The trees, which were already under duress, are being killed by insects that thrive as the climate changes. Scientists call it Sudden Aspen Decline. By Nicholas Riccardi, October 18, 2009 Reporting from Paonia, Colo. – From the hillsides of extinct volcanoes in Arizona to the jagged peaks of Idaho, aspen trees are falling by the […]
By John Gachiri, 14 October 2009 More Kenyans are in need of emergency food today than they were 20 years ago and the situation may get worse, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) says in a new report. The report, Global Hunger Index (GHI), that measures levels of malnutrition and hunger was released on […]
Internally displaced families on Friday started experiencing what could be the most trying time of their lives in camps as the much-anticipated rains pounded Nakuru and its environs. The heavy rains, linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon, fell in the town for the second day running. In recent months, the town has been […]
By Boris BachorzSat, 17 Oct 2009 12:07 The camel, its legs attached with branches, brays desperately, blood spurting from the cut artery; nomads in Turkana in Kenya’s extreme north have been reduced to sacrificing their animals to survive a bruising drought. “I brought this dromedary to have it killed and make a little money after […]
By James Kilner LONDON (AlertNet) – Once one of the world’s largest lakes, Lake Chad in west Africa has shrunk by 90 percent since 1963 and pushed millions of people living along its shores into a competition for survival, the U.N. said on Thursday. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) blamed climate change and […]
Paris (AFP) Oct 13, 2009 – More than 100,000 people in northern Iraq have abandoned their homes since 2005 because of water stress, after drought and over-extraction of groundwater caused the collapse of an ancient water system, UNESCO said on Tuesday. “Drought and excessive well pumping have drawn down aquifer levels in the region, causing […]
The salinity in Lake Alexandrina at Milang increased to 6,000 EC in April 2009 and is currently about 5,500 EC, which is significantly higher than the long term average (see Figure 7). Upstream of the Goolwa Barrage, the salinity increased to 32,000 EC in March 2009 and is now about 20,000 EC (compared with seawater […]
Rome (UPI) Oct 9, 2009 – Global rice stockpiles have plummeted because of poor crop yields, raising fears of upheaval in international grain markets ahead of the World Food Summit in the Italian capital next month. Sharp increases in rice prices since last year have hit consumers across the world, especially in Asia and the […]
MDBA active (useable water) storage at the end of July was 1,470 GL or 17% of capacity (Figure 4). This is similar to this time last year (1,480 GL) but well below the July long term average of 5,610 GL. MDBA active storage has now been below average since early 2002. There was also about […]
By JONATHAN DART, October 10, 2009 MORE than 1000 properties across the state are expected to be earmarked and prepared as shelters of last resort in case of a bushfire. In one of the largest collaborative projects between the state’s Rural Fire Service and emergency services, the ”neighbourhood safer places” will be chosen, prepared […]
