahel movement and conflict. Natural resources and migration are the biggest drivers of both economic development and conflict in the region. But, over the past decade or so, both have escalated exponentially. Expect more conflict as the climate changes and water resources are more strictly controlled.

Via the Arabist

Brutal piece on ‘nodding disease,’ a rare disease with no known cause or cure.

globalvoices:

Nodding disease is a mentally and physically disabling disease that affects children between 1 and 10 years. It is currently restricted to small regions in South Sudan, Tanzania and northern Uganda. The disease is incurable at the moment and its cause is not known.

A Ugandan journalist, Florence Naluyimba, has taken the first initiative to investigate and bring the issue to light.

Interesting: President George W. Bush renovates the Ngungu Health Center on Saturday, June 30, 2012, in Kabwe, Zambia, Africa. President and Mrs. Bush are in Africa to promote the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon partnership, which aims to save women from cervical cancer. Photo by Shealah Craighead/The Bush Center

Via the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

theatlanticvideo:

Stunning Photos of Lions in Kenya, Snapped via a Remote-Control Car

Will Burrard-Lucas, a wildlife photographer, built the armored “BeetleCam” so that his camera could get up close and personal with dangerous animals. The video “teaser”  shows the contraption in action, and Burrard-Lucas shares many still images on his website.

Neat. Though the Michael Bay music is ridiculous.

skeptv:

Little Fish Brings Dead Zone to Life

Overfishing turned the once-productive Benguela ecosystem off Namibia’s coast into a deep-sea dead zone. Biologists recently learned how a native fish, the bearded goby, is thriving in these hostile waters—and keeping the ecosystem productive.

Witness more species loss.

skeptv:

African Parks Are Losing Vultures

Some species of vultures have become increasingly threatened in recent years due to habitat loss and toxicity of the animals they depend upon for food. Scientists recently discovered that vultures in East Africa are no exception. New tallies of the scavengers show that even populations inside protected areas are under intense pressure for survival.

This is salt (well, an organism that loves salt). Here are some salt production stats from the USGS Minerals page. And did you know there is a think tank called the “Salt Institute”?

brain-food:

Lake Retba in Senegal

A boat floats on what looks like a huge strawberry milk-lake.

The wooden vessels were photographed from the air bobbing on Lake Retba, in Senegal.

From above the mass of water - which spans one square mile - looks staggeringly similar to a giant milkshake.

And just like the Dead Sea swimmers are even able to FLOAT on the water with ease.

The bizarre colour is caused by high levels of salt - with some areas containing up to 40% of the condiment.

Michael Danson, an expert in extremophile bacteria from Bath University, said: “The strawberry colour is produced by salt-loving organism Dunaliella salina.

“They produce a red pigment that absorbs and uses the energy of sunlight to create more energy, turning the water pink.

“Lakes like Retba and the Dead Sea, which have high salt concentrations, were once thought to be incompatible with life - hence the names. But they are very much alive.”

Salt collectors can often be seen scouring the expanse to remove the valuable mineral - but first have to coat their skin with sheer butter.

This helps protect their skin from exposure to the intense salt levels in the three metre deep lake.

Salt crystals cling to the bodies of miners who work the lake everyday to extract its contents.

And towering piles of collected salt litter the shoreline.

Villagers then process it before selling and using the valuable mineral. (via)

Follow Climate Adaptation

(via theatlantic)

I can’t stop staring at this beautiful and stunning snake. What also blows my mind is it wasn’t “taught” by parents to curl into this hunting position, it just “knows.” We live on an absolutely amazing planet.

rhamphotheca:

ex0skeletal: Green Bush Viper aka Variable Bush Viper (Atheris squamigera).

A venomous viper species found in West and Central Africa.

(photo: Roger de la Harpe)

President Obama, you harshly criticized President Bush for failing to stand up to Sudan’s slaughter in Darfur. So now what are you going to do as Sudan kills again — on your watch?

In “Starving its own children” NYTimes’ Nicholas Kristof challenges President Obama to grow a pair.

newsweek:

picturedept:

The Cataracts by Andrew McConnell

Here in The Cataracts, Irish photographer Andrew McConnell braves the rapids of the Congo River to document the amazing Wagenia fishermen going about their daily catch—a livelihood that goes back centuries. Andrew takes the viewer into the midst of this drama: he is literally in the churning water, and in some pictures captures the perspective of the fish being caught.

For some of the shots I used a waterproof housing so that I could get low in the water and get a different perspective. I didn’t use the housing when I was on the tolimos because it made shooting very difficult. And after a while I didn’t use it in the pirogues (wooden canoes) either because, even though we were navigating some heavy white water, I found that the fishermen were so skillful at steering through the rapids that I never felt worried about capsizing—in fact, I barely got wet. Much to my astonishment a fisherman would sometimes dive into a raging torrent and just as I’d be thinking, my God we’ll never see that guy again, he would pop up beside a pirogue 30 yards away.

Andrew has traveled extensively, and his work covers a range of subjects. His enigmatic portraits, called The Last Colony,” document Sahrawi refugees and won the World Press Photo award for Portraits in 2011. Surf’s Up in Gaza ran in Newsweek International and won the Society of Publication Designers award in the category for Feature: News/Reportage.

For Andrew’s full account of shooting “The Cataracts,” read an interview here. And visit our Tumblr’s page to watch a wonderful short film he made about this project.

This is so awesome. Tumblr exclusives, you guys! Do click that short film he made about the project. We love when photographers really take us inside the production process and tip their hand a tad. 

doctorswithoutborders:

A Potential Time Bomb of High Infection Rates and Drug Resistant Strains of Malaria

On April 25, the annual World Malaria Day, many health organizations will highlight important gains in fighting this deadly disease that claims more than one million lives every year. But despite notable progress in innovation and investment, MSF continues to see continuously high rates of malaria in several African countries. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), MSF has observed infection rates above emergency thresholds in several zones over the last six months, which can be largely attributed to a dysfunctional surveillance system, the failure of the health system to respond to elevated levels of malaria, poor organization, and lack of diagnostic testing and drugs.

DRC 2011 © Robin Meldrum
A mother and child in the pediatric ward of Niangara hospital.

It’s 2012.