The amount of the Arctic covered by sea ice last winter was the lowest ever recorded (to be fair, records only date back 37 years). The average sea ice coverage from 1981-2010 was about 6 million square miles; last winter it was about 5.6 million square miles. While it is clear that the Arctic is changing, what is not clear is what effect those changes might have on the planet as a whole. There are genuine uncertainties about what a warmer Arctic might mean for the rest of us, although it is a disaster for those who live in the Arctic year round, like polar bears.
The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) has pulled out of the ruling coalition in the Brazilian Congress. The move makes it more likely that President Dilma Rousseff might be impeached as her Congressional support weakens. Although she has yet to be directly linked to the corruption that seems to be pervasive within the Brazilian government, it seems clear that she is suffering from the bad behavior of her colleagues. The PMDB departure leaves the Brazilian government in disarray, not a good situation for the world’s seventh largest economy.
Political violence in Burundi has continued unabated since the election last July of President Nkurunziza to an unconstitutional third term. Despite the intervention of the African Union and the United Nations, as well as many non-governmental organizations, the government continues to hunt down those who oppose Nkurunziza. Civil strife is, unfortunately, not a stranger to Burundi and there are legitimate fears that another civil war could be brewing. This time, however, the attention of the world is focused on refugees from other areas of the world, and the situation in Burundi has not gotten much attention at all.
World Politics News 
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