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H03576

Headlines : Environment

Summary:

34 countries are now experiencing droughts and food shortages and others could join them. The worst affected countries include Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Eritrea and Zambia, a group of countries where at least 15 million people will go hungry without aid. Researchers are reporting a general drying of the land and growth of desertification in the Mediterranean region

[Posted By PerceptualChaos]

By John Vidal and Tim Radford
Republished from The Guardian

UN warns that one in six countries in the world face food shortages this year because of severe droughts that could become semi-permanent under climate change

In a stark message for world leaders who meet in Gleneagles next week to discuss global warming, Wulf Killman, chairman of the UN food and agriculture organisation’s climate change group, said the droughts that have devastated crops across Africa, central America and south-east Asia in the past year are part of an emerging pattern.

“Africa is our greatest worry,” he said. “Many countries are already in difficulties … and we see a pattern emerging. Southern Africa is definitely becoming drier and everyone agrees that the climate there is changing. We would expect areas which are already prone to drought to become drier with climate change.”

The food and agriculture organisation and the US government, both of which monitor global food shortages, agree that 34 countries are now experiencing droughts and food shortages and others could join them. Up to 30 million people will need assistance because of the droughts and other natural disasters such as the Asian tsunami.

The worst affected countries include Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Eritrea and Zambia, a group of countries where at least 15 million people will go hungry without aid. The situation in Niger, Djibouti and Sudan is reported to be deteriorating rapidly. Many countries have had their worst…

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Posted by PerceptualChaos
PerceptualChaos is a physics (photonics) student from the University of Auckland, Aotearoa (NZ). He is working towards eventually getting a PHD and doing R&D on renewable energy sources and technology as we approach the end of the fossil fuel era Learn...

H03576

One in six countries facing food shortage

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