By Staff WritersAug 16, 2010 Fortaleza, Brazil (AFP) – The United Nations Monday launched a campaign to save the planet from deserts that are threatening a third of the planet along with the livelihoods of more than a billion people. The decade-long initiative aims to “reverse and prevent desertification” and to soften the effects of […]
By Amanda Hodge, South Asia correspondent, The AustralianAugust 16, 2010 12:00AM CHOLERA surfaced in Pakistan yesterday as the estimate of people made homeless by flooding climbed to 20 million. UN chief Ban Ki-moon landed in a Pakistan Air Force jet at Chaklala air base yesterday morning, local time, for talks with President Asif Ali Zardari […]
BBC12 August 2010 Pakistan’s floods have caused “huge losses” to its crops, the country’s food minister has told the BBC. Nazar Muhammad Gondal said significant amounts of the grain, sugarcane and rice harvests had been washed away. Meanwhile a senior religious scholar has said that flood victims living in difficult conditions should not have to […]
BBC1:29PM BST 14 Aug 2010 Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said that 20 million people had been affected by the worst floods in the country’s history, as the UN confirmed the first cholera case. Independence day celebrations in Pakistan were cancelled as floods continued to bring misery to millions and aid agencies warned of […]
Last updated: 11 August 2010 Several regions of the world are currently coping with severe weather-related events: flash floods and widespread flooding in large parts of Asia and parts of Central Europe while other regions are also affected: by heatwave and drought in Russian Federation, mudslides in China and severe droughts in sub-Saharan Africa. While […]
By Alister Doyle, Environment CorrespondentTue Aug 10, 2010 11:14am EDT OSLO (Reuters) – Smoke from forest fires smothering Moscow adds to health problems of “brown clouds” from Asia to the Amazon and Russian soot may stoke global warming by hastening a thaw of Arctic ice, environmental experts say. “Health effects of such clouds are huge,” […]
By VOA News and wire services12 August 2010 Russian President Dmitri Medvedev says a full one-quarter of Russia’s grain crops have been destroyed by weeks of drought and wildfires, leaving many Russian farmers close to bankruptcy. Mr. Medvedev spoke Thursday to farmers and grain traders in southern Russia, calling the situation “difficult” and even “extreme.” […]
By NATHANIAL GRONEWOLD of ClimateWireAugust 12, 2010 UNITED NATIONS — A string of devastating natural disasters many are attributing to climate change has sent food prices on a roller coaster ride, leading to fears of a wave of climate-induced food price shocks of the sort that sparked rioting in the developing world two years ago. […]
By Diana Gregor6 August 2010 Climate change is provoking mass human migration. According to scientists, 50 million people worldwide will be displaced this year because of rising sea levels, desertification, dried up aquifers, weather-induced flooding, and other severe environmental changes. A joint study by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and […]
From the Ecologist, part of the Guardian Environment NetworkFriday 6 August 2010 09.49 BST Environmental groups including the Soil Association and Buglife are making a renewed call for an end to the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, which are among the most commonly used pesticides worldwide, after a new study linked them to a decline in […]
