(L) Rushing waters of Victoria Falls at Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, Zimbabwe pictured in January 2018. Edwin Remsberg / VW PICS / UIG / Getty Images (R) Stark contrast of Victory Falls is seen on Nov. 13, 2019 after drought has caused a decline. ZINYANGE AUNTONY / AFP / Getty Images
The climate crisis is already threatening the Great Barrier Reef. Now, another of the seven natural wonders of the world may be in its crosshairs — Southern Africa's iconic Victoria Falls.
<p>The falls are located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. They are also called Mosi-oa-Tunya, which means "the smoke that thunders" in the indigenous Lozi language, <a href="https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/stunning-images-show-how-one-severe-dry-season-changed-the-worlds-largest-waterfall/640562" target="_blank">according to AccuWeather</a>. But contrasting photographs taken by Reuters in January and December 2019 show how a severe <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a> has shrunk the falls into something closer to the steam that whispers.</p>
<div id="e7930" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="W6SZIG1576662524"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1202565823698784256" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">This looks very, very wrong 😔 https://t.co/lCL1Ea4mul</div> — Metro (@Metro)<a href="https://twitter.com/MetroUK/statuses/1202565823698784256">1575549009.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu also tweeted images of the dried-out falls in October.</p><p>"These pictures of Victoria Falls are a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment and our livelihood," he wrote at the time. "It is with no doubt that developing countries like Zambia are the most impacted by climate change and the least able to afford its consequences."</p>
<div id="2a078" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TCIEVV1576662524"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1179026130831073282" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">These pictures of the Victoris Falls are a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment and ou… https://t.co/7TiYroyc8Z</div> — Edgar Chagwa Lungu (@Edgar Chagwa Lungu)<a href="https://twitter.com/EdgarCLungu/statuses/1179026130831073282">1569936709.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The falls usually decline somewhat during the dry season, but the worst drought to bake the region in a century has reduced their water flow to the lowest level in 25 years, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-climatechange-drought-zimbabwe/victoria-falls-shrink-to-a-trickle-feeding-climate-change-fears-idUKKBN1YA1I3" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. This has led to concerns that the attraction that draws millions of visitors to Zambia and Zimbabwe could dry up all together.</p><p>"In previous years, when it gets dry, it's not to this extent. This (is) our first experience of seeing it like this," Dominic Nyambe, who sells crafts to tourists on the Zambian side of the falls, told Reuters. "It affects us, because ... clients ... can see on the Internet (that the falls are low) .... We don't have so many tourists."</p><p>The dwindling falls isn't the only way drought has impacted the two countries. Both Zambia and Zimbabwe rely on hydropower from the Kariba Dam, located on the Zambezi River that also feeds the falls. The reduced water flow has led to power cuts. In southern Africa overall, around 45 million people require food aid because of crop failures.</p><p>AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Jim Andrews said that it was unclear if this year's drought was caused by climate change. And hydrologist Harald Kling, who is an expert on the Zambezi River, cautioned Reuters it isn't always possible to blame the climate crisis for one dry year.</p><p>"If they become more frequent, then you can start saying, ok, this may be climate change," he said.</p>
<p>But that does seem to be the case for the Zambezi basin. While climate models predicted more droughts for the region, Kling said their recent frequency has still been "surprising." The last drought was only three years ago.</p><p>While this year's reduced flow is particularly dramatic, Elisha Moyo, Principal Climate Change Researcher at Zimbabwe's Ministry of Environment, Climate and Tourism, told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-50549711/could-victoria-falls-dry-up" target="_blank">BBC News</a> in November that lower-flow years were becoming more frequent. This year, the cascade's average flow has been reduced by nearly 50 percent.</p><p>"Who knows maybe one year there will be no falls completely, no water," Moyo said.</p>
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(L) Selma Three Stone Engagement Ring. (R) The Greener Diamond Farm Project. MiaDonna
By Bailey Hopp
If you had to choose a diamond for your engagement ring from below or above the ground, which would you pick … and why would you pick it? This is the main question consumers are facing when picking out their diamond engagement ring today. With a dramatic increase in demand for conflict-free lab-grown diamonds, the diamond industry is shifting right before our eyes.
<p><br/></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2OTgwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTYzMzg5NX0.lfzTyU2D5vdOgSjRcvxr_sXkm5E9RU4sezE4polebJA/img.jpg?width=980" id="f8837" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="80e87569e958bf21f06f0494728c7152" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Loose lab-grown diamonds and gem stones. MiaDonna
<p>The disruption of the earth-mined diamond industry has brought many new jewelers to the playing field offering ethical, cost effective, and often higher quality alternatives for consumers to choose from. The <a href="https://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research/difference-between-natural-laboratory-grown-diamonds" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gemological Institute of America</a> (GIA) provides all the information to the consumer to make it crystal clear that lab-grown diamonds are in fact, 100% diamond. Made by either high pressure, high temperature (HPHT) or chemical vapor deposition (CVD), each laboratory-grown diamond is created chemically, physically and optically identical to their earth-mined diamond counterparts, making them indistinguishable to the trained eye, and up-to 40% less the cost. Additionally, both types of diamonds are graded the same way, by the same laboratories that grade earth-mined diamonds.</p><p>Although the two diamond types are identical to the eye, their origin stories couldn't be more different. The diamond industry has been built completely on 'a diamond is forever,' but when our natural resources for mining these diamonds are quickly running out, where else are we to turn but to lab-grown diamonds? </p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/australias-biggest-diamond-mine-is-running-out-of-diamonds-these-are-the-key-players-in-the-race-to-replace-argyle-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Business Insider Australia</a> recently reported that Australia's biggest diamond mine, Argyle Diamonds, which produces nearly 95% of Australia's earth-mined diamonds, will cut production this year by around 10%. The mines are running out and our planet is suffering from the open pits being completely emptied. On the opposing side, production for lab-grown diamonds has <a href="https://www.opb.org/news/article/columbia-river-lab-created-diamond-foundry-wenatchee-washington-hydropower/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ramped up</a> with lab-grown diamond producer Diamond Foundry securing a new production factory in Washington State, which is said to scale up production from approximately 100,000 carats (of diamonds) per year currently, to upwards of 1 million carats per year. According to a recent article in the <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/style/article/The-diamond-of-the-future-is-here-now-It-was-13654035.php#photo-16969954" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">San Francisco Chronicle</a>, Tom Chatham, CEO of Chatham Created Gems, says that there are two main reasons lab-grown diamonds are the wave of the future. </p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2OTgxMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzY2NTc3OX0.kbTwuuv157QR-tjT5ny89ASVpwYhslinPaCcynCtpM8/img.jpg?width=980" id="dd2c8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1faf8237efdec63755216adbf08c2fd7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Lab-grown diamond engagement rings. MiaDonna
<p>"One is that the major five producers of natural diamonds speculated that there will be no natural diamond production after 2050 because they've run out of profitable deposits. Reason two is that for the last 10 years, we've been sought out by people, Millennials, who want to buy something that doesn't come out of the earth, who care about the earth and the damage we've created," he adds.</p><p>When it comes to the effects related to the social and humanitarian issues of mining diamonds, lab-grown diamonds also have the upper hand here. In a recent case announced last month, the <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-issues-detention-orders-against-companies-suspected-using-forced" target="_blank">U.S. Customs and Border Protection</a> (CBP) admitted that gold from artisanal mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rough diamonds mined from Marange Diamond Fields in Zimbabwe are "produced, in whole or in part, using forced labor." </p><p>The CBP stated that they would issue Withhold Release Orders for gold mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rough diamonds mined from Marange, Zimbabwe, along with 3 other products believed to be produced using forced labor. Additionally, in a 2017 report from the <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/607311509663221201/pdf/Concept-Project-Information-Document-Integrated-Safeguards-Data-Sheet.pdf" target="_blank">World Bank</a> on extractive industries in Sierra Leone, research found that 'it's estimated that approximately 300,000 Sierra Leoneans are directly employed at artisanal mining operations.' </p><p>Although the diamond industry is expansive and abundant in many countries across Africa, it's rare that these artisanal mines enforce proper labor laws and environmental standards.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2OTgxMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNjQ5ODU0MH0.D273Rhn21oKUNGFuDVHjImwBXWHdq7IRCoURU_HJVzQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="9dfa3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5c67f5bde497f06b3026db826b12ca09" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Custom MiaDonna lab-grown diamond engagement ring. MiaDonna
<p> In a recent <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/beyond-the-hype-of-lab-grown-diamonds-1834890351" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a> article, GIA's James Shipley said that advancements in the lab-grown diamond industry has only really taken off in the last five years or so, when the mainstream jewelry sector began taking notice. The <a href="https://www.theigda.org/" target="_blank">International Grown Diamond Association</a> (IGDA), a non-profit organization formed in 2016 by a <a href="https://www.theigda.org/members" target="_blank">dozen</a> lab diamond growers and sellers, now has about 50 members, according to IGDA Secretary General, Dick Garard. When the IGDA first formed, lab-grown diamonds were estimated to represent about <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/diamond-market-lab-grown-disruption" target="_blank">1 percent</a> of a $14 billion rough diamond market. </p><p> This year, industry analyst Paul Zimnisky estimates they account for 2-3 percent of the market. He expects that share will only continue to grow as factories in China that already produce millions of carats a year for industrial purposes start to see an opportunity in jewelry. Zimnisky also <a href="https://5b16c634-a-8b9f6598-s-sites.googlegroups.com/a/paulzimnisky.com/paul-zimnisky/Jeweller%20Magazine%20-%20December%202018%2C%20PP%2032-33%2C%20Paul%20Zimnisky.pdf?attachauth=ANoY7crF_76zEujmBNhEZwCdCTFYygwqvs9ZPmRKxc9bn2NTsmLUk9hdFpt5wmTm5-1UjXgqJ8i3wFe0WUr8dKbkN2k7-nnyQL20shVtlHZBJb6Bke-PMyYOzTM2IBlOWxr0P-rkjGFvRPBFRQSmoc4RlzynNiHN8LHdQyEEWGGk83jZZduPu5hPDPC8lHCxvIOAPWCi5Y5ENeZQJEOxK6KoDRQKkoaSiFcGAJz6AiokfTXn2GPjRI5MuCD1z8praQuwxvRyqZKAxHXZ9KlO7qZQG1uQFlUWVPh3w1m3wtljQ1TKtRoB0v8%3D&attredirects=0" target="_blank">estimates</a> that lab-created diamond market shares in the fashion jewelry market are forecasted to grow to almost 7 percent by 2035. </p><p> MiaDonna, specifically, was founded with a single objective in mind: to offer consumers a beautiful, ethical and affordable diamond alternative which in turn, would support <a href="http://thegreenerdiamond.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Greener Diamond</a> to help free innocent children oppressed by the active conflict diamond mining industry. With every order placed at MiaDonna, they give back at least 10% of net profits to directly fund projects and initiatives to help local communities have alternative career paths to mining in countries such as Sierra Leone and Liberia. They aren't here to just sell consumers lab-grown diamonds, they're here to rebuild the lives and land damaged by diamond mining and provide better, safer and more sustainable options for those who would otherwise be involved in the conflict diamond industry. </p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMjA2OTgxNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NjQ1MTk4N30.raUgtyjAnA1orrqJRIW43hG92hTYTZNzx0bN3Z5mToU/img.jpg?width=980" id="dc737" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="65e32560b0e122724d08157c5854d6c2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The Greener Diamond Farm Project. MiaDonna
<p> In addition, this year MiaDonna became a <a href="https://bcorporation.net/directory/mia-donna-company" target="_blank">Certified B Corporation</a>, which takes into account the company's overall social and environmental performance and evaluates how its operations and business model impact not only their own employees, but also the community, environment and customers. On top of their B Corp efforts, MiaDonna uses only recycled precious metals for all of their engagement ring settings, all of their jewelry is handcrafted in the U.S.A. and they even created an eco-friendly jewelry cleaner using a non-toxic formula that is both environmentally safe and packaged in a fully recyclable, grade 1 container. Learn more about MiaDonna <a href="https://www.miadonna.com/pages/about-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">here</a> and shop all lab-grown jewelry, engagement rings and accessories. </p><p> Whatever your personal preference may be when it comes to diamonds, lab-grown diamonds are here, and they're here to stay. By being an active, conscious consumer and doing your research into the products you're purchasing and the companies you're purchasing from, you'll have full control over what best fits your needs and desires. There will always be two sides to every coin, but with the resources available for consumers to make their own educated decisions on choosing their diamond, the power is in the people. </p>
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55 Elephants Have Died in 2 Months From Unprecedented Zimbabwe Drought, Wildlife Agency Says
22 October 2019
Animals
An African elephant is pictured on November 19, 2012, in Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. MARTIN BUREAU / AFP / Getty Images
The unprecedented drought that has caused a water crisis in Zimbabwe has now claimed the life of at least 55 elephants since September, according to a wildlife spokesman, as CNN reported.
<p><br/></p>
<p>The deaths occurred in Zimbabwe's largest national park, Hwange National Park, a game park. Some died while searching for water, others by residents of nearby communities where the elephants strayed in search of food, said Tinashe Farawo, spokesman for Zimbabwe's Parks and Wild Life Management Authority said, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/africa/zimbabwe-elephant-drought-starvation/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The game reserve has the country's largest population of elephants with nearly 50,000. Investigations showed that at least 55 died from food and water shortages in the park, according to <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFKBN1X01L4-OZATP" target="_blank">Reuters</a>. Several of the deceased elephants were found within 50 meters of water pans, which suggests that traveled long distances and died just before reaching the water, according to the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50130740" target="_blank">BBC</a>. </p><p>"The problem is real, the situation is dire," said Farawo, as the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/dd19cd116bca45bda9b700fa0b405d9f" target="_blank">AP</a> reported.</p><p>Farawo said that the park, which does not receive funding from the government, has been trying to drill watering holes, but it has run out of money to continue, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50130740" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50130740" target="_blank">BBC</a> also reported that the water shortage is not the only problem. The park has too many elephants, which has caused fierce competition for limited resources, massive destruction to the park's vegetation and forced many elephants to stray into nearby communities. Officials say that elephants have killed more than 200 people in the last five years and 22 local villagers this year.</p><p>"Hwange was meant for 15,000 elephants but at the moment we are talking of more than 50,000," Farawo said, as the <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/dozens-elephants-die-zimbabwe-drought-doc-1lm1wd1" target="_blank">AFP</a> reported.</p><p>Hwange's overpopulation problem stands in stark contrast to the rest of Africa where the ivory trade has decimated the number of elephants on the continent. Africa's elephant numbers have fallen from near 415,000 to 111,000 in just the past decade, according to according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as the <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/dozens-elephants-die-zimbabwe-drought-doc-1lm1wd1" target="_blank">AFP</a> reported.</p><p>Farawo said an elephant mauled a man to death after the villager tried to chase the animal, which stepped into his garden to drink water.</p>
<p>"That's why we are saying allow us to trade in these animals, and we can raise funds for their security and food. But the so-called conservationists condemn us," said Farawo as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/africa/zimbabwe-elephant-drought-starvation/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>However, that often shadowy practice, received criticism from wildlife experts who say young elephants have been torn from their families, traumatized and sent to unsuitable Chinese zoos, as the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50130740" target="_blank">BBC</a> reported. </p><p>Critics have blamed the government for exacerbating the water crisis in the park. </p><p>"The government has over the years been allowing mines to develop in Hwange and that's reducing grazing land, and those operations have impact on water. Even polluting the water. So the government is squarely to blame for all this," said Lenin Chisaira, director of Advocates4Earth, which challenges selling elephants to Asian countries, to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/africa/zimbabwe-elephant-drought-starvation/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p>It's not just Hwange that needs water. The area around the park desperately needs rain. The <a href="https://www.afp.com/en/news/826/dozens-elephants-die-zimbabwe-drought-doc-1lm1wd1" target="_blank">AFP</a> reported that the UN has warned that more than five million rural Zimbabweans — nearly a third of the population — are at risk of food shortages before the next harvest in 2020. That is in a addition to the two million people in Harare, the nation's capital, which is facing a crisis of clean water that may lead to disease outbreak, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/zimbabwe-water-crisis-2640602141.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">EcoWatch</a> reported.
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A young boy pumps water as a woman collects it into buckets in Zimbabwe's capital Harare on n Sept. 19, 2018, where the cholera outbreak was first detected. JEKESAI NJIKIZANA / AFP / Getty Images
The 2 million residents of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital, and its surrounding areas found themselves without water on Monday and Tuesday when the authorities abruptly shut down the city's main water treatment plant, raising fears of cholera outbreaks and other water borne diseases, as the AP reported.
<p>Zimbabwe's crumbling economy has left the local government without enough money to import the necessary water treatment chemicals to allow the water to run. The Harare City Council deputy mayor Enock Mupamawonde told reporters that the local authority required 40 million Zimbabwe dollars a month ($2.7 million) for water chemicals — well short of the 15 million Zimbabwe dollars it collected in monthly revenue, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-water/zimbabwe-capital-city-shuts-main-water-plant-shortages-loom-idUSKBN1W82PH" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported.</p>
<p>He said the money shortage meant the council had to close its Morton Jaffray treatment plant outside of Harare. </p>
<p>"It (the shutdown) is due to the non availability of foreign currency...it is devastating to say the least," Mupamawonde told reporters as he urged President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government to declare the water crisis a national disaster, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-zimbabwe-water/zimbabwe-capital-city-shuts-main-water-plant-shortages-loom-idUSKBN1W82PH" target="_blank">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p>He also told reporters that officials were working to secure a week's supply of chemicals from Bulawayo, the country's second-biggest city, to resume operation and they hoped to get water running in homes by late Tuesday, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/24/africa/harare-water-crisis-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p>
<p>The Morton Jaffray treatment plant did resume pumping water yesterday, which brought some relief to residents, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/zimbabwe-water/zimbabwes-capital-resumes-pumping-water-temporarily-idUSL5N26F475" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported. </p>
<p>"The secured quantities will only last seven days during which period other quantities will be secured. We are currently engaging all stakeholders, including the government to find a lasting solution to the water crisis," said Mupamaonde on Tuesday, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/24/africa/harare-water-crisis-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p>
<p>Zimbabweans have endured a harsh drought this year after an abnormal El Niño season. Water levels in the country's polluted reservoirs have dropped precipitously, leaving cities and towns without the ability to provide water to their residents. Earlier this summer, the country's two largest cities started rationing water to their residents, allowing some people to have running water only once a week, as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/drought-means-residents-are-only-allowed-to-use-the-tap-once-a-week-2639610570.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">EcoWatch</a> reported.</p>
<p>"The toilets at school are just too filthy, people continue using them yet there is no water," said Dylan Kaitano, a 12-year-old waiting in line at wells, to the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/4e12b39584dc4f8eaf6796b9582ada56" target="_blank">AP</a>. "I didn't go to school today because I have to be here."</p>
<p>Debris such as plastic bottles, tires and algae floated in the shallow waters at the Chivero reservoir, the city's main water supply. The water, which looks green, also releases a choking, foul smell, according to the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/4e12b39584dc4f8eaf6796b9582ada56" target="_blank">AP</a>. </p>
<p>The water shortages have made the quality of life plummet in Harare, which now frequently has cases of typhoid triggered by water shortages and broken sewers. Many residents have had to fetch water from unsafe wells and defecate outdoors, according to the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/4e12b39584dc4f8eaf6796b9582ada56" target="_blank">AP</a>.</p>
<p>Tambudzai Murwa, a Harare resident, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/24/africa/harare-water-crisis-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> she dug a well to meet her needs since the water rationing started. </p>
<p>"We hardly have water in our taps," she said. "We pray daily that the cholera outbreak does not recur. A few boreholes were dug, but you have to queue for long to get water, yet we have other things that we have to queue for in our lives." </p>
<p>Twenty-six people died last year in a cholera outbreak, prompting President Emmerson Mnangagwa to express dismay that Zimbabweans were perishing from a "medieval" disease, according to the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/4e12b39584dc4f8eaf6796b9582ada56" target="_blank">AP</a>.</p>
<p>"Nothing is working in this country, how do we survive?" Hatineyi Kamwanda, another Harare resident said to the <a href="https://www.apnews.com/4e12b39584dc4f8eaf6796b9582ada56" target="_blank">AP</a>, referring to the country's shortages of medicine, food and fuel, in addition to water. "We can't even use the toilets, the children are not going to school because of this and now we fear cholera is going to hit us again. The president should treat us as human beings, we voted for him."</p>
<p>The water was turned back on near midnight Tuesday evening, but it is just a buffer period while the city scrambles to come up with the necessary money to pay for water purifying chemicals, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/zimbabwe-water/zimbabwes-capital-resumes-pumping-water-temporarily-idUSL5N26F475" target="_blank">Reuters</a>. </p>
<p>"We are taking this as a buffer period to work around what happens next," said Mupamawonde at a media briefing, as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/zimbabwe-water/zimbabwes-capital-resumes-pumping-water-temporarily-idUSL5N26F475" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported. He said that some of the city's chemical supplies were stuck at the border with South Africa in the south, awaiting payment and clearance.</p>
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Taps Run Dry in Zimbabwe’s Capital City Leaving 2 Million People With Running Water Only Once a Week
01 August 2019
Climate
Women carry 20 liter containers of water in the streets of Mabvuku on Aug. 1 in Harare, Zimbabwe. Tafadzwa Ufumeli / Getty Images
Water is life. Without it crops won't grow, clothes stay dirty and kids don't bathe. And, life without water is a daily nightmare endured in Zimbabwe's capital city, Harare, where more than two million people only have running water once a week, according to the New York Times.
<p>The water shortage there means residents ration bathroom trips and stand in interminable lines to fill buckets and cans at communal boreholes. One mother profiled by the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/world/africa/zimbabwe-water-crisis.html?rref=collection%252Fsectioncollection%252Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront" target="_blank">New York Times</a> got in line at 3 a.m. By the afternoon, she was still standing in line.</p>
<p>The boreholes are a problem too since they are so polluted. "Water-borne diseases linked to these boreholes are on the rise, but people have had to take in their own hands water supply because the utility has failed to provide water," said Jean-Marie Kileshye-Onema, network manager of WaterNet, as <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/07/15/two-million-zimbabwes-capital-no-water-city-turns-off-taps/" target="_blank">Climate Change News</a> reported.</p><p>The water rationing started in June in the country's two major cities, Harare and Bulawayo. The economics of water purification are also working against Zimbabwe. The city government has had to work a critical shortage of purifying chemicals, which cost in excess of $3 million per month, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/africa/zimbabwe-water-crisis-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>.</p><p>"We are using more chemicals and we have not been able to procure enough safe chemicals as a result, we are targeting to provide water to our residents with a minimum of once a week' supply of the precious liquid," said Mabhena Moyo, Harare's Acting Water director, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/africa/zimbabwe-water-crisis-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>The shortage, which started in January but has been exacerbated in July, is due to an awful <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a> year from the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. Poor water management has also squandered the remaining water. An estimate of 45 to 60 percent of the water that's left in Harare reservoirs is lost through leakage and theft, said Herbert Gomba, the mayor of Harare, as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/world/africa/zimbabwe-water-crisis.html?rref=collection%252Fsectioncollection%252Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront" target="_blank">New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>"There is a rotational water supply within the five towns," said Michael Chideme, Harare city council corporate communications manager, to <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/07/15/two-million-zimbabwes-capital-no-water-city-turns-off-taps/" target="_blank">Climate Change News</a>. "Some people are getting water five days a week especially in the western suburbs, but the northern suburbs are going for weeks without a drop in their taps."</p><p>The water crisis has raised fears of a cholera outbreak or other waterborne diseases, especially in areas where residents have lived without water for three months, said Community Water Alliance, an NGO, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/africa/zimbabwe-water-crisis-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"We are looking at hygiene standards, service delivery and ablution system which requires water," said Hardlife Mudzingwa of the Community Water Alliance Citizens to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/africa/zimbabwe-water-crisis-intl/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "Citizens have been greatly affected and the cholera hotspots are what we fear the most."</p><p>The water crisis is emblematic of Zimbabwe's dysfunction and the horrible infrastructure that long-time president Robert Mugabe left as a legacy before he was ousted from office in 2017. In addition to water shortages, residents of Harare deal with shortages of fuel, bank notes, and medicine. Inflation is at a staggering 175 percent, and daily blackout last 15 to 18 hours, according to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/world/africa/zimbabwe-water-crisis.html?rref=collection%252Fsectioncollection%252Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront" target="_blank">New York Times</a>.</p><p>"It is a nightmare," said Norman Matara, a physician and board member of the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights, a medical watchdog, as the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/31/world/africa/zimbabwe-water-crisis.html?rref=collection%252Fsectioncollection%252Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=2&pgtype=sectionfront" target="_blank">New York Times</a> reported. He has watched his patients skip medication because they can no longer afford it or take it once every three days instead of every day. </p>
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Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration Over New Elephant and Lion Trophy Policies, Still in Effect Despite Trump's Tweets
21 November 2017
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African elephant. USFWS
The Center for Biological Diversity and Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Trump administration Monday for allowing U.S. hunters to import elephant and lion trophies from Zimbabwe. The lawsuit aims to protect animals and resolve confusion created by the administration's contradictory announcements in recent days.
The suit comes days after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service abruptly reversed an Obama-era ban on elephant trophy imports based on catastrophic elephant population declines. Fish and Wildlife also recently greenlighted lion trophy imports from Zimbabwe, despite the controversial killing of Cecil the Lion in Zimbabwe in 2015.
<p>After massive public outcry, including from established Republican politicians and pundits, President Trump and Interior Sec. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ryan-zinke">Ryan Zinke</a> announced a "hold" on issuing elephant trophy import permits late Friday night. President Trump suggested on Twitter that a new big-game trophy decision would be forthcoming. Unfortunately, the new federal policies allowing imports of elephant and lion trophies—referred to as "positive enhancement findings" under the U.S. Endangered Species Act—remain in effect.</p><p>"The Trump administration must clearly and permanently halt imports of lion and elephant trophies to protect these amazing animals from extinction," said Tanya Sanerib, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. "Trump's abrupt backpedaling after public outcry, while appreciated, shows how arbitrary this deplorable decision was. These incredibly imperiled creatures need a lot more than vague promises."</p>
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</p><div id="986a6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QHZNEL1576663087"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="931544412051722240" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Lion 'Trophy' Importation Ban Was Quietly Lifted by Trump Administration in October https://t.co/BmbXUk6MJi @WWF… https://t.co/eQ131tMxeD</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/931544412051722240">1510932469.0</a></blockquote></div>
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<p>The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, notes that the Trump administration acted arbitrarily in its rush to reverse course and open the U.S. to Zimbabwean lion and elephant trophies in a move that is contrary to the Endangered Species Act.</p><p>"Putting trophy imports 'on hold' isn't enough," said Elly Pepper, deputy director of Wildlife Trade for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Elephants are in crisis now. If we don't force the administration to completely revoke its decision, President Trump could quietly start allowing these imports as soon as he stops facing criticism on Twitter."</p><p>The Trump administration's decision to lift the ban on these trophy imports relies heavily upon Zimbabwe having the plans, resources, funds and staff to conserve elephant and lion populations. But, as the lawsuit notes, in a country where corruption is already a huge concern, a military coup that began Nov. 14 has cast further uncertainty on Zimbabwe's rule of law. Zimbabwe scored an abysmal 22 out of 100 on Transparency International's 2016 Corruption Perception Index.</p><p>Poaching elephants for their <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ivory">ivory</a> remains a significant threat in Zimbabwe. According to aerial surveys—known as the Great Elephant Census—Zimbabwe's elephant population decreased six percent between 2001 and 2013, when the aerial surveys were performed. Zimbabwe's elephant population is <a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/com/sc/69/E-SC69-51-01-A.pdf" target="_blank">reportedly still in decline</a>, largely due to poaching. Zimbabwe's lion population was estimated at roughly 703 lions in 2014. <br><br>The Great Elephant Census of savannah elephants conducted over the past couple of years revealed that fewer than 400,000 savannah elephants (not including the smaller forest elephants in western-central Africa) remain across the continent. The census results also documented the loss of 140,000 elephants over seven years due to poaching. In 2016, the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15951/0" target="_blank">IUCN</a> found lions in Africa to be <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species">vulnerable to extinction</a>, noting an estimated 43 percent decline of African lion populations over 21 years. </p><p>Studies show that trophy hunting is only a small portion of the funding all tourists, including those who do not deplete <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife">wildlife</a> populations, provide in African countries that allow trophy hunting. Meanwhile, corruption in Zimbabwe raises serious concerns about where trophy hunters' fees really go, according to assessments by the Obama administration and a 2016 report from House Natural Resources Committee.</p>
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At the Tikki Hywood Trust in Harare, Zimbabwe, a group of charity workers known as the "Pangolin Men" dedicate their lives to saving a prehistoric-looking animal from an increasing threat of extinction.
The pangolin is the only mammal in the world with scales. Sadly, it's this unique feature that gives the pangolin the unfortunate title of the world's most trafficked mammal, with more than a million illegally hunted and killed in just the last decade. All eight species in Africa and Asia are hunted for their scales, meat and use in traditional Asian medicine.
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But conservationists, like the team at the Tikki Hywood Trust, are working hard to reverse this horrific trend. As seen in the video above from
<a href="http://animals.barcroft.tv/pangolin-men-worlds-most-trafficked-mammal-adrian-steirn" target="_blank">Barcroft Animals</a>, each of the Pangolin Men at the trust are assigned a pangolin and spend the whole day rehabilitating and walking with them so they can learn to forage naturally.
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The clip also provides a rare glimpse of the gentle and playful creatures interacting with the workers.
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"Here in Zimbabwe, we are proud to save the pangolins," says one of the minders in the clip. "Everyday with my friends we protect the animal. We walk them, we feed them, we protect them like our children."
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Photographer Adrian Steirn, who is featured in the video, was granted access to the charity's work. There, he took stunning portraits of the Pangolin Men to help bring attention to the plight of this endangered animal that many people may have never heard of.
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"I think if people learn what a pangolin is from these images, then we are moving in the right direction," as Steirn says in the clip. "I hope that people learn to care a little bit more, not just about pangolins, but about our planet."
</p><div id="0039b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="X8GYED1576661785"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BUyZg3QlIxD/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif;
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word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">Adrian Steirn on Instagram: “Just a couple of guys hanging out with their Pangolin.”</a></p>
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