Common Dreams, August 12, 2010
Straight to the Source
You may know I've just returned from Niger. There, tens of thousandsof people are facing extreme hunger because of the droughts of the lasttwo years.
The rainy season is under way but the rains around thecapital of Niamey have been torrential and persistent. It's not what isneeded. The water is not nourishing the soil. It's washing away thecrops. It's washing away homes. It is destroying lives.
Thetrouble there comes as Pakistan struggles to cope with the worst floodssince the creation of the state. Millions of people are homeless. TheUN predicts the devastation will be worse than the Asian Tsunami, whichstruck several countries.
Torrential rain has swept throughChina. The official death toll is creeping up all the time. It is goingto be in the thousands. Mudslides have brought havoc to many placesacross the country's northwest.
In Russia's capital, Moscow,forest fires - started in scorching hot temperatures - have left theair quality so poor, the authorities are telling people who cannotleave the city to stay indoors.
In Greenland, a mass of ice hasbroken away from a glacier. Four times the size of Manhattan Island;it's the biggest iceberg in more than half a century. Scientists sayarctic ice is melting at record pace and 16 countries have recordedrecord temperatures this year.
Yet despite the evidence of floodsand flames, of drought and danger, there is no concerted internationalaction towards reaching an agreement on the best way to fight climatechange.
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