World could face record temperatures in 2023 as El Nino returns
Brussels, Belgium Reuters The world could breach a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, fuelled by climate change and the anticipated return of the El Nino weather phenomenon, climate scientists say. Climate models suggest that after three years of the La Nina weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean, which generally lowers global temperatures […]
Wow!: Kenyans turn to tradition to tackle rising heat
KAGONDU NJAGI, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how communities in Kenya are reverting to thatched roofs to stay cool amid worsening heatwaves fuelled by climate change…
Marine life: Mediterranean heatwaves threaten coastal livelihoods
GLORIA DICKIE and JIHED ABIDELLAOUI, of Reuters, report on the impact of Mediterranean heatwaves…
US President Joe Biden stops short of declaring climate emergency, takes steps on wind power
Somerset, Massachusetts/Washington DC, US Reuters US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that climate change is an emergency but stopped short of a formal declaration, announcing a modest package of executive actions and promising more aggressive efforts. Biden made the comments during a visit to Massachusetts and as a historic heat wave batters Europe and […]
Climate change set to drive more deadly heat in South Asia
Dhaka, BangladeshThomson Reuters Foundation Deadly heatwaves in South Asia are likely to become more common in the future, with the region’s exposure to lethal heat stress potentially nearly tripling if global warming isn’t curbed, researchers said. But the threat could be halved if the world meets a goal set under the Paris Agreement on climate […]
Swiss seniors sue government over climate change at European court
Tbilisi, GeorgiaThomson Reuters Foundation A group of retired Swiss women said on Tuesday they were suing their government at Europe’s top rights court for failing to protect them from worsening heatwaves, in the latest such climate change lawsuit to be filed around the world. Senior Women for Climate Protection wants ramped up efforts to curb […]
Heatwave Harry? As temperatures soar, naming the threat may save lives
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Giving heatwaves names and strength ratings, as for hurricanes, could drive home the spiking danger from a threat that kills more people in the United States each year than storms and floods but rarely hits headlines, heat experts said this week. “People do not understand this risk and we need to […]
Eat or stay cool? Cities test ways to protect the poor from rising heat
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation From spray parks in water-short Cape Town to heat-reflecting pavements in Tokyo, cities around the world that face worsening heatwaves as the planet warms are rapidly adopting innovations to try to beat increasingly deadly heat. But ensuring the measures help those most at risk remains a challenge, for reasons ranging from racial […]
Better African heatwave data could save lives, shield economies, report says
Johannesburg, South AfricaThomson Reuters Foundation Heatwaves over the last century in sub-Saharan Africa have not been properly recorded, undermining early warning systems to save lives and prevent economic losses caused by soaring temperatures, a University of Oxford report said last week. Researchers found the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), the world’s biggest database of extreme weather […]
Winds of hunger: Simultaneous heatwaves to batter food-growing countries
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation Climate change could spur stronger crop-wilting heatwaves that hit several of the world’s major grain producing regions simultaneously, potentially sparking food shortages and unrest, researchers warned this week. Crop failures in one part of the world – from weather disasters or other causes – have traditionally been offset with increased trade […]