Drought

Drought is transforming New Mexico into desert

Drought has seriously affected the Rio Grande Valley, where animals are dying, crops are failing and the Rio Grande has been nicknamed the “Rio Sand.” People are subsisting on trucked-in water or attempting to dig deep wells that cost upwards of $100,000.

The question many here are grappling with is whether the changes are a permanent result of climate change or part of cyclical weather cycle. The governor’s drought task force is cautious about identifying three years of extreme drought as representing a new climate pattern for New Mexico. It could be a multi-year aberration.

Nonetheless, most long-term plans put together by cattle ranchers, farmers and land managers include the probability that the drought is here to stay.

Drought in Namibia Worsens

A severe drought that sparked a state of emergency in Namibia has left 400,000 people facing hunger.

Namibia is the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, and only two percent of land receives sufficient rainfall to grow crops.

The southern African country has seen several droughts in the recent decades.

The number of people at risk from hunger has risen from 300,000 in May, when President Hifikepunye Pohamba declared a state of emergency.

In May, the government started handing out maize meal bags to rural areas in a central part of the country and authorities are appealing for international support.

Unicef says more than 778,000 people including 109,000 children under the age of five are at risk of malnutrition.