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by Kerry SHERIDAN Agnce France Presse TAMPA, United States (AFP) — An Arctic-like deep freeze gripping much of the United States with double-digit subzero temperatures is the coldest of its kind in two decades, but is it linked to climate change? Experts say it could be, but whether global warming plays a role in this particular extreme weather phenomenon is still up for debate. Here’s why: What is a polar vortex? “It is a mass […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The last four years have been the world’s hottest since record-keeping began, with 2018 the fourth warmest on record, according to data published Thursday by US research group Berkeley Earth. Temperatures in 2018 were around 1.16 degrees Celsius (2.09 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average temperature of the second half of the 19th century, from 1850-1900, often used as a pre-industrial baseline for global temperature targets. “Global mean temperature in 2018 […]
DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) — UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday warned that the world is “losing the race” on climate change as he demanded that governments make bolder commitments beyond the Paris accord. “Climate change is the defining issue of our time. We are losing the race,” he said on the margins of the World Economic Forum in Davos. “It is absolutely central to reverse this trend.” Guterres said he was “not hopeful” that nations […]
by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Future generations face an environmental “time bomb” as the world’s groundwater systems take decades to respond to the present day impact of climate change, scientists warned on Monday. Found underground in cracks in soil, sand and rock, groundwater is the largest usable source of freshwater on the planet and more than two billion people rely on it to drink or irrigate crops. It is slowly replenished […]
by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The world is on course to miss its “best chance” of preventing runaway climate change by ensuring global greenhouse gas emissions peak in 2020, researchers warned Tuesday. Even as Earth is buffeted by super-storms, droughts and flooding made worse by rising seas, and as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise globally, an analysis by the World Resources Institute showed that current efforts to limit temperature increases […]
by Laurent ABADIE Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Standing in his garden in Kabul, Baz Mohammad Kochi oversees the drilling of a new well more than 100 meters deep after his first water reservoir dried up. He is not alone. A shortage of rain and snow, a booming population and wasteful consumption have drained the Afghan capital’s water basin and sparked a race to the bottom as households and businesses bore deeper and deeper […]
by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Climate change-induced disasters cost nations at least $100 billion in 2018, a watchdog said Thursday, warning the spate of deadly wildfires, floods and superstorms was “a shadow” of things to come if greenhouse gas emissions aren’t slashed. This year is set to be the fourth hottest on record and as planet-warming carbon and methane levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, extreme weather events such as […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s vast continent is sizzling through extreme heatwave conditions this week, with temperatures reaching record highs and emergency services on high alert for bush-fires. The mercury is up to 16 degree Celsius (29 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than usual for this time of the year for southern Australia, with numerous towns setting new December records, the Bureau of Meteorology said Friday. “Heatwave conditions are being experienced across large parts of the country,” […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A warming climate is thawing permafrost and up to 70 percent of infrastructure in the Arctic region is at risk, including key oil and gas fields, a new study said Wednesday. Researchers used detailed information on infrastructure across the Northern Hemisphere permafrost zone to model with unprecedented detail just how many buildings, roads, railways and other construction could be at risk by 2050. “The magnitude of the threat was in a […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Corals on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef that survived bleaching from rising sea temperatures were more resistant to another bout of hot conditions the following year, scientists said Tuesday, a “silver lining” for the embattled ecosystem. The 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) long UNESCO World Heritage-listed reef off Australia’s northeastern coast was hit by back-to-back bleaching in 2016 and 2017. Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel […]
by Paavan MATHEMA Agence France-Presse NEPAL (AFP) — Formed in the shadow of Mount Everest, the turquoise depths of Nepal’s Imja glacial lake would be a breathtaking miracle of nature to behold — were they not a portent of catastrophic floods. Scientists warn that as climate change causes Himalayan glaciers to melt at an alarming rate, lakes like Imja could swell further and eventually collapse, triggering a terrifying deluge in Nepal, an impoverished nation at […]
KATOWICE, Poland (AFP) — The world needs a “reality check” on the threat posed by climate change, NASA astronaut Mae Jemison said Tuesday at a UN summit to chart mankind’s path away from runaway global warming. Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, brought a little galactic perspective to the COP24 talks in Poland, calling on delegates from nearly 200 countries to tackle “the most difficult problem we’ve ever faced.” “When people say save the […]
