The world is getting warmer and natural hazards are becoming more intense, likely bringing higher economic losses in the future. Today, four major weather perils result in expected economic losses of USD 200 billion annually. With more severe weather coming, economic losses are set to rise. The study analysis finds …
Nearly 60 people were killed, Manila was blacked out and airline flights were suspended as a powerful typhoon battered the main Philippines island of Luzon on Saturday, disaster officials said. Television showed houses swept away by swollen rivers, people on rooftops waving for help and throngs stranded along Manila's submerged …
World leaders who are meeting at the United Nations to discuss climate change are faced with an intricate challenge: building momentum for an international climate treaty at a time when global temperatures have been stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years. Since 1999, the …
deforestation Kenya evicts settlers Three decades after allotting land to the hunter-gatherer community of Ogiek in Mau forest, the Kenyan government has asked them to leave. The 2,500 Ogiek families have been asked to surrender their title deeds by October. The move, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said, was made to …
AMID lingering scepticism about possible health risks of GM (genetically modified) crops, Philippines is going ahead with its biotechnological adventures in crops. After commercializing the GM corn, Philippines government is set to introduce GM Golden Rice enriched with Vitamin A. The government funded Philippine Rice Research Institute (Phil Rice) executive …
A medium-strength typhoon, the most severe this year so far, slowly enveloped Taiwan on Friday, forcing flight cancellations and port closures after killing 11 people in the Philippines. Typhoon Morakot churned slowly toward Taiwan with winds gusts up to 180 kph (112 mph) on its way to China and after …
Floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed at least one dozen people and forced about 400,000 to flee their homes and farms in the southern Philippines, an army spokesman said on Monday. Troops deployed rubber boats, amphibious vehicles and trucks to evacuate thousands of families marooned in low-lying areas …
The illegal slaughter of African elephants for ivory is now worse than it was at its peak in the 1980s. New forensic tools based on DNA analysis can help stop the cartels behind this bloody trade.
International migrant workers, foreign students and political refugees are often endangered by laws that discriminate against people with AIDS, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch reported last week. About a third of the world
Pacific Bio-Fields Holdings Plc said it has received approval to use 400,000 hectares of land to plant coconut trees in the Philippines to make alternative auto fuel, which it aims to sell to Japanese users in five years. The company, which plans to list on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative …
UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday debated, in a full-session, on the impacts of climate change on full enjoyment of human rights, especially in vulnerable countries. The debate tabled by the Maldives, sought to portray climate change not solely as a scientific issue, but also as a matter of global …
For years, the residents of the slums along Manila's Zapote River have cursed the water lilies that clog up the waterway and cause flooding. Now, thanks to a handicraft project, they can't get enough of them. The lilies, which feed on the garbage that is dumped daily in the river, …
The Philippines hopes to attract $9-10 billion in investments in renewable energy projects over the next 10 years as a law giving investors fiscal incentives takes effect next month, a top official said on Monday. "Our objective is to double the power being generated from renewable energy sources, from 4,500 …
BHUBANESWAR: Two new rice varieties - Swarna Sub-1 and IR.64 Sub-1 - developed by International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines, combining high-yield potential with high degree of tolerance to submergence, have proved as a boon for flood-prone area farmers of South Asia, including Orissa. Talking to this paper, Jafran Keshari …
Landslides triggered by several days of heavy rains killed 10 people and about 20 more were missing in a mining village in the southern Philippines, local government officials said on Monday. About 30 small-scale miners were rescued with minor injuries after they were pulled out from under tonnes of mud …
Natural disasters threaten to trigger widespread damage and distress in emerging economies, many of which are already on the brink because of the global recession, a United Nations body said on Sunday. There are 1 billion people living in hazard-prone slums and shantytowns in developing countries, many of which overlooked …
Southeast Asia's biologically diverse coral reefs will disappear by the end of this century, wiping out coastal economies and sparking civil unrest if climate change isn't addressed, conservation group WWF said on Wednesday. The Coral Triangle, a reef network that spans Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon …
The death toll from floods and mudslides triggered by a typhoon in the northern Philippines has more than doubled to 36, with 12 people still missing, the government said on Sunday. Typhoon Chan-Hom, the fifth to hit the country this year, slammed into the northern Philippines on Friday and destroyed …
Canada said on Monday it will pursue World Trade Organisation action against China if it maintains its ban on pork and hogs from the province of Alberta. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Saturday it had found the H1N1 flu virus in a swine herd in the western province of …
Flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains dumped by a typhoon have killed 20 people and left three missing in the Philippines, the country's disaster agency said on Monday. The weather bureau said Typhoon Kujira was centred off the coast of the southeastern province of Catanduanes in Luzon Island …
