This certainly seems appropriate given this week's tragic news. If there's one kind of turmoil Africa doesn't need, it's an abrupt collapse in food production:
The report opens by determining that "Africa is a "vulnerability hot spot" for the impacts of climate change." It's no surprise that this is the report's highlighted conclusion. Africa will experience a 10-percent higher rise in sea levels than the global average; if the world exceeds 3 Celsius globally, "virtually all of the present maize, millet, and sorghum cropping areas across Africa could become unviable." And if the world reaches 4 Celsius, 20- and 30-percent reductions in precipitation will occur in northern and southern Africa, respectively. This is what spells disaster in a continent where 240 million are already malnourished and 96 percent of agriculture is rain-fed.
- China has a rover in lunar orbit and is poised to land on the surface in the next few days. But homegrown private Moon Express plans to soft land a nexgen probe on the lunar surface too, possibly as soon as 2015.
“The MX-1 is not just a lunar lander, it is a spacecraft workhorse with many markets,” Richards said. “The MX-1 is the ‘iPhone of space’; a platform capable of supporting many apps including our core plan of exploring the Moon for resources of benefit to humanity.” According to the Moon Express website, the MX-1 is a "green" spacecraft that uses hydrogen peroxide as fuel and is powered by sunlight.
- Would a surface mission to Venus—no small feat considering it's hot enough to melt lead—give us insight into the weird origin of our lucky moon?
- I'll be in DC for a few days doing touristy stuff the week of the 15th. If anyone wants to visit the Air & Space Museum with me, I'm gung-ho. There's some staffers I would love to meet and thank in person if they're still in town. Any progressives really, but particularly those who have laid their careers on the line to stick up for We the People. Staffers for Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Donna Edwards, etc., basically anyone you guys suggest in the comments below.