Central and western Europe can expect a substantially higher flood risk in the future, even with ambitious cuts in temperature.

“The situation is most serious in a large part of Spain, southern Portugal, southern Italy, south-eastern Greece, Cyprus and areas of Bulgaria and Romania bordering the Black Sea.” It added that research indicates that up to 44 per cent of Spain, 33 per cent of Portugal, and nearly 20 per cent of…

The climate disasters that made headlines in 2017 — monster hurricanes, devastating floods and unprecedented drought — will become commonplace in the coming decades as climate change intensifies. Decision-makers from urban planners to corporate executives are grappling with how best to adapt. Should…

The Climate Change Knowledge Portal (CCKP) Beta is a central hub of information, data and reports about climate change around the world. Here you can query, map, compare, chart and summarize key climate and climate-related information.

The new report from global Water Initiative- West Africa GWI – West Africa titled Irrigation, food security and poverty – Lessons from three large dams in West Africa. This report summarises the results of four years of research on three existing dam and rice field sites: Sélingué in Mali, Bagré in…

A changing climate leads to changes in the frequency, intensity, spatial extent, duration and timing of weather and climate extremes, and can result in unprecedented extremes. These climate extremes have significant impacts on human and ecological systems, which are influenced by changes in climate…

Cities are particularly vulnerable to climate risks due to their agglomeration of people, buildings and infrastructure. Differences in methodology, hazards considered, and climate models used limit the utility and comparability of climate studies on individual cities. Here we assess, for the first…

As extreme weather events increase in intensity and frequency, building up the resilience of the poorest communities – often the most exposed to climate change – is critical. And financial services have a role to play. For poor families the impact of extreme weather, such as floods and droughts…

Asia hardest hit region, says report on the burden borne by poor farmers due to natural disasters

Using the framework of the National Adaptation Plans (NAP)process, this brief provides an overview of the key issues to consider and main entry points for gender mainstreaming in the development of NAPs for the agriculture sectors.

Drought is one of the most damaging natural hazards. Various studies rank it first among all natural hazards by seriousness of impacts such as the loss of life and livelihoods, economic losses and the adverse social and ecosystem effects. In many instances, drought can be a major factor in local…

This analysis finds that US consumers wasted 422g of food per person daily, with 30 million acres of cropland used to produce this food every year. This accounts for 30% of daily calories available for consumption, one-quarter of daily food (by weight) available for consumption, and 7% of annual…

A new study has quantified the economic impact of reducing avoidable food waste in Germany, Poland and Spain. The researchers modelled impacts on production, GDP and employment. The results show that reducing food waste from households has the greatest impact, although policy measures should be…

In March this year, an unusual sand and dust storm nicknamed ‘Mars on Earth or Orange Snow[1]’ transported and deposited dust that transformed European landscapes into a surreal orange-tinted scenery. An even more drastic dust storm swept over India recently and left behind a trail of casualties.[2]…

FAO report calls for a more pro-active and long-term planning to become more resilient against droughts

The LDN Country Profiles provide evidence-based arguments that contribute to making the case for investing in measures to avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation. These profiles demonstrate the importance and multiple benefits of taking actions to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality. The country…

When people are forced to leave their homes, they usually also leave behind their means of economic activity. In their new location, they may not be able, or permitted, to work. This has wide-ranging implications. This issue includes 22 articles on the main feature theme of Economies: rights and…

When an El Niño or its opposite, La Niña, forms in the future, it's likely to cause more intense impacts over many land regions -- amplifying changes to temperature, precipitation and wildfire risk. These are the findings of a new study" ENSO's Changing Influence on Temperature, Precipitation, and…

Even if nations do limit global warming, fire and drought will remain threats, ravaging more harvests in China and setting more of Europe ablaze.

A ground-breaking report by the University of Texas for USAID points out how climate hazards like cyclones, floods, wildfires, rainfall anomalies and chronic water scarcity relate to state fragility. Climate hazards put an enormous strain on the effectiveness and legitimacy in economics, politics…

North Africa was the birthplace of the Arab uprisings in late 2010. This movement affected all the countries in the region, albeit to varying degrees. And while protestors asked in unison for deep political and economic changes, the various governments in North Africa responded differently to their…

This paper examines the development of the scientific basis for LDN and how the team of global scientific experts in neutrality approaches worked in parallel with the teams who were conducting training events to launch the LDN target setting programme (TSP).

The path to a peaceful and secure future is paved with decisive actions against losing more productive land. Migration is often a last-resort option for those experiencing water shortages and crop failures.

Climate change to shift global spread and quality of agricultural land. Changing temperatures and rainfall patterns contribute to soil erosion and desertification. Sub-Saharan Africa is the region predicted to lose the most land suited to growing crops

Original Research Article published in the latest Journal of Arid Environments