US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has pressed China to do more to support international climate institutions that are helping finance green initiatives around the world, urging deeper cooperation in addressing the “existential threat” of global heating. “Climate finance should be targeted efficiently and effectively,” Yellen said on Saturday in Beijing during a meeting with Chinese and international sustainable finance experts. “I believe that if China were to support existing multilateral climate institutions like the Green Climate Fund and the Climate Investment Funds alongside us and other donor governments, we could…
Tag: Climate crisis
As Beijing swelters, activists hope the heat will prompt climate action
As temperatures in the Chinese capital are forecast to creep back up to record-breaking heights this weekend, activists are hoping that overheated Beijingers will start thinking about the causes of, as well as the solutions to, such intense heatwaves. Last weekend the mercury soared past 40C (104F) for three consecutive days, the first time that the city has endured such prolonged heat since its weather station started recording temperatures in 1951. Surrounding areas also issued “red” weather warnings, indicating that the temperature could surpass 40C within 24 hours. While social…
Climate crisis linked to rising domestic violence in south Asia, study finds
As deadly heatwaves sweep through cities in India, China, the US and Europe amid the climate crisis, new research has found that rising temperatures are associated with a substantial rise in domestic violence against women. A study published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday found a 1C increase in average annual temperature was connected to a rise of more than 6.3% in incidents of physical and sexual domestic violence across three south Asian countries. The study tracked 194,871 girls and women aged 15-49 from India, Pakistan and Nepal between 2010 and…
Beijing records hottest June day since weather records began as heatwave hits China
Beijing logged its hottest June day since records began on Thursday, the national weather service said, as swathes of northern China sweltered in 40-degree heat. On Friday the capital upgraded its warning for hot weather to “red” – the highest in a colour-coded alert system – saying most parts of the city could roast in temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). China has a four-tier weather warning system, with red the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue. Scientists say rising global temperatures – caused largely…
Weather tracker: Shanghai reports record high May temperature of 36.7C
Shanghai in China has reported a record high May temperature of 36.7C, breaking the previous record by 1C. The new high temperature on 29 May comes amid the heatwave affecting southern and eastern Asia since mid-April. Vast swathes of the region have had temperatures exceeding 40C, with parts of Pakistan reaching almost 50C in mid-May. South-east Asia has been affected particularly badly, with record high national temperatures in Laos (43.5C), Vietnam (44.2C), and Thailand (45.4C). The heatwave is attributed to low amounts of rainfall over the previous winter, resulting in…
China swelters through record temperatures, putting pressure on power grids
Temperatures across China reached or exceeded their records for the month of May, the country’s National Climate Centre has said. Weather stations at 446 sites registered temperatures that were the same as, or greater than, the highest ever recorded for the month of May, deputy director of the National Climate Centre Gao Rong said at a press briefing on Friday. On Monday, the Shanghai Meteorology Bureau reported that the city had recorded a temperature of 36.1 degrees Celsius. The previous record for May was 35.7C, which occurred in 2018. Over…
Australia warned of ‘over-mining’ risk in race to secure minerals needed for clean energy
In the high-stakes quest to break China’s grip over minerals crucial to clean energy technology, Australia risks over-mining while ignoring alternatives such as improved battery recycling, according to a new report. The release of the Jubilee Australia research, which questions mineral demand assumptions and warns against causing unnecessary environmental harm, comes as the federal government prepares a strategy to address China’s dominance of minerals seen as critical to a nation. Jubilee said Australia could be digging up more critical minerals than necessary due to a rush to capitalise on “staggering…
‘Endless record heat’ in Asia as highest April temperatures recorded
Asia is experiencing weeks of “endless record heat”, with sweltering temperatures causing school closures and surges in energy use. Record April temperatures have been recorded at monitoring stations across Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam, as well as in China and South Asia. On Tuesday, four weather stations in Myanmar hit or matched record monthly temperatures, with Theinzayet, in eastern Mon state, reaching the highest, at 43C (109.4F). On Wednesday, Bago, north-east of Yangon, reached 42.2C, matching an all-time record previously recorded in May 2020 and April 2019, according to Maximiliano…
Severe heatwave engulfs Asia causing deaths and forcing schools to close
A severe heatwave has swept across much of Asia, causing deaths and school closures in India and record-breaking temperatures in China. Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian, described the unusually high temperatures as the “worst April heatwave in Asian history”. In China, local media reported that record temperatures for April had been observed in many locations, including Chengdu, Zhejiang, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other areas of the Yangtze River delta region. Unusually hot temperatures have also been reported in south-east Asia in recent days, including in Luang Prabang, Laos, which…
Sandstorms cover China, South Korea and Thailand in a yellow blanket of dust – in pictures
Sandstorms whipped up from the Gobi desert have spread from northern China to Thailand and South Korea and as far east as Japan, causing a reduction in visibility and an increase in respiratory illness. There have been four sandstorms in the space of a month in China this year The Guardian