Climate

The climate crisis and deforestation are causing devastating loses for habitats around the world - and the consequences could soon hit some of the UK’s favourite foods. That’s according to Rainforest Alliance, which says the impact of deforestation, the biodiversity crisis and warming temperatures is making it more challenging for farmers. Protecting themselves from extreme weather is now more difficult, as is reaping successful harvests and even growing certain crops, Rainforest Alliance says. The non-for-profit organisation, which helps protect forests and helps farmers mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis, says these challenges will affect staples such as wheat, corn and rice, but also key raw ingredients for some of Britain’s favourite foods. Here are five that are threatened: Recommended The startling and grim discoveries unearthed by the climate crisis Grapes of wrath: How wildfire smoke threatens California wine … [Read more...] about World Rainforest Day: Five UK favourite foods ‘under threat from climate crisis and deforestation’

In October, the residents of Newtok, Alaska, are expected to begin relocating because of climate change. And it’s not just the people who are moving. The town is packing up everything—including its school and airport —and starting over on higher ground nine miles away. Sitting between two rivers on the state’s southwestern coast, Newtok voted to move in 1996 , but governmental red tape and the project’s high cost, more than $100 million, have contributed to the delay. As rising tides claim their land and record-breaking heat melts the permafrost beneath their homes, Newtok’s 354 residents hope to complete their move by 2023. “We cannot wait anymore,” the village’s relocation coordinator told Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska in August . Residents of other Alaskan towns and villages may soon be saying something similar, if they aren’t already. Ninety-two miles east of Newtok, the 350 people who live in Napakiak are retreating from the Kuskokwim River, moving back their houses … [Read more...] about Nature Writing That Sees Possibility in Climate Change

A. Muh. Ibnu Aqil (The Jakarta Post) PREMIUM Jakarta   ● Sat, June 25, 2022 In a bid to help attain Indonesia’s Group of 20 (G20) presidency priority issues and to spur global climate action, environment ministers of the G20 will adopt a joint communiqué in August. Earlier this week, hundreds of delegates from G20 countries – except China and Argentina who joined virtually – came up with a “pre-zero” draft of the environment ministerial communiqué at the second session of the Environment Deputies Meeting and Climate Sustainability Working Group (EDM-CSWG), one of the working groups under Indonesia’s G20 presidency. The working group previously met for its first session in Yogyakarta in March, and would conclude at the G20 Environment Ministers’ Meeting in Bali in August this year. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no … [Read more...] about G20 environment ministers to issue joint communiqué pushing climate action

Do you think twice before tossing a disposable water bottle you bought at a tourist spot? If you’re one of the better ones, you’ll look for the nearest bin instead of littering, but disposing the bottle itself adds to a much larger problem: Single-use plastics. Indians on an average generate almost 26 kgs of single-use plastic in a year. 26 kgs which are usually not recycled, get broken down into microplastics and ultimately find their way to our food chain. Basing his newest art installation on these 26 kgs, climate change activist Aakash Ranison, who went viral last year for his marine cemetary in Kerala, has come up with the idea for his latest exhibition. “The only way to make people realize the consequences of their actions is holding a mirror up to them” says Ranison in an interview with News18. After Marine Cemetary , the new exhibition focuses on the eventual outcome of plastic pollution: Death. In Rishikesh, which attracted over 6 lakh tourists in 2018 … [Read more...] about Death by Plastic: Climate Activist Builds Funeral Pyres Out of Bottles to Highlight Pollution

The boom in offshore wind projects over the past 12 months has been "nothing short of staggering", according to analysts who have said planned developments put global capacity on track to double what was in the pipeline a year ago. This time last year, the capacity of offshore wind projects at every stage of development – operational, under construction, consented or planned – stood at 429 gigawatts (GW). That has now risen to 846GW in the developmental pipeline today, with surging Chinese investment driving the biggest rises in planned capacity. According to Renewable UK which carried out the analysis , China has the biggest offshore wind project pipeline at 98GW, the UK is in second place at 91GW, up from 55GW a year ago, and the USA is third with 80GW. Recommended Boris Johnson says UK should start mining and burning coal again Climate change a factor in 'unprecedented' South Asia floods Europe warned to prepare for … [Read more...] about ‘Staggering’ boom in offshore wind farms as projected capacity doubles in a year

Leaders of Commonwealth nations are meeting in Rwanda on Friday in a summit that promises to tackle climate change, tropical diseases and other challenges deepened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The summit for Commonwealth heads of state in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, is the culmination of a series of meetings earlier in the week that have reported some success in efforts to improve the lives of people in the 54-nation bloc that is home to 2.5 billion people. Those numbers are set to rise with the expected admission into the Commonwealth of the African nations of Togo and Gabon, which have asked to join the bloc despite having no colonial history with Britain. The Commonwealth comprises mostly former British colonies, but countries such as Mozambique and Rwanda — a former Belgian colony with an Anglophile leader — have in the past launched successful bids to join the group whose titular head is Queen Elizabeth II. Rwanda's hosting the summit is contentious to some who cite the East … [Read more...] about Climate, malaria highlighted as Commonwealth leaders meet

Extreme ocean temperatures have led to what scientists believe is the largest ever bleaching of sea sponges in New Zealand . Researchers last month warned the issue could rapidly become widespread after discovering mass bleaching for the first time off the country’s southern coastline. The sponges, which should have been a healthy, velvety brown, had been bleached white and were spotted under the water in Breaksea Sound and Doubtful Sound fjords in Fiordland. At the time, Prof James Bell, a marine ecologist from Victoria University of Wellington, estimated hundreds of thousands of the sponges had been bleached. However investigations at six more sites in Fiordland since then have found millions of sponges have been affected. Recommended World’s largest carbon-sucking factory starts operation in Iceland ‘The climate crisis is a reality’: Africa’s summer of extremes Against the odds: The fight to save sea turtles in Ras Baridi … [Read more...] about Extreme ocean temperatures cause record bleaching of New Zealand sea sponges

At the outset, Cheriyan's two-acre cardamom farm is a thriving green landscape under the cerulean sky. But on closer inspection, you will see the wilted shoots and damaged pods -- byproducts of an erratic weather. The Malayalam month of Edavam has come to an end without any steady downpour, the dry spell stretching all through the third week of June except for some mild, dwindling drizzles. Plants miss that rich monsoon hue and farmers in Idukki, a district that recorded a large rain deficit of 69% during the June 1-22 period, are bracing for a possible crop failure. "It's for the first time we are experiencing a nearly dry monsoon while the temperature keeps rising. A delayed or failed monsoon will affect the capsule formation and the yield will dip," says the 67-year-old from Kumily. Cardamom Cardamom is one among the many thermosensitive crops hit by rising mercury levels, change in weather patterns and extreme climatic conditions, adding to the agrarian distress in the … [Read more...] about Climate change and food security

Kochi city may get financial and technical support from the European Union (EU) to fight climate change and flooding. A proposal in this regard is in the final stages of processing, according to a communication issued by Mayor M. Anilkumar who held discussions with Daniel Hachez and Laurent Le Denois, representatives of the EU, in Kochi on Thursday. A programme for students to explore higher education opportunities in France will be held in Kochi in October, the Mayor said. AFD, the French Development Agency, has offered support for the preparation of a detailed project report and the implementation of the north-south corridor project connecting north and south railway stations, which is part of the Mobilise Your City project, the communication said. … [Read more...] about Kochi may get European Union support to tackle climate change and flooding

The sultanate’s capital Bandar Seri Begawan and economic hubs along the coasts are under threat against the “adverse ramifications of climate change” as the sea level is expected to rise 1.1m by the end of the century. This was said by Minister of Development Mohd Juanda Abdul Rashid during the opening of the Climate Action Week at the Brunei Mid-Year Conference and Exhibition 2022 (Brunei MYCE 2022) yesterday, adding that the country’s mean monthly rainfall was forecast to increase to 500mm by 2050. “We have experienced unpredictable weather with increasing number of floods, forest fires, major landslides and strong winds, severely impacting infrastructures and the environment that we call home,” the minister said. Brunei accounts for only 0.025% of total global greenhouse gas emissions annually, by virtue of the abundant rainforest accounting 72% of land area that absorbs 97% of the nation’s gas emissions. However, the sultanate’s mean temperatures have been increasing at a … [Read more...] about Economic hubs under climate change threats