Tag Archives: Africa

Closing in on African drought prediction thanks to climate and vegetation data

What might happen if droughts were predicted months ahead of time? Food aid and other humanitarian efforts could be put together sooner and executed better, say UC Santa Barbara geographers Chris Funk, Greg Husak, and Joel Michaelsen. After over a decade of gathering and analyzing climate and vegetation data from East Africa, the researchers, who are part of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), say there is enough evidence to associate climate conditions in the region with projected rainfall deficits that could lead to food shortages.

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African trees dying due to climate change

The Sahel, one of the hottest regions on Earth ranging from the Atlantic coast south of the Sahara Desert to the Red Sea to the east and the Horn of Africa to the southeast, is getting drier and drier and … Continue reading →

World population 7 billion – where will the next billion come from?

Just one more day till the world population reaches 7 billion. Just 14 more years till the world population reaches 8 billion. We’ve seen how the latest one billion extra people are spread over the different continents. Now we’re wondering … Continue reading →

World population 7 billion: where did that last billion come from?

According to the latest World Population Prospects tomorrow the world’s 7 billionth human inhabitant will be born. That means if you were born in 1968 you placed your first steps on a planet with half as many people as there … Continue reading →

Until 2050 97% of population growth comes from less developed regions

This year we will hit 7 billion. But the big demography news is not just the net growth figure, but also the differentiation – where it takes places. A new Harvard study has sifted through the billions of unborn people … Continue reading →

Average African woman has more than 5 children, African population growth accelerating over rest of 21st century, problem ‘non-existent’

Demography is statistics in its plainest form, and the below picture says it all. It is not the world population that is growing, it is the African and Asian populations that are growing – and dwarfing all the other continents.

Engineering population growth: part 1, the problem

Ask engineers and they’ll say there is an engineering solution to any problem. With respect to climate change and geoengineering that’s hotly debated, with respect to overpopulation it’s a novelty. Today the UK-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers presented a report … Continue reading →