German scientists warn global warming is accelerating faster than expected, raising the risk of a 3 °C rise by 2050 and forcing Europe to confront unthinkable adaptation plans.
Tag: floods
Experts in flood mitigation see a national system decades behind. A disbanded FEMA advisory group was supposed to help.
Years of drought followed by sudden floods have unsettled Morocco’s mountainous regions where rainfall has long been seen as a divine blessing. What is at play may be bigger than the heavens.
As climate threats increase, thousands of communities become at risk of floods and other natural disasters. Americans have witnessed deadly flooding this month in Texas, New Jersey and New York. Here, we look at those communities around the world that have been relocated after a disaster, or are thinking of changing location to avoid further risks.
The devastating effects of rising temperatures include denying to people across the world their favorite staple sweet. While 2050 is the date cited for the risk of chocolate disappearing, there are efforts to reverse the effects of climate change on the production of cocoa.
In Botswana’s Okavango Delta — declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014 — warming trends over the past two decades are approximately twice the global average.
The newly inaugurated U.S. president is missing the real strategic and economic value of the island, which is ultimately linked to world’s ability to reduce global warming.
Lake Como has become one of the most popular destinations for tourists coming from all over the world, multiplied by the vacation homes of such global VIPs as George Clooney. But this is destroying the local ecosystem and making life for the locals impossible.
The city of Valencia has not been affected by the natural disaster that caused more than 200 deaths in eastern Spain, but the region’s capital city is not the same. And the population is struggling to find a new balance.
The natural disaster in Valencia is the reflection of a great societal failure, the result of the lack of public policies in organizing a sustainable and balanced model of life.
Along with much of central Europe, Poland has experienced large scale flooding that has impacted the country’s infrastructure, budget, and sense of safety. Will this tragedy change the way Poles view climate change?
Similarities have been drawn between the cases of New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Porto Alegre, which last month the worst flooding in 80 years. But the U.S. reconstruction was an enormous failure, and Brazil should not look at it for solutions.
A closer look at the science shows there are many factors that contribute to weather-related emergencies. It is important to raise climate change awareness, but there’s a risk in overstating its role in every natural disaster.
The practice of sending humanitarian aid to foreign countries has always been political, but Morocco’s decision to refuse offers of search-and-rescue teams raises questions about national sovereignty and politics in times of crisis.
Stunning images of the attack of Nova Kakhovka dam, which had been described as a strategically important target, serve as a reminder that military forces in past wars have set off similar disasters to take out dams’ power.
The lack of government services in Port-de-Paix, Haiti, has spawned an ongoing crisis in the coastal city, where residents struggle to maintain their homes amid constant floods.
Bad American weather is making news again, a week after a chunk of the country was digging out from record blizzards.
States and technology have failed to stop the destruction of the natural world, but a deceptively simple rethinking of our habits could turn the tide.
Caught between a natural disaster, an economic crisis and poor governance, flood-affected Pakistanis contemplate a future in ruins.
In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has focused his diplomatic efforts on Germany and China, two nations that remain key to the balance of power in the war in Ukraine. In different ways the two powerhouse countries have been less than clear where they stand in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Stay up-to-date with […]
? Zdravo!* Welcome to Wednesday, where Delhi shuts down its schools due to toxic air, Biden bans Nicaraguan officials from entering the U.S., and your dog can now call you. We also see how a new law in Iran, aimed at boosting birth rates in the country, could lead to a rise in HIV/AIDS infections. […]
Welcome to Monday, where chaos continues at Kabul airport, flooding kills at least 22 in Tennessee, and Taiwan hisses at the culling of smuggled cats. Meanwhile, Les Echos invites you to mind the gap and hop on Europe’s rekindled love for overnight rail travel.
Welcome to Monday, where an international probe reveals spyware has been used to target thousands of journalists and activists around the world, South Korea’s president is protesting the Olympics after a diplomatic spat and a Slovenian cyclist wins the Tour de France for the second time in a row. The Initium also looks at how […]
-Analysis- It was the “Fight of the Century.” Or was it? As far as fighting goes, Saturday night’s $700-million mega-bout between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor — also humbly dubbed “The Biggest Fight In Combat Sports History” (capital letters matter) — was actually a tad more entertaining than Mayweather’s 2015 “Fight of the Century” against […]
-Analysis- LIMA — Peruvian historian Javier Puente’s latest research includes some very interesting maps. The first (and most extensive) covers the area affected by drought as a result of the El Niño weather phenomenon between 1982 and 1983 (when it was unusually intense). The second, relying on data from Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee, shows […]
SPOTLIGHT: OBAMA VIETNAM PIVOT Following last year’s diplomatic breakthrough on Cuba and ahead of an unprecedented trip to Hiroshima, Japan, U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement this morning of an end to the longstanding weapons embargo on Vietnam can be quickly dropped into the “historic” file of his presidency. The presence of U.S. Secretary of State […]
At least 24 people are still missing after severe flooding in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi that left at least 12 people dead. Potentially dangerous animals — including hungry tigers, lions and wolves — are on the loose too, as heavy rainfall damaged their zoo enclosures, allowing them to escape. Images of chaos and destruction in Tbilisi […]
SENIOR FIFA OFFICIALS ARRESTED IN CORRUPTION PROBE Swiss police have arrested at least 14 senior FIFA officials on charges that include “racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy,” the AFP reports. The charges follow an FBI investigation and allege “widespread corruption in FIFA over the past two decades, involving bids for World Cups as well […]
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Extra! Texas On ‘Weather Steroids’
At least four people have been killed in Texas over the past three days as the state has been hit by a series of storms. The Houston Chronicle described Wednesday what it called a region “on weather steroids.” In Mexico, at least 13 people were also killed as a tornado struck the border town of […]
FINAL MOMENTS FOR NUCLEAR DEALIran and six world powers (United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China) are trying to overcome their remaining differences and agree to a framework deal on Iran’s nuclear program. They are gathered in Lausanne, where their self-imposed deadline will come tonight. AIRSTRIKES IN YEMEN CONTINUEA Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes […]
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Extra! Chile Hit By Floods, Mudslides
El Mercurio De Antofagasta, March 26, 2015 Northern Chile was plunged into chaos yesterday as the worst rains in 24 years hit the regions of Antofagsta, Coquimbo and Atacama, typically one of the world’s driest areas. The Antofagasta edition of Chilean newspaper group El Mercurio reports that thousands of people have been affected by the […]
SÃO PAULO — When it comes to freshwater, Brazil, home to somewhere between 12% and 16% of the world’s total supply, is a very wealthy country. Inhabitants only use 0.7% of the 43,000 cubic meters of water per year that could, theoretically, be available to each and every one of them. In this regard, Brazil […]
LONDON — The storms and flooding in the UK over the past few weeks hasn’t just damaged homes and cars, but also wildlife and ecosystems too. Bumblebees, beetles and caterpillars are at risk of dying at greatly elevated rates through drowning and disturbed hibernations, while earthworms, snails and beetles along the River Thames will be […]
December 30, 2014 AIRASIA BODIES, DEBRIS FOUNDThe Indonesian navy has located debris from the AirAsia plane that disappeared early Sunday, retrieving more than 40 bodies from the Java Sea, AFP reports. The news came as a shock to the families of the 162 passengers, who reportedly “began crying hysterically and fainting” after Indonesian television showed […]
NEW DELHI – In 2012, out of the millions of people displaced by natural disasters around the world, over a quarter were from northeast India. Almost nine million inhabitants were forced to flee the region’s devastating monsoon. These forced displacements are a common occurrence. Floods have become so routine in Assam, a state located at […]
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Magazines, Mapped! Week of June 14-20
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
This week’s tornadoes that flattened entire neighborhoods in Oklahoma, and elsewhere in the United States Midwest, remind us again of the potential magnitude of nature’s wrath. In 1931, the great flood of China’s Yellow and Yang-Tse rivers led to the death of about 4,000,000 people from drowning, disease and starvation. More recently, Haiti suffered a […]
AFP, CLARIN, LA CAPITAL, LA NACION, TERRA ARGENTINA (Argentina) Worldcrunch LA PLATA – At least 56 people were killed and 3,000 evacuated after flash floods hit the coast of Argentina, prompting President Cristina Kirchner to declare three days of national mourning. Around 40cm of rain fell on La Plata in a short period late Tuesday […]
RWANDA – Severe weather kills and natural disasters can be particularly deadly in Rwanda, like elsewhere in Africa. The most deadly storm last year killed at least 72 people and injured more than 120. According to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugee Affairs (MIDIMAR), in 2012 alone, 3000 homes were destroyed. Justin Kayira, Director […]