Biophysical environment

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World Oceans day was 8 June, 2019. This year, the Nairobi Convention celebrated by releasing information on major issues facing the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region and how the Contracting Parties are working to sustainably protect, manage, and use their marine and coastal resources. 

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Revved up climate action’ needed to counter ‘prolonged’ and deadly storms like Cyclone Idai: UN

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The northern half of the Northern Mozambique Channel (NMC) extends northwards from the narrowest part of the channel between Madagascar and Mozambique, at about 17°S (Fig. 4.1). The Aldabra group of islands lies just to the north, at about 9°S, but the precise northern limit is not clear and is operationally set to include Mafia Island in central Tanzania at about 7°S. It is bounded by northwest Madagascar, northern Mozambique, and southern Tanzania, with the Comoro archipelago at its heart.
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The present Issues Paper aims at analysing how African countries can utilize the opportunities in the Blue Economy to bolster sustainable development and socioeconomic transformation. Agenda 2063 of the African Union declares the Blue Economy to be “Africa’s future” and recognizes the key role that the ocean plays as a catalyst for socioeconomic transformation. The paper examines the opportunities and challenges to developing the Blue Economy in Africa.

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Environmental flows improve water management by ensuring a sustainable water supply meets the needs of people, agriculture, energy, industry and the environment within the limits of availability. The application of environmental flows supports the health of aquatic ecosystems and the well-being of people who depend on them. By providing a system for equitable allocation of water, based on available supply, the application of environmental flows can support development and poverty alleviation.

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Pollution from land-based run-off threatens coastal ecosystems and the services they provide, detrimentally affecting the livelihoods of millions people on the world's coasts. Planning for linkages among terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems can help managers mitigate the impacts of land-use change on water quality and coastal ecosystem services.

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The present study investigated diffusive emissions of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) to the atmosphere from three relatively small (3–120 km2) reservoirs (Masinga, Kamburu and Gitaru) on the Tana River (Kenya). Sampling was conducted biweekly in 2011, 2012 and 2013, at sampling sites upstream and downstream of these reservoirs while five sampling campaigns were carried out in 2011, 2012 and 2013 for different sites within each of the reservoirs.