By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com 19 December 2011 Drought and erratic rains could lead to further food scarcities in Africa warns the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The WFP singles out South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, and Niger as nations of particular concern. Earlier this year famine killed scores of people, including an estimated […]
By Betsy Blaney, The Associated Press17 December 2011 LUBBOCK, Texas – The worst drought in Texas’ history has led to the largest-ever one-year decline in the leading cattle-state’s cow herd, raising the likelihood of increased beef prices as the number of animals decline and demand remains strong. Since Jan. 1, the number of cows in […]
By Alan Buis, Alan.buis@jpl.nasa.gov, 818-354-0474, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CADecember 14, 2011 PASADENA, California – By 2100, global climate change will modify plant communities covering almost half of Earth’s land surface and will drive the conversion of nearly 40 percent of land-based ecosystems from one major ecological community type – such as forest, grassland or […]
The economy’s bust, the climate’s on the brink and even the arts are full of gloom. Has there ever been an era so bleak? By Andy Beckettm www.guardian.co.uk 18 December 2011 It is a crisp bright winter morning, but in a windowless basement gallery at Tate Britain, minutes after opening time, there is already quite […]
By JUSTIN GILLIS16 December 2011 FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A bubble rose through a hole in the surface of a frozen lake. It popped, followed by another, and another, as if a pot were somehow boiling in the icy depths. Every bursting bubble sent up a puff of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas generated beneath the […]
Tens of thousands of flood-affected children in Pakistan are being kept free of disease through the emergency provision of safe water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene lessons. But a lack of funding is putting in doubt future humanitarian assistance. Staving off disease in post-flood Pakistan Technorati Tags: Pakistan,Asia,monsoon,flood,epidemic,United Nations,global warming,climate refugees,climate change
AYUTTHAYA, December 18 (AFP) – Piles of rubbish, rusting furniture and discarded machinery litter one of Thailand’s top high-tech parks, a former symbol of economic prowess laid to waste by weeks of flooding. Many of the companies located in the country’s industrial heartland say it will be several months at least before their operations return […]
By Tilo Arnhold, tilo.arnhold@ufz.de Phone +49 341 235 163516 December 2011 Chicago/Leipzig (UFZ) – Large forest regions in Canada are apparently about to experience rapid change. Based on models, scientists can now show that there are threshold values for wildfires just like there are for epidemics. Large areas of Canada are apparently approaching this threshold […]
By Erik De Castro, with additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco and Manny Mogato in MANILA; Editing by Robert Birsel18 December 2011 CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (Reuters) – Rescuers searched for more than 800 people missing in the southern Philippines on Sunday after flash floods and landslides swept houses into rivers and out to sea, killing […]
By Erik De Castro and by Manny Mogato17 December 2011 CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines (Reuters) – More than 400 people were killed and an unknown number were missing after a typhoon struck the southern Philippines, causing flash floods and landslides and driving tens of thousands from their homes. In a text message to Reuters, Gwendolyn […]
