Interesting Facts

There's a war of words going on in Malawi about the actual meaning behind "fouling the air". (Justice Minister George Chaponda says the new bill would criminalise flatulence to promote "public decency". Solicitor General Anthony Kamanga, says the reference to "fouling the air" means pollution. The Bill reads: "Any person who vitiates the atmosphere in any place so as to make it noxious to the public to the health of persons in general dwelling or carrying on business in the neighbourhood or passing along a public way shall be guilty of a misdemeanour." Mr Chaponda, a trained lawyer, insists that this includes farting. I think they need to sort this out before I visit.)   Update - Mr Chaponda has eaten humble pie and admits he had not read the proposed law before the radio interview, saying fouling air "does not necessarily mean farting" and that it will be not punishable by law in Malawi. [ View the story "Fa...

According to the Living Planet Report there are 2.1 hectares of land per person actually available for the global population. (The problem is that the developed world actually uses up far more than this and this means that we are using the agricultural land, forests, seas and resources of other countries to sustain ourselves. The countries with the biggest impact on the planet are the USA and China. Together they account for around 40% of the global footprint. And per person the USA and United Arab Emirates have the largest ecological footprint, while Malawi and Afghanistan have the smallest. The old adage comes to mind, consume less, live more.)