Australian ‘megablaze’ under control, wet weather promises further respite

New South Wales firefighters said they finally had the upper hand in the fight against the vast Gospers Mountain fire on Sydney’s northwestern outskirts.

Latest News : Exhausted firefighters said they had finally brought Australia’s largest “megablaze” under control on Monday, as wet weather promised to deliver much-needed respite for countryside ravaged by bushfires.

New South Wales firefighters said they finally had the upper hand in the fight against the vast Gospers Mountain fire on Sydney’s northwestern outskirts, which has been burning out of control for almost three months.

Visiting the area on Monday, New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said there was a “small area of burning still to complete” but the “containment prognosis looks promising.” The fire seared an area of national park three times the size of Greater London and lit several connected blazes totalling over 800,000 hectares — an area larger than Austria.

As residents and authorities continued to come to grips with the sheer scale of the devastation, the Bureau of Meteorology forecast some firegrounds could get up to 50 millimetres (two inches) of rain in the next week, a relief after a prolonged drought.

If that forecast bears out, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service said, “then this will be all of our Christmas, birthday, engagement, anniversary, wedding and graduation presents rolled into one. Fingers crossed.” Dozens of other fires are yet to be controlled.

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Updates on Upcoming Event → Budget 2020

Humans must leave Earth in 100 years to survive: Stephen Hawking

Climate change, asteroid strikes and overpopulation will make survival impossible, he says

 

 

Latest News : Humans will need to colonise another planet within the next 100 years to survive climate change, asteroid strikes and overpopulation, according to renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking.

In a documentary, Expedition New Earth - part of the BBC's new science season Tomorrow's World - Hawking and his former student Christophe Galfard will travel the world to find out how humans could survive in outer space.

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In the series, Stephen Hawking claims that time is running out for the Earth and humanity will need to leave the planet for its survival.

The shows aims to find Britain's greatest invention, by asking the public to vote on the innovation which has been the most influential in their lives, The Telegraph reported.

Last month, Hawking had warned that the aggressive instincts of humans, coupled with the fast pace of growth in technology may destroy us all by nuclear or biological war, adding that only a 'world government' may prevent this impending doom (read more...)

2 Indians die every minute due to air pollution: Study

Patna and New Delhi are found to be the worst polluted cities of the world for PM 2.5 levels

 

 

Latest News -  The air Indians breathe is turning more toxic by the day and an average of two deaths take place daily due to air pollution, says a new study.

According to medical journal The Lancet, over a million Indians death by air pollution and some of the worst polluted cities of the world are in India.

The study released this week but based on 2010 data estimates that globally 2.7-3.4 million pre-term births may be associated with PM 2.5 exposure and South Asia is the worst hit accounting for 1.6 million pre-term births.

The study says causes of air pollution and climate change are intricately linked and needed to be tackled together.

The Lancet concludes that climate change posed both a "potentially catastrophic risk to human health", while conversely being "the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century" if the right steps are taken.

The smog over northern India is extracting a heavy toll, every minute two lives are lost in India due to ambient air pollution, the study published in The Lancet says.

Further, according an estimate by the World Bank, this would amount to a whopping $38 billion loss in income towards labour in India (read more...)

From electric cars to phasing out coal: These things can limit global warming to 1.5°C

After the climate talks in Marrakech, our climate mission remains the same as what was set out in the 2015 Paris Agreeement: to eliminate all carbon dioxide emissions by the middle of this century.

While the long-term focus is on 2050 or 2100, what matters now is the next ten years. If we miss bending the rising emissions curve downward by around 2020, we may well miss the chance to avoid the worst climate damage.

We looked at all the major emitting sectors and the most recent scientific analyses of what can be done – and how fast – to come up with a list of the most important things to do in the next five to ten years to bend the emissions curve downwards.

Phasing out coal

Electric cars

Zero energy building

Forests and agriculture

Removing carbon from the atmosphere

READ SOURCE>>>

India ranks 20th on Climate Change Performance Index

India has been ranked 20th on Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2017, which underlined that countries like India are making "great efforts" in the fields of renewables and energy efficiency.

With the historic Paris Agreement having recently entered into force, the latest CCPI confirms a boost for renewable energy and positive developments in energy efficiency.

The publication was issued by Germanwatch and Climate Action Network Europe.

While these encouraging trends are happening on a global scale, the necessary energy revolution is still happening too slowly, the publication said.

"Morocco (rank eight) continued its upward trend. With massive investments in renewable energy and ambitious mid-term and long-term targets, Morocco is a frontrunner in Africa,” the publication said.

"Positive trends are seen as well among emerging economies of G20 like India (rank 20), Argentina (36) and Brazil (40), which all improved their ranking," it said.

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Jim Yong Kim re-appointed as World Bank President

Jim Yong Kim has been re-appointed for a second five-year term as World Bank president, beginning July 1, next year, the bank announced.

"Humbled to have the honour of serving a second term as the head of this great institution. I would focus on building a more inclusive world free of poverty," Kim said in a statement.

He said the starting point for his work when he joined the Bank in 2012 was the setting of two ambitious new goals for the institution: to end extreme poverty by 2030, and to promote shared prosperity by boosting the income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population in every developing country.

"In order to deliver these goals, the Bank had to accelerate, become bolder and more agile, and reposition itself. We did this so that we could increase support for countries and deliver better results more quickly.

"I believe we are well on the way to achieve these important aims," he said.

"The challenges going forward remain large, with climate change, forced displacement and pandemics threatening the gains we have made to improve the lives of billions.

"We will need to work even more closely with partners and continue to find new and innovative ways to leverage scarce development resources effectively," Kim said.

Earlier in a statement, the Executive Directors of the World Bank noted that in the first year of Kim's leadership, which began in July 2012, shareholders endorsed two ambitious new goals for the institution: to end extreme poverty by 2030, and to...Read full Story