drought

Afghan women and children sit in front of a bakery waiting for bread donations in Kabul's Old City, Afghanistan, on Sept. 16, 2021.

'It is a catastrophe': Afghans are in desperate need of food, humanitarian aid, refugee worker says

Astrid Sletten, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s office in Kabul, spoke to The World’s Carol Hills about the level of need in Afghanistan and what aid organizations are able to deliver in the current environment.

'It is a catastrophe': Afghans are in desperate need of food, humanitarian aid, refugee worker says
South Sudanese refugees wait in line for food in Omugo refugee settlement camp in northern Uganda

Ugandans pose as refugees for food because the drought is so bad

Ugandans pose as refugees for food because the drought is so bad
An internally displaced woman from drought-hit area at a makeshift settlement area in Dolow, Somalia, April 4, 2017.

Somalis walk for days searching for food and water while al-Shabab blocks aid

Somalis walk for days searching for food and water while al-Shabab blocks aid
The Polar jet stream carries weather systems around the northern hemisphere. It's powered by the temperature differential between the Arctic and areas farther south, but new research finds that it's being disrupted as rapid warming in the Arctic reduces t

Here's a new climate change reality that Trump's new policies ignore

Here's a new climate change reality that Trump's new policies ignore
Bolivia’s dried-out Ajuan Khota dam, a reservoir affected by drought near La Paz, photographed on Nov. 17.

With melting glaciers and mining, Bolivia’s water is running dangerously low

With melting glaciers and mining, Bolivia’s water is running dangerously low
This vista shows damage by mountain pine beetles to the forests surrounding Hume Lake in California as of April 2016.

How can we save California's forests?

Drought, warmer temperatures and surging bark beetle populations are leading to unprecedented mortality rates for trees in California.

How can we save California's forests?
Abebe Haregewoin (right) and his father in Ethiopia.

Famine haunted his childhood in Ethiopia. Now he sees food running out again.

An Ethiopian expat worries for his homeland as drought and climate change threaten to trigger another famine.

Famine haunted his childhood in Ethiopia. Now he sees food running out again.
Mavis, a housekeeper from the Pretoria township of Mamelodi, depends on her garden to help provide for her five children and seven grandchildren. But with this year's region-wide drought, her garden is just a dusty patch of seedlings. “I want rain every d

For one South African house cleaner, this year's big drought means crying, hungry children

The current drought in southern Africa is the worst in decades, and likely a harbinger of things to come as the region warms up and dries out as its climate changes. The drought is having real impact on one resident in a Pretoria township, and what governments in the region can do to help prepare for a hotter and drier future.

For one South African house cleaner, this year's big drought means crying, hungry children
water barrels

'Little Teresa' helps São Paulo women fight drought and male domination — with rain barrels

Brazil's largest city, São Paulo is coming out of a searing drought. But its impact wasn't all bad. One woman saw the drought as an opportunity to empower women and bring her community closer together.

'Little Teresa' helps São Paulo women fight drought and male domination — with rain barrels
This 1891 inscription talks about a local mayor leading more than 200 people to the cave to get water and pray for rain.

These Chinese cave inscriptions tell a dramatic 500-year-long story

The writing in Dayu Cave explains the impact of seven different droughts between 1520 and 1920. Even today, groups come to the cave to gather water, but they're no longer allowed to write on the walls.

These Chinese cave inscriptions tell a dramatic 500-year-long story

Five Things You Had to See Online This Week

Joanna Newsom makes beautiful music, shade balls fill the L.A. Reservoir, and Tom Brady looks really bad to win the internet this week.  

Five Things You Had to See Online This Week
Desalination

We're running out of water. Is desalination the answer?

Desalination plants aren't just a California thing. Low groundwater levels are a problem for communities everywhere.

We're running out of water. Is desalination the answer?
Poseidon Water employees stand between rows of reverse osmosis filters at the Western Hemisphere's largest seawater desalination plant, currently under construction in Carlsbad, California.

Desalination is an expensive energy hog, but improvements are on the way

Desalination — taking the salt out of seawater so humans can drink it — is becoming more important as the Earth warms and drinking water gets more scarce, but it's not a cheap or simple process. Here are some ways it might get more affordable and environmentally friendly.

Desalination is an expensive energy hog, but improvements are on the way
A sea surface temperature anomaly in the tropical Pacific Ocean during the peak of the 2009-10 El Niño.

El Niño is back, and global temperature records are in danger

El Niño is back. That could mean trouble for crops from Africa to Australia, drought relief for Brazil and California — and new record global temperatures as the Pacific Ocean warms up and brings the heat along with it.

El Niño is back, and global temperature records are in danger
Workers pick strawberries in a field on a farm in Oxnard, California, on February 24, 2015.

Agriculture is thriving in bone-dry California, and that's not a good thing

Everyone in California is feeling the crunch as the state tries to cope with its massive drought, but farms aren't suffering quite as much as the rest. That's good for business, but bad for the state's dwindling water resources.

Agriculture is thriving in bone-dry California, and that's not a good thing