Latest Droughts News
NYC declares a drought watch and asks residents to conserve water
NEW YORK (AP) — New York's mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water, issuing a drought watch Saturday after a parched October here and in much of the United States. A drought watch is the first of three potential levels of...
Spain's horrific flooding another nasty hit in a fall where climate extremes just keep coming
Even for an era of more extreme weather, this autumn has seemingly shifted into yet another gear, especially in a rain-weary Europe where massive and deadly flooding in Spain's Valencia region is the latest incarnation. At least 95 people have been killed in flooding that sent cars...
Where has all the rain gone? Bone-dry October strikes much of US
A bone-dry October is pushing nearly half of the United States into a flash drought, leading to fires in the Midwest and hindering shipping on the Mississippi River. More than 100 different long-term weather stations in 26 states, including Alaska, are having their driest October on...
In Ecuador, power-dependent patients wait in anguish as the government imposes hours-long blackouts
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — The first time the electricity went off at night, Linda Vidal went into panic mode. For more than a year, the 52-year-old Ecuadorian woman suffering from Hodgkin lymphoma and a chronic respiratory disease has relied on an electricity-powered oxygen concentrator to breathe...
Ecuador expands power cuts to 14 hours a day due to drought
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador has announced an increase in daily power cuts as the severe drought impacting the nation keeps lowering water levels for the key hydroelectric plants, the source of more than 70% of the country's electricity. Acting Energy minister Inés Manzano said...
In Colombia, Amazon River's extreme drought falls hard on Indigenous communities
LETICIA, Colombia (AP) — Marciano Flores stood knee-deep in the Amazon River with the rest of his crew, ready to haul in a giant net as a man in a canoe circled in an attempt to drive fish their way. At 69, after a life of working the river, Flores can tell at a glance just the right spots to...
A Brazilian artist uses ash and mud for a massive Sao Paulo mural lamenting climate disasters
SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian artist Mundano on Wednesday is presenting a massive street mural in Sao Paulo that uses ash from wildfires and mud from floods to highlight extreme weather events wreaking devastation across the country — as well as their causes. Over 30 meters (98.4...
Southern Africa is enduring its worst hunger crisis in decades due to El Niño, the UN says
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Months of drought in southern Africa triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon have had a devastating impact on more than 27 million people and caused the region's worst hunger crisis in decades, the United Nations' food agency said Tuesday. The...
Trail Blazers in the second year of their rebuilding project amid a 3-year NBA playoff drought
Trail Blazers Last season: 21-61, missed the playoffs for the third straight year. COACH: Chauncey Billups (Fourth season with Portland, 81-165). SEASON OPENER: Oct. 23 at home against the Golden State Warriors. DEPARTURES: G Malcolm...
Drought is parching the world's largest man-made lake, stripping Zambia of its electricity
LAKE KARIBA, Zambia (AP) — Tindor Sikunyongana is trying to run a welding business which these days means buying a diesel generator with costly fuel he can't always afford. Like everyone in Zambia, Sikunyongana is facing a daily struggle to find and afford electricity during a...
