India stares at summer water crisis as reservoir levels slide
New Delhi Reuters India’s main reservoirs have hit their lowest March levels in five years, government data showed, indicating a possible squeeze on drinking water and power availability this summer. In major centres such as India’s ‘Silicon Valley’ Bengaluru, home to firms like Google, water supply is already being curtailed. Residents get their containers filled […]
Australia raises bushfire risks ahead of El Nino summer
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australia faces an increased risk of bushfires during the approaching summer, authorities warned on Thursday, with the El Nino weather pattern expected to generate hotter and drier conditions across large swathes of the country. Three years of incessant rain has increased vegetation, but the intense heatwaves common during Australia’s December-February summer can quickly […]
Record-setting Canadian wildfires could persist for rest of “marathon” summer
Ottawa, CanadaReuters Record-setting wildfires in Canada could potentially continue burning at an abnormally high rate for several more weeks, though the spread of blazes is likely to start diminishing in September, according to federal projections released on Friday. Forest fires have engulfed parts of nearly all 13 Canadian provinces and territories this year, forcing home […]
Europe’s drought exposes ancient stones, World War II ships as waters fall
Reuters Weeks of baking drought across Europe have seen water levels in rivers and lakes fall to levels few can remember, exposing long-submerged treasures – and some unwanted hazards. In Spain, suffering its worst drought in decades, archaeologists have been delighted by the emergence of a prehistoric stone circle dubbed the “Spanish Stonehenge” that is […]
In pictures – spiritual, material mix at Greek mid-August feast
Kea, Greece AP Blending the spiritual with the material, mid-August marks the high point of Greece’s summer season that attracts crowds of city-dwellers back to their ancestral villages. The 15th August feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary is a major religious event coupled with festivals, known as “panigiria”, that can last more than […]
Heatwave scorches Europe; health warnings issued
Leiria, Portugal/London, UKReuters Hundreds more people were evacuated from their homes as wildfires blistered land in France, Spain and Portugal on Friday, while officials in Europe issued health warnings for the heatwave in the coming days. More than 1,000 firefighters, supported by water-bomber aircraft, have battled since Tuesday to control two blazes in southwestern France […]
Europeans pant in early summer heat waves threatening drought and wildfires
Madrid, SpainReuters Spain was headed for record June temperatures in four decades on Friday, one area of France banned outdoor events, and drought stalked Italian farmers, as an early summer heat wave sent Western Europeans hunting for shade and fretting over climate change. The heat wave since the beginning of the week intensified on Friday, […]
Health Insight: Three tips for preventing heat stroke
With much of the northern hemisphere facing blistering conditions this summer, primary care physician US-based GABRIEL NEAL, in an article first published on The Conversation, provides some timely advice…
Climate change lengthens Australian summers by 50 per cent – says study
Sydney, AustraliaReuters Australian summers are now effectively twice as long as its winters as climate change has increased temperatures since the middle of the last century, research released in the wake of the nation’s unprecedented fire season showed on Monday. The report by the Australia Institute, a Canberra-based think tank, compared data from the past […]
HEALTH INSIGHT: HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT SUNSCREEN WHEN YOU’RE BLINDED BY CHOICE
It’s summer in the southern hemisphere and in response Australian academics KATIE LEE and ERIN MCMENIMAN, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at the dos and don’ts when it comes to selecting a sunscreen…