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Environment India News

Country faces ruin as incessant rainfall claims lives, property

As heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh continued to batter almost all districts, triggering landslides and flash floods in various regions, the Panchvaktra bridge in Mandi collapsed…reports Asian Lite News

Numerous states in India experienced an intense spell of monsoon rain, resulting in significant damage, loss of life, and property across the country.

In the northwestern Himalayan region, landslides blocked several roads, leaving people stranded. The rising water levels in the Beas River caused landslides and flash floods in various districts, leading to tragic loss of lives. In Himachal Pradesh, heavy rainfall continued to batter almost all districts, triggering landslides and flash floods.

As heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh continued to batter almost all districts, triggering landslides and flash floods in various regions, the Panchvaktra bridge in Mandi collapsed, officials said.

The Panchvaktra bridge in Mandi collapsed due to the increased water level in the river.

Additional District Magistrate, Mandi, Ashwani Kumar said that the historical bridge washed away as the river’s water level increased.

Earlier in the day, the bridges, connecting Aut village to Banjar, and of Pandoh village were swept away by the overflowing Beas river in Mandi district. Taking note of the incident, former state Chief Minister Jairam Thakur expressed concern as these bridges held significant historical significance for Himachal and said they were the “identity of Himachal”.

Earlier in the day, three persons of a family were killed while two others were injured after their house collapsed due to heavy rain in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla on Sunday, the police said.

Officials said that the incident took place in Kotgarh village of Shimla on Sunday morning.

The victims were taken out of the debris after a rescue operation and rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared them brought dead.

All schools and colleges would remain closed in view of heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh on Monday and Tuesday, announced the state government on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, a portion of National Highway 3 has been washed away by the overflowing Beas River in Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Losar village in the Lahaul and Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh experienced an unexpected spell of snowfall on Sunday, coinciding with heavy rainfall affecting various parts of North India. The entire village was blanketed in a thick layer of snow following this surprising snowfall in the morning.

Tragically, during the Shrikhand Mahadev Yatra in Himachal Pradesh, one pilgrim lost life, and two others went missing after falling from a hill near Parvati Bagh, officials said. The incident occurred while the pilgrims were undertaking the Yatra from Parvati Bagh.

As per information, the three pilgrims slipped while undertaking the Yatra from Parvati Bagh.

A shed, set up as langar (community kitchen) for Amarnath pilgrims, was washed away by the overflowing Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.

Langar owners said that continuous heavy rainfall in various regions over the past few days raised the water level of the Chenab River, which washed away their makeshift, established for Amarnath pilgrims.

Indian Army on Sunday said the bodies of two soldiers, who went missing after they were swept away by rain-triggered flash floods, were recovered from the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday.

The deceased jawans have been identified as Naib Subedar Kuldeep Singh and Lance Naik Telu Ram.

The Jammu-based White Knight Corps in a tweet confirmed their deaths.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials on Sunday said two people got injured after a house collapsed in Delhi’s Zakhira area due to heavy rain.

Following heavy rain in the city on Saturday, as many as 15 houses collapsed and one person died, said a Delhi Fire Service official.

Earlier, a 58-year-old woman identified as Ranjit Kaur lost her life when a wall collapsed on her due to heavy rain in Tibbia College Society in Karol Bagh.

Meanwhile, due to heavy rainfall, the back side wall of Deshbandhu College, located in the Kalkaji area of Delhi, collapsed, resulting in the damage of approximately 15 luxury cars and 10 to 12 motorcycles and scooters.

The flood situation in the Dhemaji district of Assam has become grim as nearly 18,000 people have been affected by the current wave of flood. 48 villages under four revenue circles of the district have been inundated by flood waters and submerged 530.07 hectares of cropland.

Following torrential rain in the past couple of days, the water levels of several rivers and tributaries of the Brahmaputra River are rising, inundating new areas of the district.

As the flood waters have also entered the campus of Silapathar Model Hospital, patients, and hospital staff are bracing for a lot of difficulties.

The flood water of the Dikari River has submerged several villages including Jamuguri, Siyari, Uluwani, and Tatiguri and affected many villagers.

Nearly 30,000 people in six districts and one state sub-division have been affected by the current wave of flood and the flood waters submerged 1263.07 hectares of cropland.

An under-construction road in Kerala’s Wayanad district collapsed due to heavy rain and was washed away into a river nearby.

Heavy rains in the State have led to overflowing rivers and locals have alleged that concerned authorities did not construct a culvert or put pripes on the side of the road to drain the water causing the collapse of the Mananthavady-Walayar road that was nearing its completion.

In Uttarakhand, Badrinath National Highway was closed due to a landslide near Chhinka and NH-9 was closed in the Kumaon division at Champawat.

In the Tehri district, five out of 11 passengers were rescued after a vehicle rolled downhill in Gular in the district while a search operation for six other passengers was underway.

Due to continuous heavy rains, the water level of the Bhagirathi River has increased in Uttarkashi. In Joshiada, part of the wall got damaged due to river erosion.

“Instructions have been given to the government departments to be vigilant and people have also been asked to be careful,” the officials said.

The rains also led to waterlogging and traffic jams, roadblocks in hilly areas and several road stretches getting damaged.

Meanwhile, waterlogging was seen across Haridwar town, which is currently seeing a heavy rush of kanwariyas coming to fetch Ganga water.

Four people were reported dead in Dakshina Kannada till Friday due to rain-related incidents this monsoon, officials said.

Dakshina Kannada recorded 101.8 mm of rainfall on Friday, according to the District Disaster Management Authority.

A 46-year-old woman was killed when her house collapsed in a landslide in Nandavara village of Bantwal in the region on Friday morning, the authority said, adding that her 20-year-old daughter was rescued by locals.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held separate telephonic conversations with the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on Sunday and took stock of the losses incurred in both states due to heavy rains. During the calls, the Home Minister assured them of all possible assistance from the central government.

Heavy rains lashed several parts of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh on Saturday as well as Sunday as the mercury dropped below normal limits in the two states.

Incessant overnight rain turned many low-lying areas in Punjab into a horror story, with severe waterlogging and traffic snarls.

Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab, witnessed rain throughout the day on Sunday. For the second consecutive day, rains lashed Fatehgarh Sahib, Mohali, Rupnagar and Patiala in Punjab.

In several places, water entered houses causing inconvenience to the people. A flood-like situation was seen in a private housing colony located in Punjab’s Dera Bassi, where boats and tractors were used to rescue locals stuck in their houses following the incessant rains.

In the wake of the continuous spell of heavy rain in north India, schools in Chandigarh have been closed for the next two days, officials said on Sunday.

Director of school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar said, “Whereas since Sunday morning Chandigarh has experienced heavy and continuous rainfall and there is a prediction for rainfall tomorrow as well. The significant rainfall and the weather forecast raise concerns regarding waterlogging and disruption in civic amenities in several areas of UT Chandigarh.” (ANI)

Flood warning as Delhi breaks 41-year rainfall record

The Delhi government issued a flood warning amid heavy rains in North India and the Haryana government released more than one lakh cusecs of water into the Yamuna River from the HathniKund Barrage in Yamunanagar.

Several parts of northwest India witnessed a heavy spell of rain with Delhi shattering a 41-year record. There were reports of house collapses, uprooting of trees and waterlogging in several residential colonies. Waterlogging issues were also observed in diplomatic enclaves such as Chanakyapuri, Kaka Nagar, Bharti Nagar, and other prominent roads and colonies under the jurisdiction of the NDMC. Meanwhile, The water level in the Yamuna river in Delhi is rising and is expected to breach the danger mark of 205.33 metres on Tuesday, the Central Water Commission (CWC) has said.

According to the CWC’s flood-monitoring portal, the water level in the Yamuna at the Old Railway Bridge stood at 203.18 metres at 1 pm on Sunday.

The warning level is 204.5 metres.The water level is likely to rise to 205.5 metres between 11 am and 1 pm on Tuesday, the CWC said in an advisory.

In a span of 24 hours, ending at 8:30 am on Sunday, Delhi recorded 153 mm of rainfall, marking the highest single-day rainfall in July since 1982, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

According to India Meteorological Department, New Delhi’s Safdarjung recorded the third highest 24-hour rainfall (for the month of July) on 8th-09th July, 2023, since 1958.

The Safdarjung weather station, which is the city’s weather base recorded 153 mm of rain till 8.30 am, the IMD said in a tweet along with the details of the five highest rainfall records of 24-hour rainfall in the month of July for New Delhi (Safdarjung) during 1958-2023.

In 1958, Safdarjung Observatory had recorded 266.2 mm of rain during the July 20-21 period while in 1982, it logged 169.9 during the July 25-26 period, IMD said.

Following heavy rain in the city, Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials said two people got injured after a house collapsed in Delhi’s Zakhira area due to heavy rain.

“The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) received the information about a house collapse at 9:34 am in the Zakhira locality of Delhi on July 9,” added the officials.

Amid the heavy rains in different parts of the country, India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that rainfall activity will continue over Northwest India, but the intensity of showers may differ. (ANI)

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-Top News Canada Environment

Canada’s record-breaking wildfire season remains daunting

A firefighting plane flies above wildfires in Shellburne County, Nova Scotia, Canada, on May 31, 2023. (Nova Scotia Government/Handout via Xinhua/IANS)

The number of wildfires in the country so far this year reached 3,430, devouring about 88,000 square kilometres of land….reports Asian Lite News

A Canadian government agency said the country’s record-breaking wildfire season will continue to be challenging.

The 2023 wildfire season has already been the nation’s most severe on record and current projections indicate that this may continue to be a significantly challenging summer for wildfires in parts of the country, Xinhua news agency quoted the Natural Resources Canada as saying in a statement on Thursday.

According to the government agency, most recent projections indicate a continued potential for higher-than-normal fire activity across most of the country throughout the 2023 wildland fire season.

This is due to long-range forecasts for warm temperatures and ongoing drought, which are affecting parts of all provinces and territories and intensifying in some regions.

For July, warm and dry conditions will increase wildfire risk from British Columbia and Yukon through to western Labrador.

During August, the area at risk will stretch from British Columbia through western Quebec, the statement said.

The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre said on Thursday there were 649 active wildfires nationwide and the number of out-of-control wildfires was 353.

The number of wildfires in the country so far this year reached 3,430, devouring about 88,000 square kilometres of land.

The government has already taken key steps to respond to the 2023 wildfire season, such as making additional investments to train more firefighters and provide support to provinces and territories on equipment and deploying Canadian Armed Forces personnel and capabilitie.

Natural Resources Canada also announced two new steps to strengthen Canada’s response to the wildfires including the upgrading of a National Fire Equipment Cache in Banff National Park to act as a central equipment repository for Parks Canada and augment local equipment reserves in national parks across the country.

Minister of Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson said in the release that coupled with long-term investments in wildfire fighting as well as climate mitigation and adaptation, Canada will address the root cause of these intensified fires: climate change.

Minister of Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said that from personal losses and evacuation orders to poor air quality Canadians right across the country have felt the impacts of this challenging wildfire season.

According to local media, more Canadians have been evacuated from their homes this year than in the last four decades, with more than 155,000 forced to leave due to fire and smoke.

Blair said the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre is coordinating international deployments.

Canada now has seven international arrangements with partner countries to ensure mutual assistance in the face of intensified wildfires, including resources, information and knowledge sharing.

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-Top News Environment UAE News

UAE Climate Accelerators forge strong global partnerships

LCAW is the latest of several international climate conferences driving forward the net-zero agenda, ahead of COP28 UAE…reports Asian Lite News

 Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, President and CEO of UAE Independent Climate Change Accelerators (UICCA), has led a delegation to attend London Climate Action Week (LCAW), participating in strategic discussions, and addressing audiences at a series of high-level events.

LCAW is the latest of several international climate conferences driving forward the net-zero agenda, ahead of COP28 UAE.

The event focused on three key themes relevant to the UICCA’s core mission: accelerating the global clean economy; delivering fair, inclusive and just climate transitions; and expanding networks for whole-of-society action.

Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, President and CEO of the Abu Dhabi-based think tank and accelerator, which is committed to driving the transition to Net Zero, spoke at three high-level events during the week.

These occurred alongside several valuable bilateral conversations, where the UICCA engaged key stakeholders across international governments, finance, NGOs and private organisations. This included world-renowned think tank, Chatham House, advisory firm EY, and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, which empowers female entrepreneurs from across the globe to start, build and grow their businesses.

With a particular focus on identifying and scaling emerging climate technologies, the UICCA also engaged in discussions with The Earthshot Prize, a platform originating from the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales that showcases extraordinary climate solutions from around the world, the Global Innovation Fund, a non-profit multilateral investment vehicle with a focus on the Global South, and PANGAIA, the materials science company creating sustainable lifestyle products and experiences.

Delivering an opening keynote speech at LCAW’s Reset Connect event, Sheikha Shamma highlighted the UICCA’s core mission, to protect “the future of humanity on our planet”.

She said, “Whether it’s the emerging climate technologies we support and scale up through our accelerator programme, the alternative sustainable financing mechanisms we look to introduce, or the policy recommendations we make to create an enabling environment for climate action, our North Star remains consistent.”

During closing remarks at the Climate Investment Summit, hosted at the London Stock Exchange, Sheikha Shamma highlighted the AED11.02 trillion-AED12.85 trillion investment gap that still persists towards the UN’s climate and sustainable development goals, but also noted the positive steps already being taken by bodies such as the Global Innovation Fund, catalysing climate-related investments.

She said, “What inspired me about this meeting was seeing the clear impact this business model has had. For every dollar that the Global Innovation Fund have invested into these start-ups, they have gone on to raise 7.5 times more dollars – a clear demonstration of the positive domino effect that can be achieved when we work together to give a concept with potential the chance to shine.”

Finally, at the Resilience and Adaptation Summit, Sheikha Shamma engaged with key players from the insurance sector, recognising that climate change is not simply an issue for the future, and noted the immense challenges being faced across the globe, today.

She said, “As we race against the clock in the fight against climate change, it has become impossible to ignore the escalation in climate-related catastrophes across the world. These impacts greatly affect underprivileged populations; marginalised persons, developing nations, rural communities… Securing a climate-ready economy requires a wide lens in which all pieces of the climate action puzzle must be considered for us to get a full picture in resilience and adaptation.”

The UICCA rounded the week off with a series of meetings conducted at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership (CISL). In addition to touring CISL’s ultra-sustainable Entopia Building, the UICCA delegation engaged in discussion with senior members of CISL accelerator, The Canopy, as well as entrepreneurs and small businesses from the Cambridge community who are pioneering climate innovation.

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-Top News China Environment

China reels under scorching heat wave

The heat wave is forecast to linger in Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, and Henan until July 10…reports Asian Lite News

China’s National Meteorological Centre on Thursday renewed an orange alert, the second-highest alert, for high temperatures as multiple regions of the country continue to reel under a scorching heat wave.

During daylight hours on Thursday, temperatures in parts of north China, sections of the Yellow River and Huaihe River, regions south of the Yangtze River, south China, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, and Shaanxi are forecast to exceed 35 degrees Celsius, Xinhua news agency quoted the Centre as saying.

In some areas of Beijing, Hebei, and Henan, temperatures may surpass 40 degrees Celsius.

The heat wave is forecast to linger in Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, and Henan until July 10, the Centre said.

China has a three-tier, colour-coded warning system for high temperatures, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange and yellow.

On June 25, the country had issued this year’s first orange alert.

The temperature at a meteorological station in southern Beijing soared to 41.1 degrees Celsius on June 22 — the second-highest reading since reliable records began, according to the Beijing Meteorological Service.

The highest temperature ever recorded at the Nanjiao station was 41.9 degrees Celsius on July 24, 1999.

Extreme weather and food security crisis

While the falling economy continues to be one of the main issues for China and now its extreme weather conditions may open the gate of the food security crisis, Federico Giuliani wrote in InsideOver.

China’s Meteorological Administration had predicted that the deadly El Nino is gripping it in the coming weeks and months will lead to the likely return of floods in the southern region and droughts in the north. In a recent study, the peer-reviewed academic journal Nature Food said that due to China’s extreme weather conditions, one-twelfth of China’s total rice yield has declined over the last two decades, as per InsideOver.

Italian-based InsideOver, born from Gli Occhi della Guerra, is a website focusing on news insights, international analysis and reporting.

Recently, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that El Nino’s effect could remain for eight to 10 months and is likely to gradually strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter that will stretch into next year.

Even, in the last week of May, China’s Department of Emergency Management warned that north-eastern and northern parts which are home to some of the country’s top grain-producing provinces might experience heavy rain, floods, and hailstorms from June to August. Meanwhile, Yunnan, lying in China’s Southwestern area, continues to face drought.

Recently, China’s National Climate Center (NCC), announced on Sunday, that the country has recorded the highest number of hot days in the past six decades, and that the occurrence of multiple heat waves engulfing the country’s northern cities is extremely rare, the Global Times reported.

According to a notice by the NCC, China has recorded an average of 4.1 days this year where the temperature exceeded 35 C, the highest number since records began in 1961, as per The Global Times.

In 2023, China is staring at the same deadly prospect due to El Nino as a report prepared by the National Disaster Reduction Committee Office and ministries of natural resources, water resources, agriculture and rural Affairs and the China Meteorological Administration and State Forestry and Grassland Administration has painted a gloomy picture of the country.

As per this report, while the country’s North may face a heightened risk of water-related disasters, the South is likely to face drought. On the other hand, eastern China which is known as a key engine of economic growth, is likely to experience typhoon-triggered disasters.

China was the world’s largest importer of wheat in 2022, bringing in an estimated 12 million tonnes of wheat, said the US Department of Agriculture. From January to August 2022, the total rice imports reached 4.56 million tons, up 42.5 per cent year-on-year, said China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC). It also imported 20.63 million tons of corn in 2022, as per China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, reported InsideOver.

With China’s economy not in good health and several financial institutions from Nomura to UBS and Standard Chartered, Bank of America and JP Morgan cutting their forecast for the country’s 2023 GDP growth to 5.1 per cent from 5.5 per cent, the faltering food security situation may further impact the world’s second-largest economy hard, say analysts. (IANS/ANI)

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-Top News Environment World News

Climate change is out of control: UN Chief

That metric showed that Earth’s average temperature on Wednesday remained at the record high of 17.18 degrees….reports Asian Lite News

As world temperature records were broken on two consecutive days this week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “climate change is out of control”.

“If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation, as the last two records in temperature demonstrates,” the Guardian quoted Guterres as saying in referrence to the global temperature records that were broken on Monday and Tuesday.

The average global air temperature was 17.18 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, according to data by the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), surpassing the record 17.01 degress recorded the previous day.

Data from the University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer showed that for the seven-day period ending Wednesday, the daily average temperature was .04 degree, higher than any week in 44 years of record-keeping.

That metric showed that Earth’s average temperature on Wednesday remained at the record high of 17.18 degrees.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at a news conference on Thursday, July 12, 2018, at the UN headquarters in New York. (Photo: UN/IANS)

But the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said on Thursday that it could not validate the Reanalyzer data, reports the Guardian.

“We recognise that we are in a warm period due to climate change, and combined with El Nino and hot summer conditions, we’re seeing record warm surface temperatures being recorded at many locations across the globe,” the NOAA said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the UN confirmed the return of El Nino. 

The last major El Nino was in 2016, which remains the hottest year on record.

Various parts of the world have been experiencing heatwaves and on Thursday the EU’s climate monitoring service said the world had experienced its hottest June on record last month, the Guardian reported.

The southern US has been sweltering under an intense heat dome in recent weeks, including on the national 4 July holiday on Tuesday. 
In parts of China, a scorching heat wave has continued, with temperatures reaching above 35 degrees.

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-Top News Environment USA

Latin America, Caribbean caught in ‘vicious cycle’ of climate impacts: UN

The region also witnessed extreme weather conditions, such as exceptionally high temperatures, low air humidity, and severe droughts, resulting in record-breaking wildfires in countries like Argentina…reports Asian Lite News

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has issued a warning that extreme weather events and climate shocks were becoming increasingly acute in the Latin American countries that are grappling with severe droughts and disease outbreaks caused by flooding.

According to a recent WMO report on the state of the climate in 2022, Latin America and the Caribbean were caught in a “vicious cycle of spiraling impacts” of accelerated warming and sea-level rise, the AFP reported.

Although some recent events can be attributed to the La Niña climate phenomenon, WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas emphasized that they also bear the signature of “human-induced climate change.”

Taalas further cautioned that the onset of El Niño is expected to exacerbate the situation, intensifying extreme weather patterns in the region. El Niño is characterised by higher-than-average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific near the equator, while La Niña has the opposite effect.

Highlights of the WMO report released in Havana:

Between 1991 and 2022, Latin America and the Caribbean experienced a notable warming trend, with an average increase of approximately 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade, marking the highest rate on record. This warming was particularly pronounced in Mexico and the Caribbean. Additionally, sea levels in the South Atlantic and subtropical North Atlantic rose at a faster pace than the global average, heightening the risk of coastal flooding and contamination of freshwater sources.

The region also witnessed extreme weather conditions, such as exceptionally high temperatures, low air humidity, and severe droughts, resulting in record-breaking wildfires in countries like Argentina and Paraguay. These wildfires, in turn, contributed to a surge in carbon dioxide emissions, which reached their highest levels in two decades, exacerbating the problem of rising temperatures.

Furthermore, heavy rainfall triggered floods and landslides that led to numerous fatalities and billions of dollars in economic losses. The Parana-La Plata Basin, spanning Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, experienced the most severe drought since 1944. Reduced river flows hampered hydropower production, necessitating the use of polluting fossil fuels as substitutes for hydroelectric energy sources.

Chile has been grappling with an unprecedented mega-drought lasting 14 years, making it the most severe drought in the region in over a millennium. Glacier melt has intensified, with the Andean glaciers experiencing near-total loss of snowpack during the 2022 summer. Consequently, the darker glaciers absorbed more solar radiation, accelerating the pace of melting.

Alarming concerns arise from the fact that only approximately 60 percent of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean is covered by early warning systems for severe weather events.

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-Top News Environment World News

UN chief calls for carbon neutrality in shipping industry

The industry currently contributes nearly 3% of global emissions….reports Asian Lite News

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for a strategy to achieve net zero emissions in the shipping industry by 2050.

Speaking at the International Maritime Organisation’s meeting, he emphasized the need for science-based targets by 2030 and urged consensus among member states.

The industry currently contributes nearly 3% of global emissions.

“I urge you to leave London having agreed a Greenhouse Gas Strategy that commits the sector to net zero emissions by 2050 at the latest,” Guterres said in a video message.

The session aims to set carbon-neutral goals for 2050 with interim targets for 2030 and 2040. Efforts to align with the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius remain a challenge, but the IMO is hopeful for progress during the meeting.

Low emission investments in APAC

India and China are expected to drive the investment in low carbon emissions in the Asia Pacific Region (APAC), Moody’s Investor’s Service said in a report.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that India will spend $53 billion and $87 billion of average annual investment in 2021-25 and 2026-30, respectively, to achieve the Stated Policy Scenario (STEPS) trajectory of emissions reductions, while China will spend $239 billion and $210 billion during the same period, Moody’s said.

Moody’s added that bulk of the estimated investment will be allocated to clean energy and related projects.

Growing availability of green finance, underpinned by diversifying funding channels and manageable costs, will bolster power companies’ energy transition and support their sizable financing requirements, the credit rating agency said in the report.

Sustainable bonds, green loans, project bonds, and green funds are common in the sustainable finance plans of APAC’s power utilities.

“We expect the renewable energy sector will continue to steer growth in sustainable bond markets given the governments’ decarbonisation commitments. Thermal power companies with well-defined energy transition strategies can potentially tap transition finance,” Moody’s said.

“Coal-fired companies in the region face rising carbon transition risk but funding risk will be lower for utilities with credible transition plans. In the medium term, coal fired power will remain critical to many power sectors in the region,” the report noted.

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-Top News Environment UK News

Hottest June kills fishes, threatens insects in UK

A child plays with a toy water gun amid high temperature at a park in Xuhui District of east China's Shanghai, July 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Xiang/IANS)

Water experts say that rivers and reservoirs, which provide much of the UK’s drinking water, are in a healthier position than the same time last year…reports Asian Lite News

The UK’s hottest June on record caused unprecedented deaths of fish in rivers and disturbed insects and plants, environment groups have warned.

Nature is being “pounded by extreme weather without a chance to recover”, the Wildlife Trusts said. The Met Office will say later on Monday if the high temperatures were linked to climate change.

People also used more water with demand increasing by 25% at peak times in some areas, said Water UK. The Met Office said last week that provisional figures for June indicate that both the overall average and the average maximum temperatures were the highest on record.

“The reports of the number of fish death incidents in rivers for this time of year has been unprecedented. I would normally expect rivers to be affected later in the summer when it’s hotter and drier,” Mark Owen, from the Angling Trust, said.

In one case, sea trout were found dead on the River Wear in north-east England, he said. The deaths are partly caused by less oxygen in the water as river levels decrease. Fish also die when dried-up pollutants from cars and lorries on roads wash into rivers during flash storms.

The Environment Agency said it received more reports of dead fish than the same time last year.

Many flowering plants, including orchids, wilted in the high temperatures, meaning insects like bees and butterflies that feed on nectar and pollen will have less to eat, Ali Morse from the Wildlife Trusts said.

Species with short lifespans are particularly badly affected. Many butterflies are adults for only a short time, and if they cannot access food in that period, it stunts the population.

These impacts are more surprising considering the wet and cold spring and are earlier than last year, Morse added.

“Every month seems to be the hottest, the driest, the wettest, or whichever record-breaking event it is. If we have a one-off pollution event or a wildfire, then there is normally time for nature to bounce back, but now it seems to be continually pounded by extreme weather,” she added.

More frequent and more intense periods of warm weather are putting pressure on the UK’s environment and water supplies.

As temperatures rise, people also use more water in their homes. Last July and August water companies supplied 1.2 billion litres more water than the same months in 2021, according to Water UK.

People in Devon, Cornwall and parts of the south-east of England are under hosepipe bans.

Water experts say that rivers and reservoirs, which provide much of the UK’s drinking water, are in a healthier position than the same time last year.

But the dry weather is likely to have an impact on water supplies and if warm weather continues, those supplies could be depleted quickly.

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Canada Environment

Canada bans testing of cosmetics on animals

Canada

Canada will join the European Union, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and South Korea in outlawing the cruel practice of animal testing for cosmetics….reports Asian Lite News

Canada has moved to prohibit animal testing for cosmetics, joining a number of other countries and American states in doing so, CNN reported.

The decision was revealed by the Canadian government in a news release on Tuesday this week. According to the news release, Bill C-47 changes the Food and Drugs Act to prohibit both animal testing of cosmetic items and the sale of products based on animal testing data.

With this new development, Canada will join the European Union, Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), and South Korea in outlawing the cruel practice of animal testing for cosmetics.

Citing Humane Society International, an organisation that promotes the human-animal bond across the globe, CNN reported that a total of 44 countries have passed laws banning cosmetic animal testing.

Furthermore, the practice is prohibited in ten states in the United States: New York, Virginia, California, Louisiana, New Jersey, Maine, Hawaii, Nevada, Illinois, and Maryland.

“Protecting animals, now and in the future, is something that many Canadians have been calling for, and something we can all celebrate,” CNN quoted Canadian Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos as saying in the release.

“We are proud to move forward with this measure and to assure Canadians that the products they buy are cruelty-free. We will keep working with experts and international partners to explore safe, cruelty-free alternatives so no more animals suffer and die due to cosmetic testing.”

According to the announcement, Health Canada is also attempting to identify “effective alternatives to animal testing” outside of the cosmetic industry.

Notably, cosmetic testing included “toxicity tests” in which animals were trained to swallow or inhale specific chemicals, or to have the chemicals applied to their skin or eyes. (ANI)

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Severe storms pose threat to July 4 festivities across US

People clear a road blocked by fallen trees after a heavy winter storm in San Mateo County of San Francisco Bay Area, California, the United States, Jan. 9, 2023. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua/IANS)

On Sunday, 51 million people in the path risk experiencing severe thunderstorms from the afternoon through the evening….reports Asian Lite News

As the extended July Fourth holiday weekend proceeds, severe storms are set to take aim across a wide swath of the US from New York and Pennsylvania down to Arkansas.

The strongest storms will target Kentucky and Tennessee, potentially bringing damaging wind gusts of more than 65 mph and pingpong-ball-size hail — although a tornado or two can’t be ruled out, NBC News reported.

On Sunday, 51 million people in the path risk experiencing severe thunderstorms from the afternoon through the evening. The risk area includes Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Washington, D.C.

Flooding was reported in Clinton County, New York.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said rain over the past 12 hours led to dangerous conditions in certain areas, NBC News reported.

“I am closely monitoring the situation and have directed my team to assist local officials however necessary,” Hochul said in a statement on Sunday.

“We have already deployed personnel with the State’s Office of Emergency Management to monitor the situation and provide support to local leaders.”

Scattered showers will persist throughout Sunday, with the strongest storms set to begin in Kentucky and Tennessee after 2 p.m. CT. The threat will persist into the evening and overnight as the line of storms shifts into the Appalachians.

In Chicago, heavy rain caused delays at NASCAR Street Race Weekend.

“We are in a holding pattern for the #GrantPark220 until conditions improve,” NASCAR tweeted on Sunday evening.

The storm system will target the Carolinas and the mid-Atlantic region on Monday, affecting 29 million people in Philadelphia; Baltimore; and Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina. Damaging wind, large hail and a tornado or two will be possible, NBC News reported.

As the July Fourth holiday approaches, the Northeast and the Southeast can expect scattered showers and temperatures in the 80s and the 90s, respectively.

Around 63 million people coast to coast remained under heat alerts Sunday afternoon, including those living in Raleigh; Charlotte; Atlanta; Tallahassee, Florida; Montgomery, Alabama; New Orleans; Corpus Christi, Texas; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Bakersfield and Sacramento, California; and Portland, Oregon.

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