Several European regions witnessed unusual warm temperatures in the last week of December, with weather officials predicting milder winters at the start of 2022.

Northern Spain’s Bilbao region recorded 24.7 degrees Celsius, a high not witnessed since record-keeping began in 1947.

In Segovia near Madrid, 22.7 degrees Celsius was recorded, the highest since 1920, and nearby Avila reached 20.2 degrees Celsius, its highest since 1983.

“These high temperatures are not normal… These are temperatures that you would normally see in the month of April,” Rubén del Campo, a spokesperson for the state meteorological agency AEMET, told the Guardian.

He attributed the year-end heat to a mass of hot air over Spain combined with high pressure. “It’s a normal phenomenon that we do see, but what’s strange this time is the high temperatures we are seeing.”

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ending-2021-on-a-warm-note-uk-records-warmest-new-years-eve-441534">Ending 2021 on a warm note: UK records warmest New Year’s Eve</a>

Weather officials said that the high-pressure anticyclone has passed over to France and Italy and have warned of avalanches in the Alps.

Temperatures in some of Italy’s best-known ski resorts, including Cortina d’Ampezzo and Courmayeur, are forecast to be hovering around 13-15 degrees Celsius above the seasonal norm on New Year’s Day, and the balmy weather is expected to linger until January 3.

Luca Mercalli, a meteorologist, told the Guardian, “At the moment it is about 15 degrees Celsius in areas of the Alps at an altitude of 1,600 metres and is not hitting zero beneath 4,000 metres. It hasn’t even been freezing at night – the temperature has not dropped below 10 degrees, and this is very unusual.”

The rest of Italy is also experiencing abnormally warm conditions, with a high of 18 degrees Celsius expected in Rome on Saturday and 22 degrees Celsius in the Sicilian city of Catania by the middle of next week.

Apart from that, UK also witnessed warm winters on New Year’s Eve, with some regions reporting 15 degrees Celsius.

The UK’s Met Office linked the unusual weather phenomena to climate change.

(With inputs from agencies)

Several European regions witnessed unusual warm temperatures in the last week of December, with weather officials predicting milder winters at the start of 2022.

Several European regions witnessed unusual warm temperatures in the last week of December, with weather officials predicting milder winters at the start of 2022. Northern Spain’s Bilbao region recorded 24.7 degrees Celsius, a high not witnessed since record-keeping began in 1947. In Segovia near Madrid, 22.7 degrees Celsius was recorded, the highest since 1920, and nearby Avila reached 20.2 degrees Celsius, its highest since 1983. “These high temperatures are not normal… These are temperatures that you would normally see in the month of April,” Rubén del Campo, a spokesperson for the state meteorological agency AEMET, told the Guardian. He attributed the year-end heat to a mass of hot air over Spain combined with high pressure. “It’s a normal phenomenon that we do see, but what’s strange this time is the high temperatures we are seeing.” Also read | Ending 2021 on a warm note: UK records warmest New Year’s Eve Weather officials said that the high-pressure anticyclone has passed over to France and Italy and have warned of avalanches in the Alps. Temperatures in some of Italy’s best-known ski resorts, including Cortina d’Ampezzo and Courmayeur, are forecast to be hovering around 13-15 degrees Celsius above the seasonal norm on New Year’s Day, and the balmy weather is expected to linger until January 3. Luca Mercalli, a meteorologist, told the Guardian, “At the moment it is about 15 degrees Celsius in areas of the Alps at an altitude of 1,600 metres and is not hitting zero beneath 4,000 metres. It hasn’t even been freezing at night – the temperature has not dropped below 10 degrees, and this is very unusual.” The rest of Italy is also experiencing abnormally warm conditions, with a high of 18 degrees Celsius expected in Rome on Saturday and 22 degrees Celsius in the Sicilian city of Catania by the middle of next week. Apart from that, UK also witnessed warm winters on New Year’s Eve, with some regions reporting 15 degrees Celsius. The UK’s Met Office linked the unusual weather phenomena to climate change. (With inputs from agencies)

Spain, Italy record ‘unusual’ warm temperatures on cold New Year’s Eve

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Chile has declared "a climate and ecological emergency". 155 Chileans have been picked to rewrite the country's constitution to deal with climate change. Palki Sharma tells you how smaller nations are walking the talk on climate change.

Gravitas: Chile is rewriting its constitution to fight climate change

The wealthiest countries in the world are often considered guardians of the planet, but we know how much damage they have done with their emissions. They are responsible for climate change. Smaller countries that face an existential threat are leading the climate change fight. Chile is rewriting its constitution to combat climate change.

Chile is rewriting its constitution to combat climate change in a bid to protect its ecology

Scientists have sounded an alarm on limiting global warming. The government across the globe were urged to step up with their efforts.

A Review of conservation efforts in 2021: Scientists sound an alarm on limiting global warming

Rarely does a country get a chance to lay out its ideals as a nation and write a new constitution for itself. Almost never does the climate and ecological crisis play a central role.

That is, until now, in Chile, where a national reinvention is underway. After months of protests over social and environmental grievances, 155 Chileans have been elected to write a new constitution amid what they have declared a “climate and ecological emergency.”

Their work will not only shape how this country of 19 million is governed. It will also determine the future of a soft, lustrous metal — lithium — lurking in the salt waters beneath this vast ethereal desert beside the Andes Mountains.

Lithium is an essential component of batteries. And as the global economy seeks alternatives to fossil fuels to slow down climate change, lithium demand — and prices — are soaring.

Mining companies in Chile, the world’s second-largest lithium producer after Australia, are keen to increase production, as are politicians who see mining as crucial to national prosperity. They face mounting opposition, though, from Chileans who argue that the country’s very economic model, based on extraction of natural resources, has exacted too high an environmental cost and failed to spread the benefits to all citizens, including its Indigenous people.

And so it falls to the Constitutional Convention to decide what kind of country Chile wants to be. Convention members will decide many things, including: How should mining be regulated, and what voice should local communities have over mining? Should Chile retain a presidential system? Should nature have rights? How about future generations?

Embedded in their discussions is a global dilemma over whether the world can address the climate crisis without repeating past mistakes. “We have to assume that human activity causes damage, so how much damage do we want to cause?” said Cristina Dorador Ortiz, a microbiologist who studies the salt flats and is in the Constitutional Convention. “What is enough damage to live well?”

Then there is water. Amid a crippling drought supercharged by climate change, the Convention will decide who owns Chile’s water. It will also weigh something more basic: What exactly&nbsp;is&nbsp;water?

‘Sacrifice Zones’

Chile’s current constitution was written in 1980 by people hand-picked by its then military ruler, Augusto Pinochet. It opened the country to mining investments and allowed water rights to be bought and sold.

Chile prospered by exploiting its natural riches: copper and coal, salmon and avocados. But even as it became one of Latin America’s richest nations, frustrations mounted over inequality. Mineral-rich areas became known as “sacrifice zones” of environmental degradation. Rivers began drying up.

Anger boiled over into huge protests starting in 2019. A national referendum followed, electing a diverse panel to rewrite the constitution.

On Dec. 19 came another turning point. Voters elected Gabriel Boric, a 35-year-old former student activist, as president. He had campaigned to expand the social safety net, increase mining royalties and taxes, and create a national lithium company.

The morning after his victory, the stock price of the country’s biggest lithium producer, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, or SQM, fell 15%.

The Father of Volcanoes

One-fifth of the world’s lithium is produced by SQM, most of it in the Atacama Desert in the shadow of ancient volcanoes, including the oldest and still active one, Lascar. The Lickanantay, the area’s Indigenous people, call Lascar the father of all volcanoes.

From above, the mine looks as if someone has spread a glistening blue and green quilt in the middle of this pale desert.

The riches lie in the brine underground. Day and night, SQM pumps out the brine, along with freshwater from five wells. Pipes carry brine to a series of ponds.

Then, the sun goes to work.

The Atacama has the highest solar radiation levels on Earth. Water evaporates astonishingly fast, leaving mineral deposits behind. Magnesium comes out of the ponds. Also potassium. Lithium remains in a viscous yellow-green pool, which SQM converts into powdery white lithium carbonate for battery-makers abroad.

SQM was a state-owned maker of fertilizer chemicals until Pinochet turned it over to his then son-in-law, Julio Ponce Lerou, in 1983. More recently, it has been fined by Chile’s stock market regulator and by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Ponce, no longer chair, retains 30% ownership.

Today, SQM is riding a lithium bull market. Carlos Díaz, its vice president for lithium, said the company seeks to increase capacity from 140,000 tons of lithium carbonate to 180,000 tons by 2022. Díaz said the firm wants to “produce lithium as green as possible,” including by reducing saltwater extraction by half by 2030 and by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2040.

There is good reason. Nearby, a copper mine, called Escondida, was fined $93 million for extracting water and causing what a Chilean court called “irreparable damage.”

The mining industry is bracing for change. A law to increase royalties is working through the Legislature. And the Constitutional Convention is weighing provisions that could require more local decision-making.

Joaquin Villarino, president of the Mining Council, the industry lobby, said both could diminish Chile’s appeal to investors. He voiced particular worry that some of the Convention members appeared to be against mining altogether, though he did not name any. “I hope this is not what we will have in our constitution,” he said, “because Chile is a mining country.”

The Convention is also likely to make water a public good. But another question will bear on the industry even more: Is brine — the saltwater beneath the desert — technically water? Mining companies assert it is not, because it is fit for neither human nor animal consumption.

“There is a clear separation between what is coming from the mountain, that is the continental water, and what you have in the brine in the Salar de Atacama,” Díaz said.

Brine extraction is currently governed by the mining code. The new constitution could change that. It could call brine water.

Crisis in a Bright Lagoon

In the shadow of Lascar, not far from the SQM mine, shimmers a lagoon encrusted in bright white salt. Jordán Jofré Lique, a geologist who works with the Atacama Indigenous Council, walks along its edge. A solitary flamingo crosses the salt crust.

The bird is looking for food, mainly brine shrimp, and this afternoon the lake is unusually dry. Lique, 28, is not sure why. But it worries him. The health of the&nbsp;salar&nbsp;(salt flat in Spanish) constantly worries him, considering two major forces beyond his control: the warming of the planet and the mining industry’s extraction of water here in one of the world’s driest regions. The flamingo gives up its search, unfurls its pale pink wings and flies.

Lique, a Lickanantay man, knows the tracks of the salt flat. His grandfather herded sheep and goats here.

He was once set to go work for a mining company. It was a path to a good salary. Instead, he found himself studying the effects of mining on his people’s land. “Maybe it was an act of God or life’s circumstances,” he said.

Some Indigenous people say mining companies have divided their communities with offers of money and jobs. Lique’s organization is shunned by some people because it accepts research funds from Albemarle, a U.S. company that also mines lithium locally.

His group has installed more than a dozen sensors to measure water levels, salinity and temperature. He is particularly worried about “the mixing zone,” a sensitive ecosystem where freshwater coexists with saltwater underground. The bright evaporation ponds act like mirrors, which Lique suspects heats the air.

Independent research has found declining soil moisture and ground cover in the salt flat, along with rising daytime temperatures, evidence of a strong correlation between the expansion of lithium mining and the drying of the area.

A government census has recorded a slight decline in the Andean flamingo population in the Atacama since 1997, whereas their numbers remain unchanged elsewhere in Chile. Alejandra Castro, a park ranger in charge of flamingo reserves, suspects climate change. “Each lake system is essential and must deliver its optimal water table levels to sustain future generations of chicks,” Castro said.

SQM says its monitors show brine levels decreasing marginally in the mixing zone and that the flora and fauna remain healthy.

The Atacama is full of surprises. Parts of it are so dry, the ground is sharp and craggy, with no vegetation. Then the landscape changes suddenly, giving way to ankle-high shrubs or a forest of towering tamarugo trees. A dirt road twists through the bare ocher hills, depositing you abruptly in a ravine carrying mountain spring water.

Lique sees the compounding effects of climate change. Water on his family’s farm, near the mine, evaporates more quickly. Rains are more extreme. One alfalfa patch did not grow this year. The corn is short.

But Lique is most worried about how the extraction of so much brine could change the delicate equilibrium of sun, earth and water, especially amid climate change. “The best scenario is that it doesn’t get worse than this,” he said. “The worst scenario is that everything dries up.”

Clues to the Future

Dorador, the Constitutional Convention member, walks through a busy market in her hometown, Antofagasta. “The constitution is the most important law in the country,” she tells a man selling mangoes.

He listens politely.

Dorador, 41, describes what the assembly is discussing: water, housing, health care. She explains the timeline: a draft constitution by July, followed by a national vote.

Behind her, a man yells out the price of corn. Another is selling rabbits. One woman vents about shoulder pain. A few tell her they have no time.

Dorador became drawn to the microorganisms that have survived for millions of years in the salt flats. “We can learn a lot of things about climate change studying the&nbsp;salares, because they are already extreme,” she said. “You can find clues of the past and also clues of the future.”

Dorador is vying to be the convention’s president. She wants the constitution to recognize that “humans are part of nature.” She bristles when asked if lithium extraction is necessary to pivot away from fossil fuel extraction. Of course the world should stop burning oil and gas, she said, but not by ignoring yet-unknown ecological costs. “Someone buys an electric car and feels very good because they’re saving the planet,” she said. “At the same time, an entire ecosystem is damaged. It’s a big paradox.”

Indeed, the questions facing this Convention are not Chile’s alone. The world faces the same reckoning as it confronts climate change and biodiversity loss amid widening social inequities: Does the search for climate fixes require reexamining humanity’s relationship to nature itself?

“We have to face some very complex 21st-century problems,” said Maisa Rojas, a climate scientist at the University of Chile. “Our institutions are, in many respects, not ready.”

Rarely does a country get a chance to lay out its ideals as a nation and write a new constitution for itself. Almost never does the climate and ecological crisis play a central role.

Rarely does a country get a chance to lay out its ideals as a nation and write a new constitution for itself. Almost never does the climate and ecological crisis play a central role. That is, until now, in Chile, where a national reinvention is underway. After months of protests over social and environmental grievances, 155 Chileans have been elected to write a new constitution amid what they have declared a “climate and ecological emergency.” Their work will not only shape how this country of 19 million is governed. It will also determine the future of a soft, lustrous metal — lithium — lurking in the salt waters beneath this vast ethereal desert beside the Andes Mountains. Lithium is an essential component of batteries. And as the global economy seeks alternatives to fossil fuels to slow down climate change, lithium demand — and prices — are soaring. Mining companies in Chile, the world’s second-largest lithium producer after Australia, are keen to increase production, as are politicians who see mining as crucial to national prosperity. They face mounting opposition, though, from Chileans who argue that the country’s very economic model, based on extraction of natural resources, has exacted too high an environmental cost and failed to spread the benefits to all citizens, including its Indigenous people. And so it falls to the Constitutional Convention to decide what kind of country Chile wants to be. Convention members will decide many things, including: How should mining be regulated, and what voice should local communities have over mining? Should Chile retain a presidential system? Should nature have rights? How about future generations? Embedded in their discussions is a global dilemma over whether the world can address the climate crisis without repeating past mistakes. “We have to assume that human activity causes damage, so how much damage do we want to cause?” said Cristina Dorador Ortiz, a microbiologist who studies the salt flats and is in the Constitutional Convention. “What is enough damage to live well?” Then there is water. Amid a crippling drought supercharged by climate change, the Convention will decide who owns Chile’s water. It will also weigh something more basic: What exactly is water? ‘Sacrifice Zones’ Chile’s current constitution was written in 1980 by people hand-picked by its then military ruler, Augusto Pinochet. It opened the country to mining investments and allowed water rights to be bought and sold. Chile prospered by exploiting its natural riches: copper and coal, salmon and avocados. But even as it became one of Latin America’s richest nations, frustrations mounted over inequality. Mineral-rich areas became known as “sacrifice zones” of environmental degradation. Rivers began drying up. Anger boiled over into huge protests starting in 2019. A national referendum followed, electing a diverse panel to rewrite the constitution. On Dec. 19 came another turning point. Voters elected Gabriel Boric, a 35-year-old former student activist, as president. He had campaigned to expand the social safety net, increase mining royalties and taxes, and create a national lithium company. The morning after his victory, the stock price of the country’s biggest lithium producer, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile, or SQM, fell 15%. The Father of Volcanoes One-fifth of the world’s lithium is produced by SQM, most of it in the Atacama Desert in the shadow of ancient volcanoes, including the oldest and still active one, Lascar. The Lickanantay, the area’s Indigenous people, call Lascar the father of all volcanoes. From above, the mine looks as if someone has spread a glistening blue and green quilt in the middle of this pale desert. The riches lie in the brine underground. Day and night, SQM pumps out the brine, along with freshwater from five wells. Pipes carry brine to a series of ponds. Then, the sun goes to work. The Atacama has the highest solar radiation levels on Earth. Water evaporates astonishingly fast, leaving mineral deposits behind. Magnesium comes out of the ponds. Also potassium. Lithium remains in a viscous yellow-green pool, which SQM converts into powdery white lithium carbonate for battery-makers abroad. SQM was a state-owned maker of fertilizer chemicals until Pinochet turned it over to his then son-in-law, Julio Ponce Lerou, in 1983. More recently, it has been fined by Chile’s stock market regulator and by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Ponce, no longer chair, retains 30% ownership. Today, SQM is riding a lithium bull market. Carlos Díaz, its vice president for lithium, said the company seeks to increase capacity from 140,000 tons of lithium carbonate to 180,000 tons by 2022. Díaz said the firm wants to “produce lithium as green as possible,” including by reducing saltwater extraction by half by 2030 and by becoming “carbon neutral” by 2040. There is good reason. Nearby, a copper mine, called Escondida, was fined $93 million for extracting water and causing what a Chilean court called “irreparable damage.” The mining industry is bracing for change. A law to increase royalties is working through the Legislature. And the Constitutional Convention is weighing provisions that could require more local decision-making. Joaquin Villarino, president of the Mining Council, the industry lobby, said both could diminish Chile’s appeal to investors. He voiced particular worry that some of the Convention members appeared to be against mining altogether, though he did not name any. “I hope this is not what we will have in our constitution,” he said, “because Chile is a mining country.” The Convention is also likely to make water a public good. But another question will bear on the industry even more: Is brine — the saltwater beneath the desert — technically water? Mining companies assert it is not, because it is fit for neither human nor animal consumption. “There is a clear separation between what is coming from the mountain, that is the continental water, and what you have in the brine in the Salar de Atacama,” Díaz said. Brine extraction is currently governed by the mining code. The new constitution could change that. It could call brine water. Crisis in a Bright Lagoon In the shadow of Lascar, not far from the SQM mine, shimmers a lagoon encrusted in bright white salt. Jordán Jofré Lique, a geologist who works with the Atacama Indigenous Council, walks along its edge. A solitary flamingo crosses the salt crust. The bird is looking for food, mainly brine shrimp, and this afternoon the lake is unusually dry. Lique, 28, is not sure why. But it worries him. The health of the salar (salt flat in Spanish) constantly worries him, considering two major forces beyond his control: the warming of the planet and the mining industry’s extraction of water here in one of the world’s driest regions. The flamingo gives up its search, unfurls its pale pink wings and flies. Lique, a Lickanantay man, knows the tracks of the salt flat. His grandfather herded sheep and goats here. He was once set to go work for a mining company. It was a path to a good salary. Instead, he found himself studying the effects of mining on his people’s land. “Maybe it was an act of God or life’s circumstances,” he said. Some Indigenous people say mining companies have divided their communities with offers of money and jobs. Lique’s organization is shunned by some people because it accepts research funds from Albemarle, a U.S. company that also mines lithium locally. His group has installed more than a dozen sensors to measure water levels, salinity and temperature. He is particularly worried about “the mixing zone,” a sensitive ecosystem where freshwater coexists with saltwater underground. The bright evaporation ponds act like mirrors, which Lique suspects heats the air. Independent research has found declining soil moisture and ground cover in the salt flat, along with rising daytime temperatures, evidence of a strong correlation between the expansion of lithium mining and the drying of the area. A government census has recorded a slight decline in the Andean flamingo population in the Atacama since 1997, whereas their numbers remain unchanged elsewhere in Chile. Alejandra Castro, a park ranger in charge of flamingo reserves, suspects climate change. “Each lake system is essential and must deliver its optimal water table levels to sustain future generations of chicks,” Castro said. SQM says its monitors show brine levels decreasing marginally in the mixing zone and that the flora and fauna remain healthy. The Atacama is full of surprises. Parts of it are so dry, the ground is sharp and craggy, with no vegetation. Then the landscape changes suddenly, giving way to ankle-high shrubs or a forest of towering tamarugo trees. A dirt road twists through the bare ocher hills, depositing you abruptly in a ravine carrying mountain spring water. Lique sees the compounding effects of climate change. Water on his family’s farm, near the mine, evaporates more quickly. Rains are more extreme. One alfalfa patch did not grow this year. The corn is short. But Lique is most worried about how the extraction of so much brine could change the delicate equilibrium of sun, earth and water, especially amid climate change. “The best scenario is that it doesn’t get worse than this,” he said. “The worst scenario is that everything dries up.” Clues to the Future Dorador, the Constitutional Convention member, walks through a busy market in her hometown, Antofagasta. “The constitution is the most important law in the country,” she tells a man selling mangoes. He listens politely. Dorador, 41, describes what the assembly is discussing: water, housing, health care. She explains the timeline: a draft constitution by July, followed by a national vote. Behind her, a man yells out the price of corn. Another is selling rabbits. One woman vents about shoulder pain. A few tell her they have no time. Dorador became drawn to the microorganisms that have survived for millions of years in the salt flats. “We can learn a lot of things about climate change studying the salares, because they are already extreme,” she said. “You can find clues of the past and also clues of the future.” Dorador is vying to be the convention’s president. She wants the constitution to recognize that “humans are part of nature.” She bristles when asked if lithium extraction is necessary to pivot away from fossil fuel extraction. Of course the world should stop burning oil and gas, she said, but not by ignoring yet-unknown ecological costs. “Someone buys an electric car and feels very good because they’re saving the planet,” she said. “At the same time, an entire ecosystem is damaged. It’s a big paradox.” Indeed, the questions facing this Convention are not Chile’s alone. The world faces the same reckoning as it confronts climate change and biodiversity loss amid widening social inequities: Does the search for climate fixes require reexamining humanity’s relationship to nature itself? “We have to face some very complex 21st-century problems,” said Maisa Rojas, a climate scientist at the University of Chile. “Our institutions are, in many respects, not ready.”

Chile rewrites its constitution, confronting climate change head-on

Yearender 2021: Top 10 extreme weather events that shocked the world

In 2019 residents of Kinshasa witnessed the worst of climate change. Heavy rainfall and unexpected flooding claimed some 40 lives and two years later, the worst fears of the inhabitants are close to becoming a reality.

Kinshasa residents fear an all-encompassing erosion

The world is changing at a rapid pace. What was special earlier is common nowadays.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Space travel has also seen it lately. In the past, only scientific explorers used to venture out in space to find several answers but now, it has become a way to spend leisure time.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Due to the advancement and commercialisation, space tourism has become a reality.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Several big conglomerates have entered this arena, which is highly lucrative.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/spacex-sends-detergent-to-space-to-help-astronauts-wash-clothes-439990" hreflang="en">SpaceX sends detergent to space to help astronauts wash clothes</a>

Not just this, the competition in the industry has already heat up. Nowadays, Elon Musk's SpaceX has been running missions for sending tourists to space. It has also been working on several other missions in coordination with NASA.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin have also completed their maiden flights. Many billionaires, such as Japanese tycoon Yusaku Maezawa, Branson and others, have already visited space.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Apart from billionaires, several others have also reached space or the International Space Station.&nbsp;&nbsp;

A US-based firm Space Adventures, which is headed by Tom Shelley, have sent around eight tourists to the ISS.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/watch-finally-revolutionary-james-webb-space-telescope-scales-sky-on-christmas-439928" hreflang="en">Watch: Finally, revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope scales sky on Christmas</a>

The industry is also facing significant criticism due to its carbon footprint. This comes at a time when the world is looking to fight climate change in a do or die situation.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Some companies are using cleaner fuel for space travel but some are not.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Virgin Galactic has said that it looks to hold 400 flights a year in future. It shows that the popularity of space tourism will surely increase manifold.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

This may lead to huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions. So, it is important to find a fine balance between advancement in the form of space tourism and solution of climate change issues.&nbsp;

So, this kind of&nbsp;tourism may help in transportation of people to other planets but it may result in destruction of the Earth.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The world is changing at a rapid pace. What was special earlier is common nowadays. Space travel has also seen it lately. In the past, only scientific explorers used to venture out in space to find several answers but now, it has become a way to spend leisure time.

The world is changing at a rapid pace. What was special earlier is common nowadays. Space travel has also seen it lately. In the past, only scientific explorers used to venture out in space to find several answers but now, it has become a way to spend leisure time. Due to the advancement and commercialisation, space tourism has become a reality. Several big conglomerates have entered this arena, which is highly lucrative. Also Read: SpaceX sends detergent to space to help astronauts wash clothes Not just this, the competition in the industry has already heat up. Nowadays, Elon Musk's SpaceX has been running missions for sending tourists to space. It has also been working on several other missions in coordination with NASA. Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin have also completed their maiden flights. Many billionaires, such as Japanese tycoon Yusaku Maezawa, Branson and others, have already visited space. Apart from billionaires, several others have also reached space or the International Space Station. A US-based firm Space Adventures, which is headed by Tom Shelley, have sent around eight tourists to the ISS. Also Read | Watch: Finally, revolutionary James Webb Space Telescope scales sky on Christmas The industry is also facing significant criticism due to its carbon footprint. This comes at a time when the world is looking to fight climate change in a do or die situation. Some companies are using cleaner fuel for space travel but some are not. Virgin Galactic has said that it looks to hold 400 flights a year in future. It shows that the popularity of space tourism will surely increase manifold. This may lead to huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions. So, it is important to find a fine balance between advancement in the form of space tourism and solution of climate change issues. So, this kind of tourism may help in transportation of people to other planets but it may result in destruction of the Earth.

Weekend Special: Will space tourism's phenomenal rise benefit world?

Extreme weather became the new normal this year. There was hardly any country left from the impact of climate change. Take a look at this report.

Extreme weather becomes new normal this year

Global warming can double the occurrence of crop pests and diseases by the end of the century in China, threatening the Asian giant’s food security, scientists have warned.

Analysing previously unpublished data set ranging from 1970 to 2016—which comprises more than 5,500 historical crop pest and disease records in China—the scientists came to the conclusion that the occurrence of crop pests and diseases (CPD) in China has increased by a factor of four.

The study, which was published earlier this month in the journal Nature Food, compared long-term statistical records about pest and disease occurrence in the country with potential climatic driving factors such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, and factors from farming practices, including fertiliser application, irrigation and use of pesticides.

The international team of scientists from Britain, China, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States, said climate change is likely responsible for about a fifth of the observed increase in CPD occurrence, with great variations between different Chinese provinces.

“Historical climate change is responsible for more than one-fifth of the observed increment of CPD occurrence (22% ± 17%), ranging from 2 per cent to 79 per cent in different provinces,” the scientists wrote in the study.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/unprecedented-speed-of-global-warming-at-its-fastest-pace-since-ice-age-428615">'Unprecedented': Speed of&nbsp;global warming at its fastest pace since ice age</a>

The researchers pointed out that the problem is severe in two of the main crop-producing areas, the North China Plains and the middle-lower Yangtze Plains in the east.

“Our study shows that climate change affects the occurrence of crop pests and diseases, which threaten global food production and food security. This also challenges existing crop protection systems and overall productivity,” a scientist from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and study’s co-author Christoph Müller said in a statement.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/global-warming-affecting-one-of-the-most-monogamous-birds-leading-to-break-ups-431575">Global warming affecting one of the most monogamous birds, leading to 'break-ups'</a>

China, which has a population of 1.4 billion people, is the world’s largest producer of the main cereal crops (rice, wheat and maize), all of which are the main hosts of pests and diseases such as fungus, according to the researchers.

“These findings should alert us that better data and more research is needed in this field to better mitigate the impacts of climate change on food production,” Müller said.

Scientists said that Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels would leader to warmer night temperatures and are likely to cause an increased chance for crop pests and diseases.

(With inputs from agencies)

Global warming can double the occurrence of crop pests and diseases by the end of the century in China, threatening the Asian giant’s food security, scientists have warned.

Global warming can double the occurrence of crop pests and diseases by the end of the century in China, threatening the Asian giant’s food security, scientists have warned. Analysing previously unpublished data set ranging from 1970 to 2016—which comprises more than 5,500 historical crop pest and disease records in China—the scientists came to the conclusion that the occurrence of crop pests and diseases (CPD) in China has increased by a factor of four. The study, which was published earlier this month in the journal Nature Food, compared long-term statistical records about pest and disease occurrence in the country with potential climatic driving factors such as temperature, precipitation, humidity, and factors from farming practices, including fertiliser application, irrigation and use of pesticides. The international team of scientists from Britain, China, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States, said climate change is likely responsible for about a fifth of the observed increase in CPD occurrence, with great variations between different Chinese provinces. “Historical climate change is responsible for more than one-fifth of the observed increment of CPD occurrence (22% ± 17%), ranging from 2 per cent to 79 per cent in different provinces,” the scientists wrote in the study. Also read | 'Unprecedented': Speed of global warming at its fastest pace since ice age The researchers pointed out that the problem is severe in two of the main crop-producing areas, the North China Plains and the middle-lower Yangtze Plains in the east. “Our study shows that climate change affects the occurrence of crop pests and diseases, which threaten global food production and food security. This also challenges existing crop protection systems and overall productivity,” a scientist from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and study’s co-author Christoph Müller said in a statement. Also read | Global warming affecting one of the most monogamous birds, leading to 'break-ups' China, which has a population of 1.4 billion people, is the world’s largest producer of the main cereal crops (rice, wheat and maize), all of which are the main hosts of pests and diseases such as fungus, according to the researchers. “These findings should alert us that better data and more research is needed in this field to better mitigate the impacts of climate change on food production,” Müller said. Scientists said that Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels would leader to warmer night temperatures and are likely to cause an increased chance for crop pests and diseases. (With inputs from agencies)

Global warming can double crop pests and diseases in China, threaten food security, warn scientists

Climate change worries humans in 2021

An ice cave formed naturally on a high-altitude glacier in the Swiss Alps delighted nature lovers and photographers.

Bluish cave formed naturally in Switzerland | Glacier

First war and now natural calamities, it is a storm of crisis for war-torn Afghanistan. 25 out of 34 provinces have been hit hard by drought.

Climate change parches Afghanistan

Arctic's Reindeers are going to become a thing of the past as climate change is resulting in a rapid decline of their population.

Climate change is killing the Arctic's Reindeers

West Asia happens to be one of the worst affected regions in the world from climate change and its many consequences but what countries are not talking about is military pollution. The US military is one of the worst polluters in west Asia. If the US military was a nation in the region, it would be the eighth largest polluter in West Asia.

The carbon footprint of US Military: US Army a major polluter in West Asia

New research has warned over the accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers, which can have a massive impact on the lives of people in Asia. Amid climate change and related crises, this study highlights an alarming trend as it revealed that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking far more rapidly than glaciers in other parts of the world. The researchers described the shrinking as "exceptional."

The research, which was published in Scientific Reports, stated that over recent decades the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice "ten times more quickly" as compared to average since the last major glacier expansion 400-700 years ago, a period known as the 'Little Ice Age'.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/scientists-surprised-as-abundant-animal-life-found-deep-under-antarctica-ice-sheet-438736">Scientists surprised as abundant animal life found deep under Antarctica ice sheet</a>

The researchers calculated that the glaciers have lost around 40 per cent of their area and the release of water resulting from the melting of glaciers will increase the sea level.&nbsp;

Dr Jonathan Carrivick, who is the corresponding author and Deputy Head of the University of Leeds School of Geography, said, "Our findings clearly show that ice is now being lost from Himalayan glaciers at a rate that is at least ten times higher than the average rate over past centuries."

He added, "This acceleration in the rate of loss has only emerged within the last few decades, and coincides with human-induced climate change."

&nbsp;ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/this-ice-shelf-the-size-of-uk-is-melting-so-fast-it-could-raise-sea-levels-by-over-2-feet-436750">This ice shelf the size of UK is melting so fast it could raise sea levels by over 2 feet</a>

Impact on Aisa

For those who don't know, the Himalayan mountain range is home to the world's third-largest amount of glacier ice, after Antarctica and the Arctic. Some even call it 'the Third Pole'.

However, the melting of glaciers has a significant impact on hundreds of millions of people who depend on Asia's major river systems for food and energy. These rivers include the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus.&nbsp;

Carrivick said: "While we must act urgently to reduce and mitigate the impact of human-made climate change on the glaciers and meltwater-fed rivers, the modelling of that impact on glaciers must also take account of the role of factors such as lakes and debris."

New research has warned over the accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers, which can have a massive impact on the lives of people in Asia. Amid climate change and related crises, this study highlights an alarming trend as it revealed that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking far more rapidly than glaciers in other parts of the world.

New research has warned over the accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers, which can have a massive impact on the lives of people in Asia. Amid climate change and related crises, this study highlights an alarming trend as it revealed that Himalayan glaciers are shrinking far more rapidly than glaciers in other parts of the world. The researchers described the shrinking as "exceptional." The research, which was published in Scientific Reports, stated that over recent decades the Himalayan glaciers have lost ice "ten times more quickly" as compared to average since the last major glacier expansion 400-700 years ago, a period known as the 'Little Ice Age'. ALSO READ | Scientists surprised as abundant animal life found deep under Antarctica ice sheet The researchers calculated that the glaciers have lost around 40 per cent of their area and the release of water resulting from the melting of glaciers will increase the sea level. Dr Jonathan Carrivick, who is the corresponding author and Deputy Head of the University of Leeds School of Geography, said, "Our findings clearly show that ice is now being lost from Himalayan glaciers at a rate that is at least ten times higher than the average rate over past centuries." He added, "This acceleration in the rate of loss has only emerged within the last few decades, and coincides with human-induced climate change." ALSO READ | This ice shelf the size of UK is melting so fast it could raise sea levels by over 2 feet Impact on Aisa For those who don't know, the Himalayan mountain range is home to the world's third-largest amount of glacier ice, after Antarctica and the Arctic. Some even call it 'the Third Pole'. However, the melting of glaciers has a significant impact on hundreds of millions of people who depend on Asia's major river systems for food and energy. These rivers include the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Indus. Carrivick said: "While we must act urgently to reduce and mitigate the impact of human-made climate change on the glaciers and meltwater-fed rivers, the modelling of that impact on glaciers must also take account of the role of factors such as lakes and debris."

Research warns Himalayan glaciers melting at 'exceptional rate'

Australia, which is one of the largest producers of Beef globally, aims to make its beef industry climate-friendly by 2030.

Australia sets an ambitious target of making its beef industry carbon neutral by 2030

Australia looks forward to carbon-neutral Beef farming by 2030 to fight against climate change

Scientists are worried about the rapid melting of glaciers as cold glacial-melt water enters the warmer ocean, slowing ocean currents and as ice on land melts, the sea levels continue to rise.&nbsp;

Overall climatic change, majorly fuelled by human activities are responsible for it as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions have raised Earth's temperatures.&nbsp;

The temperatures are even higher in the poles and as a result, the glaciers are rapidly melting. An alarming crackup has begun at the foot of Antarctica's vulnerable Thwaites Glacier, whose meltwater is already responsible for about 4 per cent of global sea-level rise.

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/arctic-region-recorded-highest-temperature-ever-in-2020-says-world-meteorological-organization-436887">Arctic region recorded highest temperature ever in 2020, says World Meteorological Organization</a>

In a report published in the American Geophysical Union (AGU) on December 16, scientists and exerts discussed the rapid melting of glaciers during this year's AGU fall meeting.&nbsp;

It is mentioned that a floating ice shelf is stabilised offshore by a marine shoal and acts as a dam to slow the flow of ice off the continent into the ocean.&nbsp;

However, if this floating ice shelf breaks apart, the Thwaites Glacier will accelerate and its contribution to sea-level rise will increase by as much as 25 per cent.&nbsp;

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/fires-floods-flying-insects-climate-fuelled-disasters-that-wreaked-havoc-across-world-432546">Fires, floods, flying insects: Climate-fuelled disasters that wreaked havoc across world</a>

"We have mapped out weaker and stronger areas of the ice shelf and suggest a "zig-zag" pathway the fractures might take through the ice, ultimately leading to break up of the shelf in as little as 5 years, which result in more ice flowing off the continent," a part of the report read.&nbsp;

Meanwhile, the UN on Tuesday officially recognised the 38 degrees Celsius measured in Siberia last year as a new record high for the Arctic, sounding "alarm bells" over climate change.

The sweltering heat - equivalent to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit - was seen on June 20, 2020 in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk, marking the highest temperature ever recorded above the Arctic Circle, the World Meteorological Organization said.&nbsp;

"This new Arctic record is one of a series of observations reported to the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes that sound the alarm bells about our changing climate," its chief Petteri Taalas said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies)

Scientists are worried about the rapid melting of glaciers as cold glacial-melt water enters the warmer ocean, slowing ocean currents and as ice on land melts, the sea levels continue to rise.

Scientists are worried about the rapid melting of glaciers as cold glacial-melt water enters the warmer ocean, slowing ocean currents and as ice on land melts, the sea levels continue to rise. Overall climatic change, majorly fuelled by human activities are responsible for it as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions have raised Earth's temperatures. The temperatures are even higher in the poles and as a result, the glaciers are rapidly melting. An alarming crackup has begun at the foot of Antarctica's vulnerable Thwaites Glacier, whose meltwater is already responsible for about 4 per cent of global sea-level rise. ALSO READ | Arctic region recorded highest temperature ever in 2020, says World Meteorological Organization In a report published in the American Geophysical Union (AGU) on December 16, scientists and exerts discussed the rapid melting of glaciers during this year's AGU fall meeting. It is mentioned that a floating ice shelf is stabilised offshore by a marine shoal and acts as a dam to slow the flow of ice off the continent into the ocean. However, if this floating ice shelf breaks apart, the Thwaites Glacier will accelerate and its contribution to sea-level rise will increase by as much as 25 per cent. ALSO READ | Fires, floods, flying insects: Climate-fuelled disasters that wreaked havoc across world "We have mapped out weaker and stronger areas of the ice shelf and suggest a "zig-zag" pathway the fractures might take through the ice, ultimately leading to break up of the shelf in as little as 5 years, which result in more ice flowing off the continent," a part of the report read. Meanwhile, the UN on Tuesday officially recognised the 38 degrees Celsius measured in Siberia last year as a new record high for the Arctic, sounding "alarm bells" over climate change. The sweltering heat - equivalent to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit - was seen on June 20, 2020 in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk, marking the highest temperature ever recorded above the Arctic Circle, the World Meteorological Organization said. "This new Arctic record is one of a series of observations reported to the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes that sound the alarm bells about our changing climate," its chief Petteri Taalas said in a statement. (With inputs from agencies)

Scientists analyse details of one of the fastest-changing glaciers in Antarctica

If you are a pancake lover and are wondering if the lack of maple syrup in Canada might affect your regular dose, fret not, Quebec is about to save your craving.<o:p></o:p>

Given a very poor harvest in the country and a rising demand for maple syrup, the supply of the syrup has been staggering. However, now, the Quebec province has decided to tap into its strategic reserves to make sure that the world can get back to enjoying the sweet syrup.

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/study-reveals-that-proteins-taken-from-shark-immune-systems-can-neutralise-covid-19-and-its-variants-437822">Study reveals that proteins taken from shark immune systems can neutralise COVID-19 and its variants</a></o:p>

Experts have warned locals and producers that the alarming change in temperature, caused due to global warming, may bring an extreme shortage of maple syrup if the same demand trend continues.<o:p></o:p>

After the warning, to make sure that the shortage is avoided and demands of maple syrup lovers can be fulfilled, Quebec Maple Syrup Producers have decided to release more than half of the stockpile of syrup as a buffer between the supply and demand.<o:p></o:p>

"It's normal, that's what we want: The reserves must be the buffer between temperature, demand and production," explained the organization's president Serge Beaulieu.

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/scientist-find-reason-why-solar-storms-decreased-in-last-decade-437485">Scientist find reason why solar storms decreased in last decade</a></o:p>

He also said that the coronavirus pandemic was also to be partially blamed for the increase in demand as "due to Covid restrictions, consumers spent much more time at home, trying out new food products," he explained.<o:p></o:p>

Beaulieu’s company represents more than 11,000 maple syrup producers and is one of the leading names in the maple syrup industry, especially in Quebec — a city that produces nearly three quarters of the world’s maple syrup.<o:p></o:p>

Quebec Maple Syrup Producers will now be taking out their backup supply from the warehouse which is stationed in the town of Laurierville, near Quebec City and is the size of five football fields with barrels of nearly 45 gallons stacked row after row till the ceiling.<o:p></o:p>

Meanwhile, experts have warned that the yield per maple tree faces the danger of decreasing by as much as 15 per cent by 2050 due to increasing climate change, especially the warm weather in April.

<o:p>(With inputs from agencies)</o:p>

If you are a pancake lover and are wondering if the lack of maple syrup in Canada might affect your regular dose, fret not, Quebec is about to save your craving.

If you are a pancake lover and are wondering if the lack of maple syrup in Canada might affect your regular dose, fret not, Quebec is about to save your craving. Given a very poor harvest in the country and a rising demand for maple syrup, the supply of the syrup has been staggering. However, now, the Quebec province has decided to tap into its strategic reserves to make sure that the world can get back to enjoying the sweet syrup. Also read | Study reveals that proteins taken from shark immune systems can neutralise COVID-19 and its variants Experts have warned locals and producers that the alarming change in temperature, caused due to global warming, may bring an extreme shortage of maple syrup if the same demand trend continues. After the warning, to make sure that the shortage is avoided and demands of maple syrup lovers can be fulfilled, Quebec Maple Syrup Producers have decided to release more than half of the stockpile of syrup as a buffer between the supply and demand. "It's normal, that's what we want: The reserves must be the buffer between temperature, demand and production," explained the organization's president Serge Beaulieu. Also read | Scientist find reason why solar storms decreased in last decade He also said that the coronavirus pandemic was also to be partially blamed for the increase in demand as "due to Covid restrictions, consumers spent much more time at home, trying out new food products," he explained. Beaulieu’s company represents more than 11,000 maple syrup producers and is one of the leading names in the maple syrup industry, especially in Quebec — a city that produces nearly three quarters of the world’s maple syrup. Quebec Maple Syrup Producers will now be taking out their backup supply from the warehouse which is stationed in the town of Laurierville, near Quebec City and is the size of five football fields with barrels of nearly 45 gallons stacked row after row till the ceiling. Meanwhile, experts have warned that the yield per maple tree faces the danger of decreasing by as much as 15 per cent by 2050 due to increasing climate change, especially the warm weather in April. (With inputs from agencies)

Quebec opens emergency stock to meet rising maple syrup demand

I’m a tornado climatologist, and it is not unusual for people to ask me after a spate of storms like the ones that ripped through the center of the country on Friday whether climate change has anything to do with it. The answer is: It’s complicated.

We have started to detect changes in collective tornado activity, including more powerful storms, and are beginning to understand how these changes might be related to global warming. But much more work needs to be done to gain a fuller understanding of how the changing climate is influencing these deadly storms.

Let’s start with what we know. A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air inside a thunderstorm. A thunderstorm that lasts more than 20 minutes and is energized by continuously rising air is called a supercell. The rising air is fueled by warm, moist conditions and changes in wind speed or direction associated with the approach of a frontal system where warm and cool air collide. The warm, moist air and that wind shear can generate a series of supercells, some of which produce tornadoes.

Connecting tornadoes to climate change is complicated because those twin conditions are necessary but not sufficient together for tornadoes to occur. A close-packed group of supercells, for instance, might produce straight-line winds rather than tornadoes. What’s needed to generate an outbreak of tornadoes — say, six to 10 of them — is ample heat, moisture and wind shear. But too much of any one or two of those conditions can disrupt the process of tornado formation.

Although tornadoes across the years do not appear to have become more common, an increasing percentage of them are occurring in outbreaks. The tornadoes that included Friday night’s so-called quad-state tornado — which crossed four states and devastated the town of Mayfield, Ky. — are an example of an outbreak. These are on the rise. On a day with at least one tornado, the chance that there are at least seven more increased to more than 15 percent on average by 2015 from 10 percent in 1990. These increases are even more substantial for larger outbreaks like the one that occurred on Friday night.

Here’s what we’ve also been seeing: A below average number of tornadoes this year; outbreaks becoming more common during cooler months in recent years; and tornadoes occurring more often across the Southeast compared with the Great Plains. Cities with the largest decreases in the number of strong tornadoes since 1984 include Dallas, Oklahoma City and Houston. Cities with the largest increases in the number of strong tornadoes since 1984 are Atlanta, Nashville and Augusta.

There is also evidence that tornadoes are getting stronger. Tornadoes are rated based on the severity of damage they inflict, using what’s known as the EF scale. The rating is made after the fact by forensic experts, and it depends on factors including the type of object struck and how the object was constructed.

The damage rating can be converted to a range of wind speeds. For example, a tornado rated as inflicting EF2 damage likely had wind speeds between 111 to 135 mph in a three-second gust. But the subjective nature of the rating process and the randomness of where a tornado tracks make it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions about tornado activity by counting the number of these storms in each rating category.

An increase in the number of large clusters does imply a larger threat of damaging tornadoes, however: The percentage of violent tornadoes (EF4, with winds of 166 to 200 miles per hour or more) increases with the size of the outbreak. Historically in an outbreak with between 16 and 32 tornadoes, fewer than 4 percent of them on average get rated EF3, with winds of 136 to 165 miles per hour or worse. In an outbreak with at least 60 tornadoes, more than 8 percent of them get rated EF3 or worse.

What is causing these changes in tornado behavior is still unclear, but global warming is probably playing a role through changes to the environments that support supercell clusters. Specifically, the extra heated moist air fueling the supercells on Friday was associated with an exceptionally warm Gulf of Mexico caused by climate change.

Also, the interaction between the extra heating and increased wind shear is associated with larger outbreaks, which produce the strongest and longest-track tornadoes, on average. We found that tornado power, estimated using damage path characteristics, increased at a rate of 5 percent per year from 1994 to 2016. At least some of the upward trend can be associated with changes to the outbreak environment.

Attributing causation is difficult. But it is a big and an important step beyond the associations and pattern matching work that we and others have done. Attribution studies are now routinely done on heat waves and floods, but it may take some time before such studies of tornadoes are reliable because these storms still are too small in size for weather forecast models to see.

The ability to determine whether particular tornadoes bear the signature of the changing climate will be important not only to understanding the shifting dynamics of our warming world but to our ability to predict these storms with greater precision.

I’m a tornado climatologist, and it is not unusual for people to ask me after a spate of storms like the ones that ripped through the center of the country on Friday whether climate change has anything to do with it.

I’m a tornado climatologist, and it is not unusual for people to ask me after a spate of storms like the ones that ripped through the center of the country on Friday whether climate change has anything to do with it. The answer is: It’s complicated. We have started to detect changes in collective tornado activity, including more powerful storms, and are beginning to understand how these changes might be related to global warming. But much more work needs to be done to gain a fuller understanding of how the changing climate is influencing these deadly storms. Let’s start with what we know. A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air inside a thunderstorm. A thunderstorm that lasts more than 20 minutes and is energized by continuously rising air is called a supercell. The rising air is fueled by warm, moist conditions and changes in wind speed or direction associated with the approach of a frontal system where warm and cool air collide. The warm, moist air and that wind shear can generate a series of supercells, some of which produce tornadoes. Connecting tornadoes to climate change is complicated because those twin conditions are necessary but not sufficient together for tornadoes to occur. A close-packed group of supercells, for instance, might produce straight-line winds rather than tornadoes. What’s needed to generate an outbreak of tornadoes — say, six to 10 of them — is ample heat, moisture and wind shear. But too much of any one or two of those conditions can disrupt the process of tornado formation. Although tornadoes across the years do not appear to have become more common, an increasing percentage of them are occurring in outbreaks. The tornadoes that included Friday night’s so-called quad-state tornado — which crossed four states and devastated the town of Mayfield, Ky. — are an example of an outbreak. These are on the rise. On a day with at least one tornado, the chance that there are at least seven more increased to more than 15 percent on average by 2015 from 10 percent in 1990. These increases are even more substantial for larger outbreaks like the one that occurred on Friday night. Here’s what we’ve also been seeing: A below average number of tornadoes this year; outbreaks becoming more common during cooler months in recent years; and tornadoes occurring more often across the Southeast compared with the Great Plains. Cities with the largest decreases in the number of strong tornadoes since 1984 include Dallas, Oklahoma City and Houston. Cities with the largest increases in the number of strong tornadoes since 1984 are Atlanta, Nashville and Augusta. There is also evidence that tornadoes are getting stronger. Tornadoes are rated based on the severity of damage they inflict, using what’s known as the EF scale. The rating is made after the fact by forensic experts, and it depends on factors including the type of object struck and how the object was constructed. The damage rating can be converted to a range of wind speeds. For example, a tornado rated as inflicting EF2 damage likely had wind speeds between 111 to 135 mph in a three-second gust. But the subjective nature of the rating process and the randomness of where a tornado tracks make it difficult to draw any definitive conclusions about tornado activity by counting the number of these storms in each rating category. An increase in the number of large clusters does imply a larger threat of damaging tornadoes, however: The percentage of violent tornadoes (EF4, with winds of 166 to 200 miles per hour or more) increases with the size of the outbreak. Historically in an outbreak with between 16 and 32 tornadoes, fewer than 4 percent of them on average get rated EF3, with winds of 136 to 165 miles per hour or worse. In an outbreak with at least 60 tornadoes, more than 8 percent of them get rated EF3 or worse. What is causing these changes in tornado behavior is still unclear, but global warming is probably playing a role through changes to the environments that support supercell clusters. Specifically, the extra heated moist air fueling the supercells on Friday was associated with an exceptionally warm Gulf of Mexico caused by climate change. Also, the interaction between the extra heating and increased wind shear is associated with larger outbreaks, which produce the strongest and longest-track tornadoes, on average. We found that tornado power, estimated using damage path characteristics, increased at a rate of 5 percent per year from 1994 to 2016. At least some of the upward trend can be associated with changes to the outbreak environment. Attributing causation is difficult. But it is a big and an important step beyond the associations and pattern matching work that we and others have done. Attribution studies are now routinely done on heat waves and floods, but it may take some time before such studies of tornadoes are reliable because these storms still are too small in size for weather forecast models to see. The ability to determine whether particular tornadoes bear the signature of the changing climate will be important not only to understanding the shifting dynamics of our warming world but to our ability to predict these storms with greater precision.

Was Climate Change to blame for the tornadoes, or was it just really bad weather?

Before last month’s U.N. global climate summit, Google, the world’s biggest provider of ads online, made a big announcement: It would stop placing ads on sites that deny the scientific consensus on climate change.

Banned from profiting from its advertising program, Google said, were sites and videos falsely referring to global warming as a hoax or a scam. Also no longer welcome to run Google ads: Content falsely claiming that greenhouse gas emissions, or human activity, do not contribute to climate change.

But new research shows that Google’s policy has had limited effect so far.

As of Wednesday, ads placed by Google were still running on scores of articles, including ones on major right-wing sites like Breitbart, that falsely called global warming a hoax and described the U.N. climate conference last month as “a gigantic eco-fascist gaslighting operation.” In reality, diplomats from nearly 200 countries struck a major agreement to intensify efforts to fight the serious hazards posed by a hotter planet.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit group based in London, said Thursday that it had counted at least 50 new climate denial articles on 14 different sites, all published after Nov. 9, when Google’s new policy was to have taken effect. An earlier report by the centre’s researchers found that 10 of the most prominent publishers of climate denial content had received nearly 1.1 billion visits in the six months before the climate conference.

That’s a concern because the ad revenue that these denial sites earn by running Google ads then helps to fund more denial content, said Imran Ahmed, the centre’s chief executive.

“The more ad revenue they get, the more they can pump out articles and they can get it in front of as many eyeballs as possible,” he said.

In fact, Google’s business model, to maximize its reach on the internet and to use personal data and algorithms to optimize ad placements, had made it “a major route for the monetization of malignant content, whether it’s vaccine denial, identity-based hate, climate denial,” Ahmed said.

Michael Aciman, a spokesman for Google, said the company had reviewed the pages in question and had taken “appropriate enforcement actions.” Early Thursday, Breitbart climate denial articles that had displayed ads placed by Google were no longer displaying them.

“When we find content that crosses the line from policy debate to promoting climate change denial, we stop serving ads on that page or site,” Aciman said.

The findings underscore how Google has struggled to rein in even blatant examples of climate denialism, experts said. The company’s latest pledge was triggered by mounting pressure on Google to stop monetizing the worst examples of online climate denial.

“There’s no ambiguity that these pages are out of sync with mainstream climate science,” said John Cook, an assistant professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, whose research encompasses using machine learning to identify climate misinformation. “They shouldn’t be difficult to blacklist.”

And even though much of the rest of the world has moved on from more blatant forms of climate denialism, the United States has remained particularly vulnerable, Cook said.

“There are parts of the country where science denial is still flourishing, and those tend to be the markets for these types of webpages,” he said. “Climate misinformation confuses and polarizes the public, delays climate action and reduces trust in scientists.”

Google, whose parent company is Alphabet, has also come under pressure to counter election-related misinformation across its platforms, which include the video sharing site YouTube.

Google has said that it is using a mix of automated detection and human review to evaluate content, including YouTube videos. It normally disables ads on a page-by-page level, although egregious or persistent violations can trigger action against an entire site. Publishers have the option of appealing a decision or addressing their violations and applying for reinstatement.

Before last month’s U.N. global climate summit, Google, the world’s biggest provider of ads online, made a big announcement: It would stop placing ads on sites that deny the scientific consensus on climate change.

Before last month’s U.N. global climate summit, Google, the world’s biggest provider of ads online, made a big announcement: It would stop placing ads on sites that deny the scientific consensus on climate change. Banned from profiting from its advertising program, Google said, were sites and videos falsely referring to global warming as a hoax or a scam. Also no longer welcome to run Google ads: Content falsely claiming that greenhouse gas emissions, or human activity, do not contribute to climate change. But new research shows that Google’s policy has had limited effect so far. As of Wednesday, ads placed by Google were still running on scores of articles, including ones on major right-wing sites like Breitbart, that falsely called global warming a hoax and described the U.N. climate conference last month as “a gigantic eco-fascist gaslighting operation.” In reality, diplomats from nearly 200 countries struck a major agreement to intensify efforts to fight the serious hazards posed by a hotter planet. The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit group based in London, said Thursday that it had counted at least 50 new climate denial articles on 14 different sites, all published after Nov. 9, when Google’s new policy was to have taken effect. An earlier report by the centre’s researchers found that 10 of the most prominent publishers of climate denial content had received nearly 1.1 billion visits in the six months before the climate conference. That’s a concern because the ad revenue that these denial sites earn by running Google ads then helps to fund more denial content, said Imran Ahmed, the centre’s chief executive. “The more ad revenue they get, the more they can pump out articles and they can get it in front of as many eyeballs as possible,” he said. In fact, Google’s business model, to maximize its reach on the internet and to use personal data and algorithms to optimize ad placements, had made it “a major route for the monetization of malignant content, whether it’s vaccine denial, identity-based hate, climate denial,” Ahmed said. Michael Aciman, a spokesman for Google, said the company had reviewed the pages in question and had taken “appropriate enforcement actions.” Early Thursday, Breitbart climate denial articles that had displayed ads placed by Google were no longer displaying them. “When we find content that crosses the line from policy debate to promoting climate change denial, we stop serving ads on that page or site,” Aciman said. The findings underscore how Google has struggled to rein in even blatant examples of climate denialism, experts said. The company’s latest pledge was triggered by mounting pressure on Google to stop monetizing the worst examples of online climate denial. “There’s no ambiguity that these pages are out of sync with mainstream climate science,” said John Cook, an assistant professor at the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University, whose research encompasses using machine learning to identify climate misinformation. “They shouldn’t be difficult to blacklist.” And even though much of the rest of the world has moved on from more blatant forms of climate denialism, the United States has remained particularly vulnerable, Cook said. “There are parts of the country where science denial is still flourishing, and those tend to be the markets for these types of webpages,” he said. “Climate misinformation confuses and polarizes the public, delays climate action and reduces trust in scientists.” Google, whose parent company is Alphabet, has also come under pressure to counter election-related misinformation across its platforms, which include the video sharing site YouTube. Google has said that it is using a mix of automated detection and human review to evaluate content, including YouTube videos. It normally disables ads on a page-by-page level, although egregious or persistent violations can trigger action against an entire site. Publishers have the option of appealing a decision or addressing their violations and applying for reinstatement.

Google pledged to remove ads from climate denial sites, but many still run

A rebound in the global economy could propel coal demand to an all-time high in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.

According to a report by the watchdog, coal-based electricity production has risen by 9 per cent this year as fossil fuel demand soared during the recovery from Covid lockdowns.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/by-2030-india-will-be-able-to-meet-its-electricity-needs-through-renewable-energy-study-435877">By 2030, India will be able to meet its electricity needs through renewable energy: Study</a>

The pandemic caused coal power to decrease by 4 per cent in 2020, but the IEA data shows that demand for electricity this year outpaced the growth of low-carbon sources, so many wealthy countries remain dependent on fossil fuels.

Global gas supply shortages, which have driven prices up worldwide to record levels, have affected coal demand as well, according to the IEA report.

Overall, global coal demand, including cement and steel production, rose by 6 per cent this year.

Even though the total is below the demand for fuel seen in 2013 and 2014, the IEA warned that without policy intervention, it could surpass those levels next year.

Watch |&nbsp;COP26 climate summit | Can coal by phased-out completely?

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/cop26-climate-summit-can-coal-by-phased-out-completely-429604/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

IEA executive director Fatih Birol noted that coal is the single largest source of global carbon emissions and that this year's record coal power generation is an indication of how far off track the global effort to reduce carbon emissions has gone.

Unless governments act quickly to tackle coal emissions – in ways that are fair, affordable, and secure for those affected – we have little chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C, she added.

This report comes in the wake of the COP26 climate talks, which ended in a bitter disagreement over the pledge to abandon coal. After last-minute intervention from India, China the pact's language was changed from "phasing out" to "phasing down".

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/cop26-china-defends-move-on-joining-india-to-phase-down-instead-of-phase-out-coal-429670">COP26: China defends move on joining India to ‘phase down’ instead of ‘phase out’ coal</a>

Following the climate talks, COP26 president Alok Sharma said&nbsp;that India and China would have to explain themselves to poor nations after watering down the Glasgow agreement adding that he was deeply frustrated by their actions.

India's coal-fired electricity production is expected to increase by 12 per cent this year, according to the IEA report, while China's coal power is expected to grow by 9 per cent despite a recent slowdown.&nbsp;

The IEA says this would be the highest level seen in either country, despite an impressive rollout of solar and wind power projects.

&nbsp;

A rebound in the global economy could propel coal demand to an all-time high in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. According to a report by the watchdog, coal-based electricity production has risen by 9 per cent this year as fossil fuel demand soared during the recovery from Covid lockdowns.

A rebound in the global economy could propel coal demand to an all-time high in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. According to a report by the watchdog, coal-based electricity production has risen by 9 per cent this year as fossil fuel demand soared during the recovery from Covid lockdowns. Also read | By 2030, India will be able to meet its electricity needs through renewable energy: Study The pandemic caused coal power to decrease by 4 per cent in 2020, but the IEA data shows that demand for electricity this year outpaced the growth of low-carbon sources, so many wealthy countries remain dependent on fossil fuels. Global gas supply shortages, which have driven prices up worldwide to record levels, have affected coal demand as well, according to the IEA report. Overall, global coal demand, including cement and steel production, rose by 6 per cent this year. Even though the total is below the demand for fuel seen in 2013 and 2014, the IEA warned that without policy intervention, it could surpass those levels next year. Watch | COP26 climate summit | Can coal by phased-out completely? IEA executive director Fatih Birol noted that coal is the single largest source of global carbon emissions and that this year's record coal power generation is an indication of how far off track the global effort to reduce carbon emissions has gone. Unless governments act quickly to tackle coal emissions – in ways that are fair, affordable, and secure for those affected – we have little chance of limiting global warming to 1.5C, she added. This report comes in the wake of the COP26 climate talks, which ended in a bitter disagreement over the pledge to abandon coal. After last-minute intervention from India, China the pact's language was changed from "phasing out" to "phasing down". Also read | COP26: China defends move on joining India to ‘phase down’ instead of ‘phase out’ coal Following the climate talks, COP26 president Alok Sharma said that India and China would have to explain themselves to poor nations after watering down the Glasgow agreement adding that he was deeply frustrated by their actions. India's coal-fired electricity production is expected to increase by 12 per cent this year, according to the IEA report, while China's coal power is expected to grow by 9 per cent despite a recent slowdown. The IEA says this would be the highest level seen in either country, despite an impressive rollout of solar and wind power projects.

Coal demand can rise to an all-time high in 2022: IEA

A UN agency has confirmed an Arctic temperature record of over 38 degree Celsius in a Siberian town last year during the prolonged heat wave there.

New record high temperature set in the Arctic last year

The Arctic region recorded its highest temperature ever of 38°C (100.4°F) last year as per the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Reflecting on the adverse impact of climate change, the UN agency said devastating fires all across the globe were a driving factor of massive sea ice loss.&nbsp;

They played a major role in 2020 being one of the three warmest years on record. As a result, average temperatures over Arctic Siberia reached as high as 10 °C above normal for much of summer last year.

Also see |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/wildfires-broke-emissions-records-this-year-in-these-countries-435158">Wildfires broke emissions records this year in these countries</a>

Meanwhile, the WMO said that the temperature in the Arctic region is more befitting for the Mediterranean region.

Verkhoyansk, where the record temperature was hit on June 20, 2020, is 115 kilometres (71 miles) north of the Arctic Circle,&nbsp;a region warming at more than double the global average.

According to &nbsp;WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas, “This new Arctic record is one of a series of observations reported to the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes that sound the alarm bells about our changing climate. In 2020, there was also a new temperature record (18.3°C) for the Antarctic continent.”&nbsp;

Also see |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/fires-floods-flying-insects-climate-fuelled-disasters-that-wreaked-havoc-across-world-432546">Fires, floods, flying insects: Climate-fuelled disasters that wreaked havoc across world</a>

“WMO investigators are currently seeking to verify temperature readings of 54.4°C recorded in both 2020 and 2021 in the world’s hottest place, Death Valley in California, and to validate a new reported European temperature record of 48.8°C in the Italian island of Sicily this summer. &nbsp;The WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes has never had so many ongoing simultaneous investigations,” he added.

"It is possible, indeed likely, that greater extremes will occur in the Arctic region in the future," the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a statement.

The record is now an official entry in the World Weather and&nbsp;Climate Extremes Archive, a sort of Guinness World Records for weather that also includes the heaviest hailstone and longest lightning flash. 
&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

The Arctic region recorded its highest temperature ever of 38°C (100.4°F) last year as per the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Reflecting on the adverse impact of climate change, the UN agency said devastating fires all across the globe were a driving factor of massive sea ice loss.

The Arctic region recorded its highest temperature ever of 38°C (100.4°F) last year as per the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Reflecting on the adverse impact of climate change, the UN agency said devastating fires all across the globe were a driving factor of massive sea ice loss. They played a major role in 2020 being one of the three warmest years on record. As a result, average temperatures over Arctic Siberia reached as high as 10 °C above normal for much of summer last year. Also see | Wildfires broke emissions records this year in these countries Meanwhile, the WMO said that the temperature in the Arctic region is more befitting for the Mediterranean region. Verkhoyansk, where the record temperature was hit on June 20, 2020, is 115 kilometres (71 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, a region warming at more than double the global average. According to WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas, “This new Arctic record is one of a series of observations reported to the WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes that sound the alarm bells about our changing climate. In 2020, there was also a new temperature record (18.3°C) for the Antarctic continent.” Also see | Fires, floods, flying insects: Climate-fuelled disasters that wreaked havoc across world “WMO investigators are currently seeking to verify temperature readings of 54.4°C recorded in both 2020 and 2021 in the world’s hottest place, Death Valley in California, and to validate a new reported European temperature record of 48.8°C in the Italian island of Sicily this summer. The WMO Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes has never had so many ongoing simultaneous investigations,” he added. "It is possible, indeed likely, that greater extremes will occur in the Arctic region in the future," the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in a statement. The record is now an official entry in the World Weather and Climate Extremes Archive, a sort of Guinness World Records for weather that also includes the heaviest hailstone and longest lightning flash. (With inputs from agencies)

Arctic region recorded highest temperature ever in 2020, says World Meteorological Organization

In the horn of Africa, Cheetah cubs have fallen victim to global warming and pet trade. Left vulnerable due to the loss of habitat, they are increasingly being targeted by the poachers.

Cheetah cubs in Somaliland fight against animal trafficking and global warming

India on Monday voted against United Nations Security Council's draft resolution which aimed to 'securitize' climate action undermining hard-won consensus in Glasgow. India's Permanent Representative to UN TS Tirumurti explained India's position at the UN

Ambassador TS Tirumurti in his speech also spoke against drawing a separate link between security and climate change.

The draft resolution that has been co-authored by Ireland and Niger states that the adverse effects of climate change can "lead...to social tensions..., exacerbating, prolonging, or contributing to the risk of future conflicts and instability and posing a key risk to global peace, security, and stability".

"India is second to none when it comes to climate action and climate justice. But the UN Security Council is not the place to discuss either issue. In fact, the attempt to do so appears to be motivated by a desire to evade responsibility in the appropriate forum and divert the world’s attention from an unwillingness to deliver where it counts," Tirumurthy said.

The climate resolution was seen as an attempt by the western countries to evade its responsibility on climate finance that has been dominating the climate change debate, especially at the recently-concluded Glasgow climate summit.

"Developed countries must provide climate finance of $1 trillion at the earliest. It is necessary that climate finance be tracked with the same diligence as climate mitigation. And the reality, Mr President, is that the developed countries have fallen well short of their promises. This is particularly important to recognise because today’s attempt to link climate with security really seeks to obfuscate lack of progress on critical issues under the UNFCCC process," the Indian envoy highlighted.

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Today, India🇮🇳 voted against a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNSC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNSC</a> draft resolution that attempted to securitize climate action and undermine the hard-won consensual agreements in Glasgow. 
 
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At the high table, out of 15 countries, 12 supported the resolution, two countries—India and Russia—voted against it&nbsp;and China&nbsp;abstained from it. Russian veto led to the non-adoption of the resolution.

Interestingly, this was the first usage of veto by any permanent member of the council this year. And despite 12 voting in support, all was not picture perfect. Three countries of the council did not co-sponsor it—France, which is a permanent 5 member of the UNSC, Kenya and Vietnam.

Essentially, the resolution did not find any takers from three Asian members of the council—India, China and Vietnam.

Pointing to the "manner in which this issue has been brought before the Council", Envoy Tirumurti said,&nbsp; "Honest answer is that there is no real requirement for this resolution, except for the purpose of bringing climate change under the ambit of the security council. &nbsp;And the reason for that is now decisions can then be taken without the involvement of most developing countries and without recognizing consensus. &nbsp;And all this can be done in the name of preserving international peace and security."

He added, "Many of the UNSC members are the main contributors of climate change due to historical emissions. &nbsp;If the security council indeed takes over the responsibility on this issue, a few states will then have a free hand in deciding on all climate-related issues. This is clearly neither desirable nor acceptable."&nbsp;

US, China—both permanent members of the UNSC—are the top 2 emitters globally.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is a larger platform to discuss the climate issue and has 197 countries as parties to it as compared to 15 at the council.

Before the resolution was taken&nbsp;up, several attempts were made to defuse the situation. Russia, India&nbsp;and China suggested a presidential statement on the Sahelian countries and climate change.

The Sahel is referred to as a large region in northern Africa having a semi-arid climate, and Niger is part of that region. Brazil, which will become a non-permanent member of the UNSC from January 1, had also written a letter.&nbsp;

This is not the first time Russia, India, China and Brazil have taken a similar approach on the issue. In 2011, when Germany had raised the issue at the council, BRICS had taken a similar position. All members of the grouping were members of the council that year. This year, despite attempts to find an amicable solution, the west seems to be thrusting through, and the intent was seen as 'take it, or leave it' approach.

India on Monday voted against United Nations Security Council's draft resolution which aimed to 'securitize' climate action undermining hard-won consensus in Glasgow.

India on Monday voted against United Nations Security Council's draft resolution which aimed to 'securitize' climate action undermining hard-won consensus in Glasgow. India's Permanent Representative to UN TS Tirumurti explained India's position at the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti in his speech also spoke against drawing a separate link between security and climate change. The draft resolution that has been co-authored by Ireland and Niger states that the adverse effects of climate change can "lead...to social tensions..., exacerbating, prolonging, or contributing to the risk of future conflicts and instability and posing a key risk to global peace, security, and stability". "India is second to none when it comes to climate action and climate justice. But the UN Security Council is not the place to discuss either issue. In fact, the attempt to do so appears to be motivated by a desire to evade responsibility in the appropriate forum and divert the world’s attention from an unwillingness to deliver where it counts," Tirumurthy said. The climate resolution was seen as an attempt by the western countries to evade its responsibility on climate finance that has been dominating the climate change debate, especially at the recently-concluded Glasgow climate summit. "Developed countries must provide climate finance of $1 trillion at the earliest. It is necessary that climate finance be tracked with the same diligence as climate mitigation. And the reality, Mr President, is that the developed countries have fallen well short of their promises. This is particularly important to recognise because today’s attempt to link climate with security really seeks to obfuscate lack of progress on critical issues under the UNFCCC process," the Indian envoy highlighted. #IndiainUNSC Today, India🇮🇳 voted against a #UNSC draft resolution that attempted to securitize climate action and undermine the hard-won consensual agreements in Glasgow. Watch Explanation of Vote by Permanent Representative @ambtstirumurti ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/jXMLA7lHnM — India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) December 13, 2021 × At the high table, out of 15 countries, 12 supported the resolution, two countries—India and Russia—voted against it and China abstained from it. Russian veto led to the non-adoption of the resolution. Interestingly, this was the first usage of veto by any permanent member of the council this year. And despite 12 voting in support, all was not picture perfect. Three countries of the council did not co-sponsor it—France, which is a permanent 5 member of the UNSC, Kenya and Vietnam. Essentially, the resolution did not find any takers from three Asian members of the council—India, China and Vietnam. Pointing to the "manner in which this issue has been brought before the Council", Envoy Tirumurti said, "Honest answer is that there is no real requirement for this resolution, except for the purpose of bringing climate change under the ambit of the security council. And the reason for that is now decisions can then be taken without the involvement of most developing countries and without recognizing consensus. And all this can be done in the name of preserving international peace and security." He added, "Many of the UNSC members are the main contributors of climate change due to historical emissions. If the security council indeed takes over the responsibility on this issue, a few states will then have a free hand in deciding on all climate-related issues. This is clearly neither desirable nor acceptable." US, China—both permanent members of the UNSC—are the top 2 emitters globally. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is a larger platform to discuss the climate issue and has 197 countries as parties to it as compared to 15 at the council. Before the resolution was taken up, several attempts were made to defuse the situation. Russia, India and China suggested a presidential statement on the Sahelian countries and climate change. The Sahel is referred to as a large region in northern Africa having a semi-arid climate, and Niger is part of that region. Brazil, which will become a non-permanent member of the UNSC from January 1, had also written a letter. This is not the first time Russia, India, China and Brazil have taken a similar approach on the issue. In 2011, when Germany had raised the issue at the council, BRICS had taken a similar position. All members of the grouping were members of the council that year. This year, despite attempts to find an amicable solution, the west seems to be thrusting through, and the intent was seen as 'take it, or leave it' approach.

India votes against western nations-backed UNSC draft resolution on climate change

Russia has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution which sought to formally link climate change and global security challenges. The resolution was supported by a majority of UN member states.

The draft-resolution, backed by Niger and Ireland called on UN Secretary General Antonio&nbsp;Guterres to "integrate climate-related security risk as a central component into comprehensive conflict-prevention strategies."

Twelve out of 15 members of the security council supported it. India voted against the resolution while China abstained.

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Today, India🇮🇳 voted against a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UNSC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UNSC</a> draft resolution that attempted to securitize climate action and undermine the hard-won consensual agreements in Glasgow. 
 
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"India had no option but to vote against" the resolution&nbsp;India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti said.

He, however, said that there should be no confusion about India's determination to combat climate change and it "will always support real climate action and serious climate justice."

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-votes-against-unsc-draft-resolution-which-sought-to-securitise-climate-action-436687">India votes against UNSC draft resolution which sought to 'securitise' climate action</a>

"We will always speak up for the interests of the developing world, including Africa and the Sahel region. And we will do so at the right place, the UNFCCC," he said.

He also asserted that developed countries must provide climate finance of USD 1 trillion at the earliest, saying it is necessary that climate finance be tracked with the same diligence as climate mitigation.

"The developed countries have fallen well short of their promises," he added.

(With inputs from agencies)

Russia has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution which sought to formally link climate change and global security challenges. The resolution was supported by a majority of UN member states.

Russia has vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution which sought to formally link climate change and global security challenges. The resolution was supported by a majority of UN member states. The draft-resolution, backed by Niger and Ireland called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to "integrate climate-related security risk as a central component into comprehensive conflict-prevention strategies." Twelve out of 15 members of the security council supported it. India voted against the resolution while China abstained. #IndiainUNSC Today, India🇮🇳 voted against a #UNSC draft resolution that attempted to securitize climate action and undermine the hard-won consensual agreements in Glasgow. Watch Explanation of Vote by Permanent Representative @ambtstirumurti ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/jXMLA7lHnM — India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) December 13, 2021 × "India had no option but to vote against" the resolution India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti said. He, however, said that there should be no confusion about India's determination to combat climate change and it "will always support real climate action and serious climate justice." Also Read | India votes against UNSC draft resolution which sought to 'securitise' climate action "We will always speak up for the interests of the developing world, including Africa and the Sahel region. And we will do so at the right place, the UNFCCC," he said. He also asserted that developed countries must provide climate finance of USD 1 trillion at the earliest, saying it is necessary that climate finance be tracked with the same diligence as climate mitigation. "The developed countries have fallen well short of their promises," he added. (With inputs from agencies)

Russia vetoes UN resolution linking climate change to security threats

Cheetah cubs threatened by pet trade, global warming in Somaliland

Experts are blaming climate change and rapid urbanization for a rapid rise in sea level in Albania. The sea level is expected to rise by 40 inches and will recede the coastal line.

Climate Change: Albania sea level to rise by 40 inches & threaten communist-era bunkers

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