Environment – Page 3

Agriculture, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Pollution Prevention

Air Quality at Your Fingertips

Amobilefuture released a free app called Pollution that features realtime air quality on an interactive geolocative regularly updated map for more than 1,380 cities worldwide. The app takes advantage of 100,000 base stations worldwide, allowing anyone to track measured exposures to electromagnetic, air and water pollution. It also monitors pollution and emissions to soil. It provides detailed lists of nearby pollutant facilities, with discharge details and volumes. The app’s purpose to to inform about the potential presence of pollutant sources in a comprehensive way.

February 10, 2012/by actualize

Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Combating Climate Change in Nepal

How can mobile phones address issues raised by a changing climate? A study by Shrandha Giri and Yuwan Malakar of the University of Manchester with support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) looks at a successful campaign in Nepal that takes advantage of the widespread usage of mobile phones.

Greater variation in precipitation, higher average temperatures, and a fragile geography prone to flooding have been noted by Nepalese farmers as signs of climate change. In light of these concerns, a phone-based early warning system was created to exchange information on flood signs and other occurrences among communities. The system also provides a list of service providers and traders in the agricultural field. The study notes three critical ways in which mobile phones benefit these farmers:

1. Agricultural Practices: alongside the typical problems of low-productivity agricultural practices and poor access to inputs, farmers in the villages are also reporting with a presumed link to climate change the arrival of new pests and diseases about which they have limited knowledge. This has affected the level of outputs because of the novelty of these challenges and the lack of availability of local agricultural technicians. The project provides the farmers with the phone contacts of technical service providers, which they have then used to get advice about treating crops and livestock. They also use this service for more general advice on seed varieties, planting times and methods with the aim of raising incomes and thus reducing vulnerabilities.

2. Market Prices: in order to reach the nearest market, farmers in Kirtipur have to walk 10km along a train route and then travel a further 5km by bus. Because of the higher costs of reaching other markets and complete uncertainty about prices in those markets, farmers would always sell in the nearest market at whatever price the local traders would offer. With climate change and flooding potentially suppressing the level of outputs they could achieve, this was a severe threat to income levels. The project therefore also provided the farmers with a phone contact list of agricultural traders in a number of nearby markets. As a result, not only are they better informed about reasonable market price levels for their outputs, they can also compare prices between traders and justify journeys to whichever trader is offering them the best price.

3. Disaster Early Warning: Flooding, particularly the recent growth in occurrences and severity which is assumed to be linked to climate change, causes problems to the farmers in loss of crops and livestock, inability to access markets when there are landslides, and more general dangers to life and property. The project provided a phone list of key contacts in both upstream and downstream communities. When there is continuous heavy rain, those in the upstream areas phone and warn those in the downstream communities, who are then able to prepare and evacuate livestock, property, family, etc. They also warn about landslides that may block planned transport routes. In return, those in the downstream, more populated, better connected and more commercial areas, provide information on markets, agricultural practice and development opportunities.

The information needed to create this network was provided through a participatory vulnerability assessment (PVA) conducted by Practical Action, village development committees, and agricultural groups affiliated with government district offices. In this survey farmers noted the changing dry season, erratic rainfall, and movement of farmers due to a lack of irrigation. The project is deemed successful because it involved local people’s motivations such as financial gain. The use of ICTs reduces vulnerabilities and makes communities more resistant and perhaps productive by mitigating long-term changes in the local climate.

February 9, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Cheat Sheet: ICTs for Climate Change

How can ICTs be used to combat climate change? Stan Karanasios’s paper entitled “New & Emergent ICTs and Climate Change in Developing Countries” outlines emerging ICTs in 3 steps:

monitoring of climate change and the environment
disaster management
climate change adaptation

Excerpts from the paper outline uses of ICTs for climate change:

Monitoring of climate change and the environment

For developing countries to better understand their local climate and be able to anticipate climate change impacts, they must have adequate local and national observation networks, and access to the data captured from other global and regional networks.

Types of technology include:

satellite systems
wireless broadband technologies
wireless sensor networks (WSN)
mobile phones
hand-held devices

Examples of environmental monitors:

Rainfall and Landslide- In hilly regions of western India, SenSlide, a distributed sensor system, predicts rather than just detects landslides. Landslides occur frequently, often during the monsoon when rain causes significant damage. SenSlide makes use of WSN and strain gauges, providing data to a network.
Fire- In South Africa, FireHawk, a forest fire system of cameras with zoom lenses and microwave transmitters and receivers was implemented in mountainous and extreme temperate locations. The system automatically detects fires, even at night, limiting the impact of damage.
Flood- In Honduras, a WSN for flood monitoring was developed that was able to withstand river flooding and the severe stromes causing the floods, communicate over a 10,000 km river basin, predict flooding autonomously, and limit cost, allowing feasible implementation of the system.
Impacts of Agriculture- In India a WSN-based agriculture management system named COMMON-Sense Net, was deployed to support rain-fed agriculture and provide farmers with environmental data. Wireless sensors were deployed in geographical clusters, each with one base-station that was connected to a local server via a Wi-Fi link and organized in groups, each corresponding to a particular application, such as crop modeling, water conservation measures, or deficit irrigation management.

Disaster management

Responding to natural disasters in a timely and effective manner has emerged as an important climate change theme particularly in developing countries; where in addition to the immediate crisis vulnerable communities suffer excessively from the secondary post-disaster effects that compound the tragedy. In many cases, the existing telecommunication infrastructure will be significantly or completely destroyed by an extreme weather event, and hence rapidly deployable networks and other communication services need to be employed for disaster relief operations.

Communication Methods:

Emergency Communication Systems- In Bangladesh an Integrated Information and Communication System is underway which will use satellite, wireless broadband, mobile phones and community radio services strengthening communication links between rescue and relief units and Emergency Operation Centers (EOC).
Rapidly Deployable Communications
Social Networking- During Typhoon Ondoy in the Philippines in 2009, local volunteers organized and disseminated information online through websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Organizations and affected people used these sites for timely reports concerning the extent of damage, to provide information on the resources required tand to allocate relief resources.
GIS & Other Information Systems- Visualize high risk zones; evacuation routes, shelters and the catalogue of available resource and their proximity
Early Warning Systems- satellite radio, mobile phones, cell broadcasting system, the web, WSNs, and CAP (common alerting protocol) can be coupled with climate data for immediate and short/medium/long-term warnings to minimize harm to vulnerable communities.

Disaster Management Project Example: Project DUMBO

Mesh Networks and Disaster Response in Thailand DUMBO, a project initiated by the Asian Institute of Technology Internet Education and Research Laboratory, developed and tested asystem for response to emergency scenarios in Thailand . Making use of the concept of wireless mesh networks, DUMBO uses lightweight portable mobile nodes to broaden coverage and penetrate deep into areas not accessible by roads or where the telecommunication infrastructure has been destroyed. During the trials in Thailand, laptops were carried on elephants to extend thewireless mesh network coverage. On the networking side, the solution utilised hybrid WiFi and satellite connectivity. The second application component involved sensors, which allowed for readings of environmental data such as temperature, humidity, pressure, windspeed, wind direction, rainfall and CO2. The third application component involved facial recognition software that allowed rescuers to compare facial images captured from the site to the collection of known faces. This is one of a few systems in developing countries that make use of emergent technologies and combine communications with integrated disaster applications

Climate change adaptation

To cope with current and future climate stress, communities – particularly those most vulnerable to developing countries – must build their resilience, including adopting appropriate technologies, while making the most of traditional knowledge, and diversifying their livelihoods. For instance, monitoring networks can inform habitat location (provide information to house communities away from a flood or landslide in prone areas), better agriculture (based on informed climate information or water allocation) and provide early warnings, amongst other applications. Mobile technology should be scaled-up for adaptation.

There is a lot of room for growth in developing ICTs for adapting to climate change through collecting, analyzing and disseminating information particularly in space-based systems, GIS, WSNs, wireless broadband technology, mobile technology, and soft technologies such as Web-based tools. By doing so, bottom-up local coping strategies will be encouraged.

February 7, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environment, Forestry, Land Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

The Amazon as Never Seen Before

Last week The Guardian announced that we’re now able to see the Amazonian rainforest as never seen before. A group of scientists, using LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) took images from a plane called the Carnegie Airborne Observatory. The images were taken by bouncing a laser beam off of the forest canopy at 400,000 times per second. The resulting images are vibrant, showcasing variation in biodiversity at unprecedented detail. The new technology will be used to manage the ecosystem, monitoring for signs of deforestation and degradation.

February 2, 2012/by actualize

Climate Change, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Mexico’s Climate Challenge: ICTs pave environmental policy

Mexico’s bouquet of distinct ecosystems features an assorted variety of species, making the country one of the most biologically diverse in the world. The gem of Mexico’s ecological abundance is in great danger due to the forces of climate change. The country’s coastal regions risk destruction from tropical storms. Other problems include heavy rains that increase flash flooding and pollution that dulls overall health. Environmental deterioration and degradation can be traced as a root cause of current social and economic problems in Mexico, especially as poverty is agitated by the effects of climate change.

In June 2011 the Association of Progressive Communications (APC) released “ICTs and environmental sustainability: Mapping national policy-making and climate change strategies“. In the report, the authors note the potential for ICTs in Mexico but warn of the overall disconnect between policy-making and climate change strategies. A critical piece missing is the general lack of communication infrastructure. The report cites a study that states that Mexico has the second lowest broadband density of all countries in the OECD and in comparison to other countries Internet is slow and expensive. In 2010, only 30 out of 110 million Mexicans had access to Internet.

There is great potential for ICTs to litigate climate change in Mexico. The report points towards solutions for integrating ICT into the sector, noting the limited budget and lack of private investment in technology. Despite this, in 2010 Ericsson declared that they supported launching a public-private partnership for low-carbon solutions at the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Cancun (COP16).

Some proposed areas where ICTs can be introduced include:

tracking carbon footprints and using sensors to improve energy use efficiency
surveying water use
using geographic data for flood prevention
creating information dissemination and consultation systems to prevent and issue early warning in vulnerable situations such as natural disasters that can coordinate members of the National Civil Protection System
updating the national volcanological monitoring system
forming a surveillance system for land conservation

January 31, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Water

Mobile Apps, Texting for Water Access

mw4d launches new site

mw4d, a research initiative that uses mobile technology for water management in Africa launched a new website in January. mw4d is based within the Oxford Water Futures Program at the University of Oxford. The site highlights projects and resources for innovative mobile applications that “help achieve water security and reduce poverty” in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia.

Currently mw4d has three main projects:

Smart Handpumps

Smart Rivers

Mobile Water Payments

These projects allow for the monitoring of water use patterns, proper allocation of resources, and sustainability of water supply services. Please check out their resources for exciting projects worldwide.

January 27, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Biofuels: Off-grid answer for ICT access?

Biofuels… Good or Bad Idea? They’ve received positive hype from non-profits, corporations, and individuals only to be scorned by some environmentalists, economists, and other groups.

Photo Credit: GSMA

A common barrier facing rural regions is a lack of access to a reliable power supply. Being off the grid limits the ability to take advantage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) that could provide economic gain and increase quality of life. What’s the use of a mobile phone with innovative software applications if it can’t be recharged?

One popular answer for off-grid communities is building biofuel-based facilities that are run off of renewable resources. Biofuel is simply energy released directly or indirectly from living or recently living organisms. Wind and solar power are included, but fossil fuels are not because they are embedded in geological formations and nonrenewable.

Biofuels have been used for over a millennia, such as the simple method of burning wood for fuel. Other traditional methods used throughout the developing world include using conventional feed such as maize, wheat, sunflowers, and switchgrass for combustion that are then used for cooking, heating, and lighting.

Modern bioenergy used for fuel can be more complex, taking advantage of residue, bacteria, and other organic components of waste that produce a higher value energy carrier, meaning they are more efficient and versatile than traditional methods. The most common method for converting biomass into fuel is by combustion that generates heat. Other known methods include gasification, extraction, and fermentation (used for converting starch or sugar crops into ethanol). In recent decades ethanol and other forms of biofuels have increased in popularity due to the fluctuation of oil prices, carbon emission, and as an option for rural development.

Photo Credit: Prof. Thomson Sinkala, Chairman, Biofuels Association of Zambia

So are biofuels the answer for connecting rural communities with the greater world? Let’s weigh some notable advantages and disadvantages:

PROS

+ Biofuels are locally harvested, decreasing transportation costs.

+ The harvesting and processing of biofuels creates local jobs.

+ Biofuels are renewable.

+ Plants used for making biofuels can be grown on marginal lands.

+ The cost of renewable energy technology is falling, making energy projects more affordable and easier to maintain.

CONS

– Not all biofuels are sustainable.

– Traditional forms of bioenergy can cause unpleasant consequences such as deforestation.

– Traditional biofuels are highly inefficient when compared to fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

– Biofuels derived from vegetation require a lot of water, adding pressure to an already limited and fragile source.

– Instead of using limited arable land for food production, it’s used for growing biomass that can be improperly fertilized, further harming water systems.

– It can negatively impact life-cycles, species health, and biodiversity.

So are biofuels a good or bad solution for rural areas? The decision must be made at the local level; weighing costs, benefits, and sustainability. Below are examples of successful projects where biofuels are used to supply power.

Indonesia– Instead of depositing livestock waste in waterways, it is processed in a biodigester, creating biogas used by the local population.

China – Rice ‘straw’, the stem and leaves left behind after harvesting to be burnt can be mixed with an alkaline solution to create biogas.

Mali– Jatropha, a poisonous weed used to keep away grazing animals thrives in marginal soil is used to power generators.

Kenya– Solar and hydro energy is used for a power center that provides access to Internet and mobile phones for local farmers.

January 25, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environment, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Lionfish, Tiger Shrimp, Grizzlar Bears! Oh, my!

Photo Credit: Factoidz

Last summer an article caught my eye about the spread of Lionfish in Antigua’s waters, an invasive and predatory creature. The news made me curious if there were other invasive species worthy of catchphrases and surely enough I wasn’t disappointed to find a diverse selection of tigers and bears.

Invasive species, as the name suggests, originate outside of the ecosystem in which they are found. Thousands of years of climate shifts and our urge to conquer new lands have led to major disruptions that threaten native environments, making them susceptible to damaged local biodiversity, food production, and even human health.

In 2005, ICT Update published an issue on invasive species, marking GIS and other tech responses to the monitoring and elimination of threatening pests. Since this publication there have been successful ICT approaches and projects for invasive alien prevention. What’s my favorite one, you may ask? Well, it’s actually a free, simple to use mobile application called What’s Invasive! With this downloadable application one can geo-tag invasive plants and animals that are specific to the desired geographic location. With this information concerned citizens and other groups can monitor growth patterns and participate in eradication campaigns. Currently, the application is vigorously used in American, Canadian, and European parks. With its easily accessible databases, nature education and other public outreach programs in coordination with this mobile app can greatly empower local communities to address issues of environmental protection and climate change.

January 18, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Environment, Environment, Originally posted on the GBI Portal, Water

5 ICT 4 Watershed Management Projects

There’s been considerable debate lately about possible uses of information and communications technology for watershed management. Access to monitoring programs assists governments adequately manage and distribute water. Watershed management is critical for regional ecological health, clean water ability, disaster relief, and agriculture.

5 Noteworthy ICT Watershed Management Projects

eGov features India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) that uses GIS mapping and GPS enabled mobile applications for planning and monitoring rainwater harvested agricultural land. The watershed is analyzed through interactive online mapping available in local languages, engaging parties at the village, regional, and state levels. Through this process scarce water is conserved by a supervised drainage line, promoting the cultivation of arable land and responsible seasonal planning. An overview of this project is available HERE.

A similar project, MeKongInfo, is available to citizens along the Mekong River Basin in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. The site houses a database and online discussion that is sponsored by the Mekong River Commission (MRC). It contains many aspects including flood mitigation, fishery management and other issues of overall planning.

AgWater Solutions is collaborating with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) and others in Ethiopia through workshops to address small reservoirs and groundwater systems investment.

African Water Facility’s Community Water Management Project in Zambia works with farmers to increase productivity by reducing their reliance on rain-fed farming.

Rio+20’s ICT as an Enabler for Smart Water Management report includes case-studies on ICTs for smart water initiatives. Also worthy of noting as a resource is the United Nations’ Virtual Learning Centre distance-learning course on Integrated Water and Environmental Management for creating regional resource databanks to enhance sustainable water management practices. The course is available through Regional Centres of Excellence in Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific.

January 18, 2012/by actualize

Agriculture, Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Environment, Environmental Compliance, Natural Resources Management, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

5 Areas to Watch for ICTs, Environment & Climate Change in 2012!

The Sustainability Director of Ericsson, Matilda Gennevi Gustafsson stated at the just ended United Nations COP17 Climate Change Conference that “In order to meet the needs of the 9 billion people estimated to populate the world by 2050, there must be a shift from incremental to transformative solutions to solve climate change. The opportunity for the transformational power of ICT to put us on the path of a low-carbon economy and spur socio-economic development has never been greater.”

So as we enter 2012, we expect the rise of ICT applications and solutions with the potential to mitigate the impact of the global climate change on our environment. Below are 5 selected areas with specific examples to watch for transformative solutions as the year progresses:

Photo Credit: Travel Outback

1. ICTs for Weather Information

While farming remains a predominant occupation for the rural people across the developing world, the increasing effects of climate change is being felt in almost all areas of their farming activities. From shorter and unpredictable rainfalls patterns to increasing flooding, poor quality and quantity of forage for livestock the general changes in temperature. As a result, concerns and questions among farmers and to scientists about these unpredictable weather patterns in recent years continue to rise. The focus for the scientists now is to try and quickly response to these concerns from the farmers and ICT applications and solutions are expected to rise in this area as well.

a) Weather Information for Africa

This is an initiative by Ericsson which addresses the lack of quality weather forecasts in Africa. It assists national meteorological services to design customized forecasts and promotes the use of cellphones to distribute the information. Local weather information such as storm warnings not only enables disaster, but can also improve economic opportunities for the millions of people working in industries such as fisheries, agriculture and small business development. The initiative is already showing positive benefits which can be of use for the 3.5 million people living alongside Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake.

b) Using SMS to Fast-Track Responses to Farmers’ Climate Change Questions in Zambia

Example is seen in Zambia where climate change questions can now receive quick answers via SMS from a new feedback SMS system developed by the country’s National Agricultural Information Services (NAIS) together with, a local software developer, SMSize and International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD).

c) Using ICTs to Minimize Weather Hazards on Farmers

Also in Ghana, Ignitia is presenting a hands-on opportunity, where it can deliver daily weather forecasts and warnings to initially 90,000 farmers. The farmer gets a daily forecast in his/her mobile phone by an automatically generated text message, tailored to the farmer’s specific location by GPS coordinates.

Photo Credit: Eon

2. ICTs to Facilitate Connectivity and Commute

a) Virtual Meetings

In a not too distant future there may not be any travel agencies, only meeting agencies (where the default suggestion is a virtual meeting, and a physical meeting is booked only if necessary), the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI). The statement continues that virtual meetings may have started as a smarter way to do conferences, and this shift alone has resulted in significant reductions of GHG emissions, but virtual meetings could also help accelerate sustainable production around the world by increasing transparency.

b) Teleworking

Teleworking, according to the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) is the possibility of working wherever is best and avoiding travel when you can get access to documents and information without it. It allows people to get things done in a much smarter way which not only saves time, money, and energy directly, but also promotes investments in an infrastructure that is very resource efficient. Much of today’s information and material can be stored in the “cloud” to allow access from any mobile device. Today there is no need to keep investing in an infrastructure based on the assumption that every person must move from the home to a physical office every day.

c) Connectivity

Through the work of Ericsson, the daily commute for residents of Curitiba (southern Brazil) is now easy and efficient. The new HSPA-based public transport system is enabling the 3.2 million citizens of Curitiba to use an electronic ticketing and fleet management system to reduce their congested transportation system. The city’s bus fleet is connected through a high-speed mobile broadband network that provides up-to-the-second information on a range of services. The fleet management system provides up-to-date information on bus services and timetables, directly to their mobile device.

Photo Credit: Euogo.com

3. Using Solar Chargers

The Social Energy Marketplace

At a recently ended Web 2.0 Summit held in San Francisco California, a Berlin-based startup called Changers announced the release of a portable solar charging system that aims to reduce global warming by shifting society to the use of a currency backed by the sun. The Changers Solar System gives the user a way to harness the sun’s energy, liberates the user from the grid, recharges all kinds of devices, helps the user to socialize his/her energy production, and enables him/her to compete with others to earn Changers Credits that can be spent in the Changers Marketplace. The Changers Kalhuohfummi is a simple, one-button device that communicates with Changers.com. Inside is advanced intelligence that accurately measures how much energy it captures and stores in the built-in battery, ready to charge any smartphone or tablet. The Changers Kalhuohfummi solar battery is powered by the Changers Maroshi flexible solar module, which generates up to four Watts per hour — enough to charge the Kalhuohfummi battery in four hours. The Changers Maroshi solar panel, which is produced in Colorado, USA, can be attached to any window or sunny surface.

Photo Credit: EventCamp

4. App Challenges for Climate Change

Crowdsourcing has come to stay and the innovative use of this approach to generate knowledge will rise in the years to come. We expect to see more calls and challenges in 2012 giving opportunities to techies and those interested in applying these technologies for sustainable environment to work on apps that will have impact. An on-going challenge is Poliwiki.

Poliwiki – Crowd Sourcing APP to Combat Climate Change

Poliwiki, the first digital channel of its kind in the world, aims at assessing climate change related legislation. It is a timely and effective on-line platform to help policy makers and innovators combat climate change in a smart and transparent way, says James Lovegrove Managing Director of TechAmerica Europe. The Poliwiki will be expanded to include more countries and data in an active campaign during 2012 and 2013 by the ICT For Energy Efficiency Forum (www.ict4ee.eu) – an industry initiative in Europe that is mobilizing ICT to facilitate the transition to an energy-efficient, low-carbon economy.

Photo Credit: iPhone Developer Labs

5. New and Emerging Apps to Follow

We have seen a number of challenges already in this area of ICTs and Climate Change such as the APPS4AFRICA. The results of the West Africa APPS4AFRICA below may be an inspiration for others as they launch into 2012. These and others that will be released in 2012 will be worth following:

a) 1st prize – HospitalManager

HospitalManager is a web-based application that helps hospitals and health organizations prepare for disasters such as floods and storms. More frequent heat spells, rains, and floods are leading to heath emergencies, both due to the event itself, and later to water related disease. HospitalManager will help hospitals in Nigeria, and potentially throughout Africa, identify patterns in patient visits following rains and floods, so that staff can better prepare for these situations and save more lives. Hospitals can anticipate incoming disease and emergency patterns using real time climate forecasts. On longer time scales it will allow policy makers to plan locations of new hospitals.

b) 2nd prize – Eco-fund Forum

Eco-fund Forum is a web-based community organizer and geo-localized data exchange tool to help individuals and communities working on sustainable resource management throughout Africa to share their own experiences on best practices. Thus they will better understand and respond to the climate change challenges impacting each specific local context. For example, coastal communities in Senegal that suffer from erosion can learn from neighbors that are successfully and durably overcoming the same problem by regenerating and preserving a littoral forest. Furthermore, the Forum will give those communities a voice which should alert political decision makers to address climate change challenges in time.

c) 3rd prize – Farmerline

Farmerline is a mobile and web-based system that furnishes farmers and investors with relevant agricultural information to improve productivity and increase income. Lack of information about weather patterns and about which crops grow best in a changing climate hurts rural farmers’ yields. Cell phone use is growing rapidly throughout Ghana, including in rural areas. This mobile tool can help farmers in Ghana to get information about agricultural best practices down to the farm level, including choosing crops best suited for their specific location, and how to prepare for changes in weather patterns (including dry spells, changes in seasonal onset, and extreme events).

d) iPhone App for Ecosystems Approach

Finally, you may want to follow this app that was launched by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) at the Eye on Earth summit in Abu Dhabi that takes a different approach to the climate change issue. The UNEP app draws attention to the critical role played by ecosystems such as salt marshes, mangroves, tropical forests and seagrasses in tackling climate change. Users of the app can calculate their personal carbon footprint for journeys taken by air, train or road. They will then be shown the equivalent area of a particular ecosystem (such as a tropical forest) that can store this amount of carbon dioxide. The free iPhone app is already available online in English, Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian and Spanish and can be downloaded from the Apple Store

December 22, 2011/by actualize