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 …
Somalia's worst drought in a decade is pushing growing numbers of children into near-famine conditions and deepening the humanitarian crisis caused by political violence, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. Some 3.2 million Somalis are among an estimated 19 million people in the Horn of Africa in urgent need of …
Iraq's parliament voted on Tuesday to force the government to demand on a greater share of water resources from neighbours upstream of its vital rivers, Turkey, Iran and Syria, in any bilateral deals with them. In a resolution, Iraqi lawmakers agreed to block any agreement signed with the three nations …
Planter Sime Darby, Malaysia's largest listed firm, has created the first genetic blueprint of oil palms, saying on Tuesday the map will lead to higher output and planting of drought resistant trees. Sime Darby is the first to map and use the oil palm sequence as Malaysia, the world's second …
International researchers launched a $12 million study on Monday intended to help many of the world's poorest farmers benefit from multi-billion dollar schemes to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. The 18-month Carbon Benefits Project will examine rural sites in Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and China to see how much carbon is …
- A planned new U.N. climate pact is shaping up to be a mildly tougher version of the existing Kyoto Protocol rather than a bold treaty to save what U.S. President Barack Obama has called a "planet in peril." "There's not a lot of ambition around," said Jennifer Morgan, of …
Kurunegala Government Agent Jayantha Bulumulla warned that paddy production in the district during the Yala season would be affected by the prevailing drought that resulted in the fast dwindling water levels in tanks and reservoirs. Addressing the District Coordinating Committee she said releasing of water from Batalagoda and Hatwatunaoya tanks …
Many old buildings including places of worship in the old Maskeliya town emerged arousing the nostalgic memories when the water level in the Hydropower reservoirs dwindled due to the prevailing drought in the upcountry. Maussakele, Castlereigh, and Maskeliya hydropower reservoirs are the worst affected. A senior officials of the Laxapana …
A UK-based climate change expert has said that there will be an exceptional change in the temperatures in Pakistan as a whole in the coming years, but that the province of Sindh will be less affected as compared to the other parts of the country. Speaking to senior officials and …
Karnataka ranks second, next only to Rajstahan in India, in terms of total geographical area prone to drought. Among its 27 districts, 18 are drought prone. During the years, 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04 it faced consecutive droughts. A study was conducted in 2004 to assess the consequences of 2002-03 drought …
This paper investigates the chain of interactions between climatic change, drought condition and food production in Nigeria. The paper relied mainly on secondary data that were generated through the analysis of relevant data from government and non-governmental agencies. From these sources, both quantitative and qualitative information were collected depending on …
This report explores how environmental shocks and stresses, especially those related to climate change, can push people to leave their homes in search of
Climate change has become a major issue in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region. If average temperatures increase as predicted, all aspects of human and natural life will be affected. The mountain regions are particularly vulnerable, both because warming trends are higher and because the impacts are magnified by the extreme changes …
German scientist and Former Professor of Livestock Ecology in the Institute of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture, Humboldt University of Berlin Dr H J Schwartz has said that in order to cope with futuristic challenges of reducing global water resources and upcoming drought like situations the preservation of …
Many people scour the Maine woods for lakes with big trout, but just a few seek places like this unnamed four-acre lake near the Machias River. Like thousands of other Maine lakes, it is scenic and remote, but it claims a rare distinction: it has no fish. HABITAT Amanda Shearin, …
Southeast Asia faces one of the world's highest climate change bills, the Asian Development Bank said on Monday, unless the region adapts to climate change and joins the rest of the world in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The destructive effects of higher temperatures, rising seas and fierce storms are likely …
NYT News Service As if some spells of droughts persisting over three centuries are not enough, Africa will experience more such mega droughts if studies are to be believed, writes Andrew C Revkin For at least 3,000 years, a series of potent droughts, far longer and more severe than any …
Up to 250,000 children are at risk of malnutrition and disease in southern Madagascar as a political crisis and tropical cyclones exacerbate severe food shortages, the UN children agency said. UNICEF said that the rains had failed again in the Indian Ocean island's southern region, devastating the last harvest and …
Greenhouse gas emissions from industrialized nations rose by nearly one percent in 2007, led by strong gains in the United States, official data showed. Carbon emissions from countries signed up to the Kyoto Protocol climate pact edged up by 0.1 percent in 2007, mainly due to rises in Japan and …
The United States and other rich nations must do more to help clinch a landmark deal on climate change this year, a top U.N. official said at a meeting of global environment ministers. The three-day meeting of the Group of Eight industrial countries and major developing economies, which opened in …
An expansion of sea ice around Antarctica is linked to a hole in the ozone layer high in the atmosphere, according to a study on Tuesday that helps clear up a mystery about global warming. The findings, by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) and the U.S. space agency …
