Global

huffingtonpost.com - April 17th 2015 - Charlotte Alfred

A group of Dutch citizens headed to court this week in a bold effort to hold their government accountable for its inaction over climate change.

The case, which opened at The Hague on Tuesday, was first filed by the Urgenda Foundation, a sustainability group, and 900 co-plaintiffs in the Netherlands in 2013.

The plaintiffs' lawyers argue that the current policies of the Dutch government are insufficient to halt climate change, and that the government is thus illegally endangering its citizens.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

HUMANOSPHERE  by Tom Murphy                                                                          May 1, 2015

ELMINA, Ghana – Each evening the fishermen set out in their hand-carved wooden boats. By nightfall, the horizon is dotted by a long row of small lights, their own constellation. Fish are caught, the haul is sold in markets and life continues. But one group is noticeably absent from Elmina and other towns along Ghana’s coast – tourists.

The near-empty Elmina Bay Resort. (Credit: Tom Murphy)

Thousands of college students embark on a trip to see the world and do a bit of learning through the Semester at Sea program. The West African countries of Senegal and Ghana are usually on the itinerary, bringing a steady flow of tourism to the two countries. But the countries are not destinations for three consecutive semesters due to concerns about Ebola.

submitted by Santosh Dahal

cfe-dmha.org

The CFE-DMHA Disaster Information Report provides a daily analysis of various information sources reporting on the 2015 Nepal Earthquake effort.   

CFE's Disaster Management Reference Handbooks provide a baseline of information regarding countries most prone to disasters. A standardized assessment methodology with an operational perspective provides readers a general understanding of a nation's disaster management capability and vulnerability.

CLICK HERE - Disaster Information Reports and Reference Handbooks - Additional Information

For more information on the response effort, go to the Nepal Earthquake HADR Community on APAN

Image: Three out of four hot days could be due to climate change (Image: Guy Corbishley/Getty)

newscientist.com - April 28th 2015 - Aviva Rutkin

If climate change was a game, we'd have racked up quite a score. A fresh study suggests that humans are responsible for a hefty number of today's extreme hot days and rainstorms.

Weather extremes, such as a Russian heatwave in 2010 and a drought in Texas in 2011, have been blamed on climate change before – but the attribution of individual events to it is still hotly debated.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)