Floods in South Africa: protecting people must include a focus on women and girls

The Durban (eThekwini) area of South Africa has experienced many floods over the recent years. They have wreaked havoc. For instance, in April 2019, a deadly flood and landslides hit the area. The region is currently reeling from what is seen as the worst flood in the history of South Africa. More than 300 people have lost their lives. There is also excessive damage to infrastructure and homes.

Yemen war now ‘chronic emergency’ as millions face hunger

After more than seven years of war, Yemen is living in a chronic state of emergency, marked by hunger, disease and other miseries that are rising faster than aid agencies can reverse, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths told the Security Council on Tuesday, as the Special Envoy for the country called for joint efforts by Yemenis and the international community to break the entrenched cycle of violence.

South Africa’s efforts to tackle its energy crisis lack urgency and coherence

South Africa’s electricity infrastructure has been degrading in the past decade, with both scheduled and unscheduled power outages on the increase. Despite slowed economic activity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country experienced 1130 hours of planned power cuts in 2021, the highest ever.

Food insecurity soaring across 20 hunger hotspots

Food insecurity is soaring across 20 countries and regions – “hunger hotspots”, where conflict, economic shocks, natural hazards, political instability, and limited humanitarian access, are putting millions of lives at risk, UN agencies highlighted on Thursday. 

The herbicide dicamba was supposed to solve farmers’ weed problems – instead, it’s making farming harder for many of them

In 2021, thousands of U.S. growers reported to the Environmental Protection Agency that dicamba sprayed by other farmers – sometimes up to a mile and a half away – damaged crops in their fields. Complaints came from all over the country.

With fewer animals to spread their seeds, plants could have trouble adapting to climate change

Today the Earth is losing species at a rapid rate, potentially representing the sixth mass extinction in its history. In a newly published study, we examine what this loss means for seed dispersal, focusing on birds and mammals that disperse fleshy-fruited plants.