Displaying items by tag: Climate change

Thursday, 24 November 2022 21:42

Bank fraud victims

Police are texting 70,000 people, warning them that they may have been victims of a banking scam in the UK's biggest anti-fraud operation. The Met have charged a Londoner with running an international service of fake phone calls to victims, who have lost thousands of pounds. Detectives only have victims' phone numbers and are asking people to act if they receive their messages. Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the proactive counter-fraud investigations involved ‘industrialised fraud’. There could be 200,000 UK victims of fraudsters pretending to be a bank and warning of suspicious activity on their accounts. A London address is the centre of fraud on a global scale. Police have the numbers of victims but not their names and addresses. Genuine messages from police were sent on 24 or 25 November, directing victims to register at the Police Action Fraud website. Texts on any other day should be regarded as fraudulent.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 24 November 2022 21:18

COP27: climate deal and disappointments

Luke-warm applause met a historic moment when a ‘loss and damage fund’ was agreed in the early hours of 20 November 20 after a confusing and often chaotic 48 hours left delegates exhausted. This fund will see developed nations paying poorer countries for damage and economic losses caused by climate change, ending almost thirty years of waiting by poorer nations experiencing huge climate impacts. But there was disappointment over the lack of progress on cutting fossil fuels. ‘A clear commitment to phase-out all fossil fuels? Not in this text,’ said the UK's president of the Glasgow COP26 summit. The final overarching deal did not include commitments to ‘phase down’ or reduce use of fossil fuels. It also included ambiguous new languages about ‘low emissions energy’ - which experts say could open the door to some fossil fuels being considered part of a green energy future.

Published in Worldwide
Thursday, 10 November 2022 22:01

Just Stop Oil - serious protests

Just Stop Oil protesters demand climate change action. Their protests cover fossil fuels, renewable energy investment, and better building insulation to avoid energy waste. To make their point, they have thrown soup at National Gallery paintings, tried to disrupt Britain’s Formula 1 Grand Prix, and closed the M25 using ‘nonviolent civil resistance’. Dealing with these protests is extremely difficult for the authorities, despite arrests and court action. Just Stop Oil said it will demonstrate every day until their demand for no new oil or gas in the UK is met. A bill is currently going through Parliament to grant powers to prosecute someone interfering with the operation or use of key national public services on roads, railways, or air transport infrastructures. Since October the police have dedicated 10,000 officers to policing them, officers who would otherwise be dealing with local offences such as knife crime, safeguarding, or burglaries.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 10 November 2022 21:58

Justin Welby supports youth at COP27

The Archbishop of Canterbury has encouraged young climate activists attending the COP27 conference in Egypt. In a message posted on Twitter, Justin Welby said, ‘You're the ones who are the future of this extraordinary planet, because you'll inherit it. So it is essential that you're included in the conversation on climate change, and that you take part actively. Your call for action must be listened to, by the most powerful’. Leaders from poor countries criticised wealthy governments and oil companies for driving global warming, using their speeches to demand that they pay up for damages being inflicted on their economies.

Published in British Isles
Thursday, 10 November 2022 21:36

Global: ‘highway to climate hell’

UN chief António Guterres warned the COP27 summit that humanity must cooperate or perish. He warned world leaders, ‘We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.’ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/science-environment-63330171 Rishi Sunak said the war in Ukraine and rising energy prices globally are no reason to go slow on climate change. They are reasons to act faster. Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron also urged world leaders to deliver climate justice. The UN said progress on cutting global warming emissions has been ‘woefully inadequate’ since COP26 last year. The planet has warmed 1.1C since pre-industrial times. Scientists say rises must only be 1.5C by 2100 to avoid the worst effects. Continuing current policies would cause a higher rise of 2.8C.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 09 September 2022 09:50

Climate change wakeup call

Pakistan’s floods are a ‘wake-up call’ to the threats of climate change. A sense of injustice is keenly felt. Pakistan contributes -1% of global greenhouse gases but its geography makes it exceptionally vulnerable to climate change. Global warming makes air and sea temperatures rise, causing more evaporation. Warmer air holds more moisture, making monsoon rainfall more intense. Pakistan also has more glacial ice than anywhere in the world outside of the polar regions and is referred to as the 'third pole'. As the world warms, glacial ice melts. Glaciers in Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions are melting rapidly, creating over 3,000 lakes. 33 risk suddenly bursting, which could unleash millions of cubic metres of water and debris, putting seven million people at risk. Glacial lake outbursts are already damaging infrastructure. Climate impact scientist Saeed said Pakistan’s floods are ‘absolutely a wake-up call to governments globally who promised to tackle climate change at successive UN climate conferences’.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 26 August 2022 10:03

Europe’s drought and cost of living

Rivers drying up and farmland parched: Europe’s water scarcity is affecting lives and businesses. Scientists warn the current European drought could become its worst in over 500 years. Water scarcity has hit 60% of the continent from Italy to the UK. An unusually dry winter and scorching summer heat reduced rivers to rivulets. The historic water reserve lows have forced governments to restrict supplies, seriously affecting many sectors from agriculture to shipping. In July heatwaves shaved 0.5% off Europe’s annual GDP. Wildfires destroyed crops across Italy, Greece, France, and Spain, and energy prices are up because of the war in Ukraine. The Global Commission on Adaptation said an estimated investment of $800m in climate programmes could save poor nations up to $16bn every year.

Published in Europe
Friday, 19 August 2022 00:13

Germany: Rhine drying up

Swathes of the Rhine riverbed are exposed, while a few commercial vessels slowly navigate the channel of water that is left in one of Europe's great working rivers. Industry relies on barges to fetch and carry raw materials and finished products to and from the power plants and factories that line the riverbank. Germany’s main industry lobby group has warned that factories may have to limit production or halt it completely because plunging water levels on the river are making it harder to transport cargo. The water is already too low to allow some of the larger vessels through. Others have reduced their cargo to lighten the load so that they sit higher in the water. Experts warn that the low water could significantly damage Germany's economy.

Published in Europe
Friday, 05 August 2022 09:50

Global: floods

Devastating flash floods have killed 37 people and hundreds are still missing in eastern Kentucky’s worst disaster for decades. The death toll will continue to rise. Hundreds of homes and businesses have been destroyed. People are sitting on their porches, hoping somebody is coming to save them. See  In July, Sydney in Australia was hit with a month’s worth of rain in five days; people are still cleaning up three feet of swirling mud. Pakistan has 7,000+ glaciers, but rising global temperatures are causing them to melt rapidly, creating thousands of glacial lakes that might burst and release millions of cubic metres of water and debris, flooding villages in just a few hours. Worsening Indian monsoons cause Mumbai residents to commute on Venetian gondolas and inflatable dinghies. This year residents are being asked to tweet details about floods in their neighbourhoods. The data is then used to issue immediate geographically-specific flood alerts.

Published in Worldwide
Friday, 01 July 2022 15:07

Japan: Worst heatwave since 1875

Japan is sweltering under its worst heatwave for almost 150 years. The city of Isesaki, northwest of the capital, saw a record 40.2C - the highest temperature ever recorded for Japan. There are official warnings of a looming power shortage and calls for people to conserve energy where possible. But the government is still advising people to use air conditioning to avoid heatstroke as cases of hospitalisation rise with the heat. Meteorologists warn the heat will continue in the coming days. Pray for the elderly and those with heart disease. In the heat blood vessels open up, leading to lower blood pressure. The heart works harder to push the blood around the body which could lead to a heart attack. Weather officials warn the heat is likely to continue in the coming days. See also

Published in Worldwide