Longreads: The Way Out of the Food Crisis, Extreme Heat and Global Warming, London 2012 Bridges Divide, Combating Ebola

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Food crisis warnings are getting louder, with many urging action to head off a repeat of 2007-08’s soaring prices and shortages. The Hindu lists driving forces behind food crises and “corrective steps” in “The Looming Global Crisis and the Way Out.” The story suggests a food crisis is no longer a “freakish phenomenon” in the same way extreme weather is no longer disconnected from global warming. Hot, very hot, and extremely hot summer weather has become more common since 1951, according to research by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA includes a visualization of temperature changes through the decades in “Research Links Extreme Summer Heat Events to Global Warming.” The just-wrapped London Olympics that dominated the Twittersphere for two weeks wasn’t a mere sporting event, argues The Guardian in “Briefly But Gloriously, London 2012 Bridged the Divide.” The Games at times demonstrated the power to “transcend negative stereotypes and transform perceptions” of developing countries. With concern over an Ebola Virus outbreak easing in Uganda, Development Policy Blog interviews epidemiologist Dr. Kamalini Lokuge, a veteran of responses of Ebola outbreaks, before her trip to the stricken area.

The Hindu: The Looming Global Food Crisis and the Way Out

 “The crippling effects of the U.S. drought, the worst in 50 years, and an impending crop failure could impact world markets in the absence of corrective steps.”

NASA: Research Links Extreme Summer Heat Events to Global Warming

 “[James} Hansen and colleagues analyzed mean summer temperatures since 1951 and showed that the odds have increased in recent decades for what they define as ‘hot,’ ‘very hot’ and ‘extremely hot’ summers.”

Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center GISS and Scientific Visualization Studio

Guardian: Briefly But Gloriously, London 2012 Bridged the Divide 

“From Kenya's 800m world record to Uganda's first gold since 1972, it was an Olympics with the power to alter perceptions.”

Development Policy Centre: Combating Ebola: A Personal Account

 “One day after finishing a shift we were sitting outside and I asked her, why did you stay? With dead bodies and all the other people, the senior people, leaving and everyone scared … And she said, because I knew people would come to help.” – Dr Kamalini Lokuge

Longreads is a regular feature on the Voices blog highlighting development research and in-depth reporting.