By Leslie Hook in Beijing, with additional reporting by Gwen Chen in Beijing 24 May 2011 Chinese authorities will step up the release of water from the Three Gorges Dam in a bid to tackle a drought in southern China which has put pressure on drinking water, crops, shipping lanes and electricity production in what […]
By WILLIAM NEUMAN12 April 2011 When prices for corn and soybeans surged last fall, Bill Hammitt, a farmer in the fertile hill country of western Iowa, began to see the bulldozers come out, clearing steep hillsides of trees and pastureland to make way for more acres of the state’s staple crops. Now, as spring planting […]
1. Record Breaking Mississippi River Levels Cause Levee Demo The Big Muddy rolled relentlessly southward, causing havoc as the record flood level drove citizens from their homes. Although the Army Corps of Engineers was forced to dynamite the levees to save Cairo, IL, the disaster is a movable catastrophe. 2. Tornado Attack in the South […]
By Roger Harrabin Environment analyst, BBC News15 April 2011 Air pollution is damaging 60% of Europe’s prime wildlife sites in meadows, forests and heaths, according to a new report. A team of EU scientists said nitrogen emissions from cars, factories and farming was threatening biodiversity. It’s the second report this week warning of the on-going […]
By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS, Associated Press6 April 2011 COYLE, Okla. — In most years, the dark clouds over western Oklahoma in the spring would be bringing rain. This year, they’re more likely to be smoke from wildfires that have burned thousands of acres in the past month as the state and its farmers struggle with a […]
ISIOLO/MANDERA, 6 April 2011 (IRIN) – Thousands more heads of livestock have died in Kenya’s arid Northeastern province as La Niña drought conditions worsen and water shortages become more acute. Drought monitoring and assessment reports indicate that the hardest-hit areas are Marsabit, Moyale and Mandera. Livestock farmers in the three regions have lost more than […]
USA Today / AP28 March 2011 TOKYO — Workers at Japan’s damaged nuclear plant raced to pump out contaminated water suspected of sending radioactivity levels soaring as officials warned Monday that radiation seeping from the complex was spreading to seawater and soil. Mounting problems, including badly miscalculated radiation figures and no place to store dangerously […]
By Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey 12 March 2011 Key reservoirs in Cyprus are drying up. In some parts of the Greek side of the divided island, 50 percent of the trees have died due to drought, damaging soil quality and agricultural productivity. Experts say the Mediterranean island could end up with as little water as […]
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 […]
By Evan Abramson, Yale Environment 360February 8, 2011 For thousands of years, nomadic herdsmen have roamed the harsh, semi-arid lowlands that stretch across 80 percent of Kenya and 60 percent of Ethiopia. Descendants of the oldest tribal societies in the world, they survive thanks to the animals they raise and the crops they grow, their […]
