Global warming behind East Africa drought

By Julio Godoy26 August 2011 Paris (IPS) — The severe drought in the Horn of Africa, which has caused the death of at least 30,000 children and is affecting some 12 million people, especially in Somalia, is a direct consequence of weather phenomena associated with climate change and global warming, environmental scientists say. “The present […]

Japan triples airborne radiation checks as ‘hot spots’ spread – ‘Distrust and cynicism of central government is pretty much universal’

By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada23 August 2011 Japan will more than triple the number of regions it checks for airborne radiation as more contaminated “hot spots” are discovered far from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima nuclear power station. The government said it will increase radiation monitoring by helicopter to 22 prefectures from the […]

Texas crops wilt amid drought – Record 251 counties have outdoor burn bans – More drought predicted for next year

By Lara K. Richards23 August 2011 The sweltering heat and crushing drought have taken North Texas captive, drying up hope for a fall wheat crop. Stan Bevers, management economist and extension professor with Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Vernon, said lack of rainfall coupled with days and days of triple-digit heat have taken […]

Vietnam rice bowl threatened by rising seas – Climate change turning rivers of Mekong Delta salty

By Kit Gillet in Ben Tre, Vietnam, www.guardian.co.uk 21 August 2011 Sitting amid buckets of rice in the market, Nguyen Thi Lim Lien issues a warning she desperately hopes the world will hear: climate change is turning the rivers of the Mekong Delta salty. “The government tells us that there are three grams of salt […]

Graph of the Day: Drought across the United States, July 2011

Caption by Holli Riebeek11 August 2011 More of the United States was in exceptional drought in July 2011 than in any other month in the past 12 years, according to the National Climatic Data Center. The worst of the drought is spread across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and parts of Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, and Louisiana. […]

Warnings of Africa drought came early from climate scientists – ‘No one can say that we didn’t know’

By Joe DeCapua17 August 2011 Experts say there was plenty of warning that the Horn of Africa was likely to experience severe drought. Nevertheless, millions of people are now at risk. Scientific experts have been saying for years that the Horn of Africa was vulnerable. The warning came with recommendations to prevent drought or lessen […]

The great oyster crash – ‘I’m afraid the ocean will be dead long before we have to worry about the other implications of global warming’

By Eric Scigliano18 August 2011 In the summer of 2007, something strange and troubling happened at the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery on Netarts Bay in Oregon, which raises oyster larvae for shellfish growers from Mexico to Canada. The hatchery’s “seed,” as the oyster larvae are called, began dying by the millions, for no apparent reason. […]

‘Exceptional’ Oklahoma drought has killed 16, burned 250 million acres, and broken 1,400 water mains

By Michael CrossAugust 16, 2011 from KOSU It’s been so hot and dry this summer that climatologists say the southern part of the United States is going through an “exceptional drought.” Parts of Oklahoma have seen little rain since October — not to mention a string of 100-degree days. The steamy conditions are pressuring the […]

World Bank: Soaring food prices intensifying Africa famine

By Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, www.guardian.co.uk16 August 2011 World Bank says shortages and near-historic prices for staple crops have contributed to the crisis in the Horn of Africa A volatile global food supply is deepening the humanitarian catastrophe in the Horn of Africa, the World Bank warns in a new report. Shortages and near-historic […]

In West Texas town, worst drought in 116 years leaves reservoir 99 percent dry – Local water wells contaminated by abandoned oil wells

By ALLAN TURNER, HOUSTON CHRONICLE15 August 2011 ROBERT LEE — […] With Texas gripped in a seemingly intractable drought that state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon has declared the worst single-year dry spell in 116 years, Robert Lee, population 1,106, has emerged as an alarming worst-case example of what scant rainfall and triple-digit temperatures can do. Since […]

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