Disruption, not displacement: Environmental variability and temporary migration in Bangladesh

Mass migration is one of the most concerning potential outcomes of global climate change. Recent research into environmentally induced migration suggests that relationship is much more complicated than originally posited by the ‘environmental refugee’ hypothesis. Climate change is likely to increase migration in some cases and reduce it in others, and these movements will more often be temporary and short term than permanent and long term. However, few large-sample studies have examined the evolution of temporary migration under changing environmental conditions. To address this gap, we measure the extent to which temperature, precipitation, and flooding can predict temporary migration in Matlab, Bangladesh. Our analysis incorporates high-frequency demographic surveillance data, a discrete time event history approach, and a range of sociodemographic and contextual controls. This approach reveals that migration declines immediately after flooding but quickly returns to normal. In contrast, optimal precipitation and high temperatures have sustained positive effects on temporary migration that persist over one to two year periods. Building on previous studies of long-term migration, these results challenge the common assumption that flooding, precipitation extremes and high temperatures will consistently increase temporary migration. Instead, our results are consistent with a livelihoods interpretation of environmental migration in which households draw on a range of strategies to cope with environmental variability

How GIS could be used as a tool to enhance the tourism sectors?

The tourism phenomena have attracted not only Eritrea, but almost the entire world. Tourism is being recognized as a source of economic benefits to a country by a way of gaining foreign exchange and employment generation on a truly international scale. It also makes a tremendous contribution to the improvement of social and political understanding. Though, Eritrea’s tourism industry is currently rated as one of the lowest foreign exchange earners in the country, the potential of tourism industry to become a leading source of foreign exchange earnings in Eritrea has not been far realized. It is evident that the country’s tourism potential has not been fully explored and marketed. Though several attempts have been made to enhance its rapid development, but these efforts have suffered some major drawbacks due to lack of a comprehensive spatial database of tourism facilities and destinations. By using GIS, a common platform can be defined to provide a spatial databank with integrated multimedia features. This paper discusses the use of GIS as a tool for archiving, analyzing, and displaying of tourism information to enhance the tourism sectors in Eritrea

A comparative analysis of life style of the local people before and after the construction of the dams in the sub zone of Mendfera

Eritrea is one of the Sahelian countries in the Horn of Africa facing acute shortage of water. In areas where rainfall is low and unreliable, the construction of dams is utmost important for irrigation, domestic and livestock uses. Agriculture is the mainstay of Eritrean peopleit has been playing a vital role in the process of economic development. It is estimated that about 75 per cent of the population depends on agriculture and allied activities. In such a country where agriculture is the backbone of the economy regular supply of water for irrigation is as important as the veins and arteries in the human body. In fact, dams serve multi purposes i.e. water supply for agriculture and domestic uses, flood control, hydro-power generation, navigation, fisheries and recreation activities. But in Eritrea, dams are mainly constructed to supply water for irrigation, domestic, industrial and livestock uses. This research paper is carried out to examine a comparative analysis of life style of the local people before and after the construction of the dams in the sub zone of Mendefera (Zoba Debub, Eritrea)

Depleting state of stratospheric ozone

Though the basic needs of the humans are prioritized first, health and quality of environment are also equally important. Environmental issues are based on many and different things. One of these is the depleting state of Stratospheric Ozone in the atmosphere. The ozone layer is vital to life on earth because it acts as a filter for UV radiation, which can have severe impacts on human health and the earth’s environment. As estimated, every one per cent decrease in the ozone layer results in the increase of ultraviolet light intensity at the earth\u27s surface by two per cent. Known effects of ultraviolet exposure include greater incidence of skin cancer and eye cataracts among humans and diminished crop yields for foods such as peas, beans, and squash and soya beans. Phytoplankton, the tiny one celled Ocean plants that are staple food for squid, fish, seals, and whales also are vulnerable to Ultra violet radiations. Depletion of ozone layer is one of the main issues of the world today. Concerning to these issue two important meetings had been hold i.e. known by the Montreal Protocol and Vienna Convention. Most of the world countries are part of this Montreal Protocol and Vienna Convention. Eritrea is also part of Montreal Protocol and Vienna Convention. In the present paper basically an attempt has been made to show the world’s concern in general and the Eritrea’s in particular about the conservation measures taken on mitigation of Ozone layer. This research paper also emphasizes on the global problem of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs) releasing from different industries and specific sources. Besides, the study further includes the existence of naturally created Ozone hole on the Polar Regions

Geo-archaeological endowments and teh tourism development in Eritrea

Eritrea is one of the countries located in the horn of Africa. Geo-Archaeological sites of the country have been the main focus of the study area. This paper presents an overview of the research and includes a discussion of the tourism potential of Eritrea and potential benefits of Geo-Archaeological endowments in the development of its tourism industry. She is having diverse Geo-Archaeological endowments which are capable of attracting large number of tourists from all over the world. This country enjoys unique and exciting landmarks, such as breath-taking escarpments, mountains, depressions, open plains, plateaus, Sea with immense variety of marine life, islands, beautiful coastal lines etc. Furthermore, as Eritrea is situated in the region of the cradle of life, it owns rare archaeological and historical sites with unraveled cultural heritages. Though, Eritrea’s tourism industry is currently rated as one of the lowest foreign exchange earners in the country, the potential of tourism industry to become a leading source of foreign exchange earnings in Eritrea has not been far realized. It is evident that the country’s tourism potential has not been fully explored and marketed. Though several attempts have been made to enhance its rapid development, but these efforts have suffered some major drawbacks i.e. because the richness of the sites is not fully exploited to such an extent that it can revitalize the tourism sector and due to lack of a comprehensive spatial database of tourism facilities and destinations. In the present paper an attempt has been made to investigate the role of Geo-Archaeological Sites in the Development of Tourism with respect to tourism potentials in the country

Utopia or dystopia – deterrents to ecotourism development in Fiji

This paper draws on sustainability and ecotourism literature and aims to identify the deterrents to ecotourism development. The research opted to use Abaca Ecotourism Park, located in the Koroyanitu National Heritage Park in Western Viti Levu Fiji, as a case study. Three studies exploring management, local residents, and tourists’ perspectives were undertaken to determine the factors that deter from the further development of the selected ecotourism project. Study 1 conducted an interview with the management team of the ecotourism park to gain insights into the factors that influenced the project’s development. Study 2 was undertaken with the villagers who reside in the region where the ecotourism park is located. Longitudinal secondary research covering 20 years of data was used in Study 3 to identify tourists’ visitation and consumption patterns. Some findings were consistent across the three studies. The results reveal a range of deterrents to the ecotourism development, including infrastructure constraints, issues related to inequality, overdependence on neighbouring countries, and political vulnerabilities. The implications for the literature and practitioners conclude the paper

Spatial Video and EpiExplorer: A Field Strategy to Contextualize Enteric Disease Risk in Slum Environments

Disease risk associated with contaminated water, poor sanitation, and hygiene in informal settlement environments is conceptually well understood. From an analytical perspective, collecting data at a suitably fine scale spatial and temporal granularity is challenging. Novel mobile methodologies, such as spatial video (SV), can complement more traditional epidemiological field work to address this gap. However, this work then poses additional challenges in terms of analytical visualizations that can be used to both understand sub-neighborhood patterns of risk, and even provide an early warning system. In this paper, we use bespoke spatial programming to create a framework for flexible, fine-scale exploratory investigations of simultaneously-collected water quality and environmental surveys in three different informal settlements of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We dynamically mine these spatio-temporal epidemiological and environmental data to provide insights not easily achievable using more traditional spatial software, such as Geographic Information System (GIS). The results include sub-neighborhood maps of localized risk that vary monthly. Most interestingly, some of these epidemiological variations might have previously been erroneously explained because of proximate environmental factors and/or meteorological conditions.</p

Monitoring Water Sources for Environmental Reservoirs of Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1, Haiti

An epidemic of cholera infections was documented in Haiti for the first time in more than 100 years during October 2010. Cases have continued to occur, raising the question of whether the microorganism has established environmental reservoirs in Haiti. We monitored 14 environmental sites near the towns of Gressier and Leogane during April 2012–March 2013. Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor biotype strains were isolated from 3 (1.7%) of 179 water samples; nontoxigenic O1 V. cholerae was isolated from an additional 3 samples. All samples containing V. cholerae O1 also contained non-O1 V. cholerae. V. cholerae O1 was isolated only when water temperatures were ≥31°C. Our data substantiate the presence of toxigenic V. cholerae O1 in the aquatic environment in Haiti. These isolations may reflect establishment of long-term environmental reservoirs in Haiti, which may complicate eradication of cholera from this coastal country. Download MP3  Length: 1:3

High-Frequency Rugose Exopolysaccharide Production by <i>Vibrio cholerae</i> Strains Isolated in Haiti

<div><p>In October, 2010, epidemic cholera was reported for the first time in Haiti in over 100 years. Establishment of cholera endemicity in Haiti will be dependent in large part on the continued presence of toxigenic <i>V. cholerae</i> O1 in aquatic reservoirs. The rugose phenotype of <i>V. cholerae</i>, characterized by exopolysaccharide production that confers resistance to environmental stress, is a potential contributor to environmental persistence. Using a microbiologic medium promoting high-frequency conversion of smooth to rugose (S–R) phenotype, 80 (46.5%) of 172 <i>V. cholerae</i> strains isolated from clinical and environmental sources in Haiti were able to convert to a rugose phenotype. Toxigenic <i>V. cholerae</i> O1 strains isolated at the beginning of the epidemic (2010) were significantly less likely to shift to a rugose phenotype than clinical strains isolated in 2012/2013, or environmental strains. Frequency of rugose conversion was influenced by incubation temperature and time. Appearance of the biofilm produced by a Haitian clinical rugose strain (altered biotype El Tor HC16R) differed from that of a typical El Tor rugose strain (N16961R) by confocal microscopy. On whole-genome SNP analysis, there was no phylogenetic clustering of strains showing an ability to shift to a rugose phenotype. Our data confirm the ability of Haitian clinical (and environmental) strains to shift to a protective rugose phenotype, and suggest that factors such as temperature influence the frequency of transition to this phenotype.</p></div