The canicula is the reduction of rainfall during the rainy season, in July and August, which can mainly affect basic grains during the crop flowering and grain filling phases. This natural climatic event manifests from the south of Mexico to the Central American Dry Corridor and ends in the Dry Arc of Panama. It affects the Pacific zone of Nicaragua with higher frequency and intensity, followed by areas in Honduras, Panama (provinces of Los Santos and Herrera, and some areas of the Darien province) and part of the Dry Corridor of Guatemala (Chiquimula and Zacapa). The intensity and accentuation of the canicula in Central America is more correlated with the version of Modoki El Niño than with the version of Canonical El Niño. The Modoki El Niño version has increased its frequency of occurrence in the last decades, presenting favourable conditions for an increase in the frequency of occurrence of extended caniculas in the region. The objective of the index is to evaluate the reduction of rainfall during the rainy season which, in years of extreme canicula, causes considerable losses in annual crops.

This catalogue aims to improve the dissemination and outreach of FAO’s knowledge products and overall publishing programme. By providing information on its key publications in every area of FAO’s work, and catering to a range of audiences, it thereby contributes to all organizational outcomes. From statistical analysis to specialized manuals to children’s books, FAO publications cater to a diverse range of audiences. This catalogue presents a selection of FAO’s main publications, produced in 2021 or earlier, ranging from its global reports and general interest publications to numerous specialized titles. In addition to the major themes of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, it also includes thematic sections on climate change, economic and social development, and food safety and nutrition.

This study is carried out under the auspices of the new FAO Strategic Framework, for the Strategic Objective 5 Increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises . The study outcomes are expected to enhance further discussions on our understanding of the El Nino Phenomenon and add to the growing literature. This would in turn improve effective early warning capabilities of FAO and partners to issue and trigger timely disaster risk reduction measures."

Interdisciplinary volume considers how nine arid/semi-arid river basins with irrigated agriculture will survive future climate change, siltation, and decreased flow.

The most comprehensive book ever written on leatherback sea turtles. Weighing as much as 2,000 pounds and reaching lengths of over seven feet, leatherback turtles are the world’s largest reptile. These unusual sea turtles have a thick, pliable shell that helps them to withstand great depths—they can swim more than one thousand meters below the surface in search of food. And what food source sustains these goliaths? Their diet consists almost exclusively of jellyfish, a meal they crisscross the oceans to find. Leatherbacks have been declining in recent decades, and some predict they will be gone by the end of this century. Why? Because of two primary factors: human redevelopment of nesting beaches and commercial fishing. There are only twenty-nine index beaches in the world where these turtles nest, and there is immense pressure to develop most of them into homes or resorts. At the same time, longline and gill net fisheries continue to overwhelm waters frequented by leatherbacks. In The Leatherback Turtle, James R. Spotila and Pilar Santidrián Tomillo bring together the world’s leading experts to produce a volume that reveals the biology of the leatherback while putting a spotlight on the conservation problems and solutions related to the species. The book leaves us with options: embark on the conservation strategy laid out within its pages and save one of nature’s most splendid creations, or watch yet another magnificent species disappear.