Month: December 2022

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‫يشهد توسع UnionPay International المستمر لشبكتها العالمية إصدار أكثر من 200 مليون بطاقة خارج البر الرئيسي الصيني

10 سنوات من تقديم خدمات الدفع العالمية المبتكرة

شنغهاي، 30 ديسمبر 2022 / PRNewswire / — مع إصدار بطاقات UnionPay التي تتجاوز 200 مليون خارج البر الصيني،   UnionPay International (UPI) تدخل عقدًا جديدًا من تقديم خدمات دفع عالية الجودة وفعالة من حيث التكلفة وآمنة عبر الحدود إلى أكبر قاعدة لحاملي البطاقات في العالم. وقد توسع شركاء UPI من 60 عضوا أوليًا منذ إنشائها في عام 2012 إلى 2500 مؤسسة على الصعيد الدولي مع شبكة قبول تغطي حاليا 181 بلدًا ومنطقة، يُصدر 78 منها حاليا بطاقات UnionPay ، مما يضمن تقديم خدمات محلية ملائمة لعدد متزايد باستمرار من حاملي بطاقات UnionPay العالمية والتجار.

تعمل شركة UnionPay International على تحسين تجربة الدفع عبر الحدود بشكل كبير لحاملي البطاقات المحليين

على مدى العقد الماضي، طورت UPI بلا توقف تقنية الدفع المتطورة لمشاركة تجربة دفع جديدة عبر الحدود مع حاملي بطاقات UnionPay في كل ركن من أركان العالم. في الوقت الحالي، خارج البر الرئيسي الصيني، يقبل 38 مليون تاجر عالمي بطاقات UnionPay ، بزيادة أربعة أضعاف منذ عام 2012، مع إضافة أربعة ملايين تاجر جديد في عام 2022 وحده. بلغت معدلات قبول بطاقة UnionPay في APAC وأوروبا وأمريكا الشمالية 95% و 80% و 80% على التوالي، في حين يستخدم 22 مليون تاجر عبر الإنترنت في 200 دولة ومنطقة الآن UnionPay للمدفوعات.

خلال هذه السنوات العشر، تطور التحول الرقمي لصناعة المدفوعات العالمية بسرعة، وعجلت UPI بتكرار المنتجات وترقيات الخدمة لتلبية عادات الدفع المتغيرة باستمرار للعملاء الدوليين. بالتعاون الوثيق مع البنوك المركزية وشبكات التحويل الوطنية وتحالفات الدفع، شاركت UPI بنيتها التحتية المالية المبتكرة ومعاييره الفنية في بلدان مثل تايلاند والفلبين وأصبح معيارًا موحدًا عبر الحدود لشبكة الدفع الآسيوية.

يعكس التوسع العالمي لشركة UPI ابتكارها التكنولوجي والرقمي المثير للإعجاب

في السنوات الأخيرة، تم إطلاق تطبيق UnionPay الموحد للصناعة المصرفية التي تدعم UnionPay بدون تلامس، ورمز الاستجابة السريعة والمدفوعات في آسيا والمحيط الهادئ، مما يعزز إلى حد كبير تجارب الدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول لحاملي البطاقات. بما في ذلك تطبيق UnionPay ، تم إطلاق أكثر من 170 محفظة إلكترونية قياسية من UnionPay خارج البر الرئيسي للصين، ويمكن لأكثر من 16 مليون تاجر دولي تجربة الراحة التي توفرها مدفوعات رمز الاستجابة السريعة أو “التمرير السريع”.

في عام 2018، تم إطلاق نسخة منطقة هونغ كونغ وماكاو الإدارية الخاصة من تطبيق UnionPay وفي غضون أربع سنوات، أصبحت واحدة من أشهر منتجات الدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول للمقيمين. يشمل الوصول إلى خدمات الدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول من UnionPay خدمة Singapore’s PayLah! ، و Malaysia’s Boost , و Thailand’s K Plus ، فضلًا عن العديد من المنتجات الرائدة الأخرى. تكمن وراء هذه الإنجازات منصات الخدمة الفنية التابعة لـ UPI ، بما في ذلك المطور، وإصدار البطاقة السحابية، ومنصات خدمة السيناريوهات، والتي تقلل من الصعوبات الفنية والتكاليف للشركاء للوصول إلى خدمات الجوال UnionPay ، ودعم المزيد من المؤسسات المالية. كما انضمت شركات الاتصالات والتجزئة وغيرها من الشركات إلى النظام البيئي للدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول في UnionPay لتعزيز تجربة الدفع عبر الهاتف المحمول لحاملي البطاقات الدوليين.

تواصل UnionPay انتشارها العالمي على قدم وساق وستتوسع أكثر في العقد المقبل

توسيع نطاقها العالمي، والابتكار المستمر، وسهولة الاستخدام لحاملي البطاقات في جميع أنحاء العالم، وهو الإصدار الأول الذي  بطاقات UnionPay في زامبيا  تم إطلاقه في وقت سابق من هذا العام حيث أصبحوا بسرعة تفضيلًا جديدًا للدفع. تم إصدار أكثر من 20 مليون بطاقة UnionPay دوليًا منذ بداية هذا العام، مع تجاوز معدلات المعاملات مستويات ما قبل الوباء. في APAC ، واحدة من كل أربع بطاقات مصرفية صادرة حديثًا من UnionPay التي تمثل الآن 95% من بطاقات الخصم في منطقة هونغ كونغ وماكاو الإدارية الخاصة. تم Nilson Report تصنيف حجم معاملات UnionPay في المرتبة الأولى بين كبار مصدري البطاقات الدوليين في منطقة آسيا والمحيط الهادئ لعام 2021.

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New Year’s Eve Spurs Hope in China Even as Censors Target Online COVID Content

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Saturday for more effort and unity as the country enters a “new phase” in its approach to combating the pandemic, in his first comments to the public on COVID-19 since his government changed course three weeks ago and relaxed its rigorous policy of lockdowns and mass testing.

China’s abrupt switch earlier this month from the zero-COVID policy it had maintained for nearly three years has led to infections sweeping across the country unchecked. It has also caused a further drop in economic activity and international concern, with Britain and France becoming the latest countries to impose curbs on travelers from China.

The switch by China followed unprecedented protests over the policy championed by Xi, marking the strongest show of public defiance in his decade-old presidency and coinciding with grim growth figures for the country’s $17 trillion economy.

In a televised speech to mark the new year, Xi said China had overcome unprecedented difficulties and challenges in the battle against COVID, and that its policies were “optimized” when the situation and time so required.

“Since the outbreak of the epidemic … the majority of cadres and masses, especially medical personnel, grassroots workers braved hardships and courageously persevered,” Xi said.

“At present, the epidemic prevention and control is entering a new phase, it is still a time of struggle, everyone is persevering and working hard, and the dawn is ahead. Let’s work harder, persistence means victory, and unity means victory.”

New Year’s Eve prompted reflection online and by residents of Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID outbreak nearly three years ago, about the zero-COVID policy and the impact of its reversal.

Video disappears

People in the central city of Wuhan expressed hope that normal life would return in 2023 despite a surge in cases since pandemic curbs were lifted.

Wuhan resident Chen Mei, 45, said she hoped her teenage daughter would see no further disruptions to her schooling.

“When she can’t go to the school and can only have classes online it’s definitely not an effective way of learning,” she said.

Across the country, many people voiced similar hopes on social media, while others were critical.

Thousands of users on China’s Twitter-like Weibo criticized the removal of a video made by local outlet NetEase News that collated real-life stories from 2022 that had captivated the Chinese public.

Many of the stories included in the video, which by Saturday could not be seen or shared on domestic social media platforms, highlighted the difficulties ordinary Chinese faced as a result of the previously strict COVID policy.

Weibo and NetEase did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

One Weibo hashtag about the video garnered almost 4 million hits before it disappeared from platforms about noon on Saturday. Social media users created new hashtags to keep the comments pouring in.

“What a perverse world, you can only sing the praises of the fake but you cannot show real life,” one user wrote, attaching a screenshot of a blank page that is displayed when searching for the hashtags.

The disappearance of the videos and hashtags, seen by many as an act of censorship, suggests the Chinese government still sees the narrative surrounding its handling of the disease as a politically sensitive issue.

Overwhelmed hospitals, funeral homes

The wave of new infections has overwhelmed hospitals and funeral homes across the country, with lines of hearses outside crematoriums fueling public concern.

China, a country of 1.4 billion people, reported one new COVID death for Friday, the same as the day before, numbers that do not match the experience of other countries after they reopened.

U.K.-based health data firm Airfinity said on Thursday that about 9,000 people in China were probably dying each day from COVID-19. Cumulative deaths in China since December 1 have likely reached 100,000, with infections totaling 18.6 million, it said.

Zhang Wenhong, director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, told the People’s Daily in an interview published on Saturday that Shanghai had reached a peak of infections on December 22, saying there were currently about 10 million cases.

He said those numbers indicated that some 50,000 people in the city of 25 million would need to be hospitalized in the next few weeks.

At the central hospital of Wuhan, where former COVID whistleblower Li Wenliang worked and later died of the virus in early 2020, patient numbers were down on Saturday compared with the rush of the past few weeks, a worker outside the hospital’s fever clinic told Reuters.

“This wave is almost over,” said the worker, who was wearing a hazmat suit.

A pharmacist whose store is next to the hospital said most people in the city had now been infected and recovered.

“It is mainly old people who are getting sick with it now,” he said.

In the first indication of the toll on China’s giant manufacturing sector from the change in COVID policy, data on Saturday showed factory activity shrank for the third straight month in December and at the sharpest pace in nearly three years.

Source: Voice Of America

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Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Big-Money Move to Saudi Arabian Club

Cristiano Ronaldo completed a lucrative move to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr on Friday in a deal that is a landmark moment for Middle Eastern soccer but will see one of Europe’s biggest stars disappear from the sport’s elite stage.

Al Nassr posted a picture on social media of the five-time Ballon d’Or holding up the team’s jersey after Ronaldo signed a deal until June 2025, with the club hailing the move as “history in the making.”

“This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations, boys and girls to be the best version of themselves,” the club wrote.

It also gives the 37-year-old Ronaldo a massive payday in what could be the final contract of his career. Media reports have claimed the Portugal star could be earning up to $200 million a year from the deal, which would make him the highest-paid soccer player in history.

Ronaldo said in a statement that he was “eager to experience a new football league in a different country.”

“I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football and feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia,” the forward added.

While the signing is a massive boost for Middle Eastern soccer, it will also fuel the debate about Saudi Arabia using so-called “sportswashing” to boost the country’s image internationally. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund owns Premier League team Newcastle, and the country is considering a bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

Ronaldo had been a free agent after his contract was terminated by Manchester United following an explosive TV interview in which he criticized manager Erik ten Hag and the club’s owners after having been repeatedly benched and even temporarily suspended by the club.

He is also coming off a disappointing World Cup where he was benched in the knockout rounds and left the field in tears after Portugal lost in the quarterfinals to Morocco.

And after a storied career that saw him win the Champions League with both United and Real Madrid, along with league and cup titles in England, Spain and Italy, he will now seemingly see out the last years of his career far away from the spotlight of top European soccer.

While Saudi Arabia earned its biggest international soccer win ever at the World Cup in Qatar last month when it beat eventual champion Argentina in its first group-stage game, the domestic league has few other stars and is not watched by a major international audience.

Source: Voice Of America

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Saint Lucia updates its Citizenship by Investment regulations to remain competitive in the investment migration industry

Castries, Dec. 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Saint Lucia has amended the regulations of its Citizenship by Investment Programme to remain increasingly competitive and ensure that the Caribbean country fulfils its mandate of growing demand for its investment products for the ultimate benefit of the people of Saint Lucia.

As one of the youngest Citizenship by Investment products in the market, Saint Lucia has made bold strides in offering an alternative investment option in the Caribbean’s most developed and diverse economies.

The country’s Citizenship by Investment Unit has taken a comprehensive review of its Citizenship by Investment offerings following approvals from the Citizenship by Investment Board and Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, Ernest Hilaire. The below amendments to the existing regulations will take effect from 1 January 2023.

  • Developers applying for approved real estate under the Citizenship by Investment Programme or enterprise projects will now have to pay due diligence and background check fee of US$7,500.
  • The replacement fee for a lost or damaged certificate will increase from US$100 to US$500.
  • Investors who have been a citizen of Saint Lucia for 12 months or less that are looking to include a newborn dependent through the country’s National Economic Fund will now have to pay a fee of US$5000, this has increased from US$500.
  • There is also an introduction of a new Bond Offer for investors purchasing non-interest-bearing Government Bonds with the following qualifying investment sums:
Category of applicant Bond purchase sum Bond holding period
Applicant and all qualifying dependents of any number US$300,000 5-year holding bond
Administrative fee (regardless of the number of dependants) US$50,000
  • To qualify for second citizenship through the real estate option, investors will have to invest a minimum of US$200,000, a reduction from US$300,000.

Saint Lucia is emerging as one of the fastest-growing economies in the Caribbean region and the nation is well-known for offering various investment and business opportunities for people looking for options to plan their wealth and diversify their portfolios.

The country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme is a perfect choice as it offers ideal business opportunities to investors who do not want to be bound by border limitations.

The Caribbean country is recognized for providing a second home not just to investors but to their families too. The nation has been lauded for its advanced and modernized infrastructure. Saint Lucia has one of the most resilient, modernized education and healthcare systems in the region, which makes it ideal for investors and their families.

The Citizenship by Investment Programme of this Caribbean country attracts Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for the nation which is used for advancing various projects such as the development of infrastructure, advancement of real estate, business expansion and job innovation.

The CBI Index 2022, published by PWM Magazine of Financial Times, reported that CBI is assuring the small island nation of Saint Lucia has become independent, developed and prosperous in the true sense. The report also recognized the programme for its “Ease of Processing” and “Due Diligence” Pillars. This year, Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Programme climbed a spot and gained the third position.

Saint Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment Unit makes sure that citizenship is given to credible applicants of good standing while their dependants over the age of sixteen are also subject to multi-layered due diligence checks, in order to qualify for alternative citizenship. Saint Lucia asks for detailed information from the applicants to understand the funding source of the investors who want citizenship.

On this due diligence aspect, Minister Ernest Hilaire recently addressed concerns and fears related to Saint Lucia’s CBI Programme. He gave assurance that the government of Saint Lucia and its CBI Unit perform a strict and rigid due diligence process. Hilaire explained that the due diligence process is a multi-layered procedure noting, “Due diligence is performed by our Unit on all applicants, this is then followed by another due diligence check by the banks. This is then followed by due diligence checks by international intelligence units who also do on-the-ground assessments.”

He also noted that the Government and Unit have been planning to review the country’s CBI programme, making it more attractive as well as competitive. Minister Hilaire announced that these updates would maintain the country’s rigorous but seamless vetting process.

While the programme is the newest in the region, launched in 2016, the Government has made sure to set the bar very high – the programme has been regarded as one of the most advanced, secure as well as transparent programmes.

Through the National Economic Fund, this prestigious programme has helped the nation to develop important public infrastructure. The funds from the programme have been directly contributing to advancing the standard of living of Saint Lucians.

Alternative citizenship in the Caribbean nation is emerging as a platform to alleviate and tackle the risk of uncertainty and unpredictability in future. There is no other better plan than investing in building a new home at a place which offers ample opportunities and, most importantly, peace out of the hustle and bustle of big cities.

PR Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia
+1 758 458 6050
mildred.thabane@csglobalpartners.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8721602

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New Down Syndrome Resource Available in Spanish and Japanese

Global Down Syndrome Foundation, Centro UC Síndrome de Down and Japan Down Syndrome Association Join Forces to Translate & Provide Online Access to the GLOBAL Adult Guideline

DENVER, Dec. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL), published a Spanish and Japanese version of the GLOBAL Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome (“GLOBAL Adult Guideline”) in collaboration with the El Centro de la Universidad Católica de Síndrome de Down in Chile (Centro UC Síndrome de Down or CUSD) and the Japan Down Syndrome Association (JDSA).

The GLOBAL Adult Guideline is the first evidence-based guideline for adults with Down syndrome and was published in English in JAMA, the Journal of American Medical Association, in 2020. The guideline authors include the directors of the largest adult Down syndrome clinics in the US, and the current nine medical topics are: behavior, dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis, atlantoaxial instability, thyroid disease, and celiac disease. GLOBAL is working to expand the topics to include sleep apnea, solid tumors, leukemia, vision/eye care, and physical therapy and fitness.

In addition to the 80-page guideline for medical professionals, GLOBAL has also published a much shorter family-friendly version, and toolkits that include easy to follow assessments for Celiac disease, Diabetes, Behavior, and annual check-ups.

All of these resources for adults are now available in Spanish and Japanese at no cost on the GLOBAL website, DS-Connect®: The Down Syndrome Registry, CUSD website, and JDSA website.

“GLOBAL is pleased to be able to reach Spanish and Japanese speakers who have Down syndrome and their families in the U.S. in collaboration from the National Institutes of Health/DS-Connect®,” says Michelle Sie Whitten, President & CEO of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation. “The NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has been supportive from the beginning. We are also deeply grateful for Dr. Macarena Lizama at CUSD and Dr. Hiroshi Tamai, President of JDSA, Dr. Chisen Takeuchi of the JDSA for helping to ensure this reaches hundreds of thousands of Spanish and Japanese speakers around the world.”

GLOBAL has worked with Congress since 2006 advocating for a trans-NIH Down syndrome research funding program and for increased funding. In December of 2010, GLOBAL and the NIH co-organized the first Down syndrome research conference with a focus on registries and biobanks. One important result was the establishment of DS-Connect®: The Down Syndrome Registry.

“It is so important for me and other people with Down syndrome to have this in Spanish,” says Yadiro Carrillo, a 32-year-old self-advocate and entrepreneur who happens to have Down syndrome. “I need to know how to take care of myself as an adult!”

“Seeing the guideline in Spanish feels like GLOBAL values Spanish -speaking families like mine,” said Yadira Carrillo, mother of a 32-year-old daughter who has Down syndrome. “Language is a barrier some families face to receiving medical care and I know this will help so many people in the U.S. and internationally.” In Chile, GLOBAL has been working closely with Dr. Lizama on many projects including creating the Spanish version of the GLOBAL Guideline and the COVID-19 and Down Syndrome Resource.

“What Michelle, Bryn Gelaro and their team have accomplished in research and medical care is so important,” says Dr. Macarena Lizama, Medical Director of the El Centro de la Universidad Católica de Síndrome de Down in Chile. “We are honored to collaborate with GLOBAL on this transformative resource and to improve medical equity, especially for Spanish-speaking countries where medical care access and basic resources for people with Down syndrome can be very scarce. I will be very proud to use this resource in my clinic and share it with my colleagues and families.”

Dr. Hiroshi Tamai echoes this sentiment, “We are grateful for the collaboration we have had with GLOBAL and to have this important resource in Japanese is a dream come true. My daughter and thousands of Japanese adults with Down syndrome will surely benefit. We look forward to working with GLOBAL and adding new medical areas in the next few years.”

GLOBAL is currently working with the Ministries of Health in both Chile and Japan to ensure the guidelines are available free of charge and easily findable on their disability home pages.

To learn more about the GLOBAL Adult Guideline and download your copy today, visit www.globaldownsyndrome.org/medical-care-guidelines-for-adults/

To learn more about Global Down Syndrome Foundation, visit www.globaldownsyndrome.org

About Global Down Syndrome Foundation
The Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) is the largest non-profit in the U.S. working to save lives and dramatically improve health outcomes for people with Down syndrome. GLOBAL has donated more than $32 million to establish the first Down syndrome research institute supporting over 400 scientists and over 2,200 patients with Down syndrome from 33 states and 10 countries. Working closely with Congress and the National Institutes of Health, GLOBAL is the lead advocacy organization in the U.S. for Down syndrome research and care. GLOBAL has a membership of over 100 Down syndrome organizations worldwide, and is part of a network of Affiliates – the Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, the Sie Center for Down Syndrome, and the University of Colorado Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center – all on the Anschutz Medical Campus.

GLOBAL’s widely circulated medical publications include Global Medical Care Guidelines for Adults with Down Syndrome, Prenatal & Newborn Down Syndrome Information and the award-winning magazine Down Syndrome World TM . GLOBAL also organizes the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show, the largest Down syndrome fundraiser in the world. Visit globaldownsyndrome.org and follow us on social media (Facebook & Twitter: @GDSFoundation, Instagram: @globaldownsyndrome).

IMPORTANT NOTICE
While content of this press release and the GLOBAL Guideline was developed by GLOBAL and the GLOBAL Guideline Authors, we are unable and do not intend to provide medical advice or legal advice to individuals. Please contact your health care provider(s) or legal advisor(s) for questions specific to your individual health history or care.

Press Contacts
Anca Call
acall@globaldownsyndrome.org
720-320-3832

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8721542

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In 2022, AP Photographers Captured Pain of a Changing Planet

In 2022, photographers with The Associated Press captured signs of a planet in distress as climate change reshaped many lives.

That distress was seen in the scarred landscapes in places where the rains failed to come. It was felt in walloping storms, land-engulfing floods, suffocating heat and wildfires no longer confined to a single season. It could be tasted in altered crops or felt as hunger pangs when crops stopped growing. And taken together, millions of people were compelled to pick up and move as many habitats became uninhabitable.

2022 will be a year remembered for destruction brought on by a warming planet and, according to scientists, was a harbinger for even more extreme weather.

Parched earth

In June, two young men sat smoking in front of a boat that had previously been under water. The waterline in parts of Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada had dropped so much that the boat was now standing up in the mud. Such dramatic manifestations were seen in myriad places.

In Germany, drought combined with a bark beetle infestation left large swaths of Harz forest trees spindly, while in Kenya mothers struggled to keep their children nourished and animals died because of a lack of water. Along the Solimoes River in the Brazilian Amazon, houseboat dwellers found themselves living on mud instead of water, as parts dried up.

In eastern France, normally lush sunflowers looked as if they had been fried, their leaves withered, and seeds blackened. Similar scars on the Earth’s surface were seen in reef-like structures exposed by receding waters in Utah’s Great Salt Lake, the cracked bed of Hungary’s Lake Velence and the shrunken Yangtze River in southwestern China.

Storms and floods

While a lack of rain did damage in many places, in others too much precipitation altered landscapes and swallowed lives. Sometimes the same region, in a short amount of time, went from drought to deluge — what scientists refer to as a “whiplash effect.” This happened in parts of Yellowstone National Park last summer.

The country hardest hit by floods was Pakistan, with a third of its land submerged, millions of people displaced and at least 1,700 killed. But many countries were hit hard by storms.

In Cuba, a tropical cyclone in June led to so much flooding that rescuers moved through the streets of Havana in boats. Just a few months later, Hurricane Ian slammed into the island before continuing to Florida, leaving destruction and death in its wake.

Heavy floods were also seen in parts of Nigeria, India, Indonesia and numerous other places, while in one part of Brazil, a common aftereffect of flooding — landslides — killed more than 200 people.

To be sure, there were human attempts to better prepare and deal with flooding. One example: Chinese authorities continued to develop and expand “sponge cities,” which aim to use porous pavement and green spaces to absorb water and reduce the destruction of flooding.

Heat and fire

In recent years, wildfires have become commonplace across the Western U.S. amid a 23-year drought and rising temperatures. Compared to last year, there were slightly fewer wildfires in 2022 in California — the state routinely hardest hit — but many blazes still chewed through land and homes.

America was hardly alone. There were significant fires in Portugal, Greece, Argentina and many other countries. Images like a living room engulfed in flames, an evacuated woman clinging to a police officer and a man using a branch to protect his home were visceral reminders of the fury that fires unleash.

Along with fires, there were periodic bouts of extreme heat. A sweating British soldier, wearing a traditional bearskin hat outside Buckingham Palace, captured a reality for many Brits, as temperatures reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40.3 degrees Celsius), a record for the country.

How people coped with sauna-like conditions depended on the place. In Madrid, a fountain at an urban beach provided relief to parents and children. In Hungary, three people cooled off in a fill-up pool. And in Los Angeles, a woman stuck her head in front of an open fire hydrant.

Imperiled food

In October, Wilbur Kuzuzuk pulled a spotted seal to the edge of the lagoon in Shishmaref, a town in western Alaska that is on the verge of disappearing because of climate change.

The 600 residents of the Inupiat village have stayed put despite increasing risks to their way of life, including their food supply, as warming seas encroach on land and warming temperatures hurt habitats. But residents like Kuzuzuk know Shishmaref’s days are likely numbered: Twice the town has voted to relocate, though nothing has been put in motion.

All around the world there were clear threats to the food supply. In India, floods damaged corn and other crops, leaving farmers no choice but to try to salvage as much as possible. In Kenya and surrounding countries, drought increased hunger and pushed villagers to dig ever deeper in search of groundwater.

Climate migration

Taken together, all these problems pushed millions of people to migrate. Perhaps nowhere was that clearer than in Somalia, where severe drought led to starvation and prompted thousands of people to flee. Many migrants ended up in makeshift camps, like the one in Dollow, emaciated, young children in tow, desperately seeking food and water.

Much of the migration happened within borders. In India’s Ladakh region, a cold mountainous desert that borders China and Pakistan, shrinking grazable land, along with other effects of climate change, continued to force many to migrate from sparsely populated villages to urban settlements.

In Indonesia, a big driver of migration was encroaching seas. In Central Java, homes not outfitted with raised floors were swallowed, pushing those who didn’t have the means to seek other abodes.

In Kenya, a woman named Winnie Keben recounted how she lost her leg to a crocodile attack. She blamed the attack, in part, on the fact that rising water levels around Lake Baringo have brought animals closer to humans. Many scientists attribute that to climate change.

Keben’s home was also washed away, sending her family to another village.

Source: Voice of America

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