Climate Change & Environment
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How to help those affected by the Morocco earthquake and Libya flood

International aid groups have mobilized in Morocco, where a 6.8 magnitude earthquake Friday night has killed 2,681 and injured more than 2,500, and Libya, where thousands are reported dead and more than 10,000 still missing from weekend flooding. Donors, both big and small, are also mobilizing to support those relief efforts.

Experts say the most direct way to provide aid to those affected in both countries is to donate to organizations that already have operations on the ground in those countries.

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How Libya's chaos left its people vulnerable to deadly flooding

A storm that has killed thousands of people and left thousands more missing in Libya is the latest blow to a country that has been gutted by years of chaos and division.

The floods are the most fatal environmental disaster in the country's modern history. Years of war and lack of a central government have left it with crumbling infrastructure that was vulnerable to the intense rains. Libya is currently the only country yet to develop a climate strategy, according to the United Nations.

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Flood death toll surpasses 5,100 in Libya's Derna

The death toll from flooding that hit the eastern Libyan city of Derna reached more than 5,000 and was expected to rise further, a local health official said Wednesday, as authorities struggled to get aid to the coastal city where thousands remained missing and tens of thousands were homeless.

Aid workers who managed to reach the city, which was cut off Sunday night when flash floods washed away most of the access roads, described devastation in the city's center, where search and rescue teams combed shattered apartment buildings for bodies and retrieved floating bodies offshore.

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7 people die in southern China storms, 70 crocodiles on the loose

Rainstorms battering southern China have killed at least seven people and allowed dozens of crocodiles to escape from a farm.

Nearby residents were advised to stay at home after more than 70 crocodiles escaped in Maoming, a city near the coast in western Guangdong province, according to Chinese media reports.

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Heavy rain brings flash flooding in parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Heavy rainfall has flooded parts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with one city declaring a state of emergency as water poured into homes, creating moats around their foundations, and stranded drivers.

Mayor Dean Mazzarella in Leominster, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Boston, urged people not to venture outside as roads flooded Monday night, but some residents were evacuated as water came into their basements. All schools were closed Tuesday and two shelters were set up.

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At least 2,300 dead in 'epic' Libya floods, thousands more missing

At least 2,300 people were killed in Libya and thousands more were reported missing after catastrophic flash floods broke river dams and tore though an eastern coastal city, devastating entire neighborhoods.

As global concern spread, multiple nations offered to urgently send aid and rescue teams to help the war-scarred country that has been overwhelmed by what one U.N. official labelled "a calamity of epic proportions."

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Climate change 'dystopian future already here', says UN rights chief

Climate change is sparking human rights emergencies in numerous countries, the U.N. rights chief said Monday, stressing the need to fight the impunity of those who "plunder our environment."

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Death toll from Greece floods rises to 15 after 4 more bodies found

The number of confirmed deaths from recent flooding in central Greece rose to 15 after the bodies of four people previously considered missing were found on Sunday, authorities said.

Three of the bodies were located in villages near the city of Karditsa in western Thessaly. They are an 88-year-old woman and her 65-year-old son, who were found in their home, as well as a 58-year-old man whose body was found between two villages.

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Libyan city declared disaster zone after floods, dozens feared dead

At least 20 people were reported dead Monday in eastern Libya after the Mediterranean storm Daniel caused devastating floods over the weekend in different parts of the North African nation. Authorities declared at least one city a disaster zone.

The dead included 12 people in the eastern town of Bayda, the town's main medical center said. Another seven people were reported dead in the coastal town of Susa in northeastern Libya, according to the Ambulance and Emergency Authority.

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Evacuation orders in central Greece as river floodwaters rise

Severe rainstorms eased but floodwaters were still rising in parts of central Greece Friday, while fire department and military helicopters were plucking people from villages inundated by tons of water and mud that have left at least six dead, six missing and many people clinging to the roofs of their homes.

Flooding triggered by rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing a total of 18 people in all three countries since the rains began Tuesday.

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