Chart of the week: The future of glaciers
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
4 days ago
- Khaleej Times
World will have to learn to live with heatwaves: UN
The world will have to learn to live with heatwaves, the United Nations' weather and climate agency said Tuesday, as much of Europe roasted in high summer temperatures. The World Meteorological Organization said that in future, people could expect heatwaves to occur more often and be more intense because of human-induced climate change. WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis said July was traditionally the hottest month of the year in the northern hemisphere, but it was exceptional, though not unprecedented, to have episodes of extreme heat this early in the summer. She said extreme heat was "widely called the silent killer", with the death toll often under-reflected in official statistics. "It's important to stress that every single death from heat is unnecessary: we have the knowledge, we have the tools; we can save lives," she said. Western Europe is sweltering under the influence of a strong high pressure system, Nullis told a press briefing in Geneva. "This is trapping hot air from northern Africa over the region, and as we can see it's having a pretty big impact on the way we feel and the way we are acting," she said. A major factor in the heatwave is the exceptional sea surface temperatures in the Mediterranean. "It's the equivalent of a land heatwave. The Mediterranean Sea is suffering a pretty extreme marine heatwave right now, and that tends to reinforce the extreme temperatures over land areas," Nullis said. She said the urban heat island effect was exaggerating the situation in cities, with a lack of greenery to absorb the heat and concrete surfaces reflecting it. The WMO said early warnings and coordinated action plans were crucial to protect public safety, and meteorologists were getting better at both. "As a result of human-induced climate change, extreme heat is becoming more frequent, more intense. It's something we have to learn to live with," Nullis said. She added, "What can we expect in the future? More of the same, even worse." Meanwhile the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said its national teams had mobilised across Europe to help people cope. "Volunteers are giving out water and checking on the most vulnerable populations, including people experiencing homelessness, older people, and outdoor workers," IFRC spokesman Tommaso Della Longa told the briefing. "Extreme heat doesn't have to be a disaster: knowledge, preparedness and early action make all the difference."
Al Etihad
10-05-2025
- Al Etihad
Somalia floods kill seven, displace 200 families
10 May 2025 23:33 MOGADISHU (AFP)At least seven people were killed in an overnight devastating flood in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, local government officials said on rains, which started on Friday night and lasted about 10 hours, touched off the floods that displaced more than 200 houses were completely destroyed across various districts of Mogadishu, while six major tarmac roads were also damaged."Seven people died, two of them women," Salah Omar Hassan, the spokesman of the Banadir regional administration, said in a press added, "The floods also swept through the houses of 200 families while destroying six key tarmac roads, which are very important for the movement of transport and people in the capital Mogadishu."A UN report published on April 30 revealed that more than 45,000 people have been affected by flash floods in Somalia since mid-April. The Horn of Africa is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change, and extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and intense. Somalia was hit by intense floods in 2023. More than 100 people were killed and over a million displaced after severe flooding caused by torrential rains linked to the El Nino weather pattern.
Khaleej Times
16-04-2025
- Khaleej Times
Downpours drench homeless survivors of Myanmar deadly quake
Heavy rains have lashed the Myanmar region stricken by last month's earthquake, aid officials said on Wednesday, drenching homeless survivors and bogging down relief efforts. Some 60,000 people are living in tent encampments in central Myanmar, according to the UN, three weeks after a 7.7-magnitude tremor damaged and destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 3,700 people. Downpours around 7:00 pm on Tuesday flooded streets and camps in and around Mandalay, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said. The city — Myanmar's second most populous — suffered heavy damage in the March 28 disaster with apartment blocks collapsed, religious institutes demolished and hotels razed by the shallow quake. AFP journalists in Mandalay over the weekend saw hundreds of people living under plastic gazebos and draped tarpaulins, perched on cardboard in makeshift homes that offered little protection from the elements. "When these downpours happen the conditions just get really worse," IFRC Myanmar delegation chief Nadia Khoury told AFP. Myanmar is in the midst of its "Thingyan" festival which typically celebrates the new year with water-splashing rituals symbolising cleansing and renewal. But celebrations have been muted as the nation mourns, while relief workers and homeless families are fretting over the summer's oncoming monsoon season. "The conditions are challenging. We are worried about the rains arriving," said Khoury, who has visited the worst affected sites -- where the IFRC is working with the Myanmar Red Cross -- for the past two days. "This effort needs to be as fast as possible, to get people into some form of permanent shelter, with good sanitary facilities and drinking water." Myanmar's central belt is blanketed by at least two and a half million tonnes of debris, according to the UN, which says two million people have been pushed into "critical need of assistance and protection". Many homes remain standing but have suffered cracks, with families too fearful to return as the region is still rattled by regular aftershocks. Daytime temperatures have soared as high as 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit), piling more misery on survivors in the country which is also beset by a brutal civil war following a 2021 coup.
