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Poor hit by climate damage despite adaptation – study
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on November 27th, 2012
AlertNet: The poorest people in developing countries are suffering negative impacts from extreme weather and rising seas even when they do take measures to adapt to climate change, says a new study from the U.N. University.
Interviews with nearly 1,800 households in parts of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Gambia, Kenya and Micronesia revealed that two thirds or more have experienced loss and damage from climatic stress factors, despite many taking steps to protect themselves and cope with shifting conditions.
"Loss...
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New food assistance accord to take effect in 2013
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on November 15th, 2012
AlertNet: A new international food assistance convention will come into force on January 1 next year after the European Union ratified it this week, but critics say it lacks teeth.
The accord, agreed in London in April, required ratification of at least five signatories by the end of November to enter into force from the start of 2013. Besides the EU, Japan, the United States, Switzerland and Denmark have also adopted it.
Its predecessor, the Food Aid Convention, was first negotiated in 1967 and updated...
Climate change to hit Central America’s food crops
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on October 9th, 2012
AlertNet: Climate change is expected to reduce maize and bean harvests across Central America, leading to economic losses of more than $120 million a year by the 2020s and threatening the incomes of around 1 million small farmers, says a new scientific study.
Researchers from the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) examined how the region's two most important food crops would be affected by higher temperatures and shifting...
Climate change, carbon economy killing 5 million a year – study
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on September 26th, 2012
AlertNet: Climate change and the world's addiction to polluting fuels are costing nearly 5 million lives each year and lowering global output by some $1.2 trillion annually, demonstrating the need for swift action to stem mounting losses, a study said on Wednesday.
Climate change caused 400,000 deaths in 2010 from hunger and communicable diseases, including diarrhoea and malaria, hitting children in developing countries the hardest, according to the 2012 Climate Vulnerability Monitor. Carbon-intensive energy...
Cities must tackle rising flood risk – World Bank
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on February 13th, 2012
AlertNet: Urban areas have been badly affected by an increase in flooding around the world, underlining the urgent need to manage the growing risk in towns and cities, says a new World Bank guidebook.
"Urban expansion often creates poorer neighbourhoods which lack adequate infrastructure and services, making them more vulnerable to floods. The poor are hit hardest, especially women and children,' said Pamela Cox, the World Bank's vice president for East Asia and the Pacific.
"But rapid urbanisation also...
Few nations doing enough to protect people from extreme weather – IPCC author
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on November 18th, 2011
AlertNet: Most countries are not acting fast enough to protect their people from extreme weather, and more major disasters will likely have to happen before governments start investing enough in safety, a leading climate change expert has warned.
Tom Mitchell, one of the lead authors of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on managing the risks of extreme weather, whose main findings were issued on Friday, told AlertNet growing economic losses from such events are pushing some...
SE Asia floods show businesses unprepared for disasters – UN
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on October 20th, 2011
AlertNet: Flooding across Southeast Asia, which has affected some 8 million people, highlights the need for businesses to step up efforts to reduce disaster risk for their assets and their workers, a senior U.N. official said on Thursday.
In Thailand, at least six big industrial estates have been shut down, most in the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, where residents forced from their homes have pitched tents close to roads. The Nava Nakorn estate north of Bangkok, Thailand's oldest with 270 plants and about...
G20 focus on small farmers could improve world food security – experts
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on September 14th, 2011
AlertNet: A commitment by G20 nations to strengthen agricultural research in developing countries will help reduce food insecurity as long as it focuses on small farmers and their needs, officials and experts said at a G20-backed conference this week.
After many years out in the cold in terms of funding, agriculture is firmly back on the political map as a result of fast-rising food prices, including the 2008 crisis that led to unrest around the world, and a further push to record highs this year as a result...
Rain due in S.Somalia, unlikely to end drought
Posted by AlertNet: Megan Rowling on September 8th, 2011
AlertNet: Famine-hit southern Somalia may experience a return to normal or above-normal rainfall conditions in the next rainy season, which runs from September through December, according to the latest Greater Horn of Africa Climate Outlook.
The forecast is issued on a quarterly basis after a meeting organised by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development's Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and other partners.
Somalia and large parts of...