US climate aid reaches across globe

A collaboration between NASA and the U.S. Agency for International Development helps poor countries to cope with climate change related global warming and disasters. Part of this help is SERVIR, a satellite-based mapping program for early warning serving 32 countries, reports the Washington Post. However, David Waskow, head of Oxfam America's climate-chage program said that only 19 percent of the financial aid provided to the international climate aid went towards adaptation, and that is "not adequate". Another problem is that it is hard to find private investors who would fund climate resilience building in poor countries: governments need to offer assistance.

Princeton University geosciences and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer said that "While adaptation can never be completely effective, storms such as Sandy have underscored the need for immediate action. At least there’s a realization that climate change is not tomorrow’s problem, it’s today’s problem, and we need to deal with it now.”