The researchers were able to identify the country of origin for 232 objects, with the largest percentage being from Japan at 33.6%. China was next at 32.3% followed by…Continue readingMore than 90% of identifiable trash in North Pacific Garbage Patch comes from just six countries
Tag: asia
Rapid economic growth, urbanisation and changing lifestyles in communist Vietnam have led to a “plastic pollution crisis”, according to the World Bank. A report in 2022 estimated 3.1 million…Continue readingVietnam battles plastic blight in idyllic Ha Long Bay
Two years ago, a multibillion-dollar natural gas export project planned for Alaska appeared all but dead, the victim of tough economics and Donald Trump’s trade wars. But now it’s…Continue readingAnother big Alaska fossil fuel project gets Biden team’s blessing
The ferocious temperatures, which have persisted across parts of Asia for more than a week, amounted to the “worst April heatwave in Asian history ongoing in more than a…Continue readingAsia’s prolonged April heatwave concerns scientists
Local governments in energy-hungry Chinese provinces approved at least 20.45 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power in the first three months of 2023, Greenpeace said. That is more than double…Continue readingChina approves coal power surge despite emissions pledge: Greenpeace
Extreme temperatures described as ‘worst April heatwave in Asian history’ as records threatened in India, China, Thailand and Laos.Continue readingSevere heatwave engulfs Asia causing deaths and forcing schools to close
The study showed that internal climate variability could increase sea level rise in some locations by 20–30% more than what would result from climate change alone, exponentially increasing extreme…Continue readingSea level rise poses particular risk for Asian megacities
Mitsubishi Power said that the fourth and final unit of the Chonburi power plant, a 2.65GW gas-fired power facility in Thailand, has commenced operation. The Chonburi power plant is…Continue readingMitsubishi fully commissions 2.65GW gas power plant in Thailand
Concerns about climate change shrank across the world last year, with fewer than half of those questioned in a new survey believing it posed a “very serious threat” to…Continue readingConcern about climate change shrinks globally
Heatwaves will become so extreme in certain regions of the world within decades that human life there will be unsustainable, the United Nations and the Red Cross said Monday.…Continue readingHeatwaves will make regions uninhabitable within decades: UN, Red Cross
China recorded its highest temperatures and one of its lowest levels of rainfall in 61 years during a two-month summer heatwave. The average national temperature in August, 22.4˚C, was…Continue readingChina reports ‘most severe’ heatwave and third driest summer on record
The rice fields are washed away. The coconut trees and chilli plants, flooded with salt water, are all dead. The farmers’ fish ponds fail, the water so high that…Continue readingThe Indonesians living in flooded villages
Pakistan is experiencing its worst floods this century. At least one-third of the country is under water. Scientists say several factors have contributed to the extreme event, which has…Continue readingWhy are Pakistan’s floods so extreme this year?
State-owned oil and gas company Indian Oil has unveiled a $25 billion investment plan to achieve net-zero operational emissions by 2046. Indian Oil chairman S M Vaidya said: “IndianOil…Continue readingIndian Oil unveils $25 billion investment plan to achieve net zero by 2046
Despite enviable earnings, shares of Three Gorges Renewables are down 15% this year and trade at 20 times forward earnings, half the level of a year ago. Strict policy…Continue readingDroughts push China towards coal power
At least nine people have died and seven were missing in and around the South Korean capital, Seoul, after the city was lashed by the heaviest rains in more…Continue readingSevere flood damage in South Korea’s Seoul after record rains
Japan has begun restarting nuclear plants that have been idle since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledging to get at least nine reactors up and…Continue readingAsia goes nuclear
More than 900 million Chinese, about 65% of the population, are living under some kind of heat warning. Temperatures have reached, or exceeded, the highs that have recently tormented…Continue readingHotter, Longer and More Widespread Heat Waves Scorch China
China’s year-old carbon market has given more than 2,000 power plants a taste of emissions trading, but design flaws and data fraud have meant limited large-scale greenhouse gas reductions…Continue readingA year on, China’s CO₂ market fails to drive big emission cuts
India’s thermal coal imports hit a monthly record in June of 20.9 million tonnes, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government called for increased purchases in order to overcome a…Continue readingGautam Adani ramps up share of coal imports as power crisis grips India
In the first quarter of 2022, Chinese regulators gave the green light to coal plants with a total capacity of 8.63 gigawatts. That is nearly half of the entire…Continue readingChina speeding up approvals for new coal plants
Mongolia expects Russia to begin construction of the “Power of Siberia 2” gas pipeline through its territory to China within two years, as Moscow moves to connect its Europe-supplying…Continue readingMongolia says Russia-China gas pipeline will break ground in 2024
United States: In Texas, temperatures hit triple digits Fahrenheit over the weekend, with some places breaking century-old records. On Saturday, Waco reached 108˚F (42˚C), smashing the 104˚F (40˚C) high…Continue readingHeatwaves in the US, China and Spain
Japan is enduring one of its worst heat waves on record, raising concern about potential power shortages amid surging demand, even as officials urged people to keep their air-conditioners…Continue readingJapan Swelters Through a Punishing Heat Wave
Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in southern China, according to state media, amid floods and landslides triggered by the heaviest rainfall the region…Continue readingHundreds of thousands evacuated in China amid heavy rains, floods
Experts say the catastrophic rain-triggered floods, which submerged large part of the country’s northern and northeastern areas, are an outcome of climate change. Saiful Islam, director of the Institute…Continue readingBangladesh floods: Experts say climate crisis worsening situation
Floodwaters have inundated more of Bangladesh and northeast India, officials say, as authorities struggle to reach more than 9.5 million people stranded with little food and drinking water after…Continue readingBangladesh, India floods kill over 100; millions in need of aid
“China’s influence on coal markets is difficult to overstate”, says the International Energy Agency’s Coal 2021 report, which was published in mid-December China’s overall coal use (i.e, power plus…Continue readingGlobal coal consumption: Spotlight on China’s consumption for power generation
The summer monsoon, which typically arrives in June and continues till September, is life and livelihood. More than 75% of India’s annual rainfall occurs during this period. Monsoon rains…Continue readingIn India, waiting for the monsoon
After two years of delays, governments had been scheduled to meet in Kunming, China, for COP15 in late April to negotiate this decade’s targets to halt and reverse the…Continue reading‘Sleeping through extinction’: China urged to end delays to COP15 summit
Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani are profiting from a surge in global commodity prices triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, burnishing their fossil-fuel credentials even as Asia’s richest men…Continue readingCoal, oil price surges on Ukraine war make Asia’s richest richer
A relentless heat wave has blanketed India and Pakistan since mid-March, causing dozens of deaths, fires, increased air pollution, and reduced crop yields. Weather forecasts show no prospect of…Continue readingNASA’s ECOSTRESS detects ‘heat islands’ in extreme Indian heat wave
India has relaxed environmental compliance rules for coal mines seeking to ramp up production as power outages exacerbate a sweltering heatwave, a government notice showed. Coal makes up more…Continue readingIndia relaxes environment rules for coal mines, citing heatwave
Typically, heat waves in India affect only part of the country, occur in the summer and only last for a week or so. But a string of early heat…Continue readingIndia tries to adapt to extreme heat but is paying a heavy price
An unusually early and brutal heat wave is scorching parts of India, with acute power shortages affecting millions as demand for electricity surges to record levels. Supplies of coal…Continue readingHeat wave sparks blackouts, questions on India’s coal usage
Chinese leaders pledged ahead of climate negotiations in Glasgow, Scotland, last November to peak national emissions before 2030 and stop building coal power plants abroad. A study published Friday…Continue readingWith coal surge, China puts energy security and growth before climate
China is in the throes of a building boom to jump start its economy. The government of President Xi Jinping has “scrambled in recent months to try to reverse…Continue readingChina doubles down on coal
The Mekong dolphin population has long been IUCN red-listed as Critically Endangered. The last known river dolphin in the transboundary pool on the Cambodia-Laos border was found dead on…Continue readingDeath of the last known river dolphin in the transboundary pool in the Mekong between Laos and Cambodia
From the U.S. to China, in Europe, India and Japan, fossil fuels are staging a comeback, clean energy stocks are taking a hammering, and the prospects for speeding the…Continue readingThe great climate backslide: How governments are regressing worldwide
China’s coal production reached record levels last year as the state encouraged miners to ramp up their fossil fuel output to safeguard the country’s energy supplies through the winter…Continue readingChina’s coal production hit record levels in 2021
China, under fire for approving new coal power stations as other countries try to curb greenhouse gases, has completed the first 1,000-megawatt unit of the Shanghaimiao plant, the biggest…Continue readingChina fires up giant coal power plant in face of calls for cuts
A few days before Christmas, Super-typhoon Rai – known locally as Odette – ravaged the Philippines. Lost lives continue to climb two weeks on. Vast numbers of buildings were…Continue readingFilipinos count cost of climate crisis as typhoons get ever more destructive
The accelerating melting of the Himalayan glaciers threatens the water supply of millions of people in Asia, new research warns. Himalayan glaciers have lost ice ten times more quickly…Continue readingHimalayan glaciers melting at ‘exceptional rate’
Coal combustion for power generation made up 30% of global CO2 emissions in 2018. To achieve the goal of the Paris Agreement to keep global average temperatures below 2°C,…Continue readingStudy – The Expanding Coal Power Fleet in Southeast Asia
Hopes for a cleaner future have been fired by pledges from top coal consumer China and other countries to go carbon neutral, but much of the region is making…Continue reading‘Running out of time’: Asia struggles to kick coal addiction
The death toll from days of flooding and landslides in India and Nepal crossed 100 on Wednesday, including several families swept away or crushed in their homes by avalanches…Continue readingFloods, landslides kill 116 in India and Nepal
Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi, recorded rainfall of 185mm, about seven times the pre-2010 average for October. Shanxi is a land-locked province SW of Beijing. About 1.75 million people…Continue readingFloods in China
China’s promise to stop financing coal power abroad is a positive step, but researchers say the emissions savings pale in comparison to those from its domestic coal use. “China…Continue readingChina’s pledge on overseas coal — by the numbers
Friday August 12: The heavy rainfall, expected to continue through Friday night, has brought about 20 inches (510mm) of rain to areas of Hubei since Wednesday, officials said. Four…Continue readingFlooding in China kills 21, as thousands escape to shelters
Rising sea levels and climate change are posing serious threats to the population and economy of several Asian coastal cities—Bangkok, Dhaka, Jakarta, Manila and Shanghai, among them. Threats come…Continue readingAs Asian cities sink, managed retreat must be tabled
Climate change is warming the Arabian Sea. The higher water temperatures are causing the air above to become warmer and hold more moisture. “We are seeing a three-fold rise in…Continue readingIndia monsoon death toll climbs
A year’s worth of rain – 640mm – fell in just three days.Continue readingDeath toll rises and thousands flee homes as floods hit China
Total mean annual forest loss in Southeast Asia was 3.2 million hectares per year during 2001–2019, with 31% occurring on the mountains, and is accelerating.Continue readingUpward expansion and acceleration of forest clearance in the mountains of Southeast Asia
