Yunnan’s worst drought for many years has been exacerbated by destruction of forest cover and a history of poor water management. By Jane Qiu in Beijing Born into a farming family in south Yunnan province, China, Zhu Youyong’s life has always been tied to the soil. At the age of 54, however, Zhu — now […]
By MICHAEL BURNHAM AND NATHANIAL GRONEWOLD of GreenwirePublished: May 4, 2010 NAIROBI, Kenya — It’s the rainy season, but the sun is still baking the Mathare Valley slum. A half-million people live in this warren of shacks clustered amid 10 square kilometers of the Mathare River. When the rains fall, drops spill like marbles on […]
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comApril 26, 2010 The West African nation of Niger is facing an increasingly alarming food crisis as the UN announced it would double the number of people it was feeding today despite continuing budget shortfalls in its World Food Program (WFP). Failing rains have caused crop yields in Niger to decline, while […]
By Tom Whipple Wednesday, April 14 2010 11:56 We all need to pause for a minute and consider the possible implications of the droughts that are engulfing China. One of these is in the north — Inner Mongolia, and the second more serious one covers most of southwestern China. If the weather patterns revert to […]
By Staff WritersGeneva (AFP) April 9, 2010 The United Nations on Friday appealed for funds to help Guatemala cope with the worst drought in 30 years and counter a looming famine, after a March appeal for financing went largely unanswered. “This appeal of 4.7 million (dollars), which is not enormous, has received only three […]
By Staff WritersBeijing (UPI) Mar 30, 2009 In an attempt to bring relief to drought-stricken southwestern China, the government fired cannons and launched rockets loaded with cloud-seeding chemicals throughout the weekend. Results ranged from drizzle to moderate rain to downpours in 11 cities and prefectures, yet meteorologists said the induced rain would have a limited […]
By JESSICA LEBER of ClimateWirePublished: March 29, 2010 SAKAI, Kenya — No one complained that the rains were late when they watered the parched hills and muddied the roads here in December. Normally, they would have begun weeks earlier. Villagers were grateful the rain had come at all. “God is great. After these two seasons […]
ScienceDaily (Mar. 22, 2010) — Climate change and environmental degradation are likely to trigger increased migration in Sub-Saharan Africa with potentially devastating effects on the hundreds of millions of especially poor people, according to a paper in the International Journal of Global Warming. Environmental changes are especially pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), explain Ulrike Grote […]
By Staff WritersNiamey (AFP) March 22, 2010 West African farmers appealed Monday for help as drought and famine menaced people and livestock, with malnutrition already affecting nearly a third of the population. “Communities of farmers and pastoralists are already severely affected … with the acute malnutrition rate estimated at 29.9 percent, which is double the […]
By Staff WritersBeijing (AFP) March 17, 2010 Millions of people face drinking water shortages in southwestern China because of a once-a-century drought that has dried up rivers and threatens vast farmlands, state media reported Wednesday. The drought has gripped huge areas of Guizhou, Yunnan, and Sichuan provinces, the Guangxi region, and the mega-city of […]
