Latin America suffers intense and deadly rainy season

BOGOTA, Colombia, November 30, 2010 (ENS) – The government of Colombia has declared a state of national catastrophe due to the intense rains that have inundated much of the country, causing more than 160 deaths and affecting more than 1.4 million people. This declaration, which applies to 28 of Colombia’s 32 departments, allows the country […]

An almanac of extreme weather

By JACK HEDINNovember 27, 2010 THE news from this Midwestern farm is not good. The past four years of heavy rains and flash flooding here in southern Minnesota have left me worried about the future of agriculture in America’s grain belt. For some time computer models of climate change have been predicting just these kinds […]

Himalaya farmers struggle for survival as climate changes

By Athar ParvaizNovember 15, 2010 The devastating flood that struck the normally arid desert of Ladakh, north-west India, in August has multiplied the worries of local farmers, already struggling with water shortages and harsh climatic conditions. Flashfloods and mudslides killed 233 people and damaged 14.2 square kilometres of agricultural land.  Tucked high up in the […]

Confronting climate displacement: Learning from Pakistan’s floods

In July 2010, massive rain in Pakistan led to unprecedented flooding that submerged one-fifth of the country and affected more than 20 million people. While many experts believe the floods were the result of climate change, others say the science is uncertain. Regardless, most agree that natural disasters are occurring more frequently and that the […]

Graph of the Day: Global Precipitation Trend, 1950-2008

From 1950 to 2008, most land areas have warmed up by 1–3°C, with the largest warming over northern Asia and northern North America. During the same period, precipitation decreased over most of Africa, southern Europe, South and East Asia, eastern Australia, Central America, central Pacific coasts of North America, and some parts of South America. […]

Charity reports on Pakistan refugee crisis

By Laurinda Luffman for SOS ChildrenNov 19, 2010 12:29 PM Over one hundred days since the floods hit Pakistan and families across the country tell their stories how they have been affected by the catastrophe. Over one hundred days have passed since the floods hit Pakistan and families across the country tell their stories how […]

Leh flood refugees to have housing by end of November

By Shujaat BukhariNovember 15, 2010 SRINAGAR — Most of them who lost their houses on August 5 in the Leh cloudburst are all set to get their shelter by the end of this month as the reconstruction work is going on in full swing. With Prime Minister’s Office monitoring the work on weekly basis, the […]

As glaciers melt, science seeks data on rising seas

By JUSTIN GILLISNovember 13, 2010 TASIILAQ, Greenland — With a tense pilot gripping the stick, the helicopter hovered above the water, a red speck of machinery lost in a wilderness of rock and ice. To the right, a great fjord stretched toward the sea, choked with icebergs. To the left loomed one of the immense […]

Up to six more months of Pakistan flood water: EU official

AFP 12 November 2010 ISLAMABAD (AFP) — A senior EU aid official warned Friday that flood waters could linger up to another six months in Pakistan, where he said the magnitude of the crisis meant people were still going without aid. “There is nearly water everywhere,” Peter Zangl, the director general of the European Commission’s […]

Sea level rise threatens Alexandria, Nile Delta

By Dina ZayedALEXANDRIA, Egypt | Sun Nov 14, 2010 9:33am EST (Reuters) – Twenty years ago, Taher Ibrahim raced his friends across Alexandria’s beaches, now rising seas have swept over his favorite childhood playground. Alexandria, with 4 million people, is Egypt’s second-largest city, an industrial center and a port that handles four-fifths of national trade. […]

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