Publication Date November 13, 2015 | Inter Press Service

One-Third of Papua New Gineans Suffering Drought Crisis

Papua New Guinea
Villagers in Avaninofi in Papua New Guinea's Eastern Highlands Province display tomato plants which have perished during this year's severe drought. Photo: Catherine Wilson, IPS
Villagers in Avaninofi in Papua New Guinea's Eastern Highlands Province display tomato plants which have perished during this year's severe drought. Photo: Catherine Wilson, IPS

An estimated one-third of the population of Papua New Guinea, the most populous Pacific Island state, is now suffering in from the country’s worst drought this century and experts predict El Nino’s influence will carry on through March 2016...Climate change will further increase the devastating consequences of extreme weather on food production in the future, Luanne Losi, Adaptation Policy Analyst at the National Office of Climate Change and Development, commented. Annual air temperatures in Papua New Guinea are predicted to increase over the next 80 years by up to 2.9 degrees Celsius in the worst case scenario.

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