Page 3 - Climate

PM Narendra Modi unveils Bt cotton, 108 other high-yielding seed varieties

Urges KVKs to spread awareness about the new seeds every month among farmers

COP29 only chance to bridge climate action, finance gap: Commonwealth chief

The COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan's Baku is the world's only chance to bridge the gaps in climate action and finance which is crucial to "rebuild trust" among countries and protect lives and livelihoods, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland has said. In an interview with PTI via Zoom, Scotland said it is important to have the fossil-fuel producers as allies in the fight against climate change. Azerbaijan, the host of this year's UN climate talks, is a small petrostate on the Caspian Sea. Nearly all of its exports are oil and gas. "We are nearing the cliff, the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius limit. In fact, some of our scientists say that we are there now. Our home, our planet, is literally on fire. Instead of action, we see the gaps in emissions, finance, and justice widening. It is our duty to bridge those gaps, and COP is our only chance. It comes at a moment of immeasurable urgency," Scotland said. She said rich countries promised to provide USD 100 billion (one ..

India not historically responsible for climate crisis: Commonwealth chief

India is not historically responsible for the climate crisis but it should not emulate polluting practices of the West from the 19th century during its development, Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland has said. In an interview with PTI, Scotland said India has the opportunity to lead a just and equitable energy transition by sharing expertise and technology within the 56-nation club called Commonwealth, which represents 2.7 billion people. She also said that India can exemplify a new, clean and safe development model that can serve as a beacon of hope for the Global South. "India is a developing country, which was not historically responsible for creating this (climate) crisis. So, India is in a similar position to many of the Global South countries. And that is absolutely true," the Commonwealth secretary general said. Despite not causing the crisis, she said, India is suffering from severe climate consequences, including extreme heat, floods and intense monsoons, and

Govt to overhaul nationwide weather monitoring infra for accurate forecasts

The Ministry of Earth Sciences gears up to harness advanced technologies and expand infrastructure for precise climate prediction and intervention

UK govt acted unlawfully in approving climate plan: High Court judge

A High Court judge ruled Friday that the UK government acted unlawfully when it approved a plan to meet climate targets without evidence that it could be delivered. It was the second time in two years that the government's main climate action plan was found to be unlawful and insufficient in meeting legally-binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Justice Clive Sheldon sided Friday with three environmental groups that brought the case, ruling that the government's decision to approve its Carbon Budget Delivery Plan last year was simply not justified by the evidence. The plan outlined how the UK aims to achieve its climate targets, including pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about two-thirds of 1990 levels by 2030 and to reach net zero by 2050. The judge said the details in the draft plan were vague and unquantified, and didn't provide officials with enough information on whether the plan should be approved. Lawyers acting for the environmental organizations tol

IMD weather forecast today: Odisha to see temperature rise of 4-6 degrees

IMD forecasts a sudden surge in daytime temperatures in Odisha because of dry air and high solar insolation. Interior regions to observe temperatures between 40-42 degrees Celsius

India, US to reactivate Indian Ocean Observing System for weather forecasts

India and the US have decided to reactivate the Indian Ocean Observing System (IndOOS), a network of 36 moored buoys in the high seas to collect high-resolution ocean and atmospheric data for weather forecasts. The IndOOS array of buoys fell into neglect and disrepair during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to gaps in observational data considered crucial by weather forecasters, particularly since the links between the Indian Ocean Dipole phenomenon and monsoon were established. The reactivation of IndOOS was discussed last month during a meeting of Earth Sciences Secretary M Ravichandran with Rick Spinrad, Administrator of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US. The moored buoys are part of the Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA) programme that was born out of a collaboration between the Ministry of Earth Sciences and NOAA in 2008. "We want to reactivate RAMA. I discussed it with the NOAA ch

Today's weather forecast: IMD issues heatwave alert, rains in many states

Heatwave alert has been issued by IMD for southern parts of India today. Light to moderate rains and hailstorms anticipated in East, Central, and Peninsular India till 9 April

Unorganised sector prone to climate risk: Experts at BS Manthan

India’s vast informal sector, encompassing nearly 440 million workers in agriculture, construction, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is under significant threat from climate change

Climate change is fueling a different type of anxiety, say therapists

In her book A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety, Sarah Ray describes a student who had such severe "self-loathing eco-guilt" that she stopped consuming much at all, including food

Climate change: World's forests are doing much better than we think

The destruction of tropical forests gets so much (justified) attention that we're at risk of missing how much progress we're making in cooler climates.

Cyclone Michaung: Lesser damage than previous time, says Tamil Nadu CM

Cyclone Michaung has caused a huge destruction in the southern part of India. So far, 9 people lost their lives due to cyclone Michaung. Here's the latest updates

Researchers found the most intense heat wave ever registered- in Antarctica

Scientists found that the 39-degree temperature anomaly is the largest ever measured anywhere in the world

Earth outside safe operating space for humanity on most measurements: Study

Earth is exceeding its safe operating space for humanity in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said. Earth's climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, nutrient pollution and novel chemicals (human-made compounds like microplastics and nuclear waste) are all out of whack, a group of international scientists said in Wednesday's journal Science Advances. Only the acidity of the oceans, the health of the air and the ozone layer are within the boundaries considered safe, and both ocean and air pollution are heading in the wrong direction, the study said. We are in very bad shape, said study co-author Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany. We show in this analysis that the planet is losing resilience and the patient is sick. In 2009, Rockstrom and other researchers created nine different broad boundary areas and used scientific measurements to judge ...

IMD Weather Update Today (Aug 16): Eight houses razed in Himachal yesterday

IMD has issued a rain alert in several parts of India. Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are to experience heavy rainfall in the next three to four days. Check region-wise weather forecast here

SrGBs will facilitate price discovery for other fin instruments: RBI's Rao

Rao emphasised that there is a growing trend of ESG-focused funds in global financial markets, driven by institutional investors seeking greater transparency

Climate change making wildfires worse, scientists call it new abnormal

It was a smell that invoked a memory. Both for Emily Kuchlbauer in North Carolina and Ryan Bomba in Chicago. It was smoke from wildfires, the odour of an increasingly hot and occasionally on-fire world. Kuchlbauer had flashbacks to the surprise of soot coating her car three years ago when she was a recent college graduate in San Diego. Bomba had deja vu from San Francisco, where the air was so thick with smoke people had to mask up. They figured they left wildfire worries behind in California, but a Canada that's burning from sea to warming sea brought one of the more visceral effects of climate change home to places that once seemed immune. It's been very apocalyptic feeling, because in California the dialogue is like, Oh, it's normal. This is just what happens on the West Coast,' but it's very much not normal here, Kuchlbauer said. As Earth's climate continues to change from heat-trapping gases spewed into the air, ever fewer people are out of reach from the billowing and deadly

Temperature surge across India raises risk of blackouts, even deaths

India's bracing for what might be a hotter summer than usual

Here's what Silicon Valley Bank's collapse means for climate tech

It's the first major headwind to blow against a boom in climate-tech investing that was capped off by incentives in the US Inflation Reduction Act last year

Hot, cold, and deadly: The human cost of India's extreme temperatures

In January, northern India bore the brunt of cold waves, and now as the summer begins, temperatures are soaring