Environment

KANPUR: 126-year-old Sisamau Nullah has been tapped. A report to this effect has been submitted to the Union minister Nitin Gadkari by Jal Nigam. This will make available clear water to the bathers at ghats viz., Rani Ghat, Bhairon Ghat, Magzine Ghat and Hospital Ghat. Informing of this step, V.V. Pant, district magistrate, said that whatever problems prevailed so far was removed now. The tapping report has already been sent to the state government.

18 Dec 2018; AFP: Losses from natural and man-made disasters are estimated to total $155 billion (136 billion euros) this year, down sharply from a hurricane-plagued 2017, the reinsurance giant Swiss Re said Tuesday.

The trio of hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma last year pushed losses to $350 billion, but Swiss Re noted that a "number of smaller and mid-sized events, alongside some major man-made disasters" in 2018 were still cause for serious concern.

16 Dec 2018; AFP: Nations on Sunday struck a deal to breathe life into the landmark 2015 Paris climate treaty after marathon UN talks that failed to match the ambition the world's most vulnerable countries need to avert dangerous global warming.

Delegates from nearly 200 states finalised a common rule book designed to deliver the Paris goals of limiting global temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit).

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California moved Friday to eliminate climate-changing fossil fuels from its fleet of 12,000 transit buses, enacting a first-in-the-nation mandate that will vastly increase the number of electric buses on the road.

The California Air Resources Board voted unanimously to require that all new buses be carbon-free by 2029. Environmental advocates project that the last buses emitting greenhouse gases will be phased out by 2040.

ATOWICE, Poland (AP) — The executive director of Greenpeace International says the U.S. delegation to the U.N. climate talks is putting itself in the way as the rest of the world is taking efforts to forge an agreement on fighting global warming.

Jennifer Morgan, speaking on the last scheduled day of the U.N. climate talks, said Friday that U.S. envoys were “certainly protecting representing the interests of The United States.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The head of the government agency that monitors climate change says that in nearly two years he has never discussed the issue with President Donald Trump.

Acting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Adm. Timothy Gallaudet said in a press conference at a scientific meeting this week, “I personally have not briefed the president on climate change.”

Gallaudet said he doesn’t know if others had briefed the president. He did note that he was in the room when Trump signed a bill aimed at keeping plastic trash out of the ocean.

KATOWICE, Poland (AP) — Germany is reluctant to host the 2019 U.N. climate talks after Brazil’s incoming right-wing government canceled its offer.

Deputy environment minister Jochen Flasbarth told reporters on the sidelines of this year’s meeting in Poland that Berlin has signaled to the United Nations it’s “not available for an event on the scale of last year.” He cited the increased costs of organizing the meeting at short notice.

KANPUR: Was it a sheer slackness or half-hearted attitude in the sluggish running of the solid waste management plant that displeased the team members of the Clean India Mission who visited the plant site at Panki Bhav Singh here on Monday?

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The second storm in a week brought record-breaking rainfall to parched Los Angeles on Thursday, jamming traffic on Southern California highways and prompting evacuations in wildfire-scarred areas.

A mudslide shut down Pacific Coast Highway and surrounding roads in and around Malibu neighborhoods charred by last month’s massive fire that destroyed hundreds of homes.

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, accounting for 7 per cent of global emissions in 2017, a study said Wednesday.

The top four emitters in 2017, which covered 58 per cent of global emissions, were China (27 per cent), the US (15 per cent), the European Union (10 per cent) and India (7 per cent), according to the projection by the Global Carbon Project.

The rest of the world contributed 41 per cent last year, it said.