Drought adds to Syria woes of poverty and unemployment

By MICHAEL JANSEN in Damascus SYRIA IS sweltering in an unseasonable heatwave which Damascenes are blaming on climate change. “We have to fight global warming now, as well as so many other battles,” asserted Zuhair, an academic. Battle was joined in 2007 when the rains failed and 40,000 farm families in the country’s northeastern breadbasket […]

Gulf residents cope with unknown impacts of oil spill

By Janet Marcel | Bayou CatholicSubmitted on June 23, 2010 SCHRIEVER, LA. — Fishing, swimming and interacting at all with the water off the coast of Louisiana is off-limits to residents, and their livelihoods and quality of life are suffering, said the pastor of Our Lady of the Isle Parish in Grand Isle. “They can’t […]

‘Great Green Wall’ to fight desertification gets 119 million dollars

Thu Jun 17, 1:56 pm ET NDJAMENA (AFP) – The Global Environment Facility announced Thursday at a summit in Chad that it will fund a “Great Green Wall” to reforest northern Africa to the tune of 119 million US dollars (96 million euros). “We will make an allocation to each of your countries,” GEF chief […]

As world prices peak, Vietnam runs out of shrimp to sell

Source: Tuoi treMonday, 21/06/2010 (GMT+7) VietNamNet Bridge – Shrimp prices have spiked since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, but Mekong Delta production is at a cyclical low. CEO Le Van Quang of Minh Phu Seafood Company says there’s been a surge in demand by US shrimp importers since the oil spill disaster cratered Gulf […]

As businesses collapse, claimants still waiting for checks from BP

The oil giant says 20,000 of the 42,000 claims filed have been paid. But many affected financially by the oil spill report no responses, answers or relief. By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times June 14, 2010 Reporting from Gulf Shores, Ala. — Real estate agent Mike Reynolds had two desirable beachfront condos in escrow when […]

Drought edict turns farmers against Thai government

By BEN DOHERTYJune 12, 2010 Farmers in Thailand’s drought-stricken north have been told by the government they cannot plant any more rice, further fuelling anti-Bangkok sentiment in the Red Shirt-loyal region. Thailand is the world’s largest rice exporter, shipping more than 9 million tonnes offshore each year, but the worst drought in nearly 20 years […]

Virus ravages cassava crop in Africa

By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.Published: May 31, 2010 MUKONO, Uganda — Lynet Nalugo dug a cassava tuber out of her field and sliced it open. Inside its tan skin, the white flesh was riddled with necrotic brown lumps, as obviously diseased as any tuberculosis lung or cancerous breast. “Even the pigs refuse this,” she said. […]

Louisiana churchgoers somber after BP fails to plug Gulf oil spill

By The Associated PressMay 30, 2010, 6:04PM The reality that the Gulf oil leak could keep flowing for months was setting in Sunday for some somber churchgoers in Louisiana. In Plaquemines Parish near the mouth of the Mississippi River, the Rev. Theodore Turner said of his congregants are getting desperate because BP has been unable […]

Prolonged dry spells cause food security crisis in the Sahel

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Date: 19 May 2010 In 2009, agricultural production has been seriously affected in parts of the Sahel following late onset of rains, prolonged dry spells and significant pest infestations. The eastern and central parts of the Subregion were most affected with cereal outputs estimated to have […]

Drought and winter leave Mongolians a harvest of carcasses

By ANDREW JACOBSPublished: May 19, 2010 SOUTH HANGAY PROVINCE, Mongolia — They call it the zud, a prolonged period of heavy snows and paralyzing cold that adds to the challenges of living on a treeless expanse nearly the size of Alaska. But this year’s zud followed a punishing summer drought that stunted the grass and […]

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