Environment

Guwahati, Jun 9 (PTI) A massive fire engulfed the damaged Baghjan oil well on Tuesday which has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the last 14 days in Assam's Tinsukia district, official sources said.

The blaze at the Oil India Ltd's oil well is so massive that it can be seen from a distance of more than two kilometres, eyewitnesses said.

Three experts from Singaporean firm Alert Disaster Control were at the blowout site and some equipment was being removed when the fire broke out in the afternoon.

UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (NNN-XINHUA) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, asked the world to change course on environment.

“We are harming the natural world — to our own detriment,” he said, in a message on World Environment Day, which fell on June 5 (yesterday).

“We need our entire global community to change course. Let’s rethink what we buy and use; adopt sustainable habits, farming and business models; safeguard remaining wild spaces and wildlife; commit to a green and resilient future.”

Pune, Jun 4 (PTI) A 35-year-old man, who was severely injured in an incident of wall collapse during cyclonic storm 'Nisarga' in Maharashtra's Pune district, died at a hospital here on Thursday, police said.

This is the third cyclone-related death reported in the district.

The cyclone impacted Pune as it moved towards the northern part of the state on Wednesday, battering parts of Khed, Maval Mulshi, Junnar and Ambegaon tehsils.

Pune district had already recorded two cyclone-related deaths on Wednesday.

New Delhi, Jun 3 (PTI) After storming the Maharashtra coast with wind speeds of up to 120 kmph on Wednesday afternoon, Cyclone Nisarga has started weakening and its intensity will reduce further by evening, the India Meteorological Department said. The landfall of the cyclone began at 12.30 PM at Alibaug and the process was completed by 2.30 PM, IMD director general Mrutunjay Mohapatra said. The storm lay 75 kilometres southeast of Mumbai and 65 kilometres west of Pune.

New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) The depression in the Arabian Sea is likely to intensify into a severe cyclone and cross the north Maharashtra and south Gujarat coasts on June 3, and will have an impact on Mumbai, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday.

The depression will intensify into a deep depression --- the third and fourth stage of any cyclone formation --- by this evening.

It will intensify into a cyclonic storm by June 2, the Cyclone Warning Division of the IMD said.

SAN SALVADOR, June 1 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tropical Storm Amanda triggered flash floods, landslides and power outages as it barrelled through El Salvador and Guatemala Sunday, killing 14 people, authorities said, warning of further heavy rain to come.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele declared a 15-day state of emergency to cope with the effects of the storm, which he estimated to have caused $200 million in damage, but which weakened later in the day as it moved into Guatemala.

KANPUR: The real feel of Thursday's temperature remains 43° Celsius. The weather is hot and unbearable. Disturbed with the hot weather, the people are said to be awaiting downpours for respite within two or three days. They are thankful that power disruptions were not effecting long duration. The electricity cut does take place almost daily but people are coping with the short disruptions.

In the morning the sunshine mixed with the clouds gives the feeling of hotness which continues till the end of the evening time. 

LONDON, May 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The UN environmental agency said it has received a request from host nation Britain to postpone this year’s global climate conference until November 2021 because of the coronavirus.

This year’s COP 26 summit had been due to take place in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November before the pandemic forced a rethink and the possibility of rescheduling for March 2021.

But it now appears it could take place much later.

MANILA, May 23 (NNN-PNA) – An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 shook Philippines’ main island of Luzon today (Saturday), the Philippine Institute of Seismology and Volcanology (Phivolcs) said.

The institute said, the quake, which struck at 10:10 a.m. local time, hit about 16 km southwest of San Luis town, in Aurora Province, at a depth of seven km.

Phivolcs initially reported that the earthquake was magnitude 5.1, but later upgraded it to magnitude 5.4 in an updated bulletin.

22 May 2020; MEMO: Ethiopia’s Irrigation Minister Seleshi Bekele told resident African ambassadors in Addis Ababa that his country has so far completed 73 per cent of the Renaissance Dam, adding that Ethiopia intends to fill the dam’s reservoir with water in July, the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported.