Natural Disasters

Understanding Rio+20

JOHANNESBURG, 3 April 2012 (IRIN Global) - A Nobel laureate, a Swedish environmentalist’s idea, the “doughnut” concept, Scandinavia’s sense of social capital, measuring the quality of life, and valuing the oceans are just some of the things trending in the run-up to the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development due to be held on 20-22 June 2012. full report

CLIMATE CHANGE: Farmers and forecasts

 BINGERVILLE/DAKAR, 2 April 2012 (IRIN Global) - Unpredictable rainfall in parts of Côte d’Ivoire cost some farmers over half of their harvest in 2011 producers told IRIN, but, armed with more knowledge about how to get weather reports and interpret them, they might still have been able to boost their output, say agricultural specialists. full report

CLIMATE CHANGE: Coping versus adapting

 JOHANNESBURG, 2 April 2012 (IRIN Global) - People often use “coping” and “adapting” interchangeably in the context of disaster response - an issue the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) seeks to address in its new report. full report

DISASTERS: Over 50 million affected in Muslim world in 2011

 DUBAI, 2 April 2012 (IRIN Middle East) - The Muslim world is increasingly in the “eye of the cyclone”, with disasters and crises affecting tens of millions of people in Muslim countries last year, a senior official with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) told a humanitarian conference in Dubai. full report

SOMALIA: Drought affecting thousands in Somaliland

 HARGEISA, 30 March 2012 (IRIN Africa) - Officials in the self-declared republic of Somaliland, northwestern Somalia, are appealing for food aid and potable water for thousands of families who have lost their livelihoods in the current drought. full report

Analysis: Reassessing international access in Myanmar

 YANGON, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Asia) - Access for international aid workers in Myanmar shows signs of improving, but aid workers say huge challenges remain. full report

MAURITANIA: “Nothing left but dust and sand”

 KAEDI, 29 March 2012 (IRIN Africa) - Hunger has come again to the Sahel. “Since yesterday I have only drunk water,” said Houley Dia, 60, a widow who lives in Houdallah, a village of the Fula ethnic group in southern Mauritania on the border with Senegal. “I have lived through hard times before - no rain, animal diseases, locust swarms - but this year is worse than ever,” she told IRIN. full report

SAHEL: Malian refugees risk being “forgotten”

 DAKAR, 28 March 2012 (IRIN Africa) - Mali is facing its “worst humanitarian crisis for 20 years” due to a combination of food insecurity affecting around three million people, and conflict-induced displacement in the north. full report

CLIMATE CHANGE: A three-degree warmer world by 2050?

 JOHANNESBURG, 27 March 2012 (IRIN Global) - The apocalyptic vision presented on cinema screens of a world devoid of food (Hunger Games) or with too much water (Waterworld) as a result of climate change, is not as far-fetched as some may think. full report

KENYA: The changing face of pastoralism

 NAROK, 26 March 2012 (IRIN Africa) - Along a small seasonal stream in Ewaso Nyiro village in Narok, southwestern Kenya, Leleseina Nkoitoi sells vegetables from a stall whose bright colours contrast with the parched landscape. full report

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