Disaster dice loaded against poorest countries

TOKYO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – It is often said that people in the poorest countries suffer most from climate hazards and the effects of a warming world. Now we have the data to prove it.

Between January 1980 and July 2013, climate-related disasters caused 2.52 million deaths around the globe. Of the total, a disproportionately high number of deaths – 1.28 million or 51 percent – were recorded in the world’s 49 least developed countries (LDCs), according to a recent briefing paper from the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). – http://www.trust.org/item/20131206094547-fy6ma/?source=hptop

Concerns growing over worsening food security in Sri Lanka – Thomson Reuters

 

Long-term interventions are essential to stem deteriorating food security among victims of frequent extreme weather events in Sri Lanka, experts warn.

In the last 20 months, parts of Sri Lanka have been hit by a severe drought and two bouts of floods that experts at the World Food Programme (WFP) and the government say have worsened the food security of victims.

In the last five years, according to UN estimates, between 3.5 million and 4 million people out of a population of little over 20 million have been affected by natural disasters in Sri Lanka – http://www.trust.org/item/20130917131123-k42lv/?source=hptop

Ancient Kings Fight Climate Change – IPS

As erratic climate patterns take hold, researchers say that ancient  reservoirs built hundreds of years back, can serve to minimize flood waters and as receptacles for water during harsh droughts. http://www.ipsnews.net/2013/08/ancient-kings-fight-climate-change/