NIAMEY, Niger, 28 January 2012 (UPI) – An estimated 10 million people across Africa’s arid Sahel region are feeling the effects of drought, humanitarian agencies say. A survey by the U.N. Children’s Fund estimated there will be 1 million cases of severe malnutrition caused by the drought, with between 25 percent and 60 percent of […]
By Andrew Fraser, The Australian9 February 2012 FLOODED St George in southern Queensland is facing a delayed hit from the surging Balonne River while more than a fifth of the surrounding cotton crop faces ruin. The Balonne yesterday peaked at 13.95m, and is expected to stay near that record mark for days, frustrating the hopes […]
By KARLA ZABLUDOVSKY30 January 2012 MEXICO CITY – A drought that a government official called the most severe Mexico had ever faced has left two million people without access to water and, coupled with a cold snap, has devastated cropland in nearly half of the country. The government in the past week has authorized $2.63 […]
After sliding considerably in the first half of 2010, the agricultural commodity price indices of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) rose sharply, reaching peaks around February 2011 (figure II.9). Despite subsequent falls, prices remain comparatively high. The food price index averaged 268 points from January to September 2011, up 21.8 per […]
Ayutthaya, Thailand, 9 January 2011 Ayutthaya, Thailand, 1 December 2011 Caption by Michon Scott9 January 2012 Flood waters continued receding in Thailand’s historic city of Ayutthaya in December 2011 and January 2012. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite captured the top image on 9 January 2012, and the bottom […]
By Mark Tran, www.guardian.co.uk 9 January 2012 Governments in the Sahel and international relief agencies have been quick off the mark in acknowledging a looming food crisis. Last October, the government in drought-hit Niger – where almost 1 million people are in urgent need of food after a poor harvest – drafted a response plan, […]
It’s time for the yearly retrospectives on 2011, and we’re kicking them off with 2011’s most-viewed stories on Desdemona. It won’t surprise anyone to see that the triple meltdown at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant was the most popular event, with 9 of the top 20 stories. Most surprising is the continued popularity of a 2009 […]
By Mara Lee, Hartford Courant 8 December 2011 Reporting from Hartford, Conn.— The United States had a dozen weather disasters that each caused at least $1 billion in damages in 2011, the greatest frequency of severe weather that caused costly losses in more than 30 years of federal government tracking. However, even with the number […]
By John Vidal, environment editor, www.guardian.co.uk 1 December 2011 We are right on the equator, and Speke, Moebius, Elena, Savoia, and Moore, the five great glaciers of the the Rwenzori, the Mountains of the Moon, glint in the bright Ugandan sun. Usually lost in the mists that cloak these peaks up to 5,100 metres high, […]
By Matt McGrath, Science reporter, BBC World Service17 November 2011 UN scientists are warning that a virus attacking the cassava plant is nearing an epidemic in parts of Africa. Cassava is one of the world’s most important crops providing up to a third of the calorie intake for many people. The food and agriculture organisation […]
