Severe food and water shortages in Kenya

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 […]

Crops face toxic timebomb in warmer world

  By David Fogarty, Climate Change Correspondent, Asia SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Staples such as cassava on which millions of people depend become more toxic and produce much smaller yields in a world with higher carbon dioxide levels and more drought, Australian scientists say. The findings, presented on Monday at a conference in Glasgow, Scotland, underscored […]

U.N. warns of catastrophe as hungry people top one billion

By Silvia Aloisi ROME (Reuters) – High food prices have pushed another 105 million people into hunger in the first half of 2009, the head of the U.N. World Food Programme said on Friday, raising the total number of hungry people to over 1 billion. Urging rich nations at a meeting of G8 development ministers […]

Climate change biggest threat to human health

By Sam Lister, Health Editor Climate change poses the biggest threat to human health in the 21st century but its full impact is not being grasped by the healthcare community or policymakers, a medical report concludes. The report, compiled by a commission of academics from University College London and published in The Lancet, warns that […]

UK’s chief scientist warns of “perfect storm” for resource shortages by 2030

by James Murray, BusinessGreen Food, energy and water supplies all under threat from combination of climate change and growing population The UK’s chief scientist will today warn that political and business leaders have just 20 years to prepare for a "perfect storm" of climate change-related impacts on food, water and energy supplies or risk public […]

Liberia invaded by second wave of crop-destroying caterpillars

Liberia has been hit by a second invasion of crop-destroying caterpillars which have wreaked havoc in the west African nation, agriculture ministry officials said Thursday. "We have two weeks maximum to react. We have our teams out on the field preparing to contain the situation," Moses Subah, head of the agriculture ministry’s technical team, said. […]

China wheat harvest withers in drought

By Michael Wines QIAOBEI, China: In this tiny hamlet in northern China’s wheat belt, Zheng Songxian scrapes out a living growing winter wheat on a vest-pocket plot, an eighth of a hectare carved out of a rocky hillside. One might think he would greet the chance this winter to till new land as cause for […]

China declares an emergency amid worst drought in 50 years

The worst drought in half a century has parched fields across eight provinces in northern China and left nearly four million people without proper drinking water. Not a drop of rain has fallen on Beijing for more than 100 days, the longest dry spell for 38 years in a city known for its arid climate. […]

Drought starts to bite in northern Kenya, 10 million face famine

  By David Clarke WAREGADUD, Kenya (Reuters) – Clouds of dust rising above the harsh scrub herald the arrival of more livestock at a borehole in northeastern Kenya, the end for some of a 45-km (28-mile) trek for water that must be repeated every few days. Drought is starting to bite in east Africa’s biggest […]

China drought deprives millions of drinking water

  By Andrew Torchia SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Millions of people and cattle in north China face shortages of drinking water because of a severe drought, the government said on Saturday, promising to speed up disbursement of billions of dollars of subsidies to farmers. State television quoted disaster relief officials as saying 4.4 million people and […]

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