Posts tagged countries
Developing countries, in race out of poverty, will produce more E-Waste
Feb 22nd
UN Under-Secretary-General Achim Steiner gave a talk at an environment protection conference in Bali describing a growing problem among developing nations: e-waste. While places like China and India already have their own problems with informal e-waste recycling, the UN expects to see the same intractable problems surface in Africa and Latin America while levels of trash will double or triple in already problem-plagued countries.
What does this mean? Generally it means that entire swathes of the developing world will soon become e-waste producers and recyclers. As folks in developing counties begin buying computers, TVs, and fridges the e-waste problem is compounded by population and horrible recycling techniques and the refusal by organizations like the to back forced recycling programs in already developed areas.
These countries will soon be buried in e-waste and informal recycling techniques, including dropping PCBs into heaters to release the gold and other rare metals, create massive problems for the recyclers and nearby homes. It is, in short, a mess.
Here are a few stats from the UN on this problem:
Global e-waste generation is growing by about 40 million tons a year
Manufacturing mobile phones and personal computers consumes 3 per cent of the gold and silver mined worldwide each year; 13 per cent of the palladium and 15 per cent of cobalt
Modern electronics contain up to 60 different elements — many valuable, some hazardous, and some both
Carbon dioxide emissions from the mining and production of copper and precious and rare metals used in electrical and electronic equipment are estimated at over 23 million tonnes ? 0.1 percent of global emissions (not including emissions linked to steel, nickel or aluminum, nor those linked to manufacturing the devices)
In the US, more than 150 million mobiles and pagers were sold in 2008, up from 90 million five years before
Globally, more than 1 billion mobile phones were sold in 2007, up from 896 million in 2006
Countries like Senegal and Uganda can expect e-waste flows from PCs alone to increase 4 to 8-fold by 2020.
Given the infrastructure expense and technology skills required to create proper facilities for efficient and environmentally sound metal recovery, the report suggests facilitating exports of critical e-scrap fractions like circuit boards or btteries from smaller countries to OECD-level, certified end-processors.
This is, friends, a big problem. Although we’re a gadget site, it’s become more and more clear that the vast majority of gadget makers aren’t ready to face this problem and are happy just to grab the nascent market share in these countries. We’ll try to stay on these companies in the news but please vote with your wallet, especially when organizations try to prevent .
New Maps domains in 30 African Countries
Feb 18th
One of the things we spend a lot of time thinking about at Google is how we can make the world’s information more accessible and useful to people all over the globe. This includes providing rich local geographic data because, after all, a huge number of search queries have a geographic component. Our efforts to start putting Africa on a map kicked off back in 2009 when we announced the . Not long afterwords, we announced that users across 45 African countries could build and edit maps in . Most recently, we launched .
Our big announcement today is that we are launching Maps domains for 30 countries across Africa. So what’s on offer? As well as searching online Maps for towns, highways, or roads, Google Maps users can now find local businesses. This could be a burger place in Lagos, a garage in Kampala, a hairdresser in Accra or an airport shuttle in Dakar. Any business anywhere can add their own business listing for free via the Google Maps . Businesses can also improve their websites and help customers locate them by installing the .
In addition, we know that a lot of people need to find map information whilst travelling or driving, which is why we offer on data enabled handsets.
You know your local area better than we do, which is why Map Maker is on offer. With Map Maker, any user can create or edit map data, ranging from schools to local businesses, national parks to taxi stops. If you know your local area, or you’ve seen something that’s missing, take up the opportunity to get mapping! As we’ve pointed out before, maps are also invaluable for governments, NGOs, universities and entrepreneurs, who can visualise, plan and market the areas and projects that they work on.
Ever thought about creating your own map for a specific event (like a wedding or treasure hunt) so you can share it with friends? You can do this using the popular, easy to use My Maps feature, which allows users to add their favorite locations and destinations to Google Maps and include their photos, comments and reviews about each place. You can check out new My Maps content for Nigeria, including additions from musicians and .
We are thrilled to be improving our maps functionality for Africa, and helping to make Africa’s information readily available. We encourage you to add your own content and showcase to the world the parts of Africa that you know best.
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Chez Google, nous passons beaucoup de temps à réfléchir sur la façon de rendre plus accessibles et plus utiles à tous les données sur le monde. Cette ambition suppose de disposer de données géographiques locales précises et fournies : de fait, énormément de recherches comportent une part géographique. Nos efforts de cartographie de l?Afrique ont abouti en 2009 à l?annonce du lancement de Google Maps Kenya. Peu de temps après, nous annoncions que les internautes de 45 pays africains pouvaient créer et modifier des cartes via . Enfin, plus récemment, nous avons lancé .
Aujourd?hui, nous avons une grande annonce à faire : nous lançons des domaines Maps pour 30 pays à travers l?Afrique. Que proposons-nous ? Outre la recherche en ligne sur Maps de villes, d?autoroutes ou de routes, les utilisateurs de Google Maps peuvent désormais rechercher des entreprises locales : une sandwicherie à Lagos, un garage à Kampala, un coiffeur à Accra ou une navette pour l?aéroport à Dakar. Toute entreprise où qu’elle soit peut insérer gratuitement ses coordonnées via le de Google Maps. Les entreprises peuvent également optimiser leur site Internet et aider les clients à les localiser en installant .
De plus, nous savons que de nombreuses personnes ont besoin de données géographiques lorsqu?elles voyagent ou qu?elles conduisent : c?est pourquoi est disponible sur les mobiles compatibles.
Vous connaissez votre région mieux que nous. C?est pourquoi nous proposons Map Maker. Avec Map Maker, tout internaute peut créer ou modifier des données cartographiques, allant des écoles aux commerces locaux, des parcs nationaux aux stations de taxis. Si vous connaissez par c?ur votre quartier, ou que vous notez un oubli, vous pouvez intervenir ! Comme nous l?avons souligné précédemment, les cartes sont aussi des outils inestimables pour les gouvernements, les ONG, les universités et les entrepreneurs, qui sont à même de visualiser les zones sur lesquelles ils travaillent, et de planifier et d?affiner leurs projets en conséquence.
Vous n?avez jamais songé à créer votre propre carte pour un événement précis (un mariage, une chasse au trésor? ) pour la partager avec vos amis ? Vous pouvez le faire très facilement avec la fonction My Maps, qui permet à tout un chacun d?insérer ses lieux et destinations favoris à Google Maps et d?enrichir l?information par des photos, des commentaires et des avis. Vous pouvez tester notre nouveau contenu My Maps pour le Nigéria, comprenant les ajouts des musiciens and .
Nous sommes très heureux d?améliorer les fonctionnalités associées à la cartographie de l?Afrique, et d?aider à rendre les données sur l?Afrique immédiatement disponibles. Nous vous encourageons à intégrer vos propres contenus, pour faire découvrir au monde entier les coins de l?Afrique que vous connaissez le mieux.
