Tech shares fall as China mulls child smartphone limits
Shares of firms such as Alibaba and video-sharing website Bilibili extended their losses in Asia on Thursday.
2023-08-03 12:20
Ukraine war: Several killed in Russian missile strike eastern Ukraine, officials say
President Zelensky said the Russian attacks had struck an "ordinary residential building".
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Migrants turn themselves in at US border as Trump-era rule expires
Jimmy Munoz had just turned himself in to US border police after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico, the contours of the river still visible...
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German businessman's dismembered body found in Thailand freezer with chainsaw and hedge clippers
Thai police say they have found the dismembered body of a missing German businessman inside a freezer inside a house in southern Thailand
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Who is Sheila Agee? Mother charged after frantic texts reveal she helped son plan Florida Home Depot employee's murder
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office detained Keith Agee, 20, on Friday in connection to the fatal shooting of Brooklyn Sims, 18
2023-08-16 18:20
Indiana doctor reprimanded for talking publicly about Ohio 10-year-old's abortion
An Indiana board has decided to reprimand an Indianapolis doctor after finding that she violated patient privacy laws by taking publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from neighboring Ohio
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Human-induced climate crisis responsible for killer heatwaves sweeping planet, scientists say
Human-induced climate change is responsible for the historic heatwaves sweeping the planet from China to the United States, scientists have found. The research conducted by World Weather Attribution (WWA), which was released on Tuesday, says the record-shattering heat in Europe and the US would have been almost “impossible” in a world without global heating. The researchers, who analysed records in all three continents, said the likelihood of extreme heat in China, which recently recorded its highest-ever temperature at 52.2C, is now 50 times more likely due to the climate crisis. The researchers evaluated the role of climate crisis in these extreme heat events using peer-reviewed methods, weather station data of the hottest days in July, and computer models. It is already known that planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions have increased the global average temperature by 1.2C, which, in turn, is making heatwaves more frequent and extreme. The WWA study found that the heatwaves like the ones currently persisting now have a probability of occurring approximately once every 15 years in the US and Mexico region, once every 10 years in Southern Europe, and once every five years in China due to increased global average temperatures. However, without the human-induced climate crisis, these heat events would have been extremely rare. In China, such a heatwave would have been about a 1-in-250-year event, while the maximum heat experienced in the US and Mexico region and Southern Europe would have been “virtually impossible”. The climate crisis did not just play a role in the occurrence of the heatwave, but also made the temperatures hotter than they would have been with natural phenomenon like the El Nino. The European heatwave was 2.5C hotter, the North American heatwave was 2C hotter, and the heatwave in China was 1C hotter due to the human-induced climate crisis, the study notes. Researchers who were part of the study said the stronger impact of the climate crisis on the US and Europe is a result of a complex relationship between global and regional factors. Europe is heating faster than the global average, earlier studies have shown. Scientists said it’s because the impact of the climate crisis isn’t even worldwide. “Once again, our study shows the significant impact of the rapid rate of warming on local temperatures in Europe. It underscores the urgent necessity for Europe to continuously take adaptation and mitigation measures,” Sjoukje Philip, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, and one of the researchers of the study, said. “The planet isn’t warming evenly,” Ms Philip adds. “Climate scientists are working to understand the complex relationships between increasing global and regional average temperatures.” Other scientists have also largely attributed the recent heat events, including the ones in July in the northern hemisphere and the marine heatwaves, to the climate crisis. Earlier, WWA researchers also analysed the April heatwave in a dozen Asian countries, including India, China and Thailand as well as the 2022 heat events in the UK which were found to be made “ten times more likely” due to the climate crisis”. Recently the Met Office also said the reason behind the UK’s hottest-ever June was also the climate crisis. The heatwaves have caused severe impacts, with deadly wildfires burning in Greece and Canada, and heat-related illnesses and fatalities reported in several countries. In the US alone, over 200 people died due to the extreme heat, and Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Algeria, and China also reported heat-related deaths and a surge in hospitalisations. Last year’s heat in Europe contributed to the deaths of over 61,000 people, a recent study found. The study warned that unless there is a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a shift away from fossil fuels, heatwaves will become even more common and severe in the future. If the global average temperature rise goes up by 2C, a limit that is expected to be breached in the next 30 years if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase the way they are, there would be a probability of experiencing heatwaves like the one currently ongoing every two to five years. “The result of this attribution study is not surprising. The world hasn’t stopped burning fossil fuels, the climate continues to warm and heatwaves continue to become more extreme. It is that simple,” Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London and co-founder of WWA said. However, she added that these heatwaves are “not evidence of ‘runaway warming’ or ‘climate collapse”. “We still have time to secure a safe and healthy future, but we urgently need to stop burning fossil fuels and invest in decreasing vulnerability.” “If we do not, tens of thousands of people will keep dying from heat-related causes each year. It is absolutely critical that governments legislate fossil fuel phase out at this year’s Cop climate conference.” Read More What is driving the record-breaking global heatwaves across three continents? Why is there no UK heatwave as Europe swelters during Charon? 61,000 dead: The shocking toll from extreme heatwaves that hit Europe last summer revealed UK rescue flights for tourists fleeing ‘out of control’ wildfires on Rhodes and Corfu Weather forecast for Greece as wildfires rage and second heatwave hits ‘Weak tea’: G20 fails to agree on cutting down fossil fuels
2023-07-25 13:18
After Maui's wildfires, thousands brace for long process of restoring safe water service
Some populated areas of Maui are looking at months or even years before their water systems are fully and safely restored following the wildfires that devastated the island last month
2023-09-01 23:19
Benjamin Smyth: University of Utah swimmer flees to Canada after he was charged with raping female student
Benjamin Dennis Kai Smyth has been charged with one count of rape, one count of forcible sodomy, and one count of sexual abuse
2023-05-12 12:57
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife announce their separation
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, say they are separating after 18 years of marriage
2023-08-03 02:47
3 activists arrested after their fund bailed out protestors of Atlanta's 'Cop City'
Police have arrested three key organizers supporting people protesting Atlanta's proposed police and fire training center, which opponents call “Cop City.”
2023-06-01 08:23
Trump lawyer says there's 'no need' to appear before grand jury in special counsel's 2020 election probe
John Lauro, the recent addition to former President Donald Trump's legal team, told Fox News on Friday there is no reason for the former president to appear before a federal grand jury investigating the 2020 election aftermath, adding that Trump "did absolutely nothing wrong."
2023-07-22 05:46
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