By Zoltan Dujisin15 June 2013 BUDAPEST (IPS) – Record floods in Central and Eastern Europe have highlighted some of the challenges of climate change for the continent, as well as the floods’ potential to spur populist politics. An extraordinarily long winter followed by weeks of intense rains has saturated soils and caused large rivers, such […]
By Tom Dinham13 June 2013 (Reuters) – Residents of the German city of Passau survey the damage caused by the worst flooding seen in central Europe since 2002. Their sodden belongings lining the streets, many local business owners complained they had been unable to get insurance due to previous floods. “We asked the landlord back […]
By Marlene Cimons14 June 2013 (LiveScience) – Drought has beset the Earth since before farming began. In developing nations, it brings suffering and death. In wealthier countries like the United States, it brings economic devastation when crops wither and die, and forests burn. The United States continues to feel the aftereffects of the 2012 drought […]
First of a two-part package on adapting to climate change. Tomorrow: Snapshots of what cities are doing around the world. By Seth Borenstein, with contributions from Karl A. Ritter in Bonn, Germany, Jennifer Peltz in New York, and Tony Winton in Miami 15 June 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) – Efforts to curb global warming have quietly […]
By Gareth Carpenter; Edited by James Leech12 June 2013 London (Platts) – Coal remained the world’s fastest-growing fossil fuel in 2012, despite the rate of consumption slipping below the 10-year average of 4.4% during the year, according to the BP 2013 Statistical Review of World Energy released Wednesday. Total global coal consumption in 2012 rose […]
By Melissa Hathaway, guest blogger14 June 2013 It has been well publicized over the last 30 – 40 years that carbon dioxide is driving the greenhouse effect, resulting in: global warming; carbon cycle imbalances; the melting of the polar caps; and changes to the deep sea currents which carry warm water from the equator towards […]
By John Vidal, environment editor 12 June 2013 (The Guardian) – The wettest autumn since records began, followed by the coldest spring in 50 years, has devastated British wheat, forcing food manufacturers to import nearly 2.5m tonnes of the crop. “Normally we export around 2.5m tonnes of wheat but this year we expect to have […]
By Rick Noack12 June 2013 Stendal, Germany (CNN) – Floods continued to devastate communities alongside the surging River Elbe in Germany’s northeastern Saxony-Anhalt state Wednesday. Hundreds of people are being evacuated from their homes in the towns of Stendal and Aken, with the army using helicopters and amphibious vehicles to help move them to […]
By Jenny Deam13 June 2013 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (Los Angeles Times) – The Black Forest wildfire, still raging out of control, became deadly with the grim discovery Thursday of two people killed while apparently trying to flee their home. El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa said the victims were found about 2 p.m. in their […]
By Erick Kabendera12 June 2013 ZANZIBAR (IPS) – Khadija Komboani’s nearest well is filled with salt water thanks to the rising sea around Tanzania’s Indian Ocean island of Zanzibar. And until recently, the 36-year-old mother of 12 from Nungwi village in Unguja on the northernmost part of Zanzibar, spent most of her day walking to […]
