Death of dolphins in Amazon linked to severe drought, heat
Manaus Reuters The carcasses of 120 river dolphins have been found floating in a tributary of the Amazon River over the last week in circumstances that experts suspect were caused by severe drought and heat. Low river levels during a severe drought have heated water in stretches to temperatures that are intolerable for the dolphins, […]
Postcards: Changing climate pushes migrating birds from parched Tunisian wetlands
JIHED ABIDELLAOUI, of Reuters, reports from Tunis…
Prolonged drought deepens Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis
Nahr-e-Shahi, AfghanistanReuters In parched brown hills in north Afghanistan, Abdul Hahad tears stalks of wheat out of the arid earth. In the third year of water shortages and high temperatures, his harvest is barely enough to support his family. The 55-year-old farmer from Nahr-e-Shahi district in Balkh province used to plant two or even three […]
Desperate for a drink: Indonesian villagers dig up dry river bed in drought
Karanganyar, Indonesia Reuters It’s been four, long, hot months since Sunardi’s village has seen any rainfall as an El Nino-induced drought parches Indonesia, so the tobacco farmer does the only thing he can do to get water: dig up a dry river bed. In an hour or two, water – salty and muddy – will fill the […]
Postcards: Drought imperils Iraq’s water buffalo and a child’s way of life
AHMED SAEED and CHARLOTTE BRUNEAU, of Reuters, report…
Drought-hit Panama Canal further restricts maximum ship depth
Panama City, PanamaReuters The Panama Canal will expand restrictions on the largest ships crossing the waterway, one of the world’s busiest trade passages, the canal authority’s administrator said on Wednesday, citing shallower waters due to drought. The measure follows a series of depth restrictions in the 80 kilometres canal since the beginning of the year […]
“The fresh water is finished”: Drought drives economic exodus from Iraq’s rivers and marshlands
AHMED SAEED, ISSAM SUDANI AND TIMOUR AZHARI, of Reuters, report from southern Iraq…
As drought withers Tunisian fields, state feels financial pinch
Tunis, TunisiaReuters As rains failed, Tunisian farmers watched their crops wither this spring, harvesting early to salvage some as animal feed and piling costs on a state struggling to afford wheat imports with bakeries running out of bread. At his farm just outside Tunis, Hasan Chetoui stood clutching dry sheaves of wheat, the ears empty […]
Uruguayans pray for rain as capital reservoir left with 10 days of water
Montevideo, UruguayReuters Uruguayans in the capital Montevideo are praying for rain amid a historic drought that has left the main reservoir for the city with only ten days of water left. Low rainfall and high temperatures across the southern region of South America have triggered a severe drought over the last year, affecting crops in […]
Drought-hit Spanish town gets water trucked in as temperatures peak
Alcaracejos, Spain Reuters Residents of a small town in southern Spain gathered at the main square to collect drinking water as large swathes of the Iberian Peninsula braved unseasonally hot weather that have exacerbated a long drought. Meteorologists expected temperatures to hit almost 40 Celsius in some areas of Spain this week. A bird walks […]