Tag: climate

Climate finance summit wraps up eyeing bigger progress

By Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France-Presse PARIS, June 23, 2023 (AFP) — A global summit seeking to overhaul the international financial system wraps up Friday after taking small steps towards easing the debt burden of developing nations weighed down by climate and economic crises. While host country France pitched the conference as a consensus-building exercise, leaders are under pressure to produce clear outcomes from the two-day meeting as economies stagger under growing debt after successive crises […]

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Beijing temperatures near record as extreme heat sweeps northern China

BEIJING, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – Beijing on Thursday appeared to log its hottest June temperature since reliable records began, according to weather data and local media reports, as swathes of northern China sweltered in 40-degree heat. Scientists say rising global temperatures — caused largely by burning fossil fuels — are aggravating extreme weather worldwide, and many countries in Asia have experienced deadly heatwaves and record temperatures in recent weeks. At the Nanjiao weather station […]

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Billie Eilish headlining climate concert at Eiffel Tower

By Philippe GRELARD Agence France-Presse PARIS, June 22, 2023 (AFP) — Billie Eilish, Lenny Kravitz and Jon Batiste are headlining a concert aimed at building awareness around climate at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Thursday. The concert, organised by NGO Global Citizen, features on the sidelines of an international summit launched by President Emmanuel Macron. Artists H.E.R. and Eilish’s brother Finneas are also on the bill for the free show at […]

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How climate change fuels extreme heat

  TOKYO, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – Heatwaves across Asia and beyond have already broken records this year, while the arrival of the El Nino climate phenomenon will mean even more extreme temperatures. Here AFP looks at how climate change produces extreme heat, how scientists evaluate heatwaves and the risks to human health: What is extreme heat? Extreme heat is defined from a baseline of the average temperature in any one location, which varies widely […]

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Europe is world’s fastest warming continent: climate report

PARIS, June 19, 2023 (AFP) – Europe should brace for more deadly heatwaves driven by climate change, said a sweeping report on Monday, noting the world’s fastest-warming continent was some 2.3 degrees Celsius hotter last year than in pre-industrial times. Crop-withering drought, record sea-surface temperatures and unprecedented glacier melt are among the consequences laid out in a report by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The continent, which has […]

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In fire-hit Greece, Greens struggle to be heard

By John HADOULIS Agence France-Presse ATHENS, June 20, 2023 (AFP) — Wildfires, floods and climate change have failed to budge Greeks towards voting Green for over a decade, but a new coalition hopes to break through deep-rooted skepticism in Sunday’s national elections. While environmental parties surge elsewhere in Europe, Greeks “view the environment as a little bit of a luxury,” says Vasiliki Grammatikogianni, a co-chair of the Green and Purple alliance. A ‘Green wave’ that […]

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Paris Air Show back with climate, defense in focus

By Mathieu RABECHAULT, Tangi QUEMENER Agence France-Presse PARIS, June 19, 2023 (AFP) — The Paris Air Show opens Monday after a four-year break with the aerospace industry bouncing back from the Covid-19 pandemic but under pressure to slash its carbon footprint. Organizers have billed the biennial event as the “recovery airshow” after the coronavirus ravaged the sector and saw the event cancelled in 2021. The aerospace industry is flocking back to Le Bourget airport outside […]

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Record UK drinking water demand sparks water use restrictions

LONDON, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Millions of people across parts of southern Britain will be banned from using garden hoses as a hot spell sparks record demand for drinking water, authorities said on Friday. A temporary ban for people living in the southern Kent and Sussex areas will come into force on June 26 as forecasters predict the summer will see little rainfall. South East Water said demand in June had broken records despite […]

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Beijing roasts in record mid-June temperatures

BEIJING, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – Temperatures in Beijing hit a record for mid-June of 39.4 degrees Celsius (103 Fahrenheit) on Friday, China’s meteorological authority said, warning the public to stay indoors. “At around 2:30 pm on June 16, the temperature at Beijing’s Nanjiao observatory hit 39.4 degrees Celsius, breaking the record high for mid-June,” the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) wrote in a social media post. The CMA said the coming days would see temperatures […]

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Tornado ravages Texas town, three reported dead, 100 hurt

WASHINGTON, June 16, 2023 (AFP) – A “horrific” tornado ripped through a northern Texas town Thursday causing widespread destruction, with reports that at least three people were killed and up to 100 others injured. Several million Americans across multiple southern and midwestern states were under severe weather alerts as dangerous storms fueled by high temperatures battered the region, bringing tornadoes, thunderstorms and hail the size of golf balls. Tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings […]

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South Africa clinic hopes to save penguins’ future

By Claire DOYEN Agence France-Presse GQEBERHA, South Africa, June 14, 2023 (AFP) – A small fish is dangled under the beak of an emaciated penguin at a South African clinic, to whet the bird’s appetite. The sickly animal is among dozens undergoing treatment in the coastal town of Gqeberha, where a dedicated rehabilitation center is on a mission to bring African penguins back from the brink of extinction. “We are trying to reverse some of […]

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Extreme weather killed 195,000 in Europe since 1980

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Extreme weather conditions in Europe have killed almost 195,000 people and caused economic losses of more than 560 billion euros since 1980, the European Environment Agency said Wednesday. “Nearly 195,000 fatalities have been caused by floods, storms, heat- and coldwaves, forest fires and landslides” between 1980 and 2021, the EAA said in its report. Of the 560 billion euros ($605 billion) in losses, only 170 billion, or 30 percent, were insured, […]

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