By JANE HAMMOND, The West Australian March 4, 2011 Up to 250,000ha of the State’s jarrah and marri forests is under attack from an army of hairy caterpillars. The creatures, known as gum-leaf skeletonizers, have stripped bare sections of the southern jarrah forest. Department of Environment and Conservation entomologist Janet Farr said the outbreak was […]
The switch from El Niño to La Niña across the South Pacific has brought cooler than average temperatures to eastern Australia for 2010. The President of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, Prof. Neville Nicholls has described the current La Niña as ‘super strong’—either strongest or second strongest on record, with the highest December Southern […]
By Stephanie March8 Mar 2011 The President of Kiribati says an increasing number of coastal villagers are asking to be relocated because of rising sea waters. Anote Tong says Kiribati is in urgent need of funding to build sea walls to prevent sea water destroying villages and crops. President Tong has recently come back from […]
ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2011) — The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass at an accelerating pace, according to a new NASA-funded satellite study. The findings of the study — the longest to date of changes in polar ice sheet mass — suggest these ice sheets are overtaking ice loss from Earth’s mountain glaciers […]
VIDEO: Floods hit cyclone-battered Cardwell By Peter Michael, Brian Williams, and Koren HelbigMarch 09, 2011 SHATTERED Cyclone Yasi victims are battling a second cruel blow as torrential rain floods already-battered towns, leaving residents stranded and sodden. Cardwell is isolated, with roads cut to the north and the south. Forecasters predict 200mm of rain between Cooktown […]
By Svetlana Kovalyova and Deepa Babington; Editing by Anthony BarkerMon Mar 7, 2011 MILAN/ROME (Reuters) – Climate change bringing floods and drought, growing biofuel demand and national policies to protect domestic markets could drive up global food prices and threaten long-term food security, the United Nations said. High and volatile food prices are a growing […]
By Steven Wardill, The Courier-MailMarch 07, 2011 EXPERTS hired by insurance companies have blamed Wivenhoe Dam for contributing to the devastating floods in Brisbane and Ipswich. A report written for the Insurance Australia Group, which owns NRMA and CGU, details how releases from Wivenhoe, combined with intense rainfall, flooded hundreds of homes and businesses. The […]
Newport Beach and other communities on California’s coast are planning to build up wetlands, construct levees and seawalls or move structures inland as climate change raises sea levels. By Tony Barboza, Los Angeles TimesMarch 6, 2011 Cities along California’s coastline that for years have dismissed reports of climate change or lagged in preparing for rising […]
Nairobi — Rising inflation is threatening East Africa Community’s economic growth. From Nairobi to Dar es Salaam and Kampala, all signs point to surging inflation in the region in the coming days. An array of issues from drought to food scarcity to escalating oil prices continue to pile pressure on households’ expenditure. Political crises in […]
Millions living near the coast are likely to be hit by rising sea levels, erosion, and storm surges, warns a new study By Jamie Doward, The ObserverSunday 6 March 2011 On Benbecula, they know all too well that rising tides threaten the UK’s coastline. For the 1,200 inhabitants of the small, low-lying island in the […]
