The Sahel is an area in Africa which suffers droughts and it is hard to grow crops due to the hot climate. Seasonal shifts there lead to decreased rainfall and the drought tolerant maize helps farmers adapt to climate change.
The Sahel is the transition zone in Africa. It has a great typical ecoclimatic and biogeographic reflection of a semi-arid climate. It is located between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian Savanna which was historically called the Sudan region to the south.[1] The Sahel crosses the south-central latitudes of Northern Africa between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea. And the Sahel has a tropical, hot steppe climate which means the climate there is typically hot, sunny, dry and there are winds all year long. The cause of the hot weather is that the Sahel has a high to very high sunshine duration year-round while the Sahel is near the equator. It has annual sunshine duration between 2,700 hours which is more than about 61% of the daylight hours on other places and 3,500 hours which is more than 79% of the daylight hours. The sunshine duration in the Sahel approaches desert levels, and is comparable to that in the Arabian Desert, even though the Sahel is only a steppe and not a desert. Also the cloud cover of the Sahel is low to very low.[2] Because of the above reasons, the climate is generally hot, with unreliable rains across different seasons. The dry season is usually from October to
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It is the Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project which also called DTMA. People in developed countries set up this project to decrease the level of drought and other constraints to maize production in sub-Saharan Africa, so that they could increase maize yields by at least one ton per hectare under moderate drought and with a 20 to 30% increase over farmers’ current yields, benefiting 30-40 million people in 13 African countries.[4] The project made many Africans life better and improved the
Sahel Region of Africa- A semiarid region of north-central Africa south of the Sahara Desert. That has been afflicted by prolonged periods of extensive
From it’s opening in 1892 to it’s closing in 1954 more than 12 million people passed through Ellis Island on their way to finding a new and better life. In the 1630s, Michael Paauw purchases the island and renames it Oyster Island because of the shellfish on the beach. Then during the 1700s, it is known as Gibbet Island for its gallows tree used to hang men charged with piracy. During the Revolutionary War Samuel Ellis purchases the island, and builds a restaurant on it for the local fisherman. After Samuel Ellis dies the State of New York buys the island so it can be used to build military fortifications and store ammunition. In 1890, $75,000 is used for construction of the first federal immigration station on Ellis Island. the island’s size
In Ethiopia, there is usually plenty of rain, and the farmers do not have to irrigate their crops. On the other hand, Somalia is very hot and dry farmers can only grow crops near a river an oasis or where they can use irrigation. This makes it very difficult for the Ethiopians to grow food, and they have suffered severe drought several times since the 1980s Lack of rainfall also makes it very difficult for them to raise livestock. Ethiopia has suffered from famines, and many people have died from hunger there. One way farmers can try to overcome the effects of rainfall is to plant a large variety of crops some that need alot of rain and some that can survive with very little rain. This way hopefully they can grow enough crops to stay subsistent which means they and feed and nourish their
The physical-environmental geography of Sub-Saharan Africa relates to the distribution of human and economic activities in several ways. First, Sub-Saharan Africa is a peripheral that supplies raw materials, food, and cheap labor to the main industrial countries. The physical geography makes survival had for those not working in agriculture. It is the most productive way for people to make a living and feed their large families. In recent years, there has been major movement from rural-to-urban environments. Migration to major cities has caused extreme overcrowding and poor living conditions.
The next topic discussed was active labor. When the uterus contracts, the cervix dilates (Kluny & Dillard, 2014). Then the cervix thins and softens, back pressure is experienced and abdominal cramping. Streaks of blood may be present as the mucous plug is ejected. After the cervix reaches four centimeters the labor progresses rapidly. The transition phase occurs when the cervix is dilated to six to eight centimeters. At ten centimeters the cervix is fully dilated and the first stage of labor is complete. The second stage is when the woman feels the urge to push, and with every contraction the baby moves further down the birth canal until delivery (Kluny & Dillard, 2014).
Currently there is research on drought tolerant genes to be implemented in our crops. Imagine the impact that this type of crop would have to those communities left without food. Africa has seen the worst drought ever, with food losses of up to R10 billion. We are facing a situation where there will be food shortage, and our harbours are probably not equipped enough to handle the amount of food that is required to be imported. Would the situation be not as devasting if drought tolerant maize and other crops existed? This would mean a genetically modified crop would have been required. For example Bt maize by Monsanto in which maize plants are protected from insect damage. Certain GM foods can be “cold tolerant” as people introduce anti-freeze genes into foods such as potatoes that helps the plant to tolerate cold temperatures that would normally kill unmodified
Environmental factors are a factor that affect living and nonliving organisms and have participated in Ethiopia’s problem in food deficiency and food insecurity. A large environmental factor that can affect food deficiency and food insecurity is natural hazards and disasters. These can include droughts and floods which can upset agricultural production. For example, grain production and stocks are very low and droughts have hit harvests in grain-producing areas around the world. A more specific example for Ethiopia is that because of Ethiopia’s seasonal rainfall from mid-June to mid-September, soil erosion and
In the past, feminism fought to establish equal rights between both genders; the work of women such as Susan B Myers, Amelia Bloomer, and other important feminist figures has led to females gaining the right to vote, health care, and education. Also occurring in this time period, the Civil Rights movement fought for African American rights, which eventually they had achieved after many years peaceful protest. Nowadays, the descendants of these movements, Third-Wave Feminists and Black Lives Matter activists, sit in front of a computer screen arguing against those who don’t share similar views for issues regarding the gender wage gap, police shootings, etc.; their intolerance for other arguments as well as the use of their cause as an excuse to harass a specific person or group replicates the behaviour of the Puritans in The Crucible. In The Crucible, Abigail Williams, the niece of the town priest, lies that she and her group were possessed by witches in order to get out of trouble for performing a non-Christian ritual; Abigail soon realizes the amount of power these accusations hold and uses them to murder those who go against her. The ridiculous concept of hanging a person based on false accusation of Witchcraft may lead the reader to think that society has improved ever since; however, it hasn’t. Puritanism continues to prevail in society today, whether these modern Puritans are aware of it or not.
Arid environments are hostile for plants and animals to thrive and have very little precipitation. Arid places have very limited water because of exceptionally little precipitation. Egypt can vary from extreme heat during the day to frigid nights. Most of Egypt’s wildlife is nocturnal to escape the heat. Most arid places are nearby the equator.
Climate: Africa contains both the world’s largest desert (the Sahara) and the world 's longest river (the Nile).Temperatures are highest in desert areas, particularly the Sahara. They are cooler across the south and in mountainous areas and plateau highlands. Rainfall varies dramatically across Africa.Changing weather patterns, however patterns of weather are changing, both locally and across the continent. The Sahara is the world 's largest low-latitude hot desert. The area is located in the horse latitudes under the subtropical ridge, a significant belt of semi-permanent subtropical, warm-core high pressure where the air from the upper levels of the troposphere tends to sink towards the ground. This steady descending airflow causes a warming and a drying effect in the upper troposphere. The sinking air prevents evaporating water from rising and, therefore, prevents the adiabatic cooling, which makes cloud formation extremely difficult to nearly impossible.
There are a variety of causes held responsible for the water crisis in Africa. These causes have been taken from African’s control and desperately need to be solved. Climate change is one of the countless reasons that there is a high demand for water in Africa. An article entitled “Africa’s Water Crisis Deepens” written for the 2006 News Scientist, states that Drought, famine and spreading deserts have plagued Africa for the past 30 years. With the expansion of desertification, the process in which land becomes increasingly dry with little to no water resources, areas of land have dried out and are useless to humans due to the lack of rainfall on the African continent over the past several years.
From there the people, land, and globally worldwide view of what can be done to stop the negative results of the drought:With so little resources East Africa uses what they have chicken blood is used as a treatment to a malnourished person (Stewart, 2011). Immunizations
Drought is another factor of climate change that causes severe damages to agriculture and livestock. The effects of drought on agricultural production and livestock holding can be a detrimental issue and result in quality dissatisfaction of products. The agricultural industry can be affected by drought both economically and environmentally. The economical effects of drought on crops and animals can lead to the loss of money and time. When droughts occur farmers lose money because they will have to spend more money earned from their
Firstly, climate change has a big impact with world hunger. Climate change may affect food systems in several ways ranging from direct effects on crop production (e.g. changes in rainfall leading to drought or flooding, or warmer or cooler temperatures leading to changes in the length of growing season), to changes in markets, food prices and supply chain infrastructure (Gregory, Ingram & Brklacich, 2005, p.2139). It can trigger a natural disaster like drought and flood, which can have an extreme effect with the problems in the sources of food. In one hand, drought is a common scenario in farm lands in which
Agriculture is one of the major sector becoming vulnerable to climate-change. Increased incidences of abiotic and biotic stresses are likely to cause serious negative impact on crop production. Abiotic stress is defined as the negative impact of non-living factors on the living organisms in a specific environment. The non-living variable must influence the environment beyond its normal range of variation to adversely affect the performance or individual organism in a significant way. This leads to decrease in the productivity by more than 50% in major crop plants which are growing word wide (Bray et al., 2000). Increased water stress, reduction in rainfall and increased air temperature are the major reasons for yield decline in wheat and paddy crops in many parts of South Asia. The average increase in temperature per decade is measured to be 0.28 ºC over land and 0.12 ºC over ocean and predicted that it is likely to rise further to a maximum of 2.5 ºC by 2050 and 5.8 ºC by 2100 (Jones et al., 1999; Grover et al., 2011). The principal abiotic stresses in India are drought or soil moisture stress, high temperatures, soil salinity/alkalinity, low pH and metal toxicity stresses that affect nearly two-thirds area forming parts of the arid and semi arid eco systems (Grover et al., 2011).