The study of climate and climate change is hindered by a lack of information on the effect of clouds on the radiation balance of the earth, referred to as the cloud-radiative forcing. Quantitative estimates of the global distributions of cloud-radiative forcing have been obtained from the spaceborne Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE) launched in
1984.

Water today is undervalued, misused and misallocated. Too many of us take it for granted - we turn on the tap and it flows. But did you know only 4% of Earth’s water is freshwater and only 0.5% of that is safe for human consumption? As shocks of drought and deluge unleash their devastation, water has forced itself to center stage. It demands that we change fundamentally; it asks that we value it profoundly.

Mon, 2015-04-13 (All day)
Wed, 2014-11-12 (All day)

In Food or Fuel, the second episode of the Future Food series, Kenyan Farmer and campaigner, Moses Shaha is cynical about ‘biofuels’, energy extracted from crop plants. He journeys through southern Kenya where farmers are starting to grow jatropha, to understand if this biofuel crop is a threat to farmland and food security as he fears, or whether growing energy crops can inspire innovation and help the environment long-term.

Note: A series of 6 x 25-min films exploring key questions around global food security

David Jolly

Mass planting of jatropha as a biofuel crop could benefit poor
areas as well as combating global warming, but only if a number of
scientific and production issues are properly addressed, a review has
warned.

Nigeria and China signed a tentative deal to build three oil refineries in the West African state at a cost of $23 billion, strengthening the countries' energy partnership.

African countries are making some important strides toward a green energy sector. According to the Global Renewables Status 2009, Northern Africa boasts more than 500 MW of installed wind power, while Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania are all planning their first wind farms.

Plans to use concentrating solar power plants in the Sahara to generate and export electricity have been on the table for years. Now, it looks as though political will might help move things forward.

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