NAIROBI, Kenya (AlertNet) – Satellite technology is coming to the aid of pastoralists in drought-stricken Kenya, with the expansion of a water monitoring system that aims to reduce livestock loss.

The Livestock Early Warning System combines information uploaded by villagers with satellite data to create a virtually real-time map of forage and water conditions.

A successful pilot project in Turkana district in northwest Kenya is being considered for extension across the country.

Corals may be better placed to cope with the gradual acidification of the world's oceans than previously thought -- giving rise to hopes that coral reefs might escape climatic devastation.

In new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change, an international scientific team has identified a powerful internal mechanism that could enable some corals and their symbiotic algae to counter the adverse impact of a more acidic ocean.