Category:

International News

U.S. Supreme Court backs energy companies over Baltimore in climate case

The Democratic-governed Maryland city’s lawsuit targeted 21 U.S. and foreign energy companies that extract, produce, distribute or sell fossil fuels, arguing that their activities contribute to emissions of carbon dioxide and other so-called greenhouse gases linked to climate change. An important port city, Baltimore noted that it is vulnerable to sea-level rise and flooding driven by climate change.

read more

Wildfires, thawing permafrost pose new challenge to curb climate change: Study

As temperatures rise and permafrost thaws, carbon dioxide and methane trapped within the long-frozen soil are released. The deeper the thaw, the more gas is released.

That threatens to create a feedback loop that contributes to even more warming of the atmosphere, scientists warn in a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

read more

WHO says authorised vaccines effective against new variants, but cautions against overseas travel

“Right now, in the face of a continued threat and new uncertainty, we need to continue to exercise caution, and rethink or avoid international travel,” Hans Kluge said, adding that “pockets of increasing transmission” on the continent could quickly spread. The so-called Indian variant, which may be more transmissible, has now been identified in at least 26 of the 53 countries in the WHO Europe region, Kluge said during his weekly press conference.

read more

How Mumbai’s City Officials Made It More Covid-Ready Than Delhi

With a population of 16 million spread across glistening skyscrapers, apartment complexes and sprawling slums, Mumbai is the world’s second-most densely packed city, according to data from the United Nations. About 32,000 people are crammed in per square kilometer. That makes lessons from India’s financial capital particularly valuable as fears grow about outbreaks in other crowded places from Bangkok to Kathmandu.

read more