climate

Samoa deputy PM lays out climate, poverty challenges at UN

Speaking on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa said that despite sustained growth, many people were struggling to make ends meet in the face of poverty and inequality.

She added that vulnerable island countries were losing momentum towards achieving the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, and that the impacts of climate change were undoing decades of progress.

Food security and livelihoods were being threatened by frequent disasters and the threats to biodiversity, she said, and countries were increasingly unable to cope.

Is there a link between climate change and diabetes?

Now, researchers are looking at whether climate change might be linked to another public health concern: Type 2 diabetes.

Between 1996 and 2009, as outdoor temperatures rose across the United States, so did the prevalence of diabetes, according to a study published in the journal BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care on Monday.

Climate, not just genetics, shaped your nose, study says

There's a great variety in nose variation from person to person, yet if you look at different ethnic populations, you will see differences across groups. For example, the distance between the wings of the nose, also known as "nasal alare," are larger in people of West African, South Asian and East Asian ancestry than in people of European ancestry.

New Caledonia calamity described as worst since 19th century

So far five bodies have been recovered in two settlements near Houailou on the main island's east coast where about 400 millimetres of rain fell in 12 hours.

Three people are still missing and eight others have been injured.

The villages of Gouareu and Ouakaya were hit by the landslides which came off a mountain range which the mayor of Houailou Pascal Sawa said had been weakened by nickel mining and bush fires.

The area was considered to be at risk after major slips in 2008 and 2011.

Climate effect on species needs global research effort

The paper, published in the international journal Science, said changes in global temperatures were affecting the diversity and distribution of living species worldwide - but not enough is known about how to protect them.

The paper called for research to be done so outcomes for every species affected by climate change could be forecast.

Lincoln University researcher Dr William Godsoe, who was involved in writing the paper, said climate change was already affecting some of New Zealand's beloved native species.

US give climate change aid to Pacific

The United States says it is providing US$5 million dollars for a Pacific climate change strengthening project.
 
The US Ambassador to Fiji, Judith Cefkin, made the announcement during the Pacific Community Conference underway in Niue.