Category: Climate & Earth

Vivek Menon, founder of Wildlife Trust of India and Councillor IUCN, said the jump in the number in the last few years was also because of a major push in getting trees as taxa listed in red list and the work done by many groups to red list trees

Bengaluru: As many as 301 species of plants in India — trees to grass — have joined the list of various threatened categories assessed between 2020 and 2024, taking the total number of species in such a position to 762, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Two species have been classified extinct in the last three years.

The IUCN on Monday published its update to the list of threatened species across the world, stating that a majority of the world’s trees have been listed on the red list for the first time. “At least 16,425 of the 47,282 species assessed (across the world) are at risk of extinction,” the Union said.

Since 1998, 3,501 plant species have been assessed in India of which 762 (21per cent) species were found to be facing varying degrees of threats. The data analysed by DH showed that there were 154 species classified “critically endangered” just below the stage of “extinction in the wild”.

There were 282 “endangered” species facing “very high risk of extinction in the wild”, 239 species were “vulnerable” at high risk of unnatural extinction and 86 were “near threatened” close to being endangered in future.

Vivek Menon, founder of Wildlife Trust of India and Councillor IUCN, said the jump in the number in the last few years was also because of a major push in getting trees as taxa listed in red list and the work done by many groups to red list trees. It is not solely because more trees are being deforested.

For instance, Limnophila limnophiloides, an aquatic plant recorded in a wetland in Pune back in 1918, has never been found despite extensive search. Similarly, Hopea shingkeng, which grew in the foothills of the Himalayas, has also been declared extinct.

Source: https://www.deccanherald.com/environment/in-5-yrs-301-indian-plants-enter-threatened-list-3254241

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that Delhi’s daily average AQI will remain in the ‘very poor’ category in the upcoming days due to unfavourable weather conditions. The CAQM has implemented stage two of the anti-pollution plan.

With the air quality index (AQI) in Delhi worsening in the past few days, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has invoked stage two of the anti-pollution plan GRAP this morning.

As per the real-time data provided by the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the AQI in Delhi at 8 am was recorded at 317, which falls under the “very poor” category.

According to a forecast by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the daily average AQI of Delhi is expected to stay in the ‘very poor’ category in the coming days owing to unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions.

Under stage two of the GRAP or the Graded Response Action Plan, there will be restrictions on the use of coal and firewood as well as diesel generator sets in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).

Mechanical sweeping and water sprinkling on identified roads will also be carried out on a daily basis, and dust control measures will be enforced at construction and demolition sites.

Further, traffic personnel will be deployed at congestion points, vehicle parking fees will be increased to discourage private transport and additional bus and metro services will be started.

People have been advised to use public transport and minimise the use of personal vehicles.

The death toll in Gujarat due to rain-related incidents has risen to 28, after days of incessant downpours and waterlogging have led to a flood-like situation across the state. 17,800 people have been evacuated from flood affected regions and according to Gujarat health minister Rushikesh Patel more than 5000 people were rehabilitated and over 12,000 people rescued till August 28 in Vadodara.

The India Meteorological Department has predicted that a cyclonic storm will develop off the coast of Gujarat on August 30, intensifying from the deep depression currently lingering over Saurashtra and Kutch.

Prime minister Narendra Modi had a telephone conversation with Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel and extended his full support with regards to rescue and relief operations in the state.

CM Patel posted on X, saying that prime minister also offered guidance on issues related to sanitation and public health in the flooded areas.

The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for the entire state, which is facing heavy rain due to a deep depression moving from East Rajasthan towards the Saurashtra region.

The Gujarat government has requested six columns of Army assistance for urgent relief operations due to severe flooding in several districts. The NDRF has rescued 95 people in the last two days, with hundreds being displaced from their homes or stranded due to the inundation.

Gujarat has till now received 105 per cent of its average annual rainfall, according to the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC). Several Saurashtra districts, especially Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Porbandar and Rajkot, have experienced very heavy rainfall in the last 24 hours.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/gujarat-rain-live-updates-imd-red-alert-death-toll-narendra-modi-flood-latest-news-today-29-august-2024-101724903978163.html

A large fissure has opened on the Reykjanes peninsula 2.42 miles (3.9km) wide. Lava is already spreading over a large area.

Police in Iceland have declared a state of emergency after a volcano erupted, forcing homes to be evacuated.

The eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, in southwest Iceland, is the sixth outbreak since December.

Iceland’s meteorological office recorded increased seismic activity and earthquakes at the volcanic hill, Sundhnukar, days before the volcano erupted.

A large fissure has opened up nearby, at the Sundhnukagígar crater north of Grindavik, with lava flowing both east and west.

One estimate by the country’s Met Office suggests “the lava flow has travelled about 1km in 10 minutes”.

Experts also said the total length of the fissure was about 2.42 miles (3.9km) and had extended by 1 mile (1.5km) in about 40 minutes.

Recent studies showed magma accumulating underground, prompting warnings of new volcanic activity in the area south of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.

The local police chief for the area has declared a state of emergency.

The nature-based technology, biochar, could help save the planet. The work it takes to grow crops produces greenhouse gases that trap carbon in the atmosphere and would speed up the planet’s heating. New research finds biochar’s potential to eliminate large amounts of greenhouse gases could make farming more climate-friendly.

Biochar is a charcoal-like porous substance made by heating organic material — things like wood chips, crop residues, or even manure — in a low-oxygen environment. This process, called pyrolysis, transforms the material into a stable, carbon-rich substance that looks a bit like barbecue charcoal. But unlike the stuff you use for grilling, biochar has some remarkable properties when added to soil. The material is mainly used for crop production as a soil additive or to capture atmospheric carbon.

“When farmers grow their crops, they apply fertilizer and/or manure and use different kinds of machinery to till the soil,” says Raj Shrestha, a research associate in horticulture and crop science at The Ohio State University, in a statement. “In the process, greenhouse gases are produced and released into the atmosphere.”

In recent years, researchers have grown an interest in the technology because of the several agricultural and environmental benefits. Now the challenge is convincing farmers to adopt biochar in their farming practice. One way is to steer the conversation on how it can help extend soil life.

“If we can convince farmers that converting biomass to biochar is good for the long-term sustainability of soils, the economy, and good for the environment, then we’ll be able to see wide adoption of this technology,” Shrestha says.

In the study, the researchers reviewed over 200 field studies worldwide that examined the impact of biochar application in agriculture and the release of gases such as nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide. All three are heat-trapping gases that majorly contribute to Earth’s warming atmosphere.

Findings showed the amount of biochar in the soil mattered in whether it decreased or had no change in gas emissions. Generally, using biochar in the field reduced the amount of nitrous oxide in the air by 18 percent and methane by 3 percent. On the other hand, biochar did little by itself to change carbon dioxide emissions. Mixing biochar with commercial nitrogen fertilizer or other organic materials like manure or compost did help with reducing carbon.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/biochar-farming-climate-change/?nab=0

Delhi is nearing its normal July rainfall with significant showers expected today and tomorrow due to a cyclonic circulation. The monsoon trough will bring heavy rains on 31st July, continuing into early August, marking a wet end to July and a rainy start to August.

These showers, though patchy and intermittent, added over 100mm of rainfall during this period. According to the base observatory at Safdarjung, Delhi has recorded a total of 203.2mm of rain against the normal 209.7mm from 1st to 29th July 2024. Moderate to heavy showers are expected in the next few days this week.

Upcoming Cyclonic Circulation 

A cyclonic circulation is forming over the North Bay of Bengal and Gangetic West Bengal on 30th July. This will realign the monsoon trough along the Indo-Gangetic plains, as per a report by Skymet Weather. The cyclonic circulation is expected to become more organised on 31st July and shift inland the following day. This will activate the monsoon along the entire stretch of the trough, from North Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, and Delhi in the west to West Bengal in the east, across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/delhi/delhi-can-expect-heavy-rainfall-on-july-30-31-due-to-cyclonic-circulation-impact-check-forecast-article-112122020

In June, the city received the highest rainfall recorded in 88 years. According to the IMD, Delhi experienced 228 mm of rainfall from 8: 30 a.m. on June 27 to 8:30 a.m. on June 28.

Residents of the national capital woke up to heavy rains and thunderstorms early Friday morning, bringing much-needed relief from the persistently humid weather. Residents of the national capital started the day with waterlogged streets and massive traffic jams in parts of the city, disrupting daily routines. The India Meteorological Department announced that the Delhi and NCR regions could expect more rain in the next few hours, with a ‘yellow alert’ for Delhi in place for Friday.

“Light rainfall/drizzle is very likely to occur at a few places in Delhi ( Narela, Alipur, Badili, Pitampura, Punjabi Bagh, Seelampur, Shahadra, Vivek Vihar, Red fort, President House, Rajiv Chowk, ITO, India Gate, Lodi Road, RK Puram, Defence Colony, Hauz Khas, Malviya Nagar, IGNOU, NCR ( Hindon AF Station, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Ballabhgarh) Meham (Haryana) Saharanpur, Deoband, Muzaffarnagar, Sadabad (UP) during next 2 hours,” the IMD said.

Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/delhi/heavy-rain-hits-delhi-traffic-jams-and-waterlogging-disrupt-morning-commute-article-112028158

The IMD has forecast moderate rainfall for Wednesday in Delhi. The maximum and minimum temperatures might hover around 34 and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Several parts of Delhi and Noida received a light spell of rain in the wee hours of Wednesday, July 24. Rain lashed RK Puram and its nearby areas in south Delhi, as the India Meteorological Department has issued a “yellow” alert for the the national capital for the next two days.

Weather officials said parts of Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Baghpat and some more adjoining areas are likely to receive moderate to intense rain in the upcoming hours as the monsoon trough is inducing scattered thunderstorms over the region.

On Monday, the residents of Delhi witnessed a sudden weather change as heavy rain lashed parts of the national capital. The city recorded a maximum temperature of 36.2 degrees Celsius, 1.3 notches above normal, according to the weather department

The relative humidity at 5.30 pm stood at 68 per cent.

The weather office has forecast moderate rainfall for Wednesday, with the maximum and minimum temperatures likely to hover around 34 and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded in the “satisfactory ” category with a reading of 93 at 6 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

In June, the city received the highest rainfall recorded in 88 years. According to the IMD, Delhi experienced 228 mm of rainfall from 8: 30 am on June 27 to 8:30am on June 28.

A total of 235.5 mm of rain was recorded, marking the maximum rainfall in 24 hours in June since 1936.

However, due to rain, water levels in the Yamuna River have risen, prompting the authorities to issue an alert to the residents of Noida villages, situated along the riverbanks. These villagers experienced severe flooding last year during the monsoon season, causing significant inconvenience to residents of both Delhi and Noida.

On Monday, IMD officials said light to moderate rainfall was logged in west, central, north, and southwest Delhi. The Safdarjung observatory, representative of Delhi’s weather, received 31.4mm of rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Monday.

However, the rain failed to cover the deficit that Delhi currently faces for July.

“This has been a particularly hot and humid July, characterised by calm winds and high humidity. For most of the month, the monsoon trough has stayed south of Delhi and closer to central India, which is why we are not seeing any significant rain,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet, adding that every time the trough moves closer to Delhi — as it did on Monday — Delhi logs an increase in rain intensity.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rain-lashes-parts-of-delhi-imd-predicts-more-showers-today-july-24-2024-weather-updates-101721783347356.html

When the Earth’s ice masses melt, the way the planet rotates also changes. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now been able to show how climate change is altering the Earth’s axis of rotation and the length of the day. The speed of rotation, which was hitherto mainly influenced by the moon, will now also depend much more on the climate.

Climate change is causing the ice masses in Greenland and Antarctica to melt. Water from the polar regions is flowing into the world’s oceans –and especially into the equatorial region. “This means that a shift in mass is taking place, and this is affecting the Earth’s rotation,” explains Benedikt Soja, Professor of Space Geodesy at the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering at ETH Zurich.

“It’s like when a figure skater does a pirouette, first holding her arms close to her body and then stretching them out,” Soja says. The initially fast rotation becomes slower because the masses move away from the axis of rotation, increasing physical inertia. In physics, we speak of the law of conservation of angular momentum, and this same law also governs the Earth’s rotation. If the Earth turns more slowly, the days get longer. Climate change is therefore also altering the length of the day on Earth, albeit only minimally.

Supported by the US space agency NASA, the ETH researchers from Soja’s group have published two new studies in the journals Nature Geoscience and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) on how climate change affects the polar motion and the length of the day.

Climate change surpasses the moon’s influence
In the PNAS study the ETH Zurich researchers show that climate change is also increasing the length of the day by a few milliseconds from its current 86,400 seconds. This is because water is flowing from the poles to lower latitudes and thus slowing down the speed of rotation.

Another cause of this slowdown is tidal friction, which is triggered by the moon. However, the new study comes to a surprising conclusion: if humans continue to emit more greenhouse gases and the Earth warms up accordingly, this would ultimately have a greater influence on the Earth’s rotational speed than the effect of the moon, which has determined the increase in the length of the day for billions of years. “We humans have a greater impact on our planet than we realize,” Soja concludes, “and this naturally places great responsibility on us for the future of our planet.”

The Earth’s axis of rotation is shifting

However, shifts in mass on the Earth’s surface and in its interior caused by the melting ice not only change the Earth’s rotational speed and the length of day: as the researchers show in Nature Geoscience, they also alter the axis of rotation. This means that the points where the axis of rotation actually meets the Earth’s surface move. Researchers can observe this polar motion, which, over a longer timeframe, comes to some ten meters per hundred years. It’s not only the melting of the ice sheets that plays a role here, but also movements taking place in the Earth’s interior. Deep in the Earth’s mantle, where the rock becomes viscous due to high pressure, displacements occur over long periods of time. And there are also heat flows in the liquid metal of Earth’s outer core, which are responsible both generate the Earth’s magnetic field and lead to shifts in mass.

In the most comprehensive modeling to date, Soja and his team have now shown how polar motion results from the individual processes in the core, in the mantle and from the climate at the surface. Their study was recently published in the journal Nature Geoscience. “For the first time, we present a complete explanation for the causes of long-period polar motion,” says Mostafa Kiani Shahvandi, one of Soja’s doctoral students and lead author of the study. “In other words, we now know why and how the Earth’s axis of rotation moves relative to the Earth’s crust.”

Light to moderate rainfall lashed parts of Delhi NCR in the early hours of Saturday, July 13, while rain is expected to to continue till July 17.

The residents of Delhi and NCR regions experience further respite from the heat in mid-July as light to moderate rain lashed parts of the national capital and neighboring Noida in the early hours of Saturday. Visuals from Delhi’s Janpath showed moderate rainfall in the national capital at around 5 am on July 13.

Rain lashes parts of Delhi and Noida on Saturday (PTI photo)
Rain lashes parts of Delhi and Noida on Saturday (PTI photo)
In addition to isolated rainfall throughout the day, Delhi and Noida are expected to witness cloudy skies and light thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday, predicted local weather agencies.

This comes a day after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a rainfall alert in Delhi NCR, saying that light to moderate rains will continue to lash the national capital for the next few days. IMD said in its most recent forecast that light rain will continue in Delhi and Noida till July 17.

The rainfall warning prompted the Noida authorities to issue an alert for residents living in low-lying area, warning them to relocate to higher ground for a few days as the water levels of Yamuna river are expected to rise due to the downpour.

Villages situated along the banks of the Yamuna river have been alerted regarding the likely rise of water levels this week. The same areas experience inconvenience when heavy rains lashed Delhi NCR last year, causing heavy flooding in parts of the national capital due to dangerously high water levels of Yamuna.

While IMD issued a rain forecast for Delhi NCR over the weekend, no colour-coded warning has been issued for the city for Saturday on Sunday. The rain is expected to by light and patchy throughout the weekend, said IMD.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/delhi-weather-national-capital-noida-wake-up-to-rain-more-showers-predicted-101720831399785.html

Weather updates: The IMD has issued an ‘orange alert’ for heavy rainfall in Bihar, with a ‘red alert’ for very heavy rainfall predicted for Friday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted increased rainfall activity in north and northeast India, including East Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, and other regions, in the coming days. The weather body has further issued an ‘orange alert’ for heavy rainfall on Thursday, July 11, in the state of Bihar and parts of Uttar Pradesh.

According to the regional meteorological centre in New Delhi, a generally cloudy sky with very light to light rain is expected in Delhi-NCR on Thursday. The regional met centre forecasts a maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius and a minimum temperature of 26 degrees Celsius for Thursday. IMD officials indicated on Wednesday that the intensity of rainfall in Delhi is expected to increase in the coming days.

Latest rain and flood updates
Uttar Pradesh:
– Many villages in Lakhimpur Kheri have been affected by the overflow of water from the Sharda River due to heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Wednesday that 12 districts in the state are currently flood-affected. Rescue and relief operations are ongoing at a rapid pace in all affected districts.

– The Noida police, under the directives of Police Commissioner Laxmi Singh, are patrolling flood-prone areas to inform residents about weather warnings and urge them to relocate to safer locations.

– Warnings have been issued due to expected heavy rainfall and rising water levels in the Yamuna River during the monsoon season, according to DCP Noida Manish Kumar Mishra.

Assam:
– In Assam, five more people died in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of flood-related deaths to 84, news agency ANI reported citing Disaster Reporting and Information Management System Assam.

– Nearly 1.439 million people in 27 districts have been affected by the floods. The water level of the Brahmaputra River is above the danger level at Neamatighat, Tezpur, Guwahati, and Dhubri.

Warnings for the day
– The IMD has issued an ‘orange alert’ for heavy rainfall in Bihar, with a ‘red alert’ for very heavy rainfall predicted for Friday. Bihar is expected to receive very heavy rainfall (115.5-204.4 mm) to extremely heavy falls (>204.4 mm) on Thursday, July 11.

– Areas in Uttar Pradesh such as Kheri, Balarampur, Siddharthnagar, Maharajganj, Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, and Santkabir Nagar are under an ‘orange alert’ with predictions of heavy rainfall on Thursday.

– Additionally, the weather body has issued an ‘orange alert’ for the Konkan and Goa region, predicting isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall.

– Rainfall activity is expected to increase from July 20, with heavy rainfall forecast for July 11-12 and a ‘yellow alert’ has been issued in parts of the Himalayan state, and there is a possibility of flash floods in the state, according to IMD scientist Surender Paul, as reported by ANI.

Rain prediction across the country
North and Central India:
– Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over East Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh till July 14, in Uttarakhand and West Uttar Pradesh till July 12, in Himachal Pradesh from July 11 to 13, in Jammu on July 12 and 13, and in north Haryana and north Punjab on July 12.

– East Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are expected to experience isolated heavy rainfall on Thursday, July 11.

East and North East India:
– Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at isolated places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, and Meghalaya till July 14.

– Jharkhand is expected to see isolated heavy rainfall on July 11 and 12, while Odisha will experience it from July 12 to 14.

– Nagaland and Manipur are likely to have isolated heavy rainfall on July 11, and 14. Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is very likely over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, Meghalaya, and over Bihar on July 11.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/weather-updates-july-11-2024-imd-issues-heavy-rain-alert-for-bihar-goa-what-about-delhi-and-up-101720656210786.html

Delhi monsoon: The India Meteorological Department has predicted more rain in Delhi during the day.

Heavy rain in parts of Delhi today brought relief from record heat and sultry weather. Visuals shared by the news agency ANI showed heavy showers in Munirka, Sarita Vihar, and other parts of the national capital with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting more rain during the day.

“Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain with heavy intensity rain over isolated places and wind with speed of 20-40 Km/h would continue to occur over and adjoining areas of many places of Delhi,” the IMD said in a post on X at 9 AM.

Delhi and other parts of north India have struggled with intense heatwave.

Delhi had been reeling from the sweltering heat, recording nine heatwave days in June so far against none in 2023 and 2022.

Earlier on Wednesday, the IMD predicted that Delhi’s maximum and minimum temperatures today would be around 38 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius.

The Safdarjung Observatory, the capital’s primary weather station, had recorded a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, two notches above normal.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/delhi-rain-heavy-rain-in-delhi-brings-some-relief-from-intense-heat-ahead-of-monsoon-arrival-5978840#pfrom=home-ndtv_topscroll

As temperatures and humidity soar outside, what’s happening inside the human body can become a life-or-death battle decided by just a few degrees.

The critical danger point outdoors for illness and death from relentless heat is several degrees lower than experts once thought, say researchers who put people in hot boxes to see what happens to them.

With much of the United States, Mexico, India and the Middle East suffering through blistering heat waves, worsened by human-caused climate change, several doctors, physiologists and other experts explained to The Associated Press what happens to the human body in such heat.

Key body temperature
The body’s resting core temperature is typically about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius).

That’s only 7 degrees (4 Celsius) away from catastrophe in the form of heatstroke, said Ollie Jay, a professor of heat and health at the University of Sydney in Australia, where he runs the thermoergonomics laboratory.

How heat kills
Heat kills in three main ways, Jay said. The usual first suspect is heatstroke — critical increases in body temperature that cause organs to fail.

When inner body temperature gets too hot, the body redirects blood flow toward the skin to cool down, Jay said. But that diverts blood and oxygen away from the stomach and intestines, and can allow toxins normally confined to the gut area to leak into circulation.

“That sets off a cascade of effects,” Jay said. “Clotting around the body and multiple organ failure and, ultimately, death.”

But the bigger killer in heat is the strain on the heart, especially for people who have cardiovascular disease, Jay said.

It again starts with blood rushing to the skin to help shed core heat. That causes blood pressure to drop. The heart responds by trying to pump more blood to keep you from passing out.

“You’re asking the heart to do a lot more work than it usually has to do,” Jay said. For someone with a heart condition “it’s like running for a bus with dodgy (hamstring). Something’s going to give.”

The third main way is dangerous dehydration. As people sweat, they lose liquids to a point that can severely stress kidneys, Jay said.

Many people may not realize their danger, Houston’s Gandhi said.

Dehydration can progress into shock, causing organs to shut down from lack of blood, oxygen and nutrients, leading to seizures and death, said Dr. Renee Salas, a Harvard University professor of public health and an emergency room physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“Dehydration can be very dangerous and even deadly for everyone if it gets bad enough — but it is especially dangerous for those with medical conditions and on certain medications,” Salas said.

Dehydration also reduces blood flow and magnifies cardiac problems, Jay said.

Attacking the brain
Heat also affects the brain. It can cause a person to have confusion, or trouble thinking, several doctors said.

“One of the first symptoms you’re getting into trouble with the heat is if you get confused,” said University of Washington public health and climate professor Kris Ebi. That’s little help as a symptom because the person suffering from the heat is unlikely to recognize it, she said. And it becomes a bigger problem as people age.

One of the classic definitions of heat stroke is a core body temperature of 104 degrees “coupled with cognitive dysfunction,” said Pennsylvania State University physiology professor W. Larry Kenney.

Humidity matters
Some scientists use a complicated outside temperature measurement called wet bulb globe temperature, which takes into account humidity, solar radiation and wind. In the past, it was thought that a wet-bulb reading of 95 Fahrenheit (35 Celsius) was the point when the body started having trouble, said Kenney, who also runs a hot box lab and has done nearly 600 tests with volunteers.

His tests show the wet-bulb danger point is closer to 87 (30.5 Celsius). That’s a figure that has started to appear in the Middle East, he said.

And that’s just for young healthy people. For older people, the danger point is a wet bulb temperature of 82 (28 degrees Celsius), he said.

“Humid heat waves kill a lot more people than dry heat waves,” Kenney said.

When Kenney tested young and old people in dry heat, young volunteers could function until 125.6 degrees (52 degrees Celsius), while the elderly had to stop at 109.4 (43 degrees Celsius). With high or moderate humidity, the people could not function at nearly as high a temperature, he said.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/deadly-heat-wave-body-climate-change-b70e6ff98a81e80d9b99ed088e6de3d6

Prolonged and intense heat waves in northwest India, with high day and night temperatures, cause heat stress and health emergencies.

This year’s arduous summer, which has led to oppressive conditions for millions of people across the country, has sparked what is perhaps the most prolonged spell of heat ever recorded in at least 50% of northwest India — Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan — data shows.

This heat spell across India’s north, east and northwest is also particularly agonising due to the unusually extreme night-time temperatures, which India Meteorological Department (IMD) scientists call “warm nights”, being experienced across the swathe of areas in the grip of the heat streak.

Scientists and doctors said that combination of high day-time and night-time temperatures has led to conditions that put immense heat stress on the body, especially for those who are without access to air conditioners or coolers. It is further aggravated by the lack of availability of cool water.

In many areas in Delhi, for example, people are getting unusually warm tap water through day and night.

Data analysed by HT shows that more than half of northwestern India has experienced a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius (°C) or higher on almost all days in the past 33 days (the period between May 16 and June 17). This makes it the longest 40°+ spell since 1951 in most parts of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. Nearly half of Gujarat (around 44% of the state) and more than a third of Uttar Pradesh (34% of the state’s area) are also experiencing its worst heat spell since 1951, the earliest year for which data is available.

This also shows how wide a swathe is in the grips of this excruciatingly long heat spell.

In nearly a quarter of the country’s area (24%), this year is at least in the top five longest heat spells ever recorded. It is among the top 10 in 32% of the area, and among the top 20 in 40% of the country’s area. To be sure, this is the case when 37% of the country’s area has either never reached a 40°C reading in the May 16-June 17 period, or did not this year. If we exclude this area, then 40°C+ temperatures have been experienced on the maximum number of days this year in over 25% of India.

While the extreme day temperature is part of the problem, it does not fully capture why this year’s heat has felt agonising. For that, weather scientists, point to the high temperature that is also prevalent in the night — the only time people expect any relief.

“The day temperatures are way too high. So naturally the nights are not able to cool down as much. If the maximum temperatures are in the range of 45-46°C, you cannot expect night time temperatures to be normal either,” said M Mohapatra, IMD director general.

A warm night is declared only when the maximum temperature remains 40°C or more, and is defined based on departures of actual minimum temperatures. A warm night is when minimum temperature departure is 4.5°C to 6.4°C above normal.

“More warm nights are being experienced this time… At night there is an outgoing longwave radiation or the heat is radiated back. But the temperatures are so high and hot westerly winds are blowing at night, so that is not happening as expected,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president, climate and meteorology at Skymet Weather.

The monsoon, which has barely progressed beyond central India since June 11, has only added to the woes. “We are expecting monsoon to pick up in a few days which may help in modulating temperatures,” Palawat added.

The average June rainfall for the country as a whole is most likely to be below normal (< 92% of the Long Period Average (LPA), IMD said on Tuesday. LPA of the June rainfall over the country as a whole for the period 1971-2020 is 16.69cm. Normal to above normal monthly rainfall is most likely over most areas of the south peninsular India and some areas of Northeast India. Below normal rainfall is most likely over many areas of Northwest & adjoining Central India and some areas of Northeast India.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/over-50-of-nw-india-in-grip-of-its-hottest-spell-since-1951-101718735666863.html

According to the IMD, Delhi will experience slight relief from Wednesday. The national capital is expected to be on ‘yellow’ alert on Wednesday and Thursday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a ‘red’ alert for Delhi on Tuesday, June 18, due to a severe heatwave sweeping the national capital, with maximum temperatures expected to reach 45 degrees Celsius. On Monday, the maximum temperature touched 45.2 degrees Celsius, even as the weather office predicted some relief from the scorching heat from June 19.

The weather office has forecast mainly clear skies with heatwave to severe heatwave conditions at many places in Delhi on Tuesday. It has also predicted strong surface winds during the day.

According to the IMD’s seven-day forecast, Delhi will experience slight relief from Wednesday. The national capital is expected to be on ‘yellow’ alert on Wednesday and Thursday, while it will be put on ‘green’ alert on Friday and Saturday.

After Wednesday, a fresh western disturbance will approach northwest India, also affecting the national capital and bringing relief, the IMD said.

According to the IMD weather bulletin, heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are very likely in most parts of Uttar Pradesh between June 18 and 19 and Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi on June 18; in isolated parts of Himachal Pradesh and Bihar on June 18 and decrease in intensity thereafter over above the regions.

On Monday, heatwave to severe heatwave conditions were recorded at most places in Delhi, with the Safdarjung observatory, the primary weather station of the national capital, registering a high of 45.2 degrees Celsius, 6.4 notches above the season’s average. It was also a warm Monday morning, with the minimum temperature settling at 33 degrees Celsius, 5.5 notches above normal.

The Palam weather station recorded a maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius, seven notches above normal, while the Lodhi Road, Ridge and the Ayanagar observatories registered readings of 45.6 degrees, 46.3 degrees and 46.4 degrees, respectively.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/delhi-weather-today-imd-issues-heatwave-red-alert-capital-sizzles-at-june-18-2024-temperature-101718678143997.html

Inside the bodies of giant humpback whales are clues about how climate change is transforming Antarctica. As sea ice continues to decline at an alarming rate in the fragile Antarctic Peninsula, scientists working with the wildlife charity WWF are carrying out up-close health checks on the massive marine mammals there. The BBC’s Victoria Gill and Kate Stephens crossed the Southern Ocean, with the researchers, on a mission to follow and study the whales of this remote, frozen wilderness.

At 03:00 in the morning there is an almighty crash. Every drawer in our cabin is flung open and contents hurled against the wall. We hit a 12-metre wave.
I’m not a seafarer; this is alarming, but apparently not unusual on the Drake Passage – the stretch of the notoriously rough Southern Ocean we are on. We’re aboard a 200-passenger tourist ship, with a team of wildlife scientists, on our way to the Antarctic Peninsula.

One of the researchers, Dr Natalia Botero-Acosta has an arresting piece of equipment in her hand luggage – a custom-made crossbow. “It’s not a weapon,” she explains. “It’s a scientific tool we use to collect whale skin and blubber samples.”
Using the crossbow and a drone, the researchers will carry out up-close health checks on every humpback whale they can find, to work out if these massive mammals are getting enough to eat.

It is an important question – not just for mighty, 40-tonne humpbacks that travel thousands of kilometres to gorge themselves in the cold seas – but for the health of the ocean and our planet.
In the rich, freezing seas off the peninsula, penguins, seals and many whales feed on Antarctic krill.
These diminutive, almost unimaginably numerous, shrimp-like creatures thrive under sea ice. As the climate warms up, scientists are racing to understand what that means for this ice-dependent food supply.

Early on our first Antarctic morning, in mercifully calm coastal waters, we set out on a small, inflatable boat called a zodiac.
Cloud is descending and it is starting to snow. Leading our Antarctic whale research mission is Chris Johnson, who is the wildlife charity WWF’s global expert on whale conservation.
In conditions like this,” says Chris, “the best way to find whales is to listen – we’ll switch off the zodiac engine and close our eyes.”
The silence is transformational. Multiple, overlapping blows of whale exhalations echo off mountains that rise vertically out of glassy water. Gigantic, hungry humpbacks are feeding in this bay. All around our small boat, animals are breathing, then diving – opening their cavernous mouths to let krill-laden seawater rush in.
We head slowly in the direction of the nearest blows and Natalia reaches for her crossbow.
The giant mammals build up chemical clues about their environment in their blubber – clues that Natalia plans to collect.

She picks up one of the crossbow bolts. On the business end, there is a 3cm metal tip that plucks a piece of skin and blubber from the whale’s body. A rubber stopper prevents the bolt from penetrating further: It grabs a sample, then bounces off the animal and floats in the water.
“It’s 3cm from an animal that’s 14m long – so it’s like a mosquito bite,” says Natalia. Sure enough, when her bolt takes a nick out of the body of a huge, female whale, the animal doesn’t flinch.
It’s a mother, side-by-side with her calf. She seems intrigued – circling our boat slowly, then gliding directly underneath. Her giant head and white pectoral fins – fringed with barnacles – are visible as she slowly floats beneath us.
“Hold on in case she comes up,” says Chris. But mother whale glides on, surfacing on the other side of us with a blow.

The calf is even more curious, raising its head out of the water. The young marine mammal seems to examine us; we’re a strange group of tiny, terrestrial mammals in a small, rubber boat. I can’t stop myself greeting the calf: “Hello, beautiful.”
Baby humpbacks spend a year nursing on their mothers’ rich milk. With a hungry, one-tonne newborn, calories are important.
“We need to find the most critical feeding habitats for whales, so we can protect them,” explains Chris.
The health of whales, he explains, shines a light on the health of the whole Antarctic ecosystem. And whales are physically necessary for a healthy ocean: Humpbacks eat krill, and krill eat microscopic plants that live in sea ice – plants that absorb planet-warming carbon as they grow. Whales then poop (in vast quantities) and fertilise the marine plants.
It’s a virtuous, productive cycle that climate change is disrupting. “These are natural processes we rely on for fresh air, food and clean water,” says Chris. “Places like this are important for all of us.”

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj770nrx0x9o

Delhi weather updates: The maximum temperature dropped from 44°C the previous day to 41.2°C on Thursday, relieving residents from intense heat.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted light rain for the national capital on Friday, June 7. This will be accompanied by dust storms or thunderstorms and strong surface winds blowing at speeds of 25 to 35 kmph, occasionally gusty throughout the day.

“Partly cloudy sky. Dust storm/thunderstorm with very light rain. Strong surface winds (speed 25-35 kmph) occasionally in gusty during the day,” the regional meteorological centre, New Delhi, said in its weather forecast for Friday. The maximum temperature is likely to settle at 43 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature at 29 degrees Celsius.

The weather agency in its latest weather bulletin said, “Isolated to scattered very light to light rainfall with thunderstorm, lightning & gusty winds (40-50 kmph) very likely over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan during 06th-07th June, 2024. Duststorm very likely over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Uttar Pradesh on 06th and Rajasthan during 06th-07th June, 2024. Isolated hailstorm very likely over West Rajasthan on 07th June, 2024.”

Similar cloudy weather is expected on June 8. On June 9, the sky will be clear with gusty winds. From June 10 to June 12, the national capital will experience a partly cloudy sky with strong surface winds.

‘Weather change due to western disturbance’
The IMD said that the city is experiencing a “weather change due to the influence of a new western disturbance.”

On Thursday night, a strong dust storm swept across several areas of Delhi-NCR. The maximum temperature dropped from 44 degrees Celsius the previous day to 41.2 degrees Celsius, slightly above normal, according to the IMD, providing residents with some relief from the intense heat.

According to the IMD bulletin, the minimum temperature settled at 24.6 degrees Celsius, which is three degrees below normal, while the relative humidity fluctuated between 39 per cent and 57 per cent.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/delhi-weather-today-june-7-imd-predicts-rain-duststorm-with-35-kmph-speed-updates-101717726104700.html#google_vignette

A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted Wednesday for the fifth time since December, spewing red lava that once again threatened the coastal town of Grindavik and led to the evacuation of the popular Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.

The eruption began in the early afternoon following a series of earthquakes north of the town of 3,800 people that was largely evacuated in December when the volcano came to life after centuries of dormancy and put on an impressive show of nature’s power.

Although activity began to calm down by early evening, the eruption was estimated to be the area’s most vigorous so far, as lava shot 50 meters (165 feet) into the sky from a fissure that grew to 3.5 kilometers (2.1 miles) in length, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said.

Barriers built to protect Grindavik deflected the flowing lava that cut off two of the three roads leading to town and was close to reaching the third.

“It’s a much larger volume that’s on the move right now headed for town,” Grindavik Mayor Fannar Jónasson told national broadcaster RUV. “The lava has already conquered (a lot).”

Workers and anyone still in town were ordered to leave earlier in the day, police said. The Blue Lagoon thermal spa — one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions — was evacuated before the eruption began, RUV said.

At one point, a dark plume of ash boiled up over the crater from an explosive interaction of magma hitting groundwater, scientists said.

The cloud did not rise high enough to initially pose any threat to aviation, but scientists were closely monitoring the situation, Jóhanna Malen Skúladóttir, of the Met Office, told RUV.

Grindavik, which is about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, has been threatened since a swarm of earthquakes in November forced an evacuation in advance of the initial Dec. 18 eruption. A subsequent eruption overwhelmed some defensive walls and consumed several buildings.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/iceland-volcano-eruption-grindavik-blue-lagoon-87c95e0f5893e1e3c69634c09d3913d8

Authorities have evacuated over 1 lakh from vulnerable areas in West Bengal before the cyclone made landfall on Sunday at around 08:30 pm between the Sagar Island in the state and Khepapura in Bangladesh.

Cyclonic storm Remal made landfall between the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday late night has flooded streets and damaged homes in parts of West Bengal. Authorities have evacuated over 1 lakh from vulnerable areas in West Bengal before the cyclone made landfall on Sunday at around 08:30 pm between the Sagar Island in the state and Khepapura in Bangladesh.

Flight operations impacted

The Kolkata Airport suspended flight operations for roughly 21 hours, which led to 394 flights getting impacted. As per airport authorities, 170 domestic flights and 28 international flights were scheduled to depart from the Kolkata airport and 26 international flights were set to arrive.

“In view of Cyclone Remal’s impact on the coastal region of West Bengal, including Kolkata, a meeting was held with stakeholders, and it was decided to suspend flight operations from noon on May 26 to 9 am on May 27 due to predicted heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall in Kolkata,” NSCBI airport director C Pattabhi said in a statement.

Trains cancelled due to Cyclone Remal

At a sizzling 50°C, Phalodi recorded the third highest temperature ever recorded in the city.

At a sizzling 50°C, Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded the third highest temperature ever recorded in the city, data from the Pune-based National Data Centre of the India Meteorological Department showed, narrowly missing its record high of 51°C.

The state has been suffering under the unrelenting heat for at least the past week, with six more people succumbing to heat-related ailments in the last 24 hours.

A red alert has been issued for 13 districts — Alwar, Baran, Kota, Barmer, Bikaner, Jalore, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jodhpur, Pali, Nagaur, Sriganganagar, and Jaisalmer — in the state till Monday , forecasting extreme heatwave.

Phalodi in Jodhpur recorded 50°C was the third highest maximum temperature for the month of May. The city recorded 51°C on May 19, 2016, which was the highest temperature ever recorded in the country, and 50.5°C on May 18, 2016.

The year 2016 was when the last phase of the El Nino weather patten waned, after it set in 2014. El Nino is usually characterised by a warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean. In India, this leads to the monsoon being drier than usual.

Saturday’s highest in Phalodi was followed by Barmer and Jaisalmer, which both recorded 48°C, and Bikaner and Churu, which recorded 47°C, IMD data showed.

Such unusually high temperatures were observed in other parts of the country as well.

Parts of Madhya Pradesh, such as Khargone, Ratlam, Rajgarh and Khandwa, recorded more than 45°C maximum temperatures.

In Delhi, Safdarjung (the city’s base station) recorded 43.4°C and Najafgarh 46.8°C.

Most of northeast India recorded extremely high temperatures, with over Assam nearly burning under severe heat. Guwahati recorded 40.1°C, in a departure of 8 degrees from normal; Passighat in Arunachal Pradesh recorded 39.4°C, 9.3 degrees above normal; Cherrapunji in Meghalaya recorded 30.1°C, 7 degrees above normal.

Experts blamed a change in wind directions for the dry weather.

“This extreme heat is mainly being recorded because wind direction has changed. Its northerly. So even more northeast India, very dry, hot winds blowing from the land side are affecting. The change in wind direction is mainly due to cyclone formation over the Bay. Northeast India will see relief from Sunday once the cyclone makes landfall,” said M Mohapatra, director general, IMD.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rajasthan-city-simmers-at-50-c-as-heatwave-grips-western-state-101716663542233.html

Moist easterly winds ushered in humidity that made the day perceptibly uncomfortable in the Capital despite a 2.4-degree drop in the maximum temperature on Thursday, with weather officials predicting little relief for the time being.

Humidity levels varied between 39% and 62%, leading to a heat index (HI) or “real feel” of 50 degrees Celsius (°C) — which was a 5.4-degree drop compared to Wednesday’s 55.4°C — but still above the 50-degree mark for the second consecutive day. It was 45°C on Tuesday, when the mercury maximum (which measures air temperature) was 42.4°C. Similarly, Thursday’s thermometer high was 41°C, down from Wednesday’s 43.4°C.

The combination of humidity with heat is worse for human health since people cool down by sweating. Heat index is one way to measure this, taking into account both relative humidity and ambient temperature and pertains to conditions recorded in the shade.

Another measure is wet-bulb temperature, which reflects conditions someone will feel outdoors — once this measure passes 32°C, people are at extreme risk of adverse health effects.

Assuming an average humidity level of 50% and a peak temperature of 41°C, the wet bulb temperature on Thursday would have come close to 31.8°C.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the easterlies, which bring moisture from the Bay of Bengal, are expected to continue till Saturday afternoon, before transitioning to dry westerly winds from Rajasthan. This may lead to heatwave conditions returning to isolated parts of Delhi, the agency said, while issuing an “orange alert” for Saturday, the day of polling, and the two following days.

IMD data from May 13 showed that before Wednesday, the HI was below 50°C on all days. The highest HI during the spell of “dry heat” – when westerlies were predominant – was 46°C on May 16. The maximum that day was 42.5°C.

“Easterly winds began to impact Delhi from Tuesday and gained strength on Wednesday when the HI crossed 55°C. Despite strong wind speed on Thursday, which led to a drop in Delhi’s maximum temperature, the HI remained high as there was a lot of moisture in the air,” Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

Srivastava said Delhi’s maximum is likely to touch 44°C on Saturday and could clock in 45°C on Sunday. The highest maximum at Safdarjung, representative of Delhi’s weather, was 44.4°C on May 19. Across other stations, it touched 47.8°C on the same day. On Thursday, Delhi’s hottest location on Thursday Najafgarh yet again, with a maximum of 42.4°C.

Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/delhi-news/real-feel-temperature-in-delhi-rises-to-50-c-as-humidity-worsens-torrid-summer-101716489733153.html

A red alert has been issued till May 25 in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and parts of Kerala predicting continued extreme heatwaves in the coming days after the temperature in NCR on Tuesday touched almost 48 degrees Celsius.

The highest maximum temperature recorded on Tuesday was in Haryana’s Sirsa at 47.8 degrees Celsius, followed by 47.4 degrees Celsius in Najafgarh, Delhi.

On Wednesday, the maximum temperature is expected to exceed 47 degrees Celsius in many parts of Northern India.

Amid the forecast of heatwaves, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) urged “extreme care for vulnerable people” due to the heatwave in its seven-day forecast and suggested drinking sufficient water and using ORS or homemade drinks such as lassi, Torani (rice water), lemon water, and buttermilk to stay hydrated.

DELHI WEATHER TODAY
In Delhi, the sky will be mainly clear on Wednesday, however, heatwave conditions are expected in a few places, as per IMD. Strong surface winds, with speeds of 20-30 km/h and occasional gusts, will occur during the day, it said.

Najafgarh recorded a high of 47.4 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, a day after the southwest Delhi area had recorded 47.8 degrees Celsius — the highest in the country so far this season.

Higesht temperature in India on Tuesday:

Sirsa (Haryana): 47.8°C

Najafgarh (Delhi): 47.4°C

Pilani (Rajasthan): 47.2°C

Bhatinda Airport) (Punjab): 46.6°C

Agra Taj (Uttar Pradesh): 46.6°C

Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh): 45.6°C

Surendranagar (Gujarat): 45.4°C

Akola (Maharashtra): 44.0°C

Durg (Chhattisgarh): 43.6°C

Una (Himachal Pradesh): 42.4°C

‘HARYANA STOPPED WATER TO CITY’: DELHI MINISTER’S BIG CLAIM

Delhi minister and AAP leader Atishi on Wednesday claimed that the Haryana government stopped its water supply to the national capital causing a water shortage in the city ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

“Ahead of the voting on 25th May (in Delhi), BJP has hatched a new conspiracy to target AAP and disturb the people of Delhi. Under this conspiracy, through its Haryana government, the BJP has stopped the water flow to Delhi,” Atishi said.

Heatwave takes hold across North India as mercury soared to 45 degrees and more. IMD issued a red alert for Sunday as the city sizzled under severe heatwave.

As intense heatwave gripped Delhi and other parts of North India with temperatures touching 45-47 degrees in some places, it’s important to take steps to prevent heat exposure and avoid heatstroke, dehydration and other heat-based illnesses. High temperatures can play havoc with the body and damage brain, heart, kidney and cause other long-term issues. Stepping outdoors at peak heat hours must be avoided at all costs and hydrating yourself well with water, fruits, vegetables, buttermilk, nimbu paani, coconut water is crucial. (Also read | Heatwave foods: 7 summer-friendly foods to beat the heat and nourish the body)

At 45 degrees and more, body’s natural ability to regulate temperature may go for a toss and this may lead to conditions like heat stroke where people may suffer from fever, confusion, dizziness or seizure. Exposure to intense heat for a longer duration can even damage brain, heart and other crucial organs. It can even be fatal if adequate steps to cool down the body are not taken.

Dr Tushar Tayal, Consultant, Internal Medicine, CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, says exposure to environmental temperatures above 45°C (113°F) can have serious and potentially life-threatening effects on the human body.

At such high temperatures, the body’s ability to regulate its internal temperature can be overwhelmed, leading to heat stroke. Symptoms include a high body temperature (above 40°C or 104°F), confusion, loss of consciousness, and sometimes seizures. Without immediate medical intervention, heat stroke can have deadly implications. The body loses fluids rapidly through sweating in an attempt to cool down, leading to severe dehydration. This can cause symptoms like extreme thirst, dry mouth, reduced urine output, and in severe cases, confusion, dizziness, and fainting,” says the expert.

Worrying side effects of heatwave

Dr Tayal shares other side effects of exposure to severe heatwave:

Damage to brain and heart: Prolonged exposure to extreme heat can cause the body temperature to rise dangerously high, resulting in hyperthermia. This condition can damage the brain, heart, kidneys, and muscles, leading to long-term health issues or death if not promptly treated.

Heat exhaustion: A milder form of heat-related illness, heat exhaustion, can occur with prolonged exposure to high temperatures. Symptoms include heavy sweating, weakness, dizziness, nausea, headache, and muscle cramps. If not addressed, it can progress to heat stroke.

Skin damage: High temperatures, especially when combined with strong sunlight, can cause severe skin damage, including sunburn and in extreme cases, second-degree burns. Prolonged exposure can also increase the risk of skin cancer over time due to UV radiation.

The sun produced its biggest flare in nearly two decades Tuesday, just days after severe solar storms pummeled Earth and created dazzling northern lights in unaccustomed places.

“Not done yet!” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in an update.

It’s the biggest flare of this 11-year solar cycle, which is approaching its peak, according to NOAA. The good news is that Earth should be out of the line of fire this time because the flare erupted on a part of the sun rotating away from Earth.

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the bright flash of the X-ray flare. It was the strongest since 2005, rated on the scale for these flares as X8.7.

Bryan Brasher at NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado said it may turn out to have been even stronger when scientists gather data from other sources.

It follows nearly a week of flares and mass ejections of coronal plasma that threatened to disrupt power and communications on Earth and in orbit. An ejection associated with Tuesday’s flare appeared to have been directed away from our planet, although analysis is ongoing, Brasher noted.

NASA said the weekend geomagnetic storm caused one of its environmental satellites to rotate unexpectedly because of reduced altitude from the space weather, and go into a protective hibernation known as safe mode. And at the International Space Station, the seven astronauts were advised to stay in areas with strong radiation shielding. The crew was never in any danger, according to NASA.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/sun-solar-flare-earth-ed204eef352560f09b8366bee05e2381

Two weeks ago, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale rocked Taiwan’s eastern shores, leaving four people dead and over 700 others injured.

Five earthquakes struck Shoufeng Township, Hualien County, in eastern Taiwan on Monday within just 9 minutes, as reported by Central News Agency Focus Taiwan.
The seismic activity occurred between 5:08 pm and 5:17 pm (local time).

“Five #earthquakes struck Shoufeng Township, Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, in 9 minutes between 5:08 p.m. and 5:17 p.m. (UTC+8),” CNA Focus Taiwan posted on X.

Two weeks ago, a powerful earthquake measuring 7.4 on the Richter Scale rocked Taiwan’s eastern shores, leaving four people dead and over 700 others injured.

“Notable quake, preliminary info: M 6.5 – 11 km NE of Hualien City, Taiwan,” the US Geological Survey (USGS) said in a post on X.

Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/taiwan-hit-by-5-earthquakes-within-9-minutes-report-5497994

There’s a new meme being shared widely this week across social media accounts in Colombia’s capital Bogotá, as the city grapples with a water crisis.

It’s an image of C. Montgomery Burns, the supervillain from the animated series “The Simpsons,” showing up at the door with a bunch of red roses and a heart-shaped chocolate box. Smiling, he says: “I saw your turn of water rationing is different from mine.”

The meme reflects a sense of dark humor among some Bogotànos following the city authority’s announcement Monday that residents would have to ration water as drought, fueled by El Niño, pushes reservoirs toward record lows.
The rationing came into effect Thursday morning. Bogotá and dozens of surrounding towns have been divided into nine different zones with domestic running water cut off for 24 hours in each zone on a rotation that will reset every 10 days. The measures will affect approximately 9 million people.

There are contingency plans to ensure schools and hospitals have a continuous supply, authorities have said.

But, as “The Simpsons” meme suggests, some residents have been left wondering whether they might need to start cozying up to friends across town to access drinking water.

The measures are part of emergency plans introduced by the Colombian government and the city’s mayor after reservoirs reached “historically low” levels.

The Chuza and San Rafael reservoirs, part of the Chingaza System that provides 70% of the city’s drinking water, are at particularly critical positions, according to local authorities.

“Let’s not waste a drop of water in Bogotá at this time,” Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán said in a news conference Monday, adding, “that will help us so that these restrictions can be lifted more quickly or reduced.”

Galán called for “a behavioral change that is sustainable over time and guarantees that water is enough for everyone,” adding that some of the reservoirs are less than 20% capacity compared to historical averages for this time of year.

It’s not unusual for cities in Latin America to face water crises. Bogotá joins Mexico City to its northwest, which could also be on the brink of running out of water, as the combination of climate change, El Niño, geography and rapid urban development put immense strain on its water resources.

But this marks the first time in recent history that Bogotá has been forced to implement water rationing measures.

Perched on a mountain plateau, Bogotá is one of the highest capitals in the world at more than 2,600 meters (8,500 feet) above sea level. To its east, are the peaks of the Andes, to its west is a lush valley through which winds the Magdalena, Colombia’s largest river and a vital source of water.

Moisture from the tropical rainforests along the Magdalena rises up the mountain valleys and clashes with the colder temperatures at the top, generating rain.

As every Bogotàno knows, rain is fairly common in the city, which relies heavily on it for its water needs.

“Most cities around the world depend on aquifers for their water supplies. Bogota is different in that almost all our supply comes from surface waters like reservoirs, which are more susceptible to rain patterns,” said Armando Sarmiento, an ecology professor at Bogotá’s Javeriana University.

It’s this dependence on rain that makes Bogotá particularly vulnerable to drought, Sarmiento told CNN.

Source : https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/11/climate/bogota-water-rationing-drought-climate-intl/index.html

Researchers say textbooks today not only cut back on the issue of global warming compared to previous years, but the topic is found further back in books, undermining its urgency and importance
RALEIGH, N.C. — Today’s college textbooks covering life sciences are not as accurate as students consider them to be, finds a new study from North Carolina State University. Their study shows that biology textbooks are slow to keep pace with the current discoveries and state of climate change.

A brief acknowledgment or the emittance of climate change information entirely undermines the severity of the crisis on our warming planet, scientists say. What’s more, a gap in climate change knowledge and could affect how future generations take it seriously. Their paper is published in PLoS One.

“In short, we found biology textbooks are failing to share adequate information about climate change, which is a generation-defining topic in the life sciences,” says Jennifer Landin, corresponding author of the study and an associate professor of biological sciences at NC State, in a university release. “These books are the baseline texts for helping students understand the science of life on Earth, yet they are providing very little information about a phenomenon that is having a profound impact on habitats, ecosystems, agriculture – almost every aspect of life on Earth.”

For example, textbooks published in the 2010s had less information about climate change than in the previous decades. The lack of information goes against the significant strides scientists have taken to understand how climate changes influences ecosystems and the environment.

The current study looked at climate change coverage in 57 college biology textbooks published between 1970 and 2019. The team found the topic has been covered, but at varying lengths across the five decades. Before the 1990s, textbooks spent less than 10 sentences talking about climate change. During the 1990s, the length rose from 10 to 30 sentences. In the early 2000s, there were 52 sentences on the topic which aligns with the expanded research efforts into understanding the impact of climate change. However, the amount of climate coverage in textbooks dropped in the 2010s. It went from a median of 52 to 45 sentences.

“One of the most troubling findings was that textbooks are devoting substantially less space to addressing climate solutions now than they did in the 1990s – even as they focus more on the effects of climate change,” explains Landin. “That suggests to students that nothing can be done, which is both wildly misleading and contributes to a sense of fatalism regarding climate change.”

In addition to length, the nature of the content has also shifted over time. In the 1990s, about 15% of the sentences involved actionable solutions to climate change. More recent decades, however, have made up only 3% of climate content. Another noticeable change is the position of climate change sections with the topic being moved toward the back of the textbook.

Source: https://studyfinds.org/college-textbooks-climate-change/

Scientists at the University of Warwick are painting an ominous picture of what the end of the planet might actually look like. According to their research, our solar system’s future could be a catastrophic plunge into the grasp of a white dwarf star, leading to its ultimate disintegration. This grim prognosis emerges from a detailed study into the fate of planetary systems ensnared by the intense gravitational pull of white dwarfs, the dense remnants of stars that have burned through their nuclear reserves.

White dwarfs are the remnants of stars that have exhausted their fuel, offering valuable insights into various aspects of stellar evolution. The researchers investigated the fate of these planetary bodies by analyzing transits, which are dips in the brightness of stars caused by objects passing in front of them. Their paper is published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (MNRAS).

Unlike the predictable transits caused by orbiting planets, the transits caused by debris around white dwarfs are oddly shaped, chaotic, and disorderly, suggesting that these bodies undergo an extremely destructive process. “Previous research had shown that when asteroids, moons and planets get close to white dwarfs, the huge gravity of these stars rips these small planetary bodies into smaller and smaller pieces,” Dr Amornrat Aungwerojwit of Naresuan University, who led the study, explained in a media release.

As these fragments collide with each other, they eventually grind into dust, which falls into the white dwarf. This process allows researchers to determine the composition of the original planetary bodies. To gain further insight into how these bodies are disrupted, the scientists analyzed changes in the brightness of three white dwarfs over 17 years, each exhibiting distinct behaviors.

“The simple fact that we can detect the debris of asteroids, maybe moons or even planets whizzing around a white dwarf every couple of hours is quite mind-blowing, but our study shows that the behavior of these systems can evolve rapidly, in a matter of a few years,” said Boris Gaensicke, a professor from Warwick’s Department of Physics.

One white dwarf, ZTF J0328−1219, appeared stable in recent years but showed evidence of a major catastrophic event around 2010. Another star, ZTF J0923+4236, dimmed irregularly every few months and exhibited chaotic variability on timescales of minutes during fainter states before brightening again. The third white dwarf, WD 1145+017, initially behaved close to theoretical predictions but surprisingly showed no transits in the latest study.

“The system is, overall, very gently getting brighter, as the dust produced by catastrophic collisions around 2015 disperses,” added Gaensicke. “The unpredictable nature of these transits can drive astronomers crazy – one minute they are there, the next they are gone. And this points to the chaotic environment they are in.”

Source: https://studyfinds.org/how-our-solar-system-could-die/

The United Nations Environment Assembly this week considered a resolution on solar radiation modification, which refers to controversial technologies intended to mask the heating effect of greenhouse gases by reflecting some sunlight back to space.

Proponents argue the technologies will limit the effects of climate change. In reality, this type of “geoengineering” risks further destabilizing an already deeply disturbed climate system. What’s more, its full impacts cannot be known until after deployment.

The draft resolution initially called for the convening of an expert group to examine the benefits and risks of solar radiation modification. The motion was withdrawn on Thursday after no consensus could be reached on the controversial topic.

A notable development was a call from some Global South countries for “non-use” of solar radiation modification. We strongly support this position. Human-caused climate change is already one planetary-scale experiment too many – we don’t need another.

A risky business
In some circles, solar geoengineering is gaining prominence as a response to the climate crisis. However, research has consistently identified potential risks posed by the technologies such as:

• unpredictable effects on climate and weather patterns
• biodiversity loss, especially if use of the technology was halted abruptly
• undermining food security by, for example, reducing light and increasing salinity on land
• the infringement of human rights across generations – including, but not limited to, passing on huge risks to generations that will come after us.

Here, we discuss several examples of solar radiation modification which exemplify the threats posed by these technologies. These are also depicted in the graphic below.

The most significant astronomical event of the year, the total solar eclipse or Surya Grahan, is scheduled to occur on April 8, 2024. This rare celestial phenomenon will be visible across Canada, the United States, and Mexico, tracing its path over North America. Despite the anticipation among stargazers, it’s important to note that this particular eclipse will not be observable in India. An eclipse occurs when a celestial body, such as a planet or moon, obstructs the Sun’s light. On Earth, there are two types of eclipses: solar and lunar.

What is solar eclipse or Surya Grahan?

A solar eclipse transpires when the Moon obstructs the Sun’s light, casting its shadow on Earth and causing darkness during the day. This total eclipse occurs approximately every year and a half at different locations on Earth, while a partial eclipse, where the Moon doesn’t completely cover the Sun, happens at least twice a year somewhere on Earth.

Expert panel formed by state govt has warned that several pockets of the town are sinking due to man-made and natural causes. Locals say report did not factor in Tapovan tunnel.

Dehradun: An expert panel set up by the Uttarakhand government has found that several pockets of Chamoli district’s Joshimath town — a gateway to the Badrinath shrine, the Hemkund Sahib gurdwara, the popular hill station of Auli, and the India-China border — are sinking due to both man-made and natural factors. As a result, the government will be putting together an action plan that may include a construction ban as well as relocation of local residents from “unsafe” areas, ThePrint has learnt.

The panel’s report points to ‘ground subsidence’ — a gradual settling or sudden sinking of the earth’s surface due to removal or displacement of subsurface materials — that has induced structural defects and damage observed in almost all wards of Joshimath. ThePrint has accessed the report.

The committee comprising scientists and geologists was formed on the recommendation of the Chamoli district magistrate in July following repeated complaints from the local populace about sinking areas and deep cracks appearing on the buildings.

“Although the government is yet to receive the report, going by the information provided by the committee members, a solid action plan will be put in place on engineering aspects as well as relocation of people from unsafe locations in Joshimath town,” state disaster management secretary Ranjit Kumar Sinha told ThePrint.

Source: https://theprint.in/environment/parts-of-joshimath-town-sinking-uttarakhand-govt-may-go-for-construction-ban-relocation/1134269/