Keeping it Simple (KISBYTO): World

Showing posts with label World. Show all posts

Thursday, July 11, 2013

WORLD POPULATION DAY 2013

By Diane Forrest

I have read that in China, they limit the number of children in each household to one child. The families prefer a male child to preserve the family name and heritage. The females are put up for adoption, or worse. With this type of control on the population, soon there won't be any children. The population of the world requires responsibility among the inhabitants. Points of concern include space, food, and health care.

Every night late at night there are commercials about children in under developed countries who are starving. Asking to send money to buy them food and clothes and shelter. There is a saying, "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day, Teach a man to fish, and he will never be hungry again." Or either, teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day. I believe that in impoverished areas, not only is it important to lend a helping hand, but also educate them to become self-sufficient. This should extend not only to food, but also in other areas. Education about reproduction should be top on the list when talking about the world population. Birth controls methods should be taught and encouraged. Living in an educated society, we assume that everyone has the same access to information that we are fortunate to have. This is not the case in many areas.

World Population Day seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The Governing Council of the United Nations Development Program established this event in 1989. This is an opportunity to celebrate our common humanity and our diversity. It is also a reminder of our shared responsibility to care for each other and our planet.

Reproductive health is at the very heart of development and crucial to delivering the UNFPA vision — a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. On 11 July – World Population Day – many activities and campaigns will call attention to the essential part that reproductive health plays in creating a just and equitable world. Help us generate greater commitment to the idea that everyone has a right to reproductive health.

For more information about World Population Day and for ways you can help in this area visit this site http://www.unfpa.org/public/

According to an article from BBC Future – “Are we facing population overload?”

The problem is that growth is now almost entirely occurring in regions of the world like sub-Saharan Africa, where people are the poorest, infrastructure is worst and environmental degradation is already problematic. And the current demographic shift, in which developed nations have an older average population, whereas those of developed nations are younger, will continue. It means that the native workforce will be insufficient to support rich-nation societies, which will increasingly rely on migrants from the developing world.

Ultimately, if everyone on Earth were to eat as the average American does, or to live their lifestyle, there is not enough to go around. The only way we can make this work as a species is by being realistic about resource availability – from cropland to water – and tailor our expectations of what constitutes a good life to the limitations imposed by our population. (http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120725-population-overload/2)

(Photos from Google)

Friday, June 7, 2013

Protect the Ocean

By Terry Orr

According to Wikipedia - World Oceans Day is an opportunity every year to honor the world's oceans, celebrate the products the ocean provides such as seafood as well as marine life itself for aquariums, pets, and also a time to appreciate its own intrinsic value. The ocean also provides sea-lanes for international trade. Global pollution and over-consumption of fish have resulted in drastically dwindling population of the majority of species.

The Ocean Project, working in partnership with the World Ocean Network, has been promoting WOD since 2003 with its network of over 1,600 organizations and others throughout the world. These groups have been working to build greater awareness of the crucial role of the ocean in our lives and the important ways people can help. World Oceans Day provides an opportunity to get directly involved in protecting our future, through a new mindset and personal and community action and involvement – beach cleanups, educational programs, art contests, film festivals, sustainable seafood events, and other planned activities help to raise consciousness of how our lives depend on the oceans.

The World Oceans Day 2013 & 2014 theme is:

Together we have the power to protect the ocean

Just remember – without it – there is no life.

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Grits

By Diane Forrest

Recently I was having a discussion about breakfast side dishes with a friend of mine. He lives up north, and declares that people there want breakfast potatoes. However, here in the south, Grits are the food of choice. He questioned why anyone would prefer grits over potatoes, and given a choice, everyone would eat potatoes for breakfast. I let him know that babies are started out on Grits, and eat them probably most of their lives.

My friend is Italian, and the Italian version of grits is Polenta, originally thought of as a peasant food. His grandmother used to make them into patties and fry them, and he developed distastes for them. These days, grits aren't just for breakfast anymore, they can be found served with entrees at finer restaurants at lunch and dinner. My father, who attends a weekly club meeting where lunch is served, loves the cheese grits that are on the buffet. In fact, if grits aren't present, I can always tell by his grouchy disposition.

When I see the word "grits" I think of the expression, "Girls raised in the South." That makes me think that southern women have grit and determination and makes me proud to be a southerner.

Today is World Grits Day. It’s the perfect day to start your morning with some eggs, bacon and a big side of hot buttered grits. McDonalds recently started serving grits on their breakfast menu, so I decided to give them a try. They came in a tiny bowl, about two tablespoons full, and it was a liquidly tasteless mixture. Here we take our grits very seriously, nearly sacred. So today, grab some grits at your store, or head to the nearest diner and enjoy a heaping helping. I like mine with butter and sugar on top. How do you eat your grits? Leave us a comment in the section below.

(All images from Google)

Sunday, April 7, 2013

World Health Day - High Blood Pressure

By Nurse Diane

World Health Day is celebrated on 7 April to mark the anniversary of the founding of World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. Each year a theme is selected for World Health Day that highlights a priority area of public health concern in the world. The theme for 2013 is High Blood Pressure.

High blood pressure – also known as raised blood pressure or hypertension – increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. If left uncontrolled, high blood pressure can also cause blindness, irregularities of the heartbeat and heart failure. The risk of developing these complications is higher in the presence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as diabetes. One in three adults worldwide have high blood pressure. The proportion increases with age, from 1 in 10 people in their 20s and 30s to 5 in 10 people in their 50s. Prevalence of high blood pressure is highest in some low-income countries in Africa, and with over 40% of adults in many African countries.

The risk of developing high blood pressure can be reduced by:

Reducing salt intake;
Eating a balanced diet;
Avoiding harmful use of alcohol;
Taking regular physical activity;
Maintaining a healthy body weight; and
Avoiding tobacco use.

The ultimate goal of World Health Day 2013 is to reduce heart attacks and strokes. Specific objectives of the campaign are:

To raise awareness of the causes and consequences of high blood pressure;
To provide information on how to prevent high blood pressure and related complications;
To encourage adults to check their blood pressure and to follow the advice of health-care professionals;
To encourage self-care to prevent high blood pressure;
To make blood pressure measurement affordable to all; and
To incite national and local authorities to create enabling environments for healthy behaviors.

Source: http://www.who.int/world-health-day/en/

(All images from Google)

Friday, March 22, 2013

World Water Day

By Terry Orr

Most of us in America have never had to worry about drinkable water or dealt with water rationing. When we travel, often we are told - “Don’t drink the water” as it is really not safe for our consumption. Yet there a literally hundreds of millions of people who are faced with this problem every day of their lives.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Culture Organization (USESCO) has an excellent brochure available for viewing and downloading (see link below). I highly recommend reading this brochure and pass it along to others.

Why Is World Water Day Important?

780 million people—almost entirely the poorest and most marginalized in the world—live without access to safe drinking water. 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation (a pit latrine or better); that’s 40% of the world’s population.

Lack of access to WASH contributes to two of the three leading killers of children under five years old in the world. These diseases are pneumonia, which could be prevented by good handwashing and better hygiene; and diarrhea, which comes from drinking unsafe water and lack of sanitation around the world. With good quality water, sanitation and hygiene, many children’s lives could be saved.
Up to 40 billion working hours are lost every year to water collection, mostly by women and girls who must walk long distances, sometimes in dangerous circumstances, to collect water. This, combined with water-borne diseases keeping people from school and work, costs countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia 5-6% of their Gross Domestic Products each year. This is a significant blow to economic growth and global financial stability.

Water cooperation

The fulfilment of basic human needs, our environment, socio-economic development and poverty reduction are all heavily dependent on water.

Good management of water is especially challenging due to some of its unique characteristics: it is unevenly distributed in time and space, the hydrological cycle is highly complex and perturbations have multiple effects. Rapid urbanization, pollution and climate change threaten the resource while demands for water are increasing in order to satisfy the needs of a growing world population, now at over seven billion people, for food production, energy, industrial and domestic uses. Water is a shared resource and its management needs to take into account a wide variety of conflicting interests. This provides opportunities for cooperation among users.

Promoting water cooperation implies an interdisciplinary approach bringing in cultural, educational and scientific factors, as well as religious, ethical, social, political, legal, institutional and economic dimensions. (Source: UNWATER.ORG)