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By Maximilian Heath BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Huge grains ships loading up with soy and corn at Argentina’s major inland river ports around Rosario are taking on less cargo as water levels drop to near record lows due to a major drought upstream in Brazil, pushing up costs and transport times. The Parana River, which carries almost 80% of Argentina’s grains and oilseeds for export, is at the second lowest level for this time of […]
HANOI, April 6, 2024 (AFP) – Thousands of people in Vietnam are suffering a “severe” shortage of fresh water because of drought and salinisation, prompting authorities to declare a state of emergency on Saturday. A weeks-long heatwave has brought drought and saline intrusion to an area of Tien Giang province, 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of business hub Ho Chi Minh City. The province’s Tan Phu Dong area — with 12 kilometers of coastline along […]
BOGOTA, Colombia, April 8, 2024 (AFP) – The mayor of Colombia’s capital Bogota on Monday announced water restrictions as reservoirs in the sprawling Andean city hit “critical” levels. Mayor Carlos Fernando Galan told a press conference that two key reservoirs supplying the city were at their lowest level since the mid-1980s due to a lack of rain attributed to the El Nino climate phenomenon. He announced cuts from Thursday due to “the critical levels of […]
By Rosa SULLEIRO BARCELONA, Feb 1, 2024 (AFP) – Spain’s northeastern Catalonia region declared a drought emergency for Barcelona on Thursday and the surrounding area, which will now face tighter water restrictions following three years without significant rain. The head of the regional government of Catalonia, Pere Aragones, announced the step after reservoirs in the Mediterranean region saw their water levels falling to below 16 percent of full capacity. That is the benchmark set by […]
MANILA, Dec 12, 2023 (AFP) – The Philippines has so far endured fewer storms in 2023 than in any of the past 25 years and now faces potentially the worst drought in decades, officials said Tuesday. The tropical archipelago nation — which is ranked among the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change — is usually affected by around 20 major storms a year. So far this year, only 10 have made landfall […]
DAR ES SALAAM, Sept 28, 2023 (AFP) – Drought and maintenance issues have forced Tanzania to ration electricity, the national provider said, as power shortages roil the East African nation. The authorities imposed rationing measures last week, with the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) saying on Wednesday that the shortages would end by March next year. Tanzania currently has the capacity to generate about 1,900 megawatts, according to Gissima Nyamo-Hanga, the new managing director […]
BRASÍLIA, Sept 29, 2023 (AFP) – Brazil announced Thursday it will send emergency aid to an Amazon state that is enduring severe drought, with low water levels killing many fish, a key source of food for the Indigenous people who live there. The state of Amazonas in northwest Brazil is the country’s largest by surface area, includes much of the Amazon rainforest and is home to some four million people, the vast majority […]
PARIS, June 19, 2023 (AFP) – Europe should brace for more deadly heatwaves driven by climate change, said a sweeping report on Monday, noting the world’s fastest-warming continent was some 2.3 degrees Celsius hotter last year than in pre-industrial times. Crop-withering drought, record sea-surface temperatures and unprecedented glacier melt are among the consequences laid out in a report by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The continent, which has […]
LYNGE, Denmark, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – “I need water”, pleads farmer Lars Jonsson, casting a desperate eye over a parched field in eastern Denmark where the only shade is that cast by wind turbines. Across the northern hemisphere, the start of summer has been marked by extreme weather conditions, from megafires in Canada to drought in Spain. Even Northern Europe, typically known for its mild climate, has experienced an unseasonally dry spring and early […]
MEXICO CITY, June 17, 2023 (AFP) – Eight people have died in the third heatwave to hit Mexico since mid-April, the country’s health ministry said on Friday. Temperatures reached a record high of 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit) in the capital Mexico City this week. Seven of the victims died of heatstroke and one of dehydration between April 14 and June 12, the ministry said in a statement. In the northeastern city of Monterrey, temperatures […]
LONDON, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Millions of people across parts of southern Britain will be banned from using garden hoses as a hot spell sparks record demand for drinking water, authorities said on Friday. A temporary ban for people living in the southern Kent and Sussex areas will come into force on June 26 as forecasters predict the summer will see little rainfall. South East Water said demand in June had broken records despite […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Extreme weather conditions in Europe have killed almost 195,000 people and caused economic losses of more than 560 billion euros since 1980, the European Environment Agency said Wednesday. “Nearly 195,000 fatalities have been caused by floods, storms, heat- and coldwaves, forest fires and landslides” between 1980 and 2021, the EAA said in its report. Of the 560 billion euros ($605 billion) in losses, only 170 billion, or 30 percent, were insured, […]
