This year will be the hottest year on record, EU scientists say
Brussels, Belgium Reuters This year will be the world’s warmest since records began, with extraordinarily high temperatures expected to persist into at least the first few months of 2025, European Union scientists said on Monday. The data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) comes two weeks after UN climate talks yielded a $US300-billion […]
Latin America poverty hits 33-year low but inequality prevails, UN report says
Santiago, Chile Reuters Latin American poverty levels in 2023 fell to a 33-year low, led by progress in Brazil, the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said in a report on Tuesday, even as severe inequality persists in the region. ECLAC said Latin America is marked by high inequality, limited […]
Catholic support for women’s ordination rises in Latin America – poll
United States RNS In major Latin American countries, Catholic support for ordaining women as priests has risen significantly in the last decade, while Pope Francis’ popularity has declined somewhat, according to a survey released on Thursday by Pew Research Center. Peru saw the highest increase among the surveyed countries – which also included Argentina, Chile, […]
Essay: A new wave of Venezuelan refugees would threaten a humanitarian crisis – Latin America could learn from Europe
OMAR HAMMOUD GALLEGO, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at lessons from the European experience in responding to those fleeing the war in Ukraine…
A continent ablaze: South America surpasses record for fires
Sao Paulo, Brazil Reuters South America is being ravaged by fire from Brazil’s Amazon rainforest through the world’s largest wetlands to dry forests in Bolivia, breaking a previous record for the number of blazes seen in a year up to 11th September. Satellite data analysed by Brazil’s space research agency Inpe has registered 346,112 fire […]
UN sees number of young migrants crossing the dangerous Darien Gap up by a third
Panama City, Panama Reuters The number of minors crossing the treacherous jungle between Colombia and Panama known as the Darien Gap is on pace to rise by 34 per cent to reach 160,000 this year, the United Nations’ Children Fund (UNICEF) said on Wednesday. The migration of mostly US-bound kids through the Darien Gap represents […]
Latin America must brace as El Nino flips to La Nina, experts warn
Reuters Latin American nations must be on high alert as the weather phenomenon known as El Nino rapidly switches over to La Nina, experts said on Thursday, leaving populations and crops little time to recover. El Nino and its abundant rains could soon turn into droughts caused by La Nina as well as an intense […]
Postcards: In South America’s Andes, a shrinking Lake Titicaca rings climate alarm bell
MONICA MACHICAO and SERGIO LIMACHI, of Reuters, report on the impact of a long spell of drought on South America’s largest body of fresh water…
Climate change drove deadly winter heat wave in South America, study says
Sao Paulo, Brazil Reuters Global warming was the main driver of the heat wave that scorched South America for most of August and September and raised temperatures by as much as 4.3 degrees Celsius, according to a study published on Tuesday. Temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius across large parts of Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and […]
WHO warns of dengue risk as global warming pushes cases near historic highs
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The World Health Organization has warned that cases of dengue fever could reach close to record highs this year, partly due to global warming benefiting mosquitoes that spread it. Dengue rates are rising globally, with reported cases since 2000 up eight-fold to 4.2 million in 2022, WHO said. A boy covers his […]