New Security Beat Friday Digest (December 12-16, 2022) ~ World Unsulved Mistery

Environmental Change and Security Program

NEW SECURITY BEAT FRIDAY DIGEST (DECEMBER 12 - 16, 2022)

Water @ Wilson Event | Water, Peace, & Security: New Tools for a New Climate

December 16, 2022 // By Claire Doyle

Water sustains life on our planet. And access to clean and safe water is foundational to society. So why has it only been in recent years that water has risen to the top of discussions of climate and security? Richard W. Spinrad, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator, says that one of the biggest reasons is the major impact that climate-related changes in precipitation like droughts and extreme rainfall are having across the globe: "We're starting to see things like we've never seen before. The nature of storms is changing: We saw five feet of rain fall in Hurricane Harvey. Five feet."

Invisible Threads: Addressing Migration Through Investments in Women and Girls

December 16, 2022 // By Amanda King

This week's episode of the New Security Broadcast explores Invisible Threads: Addressing the Root Causes of Migration from Guatemala by Investing in Women and Girls–a new report from the Population Institute. "We feel like it's really important to highlight how the lives of women and girls and other marginalized groups are really central to a lot of the issues that are at the root causes of migration from the region," says Kathleen Mogelgaard, President and CEO of the Population Institute. In this episode, Mogelgaard lays out the report's findings and recommendations with two fellow contributors: Aracely Martínez Rodas, Director of the Master in Development at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, and Dr. J. Joseph Speidel, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

Pandemic Learning: Migrant Care Workers and Their Families Are Essential in a Post-COVID-19 World (New Report)

December 16, 2022 // By Sarah B. Barnes & Sonya Michel

Migrant care work is a key component of this ongoing global care crisis. Many caregivers have been compelled to migrate and work without documentation, but the pandemic has increased their risks, as it has prompted national governments to tighten border restrictions. While the spread of COVID-19 has greatly increased the need for care work everywhere, it has also diminished the number of migrants available to perform it. Additionally, while migrant care workers are being applauded and elevated in stature as part of the "essential workforce" necessary for the overall health of a nation during the pandemic, they actually face greater dangers from the disease than citizen populations.

Slow Down? Environmental Regulators Tap the Brakes on China's High-Speed Rail

December 15, 2022 // By Xiao Ma

China's high-speed railway (HSR) is the most recent poster child for the country's rapid development, with more HSR tracks than the rest of the world combined. Since 2004, the Chinese government has invested more than 10 trillion RMB to build a 40,000-kilometer (km) network of trains that zip between stations at speeds reaching 350 km/hr (or 220 miles per hour). Not to be outdone, by 2035 the government aims to expand this train network by 75 percent to help the country reach its transport connectivity and low-carbon transportation goals.

Warfare and Global Warming

December 14, 2022 // By Scott Moore

The world has plenty of reasons to avoid conflict already. Yet attendees at the recently-concluded COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt were presented with another compelling argument: Warfare is bad for global warming. So much so, in fact, that Ukraine's delegation to the conference organized a special session at the conference of parties on "War Related Emissions," bringing along a tree trunk bearing scars from Russian shell fragments as tangible evidence.

Environmentalism for Sovereignty's Sake

December 12, 2022 // By Peter Schwartzstein

Egypt's Gebel Elba National Park is, by all accounts, a spectacular place. But it better be to justify the fuss it takes to visit. First you have to apply for a permit. If that's approved (and almost none have been in recent years), you need to travel with an approved tour operator. Even then, you must be accompanied by police at all times.

As an isolated, sparsely populated stretch of mountain and desert in a country where most rural travel beyond the Nile valley is heavily regulated, Gebel Elba likely wouldn't be easy to access, no matter where it was in Egypt. But tucked as it is in the Halayeb Triangle (which is also claimed by neighboring Sudan and over which the two countries have nearly come to blows in the past), Gebel Elba isn't a place where authorities welcome outsiders. Among environmentalists, it's almost a given that the welfare of the park's rare wildlife––and the tight restrictions that have ostensibly been rolled out for its benefit––are simply a handy pretext to keep most visitors at bay.

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