Environment

BANDA ACEH, Dec 26 (NNN-ANTARA) – On one Sunday morning, Mawardi was watching cartoons with his two brothers at his house, on Meulaboh Bay in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh, when a 9.3-magnitude earthquake literally shook them from their seats.

His mother and grandmother, who were also inside the house, panicked and rushed his brothers and him out of the house. They received no formal warning alerts about what was going on.

BERLIN, Dec 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – President of the German federal parliament, Wolfgang Schaeuble, urged Germans to cut back on their consumption for climate protection.

In an interview with German newspaper, Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung, Schaeuble said, “Climate protection is not for free,” and warned against promoting recent climate reforms to citizens as a “social benefit.”

Last week, Germany’s upper house of parliament finally approved a package of climate laws, seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most populous state was paralyzed by “catastrophic” fire conditions Saturday amid souring temperatures, while one person died as wildfires also ravaged the country’s southeast.

“Catastrophic fire conditions are as bad as it gets,” New South Wales Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters. “Given we have a landscape with so much active fire burning, you have a recipe for very serious concern and a very dangerous day.”

SYDNEY, Dec 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Australia’s most populous state declared its second state of state of emergency in two months on Thursday as extreme heat and strong winds were expected to fan scores of uncontrolled bushfires.

Firefighters were given broad powers to control government resources, force evacuations, close roads and shut down utilities across New South Wales state, where 100 wildfires are burning.

NEW DELHI, Dec 19 (NNN-PTI) — Dense fog engulfed the Indian capital and its surrounding areas on Thursday morning (this morning), as departures and arrivals of many flights and trains were delayed, due to poor visibility.

Regular commuters faced difficulty driving on major highways, since visibility was less than 50 metres at many places.

SYDNEY, Dec 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) – Fire authorities in Australia are locked in a desperate battle to save a coal mine and a power station today (Tuesday), that have come under threat from a massive bush-fire northwest of Sydney, which local media dubbed the “mega-blaze.”

Already burning through 400,000 hectares of vegetation at Gospers Mountain and the Wollemi National Park, there are now fears the wildfire could spread even further, with temperatures expected to reach 46 degrees Celsius in coming days, as an extreme heatwave bears down on the nation’s east coast.

KUWAIT, Dec 15 (NNN-XINHUA) – Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), launched on Saturday, a campaign to clean the country’s beach.

Themed “We Lead the Change,” the campaign called on people, to clean the shore of Al-Sabah Medical Area, in Kuwait City, where dozens of volunteers, including those with disabilities, participated in collecting trash, plastics and steel scraps left on the shore.

SAO PAULO, Dec 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon jumped to the highest level for the month of November since record-keeping began in 2015, according to preliminary government data published on Friday.

Destruction of the world’s largest tropical rainforest totalled 563 square km in November, 103 per cent more than in the same month last year, according to the country’s space research agency INPE.

LOS PALACIOS (Cuba), Dec 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A lack of fuel, in large part due to the US blockade, is forcing Cubans to return to horse and ox power for farming, transport and everyday travel.

In Los Palacios, 100km of the west of the capital Havana, Heriberto Piloto bellows at his oxen Montezuelo”and Pasajero as they plough a tobacco field at the La Juanita farm.

Once the fields were ploughed by tractors, plus some animal help, but now beasts of burden are the only option, meaning the job of ploughman has made a comeback too in Cuba’s fields.

New Delhi, Dec 10 (PTI) The air quality remained in the "very poor" category in the national capital for the seventh consecutive day on Tuesday as the cold weather and calm winds allowed accumulation of pollutants.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city was recorded at 356 at 8.45 am.

An AQI between 0-50 is considered "good", 51-100 "satisfactory", 101-200 "moderate", 201-300 "poor", 301-400 "very poor" and 401-500 "severe". An AQI above 500 falls in the "severe plus" category.