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    • Second the growing population which was traditionally depend

    2019-04-25

    Second, the growing population, which was traditionally dependent on millet, barley, and maize as staples in their diet, has developed an unsustainable appetite for rice, which puts pressure on rice production. As a result, growing numbers of dams are being constructed in rivers in the Himalayas to support irrigation and hydropower generation. In India\'s mountainous north, 100 new dams have already been constructed. Ten additional dams are being built in neighbouring Bhutan. Another 400 dams are proposed for construction in India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Pakistan in the next two decades. Ongoing construction of dams to support the ongoing dietary transition and rising salinomycin demand is likely to increase the transmission of malaria, as seen in Africa.
    On May 1, 2016, a colossal forest fire began to sweep into Fort McMurray, a boomtown centred in the middle of the Alberta oil sands in Canada. Over the ensuing 3 weeks it grew to more than 3000 km, forced the evacuation of 88 000 residents, destroyed thousands of homes and buildings, and is expected to negatively affect the gross domestic product. The fire is seen by many as another natural disaster linked to climate change, El Niño, and forest fragmentation. Furthermore, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration\'s Goddard Institute for Space Studies reported that last month was the hottest April on record globally—and the seventh consecutive month to have broken global temperature records. Events in Fort McMurray are relevant to many in the field of global risk and climate change. For example, the UN Office for seeks to tackle hazards before they become disasters through a culture of prevention, a thorough understanding of risk, by ongoing review of policies and priorities, and by good governance in support of collaboration and partnership. Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sought to avoid casting blame in the midst of so much suffering (and fortitude), several aspects of the fire are striking. First, the public and private sectors failed to take notice of repeated and explicit warnings by forestry experts of the risks of rapid expansion of resource extraction industries northward into boreal forests without taking measures to mediate those risks. Fort McMurray is seen by scientists as a “huge oil complex [built] in the middle of a forest ecosystem that is designed to burn—forests regenerate themselves through fire”. Second, even as the forests became increasingly dry and dangerous, the Alberta provincial government made large cuts in its 2016 spring budget to forest fire preparation, including prevention and mitigation; it halved its base wildfire management budget. Cuts to basic programmes such as FireSmart that included initiatives such as tree thinning, suggests a poor understanding of the immanent risk by the decision makers. Finally, risk reduction and prevention depend on good governance. The relationship between the public and private sectors lacks transparency, and Canadian resource industries fight hard to keep it that way. For example, one week before the fire (April 28, 2016), at its annual general meeting in Calgary, Canada, the management of the largest oil sands producers successfully defeated a shareholder motion (that nevertheless had 40% support), which would have forced it to reveal its funding of lobbyists, trade associations, and grassroots communications—which are widely seen by the public, and whistleblowers, as pivotal in preventing environmental legislation. The parent company of another large oil sands producer is among several oil companies being investigated by 17 attorney generals in the USA for trying to suppress the risks of climate change. The Fort McMurray fire is one more example of failure to mitigate. As the fire spread to oil sands work camps near Fort McMurray and then crossed the border into the province of Saskatchewan—at least one voice of reason was heard. Christy Clark, Premier of British Columbia (where 80 fires are now ravaging the province), said that because of climate change things are getting progressively worse, “and we are girding for what is going to come next”. She called for implementing a national forest fire plan. This requires national leadership, open and honest collaboration with industry, and dedicated resources.