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by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A world addled by climate change has seen a four-fold increase in major flooding events since 1980, and a doubling of significant storms, droughts and heat waves, Europe’s national science academies jointly reported Wednesday. In Europe, where precise data reaches back decades, the number of severe floods has jumped five fold since 1995, according to the report, which updates a 2013 assessment. “There has been, […]
by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Before man-made climate change kicked in — and well before “Day Zero” in Cape Town, where taps may run dry in early May — the global water crisis was upon us. Freshwater resources were already badly stressed before heat-trapping carbon emissions from fossil fuels began to warm Earth’s surface and affect rainfall. In some countries, major rivers — diverted, dammed or over-exploited — no longer […]
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — Residents of drought-stricken Cape Town received rare good news Monday when city officials said they now face losing piped water to their homes on May 11 — a month later than previously forecast. But Capetonians are not yet out of the woods. If drastic consumption reductions are not achieved by so-called “Day Zero”, people will have to queue at 200 standpipes for daily rations of 25 litres (6.6 US […]
by Adrien Vicente Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain and Portugal are grappling with a devastating drought which has left rivers nearly dry, sparked deadly wildfires and devastated crops — and experts warn that prolonged dry spells will become more frequent. Nearly all of Portugal has suffered extreme drought conditions during the last six months, which has not happened since 2005. A majority of Spain has also received considerably less rain than it normally would. “It’s […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Economic losses from severe storms, hurricanes, floods, drought and wildfires are projected to reach at least $360 billion a year in the next decade in America, about half of annual US growth, according to a report out Wednesday. Since some kinds of severe weather can be made worse or more frequent by climate change, action is needed to move the United States away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy, […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Somalia, hit by drought and on the verge of famine, will count 1.4 million acutely malnourished children by the end of the year, up 50 percent from late 2016, the United Nations said Tuesday. The UN children’s agency warned that 275,000 of those children were expected to be so severely malnourished that they could easily die. Severe acute malnutrition is the most extreme and visible form of undernutrition, with victims often appearing […]
Once global warming was exclusively a naturally-occurring process. The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of gases, some of which absorb infrared radiation. This means they retain heat from the sun, forming a thermal layer around the planet. Without this so-called greenhouse effect, temperatures would be around -18 degrees Celsius, so there would be no — or little — life on Earth. But the warming process has been destabilized, as levels of key greenhouse gases — […]
by Marlowe HOOD pARIS, France (AFP) — Drought has sharply boosted the intensity of deadly West Nile virus epidemics, which are set to worsen with global warming, scientists reported Wednesday. Their research, published in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B, offers the best explanation of why the disease’s impact has varied so much from year to year since arriving in the United States nearly two decades ago. “We thought epidemics would coincide with the most […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A series of storms that have rolled across California in the past week dumping heavy rain and snow could herald the end of a punishing historic drought, officials said Thursday. “Bye bye Drought. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” tweeted the National Weather Service in Reno, Nevada, which monitors parts of northern California, the area hardest hit by the storms. According to the US Drought […]
GENERAL DIAZ, Paraguay (AFP) — A drought in northern Paraguay has driven thousands of thirsty alligators to crowd around lakes and wells, scaring off cattle from the dwindling water sources, environmentalists and locals say. Parched leathery corpses of the reptiles lie on the cracked earth near the Pilcomayo River where the borders of Paraguay, Argentina and Bolivia meet. The Chaco region is suffering its worst drought in 19 years, Public Works Minister Ramon Jimenez Gaona […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam’s economy slowed in the first half of 2016, official figures showed Wednesday, with a severe regional drought and a spate of fish deaths adding to losses caused by turmoil in global markets. GDP growth dropped to 5.52 percent in the first six months compared to 6.32 percent in the same period last year. The country grew at its fastest pace for five years in 2015 thanks to strong exports and […]
by Trudy HARRIS GANGNAULI, India (AFP) — As large swathes of drought-devastated India desperately wait for the monsoon rains to arrive, one village in the dry, hot north is flush with water. But this farming area’s bountiful water supplies are feared contaminated with heavy metals, underscoring the profound challenges facing the world’s second most populous nation. From toxic pollution of rivers and lakes to contamination of groundwater supplies, together with chronic shortages in drought-hit districts, […]
