In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95 billion. The year 2024 was marked by extreme temperature events in Asia that caused thousands of deaths, severe droughts in Africa affecting over 25 …
Venezuela was hit by a 4.3 magnitude earthquake, authorities said on Sunday, though there were no reports of damage or harm to the OPEC nation's oil industry. "Fortunately we have no reports of damage. We know many people are evacuating residences, overall in Caracas, we call on them to stay …
One of the most destructive developments in agriculture over the past two decades has been the boom in soya production in the southern cone of Latin America. The corporations that led that boom are now moving aggressively into sugar cane, focusing on large tracts of land in southern countries where …
More and more cities around the world are developing dedicated Climate Action Plans to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and improve the local air quality for their inhabitants. The transport sector usually plays a crucial role in any such strategy. In many cases, transportation is the primary source of …
This note proposes a structured methodology for engaging in urban water supply and sanitation (WSS) reforms, presents what is usually accepted as best practices, and discusses conditions under which they have been successfully implemented. It focuses primarily on the provision of official piped WSS service, but it also recognizes that …
Marijuana to cancer: Scientists in Seattle have found that young men smoking marijuana were at a higher risk of developing an aggressive form of testicular cancer called nonseminoma than those who had never tried the drug. The disease is known to strike men in there 20s and 30s and is …
Supporters of small-scale farming claim that it provides livelihoods, and it can also conserve agrodiversity. In an attempt to show this, an international network of scientists joined hands with farmer communities to document agrodiversity. By sharing this knowledge with other farming communities, they showed how it is possible to achieve …
Alan Rabinowitz is the world's leading jaguar expert, and he has begun to realize his dream of creating a vast network of interconnected corridors and refuges extending from the U.S.-Mexico border into South America. It is known as Paseo del Jaguar
This is the 13th annual report on global control of tuberculosis (TB) published by WHO. 196 countries and territories that reported data in 2008 account for 99.6% of the world
In the midst of the most severe global financial crisis in decades, the World Bank today urged the international community to look to Latin America for innovative solutions to avert a climate crisis. The region is in a position to lead middle income countries in reducing emissions from deforestation, breaking …
According to this latest global report on wind energy, total worldwide installations in 2008 were more than 27,000 MW, dominated by the three main markets in Europe, North America and Asia. The United States passed Germany to become world #1 in wind power installations, and China
In some cases, the creation of protected areas to conserve nature has resulted in the displacement of indigenous peoples away from their original territories in Latin America. In this context, conservation organizations are developing alliances with indigenous peoples in different parts of the continent to find ways to jointly address …
Climate, social and economic conditions, markets, consumer values and technology are only a few of the areas of change that the World Water Development Report (WWDR3) describes and discusses in detail. This case study volume complements and compounds the analyses provided in the report by taking a critical look at …
This report is based on a series of 15 international case studies conducted between September and November 2008 under a joint initiative of FAO and the PISCES Energy Research Programme Consortium funded by DFID. The case studies focussed on developing an improved understanding of the linkages between Livelihoods and small-scale …
The primary objective of this report is to provide practical guidance to World Bank teams advising on the design and implementation of reforms of urban water supply and sanitation (WSS) sectors. The reform of urban WSS sectors is needed to increase access to the infrastructure, improve efficiency of operations, and …
Using existing international databases that track disaster occurrence and humanitarian costs, this research attempts to improve understanding of how climate change may affect international humanitarian spending. Employing four distinct methodological approaches, a range of potential impact scenarios is developed. The findings indicate that climate change will have a significant impact …
The most effective means of consistently ensuring the safety of a drinking-water supply is through the use of a comprehensive risk assessment and risk management approach that encompasses all steps in water supply from catchment to consumer. In these guidelines, such approaches are called water safety plans (WSPs).
This report by the UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and the UNEP Regional Seas Programme explores national and regional efforts to develop representative networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), and offers recommendations for strengthening the planning of such networks worldwide. This report reviews 30 nations
This paper focuses on only one piece of this complex challenge: the ways in which conservation action has been informed, and should be informed, by the interaction between ecological scale and governance. The published literature does not provide much guidance
