This joint WFP and Action Against Hunger publication presents the impacts of El Niño in LAC, highlighting the emergency response and resilience activities taken to mitigate the effect of climate shocks in the region. The publication underscores the significance of adequate anticipation, preparedness, and response to climate emergencies in LAC. …
Being an integral effect of sub-seasonal rain spells over the season, the seasonal mean south Asian monsoon (SAM) rainfall could be affected by change in the length of the rainy season (LRS). An objective definition of the duration of the SAM season has, however, been lacking. Here we show that …
plant-eating insects inhabit all forest ecosystems, but sometimes their numbers explode, resulting in massive tree defoliation. Researchers from the us-based Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (stri) have recently reported about a severe moth outbreak related to drought conditions following the 1997-1998 El Ni
only mother's son: Japanese and Korean scientists have created a mouse without using a sperm. The feat is akin to the birth of Dolly, the world's first cloned mammal. Bees, ants, aphids, some fish and reptiles reproduce without having sex in a process called parthenogenesis. But creating a living mammal …
Imagine a dense forest lush with orchids, mosses and ferns on practically every surface, where each tree branch is like a garden, and the air is cool and damp due to perpetually misty conditions. These extraordinary rainforests, known as cloud forests, are under threat from climate change and human activities, …
a new method that used the Bangladesh monsoon to make a monsoon prediction model could end the woes of millions of farmers. The method was used for the first time to produce forecasts of 20-25 days for the Ganges valley of Bangladesh during the summer of 2002. Unlike the predictions …
Every year, the month of May ends. India enters June, and expectations of rain. Small farmers scan the sky, reading the clouds (the big ones have subsidised irrigation pumps, and undemocratic canal water-sharing clout). Politicians begin to place calls to the New Delhi-based Indian Meterological Department (imd). Within the imd, …
with sea temperatures increasing, the world's coral reefs are once again facing threat as shown by intensive bleaching. Data from a new information system, called ReefBase, shows that 2002 is the second worst year for coral bleaching after 1998, when a very strong episode of the El Ni
Singapore is in the grip of dengue fever yet again. Three persons have already died and 440 cases reported since June, compared to 318 during the same period last year. The blame of this rise is being put on alternate spells of hot weather and heavy downpours. "The current increase …
the link between climate and cholera, a serious health problem in many parts of the world, has become stronger in recent decades, shows a recent study conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan, University of Barcelona and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh. In a previous …
climate change is triggering widespread outbreaks of diseases among wildlife along with spreading tropical diseases in human habitations previously unaffected by them. These were the findings of a comprehensive two-year study conducted by National Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (nceas), a California-based research institute. The study is the first …
oil spills could mean far worse for the environment than they have been blamed for till date, shows a recent study conducted in the Galapagos Islands located off the coast of Ecuador. In January 2001 the tanker Jessica, belonging to Petrocomercial, an arm of the Ecuadorian state oil company, had …
on june 10, 2002, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asean) signed the first ever agreement on transboundary haze pollution to deal with the recurring smoke and haze problem in their region. The pact places the onus of taking concrete steps to curb smog from land and forest fires …
already the toll in the prolonged heat wave scorching most parts of north and central India has crossed 1100. In Andhra Pradesh alone the figure has touched 1000, with temperatures hovering in the region of an impossible 49
The first three months of the year 2002 were globally the warmest months ever recorded, say scientists. During these months, temperatures across the world were 0.71
an epidemic of coral bleaching has adversely affected Australia's Great Barrier Reef for the second time in four years. This was revealed during a survey recently carried out by the Australian Institute of Marine Science. The epidemic is also fast spreading to the islands of the South Pacific. Coral bleaching …
the final countdown has begun. Yet again, the Pacific is all set. Its depths are surging as it braces to deliver nature’s most troublesome ‘little one’. The birth pangs are driving the world into frenzy. Yes, El Niño
what does the temperature of the sea and deadly South American disease have to do with each other? A lot, say climatologists at the us national Aeronautical Space Administration (nasa) and the us military health specialists. They have used changes in the sea surface temperature to predict outbreaks of Bartonellosis, …
