Closed-door policies imperil climate migrants – “There are areas of the world that are getting degraded, and if we do nothing, they will become uninhabitable”

By Justine Calma 5 February 2018 (Grist) – The unprecedented brutality of the 2017 hurricane season showed the potential that natural disasters have to destroy livelihoods, displace families, and uproot entire communities. The most recent example, of course, is the situation in Puerto Rico post-Maria. Experts estimate the U.S. territory will lose close to 500,000 […]

Hotter temperatures will accelerate migration of asylum-seekers to Europe, says study – “Europe will see increasing numbers of desperate people fleeing their home countries”

21 December 2017 (Columbia University) – New research predicts that migrants applying for asylum in the European Union will nearly triple over the average of the last 15 years by 2100 if carbon emissions continue on their current path. The study suggests that cutting emissions could partially stem the tide, but even under an optimistic […]

Records from ancient China reveal link between epidemics and climate change

By Chelsea Harvey 7 November 2017 (E&E News) – Scientists are worried about the effects of long-term warming on human health and infectious disease, but a new study finds a link between epidemics and a cold climate.By analyzing Chinese records throughout nearly 2,000 years of history—from between A.D. 1 and 1911—researchers have found that climate-driven […]

Barbuda remains uninhabitable, two months after Hurricane Irma – “There has never been a hurricane like this in the Caribbean”

By Karen Chávez 11 November 2017 CODRINGTON, Barbuda (The Citizen-Times) – Carl Francis is a ghost of a man, shuffling slowly, sadly down the roads of a ghost town. Francis, a father of seven, barely lived through the historic rains and winds of Hurricane Irma, which two months ago landed like a bomb on Barbuda, […]

California asks U.S. government for $7.4 billion for wildfire rebuilding

SAN FRANCISCO, 3 November 2017 (Associated Press) – California Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers asked the U.S. government Friday for $7.4 billion to help rebuild after a cluster of fires tore through the heart of wine country, killing more than 40 people and leaving thousands without housing.In a letter to the White House, Brown joined […]

At least 19 dead as Typhoon Damrey sweeps into Vietnam – Damrey is strongest typhoon to make landfall in southern Vietnam in 16 years

By Mai Nguyen 4 November 2017 HANOI (Reuters) – Typhoon Damrey killed at least 19 people in central and southern Vietnam on Saturday, the government said, after the storm swept into the country just days ahead of the APEC summit of Asia-Pacific leaders. Damrey reached land at 4 a.m. local time (2100 GMT on Friday) […]

Wildfires scorched marijuana crops, possibly complicating California’s rollout of legal sales

By Katie Zezima 20 October 2017 (The Washington Post) – The deadly wildfires that ravaged communities and wineries in Northern California also severely damaged numerous marijuana farms, just before the state is expected to fully legalize the drug, in a disaster that could have far-reaching implications for a nascent industry.At least 34 marijuana farms suffered […]

World hunger is increasing thanks to wars and global warming

By Leah Samberg 17 October 2017 (The Conversation) – Around the globe, about 815 million people – 11 percent of the world’s population – went hungry in 2016, according to the latest data from the United Nations. This was the first increase in more than 15 years.Between 1990 and 2015, due largely to a set […]

Global Early Warning – Early Action System report on food security and agriculture, October – December 2017

October 2017 (FAO) – The Global Early Warning – Early Action System (EWEA) report on food security and agriculture is developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through its EWEA. The system aims to translate forecasts and early warnings into anticipatory action.This report specifically highlights: HIGH RISK Yemen (risk of […]

Drought pushes Kenya pastoralists to the brink – “I think pastoralism will be finished because of the droughts. All the animals are dying.”

By Anthony Morland 16 October 2017(IRIN) – Even at the best of times, the people of Turkana live on the edge. Almost all of the 1.3 million inhabitants of this arid county in northwest Kenya endure extreme poverty.Malnutrition rates are among the highest in the country. Since much of the land here is unsuitable for […]

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