Extreme weather and climate conditions, including Arctic “heatwaves,” are continuing this year, after 2016 topped the global temperature charts and saw shrinking sea ice and surging sea levels. The World Meteorological Organization warned Tuesday that the drastic shifts seen in the global climate system that resulted in a range of alarming records last year appear to be continuing unabated. “We are now in truly unchartered territory,” David Carlson, head of the World Climate Research Program, said in a news release. (AFP https://yhoo.it/2mPDlGe)
Alarming stat of the day …”Some 600 million children – or one in four children worldwide – will be living in areas with extremely limited water resources by 2040, according to a UNICEF report released on World Water Day. (UNICEF http://uni.cf/2nT1UDO )
Top Stories
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday it is concerned about Cameroon forcing thousands of refugees to return to northeast Nigeria, an area struggling with insurgency and facing a potential famine. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2nBlRSm)
There is a window of only three to four months to avert mass starvation in Yemen and Somalia, plagued by conflict and drought, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Wednesday in an appeal for funding. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2mPtgck)
More than 6,000 migrants have been rescued on the central Mediterranean route from Libya to Italy in the last few days, as greater numbers take to the sea in warmer weather, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/2n6ZkKe)
Australia is close to resettling the 12,000 refugees from the war in Syria and Iraq it promised to urgently take more than a year ago, an official said Wednesday. (VOA http://bit.ly/2nBdGFu)
A prominent land rights activist has been shot dead by five gunmen at a hospital in Brazil where he was recovering from a previous assassination attempt. (BBC http://bbc.in/2n6SvbE)
Authorities in Guatemala say there has been a series of attacks on police officers after riot police stormed a youth detention center. Interior Minister Francisco Rivas said three officers had died as a result of the assaults. (BBC http://bbc.in/2msgCV4)
Opinion/Blogs
Gates Foundation’s rose-colored world view not supported by evidence (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/2nB7z4h)
Famine is Political Violence by Starvation. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2nKeska)
This is What Makes a Country Happy. (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/2nKqpWK)
If we want to innovate, we need to disrupt our relationships and embrace tension (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/2nAVAUk)
Who Has The Healthiest Hearts In The World? (NPR http://n.pr/2mPiFho)
Climate change is happening now – here are 8 things we can do to adapt to it (Guardian http://bit.ly/2o4ccQL)
Why is peacebuilding so difficult to achieve? (ODI http://bit.ly/2nB6jxS)
On the Measurement of Food Waste (Marc Bellemare http://bit.ly/2nBg6nt)
Hunting for the Grand Bargain (IRIN http://bit.ly/2nB90PZ)
Honduras, where defending nature is a deadly business (Guardian http://bit.ly/2ms5Azg)
How to reframe climate change programs in an era of climate denial: lessons from Australia (Devex http://bit.ly/2nBaUQL)
How a gold mine has brought only misery in Liberia (IRIN http://bit.ly/2o487ff)
So What Do You Do With The … Poo … In A Pit Latrine? (Goats and Soda http://n.pr/2mUbllF)
Responding to US Budget Cuts for United Nations (IPS http://bit.ly/2nBfhv2)
Guatemalan tragedy reveals need for better protection for children (PRI http://bit.ly/2mPlbEA)
