In a study published in One Earth, scientists report that, for the highly populated coastal country of Bangladesh, what was once a 100-year event could now strike every 10 years—or more…Continue readingHundred-year storm tides to hit Bangladesh every decade as climate change intensifies, scientists report
Tag: asia
Water levels in the Caspian Sea—the world’s largest landlocked water body—are getting lower, as hotter temperatures cause more water to evaporate than is flowing in. Even if global warming is limited…Continue readingCaspian Sea’s rapid decline threatens endangered seals, coastal communities and industry, study warns
A dry winter is intensifying wildfires in Nepal, experts said Wednesday, as the capital Kathmandu continued to suffer from hazardous air quality that ranks it among the most polluted cities globally.…Continue readingNepal fights wildfires and pollution amidst drier winter
A National Science and Technology Council and Ministry of Environment report projected that Taiwan could stop experiencing winters by 2060 due to climate change. Taiwan summers could extend to over 150…Continue readingClimate change could erase winters in Taiwan by 2060
Wildfires driven by strong winds have devastated parts of South Korea’s southern regions, killing at least 24 people, destroying more than 200 structures, and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate. The wildfires,…Continue readingWildfires kill 24 and displace thousands in South Korea
In late December, China approved the world’s largest hydropower project to begin construction. The Motuo Project is expected to generate three times as much energy as the Three Gorges Dam located…Continue readingChina authorizes controversial hydropower project in landslide-prone region of Tibet
Deforestation in Indonesia rose in 2024 for a third year running, a local environmental NGO said Friday based on satellite image analysis and fieldwork. Indonesia has one of the world’s highest…Continue readingIndonesia deforestation rises for third year running
Air pollution in the Thai capital forced more than 350 schools to close on Friday, city authorities said, the highest number in five years. Air pollution hits the Southeast Asian nation…Continue readingBangkok air pollution forces 352 schools to close
Delhi’s air pollution is so bad that it’s sometimes hard to discern anything more than a few meters in front of you. And it is affecting people’s health. Breathing is uncomfortable.…Continue readingDelhi’s annual air pollution has become a human-made calamity
Japan has recorded its warmest autumn since records began 126 years ago. “This year was 1.97 degrees Celsius higher than usual… making it the hottest autumn since 1898, when statistics began,”…Continue readingJapan witnesses warmest autumn on record
Rationing of goods such as meat and fuel can both effectively and fairly reduce consumption with high climate impact. Almost 40% of the public say they could accept such measures. These…Continue readingStudy finds about 40% of public supports rationing measures to fight climate change
Residents of Nepal’s flood-hit capital returned to their mud-caked homes on Sunday to survey the wreckage of devastating floods that have killed at least 104 people across the Himalayan republic. Deadly…Continue reading104 dead in Nepal floods after relentless monsoon rains
The Czech Republic sat at the centre of a storm that has killed two dozen people across central Europe and prompted the EU to promise €10bn in aid to flood-stricken countries.…Continue reading‘We’re getting rid of everything’: floods destroy homes and lives in Czech Republic
A climate assessment report published in November 2022 by the Centre for Science and Environment, a public-interest research and advocacy organization based in New Delhi, analysed the first nine months of…Continue readingThe climate disaster strikes: what the data say
According to the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the number of days with temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius in the world’s largest capital cities has surged by 52 percent…Continue readingSeoul residents sweating with record ‘tropical nights’ weather
Government scientists say rising seas driven by climate change are drowning Bangladesh’s densely populated coast at one of the fastest global rates, and at least a million people on the coast…Continue readingSea swamps Bangladesh at one of world’s fastest rates
An 80% reduction in sulfur dioxide shipping emissions observed in early 2020 could be associated with substantial atmospheric warming over some ocean regions, according to a modeling study published in Communications…Continue readingReduced sulfur content in shipping fuel associated with increased maritime atmospheric warming
Authorities in India are investigating whether a faulty sensor may have been behind a reading that showed temperatures in Delhi soaring past 50 degrees for the first time, amid a scorching…Continue readingDelhi heatwave: officials investigating if temperature of 52.9˚C due to faulty sensor
Bangladeshi weather experts said Tuesday that a deadly cyclone that carved a swath of destruction was one of the quickest-forming and longest-lasting they’d experienced, blaming climate change for the shift. Cyclone…Continue readingDeadly Bangladesh cyclone one of longest seen
Delhi city officials asked schools to shut with “immediate effect” due to the blistering heat, according to a government order quoted by the Hindustan Times Tuesday, cutting short the term by…Continue readingIndia shuts schools as temperatures soar
Firefighters and local residents battled a massive wildfire on the outskirts of Nepal’s capital Thursday as the Himalayan republic endures a severe fire season authorities have blamed on a heat wave.…Continue readingNepal battles raging wildfires across the country
Pakistan has experienced its “wettest April since 1961”, receiving more than twice as much rain as usual for the month, the country’s weather agency has said. April rainfall was recorded at…Continue readingPakistan records ‘wettest April’ in more than 60 years
Extreme heat has gripped much of south and south-east Asia over recent weeks, killing dozens of people, forcing millions of students to miss school and destroying crops. In Thailand, at least…Continue reading‘Inside an oven’: sweltering heat ravages crops and takes lives in south-east Asia
Thousands of schools in the Philippines have stopped in-person classes due to unbearable heat. In Indonesia, prolonged dry weather has caused rice prices to soar. In Thailand’s waters, temperatures are so…Continue readingSchools close and crops wither as ‘historic’ heatwave hits south-east Asia
The destruction of the world’s most pristine rainforests continued at a relentless rate in 2023, despite dramatic falls in forest loss in the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon, new figures show. An…Continue readingGlobal rainforest loss continues at rate of 10 football pitches a minute
Hundreds of Thai children strain to sing the national anthem, reedy voices and fragile lungs competing against eight lanes of belching traffic next to their school’s open atrium in central Bangkok.…Continue readingSmog and sick kids: Thai pupils endure air pollution
Many traditional Malaysian fishermen have found themselves increasingly affected by the climate crisis, which is changing weather patterns that have long governed when and where they can fish. Such fishermen are…Continue readingClimate change pushes Malaysia’s coastal fishermen away from the sea
Vietnamese capital Hanoi was blanketed by a thick haze of pollution on Tuesday that obscured high-rise buildings and left the city’s nearly nine million people breathing toxic air. The city topped…Continue readingHanoi chokes as Vietnam capital tops most polluted cities list
/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/FFS5AELJ2BP7LEX4NL7YNB44DA.jpg "Bangkok says work from home as pollution blankets city")
Bangkok city employees have been told to work from home to avoid harmful air pollution, as a layer of noxious haze blanketed the Thai capital on Thursday. City authorities asked for…Continue readingBangkok says work from home as pollution blankets city
Global liquefied natural gas demand is forecast to surge 50% by 2040 as the world transitions to cleaner fuel, Shell said in its latest annual LNG outlook. China was likely to…Continue readingLNG demand set to surge 50% by 2040 in clean-fuel transition, says Shell
Located in West Bengal state in eastern India and neighbouring Bangladesh, the Sundarbans forest system is a cluster of low-lying islands and represents the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world. It…Continue readingThe Sundarbans dilemma: Islands swallowed by water, and nowhere else to go
Despite strict EU regulations on plastic recycling, there is little oversight on plastic waste shipped from the EU to Vietnam. About half of Europe’s plastic waste is exported to a number…Continue readingA large percentage of European plastic sent to Vietnam ends up in nature
“Chronic arsenic poisoning from drinking water … is a real problem, not a theoretical exercise,” said the lead researcher, Dr Seth Frisbie, an emeritus professor of chemistry at Norwich University, in…Continue readingClimate crisis to increase cancer risk for tens of millions of people in Bangladesh
The elephants are gone. The trees are logged out. The Beng Per Wildlife Sanctuary in central Cambodia is largely destroyed, after being handed over by the government to a politically well-connected…Continue readingHow Mounting Demand for Rubber Is Driving Tropical Forest Loss
The vast amount of electricity that India’s growing number of ACs will require presents a significant challenge. Already during peak summertime hours, ACs have accounted for 40% to 60% of total…Continue reading‘A matter of survival’: India’s unstoppable need for air conditioners
Haiyan was one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall. More than 6,300 people were killed as the storm swept across the island of Leyte, flattening homes and causing a…Continue reading10 years after Haiyan, are mangroves protecting Philippine coastal areas?
Excelerate Energy, a US-based liquefied natural gas (LNG) company, and Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla), a government-owned national gas company of Bangladesh, have entered into a long-term LNG sale…Continue readingExcelerate Energy signs 15-year LNG supply deal with Petrobangla
Heat waves have always been part of summer, but the familiar short periods of oppressive conditions have grown into weeks to months of sweltering heat. Research has shown that heat waves…Continue readingHere are the places that could become too hot for humans due to climate change
Authorities in Pakistan ordered schoolchildren in the smog-smothered city of Lahore to wear masks during lessons starting Thursday, an effort to protect against hazardous levels of polluted air. The Punjab state…Continue readingStudents ordered to wear masks in smog-hit Lahore
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the world Monday to “stop the madness” of climate change as he visited Himalayan regions struggling from rapidly melting glaciers to witness the devastating impact of…Continue readingUN chief urges world to ‘stop the madness’ of climate change
BP and its partners have shipped the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the newly constructed third liquefaction train at the Tangguh LNG facility in Indonesia. Safely loaded and…Continue readingBP starts commercial operation of expanded Tangguh LNG facility in Indonesia
North Dhaka is particularly vulnerable to the urban heat-island effect due to its densely populated city centre, with some urban hotspots more than 10˚C (18˚F) higher than the surrounding countryside. With…Continue reading‘Only the rich can bear this heat’: how Dhaka is battling extreme weather
As many as eight in 10 brown bear cubs born this year in a remote part of northern Japan have died amid a shortage of salmon, with experts blaming rising sea…Continue readingBrown bear cubs in Japan die of starvation amid salmon shortage
Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s treacherous monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing their frequency and severity. In Himachal Pradesh, 50 people were…Continue readingDeath toll from heavy rain in north India rises to almost 60
Millions of people have been hit by extreme weather events and prolonged heatwaves around the globe in recent weeks, events that scientists say are being exacerbated by climate change. And the…Continue readingStreets become rivers as Beijing records heaviest rain in 140 years
At least 50 people, including eight children, have been killed by floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains that have lashed Pakistan since last month, officials said Friday. The summer monsoon…Continue readingAt least 50 dead in Pakistan monsoon floods
After an estimated 20 elephant deaths and countless other wild animals perishing due to single-use plastics in the past decade, officials say a law banning many such items is expected to…Continue readingJumbo problem: Sri Lanka’s battle with plastic pollution
Twenty-three deaths were reported on Thursday and another 11 died on Friday, Ballia’s Chief Medical Officer Jayant Kumar said. “All the individuals were suffering from some ailments and their conditions worsened…Continue readingDozens die as northern India swelters under heatwave
After a series of heatwaves, including a record high in May, and an unprecedented drought, rivers and reservoirs in northern Vietnam are running dry, pulling locals who survive off the water…Continue reading‘There is nothing for me’: Vietnam drought dries up income
Temperatures in Beijing hit a record for mid-June of 39.4 degrees Celsius (103 Fahrenheit) on Friday, China’s meteorological authority said, warning the public to stay indoors. More than two million square…Continue readingBeijing roasts in record mid-June temperatures
Temperatures in the South Asian nation’s capital of Dhaka have surged to around 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), with the poor bearing the brunt of the blazing sun. A study…Continue readingBangladesh shuts schools, cuts power in longest heatwave in decades
Japan experienced its warmest spring on record this year, the national weather agency said Thursday, as greenhouse gasses and El Nino send temperatures soaring worldwide. Temperatures across March, April and May…Continue readingJapan reports warmest spring on record
Parks in the city of eight million people are now plunged into total darkness after 11 pm, while two-thirds of street lights are also switched off at the same hour. In…Continue readingHeatwave prompts Hanoi to reduce street lights as power cuts loom
The temperature at the bustling station climbed to 36.7˚C later in the afternoon, Shanghai’s meteorological service said. Parts of India saw temperatures reach 44˚C (111˚F) in mid-April with at least 11…Continue readingShanghai records hottest day in May in 100 years
The researchers were able to identify the country of origin for 232 objects, with the largest percentage being from Japan at 33.6%. China was next at 32.3% followed by South Korea…Continue readingMore than 90% of identifiable trash in North Pacific Garbage Patch comes from just six countries
Rapid economic growth, urbanisation and changing lifestyles in communist Vietnam have led to a “plastic pollution crisis”, according to the World Bank. A report in 2022 estimated 3.1 million tonnes of…Continue readingVietnam battles plastic blight in idyllic Ha Long Bay
Two years ago, a multibillion-dollar natural gas export project planned for Alaska appeared all but dead, the victim of tough economics and Donald Trump’s trade wars. But now it’s got fresh…Continue readingAnother big Alaska fossil fuel project gets Biden team’s blessing
The ferocious temperatures, which have persisted across parts of Asia for more than a week, amounted to the “worst April heatwave in Asian history ongoing in more than a dozen countries”.Continue readingAsia’s prolonged April heatwave concerns scientists
Local governments in energy-hungry Chinese provinces approved at least 20.45 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power in the first three months of 2023, Greenpeace said. That is more than double the 8.63…Continue readingChina approves coal power surge despite emissions pledge: Greenpeace
Extreme temperatures described as ‘worst April heatwave in Asian history’ as records threatened in India, China, Thailand and Laos.Continue readingSevere heatwave engulfs Asia causing deaths and forcing schools to close
The study showed that internal climate variability could increase sea level rise in some locations by 20–30% more than what would result from climate change alone, exponentially increasing extreme flooding events.…Continue readingSea level rise poses particular risk for Asian megacities
Mitsubishi Power said that the fourth and final unit of the Chonburi power plant, a 2.65GW gas-fired power facility in Thailand, has commenced operation. The Chonburi power plant is made up…Continue readingMitsubishi fully commissions 2.65GW gas power plant in Thailand
Concerns about climate change shrank across the world last year, with fewer than half of those questioned in a new survey believing it posed a “very serious threat” to their countries…Continue readingConcern about climate change shrinks globally
Heatwaves will become so extreme in certain regions of the world within decades that human life there will be unsustainable, the United Nations and the Red Cross said Monday. Heatwaves are…Continue readingHeatwaves will make regions uninhabitable within decades: UN, Red Cross
China recorded its highest temperatures and one of its lowest levels of rainfall in 61 years during a two-month summer heatwave. The average national temperature in August, 22.4˚C, was 1.2˚C higher…Continue readingChina reports ‘most severe’ heatwave and third driest summer on record
The rice fields are washed away. The coconut trees and chilli plants, flooded with salt water, are all dead. The farmers’ fish ponds fail, the water so high that the fish…Continue readingThe Indonesians living in flooded villages
Pakistan is experiencing its worst floods this century. At least one-third of the country is under water. Scientists say several factors have contributed to the extreme event, which has displaced some…Continue readingWhy are Pakistan’s floods so extreme this year?
State-owned oil and gas company Indian Oil has unveiled a $25 billion investment plan to achieve net-zero operational emissions by 2046. Indian Oil chairman S M Vaidya said: “IndianOil has been…Continue readingIndian Oil unveils $25 billion investment plan to achieve net zero by 2046
Despite enviable earnings, shares of Three Gorges Renewables are down 15% this year and trade at 20 times forward earnings, half the level of a year ago. Strict policy mandates to…Continue readingDroughts push China towards coal power
At least nine people have died and seven were missing in and around the South Korean capital, Seoul, after the city was lashed by the heaviest rains in more than 100…Continue readingSevere flood damage in South Korea’s Seoul after record rains
Japan has begun restarting nuclear plants that have been idle since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledging to get at least nine reactors up and running by…Continue readingAsia goes nuclear
More than 900 million Chinese, about 65% of the population, are living under some kind of heat warning. Temperatures have reached, or exceeded, the highs that have recently tormented parts of…Continue readingHotter, Longer and More Widespread Heat Waves Scorch China
China’s year-old carbon market has given more than 2,000 power plants a taste of emissions trading, but design flaws and data fraud have meant limited large-scale greenhouse gas reductions and environmental…Continue readingA year on, China’s CO₂ market fails to drive big emission cuts
India’s thermal coal imports hit a monthly record in June of 20.9 million tonnes, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government called for increased purchases in order to overcome a fuel shortage…Continue readingGautam Adani ramps up share of coal imports as power crisis grips India
In the first quarter of 2022, Chinese regulators gave the green light to coal plants with a total capacity of 8.63 gigawatts. That is nearly half of the entire coal-fired capacity…Continue readingChina speeding up approvals for new coal plants
Mongolia expects Russia to begin construction of the “Power of Siberia 2” gas pipeline through its territory to China within two years, as Moscow moves to connect its Europe-supplying gasfields to…Continue readingMongolia says Russia-China gas pipeline will break ground in 2024
United States: In Texas, temperatures hit triple digits Fahrenheit over the weekend, with some places breaking century-old records. On Saturday, Waco reached 108˚F (42˚C), smashing the 104˚F (40˚C) high set in…Continue readingHeatwaves in the US, China and Spain
Japan is enduring one of its worst heat waves on record, raising concern about potential power shortages amid surging demand, even as officials urged people to keep their air-conditioners running to…Continue readingJapan Swelters Through a Punishing Heat Wave
Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in southern China, according to state media, amid floods and landslides triggered by the heaviest rainfall the region has seen…Continue readingHundreds of thousands evacuated in China amid heavy rains, floods
Experts say the catastrophic rain-triggered floods, which submerged large part of the country’s northern and northeastern areas, are an outcome of climate change. Saiful Islam, director of the Institute of Water…Continue readingBangladesh floods: Experts say climate crisis worsening situation
Floodwaters have inundated more of Bangladesh and northeast India, officials say, as authorities struggle to reach more than 9.5 million people stranded with little food and drinking water after days of…Continue readingBangladesh, India floods kill over 100; millions in need of aid
“China’s influence on coal markets is difficult to overstate”, says the International Energy Agency’s Coal 2021 report, which was published in mid-December China’s overall coal use (i.e, power plus non-power) accounts…Continue readingGlobal coal consumption: Spotlight on China’s consumption for power generation
The summer monsoon, which typically arrives in June and continues till September, is life and livelihood. More than 75% of India’s annual rainfall occurs during this period. Monsoon rains are critical…Continue readingIn India, waiting for the monsoon
After two years of delays, governments had been scheduled to meet in Kunming, China, for COP15 in late April to negotiate this decade’s targets to halt and reverse the rampant destruction…Continue reading‘Sleeping through extinction’: China urged to end delays to COP15 summit
Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani are profiting from a surge in global commodity prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, burnishing their fossil-fuel credentials even as Asia’s richest men publicly push…Continue readingCoal, oil price surges on Ukraine war make Asia’s richest richer
A relentless heat wave has blanketed India and Pakistan since mid-March, causing dozens of deaths, fires, increased air pollution, and reduced crop yields. Weather forecasts show no prospect of relief any…Continue readingNASA’s ECOSTRESS detects ‘heat islands’ in extreme Indian heat wave
India has relaxed environmental compliance rules for coal mines seeking to ramp up production as power outages exacerbate a sweltering heatwave, a government notice showed. Coal makes up more than two-thirds…Continue readingIndia relaxes environment rules for coal mines, citing heatwave
Typically, heat waves in India affect only part of the country, occur in the summer and only last for a week or so. But a string of early heat waves this…Continue readingIndia tries to adapt to extreme heat but is paying a heavy price