29 October 2020 (WMO)* — La Niña has developed and is expected to last into next year, affecting temperatures, precipitation and storm patterns in many parts of the world, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The global declaration of a La Niña event is used by governments to mobilize planning in climate sensitive sectors like agriculture, health, water resources and disaster management.
Emptiness, lack of character and a fundamental unwillingness to take responsibility lurk at evil’s core.
Flickr/Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
27 October 2020 (openDemocracy)* — Despite our best intentions, Trump’s name is on everyone’s lips, yet I have no interest in the sordid details of his psyche. His pathologies are a matter of indifference. It’s clear to me that he’s a violent, dangerous lunatic. His desperate attempts to win attention and adulation likely stem from abuse he suffered as a youth.
(UNEP)* — Cities are home to 55 per cent of the world’s population, all jammed together cheek-by-jowl. Little wonder, then, that cities are being hit hardest by COVID-19: an estimated 90 per cent of all reported cases have occurred in urban areas.
But the same concentration of people also makes cities the places where the battle for a green recovery from COVID-19 – which is essential to reduce future pandemic risks and fight climate change – can be won.
(By FAO)* — Over half of the world’s population now lives in cities. With that number expected to rise to 68 percent by 2050, urbanisation is one of the world’s most transformative trends.
UN-Habitat/Kirsten Milhahn | A residential building in Nairobi, Kenya. According to UN estimates, by 2050 about 68 per cent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas.
29 October 2020 (UN News)* — Top UN officials have highlighted the “extraordinary” contributions of grassroots communities in towns and cities across the world in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, and urged that their unique efforts be built on, during recovery.