Earth Rise

Pollutants and Air Quality   Air pollutants are responsible for a number of adverse environmental effects, such as photochemical smog, acid rain, death of forests, or reduced atmospheric visibility. Emissions of greenhouse gases from combustion of fossil fuels are associated with the global warming of Earth’s climate. Certain air pollutants, including black carbon, not only contribute to global warming, but are also suspected of having immediate effect on regional climates. Air pollutants are substances that adversely affect the environment by interfering with climate, the physiology of plants, animal species, entire ecosystems, as well as with human property in the form of agricultural crops or man-made structures. Climate tops the list to reflect the fact that global climate change has been recognized as one of the most serious environmental challenges to be faced by humanity in the 21st century. In this context certain climate forcing agents, the most important one...

Collected Palm Oil Fruits Before Processing Found in thousands of products, from peanut butter and packaged bread to shampoo and shaving cream, palm oil is a booming multibillion-dollar industry. While it isn't always labeled in supermarket staples, there are unintended consequences of producing this ubiquitous ingredient. Indonesia and Malaysia together account for nearly 85% of global palm oil production. This oil is commonly used in processed foods, cosmetics and bio-fuels, and while it is inexpensive, the environmental and social costs are high. Each year, thousands of hectares of rainforest disappear in order to meet the growing demand for the oil worldwide. In 2012, Indonesia had the highest deforestation rate in the world, according to a study published in 2014 in Nature Climate Change . Palm oil cultivation causes greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation in tropical areas accounts for an estimated 10 percent of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, and is a driver tow...

Severe, diverse and location specific impacts on agricultural production are anticipated with climate change. The last IPCC report indicates that the rise of carbon dioxide and associated green house gases could lead to a 1.4 to 5.8 °C increase in global surface temperatures, with subsequent consequences on precipitation frequency and amounts. The 2013 report of the IPCC authoritatively re-affirms that climate change and variability will impact food and fiber production around the world due to the effects on plant growth and yield by the elevated carbon dioxide, higher temperatures, altered precipitation and transpiration regimes, and increased frequency of extreme events, as well as modified weed, pest and pathogen pressure. Therefore, more durable benefits will likely result from radical agroecological measures that will strengthen the resilience of farmers and rural communities. Traditional farming systems are repositories of a wealth of principles and measures that can help m...

The seed on good soil, (the parable of the sower tells us) stands for those with a noble and a good heart, who hear the word, retain it and by persevering produces a crop .    we all come from distinguishable, somewhat unknown backgrounds with shady pasts that we aren't so much proud to have come from, struggled to get where we are and struggling to reach even greater heights in the pursuit of making ourselves and the world a better place. Our forefathers were noble, compassionate, and hard working people who laid grounds for where we stand, were the proverbial salt of the earth, and who did not chase fame and fortune but strived to give us an opportunity to be better than we would be, and passed on that strength and cohesiveness to us with faith and hope that we would live better and have a chance to grow and flourish.  They gave us the courage to open our doors to strangers and invite them in so they can see the light of a better day. That strength is a convict...

To many, the term “climate change” feels like a buzzword that encompasses a large amount of negative impacts (which it recently is), First, climate means the average weather conditions in an area over a long period of time—usually 30 years or longer. A region’s climate includes systems in the air, water, land and living organisms. Climate change is the shift or abnormal variation to the climate patterns. As the planet warms quickly, mostly due to human activity, climate patterns in regions around the world will fluctuate. Ecosystems and biodiversity will be forced to fluctuate along with the regional climate, and that could harm many species . These climate change impacts are in part due to how we have altered land use. Turning natural areas into cities or agricultural fields not only diminishes biodiversity, but can make warming worse by chopping down trees and plants that help cool the planet. A change in climate also intensifies droughts, decrease water supply, threaten foo...

We the young people, united in diversity from all walks of life, deeply conscious of history, express our ultimate concern for what has become of our generation. We wonder why it has become a matter of debate whether or not climate action should be taken as if we do not have reasons why we should. On that note, we present the global youth climate action declaration to the world to provide solutions and robust framework for addressing generational injustice and the realization of our potential and position on the global decision making table. We are confident that the destiny of this planet is in our hands and we must act now to shape a future that we want. Our aspirations reflect our desire for shared prosperity and well being across borders, for a free generation where both the young and the old generation exercise their distinguished and unique potentials without fear and advocate for peaceful co-existence and human progress. We are equally confident that this generation ...

Cumulative effects can be understood as changes to the environment caused by the combined impacts of the past, present and the future human activities and natural processes. Many human activities in combination with natural processes result in direct and indirect impacts that collectively impact the environment resulting in cascading responses in ecosystems that usually become unpredictable. Some activities known to have significant impacts on the environment and contribute highly to the cumulative effects are marine resource development, energy production and consumption among others which ultimately intensify global warming and climate change.  Although many development activities may have individually minor impacts, their impacts collectively over time become substantial, and multiple activities may therefore cause a common stressor, for example, a factory and a nearby landfill may both release a polluting run-off into a river occassioning a massive water pollution.  Marine...

THE CLIMATE CALL At such a time when everyone seems blury  and unrecognizing of any fact fundamental to our human existence, and of course unappreciative, the world with which we have grown seemingly unthankful and ungrateful for all that it has had to offer for our very own good at zero interest, it keeps our children up at night undoubtedly thinking about  such an unforgivable conundrum that has befallen our unflinching stubbornness  and our corrosive objection to the very minimum that is required of us to save our beautiful paradise from becoming shambles.  Each one of us could only do so little, but, unfortunately, we have passionately kept a deaf ear green-lighting the road to extinction. We have enthusiastically replaced the seas inhabitants with plastic bits, razing forests, choking on poisoned air, fouling our water and wrecking havoc on the climate inadvertently harrowing our mother earth, a complete malignance to our future generation. As a nitty...

The World Health Organisation defines Air pollution as the presence of materials in the air in such concentration which are harmful to man and his environment. It otherwise is the addition of foreign particles, gases and other pollutants into the air which has an adverse effect on human beings, animals and the environment as a whole. The advancement of technology has had positive impacts to all people around the globe which has blindfolded us into embracing even the toxic innovations in the name of advancing technology at the expense of our very lives. We seem to not pay attention to the negative impacts of certain innovations because we spend much time focusing on the monetary value rather than our very own health and the  sustainability of such innovations per se because they are usually driven by money-minded capitalists who own the means of production and thus determines the course and direction of the society as much as it benefits them at the expense of the majorit...

At the UN headquarters in New York during the Climate Action Summit at the UN General Assembly, a collective of youth from around the world, each representative of their member states and civil society organizations, put forth a Global Youth Climate Action Declaration which was tabled to the member states and different heads of states so that they can hear loud and clear the demands of the world’s population of young people. The preamble for the GYCAD states that,  "Today, we the Youth are united in our call for urgent action on the trans-national crisis of climate change. Together we represent the global constituency of young people, determined to preserve the integrity of our Earth for all lifeforms, for the generations to follow, and for the sake of our own survival. In order to protect our most fundamental right to an inhabitable, healthy environment, it is imperative that we have multi-dimensional cooperation. We must mobilize ...

20th September 2019 Kampala Uganda Global Climate Strike As young people who are still striving and expecting much more in the future, being threatened by the magnitude and impacts of climate change, our survival is at stake if the adverse effects of climate change is not controlled.  It is  accepted by the vast majority of scientists  that the greenhouse effect which warms the earth is much increased by emission of vast amounts of carbon dioxide  and some other gases by human activities.  In the historical past the greenhouse effect, driven by volcanic and microbial carbon dioxide emission  prevented the earth from being  permanently encased in ice , but since humanity industrialized, atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased and is causing ever more harmful global warming and climate change. In support of the same cause,  On 31 January 2019, more than  3400  scientists and academics signed an  open letter  in suppor...

In a bid to fully unleash young people’s potential especially in respect of issues threatening their future, youth should have skills & values required for their active participation in the decisions shaping their own survival. They should equally be inspired to understand the imperatives of building peaceful and inclusive societies for a safer and more sustainable future. As John F Kennedy said, “The future promise of any nation can be directly measured by the present prospects of its youth, and this world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, and youths of appetite for adventure over the love of ease ”, to this end, giving young people a place in decision-making builds a broader base of citizen involvement and creates stronger, more inclusive communities. The MD of Global platform Uganda, Mr. Primus Bahigi at the opening of the 5th National Inter ...