Beating wild weather in Sri Lanka – IRIN News

 Millions affected, tens of thousands displaced, damages in billions of dollars – Sri Lanka is  facing the brunt of changing climate cycles. Extreme weather events are becoming ordinary, but still authorities are not geared to tackle them and make sure the affected are not left helpless. There is always the chance that the victims could be in for   double jeopardy, as 2012 showed.  http://www.irinnews.org/Report/98008/Beating-wild-weather-in-Sri-Lanka

Moving Asian Cities to public transport crucial, difficult – Experts

 

As Asia’s mega cities grow and grow, so does the traffic. In the Sri Lankan capital commuters set aside 3hrs to travel 10km into the city and back. But experts say that more and more are opting for  private commute if they can afford, because public transport is unsafe, unreliable and sometimes as one commuter told me is akin to travelling in a public restroom. The traffic is not only a drain on energy, but a major emission factor.

The solution according to experts is to shift to bus rapid transport, that hopefully will not
smell bad.  http://www.trust.org/item/20130502133603-5dxn2/

Women on the frontline of climate change

Quote

“In a tattered mud-and-twigs hut, some 16 kilometers away from Jati Tehsil in Thatta district, Hanifa lights up her cigarette confidently telling us she can handle a natural disaster if it comes. She sounds pretty brave as she narrates her tales of survival from a series of natural disasters in the last two decades….” Desiree Francis writes…
Read more http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-4-137665-Women-on-the-frontline-of-climate-change

Hanifa and her villagers talk to the scribe in her hut.