21 C Agriculture / The Times of India
The National Weather Service is cutting back weather balloon launches or eliminating them entirely at eight northern locations due to staffing issues, impacting forecast accuracy as severe weather season approaches. Scientists and former NOAA officials warn these reductions will degrade weather forecasting, increasing risks of severe weather events.
Civil society groups and academics urged governments Thursday to take actual steps toward fulfilling a stalled pledge to end deforestation before this year's UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon. In 2025, governments must take bold action to get on track, the coalition of nearly 40 non-governmental organisations, think-tanks and forest research bodies said in a document outlining policy proposals.
Navigating a makeshift raft between drifting furniture and submerged cars, Rafael Quispe steers through his village in western Bolivia, where the streets were turned into rivers two months ago. Quispe, 54, is himself a miner and also used to run a bar out of his home.
The past decade has been the hottest on record, with 2023 marking the warmest year ever, according to a UN report. Rising carbon dioxide levels, record ocean temperatures, and extreme weather events signal a worsening climate crisis. The report attributes global heating mainly to human activities and warns of severe consequences. Amidst policy rollbacks by the Trump administration, experts and activists urge immediate action to curb emissions and transition to clean energy.
An oil spill in northwestern Ecuador has turned a river black, prompting authorities to declare an environmental emergency amid unprecedented damage and to order residents to ration drinking water, officials said. The spill, believed caused when a landslide ruptured a major oil pipeline, has turned waters black in a section of the Esmeraldas River, in the province of the same name.