The lives and livelihood of communities living in arid and semi-arid lands were affected by the worsening drought conditions in 2010. Wajir district, in northern Kenya was the worst hit and continued to record deterioration of pasture, livestock body conditions, and access to water since August 2010. Worsening conditions were also reported in parts of […]
By Brian ReedFebruary 16, 2011 From the sky, the country of Kiribati looks like strands of yarn floating on the sea: 33 tiny islands, scattered across an area of the Pacific Ocean more than twice the size of Alaska. Nearly half the population, more than 40,000 people, is crowded into just one of those strands […]
By Staff WritersFeb 17, 2011 United Nations (AFP) – Somalia, home to one of the world’s largest population of displaced people, is teetering on a crisis with drought now threatening some 2.4 million people, a UN official said Thursday. “Somalia … is on the brink of a much larger disaster due to the threat of […]
Lake size is sensitive to both climate change and human activities, and therefore serves as an excellent indicator to assess environmental changes. Using a large volume of various datasets, we provide a first complete picture of changes in China’s lakes between 1960s–1980s and 2005–2006. Dramatic changes are found in both lake number and lake size; […]
By Laurie Goering11 Feb 2011 15:47 LONDON (AlertNet) – Increasing drought and aridity around the world, linked to climate change and land degradation, are becoming a major threat to food security and poverty reduction efforts, according to the United Nations’ anti-desertification chief. Stepping up investment in restoring degraded land and curbing desertification could work toward […]
Beijing, 11 February 2011 (AP) — China says it is launching a massive well drilling operation to save the crucial wheat crop stricken by the worst drought in decades. The plan to drill 1,350 wells across eight northeastern provinces follows the announcement of plans to spend $1 billion to alleviate the drought. China is the […]
By Saman Dazaee05 Feb 2011 Baghdad – A spokesman for the Iraqi Ministry of Electricity said on Saturday that resolving the energy crisis that has plagued the country in recent years will cost an estimated $6bn. Musab al-Mudaris told AKnews that the ministry has asked parliament to provide appropriate funds in the 2011 budget to […]
By Bryan Walsh February 10, 2011 It’s not the heat that might get us with climate change—it’s the humidity, so to speak. The risk of sea level rise due to melting land ice is one of the most recognized—if controversial and hard to predict—threats posed by global warming. Other potential impacts from global warming include […]
VIENNA, Feb 10 (IPS) , 2011 (IPS) – Pakistan is still reeling from flooding that caused one of the world’s costliest natural disasters in 2010, with millions of people lacking shelter, infrastructure in ruins and donations falling short of appeals. But worse may come. The United Nations’ disaster coordination agency announced on Jan. 24 that […]
By Staff WritersSantiago, Chile (UPI) Feb 10, 2011 Chile has ordered nationwide contingency planning to prepare for damaging effects of a drought triggered by La Niña weather phenomenon, already seen behind low rainfall and poor agricultural harvests in Argentina. A succession of natural disasters has put unexpected financial pressures on President Sebastian Piñera’s announced plans […]
