The third plenary session of its 62nd Annual Convention titled “Decarbonising Indian Auto Sector” witnessed the participation of Dr JR Bhatt, Advisor/Scientist, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Mr Andre Aranha Correa Do Lago, Brazilian Ambassador to India, Mr. Sharad Verma, Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group, Mr K N Radhakrishnan, Chairman, SIAM Two Wheeler CEOs Council and Director & CEO, TVS Motor Company Ltd, Mr Diego Graffi, Chairman, SIAM Three-Wheeler CEOs Council and Managing Director & CEO, Piaggio Vehicle Pvt. Ltd, major automakers and other dignitaries.
Speaking at the event, Dr J R Bhatt, Advisor/Scientist, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, said, “Climate change is one of the most important environmental challenges today. India’s vision for transport must be based on low carbon emissions and affordability.”
Mr Andre Aranha Correa Do Lago, Brazilian Ambassador to India, said, “Brazil and India are the two largest sugarcane producers and have the potential to produce enormous amounts of ethanol. Brazil will work with India on Flex-fuel technology, sustainable aviation fuels, 2nd generation ethanol, hybrid flex-fuel vehicles, fuel cells, etc.”
Talking about climate change and the need for sustainable mobility, Mr. Sharad Verma, Managing Director and Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group, said, “India needs to solve 3 key considerations, which are carbon footprint reduction, economic affordability of vehicles, and self-sufficiency of the industry while ensuring continued competitive advantage.”
The leaders discussed bilateral and international issues of mutual interest, including initiatives to mobilise climate finance for renewable energy projects in developing countries, a statement issued by Prime Minister's Office said.
Modi emphasised on the importance of ensuring equitable, timely and adequate climate finance for the developing world, and appreciated Store's commitment to this cause.
The two leaders reviewed various ongoing bilateral cooperation initiatives, including under the Task Force on Blue economy.
They also expressed satisfaction at the increasing India-Norway collaboration in areas like green hydrogen, shipping, science and technology as well as education.
Earlier in January, the Ministry had come up with a proposal to rank the State Environment Impact Assessment Authorities (SEIAAs) based on the speed at which they cleared proposals and provided environmental clearance for projects.
The move was justified by saying that it was aimed at "encouraging the efficiency, transparency and accountability in the functioning of SEIAAs" without diluting any regulatory safeguards.
Late on Wednesday evening, the Ministry floated a notification -- Forest (Conservation) Rules, 2022 -- that proposes the constitution of an Advisory Committee, a regional empowered committee at each of the integrated regional offices and a screening committee at the state/Union Territory (UT) government-level.
The role of the Advisory Committee was restricted to advise or recommend with regards to grant of approval under relevant sections in respect of proposals referred to it and any matter connected with the conservation of forests referred to the Advisory Committee by the Central government.
As per the notification the regional empowered committee at each of the integrated regional offices must examine the proposal referred to it under relevant clauses and recommend the grant of approval or rejection of proposals.
The project screening committee will, after examination of the proposal, make recommendations to the state government or UT administration. The proposals will be accorded by the Central government in two stages namely in-principle approval and final approval, the Ministry said.
The project screening committee will examine the proposal received from the state government or UT administration except proposals involving forest land of five hectares or less without going into the merit of the proposal, that the proposal is complete in all respects and the proposed activity is not in any restricted area or category for the purpose of screening and ascertaining.
The in-principle approval of the proposal -- except the proposal related to de-reservation of forest area; mining involving forest land of more than 5 hectare; regularisation of encroachment and violation of the provisions of the Act, all other proposals related to linear projects, forest land up to 40 hectare and use of forest land having canopy density up to 0.7 irrespective of their extent for the purpose of survey will be examined in the integrated regional offices and disposed of in the specified manner.
While the whole world on Sunday celebrated the World Environment Day, the residents of coastal villages like Podampeta and Aryapalli are at the receiving end of the bad impacts of climate change, even though their contribution to it is next to nothing.
Once upon a time, as many as 200 fishing families used to live at Podampeta village. The picture is quite different now with over 10 houses being devoured by the marching sea and a few left to be devoured.
While the State government has already rehabilitated some families, some are still living in the village, leaving everything at the mercy of the god.
The fate of Aryapalli village under Chhatrapur block is no different either. Once, the sea was one kilometre away from the village. Now, it is just 20 metres away, leaving the villagers in fear and apprehension. The panic-stricken villagers have been demanding for a permanent concrete dyke to save their village from being submerged.
“We are living in constant fear as we are losing our houses to the marching sea,” said C H Sukanti, a Podampeta villager.
Echoing the same, an Aryapalli resident Ramkrushna Barik said, “It is up to the government to do something for our safety. A permanent concrete dyke is the need of the hour.”
One should visit Satabhaya village in Kendrapara district to see the fear in the eyes of the few people left in the village.
The sea has wiped out seven villages from the map of Kendarapara district. Barring few families, all have left the village, to start a new life.
Given the situation of Satabhaya village, the villagers of Pentha, 20 kilometres away from Rajnagar block, are these days spending sleepless nights. The sea which was two kilometres away from the village is now at the door step of the village.
Even though Odisha’s first Geo-tube sea wall project was implemented here, people can’t rely on it.
“Earlier, there used to be a river and a jungle that acted as barrier between our village and sea. Since the jungle has been destroyed and there is no sign of it now. Had there been the jungle, the situation would have been a different one,” a Pentha village Sarat Das said.
“The sea is continuously marching towards the coast and erosion is proportionately increasing. In the coming days, it would be more,” observed environmentalist Jaya Krushna Panigrahi.
According to a recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), rapidly increasing climate change poses a rising threat to mental health and psychosocial well-being - ranging from emotional distress to anxiety, depression, grief, and suicidal behavior.
"The impacts of climate change are increasingly part of our daily lives, and there is very little dedicated mental health support available for people and communities dealing with climate-related hazards and long-term risk," said Dr Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO, in a statement.
Mental health conditions already represent a significant burden worldwide. There are nearly one billion people living with mental health conditions, yet in low- and middle-income countries, three out of four do not have access to needed services.
The WHO noted that these figures will be exacerbated by the climate crisis. It urged countries to ramp up mental health and psychosocial support within disaster risk reduction and climate action to help protect those most at risk.
A 2021 WHO survey of 95 countries found that only nine have thus far included mental health and psychosocial support in their national health and climate change plans.
The WHO on Friday also released a policy brief at the Stockholm+50 conference in Sweden.
It recommends five important approaches for governments to address the mental health impacts of climate change: integrate climate considerations with mental health programmes; integrate mental health support with climate action; build upon global commitments; develop community-based approaches to reduce vulnerabilities; and close the large funding gap that exists for mental health and psychosocial support.
The Stockholm Conference commemorates the 50th anniversary of the UN Conference on the Human Environment and recognises the importance of environmental determinants for both physical and mental health.
The number of medium- to large-scale disaster events is projected to reach 560 a year, or 1.5 disasters a day, by 2030 if the current trends continue, according to the Global Assessment Report released by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
An additional estimated 37.6 million people will be living in conditions of extreme poverty due to the impact of climate change and disasters by 2030. A worst-case scenario will push an additional 100.7 million people into poverty by 2030, according to the report.
Between 350 and 500 such disasters took place every year over the past two decades. This is five times higher than the previous three decades. The cost of these disasters has averaged nearly $170 billion per year over the last decade, says the report.
This impact is focused on low-income and lower-middle-income countries, which lose on an average 1 per cent of their national GDP to disasters per year, compared to 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent in high-income countries and upper-middle-income countries, respectively.
The greatest share of economic loss is borne within the Asia-Pacific region. Countries in this region lose on an average 1.3 per cent of GDP to disasters each year. Africa is the second-most affected region, losing an average of 0.6 per cent of GDP to disasters, the report added.
Despite the fact that more countries are adopting disaster risk reduction strategies, more people have been killed or affected by disasters in the last five years than in the previous five, it says.
"There is no time to waste. The current uncertainties around our world must not be a barrier to action. Delay is not an option. We can no longer afford delaying investments in disaster risk reduction. The systemic challenges of the 21st century require systemic thinking, coordination and response if we are to create a more sustainable, more resilient, and more equitable future for all," said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, who presented the report at UN headquarters in New York.
Mami Mizutori, Head of UNDRR, said at the launch of the report, "If we want to significantly reduce disaster losses by 2030, then we must face the fact that the next eight years require transformation in governance, finance and behavior."
Ozone is a gas composed of three oxygen atoms. Many studies have described ozone in the stratosphere, and its role in shielding people from the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. Closer to ground level, in the troposphere, ozone is harmful to humans.
In the study led by University of California-Riverside scientists revealed that lower level ozone is adding a great deal of heat to the Southern Ocean -- more than scientists previously understood.
"People haven't paid much attention in the past to tropospheric ozone in terms of ocean heat uptake. Based on our models, they should be," said lead author Wei Liu, climate scientist at the varsity. The finding has been published in the journal Nature Climate Change.
Oceans remove a majority of the carbon and heat that enter the atmosphere when humans burn fossil fuels.
The Southern Ocean, also called the Antarctic Ocean, collects a third of all excess carbon in the world's atmosphere, and an estimated 75 per cent of the excess heat collected by the world's oceans.
It is important to understand this heating so it can be controlled. Increased ocean warming is contributing to well-documented issues of sea levels rising.
To further this understanding, Liu and an international team of scientists explored climate model simulations with changes in ozone levels between 1955 and 2000.
These model simulations isolated both stratospheric and tropospheric ozone from other influences on Southern Ocean temperatures, allowing them to see how each factor contributes.
While both stratospheric and tropospheric ozone contribute to the Southern Ocean warming, the team found that the latter contributes more.
"Historically, about a third of the ocean's warming is attributable to ozone. For this third, about 40 per cent is from the stratosphere, and the rest is troposphere," Liu said.
Liu believes the results of this study are useful for showing where people can make further changes that will improve the environment.
Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, from products like pesticides, tobacco smoke and automobiles are gases that form the building blocks of tropospheric ozone. The same is true for nitrogen oxides produced by combustion, or carbon monoxide from furnaces, gas stoves, and automobile exhaust. Many of these products can be modified to produce fewer VOCs.
"Tropospheric ozone is an air pollutant," Liu said. "If we reduce our production of this, we get the dual benefits of less air pollution and most likely, less Southern Ocean warming as well."
The Secretary-General on Friday stated: "The connection between planet and people has never been starker than now, as we witness increasing evidence of how our own human actions and habits can impact our earth's life support systems so profoundly, whether on land, in the ocean or in the atmosphere."
"Every country within our Commonwealth family of nations has been adversely affected by the climate crisis but our small and other vulnerable nations are most at risk, with many already feeling the brunt of impacts as we speak.
"But, as I said at COP26, we must act boldly together to protect the only planet that we have. Lives and livelihoods across the Commonwealth literally depend on it.
"Climate change and ocean action is a central priority for me as Secretary-General. And as we look towards the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda this June, climate and ocean action will be prioritised on the leaders' agenda."
The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will take place in Kigali from June 20 to 25.
Among the key items for decision will be the adoption of the Commonwealth Living Lands Charter, which seeks to coordinate implementation of objectives agreed under the three Rio Conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification through sustainable land management and nature-based solutions.
Also up for discussion will be an Action Fund to support ocean-focussed efforts of countries under the Commonwealth Blue Charter.
These initiatives follow on other flagship programmes supporting the environment, including the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, which helps small and other vulnerable countries access vital resources for climate adaptation and mitigation; the Commonwealth Blue Charter, an agreement by all 54 member countries to cooperatively address pressing ocean challenges; and the Commonwealth Sustainable Energy Transition Agenda, which seeks to fast-track an inclusive, just and equitable transition to low-carbon energy systems across the group.
Yet, one in three people are still not adequately covered by early warning systems, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said ahead of the World Meteorological Day 2022 on March 23.
Weather, climate, and water extremes are becoming more frequent and intense in many parts of the world as a result of climate change. More of the world regions are exposed than ever before to multiple related hazards, which are themselves evolving as a result of population growth, urbanization, and environmental degradation.
"Greater coordination between national meteorological and hydrological services, disaster management authorities and development agencies are fundamental to better prevention, preparedness and response," the WMO said in a release.
Covid-19 has complicated the challenges facing society and weakened coping mechanisms.
"The pandemic has also highlighted that, in our interconnected world, we need to embrace a truly multi-hazard, cross-border approach to make progress towards global goals on climate action, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development," it said.
Being prepared and able to act at the right time, in the right place, can save many lives and protect the livelihoods of communities everywhere, both now and in the future.
World Meteorological Day on March 23 this year, therefore, has the theme 'Early Warning and Early Action', and spotlights the vital importance of Hydrometeorological and Climate Information for Disaster Risk Reduction.
Increasing risks
Over the past 50 years, there were more than 11,000 reported weather, climate, and water-related disasters, resulting in just over 2 million deaths and $3.64 trillion in economic losses. That breaks down to a daily global average of 115 deaths and $202 million in economic losses.
According to WMO's 'Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water Extremes 1970-2019', the number of disasters increased five-fold between 1970 and 2019 while the economic losses increased even more -- by a factor of seven.
"However, thanks to improved early warnings and disaster risk reduction strategies, the number of deaths decreased almost three-fold since 1970," the WMO said.
Gaps in Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems
Pointing out that just 40 per cent of WMO members have Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS), the WMO said, there are large gaps in weather observations, especially in Africa and Small Island Developing States.
The WMO Global Multi-hazard Alert System (GMAS) seeks to address the challenges by increasing the availability of authoritative warnings and information from the WMO Severe Weather Information Centre and to support early action.
GMAS seeks to leverage and strengthen national early warning systems and alerting authorities, capacity and investment, and cross-border cooperation. It embeds the so-called Common Alerting Protocol -- automated and standardized emergency warnings which are suitable for all hazards and all telecommunications media, and which communicate key facts such as: What is it? Where is it? How soon is it? How bad is it? What should people do?
"Experience shows that straightforward warning symbols and colour codes (e.g., red, amber, green) are highly effective," it said.
"The increased Protected Areas (PAs) coverage includes an increase in Protected Areas in the country from 740 PAs with area of 1,61,081.62 sq kms in 2014 to present 981 PAs with an area of 1,71,921 sq kms," a Ministry release said.
Also, after several years of focus on tigers, the Ministry turned its attention to dolphins, elephants, and lions this year. "The project dolphin and the project lion have been initiated and the associated environmental impact of this is also strengthened at the major sanctuary and forest areas for cleaner environmental protection of endangered species," the release said.
The population of several species such as tiger, Asiatic lion, greater one-horned rhinoceros, Asian elephants, etc. have increased with wildlife health being addressed to aggressively monitor zoonotic diseases, it claimed.
India has taken a leadership role in conservation of migratory birds along the Central Asian Flyway and had organised a two-day workshop in October 2021 with Central Asian Flyway (CAF) Range countries regarding the same.
Another positive listed by the Ministry was that the number of Ramsar sites (Wetlands of International Importance) in India have increased to 47, covering an area of 10,90,230 hectares, which also include 21 new sites designated during 2019-2021.
"India has the largest number of Ramsar sites in South Asia. A dedicated web portal for wetlands has been developed and was launched on October 2, 2021. The portal indianwetlands.in is a publicly available information and knowledge platform to facilitate knowledge sharing, information dissemination, host capacity building material, and provide a single-point access data repository," the release said.
As many as 10 beaches in seven states and one Union Territory have been developed on par with international standards and has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Flag certification for its environmentally sound management and ecological sustainable infrastructures with adequate safety measures.
"This has resulted in better waste management, maintaining bathing water quality, self-sustaining solar energy-based infrastructure, containing marine littering, enhancing local level livelihood options and increased tourist-based economy," it added.
"The two leaders had an extensive discussion on issues related to climate change. Prime Minister Modi conveyed India's commitment to climate action, as seen in its ambitious target for expansion of renewable energy and the recently-announced National Hydrogen Mission," a release from the PMO said.
The UK is to host the climate change summit of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Glasgow from October 31.
The two leaders also reviewed the progress made in bilateral relations since their virtual summit earlier this year, and expressed satisfaction over the steps already initiated under the 'Roadmap 2030' adopted during the virtual summit.
They also reviewed the progress of the Enhanced Trade Partnership and agreed on the potential of rapidly expanding trade and investment linkages between both the countries, the release said.
The leaders also exchanged views on regional developments, especially the situation in Afghanistan. In this context, they agreed on the need to develop a common international perspective on issues related to extremism and terrorism, as well as human rights and rights of women and minorities, the release added.
The latest stock taking of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) imply that global green-house gas (GHG) emissions will actually be some 16 per cent higher in 2030 compared to 2010 while for the group of 113 countries with new or updated NDCs, GHG emissions are projected to decrease by 12 per cent in 2030 compared to 2010.
"Still, the world is falling well short of the level of ambition necessary to avoid the worst climate outcomes. Emissions are going in the entirely the wrong direction," the assessment report of the NDCs by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) released on Friday said.
Under the Paris Agreement, NDCs are the steps promised by each signatory nation to reduce its emissions and emission intensity to help add into the combined effort to restrict global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius or thereof compared to the industrial era.
Taken together, NDCs should produce substantial cuts in global emissions if they are to be effective in combating climate change. To give a reasonable chance of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsiud, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has identified global emissions cuts of 45 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, as necessary by 2030.
The Conference of Parties (COP26) to the UNFCCC is to happen from October 31 at the UK's Glasgow.
The NDCs were originally submitted in 2015 ahead of the Paris Agreement and several countries have either already updated their NDCs or in the process of doing so. India too has committed to enhance its ambition but not yet declared the exact contours.
The crucial UNFCCC report comes on the back of an exhaustive report coordinated by World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on Thursday which had pointed out how the average global temperature for the past five years was among the highest on record and that there is an increasing likelihood that temperatures will temporarily breach the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era, in the next five years.
"There is no sign that we are growing back greener, as carbon dioxide emissions are rapidly recovering after a temporary blip due to the economic slowdown and are nowhere close to reduction targets. Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere continue at record levels, committing the planet to dangerous future warming," the report 'United in Science 2021' had said.
The two back-to-back reports come on the back of the Assessment Report 6 of the Working Group I (AR6WGI) of the IPCC in August 2021 that had issued a 'code red' for humanity and warned that it "should be a wake-up call for leaders."
The UNFCCC assessment warns: "The (NDCs) implies an urgent need for either a significant increase in the level of ambition of NDCs between now and 2030 or a significant overachievement of the latest NDCs, or a combination of both, in order to attain cost-optimal emission levels suggested in many of the scenarios considered by the IPCC for keeping warming well below 2 degrees Celsius or limiting it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. If emissions are not reduced by 2030, they will need to be substantially reduced thereafter to compensate for the slow start on the path to net zero emissions."
Surprisingly, King Khan on Friday stepped up for promoting Veganism along with Bollywood's loving couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D'Souza.
On Friday, SRK shared a photo on social media in which he is seen in his iconic pose. However, the picture also shows Shah Rukh holding two packets of Image Meats one in each hand. He captioned the post: "My friends @geneliad & @riteishd were discussing who would launch their Plant Based Meats Venture. I opened my arms wide and said ‘Main Hoon Naa’. I wish the entire team of @imaginemeats my best as they dish out #TheHappyMeat It’s live http://www.imaginemeats.com go visit."
Meanwhile, appreciating SRK's move, Genelia re-shared the same pic on her Insta ID and penned down a heartfelt note for the Devdas actor. She captioned: "Thank you so much @iamsrk for launching our baby @Imaginemeats Thank you for being just a call away.. No wonder when someone googles “graciousness” your image turns up We Love You.”
Well, such an initiative from King Khan would certainly impress his fans and they might even embrace Veganism.
As per the climate experts, the deteriorating climatic condition is posing a severe threat to living beings on the earth. Several studies have also suggested that going full vegan can be helpful in tackling climate change. As per a study, cutting meat from diet will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions per person by 3% while some other studies suggest that the reduction in emissions per person will be 20-30% if the meat consumption is halved.
Undoubtedly, SRK rules the hearts of millions of movie lovers and has a huge fan base across the world. Fans who consider Shah Rukh as their idol may opt to keep meat away from their plates and promote the consumption of plant-based meats which are sourced from plant products and tastes just like real meat.
On the work front, Shah Rukh, who was last seen in Zero along with Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif in 2018, will be next seen in Pathan. The movie is being helmed by Siddharth Anand and it also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham in prominent roles.
As per the study titled 'Changing Spatio-temporal trends of a heatwave and severe heatwave events over India: An emerging health hazard', while Odisha has been witnessing a decreasing trend in heatwave events, the killer fact is the whole of the State, except Malkangiri, is now recording an increase in severe heatwave events.
The ground reality of the study: Bhubaneswar had been the hottest place in the country in Feb-March this year.
The study conducted by a team of researchers led by Prof. R.K. Mall and including Saumya Singh and Nidhi Singh from the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India-Mahamana Centre of Excellence in Climate Change Research (MCECCR) at Banaras Hindu University finds that a high of 12 districts in Odisha has recorded a significant rise in trend of severe heatwave events over the period of 1951-2016.
The study released today is published in the journal “International Journal of Climatology”.
District Heat Map
The districts that now show a significant rise in severe heatwave events are parts of Sundargarh adjacent to Keonjhar, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Jajpur, Balangir, places in Bargarh and Nuapada adjacent to Balangir and Kalahandi.
The other 17 districts, including Puri, Khordha, Cuttack and Ganjam, have recorded an increasing, not significant, trend of severe hit waves during the period March-May.
However, the soothing news is Malkangiri seems to have emerged as Odisha's coolest district, as both the heat and severe heatwave events are showing a decreasing trend.
Killer Heat?
The big shocker the study dropped is Odisha and Andhra Pradesh are the only two states that show a positive correlation between heatwave/severe heatwave events and observed mortality.
" State-wise Pearson's correlation between HW/SHW events and observed mortality reveals that the eastern coastal states Odisha and Andhra Pradesh show a significant positive correlation of 0.62 and 0.73, respectively," the study claimed.
For which, the study batted on the need to recognise heat waves as a potential health risk and demanded further study, robust preparedness, and policy intervention to protect the vulnerable sections of the society from the deleterious impact of heatwaves.
The study is based on the revised criteria given by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) using daily gridded maximum temperature data at 0.5° × 0.5° resolution from IMD.
IMD Report 2020
As per the IMD Annual Summary report released earlier this year, when the mean temperature of the country had shown an anomaly of 0.37 deg C vis-a-vis the average mean temperature for a period of 100 years (1901 -2020), which means the mean temperature of the country has risen by 0.37 deg C over the period, the anomaly (rise in tempearture) has been 0.5 deg C in parts of Odisha (exactly, the districts that are mentioned in the New report).
The report, in fact, points to the warming of India, and Odisha growing warmer than the country.
The areas Chahal referred to comprise the cream of residential and commercial districts of south Mumbai like Cuffe Parade, Nariman Point, Fort and Colaba in the country's financial capital.
Besides, 70 per cent of the neighbourhood like Umarkhadi, Mohammed Ali Road, Marine Drive, Girgaum, Breach Candy and surroundings could also be swallowed underwater owing to the climatic change fury.
Some of the areas that fall in these Wards and are likely to be affected include the state government headquarters of Mantralaya, the country's top central business district of Nariman Point, several leading five-star hotels, major heritage structures, important residences or commercial buildings like the BSE, University of Mumbai, Bombay High Court and other courts, civil and defence related institutions, religious places, etc.
Chahal's grim forecast came at the launch of Mumbai Climate Action Plan website on Friday in the presence of Environment & Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray and other dignitaries.
Citing recent developments, Chahal said we are getting weather warnings like extreme conditions or very heavy rains, and if we do not heed them now, it could be a dangerous scenario over the next 25 years.
"Earlier, climate change events we heard were about melting glaciers which did not directly affect us, but now, climate change is at our doorstep the current and next generations will suffer," Chahal said.
In February, the McKinsey India had said in a report that by 2050, Mumbai will witness a 25 per cent increase in the intensity of flash floods accompanied by a half-metre rise in the sea-level, which could hit around two-three million people living within a one-km radius of the city coastline.
Chahal pointed out that in the past 15 months or so, Mumbai and surroundings were lashed by three cyclones, leading to waterlogging in many areas like Marine Drive, Girgaum, etc.
On August 5, 2020, many areas in south Mumbai were submerged in around 5 feet of waters due to the torrential downpour, and though there was no cyclone warning, the situation was similar to a cyclone, said the BMC chief.
Citing another concern, Chahal said that Mumbai has been witnessing extreme weather conditions like heavy rains falling in a very less period of time.
For instance, this year 70 per cent of the July average rain fell in just four days from July 17-20, while in May when the average rainfall is nil, 200 mm was recorded due to the Cyclone Tauktae, he explained.
In fact, the city has been notching at least two-three days of extreme rains during monsoons each year, like on July 16 and 18 this year, Mumbai recorded over 235 and 253 mm rainfall, respectively, within a very short span of just a few hours, leading to massive flooding in different areas.
(IANS)
A report of the Intergovernmental Committee on Climate Change (IPCC) which has been used by the premier space agency to assess changes in sea levels in India estimates that 11 other coastal cities of India may face similar sea threat and go underwater by as much as three feet.
"Coastal areas will see continued sea-level rise throughout the 21st century, contributing to more frequent and severe coastal flooding in low-lying areas and coastal erosion with extreme sea-level events that previously occurred once in 100 years could happen every year by the end of this century,” said the IPCC Working Group I report.
The prediction says that apart from the port town of Odisha which is feared to be under 1.93 feet of sea water, Mumbai in Maharashtra, Okha in Gujarat, Kandla, Bhavnagar, Mormugao in Goa, Mangaluru in Karnataka, Chennai and Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu, Visakhapatnam in Andhra, Kochi in Kerala and Kidropore in West Bengal will also be at a greater risk.
As per the forecast, the global temperature will increase significantly by the year 2100. Terrible heat will have to be endured and if steep carbon emissions and pollution levels are not stopped, the average temperature will increase by 4.4 °C.
The IPCC report has issued dire warnings of continuous glacier melting in the Himalayas due to unprecedented global warming which could hasten the sea level rise.
The temperature will increase by 1.5 °C in next two decades which spur the effect. Already, sea level around Asia has been increasing at a faster rate than the average global rate, it said
Environmentalists have expressed serious concern over the IPCC report on global warming.
Jaykrushna Panigrahi, an environmentalist from Odisha said “Due to rise in temperature in northern and southern hemispheres, the big glaciers of the world started melting which helps rise in sea level. If the trend continues, the sea level will continue to rise. It may cause massive damage to human settlement and big cities on coastal areas.”
Models also indicate a lengthening of the monsoon over India by the end of the 21st century, with the South Asian Monsoon precipitation projected to increase, said the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC, approved by 195 member countries.
"Experiments with constant forcing indicate that at 1.5 degrees and 2 degrees Celsius global warming levels, mean precipitation and monsoon extremes are projected to intensify in summer over India and South Asia," the report said.
"CMIP5 models project an increase in short intense active days and decrease in long active days, with no significant change in the number of break spells for India," the report said.
Rainfalls, floods and droughts will also increase. Droughts will occur more because the soil will lose moisture. Due to an increase in temperature, there will be more water evaporation which will in turn decrease soil moisture and leads to droughts, R Krishnan, Executive Director, Centre for Climate Change Research (CCCR), Indian Institute of Tropical Research and one of the co-authors of the report said.
The report states that there has been new evidence of the effect of local land use and land cover change on heavy precipitation.
There is a growing set of literature linking increases in heavy precipitation in urban centres to urbanisation.
Urbanisation intensifies extreme precipitation, especially in the afternoon and early evening, over the urban area and its downwind region, the report said.
India has been witnessing rapid urbanisation over the last few decades.
The Southwest Monsoon contributes to over 70 per cent of rainfall of the country and is a prime driver of the economy which is still largely dependent on agriculture.
Terming the IPCC Working Group 1 Report as a "code red for humanity", Guterres, in a global media release soon after the IPCC report was released earlier in the day, said, that "the alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk".
Stating that it is indisputable that human influence has warmed the climate system, raising the global surface temperature, the UNFCCC said that the IPCC report provides an update on the physical science basis of climate change and confirms that there is no going back from some changes that are already affecting the climate system.
The report from the Working Group I - 'Climate Change 2021: the Physical Science Basis' - is the first installment of the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6), which will be completed in 2022.
Global heating is affecting every region on Earth, with many of the changes becoming irreversible. The internationally agreed threshold of 1.5 degrees is perilously close.
"We are at imminent risk of hitting 1.5 degrees in the near term. The only way to prevent exceeding this threshold is by urgently stepping up our efforts, and pursuing the most ambitious path. We must act decisively now to keep 1.5 alive," Guterres said in a statement from the UN headquarters.
"Greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels. Extreme weather and climate disasters are increasing in frequency and intensity. That is why this year's United Nations climate conference in Glasgow is so important," he added.
Glasgow is to host the UNFCCC's conference of parties (COP) where the countries across the globe will meet to discuss the ways to keep the emissions in check to restrict temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to 1850.
"Climate impacts will undoubtedly worsen and there is a clear moral and economic imperative to protect the lives and livelihoods of those on the front lines of the climate crisis," the UN Secretary-General said, adding: "Adaptation and resilience finance must cease being the neglected half of the climate equation. Only 21 per cent of climate support is directed towards adaptation. I again call on donors and the multilateral development banks to allocate at least 50 per cent of all public climate finance to protecting people, especially women and vulnerable groups."
"If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe. But, as today's report makes clear, there is no time for delay and no room for excuses. I count on government leaders and all stakeholders to ensure COP26 is a success."
The #IPCC released its latest #ClimateReport today, #ClimateChange 2021: the Physical Science Basis.
— IPCC (@IPCC_CH) August 9, 2021
“The role of human influence on the climate system is undisputed.” – Working Group I Co-Chair @valmasdel
Report ➡️ https://t.co/uU8bb4inBB
Watch the video, 🎥 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/hZOSU1xWQR
With respect to the intergovernmental negotiations on climate change, 2021 marks a crucial year as nations submit their new or updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), embodying the efforts and actions of each country to respond to climate change and reduce emissions.
An initial synthesis of submitted new or updated NDCs, the nationally determined contributions to combat climate change early in 2021 showed that collective efforts fall far short of what is required by science to limit global temperature increases by the end of the century to 2 degrees Celsius, let alone the desired objective of less than 1.5 degree Celsius.
At present, only slightly more than half of all Parties to the Paris Agreement have submitted new or updated NDCs. "Nations that have already submitted new or updated NDCs, still have the opportunity to review and enhance their level of ambition. The collective effort of all submissions will be captured in an updated synthesis report, to be made available later in the year," the UNFCCC said.
These ruins of the temple of the village goddess Maa Panchubarahi is the remaining testament of what all have been lost to the sea.
‘Satabhaya’ which translates to seven brothers was once made up of seven prosperous villages. However, rising sea levels have taken its toll on these coastal areas and engulfed almost all of these villages, forcing people to rehabilitate elsewhere.
Hundreds of houses, thousands of acres of farm land, temples and places of importance are gone. The ruin and debris strewn across the now barren coast are the remaining traces.
Not just Satabhaya, but the entire world is reeling under the effects of climate change. Satabhaya merely paints a picture of its horrors and the extent of destruction it might cause to humanity.
"Manifestations of extreme events, including cloudbursts, and their incidence are modelled and projected in various scientific assessments. However, there is no established study for India estimating the quantified contribution of climate change in triggering such cloudbursts.
"The science of the attribution of such extreme events to climate change is far more complex and currently an evolving subject and being closely studied by Ministry of Earth Sciences, through the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and the India Meteorological Department," Minister of State for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey told Rajya Sabha member A. Vijaykumar in a written reply.
Listing some of the actions taken to minimise environmental damage due to the occurrence of such natural disasters in hilly areas, he said that the network of meteorological observations including weather stations and Doppler radars are being strengthened for better forecasting of extreme events through the IMD and the IITM.
The National Disaster Management Authority and the State Disaster Management Authority work in close association with the local administration to address the impact of a given disaster by issuing alerts/warnings, and guidelines from time to time to the local communities for a response during extreme rainfall/cloudburst events, the Minister said.
"The Indian Space Research Organisation has developed a model called NowCasting of Extreme orographic Rainfall events (NETRA) which is currently being used to provide real-time cloudburst potential alerts over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and surrounding regions through MOSDAC web portal (www.mosdac.gov.in). This is done by using satellite thermal infrared data from geostationary satellites along with pre-identified vulnerable locations for cloudburst using historical data," he said.
Under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE), State Climate Change Cell/Centre has been established in each of the Himalayan states which have the mandate of providing assistance to states to take up vulnerability and risk assessment, human capacity building programmes, public awareness programmes, and institutional capacity building to address the sustainability of the Himalayan ecosystem. They also assist in the implementation of actions selected for sustainable development by the States as part of their State Action Plans on Climate Change (SAPCC), Choubey added.
The coast along Konark from Ramchandi shrine to Chandrabhaga is a tourist hotspot. Apart from its religious significance, it boasts of a scenic beach, which is flanked by a beautiful strip of asphalt known as the Marine Drive. However, this marine drive is facing the worst impacts of global climate crisis.
Recently, it has been observed that due to rise in sea level the sand wall and the casuarina plantations, which lend the beach its beauty, are vanishing into the sea. Locals believe that the consequences are going to be severe if steps are not taken as the waves now directly hit the marine drive road.
Meanwhile, Collector of Puri, Samarth Verma said that the government is working on a study and a specific plan to deal with coastal erosion of Chandrabhaga Beach. According to the Collector, steps will be taken to strengthen the coastline. While Odisha government is taking steps to increase tourism potential of the state, erosion of Chandrabhaga beach has triggered concerns.
Chandrabhaga is not just a tourism destination, but part of a larger ecosystem that is calling for immediate attention.
Speaking to odishatv.in, Nila Madhab Panda said, "This is a story which we find everywhere in the world. It's about two people coming from two extreme weather conditions and what they face due to climate change."
Sanjay Mishra plays the most important character called Hedu who is a blind old man whereas Ranvir Shorey plays Gunu babu, a loan recovery agent from Odisha. Tillotama Shome is seen as the daughter-in-law of Hedu in the movie.
" My character is that of a normal Indian man. He is a blind man who is trying to protect himself from the cruelty of nature. He is trying to survive," said Sanjay Mishra.
"I play the character called Parvati and I am the emotional anchor of the movie," said actress Tillotama Shome.
"I play a ruthless and relentless bank recovery agent. Speaking Hindi in Odia accent is very difficult. Hope I have done a good job in the film and justice to the character," said actor Ranvir Shorey.
Reputed Ollywood producer Akshay Kumar Parija is also delighted to be a part of this film which is on a serious topic of climate change and global warming and is partly based on Odisha.
"The only difference is in Hindi we get larger audience than Odia. It was a very good journey working in the film," explained producer Akshay Kumar Parija.
The film which shows two extreme conditions of climate change and its impact got a special mention at the 64th National Film Awards earlier this year.
https://youtu.be/WdRUtr8D-xs
Meet Akash Meher of Gohipita village who has designed the solar powered bicycle which is no less than any other motorised two wheeler vehicles.
With a top speed of 30 kmph, the solar bicycle model of Akash can be easily used by people of all ages.
"I was preparing for the civil services when the idea to come up with such a low-cost mode of transport came to my mind while travelling in a battery operated e-rickshaw at New Delhi," said Akash.
Akash further informed that his low-cost auto geared solar powered bicycle can be developed at a cost of Rs 15,000 and can be an affordable means of transport both in urban and rural pockets of the State and country.
The unique bicycle has multiple batteries, a solar panel along with headlight that can be used at night.
"The bicycle has also a music system while one can also charge mobile phone while on the go. I am planning to add some security features including auto-lock and anti-theft system," Akash added.
Addressing the programme, regional Meteorological director Sarat Chandra Sahoo said, “Over the decade, the climate has extremely changed. Even a few years back, the maximum temperature of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack used to hover around 36-37 degree Celsius. But now it touches 41-42 degree Celsius. The temperature in Titilagarh, Talcher and Jharsuguda has sometimes touched 45 degree.”
Blaming global warming for such scorching heat, Sahoo explained that destroying green cover for urbanization is one of the main causes behind this. He said, “The ecological balance has been harmed due to fast urbanization. We have also tampered with the water bodies and natural forest.”
Surendra Pashupalak, head of the department of Agricultural Meteorology of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), environmentalists Bhagirathi Behera and Sundar Narayan Patra were some of the dignitaries present among the panelists.
Patra suggested that the companies who acquire forest land or green areas for industrial purpose should plant two to three times more than what was demolished due to their project. He also stressed that the government should make such rules mandatory for the companies.
“Indigenous plants should be used for social afforestation. As they are acclimatised to the local climate, it won’t take long for the indigenous plants to adapt the environment,” he explained.
"...I am pleased to announce $11 million in new grants across our six programme areas, bringing the total financial impact of LDF to over $100 million," read a statement from DiCaprio on the foundation's website, reports metro.co.uk.
The "Titanic" star has been seen raising awareness of climate change from time to time, and his Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation - which he created in 1998 - has completed 20 years.
"When I founded LDF 20 years ago, I did so based on the simple idea that we could make a real difference by directly funding some of the most effective environmental projects.
"Whether it be individuals, grassroots movements or major nonprofits, we wanted to focus on getting critical funding to those who could have the greatest impact...," further read the statement.
Many of the world's largest energy-consuming countries significantly improved their renewable energy regulations since 2010, said the World Bank's report -- Regulatory Indicators for Sustainable Energy (RISE) 2018, charting global progress on sustainable energy policies.
The report was released on the sidelines of the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change(COP24).
Progress was even more marked in energy efficiency, with the percentage of countries establishing advanced policy frameworks growing more than 10-fold between 2010 and 2017.
Among countries with large populations living without electricity, 75 per cent had by 2017 put in place the policies and regulations needed to expand energy access.
But there were still significant barriers to global progress on sustainable energy.
While countries continue to be focused on clean energy policies for electricity, policies to decarbonize heating and transportation, which account for 80 per cent of global energy use, continued to be overlooked.
Senior Director for Energy and Extractives at the World Bank Riccardo Puliti said that the report contained a warning that without accelerated adoption of good policies and strong enforcement, the world's climate goals and Sustainable Development Goal 7 were at risk.
This momentum was particularly marked in renewable energy. Among the countries covered by RISE, only 37 per cent had a national renewable energy target in 2010. By 2017, that had grown to 93 per cent, the report said.
By last year, 84 per cent of countries had a legal framework in place to support renewable energy deployment, while 95 per cent allowed the private sector to own and operate renewable energy projects.
Among the four SDG7 target areas -- renewable energy, energy efficiency, electricity access and access to clean cooking -- the last one continued to be the most overlooked and underfunded by policymakers.
There had been a little progress on standard-setting for cookstoves or on consumer and producer incentives to stimulate adoption of clean technologies, the report said.
"How did India structure its renewable energy auctions to deliver record-setting low prices for solar? At the same time, we need urgent action to address critical gaps, such as failing utilities, clean cooking, and the slow progress on decarbonizing heating and transport," said Puliti.
The findings showed that since 1958, the Arctic sea ice cover has lost on average around two-thirds of its thickness and now 70 per cent of the sea ice cap is made of seasonal ice, or ice that forms and melts within a single year.
But at the same time, that sea ice is vanishing quicker than it has ever been observed in the satellite record, it is also thickening at a faster rate during winter.
This increase in growth rate might last for decades, explained the researchers, in the paper to be published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
However, this does not mean that the ice cover is recovering, though. Just delaying its demise.
"This increase in the amount of sea ice growing in winter doesn't overcome the large increase in melting we've observed in recent decades," said lead author Alek Petty, a sea ice scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
"Overall, thickness is decreasing. Arctic sea ice is still very much in decline across all seasons and is projected to continue its decline over the coming decades," she added.
To explore sea ice growth variability across the Arctic, the team used climate models and observations of sea ice thickness from the European Space Agency's CryoSat-2 satellite.
They found that in the 1980s, when Arctic sea ice was on average 6.6 feet thick in October, about 3.3 extra feet of ice would form over the winter.
This rate of growth may continue to increase, and in the coming decades, we could also have an ice pack that would on average be only around 3.3 feet thick in October, but could experience up to five feet of ice growth over the winter.
However, by the middle of the century, the strong increases in atmospheric and oceanic temperatures will outweigh the mechanism that allows ice to regrow faster, and the Arctic sea ice cover will decline further, Petty said.
The switch will happen once the sea ice is less than 1.6 feet thick at the beginning of winter, or its concentration -- the percentage of an area that is covered in sea ice -- is less than 50 per cent, she noted.
The guidelines will provide clarity on how to implement the landmark agreement fairly and transparently for all.
Specifically, they will strengthen international cooperation by ensuring that national contributions to the global effort are transparent, responsibility is shared fairly and progress on reducing emissions and building resilience can be accurately measured.
Patricia Espinosa, the UN's Climate Chief, said: "This year is likely to be one of the four hottest years on record. Greenhouses gas concentrations in the atmosphere are at record levels and emissions continue to rise. Climate change impacts have never been worse. This reality is telling us that we need to do much more -- COP24 needs to make that happen".
A finalized set of implementation guidelines will unleash practical climate actions with respect to all targets and goals of the Paris Agreement, including adapting to climate change impacts, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing financial and other support to developing countries.
Six months after the 2015 Paris Summit, the negotiations on the implementation guidelines were launched and the Conference of Parties (COP24) was set as the deadline.
While governments are committed to finalizing the guidelines in order to unleash the full potential of the agreement, a great deal of work still remains to be completed in Katowice.
"The 2015 Paris Agreement entered into force faster than any other agreement of its kind. I now call on all countries to come together, to build upon this success and to make the agreement fully functional", said in-coming COP President Michal Kurtyka.
"We are ready to work with all nations to ensure that we leave Katowice with a full set of implementation guidelines and with the knowledge that we have served the world and its people," he added.
Espinosa noted that countries have strong backing for rapid climate action, given that public awareness and demand for solutions have increased due to clear evidence that our climate is changing.
"We simply cannot tell millions of people around the globe who are already suffering from the effects of climate change that we did not deliver," she said.
The conference is being held hot on the heels of the Global Warming of 1.5C report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as well as a cascade of UN and other reports on increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and emissions and on health and other serious impacts.
"All of these findings confirm the need to maintain the strongest commitment to the Paris Agreement's aims of limiting global warming to well below two degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts towards 1.5 degrees Celsius," Espinosa stressed.
"All our focus should be on reaching this aim and on building up ambition towards it", she added.
COP24 will also conclude the year-long, Fiji-led Talanoa Dialogue, the first-ever international conversation of its kind to assess progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, including the goal of limiting global temperature increases.
One of the dialogue's aims is to find practical and local solutions for how countries can increase their ambition in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which describe their individual efforts to reduce national emissions.
During the high-level event that will conclude the Talanoa Dialogue, ministers will consider the IPCC's 1.5 degrees Celsius report and its relevance in the context of future actions.
"It is my hope that this will give ministers the opportunity to provide a political signal for enhanced ambition," Espinosa added.
This analysis by New Delhi-based climate research group Climate Trends comes a day after the release of the Lancet Countdown report that showed that in the last four years 200 per cent more Indians were hit by heatwaves and India faced the worst impacts of the climate change.
Climate change has already caused global temperatures to rise about one degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Unless emissions are rapidly reduced, temperatures are expected to rise 1.5 degrees by 2040, two degrees by 2065 and four degrees by 2100, leading to runaway climate change as early as next 10-12 years.
"Climate change threatens to create a vicious cycle for the world's poor, as further warming pushes more people into poverty, increasing their vulnerability to climate impacts," the report said.
In 2017, the total damage due to floods and heavy rains in India amounted to Rs 18,279.63 crore ($2.5 billion), including damage to crops, houses and public utilities, according to the Central Water Commission.
Although 2018 national data on floods and heavy damage is not available, the estimated damage from the 2018 floods in Kerala alone (Rs 20,000 crore or $2.7 billion) has exceeded the damage from all floods and heavy rains in the country in 2017.
In the 2018 floods in Kerala, an assessment of economic impacts in the state found that for the 4.13 million affected working individuals in the five most affected districts, around 3.3 million workers had their employment placed in jeopardy.
The tourism sector's 2019 economic projection was lowered as a result of the widespread devastation. Tourism sector workers are susceptible to indirect damage, as tourist attraction spots are destroyed by flooding and tourists avoid visiting impacted areas, said the report.
Exposure to extreme weather risks is also unevenly distributed between states.
Some face heightened risks from multiple climate disasters, particularly Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
India is heavily dependent on the monsoon, which accounts for about 70 per cent of the annual rainfall.
As climate change alters weather patterns, access to water in India faces an uncertain future.
Six hundred million people in India already face acute water shortage, according to government think tank Niti Aayog, with 54 per cent of India's groundwater wells on a decline, and 21 major cities expected to run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 million people.
"As a disaster that gripped public attention, floods cost Kerala Rs 20,000 crore this year. From droughts to excess rains, and heat waves in between, extreme weather events are by far the biggest scam which the public and politicians need to heed," Climate Trends Director Aarti Khosla said.
Farmed animal law and policy fellow Helen Harwatt at Harvard Law School advises that getting protein from plant sources instead of animal sources would drastically help in meeting climate targets and reduce the risk of overshooting temperature goals.
For the first time, Harwatt proposes a three-step strategy to gradually replace animal proteins with plant-sourced proteins, as part of the commitment to mitigate climate change.
These are acknowledging that current numbers of livestock are at their peak and will need to decline.
Set targets to transition away from livestock products starting with foods linked with the highest greenhouse gas emissions such as beef, then cow's milk and pork.
The best available food approach is assessing suitable replacement products against a range of criteria, including greenhouse gas emission targets, land usage and public health benefits.
In the study published in Climate Policy, Harwatt further elaborates that recent evidence shows, in comparison with the current food system, switching from animals to plants proteins could potentially feed an additional 350 million people in the US alone.
Previous studies suggested reducing meat and dairy consumption also provides a range of added benefits such as preserving biodiversity and improving human health.
The article reports that the current livestock population in the world is around 28 billion animals and constitutes the highest source of two major greenhouse gases -- methane and nitrous oxide.
The production of methane in particular is troublesome, as it has an 85 times greater global warming potential than carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe.
Methane emissions from the livestock sector are projected to rise by 60 per cent by 2030 -- the same time period over which strong and rapid reductions are needed.
"Given the livestock sector's significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions and methane dominance, animal to plant protein shifts make a much-needed contribution to meeting the Paris temperature goals and reducing warming in the short term, while providing a suite of co-benefits," Harwatt added.
The federally mandated study "Fourth National Climate Assessment", was supposed to come out in December but was released by President Donald Trump's administration on Friday, reports CNN.
David Easterling, Director of the Technical Support Unit at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said: "The global average temperature is much higher and is rising more rapidly than anything modern civilisation has experienced, and this warming trend can only be explained by human activities."
Coming from the US Global Change Research Programme, a team of 13 federal agencies, the report was put together with the help of 1,000 people, including 300 leading scientists.
It's the second of two volumes. The first, released in November 2017, concluded that there was "no convincing alternative explanation" for the changing climate other than "human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases".
The costs of climate change could reach hundreds of billions of dollars annually, according to the report.
The Southeast alone will probably lose over half a billion labour hours by 2100 due to extreme heat.
Farmers will face extremely tough times. The quality and quantity of their crops will decline across the US due to higher temperatures, drought and flooding.
Heat stress could cause average dairy production to fall between 0.60 and 1.35 per cent over the next 12 years -- having already cost the industry $1.2 billion from heat stress in 2010.
When it comes to shellfish there will be a $230 million loss by the end of the century due to ocean acidification, which is already killing off shellfish and corals, CNN quoted the report as saying.
Higher temperatures will also kill more people, it added.
The Midwest alone, which is predicted to have the largest increase in extreme temperature, will see an additional 2,000 premature deaths per year by 2090.
There will be more mosquito- and tickborne diseases like zika, dengue and chikungunya. West Nile cases were expected to more than double by 2050 due to increasing temperatures.
Wildfire seasons -- already longer and more destructive than before -- could burn up to six times more forest area annually by 2050 in parts of the US. Burned areas in Southwestern California alone could double by 2050.
"The message is loud, clear and undeniable: climate impacts are here and growing, World Resources Institute US Director Dan Lashof told IANS.
The tragic Camp Fire in California serves as a stark illustration of how climate change is loading the dice for more extreme events that devastate people, homes and the economy.
"We should trust what we're seeing with our own eyes: more intense wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and heat waves. This is what climate change looks like and it will become far worse unless we rapidly shift to a low-carbon economy," Lashof said.
The report blames human activity, such as burning fossil fuels, as the primary cause of rising temperatures.
For adaptation and mitigation, it says transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources will reduce the impact of climate change.
Visiting Senior Research Scientist with Columbia University Earth Institute Richard Moss said: "The Trump administration should take its own carefully prepared National Climate Assessment report seriously. If it does so, the logical response is for the administration to lead a bipartisan effort to slash climate pollution and work to reduce the loss of life and financial damage occurring from climate change intensified disasters."
"The world needs a roadmap for finance and technology to achieve the goals set out in the Convention and its Paris Agreement in everyone's collective interest," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said at a high-level meeting on climate change here on Wednesday.
As an example of India's leadership, she cited the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Already 68 countries have signed on to the programme launched with France that aims to mobilise technology and finance to lower unit costs, she said.
India looks forward to welcoming Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the first General Assembly of the ISA next week in New Delhi, she said.
"Our commitment to combat climate change is rooted in our ethos, which considers Earth as Mother."
Explaining India's heritage, Sushma Swaraj said that ancient Indian tradition conceives the cosmos to comprise five basic elements, the panchbhutas, which are space, air, water, earth, and fire.
"Trouble begins when the equilibrium (among them) is disturbed. From atmosphere to oceans our actions are leading us to unchartered territories with possibly disastrous consequences."
For its part to fight climate change, she said India has set a target of generating 175 gigawatts of solar and wind energy by 2022 and has installed over 300 million LED bulbs saving $2 billion and 4 GW of electricity.
India is planning to reduce emission intensity of our GDP by 25 per cent over the 2005 levels by 2020 and by 33-35 per cent by 2030, she added.
At the meeting convened by Guterres on the sidelines of the General Assembly session, Sushma Swaraj was seated next to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and they were seen engaged in informal chats.
"It's going to be very hard, given the amount of warming we've already committed to... for many regions to continue growing the exact varieties they've grown in the past," said study co-author Elizabeth Wolkovich, Assistant Professor at Harvard University.
"With continued climate change, certain varieties in certain regions will start to fail -- that's my expectation," she said.
The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, suggests that wine producers now face a choice -- proactively experiment with new varieties, or risk suffering the negative consequences of climate change.
"The Old World has a huge diversity of winegrapes -- there are over planted 1,000 varieties -- and some of them are better adapted to hotter climates and have higher drought tolerance than the 12 varieties now making up over 80 per cent of the wine market in many countries," Wolkovich said.
"We should be studying and exploring these varieties to prepare for climate change," she added.
Unfortunately, Wolkovich said, convincing wine producers to try different grape varieties is difficult at best, and the reason often comes down to the current concept of terroir.
Terroir is the notion that a wine's flavour is a reflection of where, which and how the grapes were grown.
Thus, as currently understood, only certain traditional or existing varieties are part of each terroir, leaving little room for change.
The industry -- both in the traditional winegrowing centres of Europe and around the world -- faces hurdles when it comes to making changes, Wolkovich said.
In Europe, she said, growers have the advantage of tremendous diversity.
They have more than 1,000 grape varieties to choose from. Yet strict labeling laws have created restrictions on their ability to take advantage of this diversity.
For example, just three varieties of grapes can be labelled as Champagne or four for Burgundy.
Similar restrictions have been enacted in many European regions - all of which force growers to focus on a small handful of grape varieties.
"The more you are locked into what you have to grow, the less room you have to adapt to climate change," Wolkovich said.
New World winegrowers, meanwhile, must grapple with the opposite problem -- while there are few, if any, restrictions on which grape varieties may be grown in a given region, growers have little experience with the diverse -- and potentially more climate change adaptable -- varieties of grapes found in Europe, the study said.
Just 12 varieties account for more than 80 per cent of the grapes grown in Australian vineyards, Wolkovich said.
More than 75 per cent of all the grapes grown in China are Cabernet Sauvignon -- and the chief reason why has to do with consumers.
"They have all the freedom in the world to import new varieties and think about how to make great wines from a grape variety you've never heard of, but they're not doing it because the consumer hasn't heard of it," Wolkovich said.
"The early reviews have been really positive and encouraging. I am hoping that the positive word of mouth will motivate audiences to watch and appreciate the film," Panda said in a statement.
Presented by Eros International and produced by Akshay Parija, Manish Mundra and Panda, the movie, a National Award winner, was premiered here on Thursday night. Also in attendance were actors Bhumi Pednekar, Sayani Gupta, Vrajesh Hirjee, Anup Soni and director Abhishek Chaubey.
The film captures the threat of climate change, and features Ranvir Shorey as a young bank loan recovery agent and Sanjay Mishra as a blind old farmer, two ordinary people fighting for survival in two extreme weather conditions, not of their making.
Also featuring Tillotama Shome, "Kadvi Hawa" released in theatres across India on Friday. Sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik even made a special sand art creation at Puri Beach, Odisha, on the occasion of the film's release.
The film is also supported by the Shakti Foundation, GAIL and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
"Climate change presents complex and wide-reaching threats to human health," said lead author of the study Cecilia Sorensen from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in the US.
"It can amplify and unmask ecological and socio-political weaknesses and increase the risk of adverse health outcomes in socially vulnerable regions," Sorensen said.
When natural disasters strike such places, the climatic conditions may make the public health crisis significantly worse, according to the study published in the journal GeoHealth.
The researchers said these vulnerabilities can happen anywhere. After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in the US, cases of West Nile disease doubled the next year.
Climate change in Africa appears to be increasing cases of malaria. And the recent destruction in Houston, Florida and Puerto Rico due to hurricanes may usher in more infectious diseases in the years ahead.
The study focused specifically on a magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck coastal Ecuador in April 2016, coinciding with an exceptionally strong El Nino event.
El Ninos are associated with heavy rainfall and warmer air temperatures. They are also linked to outbreaks of dengue fever.
"We were seeing all of these viral symptoms in the wake of the quake," she said. "We noticed a huge spike in zika cases where the earthquake occurred. Prior to this, there were only a handful of zika cases in the whole country," Sorensen said.
In fact, the researchers found the number of zika cases had increased 12-fold in the quake zone.
The zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes. The symptoms are usually mild but the infection can cause major abnormalities and even death in a developing foetus.
El Nino created ideal conditions for zika-carrying mosquitoes to breed and make more copies of the zika virus, the study said.
The Parliament has been informed of this development by the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA), Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs (PCEA) said on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.
"The Committee is happy to note that there is such a commitment which will ensure that South Africa as a country lives up to its commitments to the Paris Agreement and begins to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies as part of the peak, plateau and decline trajectory," spokesperson Philemon Mapulane said.
The legislation, once adopted, will oblige the DEA to make a climate change impact assessment as a prerequisite for opening any coal-powered stations.
The PCEA believes that a climate change legislation will assist in avoiding litigation cases and judgments, Mapulane said.
He was referring to South Africa's first climate change court case against the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA).
Early this year, Earthlife Africa (ELA), represented by the Center for Environmental Rights, filed a lawsuit against the DEA, arguing that the department had granted the Thabametsi power station in Mpumalanga Province an environmental authorization without adequate information about its potential climate change impacts.
But lawyers for the DEA argue that, while climate change is a relevant factor to consider, the regulatory regime does not currently require a climate change impact assessment as a prerequisite for granting an environmental authorization.
In March, the Pretoria High Court reserved judgment on the case.
If ELA is successful, the authorization for Thabametsi Station will be set aside and referred back to the DEA. The department will then need to consider the full and final climate change impact assessment, along with public comment thereon, before making a decision whether to re-issue the authorization.
Such an order by the court would also have wider implications for the consideration of climate impacts in the authorization of future coal-fired power stations.
A climate change legislation has been under consideration for long.
South Africa has presented its White Paper on environment which envisions an effective climate change response and long-term goals towards a lower-carbon economy and climate resilient society. It includes proposal to set emissions reduction outcomes for each significant sector in the economy.
Agricultural insurance can change a farmer's land use strategies which can lead to unintended ecological consequences, according to the study published in the journal Global Environmental Change.
The researchers collected empirical and model studies from around the world to provide a comprehensive overview of the potential impact of agricultural insurance.
"Previous studies have concentrated primarily on economic aspects. Little attention has been devoted to the socio-ecological system as a whole," said Birgit Muller from Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research in Germany.
"But one thing is becoming clear: agricultural insurance can have a range of unwanted side effects, for example changes to farmers' land use strategies," Muller added.
The effects of climate change are felt particularly acutely in developing countries. A range of international initiatives develop and promote risk insurance. One example is the G7 climate risk insurance initiative InsuResilience, which aims to insure 400 million people in developing countries against climate-related risks by 2020.
The initiative includes "agricultural insurance", which is designed to insure farmers against major losses, for example as a result of extreme drought.
Small-scale farmers in developing countries traditionally grow a wide range of crops in their fields to ensure that at least one crop can survive a potential drought.
However, farmers are frequently reverting to monocultures because the agricultural insurance is often linked to specific crops and does not take effect if farmers cultivate a different crop.
And this has far-reaching ecological consequences: a decline in agricultural biodiversity, deterioration in soil quality, increased use of fertilisers and pesticides, which in turn increases the risk of water pollution.
However, even if agricultural insurance is not linked to specific crops, farmers with insurance cover may be inclined to grow riskier crops which promise high yields but also bring greater losses in an emergency.
Because the farmers have insurance, it is not absolutely necessary to adopt a sensible cultivation strategy.
Apart from ecological effects, the scientists also revealed some potential social side effects of agricultural insurance, such as the weakening of networks of small farmers in developing countries.
As a general rule, farmers help each other in the wake of major crop failures. Agricultural insurance can lead to an insured farmer no longer helping another farmer who could have taken out insurance.
"Agricultural insurance and the resulting changes in land use strategies can cause this kind of unintended ecological and social feedback, which can in turn lead to further problems and costs," Leigh Johnson from University of Oregon in the US said.
"In the long term, this could have a far-reaching impact on individual farms," Johnson said.
In their review, the researchers also put forward proposals on how to improve the design of agricultural insurance in future.
For example, the insurance policies should take effect only in emergencies such as extreme droughts.
Farmers should be allowed to deal with medium droughts using their own risk management measures, according to the study.
The study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) offers climate change's projected impacts on coffee, and the bees that help coffee to grow.
"Coffee is one of the most valuable commodities on earth, and needs a suitable climate and pollinating bees to produce well," said study co-author Taylor Ricketts, Professor at University of Vermont in the US.
"This is the first study to show how both will likely change under global warming - in ways that will hit coffee producers hard," Ricketts said.
While other research has explored climate-coffee scenarios, no other study has explored the coupled effects of climate change on coffee and bees at the national or continental scale.
The study was conducted with advanced modelling, spatial analysis and field data.
It forecasts much greater losses of coffee regions than previous global assessments, with the largest declines projected in Nicaragua, Honduras and Venezuela.
"Coffee provides the main income for millions of the rural poor, so yield declines would affect the livelihoods of those already vulnerable people," Ricketts said.
The scientists projected a slight increase in coffee suitability in Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and Costa Rica, mainly in mountainous areas where temperatures are expected to support coffee growing and more robust bee populations.
Pope Francis I and Angela Merkel on Saturday held a 38-minute talk in which they discussed the need for a multilateral world without walls and the importance of the African continent due to its proximity to Europe, Efe news reported.
According to Merkel, they also broached subjects such as the protection of the environment and the Paris Agreement, while lamenting US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the pact.
The German Chancellor stressed that the Pontiff completely agreed with her on these issues.
In addition, the two dignitaries exchanged views on the defence of international treaties and the upcoming G20 summit that is set to be hosted by the northwestern German city of Hamburg on July 7-8.
Merkel, who arrived at the Vatican accompanied by her spouse Joachim Sauer, was received by the prefect of the Papal Household, German Archbishop Georg Gänswein.
They were then welcomed by Francis I at the private library of the Apostolic Palace.
Merkel, whose father was a Lutheran pastor, had officially met the pope on six previous occasions, while Saturday's talks constituted her fourth private audience with the current head of the Catholic Church.
Francis expressed his condolences over the death of former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who passed away Friday at the age of 87.
The researchers believe that the findings, published in the journal Current Biology could help devise a biotechnological solution to managing polyethylene waste.
"We have found that the larva of a common insect, Galleria mellonella, is able to biodegrade one of the toughest, most resilient, and most used plastics: polyethylene," said Federica Bertocchini of the Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology of Cantabria in Spain.
Although wax worms would not normally eat plastic, the researchers suspect that their ability is a byproduct of their natural habits.
Wax moths lay their eggs inside beehives. The worms hatch and grow on beeswax, which is composed of a highly diverse mixture of lipid compounds.
The researchers said the molecular details of wax biodegradation require further investigation, but it is likely that digesting beeswax and polyethylene involves breaking down similar types of chemical bonds.
"Wax is a polymer, a sort of 'natural plastic,' and has a chemical structure not dissimilar to polyethylene," Bertocchini said.
Bertocchini and her colleagues made the discovery quite by accident, after noticing that plastic bags containing wax worms quickly became riddled with holes.
Further study showed that the worms can do damage to a plastic bag in less than an hour.
The order seeks to suspend, rescind or flag for review more than a half-dozen measures in an effort to boost domestic energy production in the form of fossil fuels.
As part of the roll-back, Trump will initiate a review of the Clean Power Plan, which restricts greenhouse gas emissions at coal-fired power plants. The regulation, which was the former president's signature effort to curb carbon emissions, has been the subject of long-running legal challenges by Republican-led states and those who profit from burning oil, coal and gas.
The President signed the order at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency, saying that this is "the start of a new era" in energy production. He also said that his administration was going to "end the war on coal".
Trump has previously called global warming a "hoax", and has repeatedly criticised ex-President Barack Obama's efforts as an attack on American workers and the struggling US coal industry.
Environmental advocates were not surprised by the order - given such remarks - but said Trump has not considered the public health and economic implications of not fighting climate change or how the order negatively affects US standing in the world.
Laurence Tubbiana, formerly the top French diplomat on climate change and now the CEO of the European Climate Foundation, said in a statement that the order "will propel the economy backwards".
Anne Kelly a Senior Director at Ceres, a coalition of investors and business that promote sustainability, told the Independent that the Clean Power Plan was the "crown jewel of the Obama administration's climate plan".
Trump gave his statement after an off-camera signing ceremony, flanked by coal miners from West Virginia.
He said the order would "start a new era…[in] making America wealthy again".
Given that private sector investment in the renewable energy industry hit $350 billion in 2016 globally, outpacing new investment in the oil and gas sector for the first time, Kelly said she expects the "marketplace is going to go forward regardless of what the White House does".
Several of the country's largest pension funds, accounting for tens of billions in investment, have already begun divesting money from oil and gas companies in order to ensure a more profitable future for their investors.
However, they do require the EPA to do its part in the regulatory realm.
In 2007, under Republican George W. Bush's administration, the Supreme Court ruled that carbon emissions were essentially a pollutant, Ms Kelly explained.
The ruling made it the EPA's responsibility to regulate carbon pollution as a matter of public health after a series of "endangerment hearings." Kelly said states were given quite a bit of flexibility in how to reach the goal of reducing carbon emissions as well.
Trump also said during his speech that safety, clean water, and clean air are still priorities, but that his latest order will eliminate the "crushing attack" on economic freedoms, jobs in coal mining, and American manufacturing by the "bad" regulations.
The order represents a clear difference between how Trump and former President Barack Obama view the role the US plays in combating climate change, and dramatically alters the government's approach to rising sea levels and temperatures -- two impacts of climate change, CNN reported.
A White House official on Monday said the Trump administration believes the government can both "serve the environment and increase energy independence at the same time" by urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for focus on what the administration believes is its core mission: Clean air and clean water.
More important than regulating climate change, the official said, is protecting American jobs.
The White House official said the best way to protect the environment is to have a strong economy, noting that countries like India and China do less to protect the environment.
"It is an issue that deserves attention," CNN quoted the official as saying.
Tuesday's order will initiate a review of the Clean Power Plant initiative, rescind the moratorium on coal mining on US federal lands and urge federal agencies to "identify all regulations, all rules, all policies ... that serve as obstacles and impediments to American energy independence," he added.
The order will rescind at least six Obama-era executive orders aimed at curbing climate change and regulating carbon emissions, including the former President's November 2013 executive order instructing the federal government to prepare for the impact of climate change and the September 2016 presidential memorandum that outlined the "growing threat to national security" that climate change poses.
"The previous administration devalued workers by their policies," the official said.
"We are saying we can do both we can protect the environment and provide people with work" he added.
Talk of gender in GIS is new. Until now, practical work on geospatial has been seen only as an analysis of high resolution images to discern land use and land cover, Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)said in a statement.
Citing researchers Chhaya Vani Namchu and Menaka Hamal, both working on gender data in the Hindu Kush, the ICIMOD said spatial study from a gendered lens is necessary, especially in Himalayan or rural contexts where climate induced change and corporate globalisation have led to migration, particularly of men.
According to the two researchers, a feminisation of responsibilities has taken place, leaving women not only with the burden of more work, but also with independence.
Gender in GIS also serves to illustrate distribution and access to resources, which in turn helps bringing socio-economic issues and disparities between men and women in the areas concerned to light, they said.
On the eve of International Women's Day on March 8, Namchu and Hamal say their choice to work on gender, and more specifically on gender in the Himalayas, stems from the need for representation.
"When we first started our careers in gender, backed by our degrees in women's studies, development, and natural resource management, we were challenged by the difficulty of trying to explain to people the nature of our work without being misunderstood," they said, the according to ICIMOD statement.
"The first impression most people had of us was that we would 'teach' feminism and ask communities to discard cultural norms, gender roles, and traditionally accepted structures and practices," they said.
A career in gender is one that is both challenging and fulfilling, and absolutely necessary too.
"The decision to work in gender for many of us arises out of the necessity to open a different perspective into an ever evolving world where we are both progressing and regressing. By far, the most exciting thing about working on gender is that we get to aunlearn' and learn in equal measure."
"But the study of and work on gender cannot fit into a monolithic identity. It is hence necessary to have men and women from different experiences, contexts and cultures contribute to the birth of new discourses," the researchers believe.
Moreover, a career in gender is not limited to the social sciences.
It is relevant to other disciplines and sectors as well.
"Here, based on our experience working at the ICIMOD, we take examples from two traditionally male-dominated disciplines which are treated as gender neutral and adopted as crucial components in the organisation."
Economics is another discipline where gender has proven pertinent.
Dialogues on gender and economics first brought the issue of unpaid labour into discussion.
This is how work done by the women in the form of household chores and taking care of family members came to be recognised as "work". Even so, women's work until now has been largely invisible, and their contributions have not been recognised in economic discourse.
The involvement of economics in gender and vice versa brought awareness regarding how traditional work hours have always enabled men to work in public spaces and succeed in the alabour market, the ICIMOD said citing th two researchers.
They say professionals who work in economics and gender help bring out gender disaggregated data, which in the past was not considered important in research analysis.