The global cost of disasters is growing: The economic burden of disasters is intensifying. While the direct costs of disasters averaged $70–80 billion a year between 1970 and 2000, between 2001 and 2020 these annual costs grew significantly to $180–200 billion. But the real cost is far higher. Disaster costs …
The trees spanning many of the mountainsides of western Montana glow an earthy red, like a broadleaf forest at the beginning of autumn. But these trees are not supposed to turn red. They are evergreens, falling victim to beetles that used to be controlled in part by bitterly cold winters. …
The Indian subcontinent witnessed a severe monsoon drought in the year 2009. India as a whole received 77% of its long period average during summer monsoon season (1 June to 30 September) of 2009, which is the third highest deficient all India monsoon season rainfall year during the period 1901–2009. …
This standard operating procedure will include all functions pertaining to disaster prevention, institutional mechanism, preparedness, early warning, relief, recovery and rehabilitation. This standard operating procedure will apply to RWSS Department/PHED/PRED/Sanitation departments/ Board dealing with rural water supply and sanitation for natural disasters that the state is prone to. It shall …
Sharad Pawar had mooted the idea last week. Jairam RameshIn a season of inter-ministerial rifts, another one has surfaced. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is opposed to using funds under the government’s flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) to provide cheap agricultural labour to farmers. The idea was mooted …
More taluks on risk of joining the bandwagon due to dryness The district administration has sent a proposal to the government urging it to announce four taluks drought hit. Crops have withered completely in Arsikere, Channarayapatna and Holenarsipur taluks, while 75 per cent of crops have dried due to lack …
A devastating Texas drought that has browned city lawns and caused more than $5 billion in damages to the state's farmers and ranchers could continue for another nine years, a state forecaster said on Thursday. "It is possible that we could be looking at another of these multiyear droughts like …
The flood-ravaged Indian state of Orissa is asking for billions of rupees in federal funds to help cope with the destruction and relocate hundreds of thousands of people. The monsoon flooding follows a severe drought earlier in the year and has killed at least 81 people in Orissa alone since …
The European Union faces a trade clash over its plans to curb emissions from aviation, European airlines said on Monday. The latest flare-up in rhetoric comes four months ahead of the introduction of a scheme strongly opposed by China. "If the EU persists in an approach which some have called …
Is the world about to watch 750,000 Somalis starve to death? The United Nations’ warnings could not be clearer. A drought-induced famine is steadily creeping across Somalia and tens of thousands of people have already died. The Islamist militant group the Shabab is blocking most aid agencies from accessing the …
India will provide humanitarian assistance of $8 million to the African countries afflicted by severe famine and drought such as Somalia, Kenya and Djibouti. With the issue of piracy being of “considerable concern” for New Delhi, India is also considering extending technical assistance to Somalia in developing a counter piracy …
Global investment in clean energy rose to a record $243 billion dollars last year with the vast majority concentrated in the world's top 20 economies, the United Nations said Wednesday. Many countries are struggling with the breakneck increase in climate change financing, however, according to a new UN Development Program …
Commercial and non-commercial plants face a variety of environmental stressors that often cannot be controlled. In this study, transgenic hybrid poplar (Populus × euramericana ‘Guariento’) harboring five effector genes (vgb, SacB, JERF36, BtCry3A and OC-I) were subjected to drought, salinity, waterlogging and insect stressors in greenhouse or laboratory conditions. Field …
In the midst of a dire need to feed millions of people facing hunger because of drought, Kenya's newly passed Biosafety Act allows for the importation of GM crops - but at what cost? As the most severe drought crisis in 60 years continues in East Africa, a contentious issue …
Clouds only amplify climate change, says a Texas A&M; University professor in a study that rebuts recent claims that clouds are actually the root cause of climate change. Andrew Dessler, a Texas A&M; atmospheric sciences professor considered one of the nation's experts on climate variations, says decades of data support …
Wildfires are raging across central Texas, compounding drought that has caused $5.2bn in agricultural losses and led ranchers in the largest cattle-producing US state to rush to slaughter. At the weekend, the Texas Forest Service responded to 63 new fires, many fanned by winds from tropical storm Lee. Texas has …
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, an international health research institution in Dhaka, will provide its help to famine-hit people to fight cholera in Somalia. A expert-team from ICDDR,B reached Kenya on September 1 to assist the international community in managing cholera outbreak in neighbouring Somalia. Initially based …
Aimed at helping the famine-hit people of Somalia fight cholera, a team of experts from International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) reached neighbouring Kenya on September 1. Initially based in northern Kenya, the team hopes to travel to Mogadishu later this week, said a press release from ICDDR,B, …
The United States, the breadbasket and supplier of last resort for a hungry world, has been such an amazing food producer in the last half-century that most Americans take for granted annual bounteous harvests of grain, meat, dairy, fruits, vegetables and other crops. When horrific images of drought or famine …
The United Nations announced Monday that Somalia’s famine had spread to a sixth area within the country, with officials warning that 750,000 people could die in the next few months unless aid efforts were scaled up. Somalis lined up for food at a camp for the displaced south of Mogadishu. …
