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 …
scientists from the University of Hyderabad have mapped the drought-tolerant genes in the indica sub-species of rice. "Though such work has been done earlier for japonica rice, it was irrelevant for India where most rice varieties belong to the indica sub-species,' says Ajay Parida, programme director, biotechnology with Chennai-based M …
The past year's droughts in Africa, central America, Asia and Europe are part of an emerging, global warming-induced pattern that will become more pronounced if climate change is not curbed. In 2005, one in six countries will face food shortages, un scientists warned on June 29, 2005. The admonition was …
The authors in this paper present a factual and a brief review of the extreme weather events that occurred in India during the last 100 years (1991-2004). The socio-economic impacts of the extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, cyclones, hail storm, thunderstorm, heat and cold waves have been increasing …
Drought-struck Djibouti, on Africa's eastern coast, is experiencing severe food and water shortage. The country's local economy is almost entirely dependent on livestock rearing but the recent drought has destroyed its pastures and killed livestock. Its woes have further been increased by the burden of herders migrating from neighbouring, drought-affected …
South Asian emissions of fossil fuel SO2 and black carbon increased 6-fold since 1930, resulting in large atmospheric concentrations of black carbon and other aerosols. This period also witnessed strong negative trends of surface solar radiation, surface evaporation, and summer monsoon rainfall. These changes over India were accompanied by an …
the area hit by severe drought worldwide has increased from nearly 12 per cent in the 1970s to 30 per cent in the early 2000s, according to scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (ncar), Colorado, usa . Almost half of that change is due to global warming rather …
The arid zone of Sindh is in the grip of a severe drought. The region comprises 48 per cent of the province's land area but has only one per cent of its water resources. Mirza Karim Baig, provincial relief commissioner, Sindh government, recently said the government has declared Tharparkar and …
The prolonged severe drought in southern China's Guangdong province has forced authorities to order the closure of 100 hydroelectric plants to save water for farming. Electricity supply in the power-starved province would be further reduced by 1 million kilowatt following the move. Water levels in the Dongjiang River, which sustains …
staple shortage: Cambodia is faced with a severe drought that could lead to a shortage of rice, the country's staple food. "Some provinces will face a shortage of rice in the coming months,' Nhim Vanda, chairman of Cambodia's national disaster committee, was quoted as saying . "We are working with …
Rainfall and maximum and minimum temperature data of 32 years (1970-2001) at Semiliguda, Koraput (Orissa) were analysed to study the weekly, monthly and yearly drought investigation by studying the water balance. The IMD method was adjusted more suitable for drought identification than the revised IMD method. Frequency analysis was done …
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
The government of Afghanistan and the United Nations have launched an emergency appeal to combat drought in the region. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, US $71.3 million is required to combat the drought. Despite emergency assistance, more than six million people continue to go without food. …
Pakistan has also entered a drought phase, the country's water authority announced recently, citing critically low water levels in the major reservoirs. The Indus River System Authority (IRSA), which allocates water to the provinces, said that the country's water reservoirs at Tarbela, near Peshawar, capital of North West Frontier Province …
World heritage site, the Keoladeo National Park of Bharatpur, Rajasthan, is known to attract aquatic birds from all over the world every year. This year, however, the nests are all empty, and the park reeling under a severe drought thanks to squabbling political forces. The problem centres round the Panchana …
in a major shift, the Union government is contemplating changes in its drought relief norms to accommodate Kerala's claim of compensation for perennial crop loss during the dry spell in the state in 2003. At present, only losses in seasonal crops are considered for relief. Perennial crops, most of which …
Last fortnight, I wrote of an impending drought. 15 days on, I stand corrected. Now devastating floods are drowning parts of the recently parched country. So much so that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, who last fortnight sought Rs 2,500 crore as drought relief, has now asked the Centre for …
Food for work is amongst the relief measures adopted by the Union and state governments to address food distress in drought hit areas. But it has failed to ameliorate starvation. One look at the way it has been implemented tells us why. For one, a long bureaucratic process precedes declaring …
A recent letter from a reader has disturbed me enormously. B P Radhakrishna, president of the Geological Society of India, in response to a story in Down To Earth about how drought was affecting the mango harvest in Andhra Pradesh, wrote that the problem was not the current failure of …
