IT has taken a decade or more for the issue of climate change to make it to the front pages of the global media (to any page, for that matter), and it may take much longer for the concept of risk reduction of natural hazards to be digested, first by news editors and then by whole communities around the world.
THE world is far better prepared to face a tsunami now than ever before.
This was one of the encouraging messages delivered to some 1,400 delegates from 120 countries at the June 4-7, 2007 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, in Geneva, Switzerland.
From time to time - especially when climate change hits the headlines - scientists are accused of playing politics. Michel Jarraud, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, doesn't see it that way.
SHAKING off the effects of jet lag after flying for close to 18 hours from Europe, a story on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer caught my eye. It was about electric jeepneys soon to be introduced in Bacolod City in western Visayas, Central Philippines.
DESPITE daily 12-hour black outs that are crippling the Nicaraguan economy, nobody in Managua seems to see the connection between excessive dependency on fossil fuels, excessive consumption, excessive waste, and climate change.
Excerpt of interview with Hong Yan, Deputy Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
By Zhu Yan
Is climate change affecting China?
It has tremendous ecological impact in China. I lived in northwest China for many years. Annual precipitation in the region is about several dozen millimeters, which is impossible for agricultural development. Crops in oasis rely to a great extent on the solid reservoir…
Anna Mutevera and friends search for maize to roast for their lunch.
By Tsitsi Matope
EXTREME climatic conditions have worsened the plight of the nearly 8 million Zimbabweans who live in rural areas and rely on rain-fed agriculture for sustenance.
Warmer temperatures appear to bring heavier rainfall
By Pallava Bagla
THE GAMBLE on the Indian monsoon may get even more unpredictable. For the first time, Indian scientists have observed evidence that the monsoon is being affected by global warming.
How will Bangladesh fare as sea levels and global temperatures continue to rise?
By Mahtab Haider
Environmentalists looking for climate change commitments from leaders of the powerful G8 nations who met in Scotland recently, have once again had nothing but verbal assurances and rhetoric for consolation.
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A drop in the bucket
IT has taken a decade or more for the issue of climate change to make it to the front pages of the global media (to any page, for that matter), and it may take much longer for the concept of risk reduction of natural hazards to be digested, first by news editors and then by whole communities around the world.
By Pallava Bagla 
Warmer temperatures appear to bring heavier rainfall