Tag: climate

CO2 pollution from fossil fuels to hit all-time high in 2022

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt | AFP | by Marlowe HOOD Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change, are on track to rise one percent in 2022 to reach an all-time high, scientists said Friday at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. Emissions from oil, fuelled by the continuing rebound in aviation, will likely rise more than two percent compared to last year, while emissions from coal — thought by some […]

Oil and gas emissions up to three times what is reported: monitor

by Stéphane ORJOLLET and Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France-Presse SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (AFP) — Planet-heating emissions from oil and gas production could be three times higher than reported, according to a satellite monitoring project launched Wednesday that the UN chief said made it harder to “cheat”. The new tool — unveiled at United Nations COP27 climate talks in Egypt — has pinpointed more than 70,000 sites spewing emissions into the atmosphere. The project, run by […]

Island nations call for oil tax, anti-fossil fuel treaty at UN summit

  Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt | AFP | by Laurent Thomet Small island nations led calls at the UN climate summit Tuesday to tax oil companies’ windfall profits to pay for damages caused by natural disasters and enact a “non-proliferation treaty” to halt fossil fuel production. Developing nations have pressed their case at the COP27 summit in Egypt for the creation of a “loss and damage” fund, arguing that rich nations are to blame for […]

World ‘burning up faster’ than it can recover: Pakistan PM

  Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt | AFP | Climate change is outpacing the capacity of developing nations to cope with its devastating impacts, the Pakistani premier told COP27 on Tuesday, as his country reels from historic floods. Talks at the UN climate conference in Egypt have been dominated by calls for wealthier nations to fulfil pledges to financially help poorer nations green their economies and build resilience. “The world is burning up faster than our […]

Heatwaves could kill 90,000 Europeans per year by 2100: EEA

Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP | If nothing is done, heatwaves could lead to the deaths of 90,000 Europeans each year by the end of the century, the European Environment Agency said. “Without adaptation measures, and under a scenario of 3 degrees Celsius global warming by 2100, 90,000 Europeans could die from extreme heat annually,” it said. “With 1.5 degrees C global warming, this is reduced to 30,000 deaths annually.” Countries have pledged to keep global […]

World risks ‘collective suicide’, UN chief warns climate summit

by Laurent Thomet and Kelly Macnamara Agence France-Presse SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (AFP) — The UN’s chief warned Monday that nations must cooperate or face “collective suicide” in the fight against climate change, at a summit where developing countries reeling from global warming demanded more action from rich polluters. Nearly 100 heads of state and government are meeting for two days in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, facing calls to deepen emissions cuts […]

Vietnam struggles to break one of world’s biggest coal addictions

  Hanoi, Vietnam | AFP | by Alice PHILIPSON Despite Vietnam’s solar boom and ambitious climate targets, the fast-growing economy is struggling to quit dirty energy — leaving one of the world’s biggest coal power programmes largely intact. During the COP26 climate summit last year, the government boldly promised to end the construction of new coal plants and phase out the dirtiest of those already running, even as energy demands soar in the manufacturing powerhouse. […]

Climate change is speeding up, warns major UN report

  Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt | AFP | by Marlowe HOOD Each of the last eight years, if projections for 2022 hold, will be hotter than any year prior to 2015, the UN said Sunday, detailing a dramatic increase in the rate of global warming. Sea level rise, glacier melt, torrential rains, heat waves — and the deadly disasters they cause — have all accelerated, the World Meteorological Organization said in a report as the […]

One killed, scores missing after tornadoes hit southern US

Tornadoes extended into Oklahoma and Arkansas as well as Texas yesterday, and the widespread damage is still being assessed. Field correspondent Brandon Clement documented this devastation in Idabel, OK.#severewx #OKwx #tornado pic.twitter.com/ap3Z6LNw0b — WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) November 5, 2022 Here is a collection of frame grabs if New Boston, Texas #tornado. This tornado lifted debris up above 30,000 feet per radar when between Naples and Boston. NWS damage surveys will be out in force today. Our […]

Europe temperature rise more than twice global average: UN

  Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | by Nina LARSON Temperatures in Europe have increased at more than twice the global average over the past three decades, showing the fastest rise of any continent on earth, the UN said Wednesday. The European region has on average seen temperatures rise 0.5 degrees Celsius each decade since 1991, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found in a joint report. As a […]

Climate plans would allow up to 2.6C of global warming: UN

  Paris, France | AFP | by Patrick GALEY Country climate pledges leave the world on track to heat by as much as 2.6 degrees Celsius this century, according to a United Nations assessment Wednesday warning that emissions must fall 45 percent this decade to limit disastrous heating. The United Nations Environment Programme, in its annual Emissions Gap report, found that updated national promises since last year’s COP26 summit in Glasgow would only shave less […]

24 dead, million seek shelter as Cyclone Sitrang hits Bangladesh

  by Sam JAHAN At least 24 people died after Cyclone Sitrang slammed into Bangladesh, forcing the evacuation of about a million people from their homes, officials said Tuesday. Cyclones — the equivalent of hurricanes in the Atlantic or typhoons in the Pacific — are a regular menace in the region but scientists say climate change is likely making them more intense and frequent. Sitrang made landfall in southern Bangladesh late Monday but authorities managed […]