Wednesday, January 28News That Matters

Climate Actions

WMO Predicts Stronger 2025 Monsoon Across Asia as ENSO Influence Weakens

WMO Predicts Stronger 2025 Monsoon Across Asia as ENSO Influence Weakens

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has forecasted an above-normal summer monsoon across East and South Asia in 2025, signaling a potentially wetter season for a region that is home to more than 60% of the world’s population. The prediction, issued through the Forum on Regional Climate Monitoring, Assessment and Prediction for Asia (FOCRA II), comes amid a global transition from La Niña to ENSO-neutral conditions. According to seasonal projections consolidated from WMO’s Global Producing Centres for Long-Range Forecasts, the 2025 boreal summer will bring above-average rainfall to large parts of East and South Asia. This monsoon uptick is expected to benefit agriculture-dependent economies but also raises the risk of flooding and landslides, particularly in low-lying and urba...
India Sets Carbon Targets to Kickstart Domestic Market, Faces Design Challenges Ahead

India Sets Carbon Targets to Kickstart Domestic Market, Faces Design Challenges Ahead

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Fact Check
In a significant move toward launching its domestic carbon market, the Indian government has announced the first set of emission reduction targets under the Carbon Credit Trading Scheme (CCTS). While the initial compliance year opts for relatively modest reductions, the government has signaled a steeper decarbonisation trajectory in the years ahead. The strategy appears calibrated to avoid cost shocks in the early phase while nudging industries toward energy efficiency and cleaner technologies. Gradual Targets, Long-Term Vision The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has adopted a cautious approach for the first year, easing industries into the compliance regime. However, starting in the second year, targets are expected to become more stringent, comp...
Two Landslides Devastate Guizhou Province, China – 4 Dead, 17 Missing

Two Landslides Devastate Guizhou Province, China – 4 Dead, 17 Missing

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Disasters
A wave of deadly landslides triggered by torrential rains has struck China’s southwestern Guizhou province, killing at least four people and leaving 17 others missing, according to Chinese authorities. The disaster has prompted a large-scale rescue operation involving military personnel and national emergency teams as the region reels under the mounting effects of climate change. The landslides occurred in multiple locations across the province, including Changshi township and Qingyang village. In Changshi alone two people were killed, and several others remain trapped. In Guowa township, 19 residents from eight households were reported missing after homes were buried in debris and mud. As rainfall continues China’s Ministry of Natural Resources has increased the emergency respon...
Plastic Recycling Industry in EU Faces Existential Crisis as Closures Mount

Plastic Recycling Industry in EU Faces Existential Crisis as Closures Mount

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment
The European Union plastic recycling sector is teetering on the edge of collapse, hit hard by a combination of economic pressures, rising imports, and surging operational costs. With plant closures doubling in 2024 and continuing into 2025, thousands of green jobs are now at risk posing a significant challenge to the EU’s green transition strategy. Sharp Decline in Production Despite €5 Billion Investment Between 2020 and 2023, Plastics Recyclers Europe reports that the sector attracted €5 billion in investments aimed at meeting EU sustainability targets. Yet despite this significant funding, recycling rates have started to drop. The reasons: rising production costs, soaring energy bills, and growing competition from cheap, low-quality imported plastic much of it with questionable e...
Early Monsoon Onset May Be Strong—But Faces Risk of Stalling Again

Early Monsoon Onset May Be Strong—But Faces Risk of Stalling Again

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment
India is set for an early and seemingly strong onset of the Southwest Monsoon, but weather models and past trends are raising red flags about a possible stall. The emergence of twin cyclonic systems one in the Arabian Sea and another in the Bay of Bengal could disrupt the seasonal rains just as they begin. Monsoon Arriving Early Kerala to See Rains Before June 1 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced that the monsoon has already advanced over parts of the southern Arabian Sea, the Maldives, the Bay of Bengal, and Northeast India. According to their May 21 bulletin, conditions are rapidly becoming favorable for the monsoon to reach Kerala between May 24 and May 27 about a week ahead of the June 1 average. Twin Cyclonic Systems Could Disrupt Monsoon Progress Desp...
Europe Faces €28.3 Billion in Annual Agricultural Losses Due to Climate Change 70% Uninsured: Study

Europe Faces €28.3 Billion in Annual Agricultural Losses Due to Climate Change 70% Uninsured: Study

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Fact Check
A new report reveals that climate change is causing direct and escalating damage to Europe’s agriculture, with annual losses averaging €28.3 billion roughly six per cent of the continent’s total agricultural and livestock output. Startlingly, nearly 70 per cent of these climate-related losses are uninsured or uncompensated, leaving farmers financially exposed to disasters like droughts, floods, and hailstorms. Published jointly by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission the report marks the first comprehensive review of agricultural insurance systems across all 27 EU member states. It paints a grim picture: unless rapid reforms are enacted, uninsured losses in European agriculture could rise from 42 per cent to as high as 66 per cent by 2050. Insurance and risk...
Ice Giant Shatters: World Largest Iceberg A23a Breaks Up Posing Risk to Penguins, Ships and Climate Stability

Ice Giant Shatters: World Largest Iceberg A23a Breaks Up Posing Risk to Penguins, Ships and Climate Stability

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment
The world’s largest iceberg, A23a is disintegrating into thousands of smaller ice chunks, posing environmental and navigational threats in the Southern Ocean. NASA’s Aqua satellite, using its MODIS instrument, captured striking images of this slow-motion collapse near South Georgia Island, where the iceberg is currently grounded. A23a with a surface area once estimated at 1,200 square miles roughly the size of South Georgia Island has been slowly breaking apart via a process called "edge wasting." Since becoming lodged again in March, the massive sheet has already lost nearly 200 square miles of ice. NASA reports that the largest fragment so far, dubbed A23c, spans around 50 square miles, while many other splintering pieces still stretch over a kilometre across, making them dangerou...
Supreme Court Seeks Govt Response on Plea Over Heatwave Deaths, Demands Accountability on National Guidelines

Supreme Court Seeks Govt Response on Plea Over Heatwave Deaths, Demands Accountability on National Guidelines

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment, Fact Check
Taking serious note of rising fatalities due to heatwave conditions in India, the Supreme Court has asked the central government to respond within two weeks to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that alleges negligence in enforcing existing national guidelines meant to manage and mitigate extreme heat events. The case, brought before a bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih, points to the death of more than 700 people due to heatwave and heat stress in the previous year alone. Filed by environment activist Vikrant Tongad, the petition seeks urgent implementation of nationwide Heat Action Plans (HAPs) in accordance with the guidelines framed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in 2019. The plea has highlighted that despite clear m...
Heat Risks Surge for Pregnant Women in India Amid Growing Climate Crisis

Heat Risks Surge for Pregnant Women in India Amid Growing Climate Crisis

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Fact Check, Learning & Developments
A new global study has revealed a startling rise in dangerously hot days for pregnant women, with India recording some of the sharpest increases over the past five years. The analysis confirms that climate change is significantly contributing to health risks during pregnancy by increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat exposure. Between 2020 and 2024, India experienced an average of six additional "pregnancy heat-risk days" annually that can be directly attributed to climate change. These days are defined as periods when daily maximum temperatures exceed the 95th percentile of historical local records, a threshold associated with increased risks of preterm birth and other adverse health outcomes for both mother and baby. The report, compiled by Climate Central, analyzed ...
Storm Brews in Arabian Sea as IMD Warns of Heavy Rainfall, Heat Waves and Monsoon Onset

Storm Brews in Arabian Sea as IMD Warns of Heavy Rainfall, Heat Waves and Monsoon Onset

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment
New Delhi, May 22 — A low-pressure system is set to form over the east-central Arabian Sea, just off the Karnataka-Goa coast, by the evening of May 21 and could intensify into a depression by May 22, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest bulletin. The development is expected to unleash a spell of intense weather across large parts of India. Extremely heavy rainfall has been forecast at isolated places over Konkan & Goa and coastal Karnataka today. From May 21 to 27, Kerala and Karnataka are likely to experience widespread light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph. Western India is also bracing for a turbulent spell. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is forecast in parts of Madhya Maharashtra from May 21-2...