Page 39 - Climate Change

Ozone hole largest on record over past 3 years, new research finds

Contrary to public perception, the Antarctic ozone hole has been amongst the largest on record over the past three years, new research has found. The ozone hole above Antarctica has been remarkably massive and long-lived over the past four years and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are not the only things to blame, said researchers in their study published in the journal Nature Communications. CFCs are greenhouse gases containing carbon, hydrogen, chlorine and fluorine and have been studied to contribute to ozone depletion. The ozone layer in the Earth's atmosphere blocks the harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun to protect people from skin diseases. According to the study's lead author Hannah Kessenich, PhD candidate at the University of Otago, New Zealand, the team found much less ozone in the centre of the hole compared to 19 years ago. "This means that the hole is not only larger in area, but also deeper throughout most of spring," said Kessenich. The team analysed the mon

More capitalism than climate

Akshat Rathi's Climate Capitalism delves into the intricate dance between capitalism, greed and our climate-related problems today, exploring what it will take to build an ecosystem for change

World racing to well past warming limit as carbon emissions rise: UN report

The globe is speeding to 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius (4.5 to 5.2 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming since pre-industrial times, set to blow well past the agreed-upon international climate threshold, a United Nations report calculated. To have an even money shot at keeping warming to the 1.5-degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) limit adopted by the 2015 Paris climate agreement, countries have to slash their emissions by 42% by the end of the decade, said the UN Environment Programme's Emissions Gap report issued Monday. Carbon emissions from the burning of coal, oil and gas rose 1.2% last year, the report said. This year Earth got a taste of what's to come, said the report, which sets the table for international climate talks later this month. Through the end of September, the daily global average temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above mid-19th century levels on 86 days this year, the report said. But that increased to 127 days because nearly all of the first two weeks o

Rich nations 'likely' met $100 billion climate finance goal in 2022

While that figure pales in comparison to the trillions of dollars that are needed to help developing nations decarbonize their economies and adapt to a warming world, it is still a symbolic milestone

India among few big economies on track to meet climate pledges: Yadav

India has set an example with its robust domestic climate action and stands among the few major economies on track to meet their national plans to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said on Friday. In his opening address at the environment ministers' session at the second Voice of Global South Summit, Yadav highlighted India's active role in the fight against climate change, despite its historically minimal contribution to global warming. The minister said India's current per capita greenhouse gas emissions are less than one-third of the global average. He emphasised that developed countries are yet to fulfil their commitments to providing sufficient climate finance to developing nations to address climate-change impacts. Yadav reminded the developed countries of their commitment to mobilising USD 100 billion annually by 2020 for climate finance and doubling their contribution to adaptation finance from the 2019 level by 2025. H

Working to dramatically increase international climate financing: Biden

President Joe Biden has said that he is working with the US Congress to dramatically increase international climate financing while asserting that the world stands at an inflection point. In his address to a select group of world leaders at the APEC informal dialogue and working lunch on Thursday, Biden said every economy is seeing signs of what's to come -- droughts, floods, rise in sea levels and temperatures, and unpredictable weather patterns -- if action is not taken. Our world stands at an inflection point, a point where the decisions we make now are going to determine the course of the world, not just a few of our countries, for the next several decades of consequence, Biden said. Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to climate. Every economy around this table faces this challenge, every one of us. And as I've said before, it's the only existential threat to humanity. We either get this right or there's not going to be a whole lot of people around to talk about it. A

Best of BS Opinion: Changing saving habits, Cash for votes & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

A blueprint for climate finance at COP28

India must advocate for reshaping the discourse on climate finance, shifting the focus from annual to cumulative emissions

World needs $172 billion more to face climate impacts than estimates show

There is not one assessment of the investment required for adaptation; in fact, there are two, and they have significantly different dollar figures

Asian economies must ramp up wind and solar power: Report on global warming

To meet the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), nine major Asian economies must increase the share of electricity they get from renewable energy from the current 6% to at least 50% by 2030, according to a report by a German thinktank released Wednesday. Nearly a third of that renewable energy should come from wind and solar power, said the report by researchers of Berlin-based Agora Energiewende. A fifth would be hydropower and other clean sources and the remainder, fossil fuels. The study analysed energy plans of both developing nations like Indonesia and Vietnam, where demand for energy is growing rapidly, and wealthier places like Japan and South Korea, which have among the highest burdens of per capita greenhouse gas emissions. It did not include China, the world's biggest emitter of carbon, or India, another major contributor. A global temperature increase of 1.5C (2.7F) since pre-industrial times is considered a critical climate ...

Yearly heat-related deaths to see fivefold rise by mid-century: Lancet

The yearly heat-related deaths are likely to increase nearly fivefold the current numbers by mid-century if current temperature trends continue and there is no substantial progress on adaptation, according to a report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change. Against this backdrop of climate inaction, the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change in its eighth annual global report projects heat-related labour loss might increase by 50 per cent. Heatwaves alone could lead to 524.9 million additional people experiencing moderate-to-severe food insecurity by 2041-60, aggravating the global risk of malnutrition, it said. The report further projects an increased spread of life-threatening infectious diseases by mid-century, with the length of coastline suitable for Vibrio pathogens expanding by 17-25 per cent, and the transmission potential for dengue increasing by 36-37 per cent. Vibrio pathogens are responsible for food-borne diseases such as cholera. The Lancet Count

Record-breaking rise in greenhouse gases threatens climate goals: WMO

The concentration of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere once again hit a new record last year and there appears to be no halt to this escalating trend, according to a new report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The global averaged concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), considered the most critical greenhouse gas, were a staggering 50 per cent above the pre-industrial era (1850-1900) in 2022 for the first time. These levels have continued to escalate in 2023, it said. The WMO's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin noted that although the growth rate in CO2 concentrations was slightly lower than the preceding year and the decade's average, this decline was likely due to short-term variations in the carbon cycle. The report highlighted that new emissions from industrial activities continued to rise. Methane concentrations also grew, and levels of nitrous oxide, the third main gas, saw the highest year-on-year increase on record from 2021 to 2022, according to the ...

China and US pledge to step up climate efforts ahead of Biden-Xi summit

China and the U.S. have pledged to accelerate their efforts to address climate change ahead of a major U.N. meeting on the issue, making a commitment to take steps to reduce emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases besides carbon dioxide. The joint announcement came on the eve of a summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping that is aimed at stabilizing the rocky U.S.-China relationship. Cooperation between the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases is considered vital to the success of the U.N. climate talks opening in two weeks in Dubai. It wasn't clear earlier this year whether the two governments would cooperate, given a sharp deterioration in ties over other issues including technology, Taiwan and Russia's war in Ukraine. Both countries are aware of the important role they play and will work together ... to rise up to one of the greatest challenges of our time, they said in a statement released Wednesday in Beijing and Tuesday evening in Washington. The

Heat-related deaths likely to increase fivefold by mid-century: Lancet

In 2022, individuals were, on average, exposed to 86 days of health-threatening high temperatures, of which 60 per cent were at least twice as likely to occur because of human-caused climate change.

Climate injustice: There's a US-shaped hole in every feasible solution

With the US unable or unwilling to make any credible commitments, the rest of the world is floundering around trying to compensate for its lack of leadership

UAE leverages oil power to push secretive oil cos on emission cuts: Report

The effort, termed as the Global Decarbonisation Alliance, aims to make a significant impact at the COP28 negotiations starting on November 30 in Dubai

Earth records its hottest 12-month stretch due to climate change: Research

As per a report from Climate Central, the planet ran nearly 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit above average from November 2022 through October 2023

CEA highlights integral link between climate, development agendas

There is an integral link between climate and development agendas, Chief Economic Advisor Anantha Nageswaran said on Friday. Nageswaran made the statement while inaugurating a session of NITI Aayog's workshop on accessing multilateral development banks (MDBs) and global finance for development and green growth on Friday. "Issues surrounding the global challenge of leveraging private capital for social goals were discussed," NITI Aayog said in a statement. The deliberations focused on changing Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) to work on broader programs instead of individual projects, the statement added. NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery chaired the second session on "Implications for a Strengthened and Bigger MDB System for India", which focused on the impacts of a stronger MDB system, especially with the goal of tripling lending volume by 2030. According to the statement, India's focus on becoming investable, especially in green hydrogen and ammonia, was highlighted. The

India, UK share climate action goals, says British Indian minister

Britain's newest Indian-origin Cabinet minister, Claire Coutinho, has spoken of the shared energy and climate change goals between the two countries in her first major diaspora speech as UK Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero. The 38-year-old Goan-origin Conservative MP, promoted by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a recent Cabinet reshuffle, joked about setting somewhat of a trend as the latest British Indian member in frontline British politics at a diaspora Diwali reception organised by India Global Forum (IGF) here on Thursday evening. As the second Cabinet minister of Goan heritage after Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Coutinho stressed the hugely important India-UK partnership and the potential for further collaboration in the climate action sphere. I am not the first British Indian Cabinet member. I'm not even the first Goan Cabinet member because we are starting quite a trend in this country, said Coutinho. The relationship, that living bridge that we have with India,

EU's major plan aimed at fighting climate change to go to final votes

European Union institutions and conservationists on Friday gave a conditional and guarded welcome to a major plan to better protect nature and fight climate change in the 27-nation bloc. The plan is a key part of the EU's vaunted European Green Deal that seeks to establish the world's most ambitious climate and biodiversity targets and make the bloc the global point of reference on all climate issues. Yet it has had an extremely rough ride through the EU's complicated approval process and only a watered down version will now proceed to final votes. Late Thursday's breakthrough agreement between parliament and EU member states should have normally been the end of the approval process. But given the controversy the plan had previously stirred, the final votes - normally a rubberstamp process - could still throw up some hurdles. The plan has lost some of its progressive edge during negotiations over the summer because of fierce opposition in the EU's legislature, particularly from the