By Rhett StevensonSeptember 6, 2011 The 20 hottest years on record have all taken place in the past quarter century. The resulting floods, wildfires, and heat waves have all had deadly consequences, and if we don’t reduce carbon emissions immediately, humanity faces bleak prospects. We can no longer ignore this issue. Beginning today, we must […]
By Reem Shamseddine and Barbara Lewis; Editing by Daniel Fineren and Sonya Hepinstall7 September 2011 KHOBAR/LONDON (Reuters) – Long before it understood the value of oil, the desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia knew the worth of water. But the leading oil exporter’s water challenges are growing as energy-intensive desalination erodes oil revenues while peak water […]
By Ashley Powers and Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times7 September 2011 Reporting from Bastrop, Texas, and Los Angeles – Beleaguered firefighters battling one of the most destructive Texas fire seasons on record found themselves punished not only by searing weather, but by lax brush clearance and dwindling budgets. With no end in sight to scores […]
By Julie Cart7 September 2011 The litany of misery playing out in Texas is tough to watch but less difficult to predict. Well before the contagion of wildfires was sparked this week, the state had been experiencing a weather catastrophe. Texas has seen its driest consecutive months since record-keeping began in 1895. Parts of the […]
By Eric Berger 7 September 2011 A couple of weeks ago I reported on the possibility of the current drought plaguing Texas extending into next summer. This is because of the 50 percent probability that La Niña will redevelop after this fall, bringing another dry winter to the state of Texas. With this in mind, […]
By Christine Stebbins; Editing by Peter Bohan5 September 2011 CHICAGO (Reuters) – It can’t happen here, can it? The United States, the breadbasket and supplier of last resort for a hungry world, has been such an amazing food producer in the last half-century that most Americans take for granted annual bounteous harvests of grain, meat, dairy, […]
By Dan Huber26 August 2011 Texas climatologists have recently stated that the ongoing dry spell is the worst one-year drought since Texas rainfall data started being recorded in 1895. The majority of the state has earned the highest rating of “exceptional” drought and the remaining areas are not far behind with “extreme” or “severe” ratings […]
Tehran, Sept 5, 2011 (AFP) – The drying up of Iran’s largest saltwater lake is an “environmental issue” but some people seek to politicise it, media on Monday quoted the vice president for environmental affairs as charging. “The issue of Lake Orumiyeh is an environmental challenge,” Mohammad Javad Mohammadi-Zadeh, who is also head of Iran’s […]
By Dave Montgomery, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, with contributions from Anna Tinsley and Alex Branch5 September 2011 BASTROP, Texas — Firefighters from across the state swarmed into Central Texas on Labor Day to combat devastating wildfires that left hundreds homeless and prompted Gov. Rick Perry to abruptly return from a scheduled East Coast political appearance. At […]
BANGKOK, 5 September 2011 (IRIN) – Aid workers say more than 6,000 people on a remote cluster of islands off the northeast coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG) have been left food insecure following an extended dry spell. “The situation is now under control, but these people will need food in three months,” Ruger Kahwa, […]
