TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s government warned Monday of a power crunch as extreme heat hits the country, with temperature records toppling and Tokyo’s rainy season declared over at the earliest date on record. Residents in and around the capital have been asked to conserve energy, particularly in the early evening. Temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) are forecast in Tokyo throughout Monday, and the mercury is not expected to drop below […]
Tag: climate change
South Asia pummelled by heatwave that hits 50C in Pakistan
by Ashraf KHAN Agence France Presse JACOBABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — South Asia was in the grip of an extreme heatwave on Friday, with parts of Pakistan reaching a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius as officials warned of acute water shortages and a health threat. Swathes of Pakistan and neighbouring India have been smothered by high temperatures since April in extreme weather that the World Meteorological Organization has warned is consistent with climate change. On […]
India, Pakistan must brace for even worse heatwaves
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse The devastating heatwave that gripped India and Pakistan over the last two months is unprecedented, but worse — perhaps far worse — is on the horizon as climate change continues apace, top climate scientists told AFP. Even without additional global warming South Asia is, statistically speaking, ripe for a “big one” in the same way that California is said to be overdue for a major earthquake, according to […]
Europe lashed by extreme weather as climate crisis grows
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Europe endured record extreme weather in 2021, from the hottest day and the warmest summer to deadly wildfires and flooding, the European Union’s climate monitoring service reported Friday. While Earth’s surface was nearly 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels last year, Europe saw an average increase of more than two degrees, a threshold beyond which dangerous extreme weather events become more likely and […]
Climate change, population threaten ‘staggering’ US flood losses by 2050
by Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Climate change is on track to ramp up the annual cost of US flood damage more than 25 percent by 2050, according to new research Monday that warns disadvantaged communities will likely bear the brunt of the financial burden. The study published in the journal Nature Climate Change used new flood models to map out the present and future impact of sea level rise, tropical cyclones and […]
Protesters demand climate action in global rally
by Kelly MACNAMARA and Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse GLASGOW, United Kingdom (AFP) – Tens of thousands of protesters braved rain and wind in Glasgow Saturday as part of worldwide demonstrations against what campaigners say is a failure of crunch UN climate talks to act fast enough to tame global warming. Dozens of events were planned worldwide to demand cuts in fossil fuel use and immediate help for communities already affected by climate change, particularly in […]
Damaged Amazon rainforest teetering on the brink
by Joshua Howat Berger Agence France-Presse SAO FELIX DO XINGU, Brazil (AFP) – Something is wrong. Holed up in her lab, Brazilian atmospheric chemist Luciana Gatti crunches her numbers again and again, thinking there is a mistake. But the same bleak conclusion keeps popping up on her screen: the Amazon, the world’s biggest rainforest — the “lungs of the Earth,” the “green ocean,” the thing humanity is counting on to inhale our pollution and save us […]
Bahrain aims for carbon neutrality by 2060
MANAMA, Bahrain (AFP) – Bahrain announced Sunday it aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2060, a day after neighbouring Saudi Arabia made the same pledge ahead of the COP26 climate summit. The Gulf kingdom “aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2060, in order to face the challenges posed by climate change and to protect the environment”, its official news agency said. Bahrain will use technology including carbon capture, as well as tree planting, to […]
Brazil, Colombia ‘united’ in defense of Amazon ahead of UN summit
Brasília, Brazil (AFP) – Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and his Colombia counterpart Ivan Duque said on Tuesday they would head to the next UN climate summit “united” in defense of the Amazon. The Cop26 climate conference begins in Glasgow on October 31 and will last two weeks. “We will arrive in Glasgow untied to tackle a very important and dear affair for all of us: our dear, rich and desirable Amazon,” said Bolsonaro following his meeting […]
Thunberg slams 30 years of climate ’empty words’
MILAN, Italy (AFP) – Swedish activist Greta Thunberg opened a youth climate summit on Tuesday by lambasting three decades of government inaction, accusing world leaders of having “drowned” future generations with “empty words and promises”. Speaking weeks ahead of a crunch UN climate meeting in Glasgow, Thunberg accused governments of “shamelessly congratulating themselves” for insufficient pledges to cut emissions and promises of financing. Hurling leaders’ own words back at them, the 18-year-old laid bare to […]
Thunberg to join mass German climate strikes before vote
by Deborah COLE Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Tens of thousands of climate activists including Greta Thunberg are due to descend on German cities Friday ahead of the weekend general election to crank up the pressure on the candidates to succeed Angela Merkel. As Germany’s top parties hold final rallies ahead of Sunday’s vote, the Fridays for Future youth marches will make the case that the political class has let down the younger generation. […]
Southern EU leaders target climate change at Greek summit
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) – Greece is hosting a summit of southern EU leaders on Friday that will focus on climate change and “security challenges” including migration and the Afghan crisis. Greek government spokesman Yiannis Economou said the one-day meeting, with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen in attendance, will address issues “jeopardising safety and stability in the Mediterranean”. The agenda includes migration and the situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover but Economou said Athens was placing […]





