I have a bunch of drought-related items, but I've been overthinking the concept. Trying to tiw them all together in a big rhetorical conception.
And finally, after days of tinkering and twitching, it finally hit me: they're drought stories. They tie together by their very nature. Stupid. Just post 'em.
Americas
Montana: Governor's
drought officials optimistic
Asia
China: FEATURE - Drought Strikes Hard in Southern China
The drought in southern China has affected everything from crops and livelihoods to hydropower.
"Throughout history droughts have happened, but the frequency and level of severity are increasing because of climate change," said Yang Ailun, a Greenpeace climate and energy specialist based in the provincial capital of Guangzhou.
...
Crops are dying and fish farms drying up, while grid overloads last year forced factories to tap power only overnight, and led the government to ask restaurants and hotels to limit use of electric lights.
"In this part of Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta area, the population is increasing very fast. Through the 1990s, the economic boom has also driven up water consumption," said Ma Jun, an environmentalist and the author of "China's Water Crisis".
"The water consumption rise is staggering," he said.
...
In the first week of the New Year, Guangdong suffered three grid overloads and the province began restricting power supplies, saying the drought was partly responsible for daily power shortages of 500-600 megawatts.
Generating capacity in the province is forecast to fall short of demand by 3,000 to 5,000 MW over the next few years, the Economist Intelligence Unit says.
Greenpeace says the solution is renewable energy.
...
By 2010, China plans to boost renewable energy to cover 10 percent of its needs, raising green capacity to 60,000 megawatts with a mix of hydropower and wind power.
But in the meantime, the region's farmers are watching their livelihoods waste away.
I quoted all that just to give a context for that Greenpeace quote about renewable energy. Wind farms or not, that clearly means a lot more hydropower. Which one, is being hard hit by the drought in the first places, dolts; and two, China is already constructing one of the largest and most controversial hydropower project in the world right now, the Three Gorges Dam.
I suspect the quote may have been in a larger context, but if it wasn't, it was just ill-considered and dumb.
Europe
Spain: Drought-Hit Spain Sees 2005 Wheat Crop Down 29 Percent
MADRID - Spain's worst drought on record will have slashed its wheat harvest by 29 percent and lightened the barley crop by a quarter compared with last year, estimates from the Agriculture Ministry showed on Friday.
But farmers said the harvest could be even more disastrous as the ministry estimates were based on data collected in March and since then high temperatures and a lack of rain have continued to cause crop damage.
"The losses could be greater," Pablo Resco, crop technician for farmers' union COAG said.
I just want to point out this is the first Global Drought Update that includes a story from Europe. So I'll probably add Spain to the watch I have going on Australia and Southern Africa.
Speaking of...
Africa
Djibouti: 5,000 mt of food needed for drought-affected people
Mozambique: Coping mechanisms wear thin as the drought drags on
Ethiopia: Weather Derivative Payout if Drought Hits Ethiopia
AMSTERDAM - The World Food Programme is set to launch a form of insurance based on Ethiopian weather data that will pay out when drought strikes, the first time a scheme of this sort has been used in the developing world.
The weather derivative will offer reinsurers the chance to diversify their portfolio away from the northern hemisphere and developed countries, said Richard Wilcox, director of business planning at the WFP.
Zimbabwe: Agency: Zimbabwe faces food shortages
Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe faces poor harvest as famine looms
Zimbabwe: Zimbabweans cannot quench their thirst
Harare - After shortages of cooking oil, maize, milk, toothpaste and soap, Harare has now run out of soft drinks, the state-run Herald newspaper reported on Saturday.
...
An official from Delta Beverages blamed Zimbabwe's critical lack of foreign currency for the shortages, which are also affecting alcoholic drinks. He said the company was unable to import the raw materials needed for production of the drinks.
Man, no water for farming, no booze for forgetting.
Zimbabwe is one of the hardest hit by the drought, but certainly not the only country. For example...
Zambia: Plight worsened by drought
Lusaka - Drought has compounded the problem of thousands of Zambians already reeling under the impact of HIV/Aids, says United Nations envoy for humanitarian needs James Morris.
He said in statement issued at the end of his visit to the country, Zambia needed about 150 000 tons of food worth $30m to feed about 1.5 million distressed people.
Morris said: "Sadly, it is a pattern that we are seeing in many parts of southern Africa and widespread relief assistance will be required."
In the last two years, Zambia produced unprecedented food surplus and exported several tonnes of maize corn to neighbouring Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
Undermining country's ability
Morris said: "Zambia has made progress in strengthening its agricultural output for the last two years.
"It is unfortunate that these severe dry spells have had a massive impact on this year's production."
He said the HIV/Aids epidemic was also compounding the crisis, which was undermining the country's ability to respond to the humanitarian needs.
The UN envoy said life expectancy in Zambia had been reduced from 52 years in 1980 to an estimated 37 years in 2005.
Wow, that's just a horrifying drop. Obviously, food and water issues are only one factor, and maybe the slightest of them. Still, 52 to 37.
Oceania
More scenes from the Australian Big Dry.
Australia: Drought assistance tops agenda on PM's bush tour
Australia: Farmers demand better drought assistance
Australia: Howard signals end to 'careless' water use
"Australia will never return to the days where we carelessly and wastefully washed the car in the backyard on a Sunday morning, thinking water was available in a never-ending supply," he said.
"Those days are gone."
Australia: Sydney residents braced for new water squeeze
Dam levels are expected to drop below 40 per cent by the end of the week - the level the Government has said could trigger tighter water restrictions.
The Utilities Minister, Frank Sartor, is refusing to speculate on potential restrictions but a plan by the Sydney Water Corporation suggests measures could include further limits on watering gardens and a ban on washing cars and refilling pools. Other possibilities include a rotation of limits on homes based on street numbers.
Under current water restrictions in Sydney, Illawarra and the Blue Mountains, hand-held hoses are allowed only before 10am and after 4pm on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Sprinklers and hosing of hard surfaces are banned and permits are required to fill pools larger than 10,000 litres.
A list of possible restrictions outlined in a 2003 drought response management plan by Sydney Water included further limits on the watering of gardens and schemes to encourage the use of pool covers and front-load washing machines. The plan says level three restrictions would require measures to reduce water demand by up to 8 per cent.
In other areas with water shortages, such as Goulburn and Parkes, councils have banned fountains, outdoor watering, car washing and automatic cycle flushes in public toilets.
Australia: Aussie city almost out of water
GOULBURN, Australia (AP) -- The rolling
hills around this historic city were once renowned as some of
Australia's best grazing land. After four years of drought they are as
bleached and lifeless as old bones.
Goulburn is perilously
close to becoming Australia's first major settlement to see its
reservoirs run completely out of water as a Big Dry grips much of the
nation.
The crisis in Goulburn is a stark warning to Australia's
largest city, Sydney, which is just 200 kilometers (125 miles) away and
whose reservoirs should be filled by water running off the hills around
Goulburn.
"It's a major wake up call for Sydney," Goulburn Mayor
Paul Stephenson told The Associated Press. "If we're dry up here, then
there's nothing going into their catchment because we are their
catchment."