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 …
Vegetated coastal ecosystems provide goods and services to billions of people. In the aftermath of a series of recent natural disasters, including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis, coastal vegetation has been widely promoted for the purpose of reducing the impact of large storm surges and tsunami. …
The year 2009 is likely to rank in the top 10 warmest on record since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850, according to WMO. Finds that the decade of the 2000s (2000
Ananya Dutta KOLKATA: Kolkata has been ranked as the fourth most vulnerable among 11 major coastal cities in Asia that are threatened by climate change as it is
Kolkata is the fourth Asian city that is most vulnerable to the effects of climate change according to this latest WWF report. Dhaka, Manila and Jakarta top this ranking of 11 most climate vulnerable Asian cities and are followed by Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh and Shanghai. Asia is arguably …
Calcutta figures high on the list of Asian cities most vulnerable to climate change in a report to be released on Thursday by WWF-International in Gland, Switzerland. On a day when all eyes were on Mumbai
A twister that blew across the Bulathsinhala area in Kalutara last night damaged at least 103 houses. The Disaster Management Center said that 89 houses have been completely destroyed and others were partially damaged. Most of the houses have been damaged due to fallen trees, but no injuries were reported, …
Global climate change will have inevitable consequences and implications for the humanitarian community. Although specific outcomes are unclear, it is certain that the world will experience significant transformations in the next 20 years, and that currently vulnerable populations will be among those most affected. Researchers from the Stockholm Environment Institute, …
Climate change is without doubt one of the foremost and most profound threats to environmental security and basic human rights, and its effects are already being observed across the globe. For human populations, the impacts are considerable, with an estimated 325 million people adversely affected, and 300,000 deaths each year. …
For more than 40 years, Earth has been sending out distress signals. We have responded through staging processions on Earth days, holding seminars, passing environmental laws and forging a few international treaties, like in the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero. All the while, the decline of the earth's …
Floods, storms, drought and other climate-related natural disasters drove 20 million people from their homes last year, nearly four times as many as were displaced by conflicts, a new UN report said on Tuesday. The study tried to quantify for the first time the number of people forced to flee …
A huge outback dust storm swept eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, disrupting transport, forcing people indoors and stripping thousands of tonnes of valuable farmland topsoil. The dust blacked out the outback town of Broken Hill on Tuesday, forcing a zinc mine to shut down, and swept 1,167 km …
A dust storm swept across eastern Australia and blanketed Sydney on Wednesday, disrupting transport, placing health authorities on alert for widespread respiratory illness and stripping thousands of tonnes of topsoil off Australia's main farmlands. Following are answers to questions about the storm. WHAT CAUSED THE DUST STORM? During winter in …
The world leaders who met at the United Nations to discuss climate change on Tuesday are faced with an intricate challenge: building momentum for an international climate treaty at a time when global temperatures have been relatively stable for a decade and may even drop in the next few years. …
Many of the world's largest deltas are densely populated and heavily farmed. Yet many of their inhabitants are becoming increasingly vulnerable to flooding and conversions of their land to open ocean. The vulnerability is a result of sediment compaction from the removal of oil, gas and water from the delta's …
In the face of one of the most fundamental challenges - global warming - the government should adopt policy changes, take initiatives and prepare for effective representation at the Road to Copenhagen (COP 15). This conclusion was drawn at a workshop arranged by the ministry of environment in collaboration with …
Scientists and researchers at a dialogue in Rajshahi on Monday categorically stated that the industrial and richer nations are responsible for the climate change and they should take effective decisions right now to face the adverse impact of climate change and other environmental degradations. They viewed that the climate change …
Australians Lesley and Doug McGrath have for decades battled ocean swells that have eaten away at the backyard of their multi-million dollar Sydney home. They bought an old beach shack on Collaroy Beach in 1976 and replaced it with a two storey home anchored to the land by 12 meter …
Over the last 50 years, nine out of ten natural disasters around the world have been the result of extreme weather and climate events. Storms, floods, droughts, heatwaves, dust storms, wildfires and many other natural hazards threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of people worldwide. The threat is expected …
Insurance is an under-used way for the tourism industry to manage the risks of climate change, with existing offers ranging from a "perfect weather guarantee" by Barbados to ski resorts promising deep snow, experts say. "Insurance products...have a huge potential for tourism," Daniel Scott, chair of a team on tourism …
