Death toll rises to 410 in India floods – More than 1 million people flee to relief camps

CHENGANNUR, 21 August 2018 (AFP) – More than one million people have fled to relief camps in the Indian state of Kerala to escape devastating monsoon floods that have killed more than 410 people, as a huge international aid operation gathered pace.People are flocking to camps as the scale of the desolation is revealed by […]

India floods declared a “calamity of severe nature” – More than 700,000 people sheltering in 5,645 relief camps

NEW DELHI, 20 August 2018 (The Times of India) – The massive flood in Kerala has been declared a calamity of severe nature, the Union home ministry said on Monday. “Keeping in view the intensity and magnitude of the floods and landslides in Kerala, this is a calamity of a severe nature for all practical […]

Air conditioning use emerges as one of the key drivers of global electricity-demand growth

15 May 2018 (IEA) – The growing use of air conditioners in homes and offices around the world will be one of the top drivers of global electricity demand over the next three decades, according to new analysis by the International Energy Agency that stresses the urgent need for policy action to improve cooling efficiency. […]

India warns of “extremely grave” crisis as death toll rises to 385 in Kerala floods – Many thousands await rescue as downpour continues – More than 300,000 people sheltering in relief camps

By Michael Safi 18 August 2018 DELHI (The Guardian) – Thousands of people in the southern Indian state of Kerala are still awaiting rescue from the worst flooding in nearly 100 years, with heavy rain predicted to continue for at least the next two days.With more than 300,000 people sheltering in relief camps and thousands […]

Faith versus flood fear at Kerala’s Idukki dam as monsoon rains lash India

IDUKKI, 31 July 2018 (Gulf News) – The Idukki dam, where the water level is inching up towards the danger level, has come to symbolise the tenuous ties between faith and the fear of floods. Idukki district authorities are keeping a close watch on the rising waters in the Idukki dam, where an “orange alert” […]

Monsoon floods kill 114 people in southern India – “We’re witnessing something that has never happened before in the history of Kerala”

16 August 2018 (BBC News) – More than 100 people are thought to have died in devastating monsoon floods in India’s southern state of Kerala, the worst in almost a century. Rescuers battled torrential rains to save residents, with nearly 150,000 reportedly left homeless. The state government said many of those who died were crushed […]

Halfway to boiling: the city at 50C – “The blast of furnace-like heat literally feels life-threatening and apocalyptic”

By Jonathan Watts and Elle Hunt 13 August 2018 (The Guardian) – Imagine a city at 50C (122F). The pavements are empty, the parks quiet, entire neighbourhoods appear uninhabited. Nobody with a choice ventures outside during daylight hours. Only at night do the denizens emerge, HG Wells-style, into the streets – though, in temperatures that […]

Death toll rises to 67 in Kerala floods, state’s worst flooding in 94 years – 35 dams opened for first time in history – Red alerts issued in 12 districts

15 August 2018 (Livemint) – Kerala today shut the Kochi airport till Saturday as rains returned to wreak more havoc in the state. Eighteen people have been killed so far today, and thousands others are being evacuated from the fresh Kerala floods. The state has opened 35 of its dams, a first in history. Kerala […]

Flooding kills 29 in south India – Idukki reservoir over capacity, all spillways opened on Cheruthoni Dam, downriver evacuations ordered – Monsoon rains at “peak of the last 50 years”

NEW DELHI, 10 August 2018 (AFP) – Flash floods have claimed at least 27 lives in the southern Indian state of Kerala, officials said Friday, prompting the US to advise its citizens to stay away from the tourist hot-spot. The coastal state, famed for its pristine palm-lined beaches and tea plantations, is battered by the […]

The Economist: The world is losing the war against global warming

2 August 2018 (The Economist) – Earth is smouldering. From Seattle to Siberia this summer, flames have consumed swathes of the northern hemisphere. One of 18 wildfires sweeping through California, among the worst in the state’s history, is generating such heat that it created its own weather. Fires that raged through a coastal area near […]

Social media & sharing icons powered by UltimatelySocial