Page 4 - Global Warming

Need to mitigate risks linked with glacial lakes: Principal secy Mishra

P K Mishra, principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday stressed the need for mitigating risks associated with glacial lakes to ensure a safer future for communities. Mishra asserted that through the tri-focal lens of assessment, monitoring and mitigation, India has made substantial progress in this area. He made the remarks at the 4th Workshop of the Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction (CoDRR) on Strategies for GLOF (Glacial Lake Outburst Flood) Risk Reduction here. Complimenting the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the Department of Water Resources for organising the workshop, he focused on international perspectives and experiences, pertinently India's experiences, gaps and challenges in mitigating the risks and related aspects. Mishra said the discussions on Sikkim glacial lake outburst flood disaster has brought to focus the enormity of the challenge. Indeed, the South Lhonak GLOF was a wake-up call for all of us, he said. Mishra undersc

Delhi witness unusually high temp in Nov, mercury likely to drop from 17th

Delhi is experiencing unusually high temperatures this November with specific weather conditions that usually trigger the onset of winter not aligning yet though weather officials predict a dip in mercury starting November 17. Despite entering mid-November, both daytime and nighttime temperatures in Delhi remain far above seasonal norms. As of the second week of the month, daily highs continue to hover above 30C, while nighttime temperatures are between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius -- a stark contrast to previous years when they would typically drop to between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius by now. According to data from 2011 to 2023, November temperatures have typically decreased with daytime highs ranging between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius and nighttime lows between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius. This year, however, daytime temperatures have not fallen below 30 degrees Celsius, with the lowest recorded so far at 31 degrees Celsius. In contrast, on November 11, 2023, the daytime temperature ..

World already on cusp of 1.5 degree celsius temp rise, finds new research

The UK-based scientists behind the new approach, who published it Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience, say it simplifies the tracking of climate change and is easier to use

Multilateral banks crucial to financing fight against global warming

As climate change leads to a seemingly endless stream of weather disasters around the world, countries are struggling to adapt to the new reality. Preparing to better withstand hurricanes, floods, heat waves, droughts and wildfires will take hundreds of billions of dollars. And then there is confronting the root cause of climate changethe burning of fossil fuels like coal, gasoline and oilby transitioning to clean energies like wind and solar. That will take trillions of dollars. Enter climate finance, a general term that means different things to different people but boils down to: paying for projects to adapt to and combat the cause of climate change. Financing related to climate change is especially important for developing countries, which don't have the same resources or access to credit that rich countries do. International mega banks, funded by taxpayer dollars, are the biggest, fastest-growing source of climate finance for the developing world. Called multilateral developme

Himalayan glacial lakes expand by 10.81% from 2011 to 2024, reveals report

Glacial lakes and other water bodies across the Himalayan region saw a 10.81 per cent increase in area from 2011 to 2024 due to climate change, signalling a heightened risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), according to a government report. The Central Water Commission's (CWC) report, which was accessed by PTI, states that with a 33.7 per cent expansion of the surface area, the lakes in India experienced an even more substantial rise. "The total inventory area of glacial lakes within India was 1,962 hectares during the year 2011 which has increased to 2,623 hectares during the year 2024 (September). There is a 33.7 per cent increase in area," the report said. It also identified 67 lakes in India that witnessed an over 40 per cent increase in surface area, placing them in the high-risk category for potential GLOFs. Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh showed the most notable expansions, signalling a heightened risk of GLOFs and the need for ...

India sees hottest October in 124 yrs; November won't be much different

Minimum temperatures for October reached unprecedented levels, the highest since the IMD began keeping records in 1901

Delhi records hottest October since 1951 amid rising pollution levels

The CPCB data shows significant pollution levels, especially after Diwali celebrations, raising concerns about air quality and potential health impacts nationwide

Climate change drives sleep loss as temperatures increase at night

Eighth annual Lancet Countdown on health and climate change report, authored by 122 global experts, found that high temperatures, drought and heavy rainfall are increasingly impacting people's health

Harsh weather curbs global wheat output, fuels sudden price surge

Some farmers in exporting nations, such as Australia and Canada, are holding back sales in anticipation that prices will climb even higher

How climate change contributes to dangers, influences paths of hurricanes

Scientists have linked high ocean temperatures to the rapid intensification of hurricanes- Milton's wind speed increased 95 miles per hour in a single day

Earth might warm by 2C or 5.5C, narrowing it would just be a distraction

Will the Earth warm by 2C or 5.5C? Either way it's bad, and trying to narrow it down may be a distraction

Antarctica turning green 'dramatically', trend accelerated over yrs: Study

Antarctica is turning green "dramatically", with the trend accelerated by more than 30 per cent in recent years, compared to the past three decades, a new study has found. Researchers found that vegetation cover across the Antarctic Peninsula increased more than tenfold -- from less than a square kilometre to almost 12 square kilometres -- between 1986 and 2021. The researchers, including those at the University of Exeter, UK, used satellite data to estimate the "greening" rate of the Antarctic Peninsula in response to climate change. "This recent acceleration in the rate of change in vegetation cover (2016-2021) coincides with a marked decrease in sea-ice extent in Antarctica over the same period," the authors wrote in the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The study provides evidence that a widespread greening trend, across the Antarctic Peninsula, is under way and accelerating, they said. Antarctica has been shown to be warming faster than the global average, wit

Antarctica's winter sea ice in 2024 was lowest ever, except for 2023

In the Antarctic, sea ice typically covers the largest expanse of ocean at some point in September

Why are Italy and Switzerland redrawing their border near Matterhorn Peak?

The boundary change, agreed upon by both Italy and Switzerland, affects the area under Matterhorn, one of the highest and most iconic peaks in the Alps

UK, home to world's first coal power plant, to close its last unit today

The UK will close its last coal power plant on Monday, marking a significant milestone in energy use amid global calls for adopting green energy to thwart the irreversible threat of climate change

Global South cities have only 70% of cooling capacity as North ones: Study

Cities in the Global South are equipped with only about 70 per cent of the "cooling capacity" provided by urban greenery in cities in the Global North and are, therefore, are more vulnerable to extreme heat, a new research has found. As the planet warms, researchers said that rising temperatures, along with 'urban heat island' effects, make cities hotter than rural areas. As a result, heat-related illness and deaths in these areas are becoming more common. An international team, including researchers from the University of Exeter, UK, analysed satellite data on 500 of the world's largest cities to assess 'cooling capacity' -- how much do the urban green spaces cool down a city's surface temperatures? "Our analysis suggests green spaces can cool the surface temperature in the average city by about 3 degrees Celsius during warm seasons -- a vital difference during extreme heat," author Timothy M. Lenton, from the University of Exeter, said. "However, a concerning disparity is evident

Great Barrier Reef declines due to climate change; little time to save it

Humanity is killing the Great Barrier Reef, and other reefs around the world, by failing to curb the greenhouse gas emissions

Earth ends 13-month streak of record heat: Here's what to expect next

Global warming has consistently toppled records for warm global average temperatures in recent decades

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

UN urges nations to better prepare as extreme heat breaks records

After three of Earth's hottest days ever measured, the United Nations called for a flurry of efforts to try to reduce the human toll from soaring and searing temperatures, calling it an extreme heat epidemic. If there is one thing that unites our divided world, it's that we're all increasingly feeling the heat, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday at a news conference where he highlighted that Monday was the hottest day on record, surpassing the mark set just a day earlier. Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere. Nearly half a million people a year die worldwide from heat related deaths, far more than other weather extremes such as hurricanes, and this is likely an underestimate, a new report by 10 U.N. agencies said. Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic -- wilting under increasingly deadly heat waves, with temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius around the world," Guterres said. "That's 122 degrees Fahrenhei