Science & Environment / The Times of India
Approximately 1.9 billion people worldwide depend on glaciers and snow packs for their drinking water supply. During the warmer months, glaciers undergo a natural melting process, releasing significant amounts of water into rivers, which in turn sustains human populations, industries, and ecosystems. However, for this cycle to continue, glaciers must replenish at a comparable rate during the winter months when snowfall occurs.
The United Nations voiced concern on Wednesday after dozens of cases of cholera were reported in flood-stricken Kenya. I believe that between government and national and international partners, we'll be able to contain it, the UN's resident coordinator in Kenya, Stephen Jackson, said in an interview with Citizen TV. We've contained cholera before, but it's a significant concern, he added.
Locals in the area near the eastern Serbian city of Smederevo have been facing significant air pollution and thick red dust since the Chinese company HBIS acquired a steel mill eight years ago. Radinac has become known as ed village', because everything is permanently coated in a layer of red dust. Residents report a significant increase in cancer cases and highlight the presence of high levels of arsenic, chromium, and lead in the dust.
In a cave in Mexico's Riviera Maya, where nature has sculpted a subterranean landscape of stunning beauty, thick steel columns supporting a controversial new tourist railway intrude into a delicate ecosystem. - Clean-up promised - Despite Lopez Obrador's assurances, concrete has leaked out of the steel columns and contaminated the cenote water, according to environmentalists.
The world's largest carbon credit programme Verra took a step toward working under a new quality standard aimed at helping rebuild confidence in the scandal-hit offsets market. A Washington DC-based nonprofit organisation, Verra represents nearly 70 percent of the global voluntary carbon market, which is neither regulated by governments or a standard set of rules.
IIT Madras researchers have identified the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal as potential storage sinks for huge amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that can be stored there permanently in the form of liquid pools or solid hydrates beyond a certain depth without harming the marine ecology. Some European countries are working on CO2 storage in North Sea.
South and Southeast Asia braced for more extreme heat on Sunday as authorities across the region issued health warnings and residents fled to parks and air-conditioned malls for relief. The hot weather persisted on Sunday, with many flocking to air-conditioned shopping malls and swimming pools for relief.