Africa

"Chimps Are Dying Of The Common Cold. Is Great Ape Tourism To Blame?"

"There was something wrong with the chimpanzees. For weeks, a community of 205 animals in Uganda’s Kibale national park had been coughing, sneezing and looking generally miserable. But no one could say for sure what ailed them, even as the animals began to die."

Source: Guardian, 05/03/2024

"Extreme Heat Is Closing Schools, Widening Learning Gaps Worldwide"

"Hena Khan, a grade nine student in Dhaka, has struggled to focus on her studies this week as temperatures surpassed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the capital city." "There is no real education in schools in this punishing heat," she said. "Teachers can't teach, students can't concentrate. Rather, our lives are at risk."

Source: Reuters, 05/01/2024

"Drought Pushes Millions Into ‘Acute Hunger’ in Southern Africa"

"An estimated 20 million people in southern Africa are facing what the United Nations calls “acute hunger” as one of the worst droughts in more than four decades shrivels crops, decimates livestock and, after years of rising food prices brought on by pandemic and war, spikes the price of corn, the region’s staple crop."

Source: NYTimes, 04/19/2024
April 23, 2024

On Thin Ice: Covering Climate Adaptation in a Rapidly Changing World

How are communities in Puerto Rico, Namibia, Mongolia and the Arctic adapting to their changing environments? Join the Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellow Program for a Zoom discussion on climate adaptation efforts around the world, followed by audience Q&A. 6:30-7:30 p.m. ET. 

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"Extreme Drought In Southern Africa Leaves Millions Hungry"

"Delicately and with intense concentration, Zanyiwe Ncube poured her small share of precious golden cooking oil into a plastic bottle at a food aid distribution site deep in rural Zimbabwe." "They’re aiming to help some of the 2.7 million people in rural Zimbabwe threatened with hunger because of the drought that has enveloped large parts of southern Africa since late 2023."

Source: AP, 04/02/2024

"Chocolate Prices To Keep Rising As West Africa’s Cocoa Crisis Deepens"

"Surveying the stripped landscape of her farm - dotted with pools of cyanide-tainted, tea coloured waste water left by illegal gold miners - is enough to make Janet Gyamfi break down. Only last year, the 27-hectare plot in western Ghana was covered with nearly 6,000 cocoa trees. Today, less than a dozen remain."

Source: Reuters, 04/01/2024

"In Climate-Related Flooding, A Ugandan River Turns Poisonous"

"Uganda’s Nyamwamba river, in the Rwenzori Mountains, has begun to flood catastrophically in recent years, partly due to climate change. Along the river are copper tailings pools from an old Canadian mining operation, which are becoming increasingly eroded by the flooding."

Source: Mongabay, 03/08/2024

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