Page 10 - Climate Change

Scientists rely on reanalysis method to know when world has its hottest day

This reanalysis goes back to 1940, and it allows researchers to say with confidence when a record is broken, whether for a day, month or year

Wayanad landslides: How climate change is linked to Kerala disaster

Warming of the Arabian Sea is allowing the formation of deep cloud systems, leading to extremely heavy rainfall in Kerala in a shorter period and increasing the possibility of landslides, a senior climate scientist said on Tuesday. Extremely heavy rain triggered a series of landslides in the hilly areas of Kerala's Wayanad district early on Tuesday, leaving at least 123 people dead and 128 injured. Many were feared trapped under the debris. S Abhilash, director of the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), said Kasargod, Kannur, Wayanad, Calicut and Malappuram districts have been receiving copious rainfall due to the active monsoon offshore trough affecting the entire Konkan region for the last two weeks. The soil was saturated after two weeks of rainfall. A deep mesoscale cloud system formed off the coast in the Arabian Sea on Monday and led to extremely heavy rain in Wayanad, Calicut, Malappuram and Kannur, resulting

Built to last

Infra spend must focus on climate change

When flights couldn't take off in Leh because air was too thin: Explained

The Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh, one of the highest in the world, faces challenges due to mountain winds that necessitate flights taking off or landing in the morning hours

Roadmap for decarbonisation of steel to be out for public consultation soon

India's steel sector accounts for about 12% of total greenhouse gas emissions, with an emission intensity of 2.55 tonnes of CO2 per tonne of crude steel compared to a global average of 1.9 tonne

Why is Paris 2024 Olympics set to be the greenest Olympics in history

Paris Olympics 2024 will largely depend on renewable energy sources, including geothermal and solar power; France has put in place several environmentally friendly initiatives

Gujarat sees an increase of nearly 200K piped gas connections, says govt

A statement from the state government said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Gujarat is channelling economic development through environmentally friendly policies

Climate events influence actions of central banks, says RBI DG Rao

Rao said that such events can destroy assets funded by institutional finance, thereby harming the financial health of these institutions

Budget 2024: Proposals for critical minerals to help achieve net-zero goals

The Budget announcements related to critical minerals and green transition will not only make India self reliant in resources but also help in meeting net-zero goals, energy industry players said. In her Budget speech on Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures for sectors, including infrastructure, manufacturing, healthcare, education, startups, and green energy, among others. Amit Rautela, CFO of state-owned Meja Urja Nigam said the Budget has strategically addressed present requirement of thermal power with a focus on Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) technology through joint venture route. Further, duty related measures for critical minerals will make the country self reliant in these important resources. According to Rahul Walawalkar, President of India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA), the announcement for pumped hydro storage in budget is a key step for supporting long duration energy storage technologies. Abolishment of angel tax is a great

July 21 recorded as world's hottest day ever as climate change worsens

Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus service, said that it was possible the beginning of this week could eclipse Sunday's record as heatwaves continue to sizzle across the world

Chief economic advisor Nageswaran calls out rich nations' climate hypocrisy

India's Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran has criticised developed countries for their "double standards" on climate action, highlighting the G7's commitment to ending the use of unabated coal power plants only in the first half of the 2030s, despite their high carbon emissions. In the annual economic survey, Nageswaran said it is morally wrong to ask developing countries to abandon their aspirations for better living standards to allow developed countries to maintain their lifestyles in cleaner environments and cooler climates. He argued that economic growth would empower developing countries to better address climate change. Nageswaran said the UN convention on climate change and its Paris Agreement mandate that developed countries provide resources and take the lead in mobilising finance to tackle the global problem. "However, much of the climate action by developing countries has been done through domestic resources, and the emphasis of the developed countries has mai

Developed world's climate plans in a fog, India's a clear blue sky: Survey

"Even as developed nations prepare to impose a carbon tax at the border on imports coming into their countries laden with carbon, they are ramping up energy demand like never before," said the Survey

AI, agro-processing, gig economy with most job potential: Economic Survey

Economic Survey 2023-24: The gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million by 2029-30, forming 6.7% of the non-agricultural workforce, and 4.1% of India's total workforce

COP29 host Azerbaijan launches climate fund, introduces fossil fuel levy

Azerbaijan, the host of this year's UN climate talks, has shelved a planned levy on fossil fuel production and instead launched a fund to "invest" in climate action in developing countries. Reports suggest that Azerbaijan, which relies heavily on oil and gas revenues, faced resistance from some oil- and gas-producing Gulf countries regarding the planned levy announced in May. The new fund, the "Climate Finance Action Fund" (CFAF), will receive annual contributions from fossil fuel-producing countries and companies. Initial fundraising aims for USD 1 billion, with members committing to annual contributions as fixed sums or based on production volume, according to a statement. Based in the capital city of Baku, the fund will target climate projects in developing countries, meeting the next generation of national climate plans to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and addressing the consequences of climate change-fuelled disasters. Financial support to help middle-income and

Political direction needed to settle dispute on climate finance: COP29 prez

The president of this year's UN climate summit said on Wednesday that political direction is required to resolve disagreements on a new financial target to support developing countries' climate actions post 2025. Climate finance will be at the centre of the UN climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, where the world will reach the deadline to agree on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) -- the new amount developed nations must mobilise every year starting 2025 to support climate action in developing countries. But achieving consensus will not be easy, given the disappointing progress made on the issue at the mid-year UN climate talks in Bonn, Germany. "There are disagreements on key elements that will require political direction and we must focus high-level discussions on these points," COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev said in a letter to nearly 200 countries that are signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Babayev said clima

Education systems under siege: Climate change threatens global learning

A UNESCO report claims that heat, floods, and storms are causing widespread learning loss, especially in low- and middle-income countries, threatening decades of educational progress

'Hellishly hot' southern Europe bakes under heat wave as temp tops 104F

The Italian health ministry placed 12 cities under the most severe heat warning Tuesday as a wave of hot air from Africa baked southern Europe and the Balkans and sent temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), with the worst still to come. Croatia reported the highest-ever temperatures of the Adriatic Sea, with the thermometer reaching nearly 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) at the southern walled city of Dubrovnik, the country's most popular tourism spot. In Serbia, the state power company reported record consumption Tuesday due to the use of air conditioning. Municipal authorities in several southern European and Balkan cities took measures to look after elderly people in particular as civil protection crews fielded calls for water-dropping aircraft such as Canadairs to douse wildfires that raged in southern Italy and North Macedonia. It's hellishly hot," said Carmen Daz, a tourist from Madrid who was trying to keep cool with a fan at lunchtime in ..

Melting polar ice is slowing Earth's rotation, lengthening days, says study

A scientific paper has indicated that melting polar ice caps are redistributing mass around the equator, slowing Earth's rotation and lengthening days at an unprecedented rate

Baku Summit tough, finance deal key to climate progress: Ex-Maldives prez

Negotiations at the UN climate conference in Baku in November are expected to be "extremely challenging", former Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed has said while emphasizing that an agreement on a new finance goal is central to breaking the political deadlock on climate action. In an interview with PTI, Nasheed, the Secretary-General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), said Azerbaijan's resolve to negotiate commitments upwards at COP29 under its presidency will be tested. The CVF is a group of developing countries highly vulnerable to climate change. It was founded in November 2009 in the Maldives' capital Male. The forum now comprises 68 countries representing 1.74 billion people. Nasheed said climate finance is all about responsibility and not aid. "It involves trillions of dollars, not billions, because the only way for us to truly fight climate change is to invest our way out of it," he said. Resolving the debate on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) at COP29 in Ba

Climate change threatens to undo educational gains of recent decade: UNESCO

Climate related stressors like heat, wildfires, floods, droughts, diseases and rising sea levels affect education outcomes and threaten to undo educational gains of recent decade, according to the Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM). The global report compiled by UNESCO, Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education (MECCE) project and University of Saskatchewan in Canada has pointed out that most low and middle-income countries are experiencing climate-related school closures every year, increasing chances of learning loss and dropout. "Climate change related impacts are already disrupting education systems and outcomes. Direct effects include the destruction of education infrastructure as well as injuries and loss of life among students, parents and school staff. Climate change has a negative impact on education indirectly through its displacement of people and the effects on people's livelihoods and health," the report said. "Over the past 20 years, schools .