Southern Africa is on the brink of a hunger crisis after an historic drought decimated crops during the peak October to March farming season – one year after the region was pummelled by tropical storms. Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe declared national disasters within weeks of each other after insufficient rains wiped out crops including the...
In a country especially vulnerable to climate change, a drought has displaced entire villages and left millions of children malnourished. They awake in the mornings to find another family has left. Half of one village, the entirety of the next have departed in the years since the water dried up — in search of jobs,...
Extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding, as experienced in recent years, will worsen in Europe even under optimistic global warming scenarios and affect living conditions throughout the continent. The EEA has published the first ever European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA) to help identify policy priorities for climate change adaptation and for climate-sensitive sectors. According to the assessment,...
Hotter temperatures and decreased rainfall increase stress on elephants older than 40 by reducing the amount of food available and prompting migrations, according to a modeling study based on 50 years of data in the Greater Virunga region of East Africa. The risks add to the threat of poaching and an increased conflict with humans...
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, home to widely diverse cultures and a population of about 500 million, is highly exposed to the impacts of climate change. While high temperatures are common there, nearly half of the population could be annually exposed to anomalous super and ultra-extreme heatwaves—up to 56 °C and higher during several...
Last month, a portion of the Negro River in the Amazon rainforest near Manaus, Brazil, shrank to a depth of just 12.7 metres — its lowest level in 120 years, when measurements began. In Lake Tefé, about 500 kilometres west, more than 150 river dolphins were found dead, not because of low water levels, but...
If global warming reaches 2°C, similar heatwaves are predicted to happen every five or six years, a new study warns. Human-induced climate change made the recent winter heatwave in South America 100 times more likely, according to a study published on Tuesday. Global warming was the main driver of the extreme weather that scorched much of...
Requests for emergency assistance have gone up by 400 per cent in the last two years. The EU urgently needs more funding to respond to climate change-fuelled crises, the European Commission has warned. Its emergency aid reserve was exhausted in both 2021 and 2022 and natural disasters have increased this year. Europe is emerging from...
Record temperatures are driving food prices higher. Here are some of the crops facing the biggest impacts. What’s in your regular shopping basket? What are the foods you can’t live without? And what are your occasional treats? Whatever they are, it’s pretty likely you’ve noticed a change in their price over recent months—some more than...
Struck by near-record temperatures and wildfires during this week’s heatwave, the Mediterranean region is ranked as a climate-change “hot spot” by scientists. The beaches, seafood and heritage sites in the region spanning parts of southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia are under threat. Here are five key threats to the region flagged by the...