Word: droughts
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...winds howl and hurl water out of their way; God whispers as well as shouts, and mystery comes in all sizes. On any given day in between, an innocent child somewhere is struck by lightning or disease or drowns in the soft frozen river or starves in the drought-wracked desert. Do we only wonder why God lets people die en masse but are content not to ask so long as they die quietly, one at a time? Or wonder how we are called to help only when the need is so pressing it squeezes us out of our very...
Even if Las Vegas had not come calling, Great Basin water holes would be in trouble. Across the region, drought, agricultural diversions and overgrazing have done measurable damage, and there are examples in Snake Valley. "We're worried about southern Nevada because we know what we're doing to ourselves," says rancher Dean Baker. "And that's just a drop in the bucket compared to what they're talking about...
Equally controversial plans could move beyond mere talk in other Western cities. A multiyear drought, which eased only this year, dropped water levels in the Colorado River's vast reservoirs to historic lows, raising the specter of involuntary rationing. It was a shock that rattled water managers in numerous states, causing Denver, for example, to eye the headwaters of the Gunnison River, clear across the Continental Divide, and Los Angeles to consider exploiting a groundwater field in the Mojave Desert. These and other communities will thus be watching Las Vegas closely, as will environmentalists who question, among other things...
...predicament has not been caused by war or dictatorship. The poor, landlocked nation, whose population has doubled over the past quarter-century, is primarily a victim of its own geography. Situated in the Sahel, a dry, scrubby area along the southern edge of the Sahara that is vulnerable to drought, Niger endured a lack of seasonal rains last year followed by a devastating plague of locusts that destroyed most of the crops in the region. Add the food shortages in neighboring Burkina Faso, Mali and Mauritania, and the WFP says more than 4 million people in the Sahel need help...
...Severe drought in southern Europe this summer is taking a heavy toll on farmers in Spain, Portugal and parts of France and Italy. With rainfall levels far below normal, many crops, from wheat to lettuce, are suffering. Water is now officially rationed in two-thirds of France and much of Spain; some Spanish provinces have even closed or restricted swimming pools and public fountains. The European Commission estimates that grain production will drop by about 28 million tons, or about 10%, in the four countries, with output of some types of wheat down by 25%. Olive and vegetable growers...