Ananth Krishnan

On its western frontiers, a massive afforestation drive to battle the spread of the desert reveals fast-expanding efforts to combat climate change.

As Wang Youde stands perched atop a hill, a sea of sand is all he can see in every direction.

Frequent dust storms and scarce rains are stifling Iraq's efforts to revive a farming sector hit by decades of war, sanctions and isolation.

Wheat and rice production has suffered from a severe drought in the past two years, due in part to rising temperatures, along with a dearth of water in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The U.N.

The Arab world will be one of the regions worst hit by climate change but still lacks any coordinated response to its potentially devastating effects, experts said at a conference this week.

With hotter, drier and less predictable climates, the amount of water running into the region's streams and rivers is set to fall 20 to 30 percent by 2050, worsening desertification and food insecurity, the

July 1: Scarcity of funds has hit the afforestation programmes in Anantapur district. The district has 1,989 sq km of forest land out of a geographical area of 19,134 sq km. Forests are being destroyed here for firewood, erratic rainfall and heavy soil erosion.

Anantapur, June 10: People of at least 40 villages under Kanekal, Beluguppa, Bommanahal and D. Hirehal mandals in Anantapur district are shivering with the impending accumulation of sand dunes that create havoc in this part of world during July to September, an annual and unavoidable phenomena.

Over 40 per cent of the Bolivian territory is affected by desertification caused by climate change, population increase and indiscriminate forest felling, the Science and Technology Ministry said recently.

The ministry said in a statement that the problem is becoming more serious each year, which puts at risk the food security of the country.

To be implemented in five coastal districts at a cost of Rs. 6 crores

Seeing is believing: A delegation of European Union interacting with farmers at Sithudayan in Ramanathapuram district on Tuesday.

RAMANATHAPURAM: The European Union (EU) is sponsoring water conservation project in five coastal districts with an objective of increasing water harvesting and reducing desertification.

Nearly 40 percent of the global land surface is at risk of desertification, a new study says. The areas at risk represent eight of the 15 natural 'eco-regions,' coded according to their degree of aridity.