Page 8 - Climate Change

India's long overdue low-carbon development plan likely to see light

The climate strategy may pave the path to a national carbon budget, an element critical in achieving net zero, but increase costs for companies transitioning to low-emission strategies

US won't publish major climate change report on Nasa website as promised

The Trump administration has taken another step to make it harder to find major, legally mandated scientific assessments of how climate change is endangering the nation and its people. Earlier this month, the official government websites that hosted the authoritative, peer-reviewed national climate assessments went dark. Such sites tell state and local governments and the public what to expect in their backyards from a warming world and how best to adapt to it. At the time, the White House said NASA would house the reports to comply with a 1990 law that requires the reports, which the space agency said it planned to do. But on Monday, NASA announced that it aborted those plans. "The USGCRP (the government agency that oversees and used to host the report) met its statutory requirements by presenting its reports to Congress. NASA has no legal obligations to host globalchange.gov's data," NASA Press Secretary Bethany Stevens said in an email. That means no data from the assessment or t

G20 watchdog outlines climate risk plan but halts further policy work

The US has withdrawn from multiple groups dedicated to exploring how flooding and wildfires and big climate-related policy shifts could impact financial stability

Paradise lost as climate change remakes Europe's summer weather

As southern Europeans dream of fjords, the traditional hot spots and fixtures of travel agency package deals no longer seem so desirable

Life-threatening heat domes challenge forecasters amid climate change

This phenomenon has also already struck Europe and China this summer, leading to the temporary closure of the Eiffel Tower and worries about wilting rice crops, respectively

Coconut prices triple within a year in Kerala, disrupting temple rituals

Coconut output has dropped due to farming neglect and climate change, driving up prices. Temple offerings of coconut are down 30%, and oil use for lamps is being cut to cope with the rising costs

Fossil fuel combustion caused 1,500 deaths in European heat wave: Study

Human-caused climate change is responsible for killing about 1,500 people in last week's European heat wave, a first-of-its-kind rapid study found. Those 1,500 people have only died because of climate change, so they would not have died if it had not been for our burning of oil, coal and gas in the last century, said study co-author Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College in London. Scientists at Imperial and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine used peer-reviewed techniques to calculate that about 2,300 people in 12 cities likely died from the heat in last week's bout of high temperatures, with nearly two-thirds of them dying because of the extra degrees that climate change added to the natural summer warmth. Past rapid attribution studies have not gone beyond evaluating climate change's role in meteorological effects such as extra heat, flooding or drought. This study goes a step further in directly connecting coal, oil and natural gas use to people

China's blistering heat leaves workers exposed as gig economy booms

According to The Lancet, yearly heat wave-related deaths in China have now nearly doubled compared with 1986 to 2005, with more than 37,000 deaths in 2023 alone

As the world warms up, extreme rain is becoming even more extreme

Warm air holds more moisture than cool air, and as temperatures rise, storms can produce bigger downpours

Rivers as kin, not property: A powerful case for ecological empathy

There is hope that we can conserve what remains and revive what has been lost of our rivers - but it begins with acknowledging that a river is a living, breathing entity

Reports on climate change effect on US disappear from federal websites

The legally mandated assessments seem to have disappeared from federal websites built to display them, making it harder for state and local governments and the public to learn what to expect in their backyards from a warming world. Websites for the national assessments and the US Global Change Research Program were down Monday and Tuesday with no links, notes or referrals elsewhere. Searches on NASA websites did not turn them up. NASA did not respond to requests for information. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which coordinated the information in the assessments, did not respond to repeated inquiries. The White House, which was responsible for the assessments, said the information will be housed within NASA to comply with the law, but gave no further details. Scientists say the peer-reviewed authoritative reports save money and lives. It's critical for decision makers across the country to know what the science in the National Climate Assessment is, University

Heatwaves grip Europe: Red alerts, wildfires, Eiffel Tower closed

Spain sees hottest June in a century; more than 50,000 people evacuated amid wildfires in Turkiye and the Balkans

Europe hit by extreme heatwave after recording hottest March ever

'Very high and persistent temperatures are expected, both during the day and at night, which could pose a risk to exposed and/or vulnerable people,' Spain's state meteorological office, Aemet said

Centre issues draft rules to ease tree felling on farms, boost agroforestry

The Centre has issued model rules for the felling of trees on agricultural land in a bid to promote agroforestry with the aim of doubling farmers' incomes, increasing tree cover outside forests and mitigating climate change. In a letter sent to all state governments on June 19, the environment ministry said the objective of 'Model Rules for Felling of Trees in Agricultural Lands' is to enhance the ease of doing business in agroforestry and incentivise farmers to integrate trees into their farming systems without facing undue procedural hurdles. The government has been promoting agroforestry to double farmers' income, enhance tree cover outside forests, mitigate climate change, reduce timber imports and ensure sustainable land use. It also supports India's climate goals under the Paris Agreement. A key barrier is the lack of clear, harmonised rules for felling trees on agricultural land which affects cultivation and marketing of agroforestry produce, according to the ...

Asian climate red alert: Moving to net zero will best serve its poorest

The exceptionally high temperatures on Asia's landmass last year had its knock-on effect on 15 million sq km of ocean area, one-tenth of the earth's ocean surface

UK heat wave could claim nearly 600 lives this week, scientists warn

Saturday is expected to be the deadliest day, with an estimate of 266 heat-related deaths, nearly half of which could be recorded in London, according to the researchers

Insurers clock rise in parametric claims amid extreme weather events

Climate volatility drives higher parametric insurance claims, but insurers say limited awareness and distribution hinder adoption despite strong growth potential

India needs to build a credible carbon market, minus an offset mechanism

Not including all hard-to-abate sectors in carbon emission intensity targets will reduce market size and impact liquidity. Offset mechanism isn't a solution

Moody's says updated climate goals may miss 2°C Paris Agreement aim

Moody's warns updated national emissions targets under NDCs may not limit global warming to under 2°C; credit risks tied to weak execution and external dependencies

Delhi among these 8 Indian cities to face double the heatwaves by 2030 | Climate change | Mumbai

Delhi continues to sizzle as the city remains in the grip of an intense heatwave. A new report says that Delhi is among 8 Indian cities that will witness a two-fold increase in heatwave days by 2030.