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Mission impossible: Embracing the nuclear ‘explosion’
A nuclear “explosion” of sorts could be on the horizon for the Philippines – one which could ensure a sustainable, sufficient and clean source of electricity for future generations, or one which could put the country in a deep hole......»»
Jaishankar begins Singapore visit with homage to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, brave INA soldiers
Singapore, March 23 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar kicked off his Singapore visit on Saturday by paying homage to Subhash Chandra Bose and the brave Indian National Army soldiers. The INA Marker in Singapore, which Jaishankar visited recognizes the deep patriotism of the Indian National Army soldiers. In a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, "Began my Singapore visit by paying homage to Netaji and the brave Indian.....»»
Vanishing Ice, Vanishing Giants: The Urgent Tale of Polar Bears on International Polar Bear Day
by: Assaf Levy, BioDB International Polar Bear Day, celebrated on February 27th, highlights the plight of polar bears amidst the melting Arctic ice and climate change. It's a day that calls for global awareness and action towards preserving these majestic creatures and their h.....»»
Brutally cold weather reaching deep into lower United States
MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Arctic weather brought more misery to much of the United States on Saturday, especially for people unaccustomed to such bitter cold in places like Memphis, Tennessee, where residents were urged to boil water and some had no water at all after freezing temperatures broke water mains across the city. Temperatures weren’t expected.....»»
China seeks exemption from US sanctions for Russian LNG - Reuters
Restrictions on the Arctic LNG 2 energy project endanger vital fuel supplies, according to Chinese energy majors China's state energy majors CNOOC and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) have both asked the US government for exemptions from sanctions on a new Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant. They are.....»»
CTGs suffers another major blow, 15 firearms seized in Mapanas, Northern Samar clash
Fifteen assorted firearms were recovered in an armed encounter between the 74th Infantry Battalion (74IB) and members of Platoon 1, Front Committee 15 (FC15) of the Sub-Regional Committee (SRC) Arctic, of the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee (EVRPC) in the hinterlands of Barangay Magsaysay, Mapanas Northern Samar on May 10, 2023......»»
Solar panels go into service near North Pole
Norway has installed solar panels in its Svalbard archipelago, a region plunged in round-the-clock darkness all winter, in a pilot project that could help remote Arctic communities transition to green energy. Neatly lined up in six rows in a field, 360 solar panels will on Thursday begin providing electricity to an old shipping radio station, Isfjord Radio, now converted into a base camp for tourists. The windswept archipelago -- also known as Spitsbergen -- is located some 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) from the North Pole and is accessible only by boat or helicopter, weather-permitting. "It's what we believe to be the world's northernmost ground-mounted PV (photovoltaic) system," Mons Ole Sellevold, renewable energies technical adviser at state-owned energy group Store Norske, told AFP. "It's the first time anyone has done it at this scale in the Arctic," he said, his rifle slung over his shoulder in case polar bears turn up, a not uncommon occurrence at these latitudes. Another 100 solar panels are positioned on the roof of the radio station -- which has until now run on diesel generators -- and should cover about half of the site's electricity needs and cut its CO2 emissions. In summer, the region is bathed in an abundance of sunlight, with a "midnight sun" that never sets. The solar panels also benefit from the "albedo" effect, the reflective power of snow and ice, as well as low temperatures that improve their efficiency. Conversely, in winter, the region is plunged in total darkness from early October until mid-February, which makes it impossible for Isfjord Radio to completely give up fossil fuels. Store Norske is therefore also considering other alternatives, such as wind farms, to further the station's green transition. - 'Test site' - The move is motivated by environmental considerations as well as economic factors, with diesel costly to buy and transport, while solar panels are also easy to maintain and do not break down, Sellevold said. The aim is also to use the installation as a pilot project to see if the technology can be used by some 1,500 other sites or communities in the Arctic that are not hooked up to traditional electricity grids and also need to transition to green energy, he said. "We want to make Isfjord Radio a test site to ... get an Arctic-proven technology that we can afterwards take to other locations like this," he said. According to a study published last year, the Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet over the past 40 years, causing ice to melt faster and disrupting ecosystems. This has affected both local populations and the rest of the world, with rising sea levels and extreme weather events. vk-phy/ef/po/lth © Agence France-Presse The post Solar panels go into service near North Pole appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Samar encounter leaves NPA member dead
CATBALOGAN CITY — An alleged member of the communist New People’s Army was killed in an encounter with government troops in the hinterlands of Barangay Anongo, Catubig, Northern Samar. A report from the 8th Infantry Division said the still unidentified man was killed when a team from the 20th Infantry Battalion chanced upon 10 NPA members on patrol, touching off a 10-minute gunbattle. The military said the killed NPA guerilla was a member of Front Committee 15, Sub-Regional Committee ARCTIC, Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee who was abandoned by his fleeing comrades. The soldiers recovered from the encounter site four backpacks, a 30-round magazine assembly, an M203 empty shell, seven rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, subversive documents, and other personal belongings. Lt. Colonel Joemar Buban, commanding officer of the 20th IB, called on the remnants of the communist group in Northern Samar to lay down their arms and return to the folds of the law. Catubig Mayor Solomon Vicencio thanked the Philippine Army and the government for trying to end the local communist armed conflict in Northern Samar. Meanwhile, the 8th Infantry Division Commander, Major General Camilo Z. Ligayo also expressed his condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased CNT. The post Samar encounter leaves NPA member dead appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Huge’ overfishing problem shows need to ratify ocean treaty: Greenpeace
Overfishing in international waters has surged in the past five years and demonstrates the need to ratify a recent global treaty to protect the high seas, a Greenpeace report said Wednesday. The non-governmental network is calling on as many countries as possible to sign the treaty next week at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Finalized in June, the text was hailed as a "historic" accord with the potential to better safeguard the oceans. A key element in the treaty is the creation of a legal framework to protect high seas marine areas -- beyond 230 miles (370 kilometers) from coastlines -- whose good health is vital to humanity. But without enforcement of the accord, such protections are minimal, the report warned. "Reality at sea is moving in the opposite direction from the ambition laid out in the Treaty," it said. Governments must step up immediately, urged Greenpeace oceans campaigner Chris Thorne, aboard the group's ship Arctic Sunrise, which was docked Wednesday in Long Beach, California for an event marking the report's release. To protect 30 percent of Earth's land and oceans by 2030, the target adopted last year by the COP15 convention on biological diversity, "there is no time to waste," he told AFP. Fishing hours on the high seas increased by 8.5 percent between 2018 and 2022, according to the report, which compiles data from an organization capable of tracking boat movements via their transmitters. Such intensification is especially pronounced in the ecologically sensitive areas identified by the UN as potential future marine sanctuaries. Greenpeace reported fishing there has increased by 22.5 percent over the same period. "Overfishing is a huge problem," Thorne said. "That fishing pressure is just absolutely unsustainable, and it's pushing our oceans to the brink." Greenpeace's report notes that in the span of 30 years, stocks of Pacific bluefin tuna have collapsed by more than 90 percent. It also draws attention to the damage caused in open seas by longline fishing, which uses cords fitted with thousands of baited hooks dozens of miles long. The destructive method catches many sharks by mistake. 'Let her heal' Given such dire situations, using the treaty to create high seas sanctuaries is crucial, said Samantha Murray, a marine biodiversity specialist at the University of California San Diego. "We have up to 670 percent greater biomass inside highly protected and fully protected reserves," she told reporters. "When we sort of leave the ocean alone and let it be who she is and let her heal, we get more complex ecosystems that can be more resilient." In order to come into force before the next UN Ocean Conference, in 2025, the treaty will need ratification from at least 60 nations. This would enable convening a conference of the parties, empowered to create the marine sanctuaries. Scientists and non-governmental organizations have already identified a dozen priority high seas zones needing protection. They include the Costa Rica Thermal Dome, a nutrient-rich marine biodiversity hotspot hospitable to blue whales; the Emperor seamount chain of underwater mountains near Hawaii; and the Atlantic's Sargasso Sea region. In addition, the Salas y Gomez and Nazca ridges off Chile's coast may be among the first sanctuaries to see the light of day. The post ‘Huge’ overfishing problem shows need to ratify ocean treaty: Greenpeace appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Battle for the Arctic
The Arctic is a very sensitive environmental area. They say that if the Arctic sneezes, the whole world catches a cold. The Arctic also holds vast amounts of oil and gas. Energy is the arch-enemy of the Environment. The Arctic Council was established in 1996 in the Ottawa Declaration “as a high-level forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the (eight founding) Arctic States” (arctic-council.org). The eight Arctic States are Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the United States. For some reason, Greenland, the largest island, was not among the eight. The agreement stood until the war in Ukraine. The international spirit of cooperation suddenly vanished. The war in Ukraine made everyone edgy, with two factors as catalysts — energy and security. An intense energy crisis ensued. And security concerns triggered polarizations similar to the ones that preceded World Wars I and II, namely, between the East, led by Russia and China, and the West, led by US-NATO-EU. There was panic over getting new energy resources, and, in fear of wars, panic over procuring new sophisticated weapons, such as hypersonic missiles, killer drones, precision lasers that can take out satellites. Weapons makers like the US and Russia had a field day selling arms to allies. There is now a sudden focus on the vast energy resources of the Arctic, with its billions of dollars in untapped oil and gas — about 13 percent of the world’s oil and about 30 percent of the world’s gas — not to mention uranium, gold, and rare metals, all sitting there under the primordial ice. No wonder the environment is no longer a concern — it has been replaced by the lust for energy. The Arctic Circle The military map above gives an overview situationer on the Arctic Circle. (Source: International Institute for Strategic Studies — Arctic Portal.) There is UN-NATO in the west and Russia in the east. There are two existing shipping routes — the Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage — which converge at the northern tip of the Arctic Circle. There is a third Future Trans Arctic Route in between west and east. There are 27 US-NATO bases in the west, in blue, and 28 Russian bases in the east, in black. The US-NATO bases are scattered over a wide area, while the Russian bases are concentrated along its northern shores. Note the concentration of both East and West bases in the Norway-Finland area where they face each other eyeball-to-eyeball. Many geopolitical and military analysts consider this the powder-keg for future confrontations. US-NATO cannot build bases near the Russian shorelines, so they concentrated their bases in the Norway–Finland chokepoint. Current energy extractions Russia leads the pack in energy extraction. Its turf covers about 40 percent of the Arctic Circle and 53 percent of coastal areas. There are about two million Russians living in the Arctic Circle in thriving mining communities servicing Liquid Natural Gas Projects 1 and 2. Project 1 is the Yamal LNG Plant. Project 2 is the newer $21-billion Arctic LNG2 Plan, whose goal is to extract 19.8 tons of LNG a year. Global warming has melted a considerable amount of Arctic ice in the last decade, which has triggered a more frenzied exploration and mining among the Arctic States. This is especially true for the ice corridor north of the Russian coastal area, which has triggered more daring Russian ships cutting through the melting ice. There is a 21,000-kilometer passage for Russian ships to bring their export gas to Asian markets through the Suez Canal, a long arduous route through the West, which makes the gas more expensive to deliver. Because of the melting ice, Russia now has an alternative of 13,000 kilometers through the east, 40 percent shorter than the western route. The mining activities of the Western nations will be covered in the next article due to space limitations. Future conflicts The goal of the Arctic military bases is defensive, namely, to protect the mining activities. But an Arctic encounter can be catalyzed by trigger-happy generals, or even by accidental encounters, which have happened before. The first step towards the nuclearization of the Arctic is the introduction of small tactical nukes, similar to those in Belarus, facing Poland, which can be an option if one of two contending forces is “cornered.” Tactical nukes may draw an equal response from the other side in a rapid escalation. Once tactical nukes proliferate on both sides, and an incident occurs, the next steps are the big ICBMs and the war with no winners. The post Battle for the Arctic appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Canada accuses Meta of endangerment
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — Meta is being accused of endangering lives by blocking news links in Canada at a crucial moment, when thousands have fled their homes and are desperate for wildfire updates that once would have been shared widely on Facebook. The situation “is dangerous,” said Kelsey Worth, 35, one of nearly 20,000 residents of Yellowknife and thousands more in small towns ordered to evacuate the Northwest Territories as wildfires advanced. She described to AFP how “insanely difficult” it has been for herself and other evacuees to find verifiable information about the fires blazing across the near-Arctic territory and other parts of Canada. “Nobody’s able to know what’s true or not,” she said. “And when you’re in an emergency situation, time is of the essence,” she added, explaining that many Canadians until now have relied on social media for news. Meta on 1 August started blocking the distribution of news links and articles on its Facebook and Instagram platforms in response to a recent law requiring digital giants to pay publishers for news content. The company has been in a virtual showdown with Ottawa over the bill passed in June, but which only takes effect next year. Building on similar legislation introduced in Australia, the bill aims to support a struggling Canadian news sector that has seen a flight of advertising dollars and hundreds of publications closed in the last decade. It requires companies like Meta and Google to make fair commercial deals with Canadian outlets for the news and information — estimated in a report to parliament to be worth Canadian $330 million (US$250 million) per year — that is shared on their platforms, or face binding arbitration. But Meta has said the bill is flawed and insisted that news outlets share content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms to attract readers, benefiting them and not the Silicon Valley firm. Trudeau irked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week assailed Meta, telling reporters it was “inconceivable that a company like Facebook is choosing to put corporate profits ahead of (safety)... and keeping Canadians informed about things like wildfires.” Almost 80 percent of all online advertising revenues in Canada go to Meta and Google, which has expressed its own reservations about the new law. Ollie Williams, director of Cabin Radio in the far north, called Meta’s move to block news sharing “stupid and dangerous.” He suggested in an interview with AFP that “Meta could lift the ban temporarily in the interests of preservation of life and suffer no financial penalty because the legislation has not taken effect yet.” Nicolas Servel, over at Radio Taiga, a French-language station in Yellowknife, noted that some had found ways of circumventing Meta’s block. They “found other ways to share” information, he said, such as taking screen shots of news articles and sharing them from personal — rather than corporate — social media accounts. Several large newspapers in Canada such as The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star have launched campaigns to try to attract readers directly to their sites. But for many smaller news outlets, workarounds have proven challenging as social media platforms have become entrenched. Reverse course Public broadcaster CBC in a letter this week pressed Meta to reverse course. “Time is of the essence,” wrote CBC president Catherine Tait. “I urge you to consider taking the much-needed humanitarian action and immediately lift your ban on vital Canadian news and information to communities dealing with this wildfire emergency.” Meta — which did not respond to AFP requests for comment — rejected CBC’s suggestion. Instead, it urged Canadians to use the “Safety Check” function on Facebook to let others know if they are safe or not. The post Canada accuses Meta of endangerment appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Meta faces backlash over Canada news block as wildfires rage
Meta is being accused of endangering lives by blocking news links in Canada at a crucial moment when thousands have fled their homes and are desperate for wildfire updates that once would have been shared widely on Facebook. The situation "is dangerous," said Kelsey Worth, 35, of one nearly 20,000 residents of Yellowkife and thousands more in small towns ordered to evacuate the Northwest Territories as wildfires advanced. She described to AFP how "insanely difficult" it has been for herself and other evacuees to find verifiable information about the fires blazing across the near-Arctic territory and other parts of Canada. "Nobody's able to know what's true or not," she said. "And when you're in an emergency situation, time is of the essence," she said, explaining that many Canadians until now have relied on social media for news. Meta on August 1 started blocking the distribution of news links and articles on its Facebook and Instagram platforms in response to a recent law requiring digital giants to pay publishers for news content. The company has been in a virtual showdown with Ottawa over the bill passed in June which only takes effect next year. Building on similar legislation introduced in Australia, the bill aims to support a struggling Canadian news sector that has seen a flight of advertising dollars and hundreds of publications closed in the last decade. It requires companies like Meta and Google to make fair commercial deals with Canadian outlets for the news and information -- estimated in a report to parliament to be worth Can$330 million (US$250 million) per year -- that is shared on their platforms, or face-binding arbitration. But Meta has said the bill is flawed and insisted that news outlets share content on its Facebook and Instagram platforms to attract readers, benefiting them and not the Silicon Valley firm. Profits over safety Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week assailed Meta, telling reporters it was "inconceivable that a company like Facebook is choosing to put corporate profits ahead of (safety)... and keeping Canadians informed about things like wildfires." Almost 80 percent of all online advertising revenues in Canada go to Meta and Google, which has expressed its own reservations about the new law. Ollie Williams, director of Cabin Radio in the far north, called Meta's move to block news sharing "stupid and dangerous." He suggested in an interview with AFP that "Meta could lift the ban temporarily in the interests of preservation of life and suffer no financial penalty because the legislation has not taken effect yet." Nicolas Servel, over at Radio Taiga, a French-language station in Yellowknife, noted that some had found ways of circumventing Meta's block. They "found other ways to share" information, he said, such as taking screenshots of news articles and sharing them from personal -- rather than corporate -- social media accounts. Life and death Several large newspapers in Canada such as the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star have launched campaigns to try to attract readers directly to their sites. But for many smaller news outlets workarounds have proven challenging as social media platforms have become entrenched. Public broadcaster CBC in a letter this week pressed Meta to reverse course. "Time is of the essence," wrote CBC president Catherine Tait. "I urge you to consider taking the much-needed humanitarian action and immediately lift your ban on vital Canadian news and information to communities dealing with this wildfire emergency." As more than 1,000 wildfires burn across Canada, she said, "The need for reliable, trusted, and up-to-date information can literally be the difference between life and death." Meta -- which did not respond to AFP requests for comment -- rejected CBC's suggestion. Instead it urged Canadians to use the "Safety Check" function on Facebook to let others know if they are safe or not. Patrick White, a professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, said Meta has shown itself to be a "bad corporate citizen." "It's a matter of public safety," he said, adding that he remains optimistic Ottawa will eventually reach a deal with Meta and other digital giants that addresses their concerns. The post Meta faces backlash over Canada news block as wildfires rage appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Western Canada wildfires force tens of thousands to flee
Officials in western Canada's British Columbia implored tens of thousands of residents to heed warnings and evacuate Saturday as "severe and fast-changing" wildfires threatened large parts of the scenic Okanagan Valley, including the city of Kelowna. The situation in the popular boating and hiking destination was "highly dynamic," said Bowinn Ma, the province's minister of emergency management. Around 30,000 people were under evacuation orders while another 36,000 were under alert to be ready to flee, she said. "We cannot stress strongly enough how critical it is to follow evacuation orders when they are issued," Ma said at an afternoon news conference. "They are a matter of life and death not only for the people in those properties but also for the first responders who will often go back to try to implore people to leave." Kelowna, a city of 150,000, was choked with thick smoke as it became the latest population center hit in a summer of dramatic wildfires across Canada that has left millions of acres scorched. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had spoken with British Columbia Premier David Eby about the "rapidly evolving and incredibly devastating wildfire situation" and pledged federal resources in responding to the disaster. Blazes far away in the neighboring Northwest Territories have meanwhile prompted the evacuation of regional capital Yellowknife, leaving the remote city of some 20,000 largely a ghost town. Winds have been fanning the wildfires toward Yellowknife, but Saturday saw some relief after overnight rain brought a sharp dip in temperatures. Since the evacuation was ordered Wednesday, most people have fled by road with several thousand taking emergency flights, Northwest Territories environment minister Shane Thompson said Saturday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "Approximately 1,000 essential staff remaining in the city and surrounding area," he added. Those crews were remaining to erect defenses from the flames, while water bombers have been seen flying low over the city, with the Canadian military also helping out. - 'Incredible' exodus - Tony Whitford, a former commissioner for the Northwest Territories and a longtime resident of Yellowknife, arrived in the city of Calgary on one of the first flights out and gave the evacuation high marks. "My compliments to them all," Whitford, who is 82 and wheelchair-bound, said of the organizers. "It's so complex -- 20,000 people -- it's incredible. It went smoothly." Several towns and Indigenous communities were evacuated earlier. The exodus from Yellowknife means half the population of the near-Arctic territory has been displaced. The ongoing fires have caused "terrible loss," Trudeau told reporters after meeting Yellowknife evacuees Friday as they arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, with no idea when they may return home. Martha Kanatsiak, who has lived in Yellowknife for 28 years, arrived late Friday in Calgary. "I'm okay, but I feel sad and depressed and worried. I never saw something like this," the 59-year-old Inuit retiree told AFP. Some 40 flights carrying around 3,500 passengers from Yellowknife have arrived in Calgary, said officials in the city, which has made nearly 500 hotel rooms available. - Northwest US threat - In British Columbia, blazes have already destroyed several properties in West Kelowna, separated by Okanagan Lake from its larger, eponymous neighbor. Among them is the Lake Okanagan Resort, according to local media, which is known for having hosted high-profile politicians such as British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Eby on Saturday announced an emergency order halting non-essential visits to the area. The order, which bans visitors from checking in at hotels and other temporary accommodations, covers Kelowna and the nearby towns of Kamloops, Oliver, Penticton and Vernon as well as Osoyoos near the US border. "If you are currently in accommodations in these areas, we are asking you to voluntarily check out early and free up those spaces for evacuees and responders," Ma added. Meanwhile across the border in the United States, several thousand people were forced to flee wildfires in Washington state, with at least one death reported, local media said. An evacuation was ordered for Medical Lake, a town outside Spokane and next to a US Air Force base, while a section of the vital I-90 highway was closed, authorities said. Canada is experiencing a record-setting wildfire season, with official estimates of over 14 million hectares (34.6 million acres) already burned -- roughly the size of Greece and almost twice the area of the last record of 7.3 million hectares. Four people have died so far. Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them both more frequent and more deadly. bfm/bbk/des/acb The post Western Canada wildfires force tens of thousands to flee appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Canada’s far north speeds up evacuations as fire approaches main city
Residents of Yellowknife in Canada's far north on Friday raced to evacuate ahead of a midday deadline as wildfires bear down on the remote city and other parts of the vast country. Since authorities in the Northwest Territories issued the city-wide evacuation order late Wednesday, long lines of cars have snaked along the lone highway connecting the area to Alberta province to the south ahead of the 12:00 pm (1800 GMT) cutoff. About 1,500 people have so far left Yellowknife, the regional capital, by plane, with an increased number of flights scheduled Friday to evacuate more of the city's 20,000 residents. The nearest evacuation center is 1,150 kilometers (700 miles) away, in Alberta, where several sites have been set up. Crews have scrambled to erect fire barriers as the flames approached Yellowknife, while water bombers have been seen flying low over the city and swooping in to fill up at a nearby lake. Northwest winds over the next two days will send the fire, already close to the city's perimeter, "in directions we don't want," Northwest Territories' fire information officer Mike Westwick said Thursday. Several military aircraft have already been dispatched, along with more than 120 soldiers to help beat back the flames. In what had already been declared the Northwest Territories' largest-ever evacuation, the emptying of Yellowknife now means half the population of the near-Arctic territory will soon be displaced. Several towns and Indigenous communities were also already under evacuation orders. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau interrupted his summer vacation Thursday to convene an incident response group. In British Columbia in western Canada, evacuation orders were also put in place for areas near Kelowna, as a different fire threatened the city of around 150,000. Scientists say human-caused global warming is exacerbating natural hazards, making them both more frequent and more deadly. The evacuation of Yellowknife is the second time a sizeable Canadian city has been cleared due to wildfires since 100,000 residents of Fort McMurray in Alberta's oil and gas-producing heartland were forced out in 2016. Earlier this year, suburbs of Halifax on the Atlantic coast were also evacuated. Canada is experiencing a record-setting wildfire season, with official estimates of over 13.7 million hectares (33.9 million acres) already scorched. Four people have died so far. Waves of smoke have also intermittently descended on the United States, prompting several air alert warnings in large swaths of the country's center and east. The Yellowknife evacuation comes amid heightened awareness about the deadly speed of wildfires after a town on the Hawaiian island of Maui was razed by a fast-moving inferno, killing more than 100 people. The post Canada’s far north speeds up evacuations as fire approaches main city appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
50% chance 2023 will be warmest year on record — NOAA
There is a nearly 50 percent probability that 2023 will be the warmest year ever recorded and next year could be even hotter, US government climate experts said Monday. "2023 to date has been the third warmest on record," National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) chief scientist Sarah Kapnick told reporters. "It is virtually certain -- over 99 percent chance -- that 2023 will rank among the five warmest years on record with a nearly 50 percent probability that 2023 will rank warmest on record," Kapnick said. Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said next year could be even hotter than this year because of the Pacific warming phenomenon known as El Nino. "The biggest impact of El Nino will actually occur in 2024," Schmidt said. "So we're anticipating that not only is 2023 going to be exceptionally warm and possibly a record warm year, but we anticipate that 2024 will be warmer still." The European Union's climate observatory Copernicus reported last week that July was the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, and NOAA figures released on Monday were in line with the EU data. "The average global surface temperature in July was 2.02 degrees Fahrenheit (1.12 degrees Celsius) above average, ranking it as the warmest July in NOAA's 174-year record," NOAA said. NOAA also said that global ocean surface temperatures hit a record high in July for a fourth consecutive month, as El Nino conditions that emerged in June continued. Kate Calvin, NASA's chief scientist and senior climate advisor, said "climate change is having impacts on people and ecosystems all around the world. "Along with changes in temperature, we're experiencing other changes in climate like sea level rise, declines in Arctic sea ice, wildfires, heavy precipitation events, and more," Calvin said. Bill Nelson, the administrator of the US space agency, said it is "self-evident that the Earth is heating up. "Mother Nature is sending us a message," Nelson said. "And that message is we better act now, before it's too late to save our climate, in other words, to save our planet." The post 50% chance 2023 will be warmest year on record — NOAA appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
How Will Climate Change Affect Travel? Research Reveals Manila to Be Submerged by 2050
Climate change is one of the most serious issues we are facing today. Already, glaciers in the Arctic have begun to melt – increasing sea levels and causing mass-flooding in coastal areas. Additionally, many countries continue to record their hottest summer year after year, highlighting the constant temperature increase. For many travelers utilizing their car […].....»»
Thousands ordered to flee advancing wildfires in Quebec
Canada is facing a catastrophic spring wildfire season with massive and powerful blazes out of control in all corners of the country, and thousands more people displaced on Friday. "This is a scary time for a lot of people from coast to coast to coast," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, alluding to the vastness of a nation on fire stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic to the Arctic oceans. Some 10,000 people on Friday were ordered to evacuate from Sept Iles in Quebec in the face of advancing wildfires. Steve Beaupre, mayor of the small city on the St. Lawrence River, declared a local state of emergency and announced the mandatory evacuation after nearby wildfires "advanced very quickly" overnight. Residents were told in the morning to vacate their homes by 4 pm local time (2100 GMT). Stephane Lauzon, a member of Parliament from Quebec, told a news conference in Ottawa that as many as 10,000 residents, or one-third of the population of Sept Iles, would be displaced. This followed the evacuation on Thursday of 500 residents of Chapais in the north of the province. "The situation is quickly changing in Quebec," Lauzon said, adding that about 100 fires, "many more than yesterday," were burning in the province, including about 20 out of control. Canada has been hit repeatedly by extreme weather in recent years, the intensity and frequency of which have increased due to global warming. Across Canada more than 210 fires were burning on Friday after scorching more than 2.7 million hectares (6.7 million acres). A total of 29,000 people had been evacuated before Friday's order. After major flareups in the west of the country in May, notably in the Prairies provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan, firefighting shifted in the past week to Nova Scotia on the Atlantic coast. Officials hoped rain and cooler temperatures in forecasts for the weekend following a record-breaking heat wave will bring relief. "Weather has favoured the fires all week, not the firefighters. We're hopeful that this will soon change," Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston told a briefing. "We need rain. Hopefully that rain comes in sufficient amounts this weekend." Almost 1,000 firefighters from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States also arrived or were en route to bolster firefighting efforts. And Ottawa was deploying the military in Nova Scotia and Quebec to help out, officials said. In Halifax, the largest city in Nova Scotia, busloads of suburban residents were taken on tours for a first glimpse of devastated neighborhoods. In a video shared by local media, people on the bus could be heard trying to identify items burned or melted. "I think that was my car," a woman says when it stops at the end of a long driveway. Jason Young told reporters it was "pretty surreal" to see the blackened wooded lots and smoking debris. "The house is gone. The shed is gone. Everything's gone. On our property, there's nothing left. It's completely gone," he said. Others weren't ready yet to take it all in. "If I see my property I want to do it with my family, by ourselves, and be able to physically go in and (maybe) sort through stuff," Jody Stuart said, aware that he has lost everything. About 200 homes, as well as a wooden bridge and a historic private Halifax club founded in 1908, have been destroyed and nearly 20,000 residents have been displaced by wildfires in Nova Scotia. A few were allowed to return home on Friday after more than a week away. Houston lamented the "many, many lives turned upside down" by fires, noting a number of people "responding to the fires are evacuees themselves and it's absolutely heartbreaking." But he also expressed solace: "Though all this despair, zero deaths, zero missing persons, zero serious injuries." The post Thousands ordered to flee advancing wildfires in Quebec appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Half world’s largest lakes and reservoirs drying up — study
More than half of the world's largest lakes and reservoirs are dwindling and placing humanity's future water security at risk, with climate change and unsustainable consumption the main culprits, a study said Thursday. "Lakes are in trouble globally, and it has implications far and wide," Balaji Rajagopalan, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and co-author of the paper, which appeared in Science, told AFP. "It really caught our attention that 25 percent of the world's population is living in a lake basin that is on a declining trend," he continued, meaning some two billion people are impacted by the findings. Unlike rivers, which have tended to hog scientific attention, lakes aren't well monitored, despite their critical importance for water security, said Rajagopalan. But high-profile environmental disasters in large water bodies like the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea signaled to researchers a wider crisis. To study the question systematically, the team, which included scientists from the United States, France, and Saudi Arabia, looked at Earth's biggest 1,972 lakes and reservoirs, using observations from satellites from 1992-2020. They focused on larger freshwater bodies because of the better accuracy of satellites at a larger scale, as well as their importance for humans and wildlife. 17 Lake Meads lost Their dataset merged images from Landsat, the longest-running Earth observation program, with water surface height acquired by satellite altimeters, to determine how lake volume varied over nearly 30 years. The results: 53 percent of lakes and reservoirs saw a decline in water storage, at a rate of approximately 22 gigatonnes a year. Over the whole period studied, 603 cubic kilometers of water (145 cubic miles) was lost, 17 times the water in Lake Mead, the United States' largest reservoir. To find out what drove the trends, the team used statistical models incorporating climate and hydrologic trends to tease out natural and human-driven factors. For natural lakes, much of the net loss was attributed to climate warming as well as human water consumption. Increased temperatures from climate change drive evaporation, but can also decrease precipitation in some places. "The climate signal pervades all factors," said Rajagopalan. Lead author Fangfang Yao, a visiting fellow at CU Boulder, added in a statement: "Many of the human and climate change footprints on lake water losses were previously unknown, such as the desiccations of Lake Good-e-Zareh in Afghanistan and Lake Mar Chiquita in Argentina." Losses in humid regions, too One surprising aspect was that lakes in both wet and dry regions of the world are losing volume, suggesting the "dry gets drier, wet gets wetter" paradigm that is frequently used to summarize how climate change affects regions, doesn't always hold. Losses were found in humid tropical lakes in the Amazon as well as Arctic lakes, demonstrating a trend more widely spread than predicted. Accumulating sedimentation was blamed for storage loss in drying reservoirs. But although most global lakes were dwindling, nearly a quarter saw significant increases in their water storage. These included the Tibetan Plateau, "where glacier retreat and permafrost thawing partially drove alpine lake expansion," the paper said. Hilary Dugan, a scientist who studies freshwater systems at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and who wasn't involved in the study, told AFP the research advanced scientific understanding of lake volume variability, which is of "huge importance." It is "unique in that it focuses on specific lakes, and reports the amount of water as a volume," she said. But she added: "It's important to keep in mind that many water supplies are from small lakes and reservoirs," and future research should consider these too. Globally, freshwater lakes and reservoirs store 87 percent of the planet's liquid freshwater, underscoring the urgency of new strategies for sustainable consumption and climate mitigation. "If a good chunk of freshwater lakes are drying, then you're going to see the impact come to you one way or the other, if not now in the not-too-distant future," said Rajagopalan. "So it behooves all of us to be good stewards." The post Half world’s largest lakes and reservoirs drying up — study appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Troops recover firearms from Northern Samar clash
TACLOBAN CITY — The Philippine Army revealed that at least 15 assorted firearms were recovered in the latest armed encounter between the communist New People’s Army and government troops in the hinterlands of Barangay Magsaysay, Mapanas, Northern Samar early Wednesday morning. 8th Infantry Division spokesperson Capt. Jefferson Mariano disclosed that troops from the 74th Infantry Battalion had a brief skirmish with members of NPA’s Platoon 1, Front Committee 15 of the Sub-Regional Committee Arctic, of the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee. Mariano narrated that government soldiers were conducting focused military operation based on information provided by a surrendered rebel about the location of the rebel’s hideout when they clashed with an estimated 30 NPA members that lasted for about 20 minutes. The operation resulted to the capture of two M14 rifles, two AK47 rifles, two M16 Rifles, two M4 rifles, one Ingram, one Uzi submachine gun, one homemade shotgun, three cal.45 pistol, one 38 revolver, one bandolier, 12 backpacks and subversive documents. Mariano said one soldier sustained a minor injury after he was hit by a bullet on his left arm. Blood stains were also seen on the track where the communist rebels fled indicating that there were casualties on the enemies’ side. Meantime, Colonel Efren Morados, commander of the 803rd Infantry Brigade, which has the operational control of the area, lauded the collaboration of the 74IB and the former rebels that resulted in the major setback of the communists in Northern Samar. “We will relentlessly pursue them, for we are determined to put an end to their atrocities here in Northern Samar. Despite this, we are still offering you peace to start a new life with your loved ones. Lay down your arms and return to the folds of the law,” Morados said. 8th Infantry Division commander Major General Camilo Z. Ligayo also commended the troops for their unwavering effort and commitment to sustain the operations in addressing the CTGs in the region and ensuring safety and security in Eastern Visayas. The Regional Task Forced to End Communist Armed Conflict had previously conducted a Community Support Program in Barangay Magsaysay of Mapanas Northern Samar. The village was declared cleared of communist control last 10 November 2022, after its underground mass organization was unearthed, and politico-military structures were dismantled. The post Troops recover firearms from Northern Samar clash appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Google Pixel 7a May Release with Some Colorways Named After… Philippine Cuisine
With Google’s I/O conference happening in May, a leaker claims that some of the budget Pixel 7a phone colorways will be inspired by Philippine cuisine and have more storage options. Initial leaks for the device’s colors have hues of Arctic Blue, Carbon, and Cotton, newer leaks by Paras Guglani, who goes by @passionategeekz on Twitter […].....»»