Hunger hit Africa hard this year as climate change, conflict and lasting poverty destroyed multiple countries and left tens of millions of people in terrible conditions. Countries as【C1】______________ as South Sudan, Malawi and the Central African Republic have sounded the alarm in recent months. The U.N. World Food Program says sub-Saharan Africa already has the world's【C2】______________ prevalence of hunger. Every day in Africa, 23 million children【C3】______________ school hungry. The agency's David Orr said that in the lower half of Africa, where weather is the main criminal, this year has been an【C4】______________ difficult year. "I think what makes things different this year is the【C5】______________ of drought and then an El Nino weather event coming right after that, so that people are【C6】______________ being hit by two consecutive years of【C7】. It's particularly difficult on a region where 70 percent of the population are subsistence farmers." But African governments say they, too, they have an【C8】 role to play, and that the hunger crisis is their failure as well. Malawi's minister of finance earlier this year【C9】______________ his nation's hunger situation as "a scandal". In Ethiopia, the government has committed a record sum, $192 million dollars amid news that as many as 10 million people will face【C10】______________ food shortages next year because of a severe drought.

Climate change is not just a change in the global temperature; it is also a change in the weather. Scientists say we can expect more extreme weather events【C1】______________ some areas seeing more rains and flooding, while other areas getting hotter, drier and more likely to get droughts and forest fires. "Climate change has a broad【C2】______________ on health, both through the direct effect that climate change has on extreme weather—heat waves to heavy rainfall events and【C3】____________ flooding, coastal storms, hurricanes—but also indirectly, in the way that it【C4】____________ disease ecology, or ecosystems that are important in maintaining a【C5】____________ environment." Scientists are seeing more heavy rains in some regions, drought in others. The rain can create flood plains where mosquitoes【C6】, and storms, floods and droughts can create conditions resulting in water and mosquito-borne diseases. Scientists expect storms and floods to【C7】 the spread of cholera in developing countries as flooding creates contaminated water. Other research concerns the spread of malaria. A larger portion of Africa than【C8】____________ predicted is now at high risk for malaria transmission, according to a new University of Florida mapping study. Malaria will arrive in new areas, the research【C9】, posing a risk to new populations and will require changes in【C10】 public health. The study also shows that some parts of Africa will become too hot for malaria.

The flood of migrants into Europe is making it obvious that dialogue and agreement are necessary, to better protect the EU's external borders and reduce the pressure on affected countries. But as Edward Joseph of the Institute for Current World Affairs【C1】, those are difficult issues to manage, and are also politically【C2】. "We have to have a balanced, wide perspective on this very pressing【C3】____________ problem," he said. Luca Dall'Oglio, of the International Organization for Migration, says it is important to help the migrants move on from the gateway countries of the Balkans to【C4】____________ in Western Europe. "What can be done to help all those refugees that are in the countries of first asylum, where they have no opportunities for【C5】, no opportunities for livelihood, and no opportunities for【C6】 living," he said. The refugee crisis is increasing tensions among the countries on the migrant way. Slovenia has started to build a【C7】____________ along its border with Croatia. Croatia's ambassador to Washington says the EU needs to help【C8】____________ those tensions. "There is high awareness in Brussels and among the European countries of the【C9】____________ of the economies of the Western Balkans," he said. "I am absolutely sure that Brussels will not allow the refugee crisis to【C10】____________ a serious economic crisis in the Balkans."