Home » Posts tagged 'drought' (Page 3)
Tag Archives: drought
China, Water Transfers, Disease and Climate Change: Transferring Risk with Water?
China is in the process of constructing a massive “South-North Water Transfer Project” connecting the more water-abundant south to the water-stressed north. There are a number of motivations for building the project including natural water scarcity, increased demand from both increased industrialization and population, decreasing water quality, and recent instances of severe droughts (with implications for global food supply). There are still some uncertainties about how exactly climate change will impact water resources in China, but projections of significant rainfall variability are well-founded, and the government is taking the potential risks seriously. In that context, this project could be seen as part of China’s climate adaptation strategy, though it is already apparent that there are some serious unintended consequences. (more…)
China Environment Series: Coal Heaven, Water Hell
The Woodrow Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum has just published the 12th edition of its China Environment Series (CES12). This edition, like previous editions, is packed full of interesting content focusing on environmental issues in and around China. This year, the special focus is on the water-energy nexus, and opportunities for cooperation over clean energy between the United States and China. (more…)
UK’s ODI: Climate Change to Make Poor Poorer
The United Kingdom’s Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has released a report which argues that climate change may make the world’s very poor even poorer. This is primarily due to the fact that drought, extreme rainfall and flooding deeply impact poor and vulnerable communities, and climate models (and recent observations) paint a picture of an increase in those events. As reported by Environment 360: (more…)
Madagascar Election Cycles and Cyclones
The polls open today, October 25th, in Madagascar, and some hold hopes that they will close five years of instability. A military-backed coup in 2009 led by Andry Rajoelina ousted then President Marc Ravalomanana. The international community condemned the coup and swiftly instituted sanctions. Ongoing instability and international isolation has since dramatically increased the vulnerability of the island, with some 92% of the population now living below the poverty line. The elections, the first in five years, offer an opportunity to reverse an otherwise downward trend. But there are natural forces to contend with as well. (more…)