By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – African farmers said on Monday floods and droughts expected to worsen with climate change have already brought poor harvests, and women workers are turning to prostitution and falling victim to HIV/AIDS. Testifying at the first pan-African climate hearings, the farmers’ stories will be relayed at December’s climate talks […]
Rotting carcasses testify to the scale of the disaster looming in East Africa. By Daniel Howden, from Marsabit, Kenya On the plains of Marsabit the heat is so intense the bush seems to shiver. The leafless scrub, bleached white by the sun, looks like a forest of fake Christmas trees. Carcasses of cattle and camels […]
A freak tornado and floods last month may be a harbinger of a troubled future for Brazilian farmers, who worry that climate change could severely disrupt production in one of the world’s breadbaskets. Rising temperatures, a shift in seasons, and extreme weather in coming decades are likely to cut output in some areas and wipe […]
By Robert Waweru TURKANA, Kenya (Reuters) – Villagers in northwest Kenya squat in the sparse shade of an acacia tree and watch as aid workers slaughter their prized goats before distributing the meat to hungry people waiting for relief food. Goats are the economic lifeblood of the minority Turkana tribe, who live around Kenya’s […]
By Craig McKune South Africa has even less water than previously thought, a study has found. Scientists have warned that the country, with 98 percent of its surface water allocated for use, faces tough decisions as it becomes hotter and drier. But the Water Resources of South Africa 2005 study, the fifth of its kind, […]
By Thin Lei Win BANGKOK (Reuters) – Developing countries will need to spend as much as $100 billion annually for the next 40 years to adapt to more extreme and severe weather changes, according to a World Bank study issued on Wednesday. The report said poorer countries would need to invest in large-scale infrastructure projects […]
By Frank Nyakairu NAIROBI (Reuters) – Drought for a fifth year running is driving more than 23 million east Africans in seven countries toward severe hunger and destitution, international aid agency Oxfam said on Tuesday. Launching a 9.5 million pound appeal, it said the situation was being worsened by high food prices and conflict. […]
Rome (AFP) Sept 21, 2009 – Drought, conflict and displacement are causing the worst humanitarian crisis in war-torn Somalia in 18 years, the UN food agency warned Monday. Some 3.6 million people, about half the Somali population, need emergency aid including 1.3 million people displaced by fighting in the Horn of Africa country, the Food […]
Geneva (AFP) Sept 18, 2009 – The United Nations warned Friday that Guatemala is facing its worst drought in three decades, and that at least 2.5 million people have been affected by the crisis. “The country is facing the worst drought in 30 years, which has triggered a food crisis,” said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of […]
By Alex Morales Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) — Diverting overseas aid from economic development to fight global warming may threaten the lives of at least 4.5 million children in the poorest nations, the anti-poverty group Oxfam said. Pledges made by the 27-nation European Union and various donors to help the developing world adapt to higher sea […]
