The global cost of disasters is growing: The economic burden of disasters is intensifying. While the direct costs of disasters averaged $70–80 billion a year between 1970 and 2000, between 2001 and 2020 these annual costs grew significantly to $180–200 billion. But the real cost is far higher. Disaster costs …
The risk of flooding and water shortage in 2013 has increased because the Government has been 'too slow' in taking action to improve water management in the UK, says environmental leaders. According to the group of 16 leading environmental organisations, a long-term, sustainable approach is needed which "works with our …
This World Bank report is a stark reminder that climate change affects everything and spells out what the world would be like if it warmed by 4°C, which is what scientists are nearly unanimously predicting by the end of the century, without serious policy changes. This report spells out what …
Water-related disasters and extreme weather events are occurring with increasing frequency in Central Asia and in the countries that surround it. Floods, landslides/mudflows, droughts and earthquakes, which frequently affect the region, cause enormous economic and social damage and often lead to massive loss of human life. Extreme weather events, such …
Traditional agro-systems in arid areas are a bulwark for preserving soil stability and fertility, in the sight of “reverse desertification”. Nevertheless, the impact of desert farming practices on the diversity and abundance of the plant associated microbiome is poorly characterized, including its functional role in supporting plant development under drought …
The Agrarian Services and Wildlife Ministry will provide assistance to farmers whose crops were destroyed due to the drought and help them re-cultivate using the present rainy condition. Agrarian Services Commissioner-General Sunil Weerasinghe told the Daily News that many cultivated lands were damaged due to the severe drought in the …
Sri Lanka Ministry of Agrarian Services and Wildlife has taken steps to assist the farmers to re-cultivate the crops damaged due to the severe drought that affected the major agricultural districts of the country during the past few months. North eastern monsoon has activated in Sri Lanka presently and the …
For all their disputes, President Obama and Mitt Romney agree that the world is warming and that humans are at least partly to blame. It remains wholly unclear what either of them plans to do about it. Even after a year of record-smashing temperatures, drought and Arctic ice melt, none …
Central team to start district tours The State has sought a revised drought-relief assistance of Rs. 1,884 crore from the Centre. The revised claim was presented before a Central team which arrived here on Tuesday to start field trips to assess the drought situation in various districts. The State revised …
Jharkhand State Level Bankers’ Committee in its 40th special meeting here, recently, on drought relief, has decided to exempt the farmers from paying back loan amount in the current financial year because of severe drought that had affected almost al the districts of the state. The banks and the government …
More research is needed to understand how ecosystems can help reduce disaster risks around the world, according to a report launched in Brussels, Belgium, today. The World Risk Report 2012 says that human development activities have "massively raised the hazard potential". It cites the destruction of coral reefs and mangrove …
According to a new poll, 74 percent of Americans agree that climate change is impacting weather in the U.S., including 73 percent who agreed, strongly or somewhat, that climate change had exacerbated record high temperatures over the summer. The findings mean that a large majority of Americans agree with climatologists …
Drought conditions in the United States grew even worse over the last week as historic drought conditions crept north and threatened new winter wheat planting in several states. September was the driest in 118 years of U.S. record keeping for North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana and was the third-driest …
Says farmers suicides is a continuos problem Despite recurring droughts and floods in various parts of the country, because of changing climatic patterns, Indian agriculture is gradually developing a semblance of resistance to changing weather patterns. India’s total annual foodgrain production has seldom dropped below 200 million tonnes since 2005-06, …
Villagers in Sri Lanka's Polonnaruwa District complain of lacking potable water due to the pollution of a few streams that still have some water amidst the drought. Villagers of Unagalavehera have said that paddy husk is being discarded to the Kumbukkan Aruwa by rice mill owners resulting in the pollution …
One out of every eight people in the world is chronically undernourished, the United Nations' food agencies said on Tuesday, warning that progress to reduce hunger has slowed since 2007/08 when high food prices sparked riots in several poor countries. In their latest report on food insecurity, the UN agencies …
Urges Supreme Court to modify order on supply to Tamil Nadu The Karnataka government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court, seeking a stay/modification of its September 28 order, which directed the State to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily till October 15 as per the orders of …
Genetic engineering has been hailed as a panacea for the problem of global hunger and population explosion, but research studies reveal that it has failed to deliver the goods. At the same time, it has created more problems than it could solve. The Union of Concerned Scientists, an international research …
New research provides the latest numbers behind ethanol’s toll on global food prices—$11.6 billion in higher prices for corn importing countries over a period of six years. More than half, $6.6 billion, of that was borne by developing nations, where a high percentage of household income is spent on food. …
This new WHO report provides scientific information on the connections between weather and climate and major health challenges. These range from diseases of poverty to emergencies arising from extreme weather events and disease outbreaks. The Atlas of health and climate is a product of this unique collaboration between the meteorological …
Northern parts of the country and the Himalayan region will be the worst hit by climate change in India and warming will be greater over land than sea, according to a latest report. “In the 2020s, the projected warming is of the order of 0.5-1.5 degrees Celsius, by the 2050s, …
