Friday, December 1TRUSTED FEARLESS INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS PORTAL

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Ponds to be treated by techniques like ozonization, aeration for clean water – Times of India

NOIDA: The Greater Noida Authority will take help of advanced techniques like in-situ wetland, ozonization, floating island and aeration for cleaning of pondsas part of a campaign for revival of water bodies in the region, officials said on Friday. Greater Noida Authority CEO NG Ravi Kumar has given instructions to start work by identifying five ponds as a pilot project.In this series, Additional CEO Ashutosh Dwivedi inspected two ponds located in Ladpura village on Thursday. This campaign will be started from these ponds only."The work for cleaning and beautification of all the ponds of Greater Noida is underway. On the one hand, the dirt in the ponds is being cleaned, but on the other hand, work is going on to prevent the dirt from entering the ponds," Dwivedi said. "Along with this,...
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Drought data shows an unprecedented emergency on a planetary scale: UN – Times of India

BATHINDA: The recent drought-related data compiled by the UN point to an unprecedented emergency on a planetary scale, where the massive impacts of human-induced droughts are only starting to unfold.The report ‘Global Drought Snapshot’ was released by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in collaboration with the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) at COP28 at Dubai on Friday.UNCCD is one of three conventions originated at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The other two address climate change (UNFCCC) and biodiversity (UN CBD). UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw said,“Unlike other disasters droughts happen silently often going unnoticed and failing to provoke an immediate public and political response. This silent devastation perpetuates a cycle o...
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UN flags 127 major climate-warming methane plumes this year – Times of India

DUBAI: A United Nations-led effort to use space satellites to detect methane leaks from fossil fuel infrastructure has alerted governments to 127 major methane plumes across four continents since its launch at the start of this year. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, with 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Such emissions from the burning of fossil fuels so far have driven about a third of global warming. The UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) Methane Alert and Response System (Mars) was created to support a 2021 global pledge by more than 150 countries to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030. In a report published on Friday, UNEP said the system was fully operational and providing satellite data to companies and governments on leaky fossil fuel infrastr...
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Why hold UN climate talks 28 times? Do they even matter? – Times of India

DUBAI: Ask most people what the annual UN climate talks are and the likely answer will be: “Huh?” Ask those who do know and the answer may be: “Why should I care?”The negotiations, called Conference of Parties, are nearly two weeks long and in their 28th iteration in Dubai. Delegates use wonky terms like “NDCs” “1.5 degrees” and “loss and damage,” not exactly conservation starters at parties.Any final decision is non-binding, meaning countries can agree to something and then not not follow through. And when tens of thousands of people travel to the event, a lot of greenhouse gas emissions are produced, which is contrary to the entire point of the conference.So why bother?Even many climate watchers sometimes ask that question, and there is a growing debate about whether the current proce...
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2023 warmest ever, brace for a hotter 2024 – Times of India

DUBAI: Confirming that 2023 is set to be the "warmest year on record", the World Meteorological Organisation on Thursday warned that the coming year may be worse as the El Nino event of this year is likely to "further fuel the heat in 2024".Shattering previous records, global mean temperature till October this year was around 1.4 degree Celsius above the pre-industrial level (1850-1900 average), the WMO said.Data so far shows 2023 almost touched the warming limit threshold of 1.5 degree C. This, however, does not mean that the world will permanently exceed the 1.5 degree C level specified in the Paris Agreement, which actually refers to long-term warming over many years.July '23 all-time warmest month on record, says WMO reportBased on the data till October, it is virtually certain that...
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Landmark agreement on loss and damage fund reached on first day of COP28 – Times of India

DUBAI: In a historic move, over 195 countries including India agreed to operationalise the long-awaited 'loss and damage' fund on the very first day of the UN climate conference (COP28) here on Thursday, marking quite a significant start of the annual meet ahead of the two-day World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) which will begin on Friday and be participated by many global leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.India called it a "landmark decision".The Fund, located within the World Bank for the next four years as an interim arrangement, will be meant for supporting developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable ones, impacted by climate change. Contribution to the fund will be on a 'voluntary' basis - the point insisted to be in the final decision by the rich nations who...
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Over 195 nations agree on ‘loss and damage’ fund | India News – Times of India

DUBAI: In a historic move, more than 195 countries including India agreed to operationalize the long-awaited 'loss and damage' fund on the very first day of the UN climate conference (COP28) here on Thursday, marking quite a significant start of the annual meet ahead of the two-day World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) which will begin on Friday and be participated by many global leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.India called it a "landmark decision".The Fund, located within the World Bank for the next four years as an interim arrangement, will be meant for supporting developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable ones, impacted by climate change. Contribution to the fund will be on a 'voluntary' basis - the point insisted to be in the final decision by the rich nation...
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Global warming casts cloud over Winter Olympics future – Times of India

LAUSANNE: As global warming and prohibitive costs threaten the long-term future of the Winter Olympics, organisers know they must soften their demands in order to retain a pool of potential hosts for the decades to come.On the face of it, there's no immediate concern, as the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday selected France ahead of two other contenders -- Sweden and Switzerland -- to enter into "targeted dialogue" over staging the 2030 Winter Games. It is a coup for France, which will also host the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.President Emmanuel Macron hailed the bid focused on the snowy Alps region as "innovative, sustainable and inclusive" and said it would make "France and its mountains shine".The IOC will begin detailed discussions with French representatives before the ev...
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WMO confirms 2023 to be warmest year on record, replacing the previous record-holder 2016 – Times of India

DUBAI: Confirming that 2023 is set to be the “warmest year on record”, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on Thursday said the year with recording the global mean temperature around 1.40 (± 0.12) degree Celsius above the pre-industrial level (1850–1900 average) till October has shattered climate records, accompanied by extreme weather which has left a trail of devastation and despair.It also noted that the warming El Niño event of this year is likely to “further fuel the heat in 2024”.The data till October shows 2023 almost touched the warming limit threshold of 1.5 degree C, but it does not mean that the world will permanently exceed the 1.5 degree C level specified in the Paris Agreement, which actually refers to long-term warming over many years.“Based on the data till Octob...
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COP28 should seek total fossil fuel ‘phaseout’: UN chief – Times of India

UNITED NATIONS: The COP28 climate conference should aim for a complete "phaseout" of fossil fuels, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told AFP on Wednesday, warning of "total disaster" on humanity's current trajectory."Obviously I am strongly in favor of language that includes (a) phaseout, even with a reasonable time framework," Guterres said in an interview before flying off to the United Arab Emirates, the oil-rich nation hosting the two-week UN climate summit beginning Thursday.With nations' actions falling far short of the Paris Agreement's most ambitious target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, some countries have called for the COP28 final statement, which requires unanimous agreement, to explicitly call for a reduction in fossil fuel consumption.That would be...
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US moves to protect wolverines as climate change melts their mountain refuges, threatens extinction – Times of India

BILLINGS: The North American wolverine will receive long-delayed federal protections under a Biden administration proposal released Wednesday in response to scientists warning that climate change will likely melt away the rare species' snowy mountain refuges.Across most of the US, wolverines were wiped out by the early 1900s from unregulated trapping and poisoning campaigns.About 300 surviving animals in the contiguous US live in fragmented, isolated groups at high elevations in the northern Rocky Mountains. Wolverines join a growing number of animals, plants and insects - from polar bears in Alaska to crocodiles in southern Florida - that officials say are at growing risk as increasing temperatures bake the planet, altering snowfall patterns and raising sea levels. In the coming decade...
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Climate contradictions key at UN talks. Less future warming projected, yet there’s more current pain – Times of India

NEW YORK: The world is heading for considerably less warming than projected a decade ago, but that good news is overwhelmed by much more pain from current climate change than scientists anticipated, experts said. That's just one of a set of seemingly contradictory conditions facing climate negotiators who this week gather in Dubai for marathon United Nations talks that include a first-ever assessment of how well the world is doing in its battle against global warming. It's also a conference where one of the central topics will be whether fossil fuels should be phased out, but it will be run by the CEO of an oil company. Key to the session is the first "global stocktake" on climate, when countries look at what's happened since the 2015 Paris climate agreement, how off-track it is and p...
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Jammu and Kashmir UT faces 30 days worth of power cuts in a year | Data

Power cuts in Kashmir: A man tries to restore his electricity were near Gund, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Srinagar. Many areas in the higher reaches of Kashmir experienced fresh snowfall even as an overcast sky led to relief from intense cold conditions as the mercury increased across the Valley and Ladakh region. | Photo Credit: NISSAR AHMAD Power outages have been a persistent issue in the Jammu and Kashmir U.T. with recent news reports indicating that the duration of these cuts is now extending to over 18 hours a day. The region is prone to power cuts; during the pandemic peak two years back, people had found it tough to operate oxygen cylinders due to many unscheduled outages. This time, too, the record electricity cuts have come during winter when minimum temperatures ...
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Coal power, traffic, waste burning a toxic smog cocktail in Indonesia’s Jakarta – Times of India

JAKARTA: Against the backdrop of smokestacks from a nearby coal power plant, the sky above Edy Suryana's village stays grey for months at a time, while ashes and the stench of smoke hang in the air. Suryana has spent more than three decades living in the shadow of the power plant in northern Java, just 60 miles from Jakarta, Indonesia's most populous city.She and other villagers have watched as their loved ones suffered from coughing fits, itchy skin and other health problems that many believe are partly because of the ever-present smog. Pollution is causing a rise in respiratory illnesses and deaths in northern Java, including Jakarta, experts say. Smog in the metropolis of 11.2 million people comes from a combination of the coal-fired plants, vehicle and motorcycle exhaust, trash bur...