By Sarah Yang, Media Relations 12 December 2011 BERKELEY – Trees are dying in the Sahel, a region in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and human-caused climate change is to blame, according to a new study led by a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. “Rainfall in the Sahel has dropped 20-30 percent […]
By John Vidal, environment editor, www.guardian.co.uk 1 December 2011 We are right on the equator, and Speke, Moebius, Elena, Savoia, and Moore, the five great glaciers of the the Rwenzori, the Mountains of the Moon, glint in the bright Ugandan sun. Usually lost in the mists that cloak these peaks up to 5,100 metres high, […]
By Matt McGrath, Science reporter, BBC World Service17 November 2011 UN scientists are warning that a virus attacking the cassava plant is nearing an epidemic in parts of Africa. Cassava is one of the world’s most important crops providing up to a third of the calorie intake for many people. The food and agriculture organisation […]
DURBAN, South Africa, November 28 (AP) – Global warming already is causing suffering and conflict in Africa, from drought in Sudan and Somalia to flooding in South Africa, President Jacob Zuma said Monday, urging delegates at an international climate conference to look beyond national interests for solutions [United Nations Climate Change Conference 2011]. “For most […]
By GILLIAN GOTORA, Associated Press26 November 2011 HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) – As she surveys her small, bare plot in Zimbabwe’s capital, farmer Janet Vambe knows something serious is happening, even if she has never heard of climate change. “Long ago, I could set my calendar with the date the rains started,” the 72-year-old said. Nowadays, […]
By Olivia Kumwenda24 November 2011 JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Rainfall patterns in southern Africa are becoming erratic as climate change takes its toll, threatening long-term production of staple and cash crops in the region. Countries like South Africa, Zambia, and Malawi have enjoyed bumper harvests of their staple maize crop in recent years, ensuring food security […]
By Camila Ruz, www.guardian.co.uk 16 November 2011 If the current rapid extermination of animals, plants and other species really is the “sixth mass extinction”, then it is the amphibian branch of the tree of life that is undergoing the most drastic pruning. In research described as “terrifying” by an independent expert, scientists predict the future […]
By Joe Romm 19 October 2011 Somalia’s “mis-government” has turned a brutal drought into a horrific famine. But “if it weren’t in drought, it wouldn’t be in famine,” as Dr. Chris Funk, one of the world’s foremost authorities on East African drought explained to me in an exclusive interview today. And Funk’s work provides strong […]
By Maggy Patrick4 November 2011 In an astonishing sight, 19 endangered black rhinos were lifted by their ankles over the South African landscape in an effort to save them from dangerous poachers. The World Wildlife Fund’s Black Rhino Expansion Project has moved 120 of the animals so far to one of seven participating partners’ land […]
By Pete Spotts, Staff writer28 October 2011 Winter droughts have become increasingly common in the Mediterranean region, particularly over the past 20 years, and a new study finds that global warming has driven at least half of the change. Drought conditions in this politically explosive region are expected to grow more severe over the course […]
