Mon, 11:33 18 Aug 2008 GMT17

 
Megan Rowling
Before joining AlertNet, Megan Rowling worked as a freelance print and television journalist in Britain, France and Japan. At AlertNet, she focuses on the humanitarian impact of climate change. In 2008, she also spent several months working part-time as a media relations officer for the British Red Cross. She recently completed an MSc in development management.
Who's helping media in developing countries tackle climate change?
15 Aug 2008 17:39:00 GMT
Author: Megan Rowling

Ugandan journalists who specialise in reporting on environment and science tell me there's growing public demand for stories about climate change, but they still come low down the newsroom pecking order compared with the political and business beats.

Environmental issues shot up the media agenda in Uganda last year when protests erupted over plans to give thousands of acres of the Mabira rainforest to an Asian-owned sugar company. The proposal was put on hold after three people died in the demonstrations, but as a recent interview in Britain's Weekly Observer suggests, there are concerns it could be resurrected.

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East Asian cities urged to get ready for climate change
12 Aug 2008 15:18:00 GMT
Author: Thin Lei Win

With tree-lined boulevards, stately French colonial architecture and hundreds of small side alleys, Vietnam's capital Hanoi is a city steeped in culture and history. It's also a fast-growing business centre, with glass-fronted skyscrapers springing up next to century-old teak houses.

But balancing tradition and modernity isn't the only challenge for Hanoi's planners. They are strengthening the dike system to protect the city from weather-related disasters like storms and floods, which are expected to become more frequent and extreme due to global warming.

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Women and climate change - a tale of two mothers
11 Aug 2008 17:10:00 GMT
Author: Megan Rowling

Sahena Begum, a young mother who lives in east Bangladesh on land that's often inundated with water, says the floods are getting worse these days and temperatures less predictable. Local people in her village, Kunderpara, no longer know when it's time to plant their crops.

Martina Longom is a young mother too. In Caicaoan village, in the arid Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda, she says the elele bird no longer sings as it used to, heralding the arrival of the rains. Out of the past three years, two have been too dry to grow sorghum, and last year floods washed harvests away.

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Aid groups push for access, data on Georgia displaced
11 Aug 2008 16:53:00 GMT
Author: Alex Whiting

LONDON, Aug 11 (AlertNet) - Relief groups are struggling to get aid to thousands of people caught up in clashes between Georgian, Russian and Ossetian troops in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it is receiving reports of a growing number of civilian casualties and widespread displacement throughout the region. "The humanitarian situation remains very serious," said Dominique Liengme, ICRC head of delegation in Georgia.

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Death toll mounts from Pakistan floods, thousands displaced
05 Aug 2008 15:56:00 GMT
Author: Megan Rowling

The death toll from flash floods that hit parts of north and east Pakistan on Monday has risen to more than 100, according German news agency Deutsche Presse Agentur.

Most of the casualties were in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and neighbouring tribal areas near the Afghan border, where roofs collapsed and the flooding destroyed several hundred mud houses, DPA said, citing the Urdu-language Express newspaper. The Pakistani paper reported that 25 people died when three rescue boats capsized near Peshawar.

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