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Archive for August 8th, 2011
Water rights trade to help quench world thirst
Posted by Reuters: Nina Chestney and Barbara Lewis on August 8th, 2011
Reuters: Markets in water rights are likely to evolve as a rising population leads to shortages and climate change causes drought and famine. But they will be based on regional and ethical trading practices and will differ from the bulk of commodity trade. Detractors argue trading water is unethical or even a breach of human rights, but already water rights are bought and sold in arid areas of the globe from Oman to Australia. "We at Blackhawk strongly believe that water is in fact turning...
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Drought relief efforts scaled up
Posted by Kenya Broadcasting Corporation: Glena Nyamwaya on August 8th, 2011
Kenya Broadcasting Corporation: The government has scaled up its relief food operations in North Eastern province following the increased number of people in dire need of food due to the ravaging drought.
Currently the government is providing relief to about 500,000 people while the World Food Programme (WFP) is feeding another 340,000 people across the province. The food include cereals, beans, oil and unimix for children under 5 faced with acute malnutrition.
Briefing the press on the food situation in the province, North...
Drought-stricken lakes and rivers will impact wildlife habitats in Texas for years to come
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 8th, 2011
Associated Press: In a muddy pile of sand where a pond once flowed in the Texas Panhandle, dead fish, their flesh already decayed and feasted on by maggots, lie with their mouths open. Nearby, deer munch on the equivalent of vegetative junk food and wild turkeys nibble on red harvester ants — certainly not their first choice for lunch.
As the state struggles with the worst one-year drought in its history, entire ecosystems, from the smallest insects to the largest predators, are struggling for survival. The foundations...
Climate Change Comes to South Korea
Posted by Asia Sentinel: Steven Borowiec on August 8th, 2011
Asia Sentinel: Who said climate change wasn't real?
Devastating rains move the government to plan for a harsh, wet new reality
In recent weeks South Korea has been battered by torrential rains that have caused serious flooding, landslides and widespread property damage, killing 62 people. Stunning images of Seoul's normally busy downtown streets filled with neck-deep water circulated around the world.
There are heavy rains every summer in South Korea, but this was something else. The storms are being regarded...
North American Indians to suffer disproportionate climate impacts
Posted by AlertNet: Lisa Anderson on August 8th, 2011
AlertNet: North American Indians to suffer disproportionate climate impacts
In this 2000 Reuters file photo, a Crow Indian fire fighting crew from Montana mops up on the fireline in the bottom of Santa Clara Canyon.
North American Indian tribes, who have lived close to the land for generations, are disproportionately affected by climate change, according to a study released by the National Wildlife Federation.
"Extreme weather events can be devastating for tribes, many of whom already suffer from...
Is climate change to blame for famine in the Horn of Africa?
Posted by Guardian: Duncan Green on August 8th, 2011
Guardian: So is famine in the Horn of Africa linked to climate change or not? The question arises whenever "extreme weather events" – hurricanes, floods, droughts – hit our TV screens. It's impossible to answer with a simple yes or no – but here's what we think we know so far. The current drought conditions have been caused by successive seasons with very low rainfall. Over the past year, the eastern Horn of Africa has experienced two consecutive failed rainy seasons. According to surveys of local communities,...
Analysts watch food situation in West Africa
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 8th, 2011
Voice of America: As famine continues to ravage the Horn of Africa, aid agencies and government officials remain on alert in West Africa as well, where drought, chronic malnutrition and poverty have led to devastating and recurrent food shortages endangering millions of people in recent years.
African finance ministers and central bank governors kicked off last week's annual African Caucus meeting in Congo's capital, Kinshasa, with a warning.
The finance minister for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Matata...
71% of Indonesian mangrove forests damaged: minister
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 8th, 2011
Jakarta Post: Up to 71 percent of mangrove forests in Indonesia have been damaged, Environment Minister Gusti Muhammad Hatta said Saturday in Brebes, Central Java.
He mentioned the figure during the ceremony to designate Brebes’ northern beaches as a “green belt”, marked with a symbolic planting of 80,000 mangrove seeds in Randusanga Kulon village in Central Java.
Gusti further cited his ministry’s data saying that Indonesia had about 9.36 millions hectares of mangrove forests; 48 percent of which are “moderately...
Oil horror in Nigeria: 30 years, one billion dollars to clean-up
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on August 8th, 2011
Mongabay: Fifty years of oil spills in Nigeria's now infamous Ogoniland region will take up to three decades and over a billion dollars ($1 billion for just the first five years) to restore environments to healthy conditions, according to a new independent report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The most thorough study to date has found that widespread pollution has hit the Niger Delta even harder than assumed with devastating impacts on fishing grounds and community health. Last week Shell,...