Vietnam drought withers orchards — ‘Not a drop to drink’

Reported by Trung Duong – Tien Trinh  2000 custard apple trees. Around four years old. To a tree, they withered and died. That was a month ago. Now, he can do nothing but watch a hectare of his mango trees fade in the relentless heat. “Drought like this… there’s no way I can save the […]

Melbourne breaks record for days above 20°Celsius

By ADAM MORTONMarch 19, 2010 MELBOURNE’S temperature has topped 20 degrees for the past 100 days straight, the longest stretch of its type in more than 150 years of measurement. Yesterday’s maximum of 31 degrees continued a run of 20-plus degree days that began on December 9 last year. It has smashed the record of […]

Western Australia has hottest and driest summer on record

www.mongabay.comMarch 02, 2010 Western Australia endured its hottest summer on record, according to the state weather bureau. At 29.6°C, temperatures were 0.2°C warmer than the previous record, set in 1997-1998. Western Australia has been keeping state-wide temperature data since 1950. Perth, the state’s capital, had its driest summer since record-keeping began in 1897. Only 0.2 […]

Sydney sweats through hottest night in 13 years

  February 23, 2010 Sweaty. Sticky. Uneasy. These are all words that could easily be applied to the temperatures endured by Sydneysiders overnight, before a morning change injected some cool relief. The city stayed above 26 degrees for most of the night, even increasing to 29 degrees just before 9am, Sam Terry Meteorologist with The […]

South Africa heatwave kills more than 2,000 ostriches — temperatures soar to over 50°C

By Denene Erasmus, 25 Feb 2010 More than 2 000 ostriches have died in the Klein Karoo, as temperatures soared to more than 50°C in February. This follows the announcement that ostrich farmers in the drought-stricken southern Cape would not be benefiting from the R26,9 million in drought relief made available by the National Treasury for embattled […]

Tajikistan facing water shortages and climate extremes

Falling supplies due to rising temperatures and retreating glaciers could spark conflict between water-stressed countries in the region, says Oxfam By John Vidal, environment editorwww.guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 17 February 2010 06.00 GMT It has been occupied by the Russians, the Mongols, the Turks, the Arabs and the Uzbeks, the Chinese, as well as Genghis Khan. But […]

Worst heatwave in 50 years roasts Rio, kills 32 in southern Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO — The worst heatwave to hit Rio de Janeiro in 50 years turned the city into a pre-Carnival furnace Wednesday, and killed 32 elderly people further south, officials said. According to the Inmet national weather service, recorded temperatures in Rio were well above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees) — and felt more […]

Agriculture in warming tropics and subtropics: ‘20 percent to 30 percent decline in production yields in the next 50 years’

  ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2010) — Yields from some of the most important crops begin to decline sharply when average temperatures exceed about 30 degrees Celsius, or 86 Fahrenheit. Projections are that by the end of this century much of the tropics and subtropics will regularly see growing season temperatures above that level, hotter than […]

Water at core of climate change impacts: experts

OSLO (Reuters) – The main impact of climate change will be on water supplies and the world needs to learn from past cooperation such as over the Indus or Mekong Rivers to help avert future conflicts, experts said on Sunday. Desertification, flash floods, melting glaciers, heatwaves, cyclones or water-borne diseases such as cholera are among […]

Tibet temperatures highest ever recorded, rainfall at record low

(China Daily) LHASA: The “roof of the world” is getting warmer. The average temperature in the Tibet autonomous region was 5.9 C last year, 1.5 C higher than normal and a record high in almost four decades, latest figures from the regional climate center showed. The 2009 climate report, issued by the center yesterday, was […]

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