The Economist: Famine Forecast

Jul 21st 2011, 16:56 by The Economist online

Worse could yet follow as famine returns to east Africa
THE UN has declared that two regions of Somalia are now in a state of famine. 11.5m people currently need humanitarian assistance across east Africa, and many more could join them. The failure of rains, in what is thought to be the driest year for 60 years in certain areas, has caused the immediate crisis. But Somalia in particular has other ailments, including rapid population growth, with many girls not staying in school and having children early, insufficient farming investment thanks to the insecurity of two decades of war, increased desertification, because the burning of charcoal in the south has led to a lack of tree cover, and an absence of governance. This is an area that has been living on the edge for some time. See article

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The Globalization of Disease

American RadioWorks
Globalization and Changes in Patterns of Disease Infection

More travel, more trade — globalization certainly has its benefits. But it has its victims too, and the results can be deadly. As the global economy knits countries closer together, it becomes easier for diseases to spread through states, over borders and across oceans — and to do serious damage to vulnerable human and animal populations. American RadioWorks and NPR News present a series on this lethal side effect of globalization.
Read more here.