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10 of the deadliest natural disasters of 2017

Deadly Disasters

Climate and weather disasters have hit nearly every continent in 2017: flooding and monsoons in South Asia, hurricanes and a major earthquake in North America, landslides and drought in Africa and a tsunami threat to Central America.

These disasters “vividly demonstrate that we need to redouble our efforts to reduce the impact of such events in the future,” Robert Glasser, a United Nations disaster risk official, said in a statement Sept. 8.

“If we do not succeed in understanding what it takes to make our societies more resilient to disasters, then we will pay an increasingly high price in terms of lost lives and livelihoods.”

These 10 disasters are among the most severe this year as of data available Sept. 15, 2017.

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10 of the Deadliest Natural Disasters of 2017 originally appeared on usnews.com

China abruptly postpones ambitious Chang’e-7 lunar mission launch

HAIKOU, China (AP) — China said on Sunday it was postponing its planned ambitious Chang’e-7 lunar mission, which was set to carry out explorations including searching for water ice on the moon. The Chang’e-7 spacecraft was originally set to lift off in the coming days from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on China’s southern Hainan island. The mission does not meet the launch conditions, said the China Manned Space Agency in a brief statement, and “cannot take place during the planned window this year.” The decision was made following a “comprehensive assessment,” the agency added, and was based on the principles of “prudence, reliability and absolute mission success.” It did not further elaborate on the reasons behind the decision.
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