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by Delphine PAYSANT / Benjamin LEGENDRE Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A devastating drought that has struck the Horn of Africa could not have occurred without global warming, according to a new report released Thursday from an international team of climate scientists. “Human-caused climate change has made agricultural drought in the Horn of Africa about 100 times more likely,” said a summary of the report by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group. “The ongoing […]
by Roland LLOYD PARRY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A fierce drought melted glaciers during Europe’s hottest recorded summer last year, a phenomenon that could repeat as the continent warms at nearly twice the global rate, the EU’s climate observatory said Thursday. Two-thirds of Europe’s rivers fell below average levels and five cubic kilometres (two cubic miles) of ice disappeared from Alpine glaciers, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in its yearly update. […]
L’ Espluga de Francolí, Spain | AFP | by Rosa SULLEIRO For months, residents of L’Espluga de Francoli have been saving water in bottles and foregoing showers to cope with long hours of daily water rationing as northeastern Spain suffers one of its worst droughts in decades. While this small Catalan town has suffered supply problems for years due to the depleted state of its water table, the current drought has made things worse. […]
by Lucie AUBOURG Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Dry-spells known as flash droughts, with a surprisingly rapid onset and often devastating impact, are becoming more frequent as human activity warms the planet, according to a study published Thursday. Though droughts are generally thought of as long-term phenomena, some can occur quite suddenly, in a matter of weeks, when the conditions are right. Global warming is a recipe for increasing those special conditions around […]
The record drought sweeping the Horn of Africa may lead to 135 deaths a day in Somalia between January and June this year, the health ministry, WHO and UNICEF said in a study released Monday. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that nearly 100,000 people in the fragile country were facing catastrophic levels of hunger due to the worst drought to hit the region in four decades. Monday’s study used a statistical […]
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — Fires in heat wave- and drought-stricken Argentina have devoured some 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) of forests in the northern Corrientes province in just days, officials reported Tuesday. Three fires continued to threaten while two others were burning but under control, according to the emergency command center of Corrientes. No injuries have been reported and the fires have not spread to populated areas, with rains expected Tuesday. Since the start of […]
Nearly 130,000 people in the Greater Horn of Africa are “staring death in the eyes” from catastrophic hunger, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday. Some 48 million people in the Greater Horn — Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda — are facing crisis levels of food insecurity, the WHO said. That means households skipping meals and depleting savings and assets in order to eat. Of those, six million are facing emergency […]
VIENNA, Austria (AFP) – As Europe suffered its worst drought in centuries, residents in Austria’s capital were feeling fortunate for their plentiful water supply that courses from streams in the green forests of the Alps. A rarity in the EU, the two million inhabitants of Vienna get their tap water from dozens of springs — the main one some 655 meters (2,150 feet) above sea level. It’s a serious subject in Vienna, where access to […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – On Sutton Page’s ravaged cotton fields, there is almost nothing left to pick. The Texas farmer managed to salvage maybe a fifth of his crop, but the rest was lost to the severe drought that has taken a steep toll across the region. This year, his harvest is “not well,” he says, but in reality, the drought in northern Texas has proven to be a disaster, with most of Page’s […]
By Agence France Presse Around 730 children have died in nutrition centres across Somalia since January, the United Nations said Tuesday, warning the true figure could be much higher, with the country nearing famine. Millions of people are at risk of starvation across the Horn of Africa, which is in the grip of the worst drought in four decades after four failed rainy seasons wiped out livestock and crops. “Malnutrition has reached an unprecedented […]
Nairobi, Kenya (AFP) by Simon VALMARY On Monday, the UN’s humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths warned that Somalia was on the brink of famine for the second time in just over a decade. Here is an exploration of a term that evokes the very worst of human suffering. – What is a famine? – “Famine” is a word freighted with dread of hunger and privation, dating back to the dawn of humanity. More recently, though, […]
Nairobi, Kenya (AFP) by Tanya WILLMER The UN’s humanitarian chief warned Monday that drought-ravaged Somalia was on the brink of famine for the second time in just over a decade, and time was running out to save lives. “Famine is at the door and we are receiving a final warning,” Martin Griffiths told a press conference in the Somali capital Mogadishu. A food and nutrition report due for release on Monday has “concrete indications” that […]
