WMO Annual Climate Statement Confirms 2012 as Among Top Ten Warmest Years

GENEVA, 2 May 2013 (WMO) The World Meteorological Organization’s Statement on the Status of the Global Climate says that 2012 joined the ten previous years as one of the warmest — at ninth place — on record despite the cooling influence of a La Niña episode early in the year.

DESTACADOS

• 19 desastres naturales afectaron a cerca de 552,000 personas en la región, durante el primer trimestre de 2013. Las inundaciones afectaron al 71 por ciento del total.

• Brasil es el principal donante de la región, aportando $106 millones para la respuesta humanitaria, desde el 2000.

• Un fuerte compromiso por parte de los socios humanitarios es necesario sobre el tema de la violencia. 41 de las 50 ciudades más peligrosas del mundo están en América Latina y el Caribe.

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

• Rice production is forecast to increase in 2013

• Cereal imports to remain high in 2012/13 (July/June)

• Food security of population affected by hurricane Sandy remains difficult

Lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy are high on the agenda of a meeting convened by the World Meteorological Organization to review the 2012 tropical cyclone season in the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific and prepare for the forthcoming season.

The Hurricane Committee of WMO Regional Association IV (North and Central America and the Caribbean) meets in Curacao 8-12 April to discuss how to strengthen warning services and regional coordination to protect lives and property.

Over 44,000 people from 30 Members States and 15 of the territories* in the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions participated in the second full scale regional tsunami exercise held on March 20, 2013.

Jamaica y República Dominicana recibirán la ayuda, que se suma a los €10 millones aportados para Haití y Cuba

Santo Domingo/Kingston, 15 de Marzo de 2013 – Cuando van a cumplirse cinco meses desde que el huracán Sandy causó estragos en el Caribe y Norteamérica, la Unión Europea ha decidido ampliar la ayuda para las víctimas del desastre, con €1.5 millones adicionales que beneficiarán a República Dominicana y Jamaica.

By Andy Channelle, IFRC

At the end of October 2012, Hurricane Sandy tore a path through the Caribbean before landing on the eastern seaboard of the United States. The storm caused hundreds of deaths and destroyed homes, farms and livelihoods in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and the Bahamas. Recovery is likely to cost billions of dollars.

The ground breaking ceremony for the construction of three factories in West Africa to produce biolarvicides under the regional Malaria Elimination Campaign Programme took place in Abidjan on 28th February 2013, on the margins of the 42nd Ordinary Summit of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government.

Juan Vera

By Susan Kim*

February 12, 2013—When Dan Christopherson observed the damage in Cuba during Hurricane Sandy's aftermath, he saw widespread devastation to both churches and homes. Parts of Cuba were pummeled by Sandy's high winds. In other areas, he said, “it's not necessarily a strong wind, but it's a weak house.”

The end result was, unfortunately, the same.

Cuba has 357 Methodist churches, the majority of which are “house churches,” meaning that religious gatherings are held in a private residence.