Category: Current Affairs

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Winter Earthquake Poses Distinct Challenges in Relief Efforts Throughout Turkey and Syria 

There is nothing left in this place

8 February 2023 – by Willy Phillips

*As this is an ongoing story, another piece will be posted in the following week with updated information

Vulnerable buildings, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and complicated relief efforts put millions at risk following the disaster in Syria and Turkey.

In the early hours of Monday, February 6th, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit southern/central Turkey and northern Syria, marking the region’s largest seismic event in over a century. By nightfall, destruction hung heavily over the region as a 7.5 magnitude aftershock struck. The epicenter appeared near Nurdagi city in the Turkish province of Gaziantep. As of February 8th, over 12,000 individuals have been pronounced dead. The geography of the region, combined with the lack of earthquake-proof infrastructure, has resulted in a devastating 72 hours.

Understanding “why” this event occurred requires knowledge of the tectonic plates below the impacted countries. Briefly, much of southern Turkey sits atop the Anatolian plate, and Syria atop the Arabian plate. The movement and collision of these plates within the Earth’s crust causes an energy build-up, eventually releasing seismic wave energy. These seismic waves are responsible for destroying roads, buildings, and livelihoods on the Earth’s surface over 17 km above. As roads collapse and building rubble grows, rescue operations struggle to provide life-saving relief.

Relief efforts have come under pressure in the last day. In addition to being overwhelmed by potential rescue efforts and severe fuel shortages, below-freezing temperatures have heightened anxieties around sites with possible survivors. Turkish President Tayyip Ergodan has entrusted over 20,000 soldiers and rescue personnel with relief efforts, but the damage has thus far outpaced their abilities. Moreover, an alleged focus on the ‘lives of the living’ has caused tensions between rescue workers and those who have lost loved ones in indiscriminate piles of rubble. Reportedly, efforts have since picked up in the hardest hit areas, but much work is still to be done.

The conflict between Syria and Turkey has further complicated relief provision as the two governments have yet to discuss cooperative solutions for aid. Additionally, a former advisor to the Syrian president, Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban, called out international relief efforts from the west. She stated, “It’s not humanity. It’s politics” when discussing contributions from the US and EU. While it is difficult to understand the nuances present, there is a certainty in that many people are still without essential resources. The charity Save the Children has been a significant player on the ground and has called for heightened international assistance, urging that “the window to get shelter, medical supplies, water and food to the worst affected areas…. is rapidly closing.”

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Poorer Households Need Support to Move After Natural Disasters, Finds US Study

New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005

26 January 2023 – by Cosmo Sanderson

Households on the Atlantic coast of the United States are moving inland after natural disasters, according to a new study, but those on low incomes are being left behind. 

Poorer households that don’t receive support to leave disaster-prone areas are far less likely to than those on higher incomes, the study found.

It concluded that there is a need for “incentivising and aiding” the migration of vulnerable populations who are less likely to do so on their own. 

Two researchers from the University of South Carolina released the study last year in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

One of those researchers, Tamara Sheldon, an associate professor of economics at the university, recently told US publication The Post and Courier that there is not much empirical research out there on “human migration following natural disasters in developed countries.”

Her study relied on US census data collected in states on the country’s east coast between 2005 and 2017.

The study found that rising sea levels and an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters due to climate change are “increasing the risk” of living in vulnerable areas. It also raises the economic costs of having populations clustered on coast lines.

People are not necessarily more likely to move following less severe disasters, but the study found they are more likely to do so as disasters become “increasingly destructive”. However, households on the lowest 25% of incomes are far less likely to relocate without support from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency.  

Recent hurricanes to batter the US Atlantic coastline include Hurricane Florence, in 2017, and Hurricane Ian, last year.

Other countries to recently be hit by global warming-fuelled extreme weather events include Pakistan, where over 30 million people were displaced last year by historic floods that left a third of the country underwater. Flooding also devastated South Sudan last year, while, on the opposite end of the spectrum, two million people are currently displaced by drought in the Horn of Africa. 

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Two Million Displaced by Drought in Horn of Africa

10 January 2023 – by Cosmo Sanderson

Over two million people have been uprooted in the Horn of Africa as the region suffers its worst drought for generations. 

UNICEF last month released the latest estimate of how many people have been internally displaced by the drought across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

Other bleak statistics released by the children’s aid agency are that over 20 million children are threatened by severe hunger, thirst and disease – up from 10 million in July. 

Nearly two million children in those three countries are thought to need urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition, which UNICEF says is the deadliest form of hunger. A further four million children are at risk of dropping out of school. 

This has been caused through a combination of the climate crisis, conflict, global inflation and grain shortages that continue to “devastate” the region, says UNICEF. 

“While collective and accelerated efforts have mitigated some of the worst impact of what had been feared, children in the Horn of Africa are still facing the most severe drought in more than two generations,” said Lieke van de Wiel, UNICEF deputy regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa. 

In a report published last month, the NASA Earth Observatory went further in saying that the Horn of Africa is experiencing the “longest and most severe drought on record”. 

To make matters even worse, UNICEF says the region is now facing an “unprecedented” fifth consecutive failed rainy season, with a poor outlook for the sixth as well. 

Last year, the International Organization for Migration launched a new project to provide emergency relief to those displaced by the crisis in Somalia. 

Elsewhere in Africa, including South Sudan and Nigeria, erratic weather conditions have led to devastating floods that have also resulted in mass displacement. 

The World Bank has previously predicted that there will be 85.7 million climate migrants in sub-Saharan Africa by 2050. 

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Tuvalu Turns to the Cloud as It Faces Sinking into the Sea 

Tuvalu Funafuti Atoll

30 November 2022 – by Cosmo Sanderson

Tuvalu is planning to create a digital replica of itself in the metaverse as the island nation faces the prospect of sinking into the Pacific ocean.  

Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister Simon Kofe told the COP27 climate summit last month that his country was having to create a digital backup – something more often used for protecting precious documents or holiday albums – to save “our culture, our knowledge [and] our history in a digital space.”

Tuvalu, a nation made up of nine atolls and reef islands situated around halfway between Australia and Hawaii, is predicted to disappear completely into the Pacific by the end of the century due to rising sea levels caused by global warming.

“As our land disappears, we have no choice but to become the world’s first digital nation,” said Kofe, speaking against a digitally simulated background of Tuvalu. 

Kofe also hopes that recreating Tuvalu in the metaverse will allow the country to continue functioning as a nation if and when it disappears beneath the waves. 

Tuvalu’s former attorney general and current high commissioner to Fiji, Eselealofa Apinelu, said at a recent conference that “when that finally happens, that Tuvalu has disappeared and all they have is this virtual world… we should always be able to remember Tuvalu as it is, before it disappears.”

“It needs to be stored somewhere that there was a country called Tuvalu”.

On the expected displacement of the country’s 12,000-strong population, she said that “if we can slowly allow the people to migrate at their own pace according to the laws of the individual countries they want to migrate to, it’s easier than packing up a whole nation at once and putting it somewhere.”

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Historic Flooding Causing “Devastation” in South Sudan, says UN

Bentiu, the capital of South Sudan’s Unity State, has become an island surrounded by floodwaters

31 October 2022 – by Cosmo Sanderson

Devastating and historic flooding in South Sudan has affected almost one million people and transformed one city into an island amid rising waters, as the United Nations’ refugee agency pleads for international support.

Speaking in Geneva this month, UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov said that while global attention is currently directed “elsewhere” – a possible reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine – South Sudan’s “protracted and chronically underfunded crisis needs urgent support.”

Two thirds of South Sudan is currently experiencing flooding after a fourth consecutive year of record-breaking rains fuelled by climate change, said Cheshirkov. Over 900,000 of its 11 million population are directly affected. 

“Waters have swept away homes and livestock, forced thousands to flee, and inundated large swathes of farmland, worsening an already dire food emergency,” he said. “Boreholes and latrines have been submerged, contaminating water sources and risking outbreaks of diseases.”

Bentiu, the capital of the country’s northern Unity State, has become an “island surrounded by floodwaters,” continued Cheshirkov. “All roads in and out are impassable and only boats and the airstrip serve as lifelines for humanitarian aid.”

Camps for displaced people are below the current water level. Inhabitants are “working around the clock” with pumps, buckets, excavators, and heavy machinery to keep the water at bay and prevent dikes that have been constructed from collapsing, he said.

South Sudan has received less than half of the US$215 million the UNHCR says it needs this year. An estimated 2.2 million people are displaced within the country as a result of the flooding and conflict that has plagued the world’s newest country, which declared independence in 2011. 

“The threat [is] of worse to come as the climate crisis accelerates,” said Cheshirkov. 

Beyond South Sudan, the UNHCR has warned of “surging needs” for more than 3.4 million displaced people following destructive flooding in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Cameroon. In the Horn of Africa, Somalia is meanwhile teetering on the precipice of famine following a historic drought that has displaced more than a million people. 

A recent report warned that Africa is receiving a fraction of the finance it needs to reduce emissions and adapt to global warming.

Image credit: UNHCR/Charlotte Hallqvist

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Flooding in Nigeria Causes Mass Displacement, Health Risks and Food Insecurity

29 October 2022 – by Darina Kalamova

Flooding is a prevalent natural disaster in Nigeria, but it is rarely as devastating as it has been in 2022. In fact, this year’s floods have been the worst ones in the last 12 years and so far they have caused the deaths of more than 600 people. 1.4 million people have been displaced and thousands of hectares of farmland have been submerged. People have lost their homes and livelihoods, and many are in need of shelter and food.

The crisis is further exacerbated by the fact that the country’s northern region is embroiled in a regional conflict. Thousands of Nigerians were already living in camps for displaced persons because of it and now those camps are being destroyed by the water. 

Authorities blame the tragedy on the hefty rainy season aggravated by climate change and the discharge of excess water from the Lagdo dam.  However, several other factors should also be taken into account, including the country’s land use plan, its disaster management, and the lack of investment in climate infrastructure. 

The government is calling on state and local government councils to increase their efforts and continue to evacuate people who live on floodplains as there is still a danger of further flooding. In fact, some Nigerian States will remain at risk until the end of November and some inland water reservoirs are expected to continue overflowing, endangering the communities living alongside the rivers Niger and Benue.

There are concerns about the spread of diseases due to the water contamination caused by flooding. In fact, an increase in cholera and other preventable diseases has already been reported. Several rice-producing states in northern and central Nigeria, where the conflict has already been threatening food production, are now also being affected by the floods. This is straining the country’s food stability and according to data from UNICEF, more than two million people are at risk of waterborne diseases and malnutrition. 

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New Project to Help Those Displaced by Somalia Crisis

27 October 2022 – by Cosmo Sanderson

As Somalia teeters on the edge of a famine that could cause a rate of child death not seen in half a century, a new project has been launched to provide emergency relief to those displaced by the crisis.  

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on 18 October that a new US$20 million project had launched to tackle the pressing needs of 71,000 displaced and vulnerable people affected by the historic drought. 

Over a million people have been displaced in Somalia since January 2021, which marked the start of a drought now stretching across four failed rainy seasons. A failed fifth rainy season is thought to be likely, as is a rare formal declaration of famine. The crisis has been driven by global warming. 

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has warned that half a million children are at risk of dying from malnutrition. “Without greater action and investment, we are facing the death of children on a scale not seen in half a century,” said spokesperson James Elder. 

The IOM is partnering with the World Bank and the Somalian government on the new project, which will provide emergency relief and enhance abilities to recover and adapt through long-term housing solutions and infrastructure development.

“The project comes at a critical time as the most severe drought in four decades pushes millions of people further into poverty, starvation and displacement, with thousands at risk of eviction,” said Ewa Naqvi, IOM deputy chief of mission in Somalia.

Many Somalis that have left rural areas are living in informal settlements on the outskirts of cities where they face “fear and intimidation,” says the IOM, with a high risk of forced evictions. 

Ismail Abdirahman Sheikh Bashir of Somalia’s Ministry of Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing said the project would “urgently address the water, sanitation, shelter, health and nutritional needs of drought-affected families.”

Image credit: Flickr/Ivan Radic

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Hurricane Fiona Has Left Thousands Without Power One Month After Making Landfall on Puerto Rico

Hurricane as seen from space

13 October 2022 – By Ella Kiyomi Dobson

On Sunday, September 18th, Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico. The island’s southwestern region was devastated by 140kmh (85mph) winds, with the rest experiencing severe flooding. Flash floods and torrential rain continued through Monday 19th, with as much as 30 inches of rain in some areas.

Approximately 3 million people were without power in the days following. One week after the storm, about half of the electrical consumers on the island were still without power. Two weeks after, about 100,000 electrical customers were still without power. As of Wednesday, October 12th, nearly a month later, there are still up to 40,000 people without power. In the southwest city of Cabo Rojo, people are still unsure when they will have power back in their homes. 

Frustrations are high amongst the residents with no power, a situation some Puerto Ricans experienced not long ago. Hurricane Maria in 2017 left parts of the island in the dark for a year, weakened the power grid, and some regions are still not fully recovered from the damage from 5 years ago. Another prolonged blackout is something most people do not have the time, energy, or resources to contend with. There has been some critical backlash against Puerto Rico’s governor, Pedro R. Pierluisi, and US-Canadian conglomerate LUMA Energy, who took over power transmission on the island in June 2021. Energy prices have soared in the past year, almost doubling, and is said to be one of the highest of any US territory or state.  

Aside from the immediate dangers of natural disasters, the long-term economic, social and political impacts pose a mounting threat. The 2017 hurricane showed that many Puerto Ricans struggled to recover immediately after an extreme weather event. If, as is predicted, these weather events become more common, the time for Puerto Ricans to re-establish following a storm will diminish. As these events begin to compound, there will be little choice but for residents to evacuate with less and less preparation. This cycle of an underprepared disaster response paired with a severe storm may well be underway, with the only hopes of long-term sustainability resting in comprehensive and preventative action by/for Puerto Ricans. 

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“Regularization”: Canada Called On To Give All Migrants Residency

boat beside dock

10 October 2022 – by Cosmo Sanderson

The Canadian government is facing demands to grant permanent residence to 1.7 million migrants living in the country in the interests of climate justice, after it offered fast track applications for people fleeing the war in Ukraine. 

The Migrant Rights Network (MRE), which says it is Canada’s largest migrant-led coalition, joined with other groups last month to demand that prime minister Justin Trudeau implement a “comprehensive regularization program.”

This programme would ensure permanent residence for 1.2 million migrant workers, students, refugees and families in Canada, says MRE, as well as 500,000 undocumented residents. 

Thousands of migrants and their supporters marched in cities across Canada on the 18th of September in support of the demand. 

Climate Action Network Canada (CAN-Rac), a body of more than 100 Canadian environmental groups, wrote to Trudeau and immigration minister Sean Fraser in August arguing that the “regularization” process is essential to climate justice. 

Climate change exacerbates inequalities between rich countries, such as Canada, that are responsible for most of the world’s emissions and the “poorest, already marginalized and racialized groups – who bear climate impacts first and hardest,” said CAN-Rac. 

It continued that the climate crisis causes displacement in a “myriad” of ways, including disasters, droughts and famines. “We urge you to seize this moment to address one of these profound injustices by extending permanent residence to all migrants, leaving no one behind.”

In May, Canada’s parliament passed a motion that the government should publicly release a plan to expand economic immigration pathways so workers at all skill levels can access permanent residency. 

CAN-Rac said in its letter to Trudeau and Fraser that they therefore currently have a “strong mandate and a unique opportunity to correct a deep injustice in Canadian society.”

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German Citizens Take Legal Action Against the National Government Over Air Pollution

white and blue clouds

4 October 2022 – by Darina Kalamova

A group of German citizens has launched legal action against the German government over polluted air.  They claim their right to breathe clean and healthy air has been violated and that Germany should tighten its air quality legislation. 

Air pollution is a big health threat as it is linked to long-term diseases, including cancer, heart problems and respiratory illnesses. In addition, experts are worried that air quality could get even worse this winter due to the looming energy crisis, especially if more people turn to resources such as coal and wood to heat their homes.

Furthermore, the claimants argue that while air pollution levels in Germany often comply with EU legislation, they are still four-five times higher than what the World Health Organization recommends in its 2021 guidelines for clean air. This means that even though cities are not considered polluted, people are still breathing dangerously dirty air.

The European Union has legally-binding air quality standards, but they haven’t changed since 2015.  The European Commission is currently working to revise the air quality guidelines and align them more closely with the WHO recommendations, but it might take a while until they become obligatory for the member-states.

The case comes after the Advocate General to the European Court of Justice, Juliane Kokott, said in May that it could be possible for EU citizens to claim compensation from their governments when their health has been affected by high levels of air pollution.

Despite the fact that the opinions of Advocate Generals are not legally binding, they are usually taken into account by the court. Therefore, if air pollution levels do not decrease in the near future, cases such as this one may become more common.