By Janet Gregg, Jacksonville Daily Progress 2 August 2011 JACKSONVILLE — The impact of the current drought on the state’s agriculture industry has been devastating already and is likely to worsen if the drought continues through next year as some experts predict. “It does look like the drought of 2011 will be the costliest drought […]
Analysis by Lester R. Brown* WASHINGTON, Jul 20, 2011 (IPS) – Many countries are facing dangerous water shortages. As world demand for food has soared, millions of farmers have drilled too many irrigation wells in efforts to expand their harvests. As a result, water tables are falling and wells are going dry in some 20 […]
July 27 (Nairobi Star) – ABOUT 2,000 Mau Forest evictees have asked the government to give them land. They said they preferred being given land and not money. Speaking in Nakuru, leaders from 12 IDP camps accused those who wanted compensation in form of cash as impostors. The camps include Kongasis, Chepkoburon, Tiriyta, Kaptembwo, Kiletien, […]
By Benjamin Wermund; Editing by Karen Brooks and Jerry Norton29 July 2011 MARFA, Texas (Reuters) – A historic Texas drought is driving bears into urban areas searching for food and water, the latest in a series of bizarre wildlife stories to come out of the deadly hot and dry weather across the nation. Authorities have […]
By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent30 July 2011 Freshwater fish are the most endangered group of animals on the planet, with more than a third threatened with extinction, according to a report being compiled by British scientists. Among those at the greatest risk of dying out are several species from UK rivers and lakes including the […]
MANDERA/WAJIR, 28 July 2011 (IRIN) – In his village, Kiliwehiri in northeastern Kenya, Abdullah Mohamed is known as “that mentally disturbed man”. “It is difficult to be normal after you have watched your entire life’s savings get wiped out before your eyes,” said Ibrahim Abdi, assistant chief of the village. “We are Somalis, we look […]
By Steve Campbell, sfcampbell@star-telegram.com, 817-390-798124 July 2011 The ferocious Texas drought is clobbering crops, thinning out cattle herds, decimating wildlife, and drying up streams and reservoirs, but it’s also wreaking havoc deep underground, where the state’s aquifers are dropping at a precipitous rate, experts say. The dip in groundwater levels is forcing many rural homeowners […]
WICHITA, July 23 (AP) — The drought that has hit sections of Kansas this year has also affected wildlife that relies on rivers, streams and rain to survive. “It’s too dry for everything from the little things to the big things, which eat the little things,” said Don Distler, a biologist who manages Wichita State University’s […]
By Ray Smith for IPS, part of the Guardian Environment Network, www.guardian.co.uk22 July 2011 Even though their ice is called ‘eternal’, many alpine glaciers’ lives may come to an end within this century. For 150 years, most of them have been more or less constantly retreating, and since the eighties, their shrinkage has visibly increased. […]
By Neil MacFARQUHAR20 July 2011 UNITED NATIONS — The persistent inability of the United Nations to forge international consensus on climate change issues was on display Wednesday, as Security Council members disagreed over whether they should address possible instability provoked by problems like rising sea levels or competition over water resources. Western powers like the […]
