Tropical Cyclone Dineo hits Mozambique

Tropical Cyclone Dineo has hit the Inhambane province of Mozambique, with high winds, torrential rain and dangerous storm surge.

Dineo, the equivalent of a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, made landfall in the town of Inhambane at around 1630 GMT on Wednesday 15 February.

 It is the first cyclone to hit the province of Inhambane since Favio caused destruction in February 2007 and the first to hit the town itself for more than 30 years. In 2008, intense tropical cyclone Jokwe made landfall higher up the coast of Mozambique.

According to World Metrological Office in La Reunion (Meteo-France), wind gusts may reach up to 180 km/h in affected coastal areas.

Rainfall may exceed 150mm in 24 hours, both in coastal areas, but also well inland. Storm surge will be 2-3 meters in the Bay of Inhambane, which is a popular tourist destination. But it will coincide with high tide to produce very hazardous waves and storm surge.

After landfall, Dineo will weaken but still has the potential to bring heavy rainfall to parts of Zimbabwe and South Africa.

NIGERIA DECLARES AIR POLLUTION IN PORT HARCOURT AN EMERGENCY

Nigeria has declared an air pollution emergency in a major southern city on Tuesday and closed an asphalt plant there after residents complained about the fumes from its furnaces.

Residents also staged a protest in Port Harcourt, a harbour city in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, waving their hands in the air to show the soot stains from touching cars.

"The Federal Ministry of Environment has declared the air pollution in Port Harcourt an emergency situation and has subsequently issued a notice to temporarily shut down an asphalt processing plant...belching out thick smoke," the government said in a statement.

The Rivers State government had earlier announced the sealing off of Chinese Government Company, CGC, in Aluu, over “aggravated air pollution, and breach of environmental laws” in the state.

Two other companies – H & H Engineering Company and AUC Asphalt Company – located in Aluu have also been sealed off.

One of the residents, Charles Adolor narrated his experience, "If I am having my bath, the colour of the water, the stains on the sink are always black,Before we can use already-washed plates we have to rewash them again."

Adolor and his family have been wearing face masks inside their apartment to protect themselves from the soot that covers everything from the windows to the bathroom.

In other parts of the state, residents also complained about crude spills from broken or blown-up pipelines and acid rain from gas flaring, the burning of natural gas at oil wells.

World Wetlands Day: How wetlands minimise damage from disasters

As the world celebrates the 2017 World Wetlands Day on Thursday, February 2 2017, the focus this time around is on the role played by wetlands in reducing the impact of natural disasters.

Wetlands helped avoid more than $625 million in damages from Hurricane Sandy in 2012

Defined as land areas that are flooded with water, either seasonally or permanently, wetlands are said to be a natural buffer against disasters.

Along the coastline, wetlands act as a natural protective buffer. For example, they helped avoid more than $625 million in damages from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Inland, wetlands act as a natural sponge, absorbing and storing excess rainfall and reducing flooding. During the dry season, they release the stored water, delaying the onset of droughts and reducing water shortages.

When well managed, wetlands can make communities resilient enough to prepare for, cope with and bounce back from disasters even stronger than before.

Preparing/Preventing To minimise impact ahead of time, flood- and storm-prone areas can be designated as protected wetlands to strengthen nature’s own buffer. The Biosphere Reserve of the

Saloum Delta in Senegal, for example, is an area of estuaries, lakes and marshes. It controls flooding and makes sure that humans, animals and plants have access to fresh water over the entire year. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), it was gathered, is working with local communities in Senegal to restore degraded wetlands and to encourage sustainable agriculture, tourism and fishing practices.

Coping When an extreme event hits, healthy wetlands can absorb some of the shock, cushioning the damage in local communities. In Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka where offshore coral reefs are protected through a marine park, the damage from the 2004 tsunami extended just 50m inland. In nearby Peraliya, where coral mining had degraded the reefs, the damage extended 1.5 km inland.

Bouncing Back Wetlands can also speed up the recovery and help to “build back better” after a disaster, acting as natural water filters and nutrient restorers. After a 1999 cyclone that hit Odisha in eastern India, rice paddies that were protected by mangroves recovered their food production much more quickly than croplands without the buffer.

Maintaining healthy wetlands and restoring degraded ones means that a community can deal with a disaster even better next time.

Source :Environews

NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES SOLAR ENERGY PROJECT FOR RURAL COMMUNITIES

Nigerian Government Launches Solar Energy Project for Rural Communities

The Nigeria Government has launched a new presidential initiative, a solar project, in association with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited, to address the shortage and in some cases, total absence of electricity in the country.

Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, said that the initiative is expected to be replicated all over the country.

“We expect that this would be replicated all over Nigeria. We are starting with 20,000 but I am sure that we would ramp up very quickly. We have been talking to the private sector about involving themselves also in this project. We think that as solar power becomes cheaper, and it is becoming cheaper really practically day by day, we would be able to afford to do even more, to deploy more across the country, especially to those places that are not at the moment served by our grid” he said.

“We cannot take all our power from the grid” he said, adding that in the next few years, it would not be absolutely important for people to be connected to the grid “because we would be deploying every type of off grid solution that we can deploy. And we want to do that in the industrial areas. It is also a job creation opportunity. We are going to be putting a lot of pressure on Azuri technologies to begin local assembly of all of the solar equipment right here” he said, adding that radiation here is excellent for solar power.

The Presidential initiative for Solar Home Systems is an initiative that is supporting the deployment of 20, 000 small-scale household solar systems to rural communities in Nigeria, in a bid to provide access to sustainable and alternative power solutions to address the immediate power requirements of the people.

The systems are designed for the needs of small rural households that are completely unconnected to the grid. These systems have the capacity to power four light bulbs, a radio, a torch and come with a USB port with charging cables for mobile phones. They provide up to 8 hours of lighting, home phone charging and clean, reliable, off-grid power.

The Managing Director, Niger Delta Power Holding Company, Chiedu Ugbo, who was also at the launch of the project held at Wuna Village, Gwagwalada, Abuja, said that millions of Nigerians still rely on rudimentary lighting systems as they are not connected to the grid.

“There are many Nigerians, estimated at 70 million, like the inhabitants of Wuna village, without any connection to the grid, who still rely on rudimentary lighting systems characterized mainly by use of kerosene lamps, candles and petrol generators with attendant health and safety risks and indeed financial challenges” he said, at the event tagged ‘Beyond the Grid’.

The Power Holding Company and the Nigerian Government worked in collaboration with Azuri Technologies to plan and develop the solar power program, which is focused on providing clean and reliable energy for Nigerians.

The Chief Executive Officer, Azuri Technology, Simon Bransfield – Garth explained the importance of electricity to the people. “It is the thing that makes the World progress. It brings the Sun out at night. It allows us to talk to people wherever they are and benefit from entertainment, information and education. But historically, electricity has been for people in the cities.

Bransfield – Garth said further that, “with the development of solar power, it is possible to get energy anywhere. It doesn’t need to be fed with fuel every day. It just depends on the Sun, and that is something we can truly rely on”.

He reiterated that solar power in rural communities will have great and immediate impact on the communities. He said on average, students spend two hours extra per night, on their studies; hence, it is quite normal for students to go from mid place to top of their class in just a few months simply because they are doing that much extra work.

Bransfield – Garth highlighted that families also often use this extra time in the evenings to increase their income. Shop keepers are able to keep their shop open for longer. Farmers can process crops in the evening and be first to market in the morning. Everyone can keep their phones on all the time without having to worry about the cost of charging and can listen to radio all day without having to buy batteries.

Solar homes system is expected to provide energy during the day and to charge batteries to provide light and other services at night.

A small but very efficient solar panel is installed on the roof of the house and connected to a yellow box in the household containing a battery which drives devices such as light.

The system is unlocked each week with a small payment on the mobile phone and after three years, the system unlocks completely and no more payments are needed.