A new El Niño has started, bringing a change in weather patterns and the increased threat of drought in many parts of the world. The phenomenon, which happens every two to seven years, occurs when the surface ocean waters of the Eastern Pacific are unusually warm. Officially known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, it […]
By Brian Merchant, Brooklyn, New York Researchers have a dire forecast for the next six months in the western US: it’ll be exceptionally hot, very dry, and 3.66 million acres will be scorched by fires. Apologies for the End of Days-y language, but the truth is that the researchers who compile the national drought and […]
By Fred Pearce Diverting water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to supply agriculture, alongside a warming climate, means the once-bountiful region is becoming desert Is it the final curtain for the Fertile Crescent? This summer, as Turkish dams reduce the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to a trickle, farmers abandon their desiccated fields across Iraq […]
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis SHAIZAR CASTLE, Syria (Reuters) – Only a few decades ago, fish were plentiful in the Orontes river which for thousands of years has provided water to the lush Syrian plains, at the crossroads of the ancient world. These days the Orontes’s 12th century norias, enormous water wheels famous for their distinctive […]
SPECIAL REPORT BY XINHUA CORRESPONDENT DANIEL OOKO NAIROBI, (Xinhua) — The Kenyan government on Wednesday raised an alarm of severe food, water and energy shortages facing the east African nation. Prime Minister Raila Odinga told Parliament that over 10 million people are in urgent need of food assistance, noting that a very worrying situation and […]
By Missy Ryan YUSUFIYA, Iraq (Reuters) – What was known as history’s fertile crescent, where lush farmland and abundant water gave rise to civilization, is today a dusty desert where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers crawl sluggishly toward the sea. Vast tracts of Iraqi farmland are cracked and barren, precious marshes have dried up […]
Dhaka (AFP) July 21, 2009 – A delay to Bangladesh’s monsoon season is posing a severe risk of drought in the impoverished nation and threatening food supplies, officials warned Tuesday. Monsoon rains normally sweep Bangladesh from June to September and the South Asian country gets more than 75 percent of its annual rainfall during this […]
Boulder CO (SPX) Jul 21, 2009 – All reservoirs along the Colorado River might dry up by mid-century as the West warms, a new study finds. The probability of such a severe shortage by then runs as high as one-in-two, unless current water-management practices change, the researchers report. The study’s coauthors looked at the effects […]
Baghdad (AFP) July 20, 2009 – Iraq’s water resources ministry on Monday called for talks with neighbouring Turkey and Syria after the flow of water in the Euphrates river fell by more than half in less than a month. The ministry is aiming for “an urgent meeting with ministers and experts from the three countries […]
By Himangshu Watts and Mayank Bhardwaj NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s monsoon delivered above-average rains last week for the first time this season but the worst dry patch in more than 80 years has already hit rice and sugarcane crops. It has also depleted India’s reservoirs, choking hydropower supply and boosting fuel demand as farms, […]
