Last summer, after walking for days to a refugee camp across the South Sudan border, some Sudanese refugees reportedly chose to dig holes to reach muddy water rather than face the fist-fights breaking out around a failing tap. Boreholes dug by aid agencies collapsed in the crumbling soil. Even the coming rainy season brought more challenges than relief, washing out roads used by water tanker trucks and threatening the camp with flooding.

When the largest Atlantic hurricane on record swept through Manhattan at the end of October, office buildings throughout the island were shut down. United Nations Headquarters was not immune.

Hurricane Sandy has been wreaking havoc in the UN's backyard and across much of the Eastern United States. The storm and its aftermath are grim reminders of the critical need for enhanced recovery efforts in the wake of natural disasters, not only in the U.S. but throughout the world. This seems particularly true regarding preparedness and recovery in developing nations, where natural disasters often take a disproportionately greater toll on women than men.

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo., USA—Pikas like the cold. In fact, they need the cold. But it is getting increasingly difficult for the small, rabbit-like mammal to find its ideal climate on the mountain slopes it calls home.