2024 Disasters in Numbers
<p>In 2024, the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT) recorded 393 natural hazard-related disasters. These events caused 16,753 fatalities and affected 167.2 million people. Economic losses totaled US$241.95
Europe
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Sink or elevator?
New evidence shows some plantations could actually increase global warming
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Fur ban
a ban on fur imports from the us has been called off by the European Union (eu) after accepting an assurance from Washington to phase out steel-jawed leghold traps, used in catching animals,
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As Hong Kong beckons
First salvos on agricultural negotiations in the WTO are fired
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Methane on the decline
SCIENTISTS say the increase in the atmospheric concentration of methane -- a major greenhouse gas -- is fast levelling off (New Scientist, Vol 140, No 1991). Evidence of a halt in methane rise
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Bacterial flesh eaters
A carnivorous pack of bacteria has struck terror in parts of the US and Europe. Known as group A streptococcus, the bacteria, say researchers, can cause a fatal drop in blood pressure, toxic shock
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Plastic is good
Incinerating unrecyclable waste plastic is environmentally the most benign way of disposing of it, new experiments show (New Scientist, Vol 143, No 1932). Europe's Association of Plastic
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Back to basics
An air conditioning system that uses constant subterranean temperatures can become an ecofriendly alternative to conventional systems
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Pest resistant maize
THE DAYS of the European corn borer, a notorious maize pest found in North America and Europe, seem numbered now that researchers have been able to inject into susceptible crops a gene
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Limited laws
toxic waste from metal mining poses a major threat to environment and human health across Europe, and existing laws can do little to solve the problem, according to the World Wide Fund for
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Blackmailed loan
a loan of us $215 million will be granted to Ukraine by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Develop ment (EBRD). The loan will help Ukraine build its two nuclear power stations,