The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
At least 24 people are dead after a section of a highway in China’s rain-hit southern province of Guangdong collapsed in the early hours of Wednesday, the start of a long Labour Day holiday. The cave-in occurred at around 2am in Dabu County of Guangdong’s northern Meizhou City. Nearly 18 metres (59 feet) of the mountainous highway crumbled into the forested slope below, trapping 20 vehicles and 54 passengers in all, the local government said, issuing revised casualty figures. It had earlier said 18 vehicles and about 50 passengers were affected. In a statement, it said 30 victims had been sent to hospital, while around 500 public security, emergency response, firefighting, health and sanitation and other workers were taking part in the rescue work. The condition of the hospitalised patients was “not life-threatening at the moment”, the statement said, but did not specify the level of their injuries. The reason for the collapse has yet to be declared and the matter is under investigation. The accident occurred as China began a five-day break for Labour Day, one of the four major holiday and travel periods for the country when highways are toll-free and see heavy traffic. The others are Lunar New Year, called Spring Festival in China, the Tomb Sweeping Festival and National Day in October. Footage and pictures shared by local news outlets showed flames and smoke rising from the collapsed section, while charred cars were visible on the gouged out slope. The stricken highway links Guangdong to south-eastern Fujian province. According to state news agency Xinhua, the Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a working group to the scene to guide the rescue work, while National Fire and Rescue Administration chief Zhou Tian is also at the scene to instruct workers. It is the latest tragedy to hit Guangdong province, which has experienced a string of extreme weather events in recent weeks, from fatal floods to a deadly tornado. Guangdong authorities warned on Wednesday that more heavy rainfall was expected during the holiday, with higher risks of floods and landslides in some areas.
The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Many countries in South and Southeast Asia have been experiencing extreme heat for days. 45 degrees were measured in Thailand, Myanmar and India and in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, the perceived temperature also reached that height. The end of the heat wave does not yet appear in sight, which is why schools in the Philippines will remain closed for the next two days. In Thailand, where the heat has already claimed 30 lives this year, authorities are warning of "serious conditions". In the north of the country, a temperature of 45 degrees was measured for the first time in history last week. It is also well above 40 degrees in Cambodia, Myanmar and Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, schools were closed for a number of days due to the heat, but they will reopen tomorrow. The heat is expected to last for a few more days. Cooler temperatures are expected in the region again in the coming month. Fewer Indians go to the polls The heat also appears to have affected the first round of voting in India's national elections, which was held last week. Turnout in the world's largest democracy was remarkably low: 4 percentage points lower compared to the first election phase in 2019. That is almost 8 million people. According to scientists from the international research group World Weather Attribution (WWA), extreme heat waves on the South Asian subcontinent will become thirty times more likely in the future due to climate change. The Dutch may also notice something from the heat wave here, but in their wallets. Due to previous droughts and other weather extremes, part of the rice harvests failed last year in Indonesia, Thailand and India. Because those countries account for a large part of global rice products, prices for rice rose worldwide. There is also the fear that the harvest of various products will be affected by the heat wave, as a result of which the prices of those products will rise in many places in the world
Ten monthly records in a row 2023 was the hottest year ever recorded worldwide and experts say there is a good chance that that record will only stay in the books for one year. Since June last year, every month has been warmer than ever measured, good for ten monthly records in a row. In addition to climate change, the high temperatures are also caused by the weather phenomenon El Niño. This occurs when the surface temperature of the water in the Pacific Ocean around the equator is warmer than average. In the tropics this can lead to extreme weather. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
In Guangzhou, the provincial capital where 18 million people live, water reservoirs are full and parts of the city are at risk of flooding. The threat of flooding comes as the rainy season arrives in the region. Other parts of China also suffer from natural disasters. In Guangxi province, west of Guangdong, heavy winds have destroyed buildings and residents are also suffering from flooding due to rainfall.
The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Panama Canal goes Dry4/18/2024 As droughts continue to deplete the Panama Canal’s water levels, the maritime trading hub’s operators are planning a workaround.
The Panama officials announced a new Multimodal Dry Canal project that will begin transporting international cargo across a “special customs jurisdiction” near the 110-year-old waterway. The Panama Canal, which connects Atlantic and Pacific trading routes, has been in dire straits for some time. To function, ocean vessels pass through a series of above-sea-level “locks” filled with freshwater provided by nearby Lake Gatún and Lake Alajuela. Older Panamax locks require about 50 million gallons of freshwater per ship, while a small number of “Neo-Panamax locks” built in 2016 only require around 30 million gallons. But the canal’s upgrades can’t keep up with climate change’s cascading effects. Lake Gatún and Lake Alajuela are replenished with rainwater, and a lingering drought compounded by El Niño has resulted in the second-driest year in the Panama Canal’s existence. To compensate, the daily average number of ships allowed to pass through the lock system has been reduced from 38 to 27, while each vessel is also now required to carry less cargo. Operators hope to soon raise that average to pre-drought levels, but likely at a cost to local marine ecosystem health and local drinking water supplies. Meanwhile, as the AFP reports, marine traffic jams routinely see over 100 ships waiting to pass through the 50-mile passage. The new Multimodal Dry Canal project announced this week will attempt to further alleviate a global trade problem that particularly affects the Panama Canal’s most frequent users—the US, China, Japan, and South Korea. Ship crews shouldn’t need to wait for a yearslong engineering process before seeing some relief to the passage’s congestion. During a presentation of project plans this week, Panamanian representatives said no additional investment or construction is needed. Instead, the dry thoroughfare will function as a complement to the canal by employing “existing roads, railways, port facilities, airports and duty-free zones,” according to the AFP on Wednesday. Speaking with the BBC earlier this month (before the dry canal’s reveal), a shipping company general manager said such land based detour routes could be costly—expenses that are “usually passed onto the consumer.” The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Heavy rainfall on Tuesday brought the desert city of Dubai to a standstill and flooded portions of its major highways and international airport.
Operations at the Dubai airport were suspended for 25 minutes in the afternoon before resuming. Cars drive through a flooded street during a rain storm in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 16, 2024. Visuals shared on social media showed planes taxiing across the airport flooded with standing water. According to the Associated Press, which cited the meteorological data collected at Dubai International Airport, the city received a year and a half's worth of rain within 24 hours. The rains began late Monday, soaking the sands and roadways of Dubai with some 20 millimetres (0.79 inches) of rain. It further intensified on Tuesday and by the end of the day, more than 142 millimetres (5.59 inches) of rainfall had soaked Dubai. An average year sees 94.7 millimetres (3.73 inches) of rain at Dubai International Airport. The UAE government had issued warnings ahead of the heavy rains, urging people to stay at home and only leave “in cases of extreme necessity.” It later announced remote working until Wednesday for all federal employees. What caused the heavy rainfall in Dubai? According to CNN, the rain that plunged Dubai underwater is associated with a larger storm system traversing the Arabian Peninsula and moving across the Gulf of Oman. This same system is also bringing unusually wet weather to nearby Oman and south-eastern Iran. At least 18 people have died in recent days as the heavy rains caused flooding in Oman. "It is highly likely that the deadly and destructive rain in Oman and Dubai was made heavier by human-caused climate change," Otto, of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College London, told AFP. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that the heavy rains stemmed partly from cloud seeding. Cloud seeding a method to make rain by spraying clocks with chemical to make water drops more heavier to fall down to earth. It's called geo-engineering. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Geo-engineering, True or Hoax4/16/2024 A new law in the American state of Tennessee that bans geo-engineering within the airspace is causing controversy. The term has become mainstream and is no longer a conspiracy theory.
Geo-engineering, the deliberate manipulation of Earth's climate system, has been a topic of both fascination and controversy for decades. While some view it as a potential solution to mitigate the impacts of climate change, others see it as a risky and morally questionable endeavour. To truly understand the complexities surrounding geo-engineering, one must delve into its history, methods, and implications. The concept of geo-engineering dates back to the mid-20th century when scientists first began to recognize the potential consequences of human-induced climate change. As early as the 1960s, proposals were made to alter Earth's climate deliberately, primarily to counteract the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. These proposals ranged from injecting reflective particles into the atmosphere to creating artificial clouds to increase Earth's albedo, thereby reducing the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the planet. One of the most discussed forms of geo-engineering is solar radiation management (SRM), which aims to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface. This can be achieved through various methods, such as spraying sulfate aerosols into the stratosphere or deploying mirrors in space to reflect sunlight away from the planet. Proponents argue that SRM could potentially cool the Earth and offset the warming effects of greenhouse gases, providing a temporary solution while emissions are reduced. However, critics warn of unknown side effects and the potential for geopolitical conflicts over control of the Earth's climate. Another form of geo-engineering involves carbon dioxide removal (CDR), which aims to directly remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Methods include afforestation, ocean fertilization, and direct air capture technologies. While CDR has the potential to address the root cause of climate change by reducing atmospheric CO2 concentrations, it faces significant technological and logistical challenges, as well as ethical concerns regarding its long-term impacts on ecosystems. Throughout history, geo-engineering experiments have been conducted on a small scale, often with unintended consequences. For example, cloud seeding, the process of dispersing substances into clouds to stimulate precipitation, has been used for decades to enhance rainfall in drought-affected regions. While cloud seeding has shown some success in increasing precipitation, its effectiveness remains uncertain, and concerns persist about its environmental impact and potential for altering weather patterns. In recent years, the debate surrounding geo-engineering has intensified as the impacts of climate change become increasingly severe. Some argue that geo-engineering represents a necessary tool to combat climate change in the face of political inaction and insufficient emissions reductions. Others caution against the hubris of attempting to control Earth's complex climate system and advocate for focusing on mitigation and adaptation strategies instead. The ethical implications of geo-engineering are profound, raising questions about who has the right to manipulate the global climate and who bears responsibility for any unintended consequences. Moreover, geo-engineering interventions could exacerbate existing inequalities by disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities and ecosystems. In conclusion, geo-engineering represents a double-edged sword in the fight against climate change. While it offers potential solutions to mitigate the impacts of global warming, it also poses significant risks and ethical dilemmas. As humanity grapples with the urgent need to address climate change, careful consideration must be given to the potential benefits and drawbacks of geo-engineering, alongside efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable practices. Ultimately, the fate of geo-engineering lies in humanity's ability to navigate the complex interplay between science, ethics, and politics in pursuit of a more stable and equitable future for our planet. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Temperatures have soared above 40 degrees Centigrade in northern and central Thailand over recent days, scarcely dropping below 30 degrees at night as an extreme heat wave hits the country, a popular tourist destination year-round.
The authorities have urged residents to remain indoors during the middle of the day. "The Department of Health urges the public to stay indoors and avoid outdoor activities amidst the risk of heatstroke," the Pattaya Mail reported on Saturday (April 13). "With maximum temperatures ranging from 41-42 degrees Celsius in the northern, north-eastern, and central regions, and 39-40 degrees Celsius in the eastern and southern regions, including Bangkok, staying indoors is paramount for safety," it said. Tourists are being issued special UV screens at popular destinations, including the temple complexes in Ayutthaya. Residents can be seen on the streets with parasols and mini fans. Temperatures have been above normal since last month in many areas. The weather bureau has warned that this summer, which begins in Thailand at the end of February, could be two degrees hotter than usual. There are fears that the heat index, or what the temperature feels like when taking into account the air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed, could reach above 50 degrees. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
Tags:
The Recommended Content Widget will appear here on the published site.
|
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|
5/10/2024
0 Comments