#Namibia

[steampunktendencies]

The Great Train Graveyard in Uyuni, Bolivia is a unique tourist attraction in addition to the famous salt flats and red lakes. The area is home to a collection of abandoned, vintage trains that were originally intended to expand the transportation network in the early 19th century. However, due to technical challenges and conflicts with local indigenous communities, the project was never completed. The trains were later used to transport minerals to port cities, but when the mineral resources depleted in the 1940s, the miners left and the trains were left to deteriorate in the desert. Over time, exposure to salty winds has caused the trains to corrode, creating the fascinating landscape of the Great Train Graveyard that exists today.

Credits: Keith Alexander

[sitting-on-me-bum]

“Thread-winged”

“Thread-winged antlion in camp at night, Namibia.”

by Dr. Gerald Haas

GDT Nature Photographer of the Year

[ayandagama]

BBA Maria Nepembe

[geologyin-blog]

Check out this stunning Dioptase from the Kaokoveld Plateau in Namibia’s Kunene Region! It’s got incredible coverage, oversized crystals, and a dazzling luster, all perched on a crisp white calcite matrix.

Video: The Focal Crystal

[autistrix]

[https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/85993592]

Black-Backed Jackal || Lupulella mesomelas

Observed in Namibia

Least Concern in location of observation

Albino

[bunnyartistic]

Oh my god! It’s Hatsune Miku!

Hello bunny, welcome to NAMIBIA

🐰🐰🐰🐰

I had to do this trend quickly! Herero Hatsune Miku isn’t something I ever thought I would make but good god I’m glad I did. Herero dresses have a LOT of variations in colours and patterns but im indecisive so I decided to use the more official colours lol

[rosechata]

Jackie Cole

[genuinelyshallow]

I already lost hope on may countries doing any good deeds, but God! Forget evil. How can you be this stupid. From the US and the UK bombing Yemen on the day of ICJ hearing to this ?! Have the collective IQ of leaders around the world gone to zero?!Much like their morality?

[i-am-aprl]

'GERMANY'S LOST PLOT OVER GAZA

Why can't Germany or any country in the EU call out Israel's genocide in Gaza? Irish MEP Mick Wallace asks the question as he rips into the bloc with this thumping speech at the European Parliament.

After rattling off the grim Palestinian death toll, he wonders how Berlin can stay silent, given its role in World War Two's holocaust and its little-known genocide in Africa. That saw over 75% of Namibia's Herero and Nama people killed, with their skulls shipped to Europe. Historians regard it as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Listen to Wallace's fiery soundbite. There were a few claps but mainly silence afterwards. Says it all.

[vestaignis]

"Вызывающе-оранжевенькая серия" от фотографа Moro.  Россия  (Москва).

"Provocatively orange series" by photographer Moro. Russia (Moscow).

Расположенный в Намибии Национальный парк Намиб-Науклуфт занимает часть пустыни Намиб и горной цепи Науклуфт. Пустыня Намиб считается самой старой на планете. Площадь парка составляет примерно 50 000 квадратных километров, и поэтому он является самым большим в Африке и четвертым по величине в мире. Создание Науклуфта началось в 1907 году. Самыми посещаемыми и наиболее известными частями парка являются Соссусфлей и Дедвлей.

Плато Соссусфлей— царство песчаных дюн, из которых около 90 % состоят из кварцевого песка. На некоторых из них заметны места с песком более тёмных красновато-чёрных оттенков. Пески появились здесь благодаря восточным ветрам, которые принесли их сюда из центральной части восточной Намибии. Некоторые песчинки покрыты оксидом железа, который придаёт им характерный красный цвет. В некоторых частях Соссусфлей встречаются двухцветные красно-жёлтые дюны.

Дедвлей (Deadvlei) — это высохшее, после окружения дюнами, болото в русле этой же реки. На высохшей несколько сот лет назад глине серого цвета, остались деревья (верблюжья акация). В сухом жарком климате, древесина акаций окаменела. Деревья сохранили свой первородный вид, только без листьев.

Впечатляют своей красотой горы заповедника, выступающие прямо посреди пустыни. Их склоны довольно скалистые и укрыты редкой растительностью, оврагами и зелеными долинами. Эта область привлекает мало посетителей, так как является труднопроходимой. Она подходит для организованных серьезных походов.

Located in Namibia, the Namib-Naukluft National Park occupies part of the Namib Desert and the Naukluft Mountain Range. The Namib Desert is considered the oldest desert on the planet. The park covers an area of ​​approximately 50,000 square kilometers, making it the largest park in Africa and the fourth largest in the world. The creation of the Naukluft began in 1907. The most visited and best known parts of the park are Sossusvlei and Deadvlei.

The Sossusvlei Plateau is a kingdom of sand dunes, about 90% of which are made up of quartz sand. Some of them have areas with darker reddish-black sand. The sands were formed here by easterly winds that brought them here from the central part of eastern Namibia. Some grains of sand are coated with iron oxide, which gives them a characteristic red color. In some parts of Sossusvlei, two-tone red and yellow dunes are found.

Deadvlei is a dried-up swamp in the same river bed after being surrounded by dunes. On the gray clay that dried up several hundred years ago, trees (camel acacia) remained. In the dry, hot climate, the acacia wood petrified. The trees retained their original appearance, only without leaves.

The mountains of the reserve, jutting out right in the middle of the desert, are impressive in their beauty. Their slopes are quite rocky and covered with sparse vegetation, ravines and green valleys. This area attracts few visitors, as it is difficult to pass. It is suitable for organized serious hikes.

Источник: /35photo.pro/photo_523453/#author/523453, //yii2.rutraveller.ru/place/11744, /35photo.pro/moro/, /ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Намиб-Науклуфт, //awd.is/sossusvlei-dune-dedvlei-trees.

[astroskeptic]

Excerpt from: Who Rules the World by Jewish Philosopher Noam Chomsky writing about what’s happening today 8 years ago! A blow to anyone who pretends that this started on October 7.

I urge everyone who cares about the Palestinian cause to read this book if you haven’t, add it to your 2024 list of books to read! The book doesn’t only deal with the Israeli-Palestinian “conflict” but it also helps you understand how the Unites States being the global superpower that it is since the end of World War II, meddles in other countries affairs after it appointed itself as “the World Police” then commits war crimes and gets away with it, while condemning and demonizing other countries for the same or lesser crimes. Quite relevant isn’t it?

[sayruq]

[geologyin-blog]

Zoned fluorite crystals from the Okorusu Mine, Namibia, displaying a vibrant array of colors.

Photo: fantastic_fluorites

[reasonsforhope]

"Namibia is the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, and home to two of the world’s most ancient deserts, the Kalahari and the Namib. The capital, Windhoek, is sandwiched between them, 400 miles away from the nearest perennial river and more than 300 miles away from the coast. Water is in short supply.

It’s hard to imagine life thriving in Windhoek, yet 477,000 people call it home, and 99 per cent of them have access to drinking water thanks to technology pioneered 55 years ago on the outskirts of the city. Now, some of the world’s biggest cities are embracing this technology as they adapt to the harshest impacts of climate change. But Namibia leads the way.

How did this come about? In the 1950s, Windhoek’s natural resources struggled to cope with a rapidly growing population, and severe water shortages gripped the city. But disaster forced innovation, and in 1968 the Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant in Windhoek became the first place in the world to produce drinking water directly from sewage, a process known as direct potable reuse (DPR). 

That may sound revolting, but it’s completely safe. Dr Lucas van Vuuren, who was among those who pioneered Windhoek’s reclamation system, once said that “water should not be judged by its history, but by its quality”. And DPR ensures quality. 

This is done using a continuous multi-barrier treatment devised in Windhoek during eight years of pilot studies in the 1960s. This process – which has been upgraded four times since 1968 – eliminates pollutants and safeguards against pathogens by harnessing bacteria to digest the human waste and remove it from the water. This partly mimics what happens when water is recycled in nature, but Windhoek does it all in under 24 hours...

Pictured: These ultrafiltration membranes help to remove bacteria, viruses and pathogens. Image: Margaret Courtney-Clarke

“We know that we have antibiotics in the water, preservatives from cosmetics, anti-corrosion prevention chemicals from the dishwasher,” Honer explains. “We find them and we remove them.”

Honer adds that online instruments monitor the water continuously, and staff ensure that only drinking water that meets World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines is sent to homes. If any inconsistencies are detected, the plant goes into recycle mode and distribution is halted until correct values are restored. 

“The most important rule is, and was, and always will be ‘safety first’,” says Honer.  The facility has never been linked to an outbreak of waterborne disease, and now produces up to 5.5m gallons of drinking water every day – up to 35 per cent of the city’s consumption.

Namibians couldn’t survive without it, and as water shortages grip the planet, Windhoek’s insights and experience are more important than ever.

Interest from superpowers across the globe

In recent years, delegations from the US, France, Germany, India, Australia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates have visited Windhoek seeking solutions to water shortages in their own countries. 

Megadrought conditions have gripped the US since 2001, and the Colorado River – which provides 40 million people with drinking water – has been running at just 50 per cent of its traditional flow. As a result, several states including Texas, California, Arizona and Colorado are beginning to embrace DPR.

Troy Walker is a water reuse practice leader at Hazen and Sawyer, an environmental engineering firm helping Arizona to develop its DPR regulations. He visited Windhoek last year. “It was about being able to see the success of their system, and then looking at some of the technical details and how that might look in a US facility or an Australian facility,” he said. “[Windhoek] has helped drive a lot of discussion in industry. [Innovation] doesn’t all have to come out of California or Texas.”

Pictured: The internal pipes and workings of Namibia's DPR plant. As water becomes scarcer in some parts, countries are looking to DPR for solutions. Image: Margaret Courtney-Clarke

Namibia has also helped overcome the biggest obstacle to DPR – public acceptance. Disgust is a powerful emotion, and sensationalist ‘toilet to tap’ headlines have dismantled support for water reuse projects in the past. Unfortunately, DPR’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness, as the speed at which water can re-enter the system makes it especially vulnerable to prejudice, causing regulators to hesitate. “Technology has never been the reason why these projects don’t get built – it’s always public or political opposition,” says Patsy Tennyson, vice president of Katz and Associates, an American firm that specialises in public outreach and communications.

That’s why just a handful of facilities worldwide are currently doing DPR, with Windhoek standing alongside smaller schemes in the Philippines, South Africa and a hybrid facility in Big Spring, Texas. But that’s all changing. Drought and increased water scarcity worldwide are forcing us to change the way we think about water. 

Now, the US is ready to take the plunge, and in 2025, El Paso Water will begin operating the first ‘direct to distribution’ DPR facility in North America, turning up to 10m gallons of wasterwater per day into purified drinking water – twice as much as Windhoek. San Diego, Los Angeles, California, as well as Phoenix, Arizona are also exploring the technology."

Of course, DPR is not a silver bullet in the fight against climate change. It cannot create water out of thin air, and it will not facilitate endless growth. But it does help cities become more climate resilient by reducing their reliance on natural sources, such as the Colorado River. 

As other nations follow in Namibia’s footsteps, Windhoek may no longer take the lead after almost six decades in front.

“But Windhoek was the first,” Honer reminds me. “No one can take that away.”"

-via Positive.News, August 30, 2023

[gentlemensarts]

[mensministry]

Shipwreck Lodge, Skeleton Coast Park, Mowe Bay, Namibia,

Nina Maritz Architects