Science and Development Network
SciDevNet
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News, views and information about science, technology and the developing world.
Items: 165
A severe infestation of the papaya mealybug nearly wiped out papaya orchards in Pakistan before the largely farmed country decided to replace conventional chemical pesticides that were ineffective with natural predators. The biological control programme was initiated to stop the pest’s possible spread to other more important commercial crops.
Struggling East African dairy farmers could benefit from new varieties of high-quality, drought-resistant forage grass that boosts milk production by 40 per cent. The grass is better suited than napier or elephant grass for both large amounts of rainfall and dry seasons of three to six months during during which the leaf may remain green.
Geologists at the 33rd International Geographical Congress reported that at least six of Tibet’s southern lakes could be classified as “very critically dangerous” since they could cause devastating glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). There is urgent need to install more effective early-warning systems, requiring bilateral cooperation and shared water-level information.
Phone calls to a health helpline are being used to forecast dengue fever outbreaks up to three weeks in advance in Lahore, capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Previous methods predicted infectious diseases but rarely utilized front-end ways to access the predictions. Since the helpline was first set up dengue cases have dropped from 21,000 in 2011 to under 500 a year.
Tropical cyclone Roanu — which affected Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka mid-May — highlighted strengths and weaknesses in how these countries cope with hydro-meteorological disasters. Sri Lanka was the worst hit and the least prepared to cope with the impacts. Glaring gaps in early warnings and evacuations have reignited the debate on improving disaster communications.
A new initiative will use state-of-the-art science to help South Asian and East African societies to understand the role of climate change in extreme weather events and prepare for future ones. The 'Raising Risk Awareness' initiative will assess whether climate change has contributed to extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and heatwaves in several countries.
One year after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal, a multi-hazard risk assessment and management approach that takes into account the loss of 9,000 lives, damage worth seven billion dollars and tremor-induced geohazards is yet to be developed, says a new study.
Following the earthquake that shook Nepal last year, the landscape is now more prone to landslides. In addition to rigorous hazard mapping, researchers call for close monitoring of changes in slope properties and how they respond to monsoons and aftershocks.
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The Sendai Framework Voluntary Commitments (SFVC) online platform allows stakeholders to inform the public about their work on DRR. The SFVC online platform is a useful toolto know who is doing what and where for the implementation of the Sendai Framework, which could foster potential collaboration among stakeholders. All stakeholders (private sector, civil society organizations, academia, media, local governments, etc.) working on DRR can submit their commitments and report on their progress and deliverables.