In the first week of June 2024, searing heat in 80 countries broke temperature records – either monthly or for all time. Heatwaves scorched the US, the Mediterranean, Southern Europe, North Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Aswan in Egypt hit 50.9°C – an all time record – on the 7th June.
Stockholm, September 2024 (UNCCD)* — Drought is on track to hitting three in four people globally by 2050. Around the world, scientists and practitioners have amassed a wealth of knowledge on what it takes to anticipate, prepare for, respond and adapt to drought.
At World Water Week, a hard look at the notions that stand in the way of drought resilience
So what is standing in the way of more drought-resilient countries and communities?
WMO report highlights growing shortfalls and stress in global water resources
7 October 2024 — (WMO)* — The year 2023 marked the driest year for global rivers in over three decades, according to a new report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which signaled critical changes in water availability in an era of growing demand.
The last five consecutive years have recorded widespread below-normal conditions for river flows, with reservoir inflows following a similar pattern.
Nuclear weapons are the most destructive, inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created. Both in the scale of the devastation they cause, and in their uniquely persistent, spreading, genetically damaging radioactive fallout, they are unlike any other weapons.
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A single nuclear bomb detonated over a large city could kill millions of people. The use of tens or hundreds of nuclear bombs would disrupt the global climate, causing widespread famine.
(UN News)* —The UN Human Rights Council held a dialogue on Friday [] to examine the nuclear testing legacy in the Marshall Islands, which representatives from the Pacific nation said has left their people with some of the highest rates of cancer globally.
UNICEF calls for a ceasefire to protect children as physical injuries and psychological suffering rise dramatically
UNICEF/UNI655861/ChoufanyAmir, 8 years old was injured on the 23rd of September, in South Lebanon during the dangerous escalation of the conflict in Lebanon. Now, he is being treated at one of Beirut’s public hospitals.
AMMAN, 4 October 2024 (UNICEF)* – More than 690 children have reportedly been injured in Lebanon as the conflict has dramatically escalated in recent weeks.
Since 20 August, the number of children injured in the conflict has increased drastically, bringing the total number injured in the last year to 890 as of 2 October, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
In the capital Khartoum, WFP’s Jon Dumont finds a war-shattered, hungry city
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The broken doll at Khartoum’s Omdurman market. Photo: WFP/Jonathan Dumont
(WFP)*, 1 October 2024 — Walking through Khartoum’s shattered streets a few weeks ago, I spotted this doll’s head — eyes wide open, red mouth eerily smiling — lost in the rubble of the city’s once-iconic Omdurman market.
()* — The UN-designated human rights expert on Sudan has called for the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), along with their allied militias, to take immediate steps to protect civilians in greater Khartoum amid escalating violence and alarming reports of summary executions.
The warning on Thursday [3 October 2024] comes as the SAF launched a major offensive last month to regain control of key areas currently held by the RSF. The two armies led by rival generals have been locked in a brutal power struggle since April 2023.
Armed conflict puts children at an increased risk of grave violations while their risk of being trafficked similarly increases, including in transitional periods, a new UN study has revealed.
The report – the first of its kind – analyses the links between child trafficking and the six grave violations against children caught up in war.
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They are recruitment and use, killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.
(UN News)* —Action is needed now to stop the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea from “becoming mass graves for migrants”, two UN agencies on warned the Security Council.
“The scale of this tragedy, its impact on survivors, families and communities and the frequency with which we witness deaths in transit constitute an intolerable and utterly soluble, humanitarian crisis,” said Pär Liljert, director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Office to the UN, referring to one of the world’s most deadly routes for migrants and refugees, as they attempt to reach countries of the European Union.
Large portions of the West are now classified as being in “exceptional drought”, the most extreme drought category. Many major reservoirs have reached historic low levels and fire officials are warning that another devastating wildfire season has already begun. Hoover Dam, Arizona/Nevada border, United States. © David McNew / Greenpeace.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 