By Dr John Church, CSIRO Fellow at the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research08 February 2011 Today there are more than 140 million people and a trillion dollars in infrastructure in the first one metre above high tide level around the world. Coastal areas (people, infrastructure and the environment) are already affected by extreme […]
Sydney (AFP) Feb 6, 2011 – Hammered by a monster cyclone just weeks after flooding spewed toxic waste into its pristine waters, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could face a slow recovery due to climate change, experts warn. Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, a top-category storm, ripped through Australia’s northeast tourist coast Thursday, levelling houses and decimating […]
Canberra, 08 February 2011 (FOCUS News Agency) – A drop in coal and agricultural exports forced by Australia’s flood and cyclone disasters could “thump” its economy in the first quarter, forcing growth into reverse, Treasurer Wayne Swan has warned, AFP reports. The calamitous weather that has battered resource-rich Queensland state since December could cause the […]
By Joe DeCapuaFebruary 07, 2011 In the coming months, parts of southern Africa may experience the worst flooding in the last 20 or 30 years. That’s the warning Monday from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It says the La Niña weather phenomenon has brought heavier than normal rainfall, destroying thousands of hectares of […]
COLOMBO, 06 Feb 2011 (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s monsoon rains have spread to more villages and towns, leaving at least 14 people dead and more than one million with flooded homes, according to officials. The number of people in state-run shelters rose to 236,000 by Saturday evening, the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) in Colombo said, […]
AS EASTERN AUSTRALIA RECOVERS from last month’s heavy flooding and last week’s category-5 cyclone, Perth in the west is tackling serious wildfires which have destroyed dozens of homes. The Lord Mayor of Perth has opened an appeal to assist the victims of the fires as officials have been reading lists of homes which have been […]
4 February 2011 (businessspectator.com.au) – Suncorp Group chief executive Patrick Snowball has warned that reoccurring natural disasters might drive multinational re-insurance companies out of the Australian market. Speaking to ABC TV’s Inside Business, Mr Snowball said that many people in Queensland did not have flood insurance, which was causing re-insurers to avoid targeting the state. […]
For further information: Harriet Binet, Communications Director, The Climate Institute | 02 8239 6299Friday, 04 February 2011 13:19 Cyclone Yasi which devastated large swathes of northern Queensland has come on the heels of a raft of extreme weather conditions in Australia and around the world which scientists say will increase in frequency and intensity unless […]
[cf. Climate mass migration fears ‘unfounded’] Singapore (AFP) Feb 6, 2011 – Asia must prepare for millions of people to flee their homes to safer havens within countries and across borders as weather patterns become more extreme, the Asian Development Bank warns. A draft of an ADB report obtained by AFP over the weekend and […]
Peter Munro and Mark Russell, with Ruth Williams and Anna WhitelawFebruary 6, 2011 VICTORIANS have been warned to prepare for more wild weather as flash flooding and storms wreaked havoc across the state, ripping roofs from buildings, tearing up trees and closing roads, schools and churches. Driving rain and winds of more than 130km/h battered […]
