Sustainable Switch: Climate Focus-The aftermath of floods, typhoons and wildfires
By Sharon Kimathi
Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital
sharon.kimathi@thomsonreuters.com
Hello,
Today's newsletter counts the human and environmental toll in the aftermath of various natural disasters – such as floods, typhoons, wildfires, and droughts – and how they affect the ecosystems and families left in their wake.
Four months after devastating flooding wrecked their house in southern Brazil, Milton do Nascimento, and his family still have no permanent home and are sleeping rough under a highway bridge.
Nascimento, his wife Gabriela and stepdaughter live just 300 meters (984 ft) from their house which was destroyed in the unprecedented flooding that hit the city of Porto Alegre and surrounding areas in May, killing more than 180 people and driving half a million more from their homes.
"After going through what we went through in the flood, this is nothing. Now we're in luxury. I have everything I need," Gabriela said.
Elsewhere, scientists in a report from World Weather Attribution said that the devastating typhoon that tore through the Philippines, Taiwan and China last month, destroying infrastructure and leaving more than 100 people dead, was made significantly worse by human-induced climate change.
Climate researchers said warmer seas were providing extra "fuel"for tropical storms in Asia, making them more dangerous, as another typhoon made landfall in Japan.
In Canada, a study published in the journal Nature found that the wildfires that swept Canadian woodlands last year released more greenhouse gases than some of the largest emitting countries.
Typical emissions from Canadian forest fires over the last decade have ranged from 29 to 121 megatonnes. But climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, is leading to drier and hotter conditions, driving extreme wildfires. The 2023 fires burned 15 million hectares (37 million acres) across Canada, or about 4% of its forests.
The carbon released in last year's wildfires exceeded those of seven of the 10 largest national emitters in 2022, including Germany, Japan and Russia the study found.
Scroll down to today’s Climate Lens for the aftermath of Bolivia’s wildfires on local farmers and produce.
* Climate Buzz
1. Thousands evacuated as India, Pakistan brace for rare August cyclone
Coastal towns and cities in India and Pakistan braced for a rare August cyclone on Friday, as heavy rains and winds forced authorities to close schools and evacuate thousands.
India's weather office said a deep depression had formed over land and was likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm by Friday evening, moving north-westwards over the Arabian Sea in the next two days.
2. Typhoon Shanshan drenches Japan, prompting landslide and flood alerts
Typhoon Shanshan soaked large swathes of Japan with torrential rain on Friday, prompting warnings for flooding and landslides hundreds of miles from the storm's center, halting travel services and shutting production at major factories.
At least four people have been killed and 99 injured in storm-related incidents in recent days, according to the disaster management agency.
3. Sudan's rains spread wartime suffering across the country
Floodwaters from heavy rains that started surging in earlier this month have brought devastation across Sudan, a country already shattered by 500 days of fierce fighting between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Now, the natural disaster has spread destruction further than the conflict.
4. Top South Korea court says climate law doesn't protect basic rights
South Korea's top court said the climate change law did not protect basic human rights and lacked targets to shield future generations, in a landmark ruling after activists blamed the government for failing to effectively tackle climate change.
5. Dead fish blanket Greek tourist port after flooding
Greek authorities have started collecting hundreds of thousands of dead fish that poured into a tourist port in the central city of Volos this week after being displaced from their usual freshwater habitats during flooding last year.
* What to Watch
Japan is hoping new heat-resistant varieties of its staple food can help stave off future supply shocks after the nation grappled with a rice shortage following extreme weather that ravaged last year's crop. Click here for the full video.
* Climate Commentary
It’s not just been sunbathers enjoying the weather as Reuters global energy transition columnistGavin Maguire explores how solar power has overtaken wind generation globally over the past three months.
U.S. miners and battery recyclers are rushing to close government loans worth billions of dollars before January out of concern that former President Donald Trump would, if reelected, block funding, writes Reuters senior mining correspondentErnest Scheyder.
María Mendiluce, CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition, highlights some climate wins in the corporate sphere for the Ethical Corp Magazine.
* Climate Lens
Yellow-suited firefighters have been trying to counter the blazes in Bolivia and evacuate villages as fires have torn through the landscape.
Around 3 million hectares have burned as of August and the total figure for 2024 is expected to rise sharply, with the season lasting until December.
"We live from agriculture and now nothing grows, everything is dry," said Maria Suarez Moconho, an Indigenous community chief who leads the group of volunteers, adding that conditions were having a devastating impact on water and food supplies. "The fire burns everything."
* Number of the Week
$100 million
The amount that the United Nations has released to support 10 underfunded humanitarian crises in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East.
More than a third of this funding will go to aid operations in Yemen ($20 million) and Ethiopia ($15 million), where people are grappling with hunger, displacement, diseases and climate disasters, a spokesperson said during a regular briefing.
Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also subscribehere.
Bolivia: scorched earth https://reut.rs/4fWgswB
면책조항: XM Group 회사는 체결 전용 서비스와 온라인 거래 플랫폼에 대한 접근을 제공하여, 개인이 웹사이트에서 또는 웹사이트를 통해 이용 가능한 콘텐츠를 보거나 사용할 수 있도록 허용합니다. 이에 대해 변경하거나 확장할 의도는 없습니다. 이러한 접근 및 사용에는 다음 사항이 항상 적용됩니다: (i) 이용 약관, (ii) 위험 경고, (iii) 완전 면책조항. 따라서, 이러한 콘텐츠는 일반적인 정보에 불과합니다. 특히, 온라인 거래 플랫폼의 콘텐츠는 금융 시장에서의 거래에 대한 권유나 제안이 아닙니다. 금융 시장에서의 거래는 자본에 상당한 위험을 수반합니다.
온라인 거래 플랫폼에 공개된 모든 자료는 교육/정보 목적으로만 제공되며, 금융, 투자세 또는 거래 조언 및 권고, 거래 가격 기록, 금융 상품 또는 원치 않는 금융 프로모션의 거래 제안 또는 권유를 포함하지 않으며, 포함해서도 안됩니다.
이 웹사이트에 포함된 모든 의견, 뉴스, 리서치, 분석, 가격, 기타 정보 또는 제3자 사이트에 대한 링크와 같이 XM이 준비하는 콘텐츠 뿐만 아니라, 제3자 콘텐츠는 일반 시장 논평으로서 "현재" 기준으로 제공되며, 투자 조언으로 여겨지지 않습니다. 모든 콘텐츠가 투자 리서치로 해석되는 경우, 투자 리서치의 독립성을 촉진하기 위해 고안된 법적 요건에 따라 콘텐츠가 의도되지 않았으며, 준비되지 않았다는 점을 인지하고 동의해야 합니다. 따라서, 관련 법률 및 규정에 따른 마케팅 커뮤니케이션이라고 간주됩니다. 여기에서 접근할 수 있는 앞서 언급한 정보에 대한 비독립 투자 리서치 및 위험 경고 알림을 읽고, 이해하시기 바랍니다.