Niger: Land of Hope. By Alex Perry, Time Magazine, 12/13/10. “The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says that on the southern edge of the Sahara, an area the size of Somalia has become desert in the past 50 years... In a May 2008 report, the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) said 46% of Africa is threatened by land degradation. UNCCD executive secretary Luc Gnacadja concluded that desertification is ‘the greatest environmental challenge of our times.’… The coming climate crisis will have a massive human cost… [But,] for University of Amsterdam environmental researcher Chris Reij, returning to Niger in 2004 after a decade's absence was ‘quite a surprise.’ In areas that used to be completely barren, where you could see villages miles away, ‘suddenly the view was blocked with green.’… Today Niger is one of the world's foremost examples of a green economy. Fighting climate change in Niger is development. Trees, soil and water have been reinstated as capital. Conflict between farmers and herders is down 80%, says Reij. And all this without dependence on schemes such as CDM or UN-REDD. Which means, as Reij says, ‘most of it didn't cost anything.’"

Scale of Pakistan Flood Continues to Overwhelm Relief Efforts. By Nathanial Gronewold, ClimateWire, 10/15/10. “Government and U.N. officials say the 2010 flood crisis in Pakistan was partly caused by climate change, though the vast extent of the flooding has also exposed how the human activities in the developing world are making it more vulnerable to extreme weather events. At the same time, the spotty relief and recovery operation in Pakistan provides a glimpse of how greater frequency of such natural disasters -- something predicted by many climate scientists -- could fray the capacity of the world to cope. With some 20 million people affected and at least 7 million left homeless, aid workers from Pakistan and abroad are now openly saying that it is unlikely everyone will get enough support. Many will be left to completely fend for themselves, though exactly how many is unknown, experts admit. The recovery effort in the north also lays bare the limitations that large international aid groups may face when responding to future crises in relatively unstable countries… The fourth in a four-part series on Pakistan's flood disaster. Click here for part one, here for part two and here for part three.”

Extreme Drought Grips U.S. in South, Midwest. By Cameron McWhirter, WSJ, 10/20/10. “An extreme drought has taken hold in parts of nine states stretching from the Southeast to the lower Midwest, damaging crops, driving up the cost of keeping livestock and putting officials on alert for wildfires. Climatologists say the dry weather likely will continue at least until spring, raising the possibility of prolonged drought in some areas next summer.”

Severe Drought Afflicts Brazilian Amazon. BBC, 10/22/10. “The Brazilian government has announced $13.5 million in emergency aid for Amazon regions hit by the worst drought in decades… The River Amazon at Manaus has fallen to its lowest level since 1963. Scientists say the region is facing its worst drought since that year. In Amazonas state 27 municipalities have declared a state of emergency because of the dry spell. Several tributaries of the Amazon have almost completely dried up, paralyzing river transport and the fishing industry. The rainy season in the region usually begins in November. The Peruvian Amazon, 2,000km (1,240 miles) upstream has also been affected… Environmental groups say severe drought are likely to become more frequent in the Amazon as a result of global warming, putting further strain on the rainforest.”

African Development Forum Meets in Addis Ababa, Warned that Climate Change is Already Causing Human Migrations. Afrique en ligne, 10/16/10. “Climate change is causing growing internal population migrations and displacements in Africa, a top official of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees [UNHCR], Chrysantus Ache, said Friday [10/15/10]. Ache, the UNHCR representative at the Africa Union and the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa [UNECA], said more and more people were on the move, escaping climate change-induced disasters such as droughts and flooding. Ache warned, at the Seventh African Development Forum [meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia], that the situation would become critical in coming years as the impact of global warming worsens…

“’Climate change is already undermining the livelihoods and security of many people, exacerbating income differentials and deepening inequalities. Over the last two decades, the number of recorded natural disasters has doubled from some 200 to over 400 per year. Nine out of every ten natural disasters today are climate-related,' Ache said. He warned that as temperatures rose further and land became increasingly less productive, urbanization in Africa will also accelerate, generating additional competition for scarce resources and public services in cities. Other experts at the forum also warned that incidences of vector-borne diseases will increase as a result of climate change, as will the cost of food and energy. In the end, this will cause increased social and political conflicts, which on the surface will be difficult to trace to climate change, they said.”

Land 'Evapotranspiration' Taking Unexpected Turn: Huge Parts of World Are Drying Up. Press Release, Oregon State University, 10/10/10. “The soils in large areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including major portions of Australia, Africa and South America, have been drying up in the past decade, a group of researchers conclude in the first major study to ever examine ‘evapotranspiration’ on a global basis. Most climate models have suggested that evapotranspiration, which is the movement of water from the land to the atmosphere, would increase with global warming. The new research, published online this week in the journal Nature, found that's exactly what was happening from 1982 to the late 1990s.

"But in 1998, this significant increase in evapotranspiration – which had been seven millimeters per year – slowed dramatically or stopped. In large portions of the world, soils are now becoming drier than they used to be, releasing less water and offsetting some moisture increases elsewhere… Some of the areas with the most severe drying include southeast Africa, much of Australia, central India, large parts of South America, and some of Indonesia. Most of these regions are historically dry, but some are actually tropical rain forests.”

Dust, Climate Change Threaten Colorado River's Flow and Fort Collins Water Supply. By Bobby Magill, Fort Collins Coloradoan, 9/26/10. "The reduced flow could have tremendous impact on the availability of water for areas dependent on Colorado River water, including Fort Collins, which obtains some of its municipal water supply from the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, of which Horsetooth Reservoir is a part. With climate change factored in, the Colorado River could see a reduction in flow of up to 25% by 2050, said study co-author Brad Udall, director of the Western Water Assessment… Each year, dust is carried by strong winds from Southwest deserts and deposited onto the snowy slopes of the Rockies… The dust absorbs radiant heat from the sun, speeding up the melting of mountain snow. When the snow melts early, the growing season on mountain slopes also begins early, which means snowmelt evaporates or is lost through transpiration rather than running off into streams, according to the study available with subscription]. And that, the study shows, means less water flows into the Colorado River to be used by the 27 million people throughout the West who depend on it for drinking water."

Amazon at Lowest Level in Over 40 Years in Peru. AFP, September 2, 2010. "The Amazon, the world's biggest river, is at its lowest level in over 40 years near its source in northeastern Peru, causing havoc in a region where it is used as the only form of travel, authorities said... The Amazon is the second-longest river in the world, after the Nile, but discharges far more water at its mouth than any other. It also drains more territory than any other, from Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay and Venezuela before running across Brazil and into the Atlantic."

Central African Food Crisis Worsens. By John Collins Rudolf, NYTimes, September 7, 2010. "Torrential rains and flash floods that swept through cities and villages in West Africa in late August have intensified a food crisis in the region, leaving upwards of 10 million people suffering from severe food shortages, the United Nations and relief organizations warned last week. The floods, which destroyed crops and livestock, struck an area already on the brink of famine after successive years of drought and failed harvests. Rising world grain prices, resulting partly from the heat wave and drought that destroyed wheat crops across Russia this summer, are compounding the crisis, relief organizations said… The crisis is worst in landlocked Niger, where as many as 400,000 children are at risk of dying of starvation or disease because of malnutrition, the aid group Feed the Children said."

Hawaii Waits for Drought Relief. By Ben Marcus, NPR, September 1, 2010. "Hawaii is suffering through an unprecedented drought -- El Nino conditions in the Pacific have added new misery to a half-century of declining rainfall on the tropical island chain. A two-year dry spell has fueled wildfires and destroyed crops from Oahu to the Big Island."

Pakistan: A Sad New Benchmark in Climate-Related Disasters. By Nathanial Gronewold, ClimateWire, August 19, 2010. "Devastating flooding that has swamped one-fifth of Pakistan and left millions homeless is likely the worst natural disaster to date attributable to climate change, U.N. officials and climatologists are now openly saying. There's also no doubt that the Pakistan flooding will join the ranks of the worst natural disasters in recorded history. The flooding started slowly at the end of July and gradually accelerated over the past two weeks. Disaster assessment maps show that almost the entire northern part of Pakistan and most of its central region have been hit. During the most intense storms, about a foot of rain fell over a 36-hour period. Parts of the affected areas, in particular Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province (formerly Northwest Frontier province) received 180 percent of the precipitation expected in a normal monsoon cycle. More rain is expected in the days ahead. Records show that the famed Indus River is at its highest water level ever recorded in the 110 years since regular record-keeping began. Estimates put the number of displaced people at somewhere between 15 million and 20 million, and the government believes about 1,600 are confirmed dead."

Lake Mead's Water Level Plunges as 11-Year Drought Lingers. By Paul Quinlan, Greenwire, August 13, 2010. "Lake Mead, the enormous reservoir of Colorado River water that hydrates Arizona, Nevada, California and northern Mexico, is receding to a level not seen since it was first being filled in the 1930s, stoking existential fears about water supply in the parched Southwest. Heightening those concerns are recent signs that the region's record-breaking, 11-year drought could wear on for another year or longer. July not only saw the lake drop to 1956 levels but also brought cooling temperatures in the Pacific Ocean that signaled a developing La Niña system, historically a harbinger of more hot and dry weather… Nearly full in 1999, Mead has shrunken to 40% capacity, causing the ominous, bleach-white bathtub ring on the surrounding mountainsides to grow taller by the year. In the past five months, the lake steadily shed another 15 feet, to about 1,087 feet above sea level today. Four more feet and the lake surface will hit what would be the lowest mark since 1937 -- something the government projects will happen in October."

U.N. Launches Fight to Save Planet from Expanding Deserts. AFP, August 17, 2010. "The United Nations has launched a campaign to save the planet from deserts that are threatening a third of the planet along with the livelihoods of more than a billion people. The decade-long initiative aims to 'reverse and prevent desertification' and to soften the effects of drought in affected areas 'to support poverty reduction and environmental sustainability,' Luc Gnacadja, the executive secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), said. Parched land and deserts today are home to one in three people on Earth, or 2.1 billion people, 90% of whom are in developing nations. One billion people struggle to find enough food to survive in such inhospitable terrain."

Amid Heat and Smoke, Deaths Double in Moscow. By Andrew E. Kramer, NYTimes, August 10, 2010. "The daily mortality rate here has nearly doubled in recent days, the city's chief health official said Monday, singling out the heat as the primary factor and not the culprit most people here suspected: the choking cloud of wildfire smoke... To the east of the capital, meanwhile, Russian officials were compelled to declare a state of emergency at a nuclear research center, Snezhinsk in the Ural Mountains, where the surrounding forests were dry and fire-prone. Earlier this month, they had cautioned that fires might stir up fallout from Chernobyl if they burned into contaminated areas, potentially lacing the smoke with radioactive particles."

Russia Fires Cause Brown Cloud, May Hit Arctic. By Alister Doyle, Reuters, August 10, 2010. "Smoke from forest fires smothering Moscow adds to health problems of 'brown clouds' from Asia to the Amazon and Russian soot may stoke global warming by hastening a thaw of Arctic ice, environmental experts say."

Floods and Mudslides on Three Continents, As Drought Hits Africa. By Mark Tran, Guardian (UK), August 9, 2010. "Regions across the world have been buffeted by extremes of weather, drought and floods. Sometimes an area is hit by one extreme, followed soon after by another, Niger being a case in point. In the case of floods in Pakistan, the Met Office says high pressure over Russia has forced the jet stream much further south than usual this year and this pattern has remained almost stationary over recent weeks. Therefore low pressure has been sitting over Pakistan longer than normal, intensifying the monsoon rains. 'The extremes of rainfall are getting heavier and are entirely consistent with climate change predictions,' said Helen Chivers, a spokeswoman with the Met Office."

Africa's Lake Tanganyika Warming Fast, Life Dying. By Tim Cocks, Reuters, May 16, 2010. "Africa's lake Tanganyika has heated up sharply over the past 90 years and is now warmer than at any time for at least 1,500 years, a scientific paper said on May 16, adding that fish and wildlife are threatened. The lake, which straddles the border between Tanzania in East Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is the world's second largest by volume and its second deepest, the paper says... The 'Great Lakes' such as Tanganyika, Malawi and Kenya's lake Turkana were formed millions of years ago by the tectonic plate movements that tore Africa's Great Rift Valley. Some 10 million people live around Tanganyika and depend upon it for drinking water and food, mostly fish. Geologists at Rhode Island's Brown University used carbon dating to measure the age of sediments on the lake floor. They then tested fossilized micro-organisms whose membranes differ at various temperatures to gauge how hot it was at times past. The results [subscription] were published in Nature Geoscience on Sunday… But the paper admits that other factors, like over fishing, may be doing more harm than any warming."

Tajikistan Faces Climate Emergency. AFP, February 17, 2010. "Tajikistan faces potentially calamitous food and water shortages unless action is taken to mitigate the effects of climate change, including rapidly retreating glaciers, Oxfam International Warned on February 17. The British charity said the Central Asian country's glaciers in the Pamir Mountains are in retreat and one and a half million people were already suffering food insecurity after years of drought. 'Entire swathes of the rural population of Tajikistan have already suffered greatly in recent years, barely able to feed their families,' Oxfam Tajikistan director Andy Baker said... With Tajikistan already locked in a diplomatic standoff with neighboring Uzbekistan over precious water supplies, Baker warned of a 'dangerous ripple effect' across the region as states fight for their share of resources. Uzbekistan -- which provides for over 95% of Tajik energy imports -- fears a mega new dam being built by Tajikistan will dry up water supplies to its cotton fields.

"The Oxfam report, entitled Reaching Tipping Point? Climate Change in Tajikistan [PDF, 13 pp], says there has already been a rise by some 1.0-1.2 degrees Celsius in parts of the country over the past 60 years. Some 20% of the country's glaciers have retreated and up to 30% more are likely to retreat or disappear by 2050, it said. Oxfam said more should be done to improve access to water and methods of food storage and preservation as well as provide more support and training in agriculture. But also, international 'negotiations must get straight back on track to achieve a fair, ambitious, and binding deal to tackle climate change, which is now overdue,' it said. A predominantly Muslim nation of 7.5 million, Tajikistan is the poorest state in the former Soviet Union. Devastated by civil war in the 1990s, its economy is heavily reliant on remittances sent by expatriate workers in Russia and other former Soviet states."

Arab-Turk Tension Rises Amid Water Shortage. By Deborah Amos, NPR, January 8, 2010, audio and transcript. "Turkey is a water superpower because the headwaters of the great rivers -- the Tigris and Euphrates -- are in the Turkish mountains. Over the years, the Turks have built dozens of dams limiting the flow to the Arab world downstream... The massive Ataturk Dam, in southeast Turkey, harnesses water for one of the biggest irrigation and electric power schemes in the world... But a three-year drought has devastated farm and grazing lands in large parts of the Middle East, displacing hundreds of thousands of people. In Syria and Iraq, the water shortage has fueled resentment against the Turks... Between 2007 and 2008, the drought forced residents to abandon about 160 villages in Syria and scores of villages in Iraq... In the past, Iraq and Syria have threatened war over water. Now, the region is warming, the population is growing -- a massive water shortage could be devastating."

Venezuelan Drought Threatens Devastating Power Collapse. By Fabiola Sanchez, AP, January 9, 2010. "Venezuela is at risk of a devastating power collapse as drought pushes water levels precariously low in the country's biggest hydroelectric dam, posing a serious political threat for President Hugo Chavez. Chavez says his government is determined to keep Guri Dam from falling to a critical level where the turbines start to fail in the next several months. He has imposed rationing measures that include penalty fees for energy overuse, shorter workdays for many public employees and reduced hours for shopping malls. The entire country of 28 million people depends to a large degree on the massive Guri Dam, which holds back the Caroni River in southeastern Bolivar state. It supplies 73% of the country's electricity by feeding the massive Guri hydroelectric plant -- the world's third-largest in power output -- along with two other smaller plants."