Drought in Africa, and the innovative response
In this edition: How drought-resistant farming methods have the potential to improve women's lives in Lesotho; lead testing on the rise in schools; digging into data on climate-change 'hiatus.'
What we're writing
Why drought-resistant farming could be a feminist act in Africa
Often steps that address environmental concerns also bring side benefits. As parts of Africa need food aid amid one of the worst droughts in a century, strides are being made聽toward drought-resistant聽farming. These new聽methods can聽lighten a major聽burden聽for women, carrying water, even as they make聽crops more resilient. // Story and photo, from Lesotho, by聽Ryan Lenora Brown
A number of schools and states have taken fresh steps to test for lead in water at schools. But more action is still needed, experts say. //聽Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
Supposed climate change hiatus: What really happened?
A closer look at a much-discussed (and politically charged) slowdown in temperature rise from 1998 to 2012. Researchers have independently replicated NOAA's recalibration of sea surface data from that period. //聽Eva Botkin-Kowacki
How climate change threatens famed Amalfi Coast
More-intense rains increase mudslide risks in a region known for its steep terrain. Possible responses include preserving lemon groves and testing an early-warning system. //聽Nick Squires
Singapore's bold course toward water self-sufficiency
The island nation has little water of its own but is determined to shed a reliance on water imports. One key is water recycling, alongside desalination and catchment. //聽
What we're reading
Scientists and others offer聽some perspectives on how they plan to think and act regarding climate change in 2017. // Yale Climate Connections
It's hard to predict these things precisely, but a rewrite of Louisiana's 50-year coastal plan (including聽nurturing wetlands) is geared to save huge sums in potential storm-surge damage.聽// New Orleans Times-Picayune
New research concludes that ocean currents, which distribute nutrients and influence climate, are聽at greater risk than prior estimates have allowed.聽// Hakai Magazine
It's just one tea leaf, but the electric-car champion has a positive takeaway from talks with聽the president-elect.聽// Elektrek
What's trending
"There are now many indications that certain events 鈥� such as persistent weather systems or storms bringing torrential rain and hail 鈥� are more likely to occur in certain regions as a result of climate change."聽// Peter Hoeppe聽of reinsurance firm Munich Re, quoted by Reuters
"What I saw with the president-elect was a laserlike focus on jobs.... I think he was intrigued鈥� that carbon capture might save coal jobs.聽// Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) of North Dakota, quoted by The New York Times