BBC News:Cape Town faces the unenviable situation of being the first major city in the modern era to run out of drinking water. However, the plight of the drought-hit South African city is just one extreme example of a problem that experts have long been warning about - water scarcity. One of the very important functions of the sun is to evaporate ocean water, desalinize it and move it over land where the fresh water falls as rain or snow. When weather patterns change shortages of water can develop. This has happened throughout history. The Romans took charge of water supply for their cities by building aqueducts. Today, nuclear power, solar or wind could be used to desalinate ocean water for water supply in arid countries. Nuclear powered ships could become mobile desalinization stations to meet temporary needs.
Cameron Petrie, archaeologist: With climate change in our own era becoming increasingly evident, it’s natural to wonder how our ancestors may have dealt with similar environmental circumstances. New research methods and technologies are able to shed light on climate patterns that took place thousands of years ago, giving us a new perspective on how cultures of the time coped with variable and changing environments. An article in Current Anthropology explores the dynamics of adaptation and resilience in the face of a diverse and varied environmental context, using the case study of South Asia’s Indus Civilization (c.3000-1300 BC).
Bloomberg, John Trozi: Deaths from pollution exceeds many other cases including high-sodium diet, obesity, alcohol, road accidents, and malnutrition. Nine million annual deaths and a economic damage of trillions of dollars.
Steven Lyazi, student and worker in Kampala, Uganda: Malaria is no longer a killer in western countries – because they used DDT to help eradicate the disease decades ago. If wealthy nations and NGOs really want to help developing nations, they should support fossil fuel power plants for reliable, affordable electricity. They should support DDT as an important part of the solution to eradicate this serial killer, so that Africans can work, spend less on malaria, have more money for other healthcare and family needs, and develop as much as rich nations have.