By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org We live in interesting times, especially here in the United States.  ObamaCare is about to be implemented yet opponents continue to try and block it.  Contraceptive use and voluntary family planning services – something many take for granted – has become a point of contention too, and we are back to
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Can the world improve food security in the face of rising food prices, population growth, climate change, poverty, and gender inequality? New research in the journal Climatic Change found that a changing climate will likely push food prices up 20 to 40%, regardless of cuts to future carbon emissions.  As reported
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Forget nature, as oil trumps conservation once again.  Last week, Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s president, announced the end of an innovative plan to protect one of the most biodiverse places on the planet, opting instead to allow drilling for oil. Known as the Yasuní-ITT Initiative, the plan called for permanently leaving more
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org If there is one day that all of humanity can recognize together, it would be that of Earth Overshoot Day.  This is the day that global resource consumption for the year exceeds the planet’s ability to replenish its natural capital. Or to put it another way, it is comparable to living
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The relationship between trade and population is based on one main thing, and that is growth.  Growth of people, growth of goods and services, and growth of markets and capital. The latest population projection from the United Nations is for a world population of 8.1 billion people by 2025, and 9.6
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org We are well into summer 2013, and in the West temperatures are high, wildfires are raging, and droughts are in effect in many states. One state that has been hit particularly hard is New Mexico.  Nearly 90 percent of the state is experiencing extreme to exceptional drought conditions, and the Rio
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org Confronted with so much grim news 24/7 – severe droughts and floods, poverty, loss of biodiversity, and much, much more – people are understandably hungry for something positive. Fortunately, there are some dedicated organizations and government agencies working to improve peoples’ lives and natural environment via an approach linking issues that
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The headlines out of the Sahel region of Africa (and Sub-Saharan Africa) are not good, and are reflective of climate change, food insecurity, and poverty.  The situation highlights the need to invest in and empower women as one answer to these problems. The Food & Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Situation Update on
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The studies keep coming, and our society ignores them at its own peril.  This time, the issues are endangered species and loss of biodiversity. In June, scientists at Ohio State University warned that a still rapidly growing human population poses a threat to hundreds of mammal and bird species with extinction
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By Suzanne York, www.howmany.org The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee recently introduced a bill that puts a ceiling on funding for family planning and reproductive health programs at $461 million; this is 23 percent, or $94 million below the current level (and $174 million less than President Obama’s budget request). The bill also calls
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