ISIOLO/MANDERA, 6 April 2011 (IRIN) – Thousands more heads of livestock have died in Kenya’s arid Northeastern province as La Niña drought conditions worsen and water shortages become more acute. Drought monitoring and assessment reports indicate that the hardest-hit areas are Marsabit, Moyale and Mandera. Livestock farmers in the three regions have lost more than […]
By Brad Johnson18 March 2011 The state of Texas will be adding four congressional districts due to significant population growth. My colleague Matt Yglesias writes that it’s “fascinating to learn from the Census Bureau that even amidst 20 percent population growth, huge swathes of the state are actually losing people. The result is a state […]
[UPDATE 4 October 2011: Sadly, World Catastrophe Map has closed down for good.] Occasionally, Desdemona runs across a site or a blog that’s uncannily dialed into the Des vibe. All dedicated Doomers know the Apocadocs and Wit’s End, but the World Catastrophe Map is a new and delectable find for Des. “Let the End Times […]
By Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey 12 March 2011 Key reservoirs in Cyprus are drying up. In some parts of the Greek side of the divided island, 50 percent of the trees have died due to drought, damaging soil quality and agricultural productivity. Experts say the Mediterranean island could end up with as little water as […]
By Laurie Goering11 Feb 2011 15:47 LONDON (AlertNet) – Increasing drought and aridity around the world, linked to climate change and land degradation, are becoming a major threat to food security and poverty reduction efforts, according to the United Nations’ anti-desertification chief. Stepping up investment in restoring degraded land and curbing desertification could work toward […]
By Staff WritersFeb 2, 2011 Beijing (AFP) – Wide swathes of northern China are suffering through their worst drought in 60 years — a dry spell that could have a serious economic impact worldwide if it continues much longer, experts say. Some areas have gone 120 days without any significant rainfall, leaving more than five […]
By Johann HariMonday, Jan. 10, 2011, at 6:51 AM ET When Jonathan Watts was a child, he was warned: “If everyone in China jumps at exactly the same time, it will shake the earth off its axis and kill us all.” Three decades later, he stood in the gray sickly smog of Beijing, wheezing and […]
New paper in Nature Geoscience examines inertia of carbon dioxide emissions Contact: Jennifer Myers, myers@ucalgary.ca, University of Calgary 9-Jan-2011 New research indicates the impact of rising CO2 levels in the Earth’s atmosphere will cause unstoppable effects to the climate for at least the next 1000 years, causing researchers to estimate a collapse of the West […]
Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Created by Daniel MagnowskiTue Jan 4, 2011 BEIJING Jan 4 (Reuters) – At the current rate of progress it will take 300 years to turn back China’s advancing deserts, a senior official said on Tuesday, bemoaning the low level of investment in fighting a serious environmental problem. Over a quarter of […]
23 December 2010 – While China has made great economic and social progress in recent years, land degradation and the widening income gap between rural and urban are posing challenges to ensuring the right to food for its population, says an independent United Nations human rights expert. “Within a few decades, China has been able […]
