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Climate change: Spain breaks record temperature for April

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Spain has experienced its hottest ever temperature for April, with a reading of 38.8C recorded at Cordoba airport. The heatwave, which has lasted for several days, has seen temperatures 10-15C above the expected levels for April, driven by a mass of hot air from Africa and a slow-moving weather system.

Spain’s meteorological office has expressed surprise at the scale of the heat, with temperatures exceeding previous records by as much as 5C in some locations. Climatologist Maximiliano Herrera has described the heat event as “absolutely extreme” and “unprecedented”.

In response to the ongoing heatwave, schools in Spain will be allowed to adjust their schedules to avoid the hottest parts of the day. The Madrid underground is also increasing train frequency to prevent passengers from waiting for long periods on platforms, while public swimming pools are set to open a month earlier than usual.

Experts warn that the poor are most at risk from extreme temperatures, as they are more likely to suffer health issues related to heat. The heatwave in Spain is part of a global trend, with climate change exacerbating naturally high temperatures.

Meteorologists attribute the exceptional temperatures to a combination of factors, including hot weather in North Africa, high pressure weather systems, and clear skies over the Iberian peninsula, where the ground is already too dry to evaporate the heat.

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The plan to make a giant hot water bottle underground

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During the Cold War, Sweden stored 300,000 cubic metres of oil in caverns beneath the city of Västerås, in case of a war that could cut off their energy supplies. Recently, Swedish energy company Mälarenergi has decided to clean and repurpose the caverns as a large underground hot water tank that can hold up to 120 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

This project will create the largest underground thermos in Europe and will be filled with hot water reaching up to 95C. The location of the caverns remains undisclosed, but Lisa Granström, acting head of business unit heat and power, says that the caverns are warmer and damper than expected and still smell a bit oily. The new underground tank will be 11 times bigger than the largest above-ground hot water tank Mälarenergi currently has nearby.

Experts suggest that we should make more use of below-ground heat storage systems, like the one being developed by Mälarenergi in Västerås, as a means of caching warmth for later use. The heat from the underground hot water tank will be transmitted to a district heating network that provides heat to almost all households in the city.

The company plans to start filling the caverns with hot water by the end of the year, providing up to 500MW of district heating power. The heat comes from a nearby power plant that burns waste or biomass to generate electricity or thermal energy, but carbon capture technology is yet to be installed. The underground reservoir will help Mälarenergi maintain the heat supply to homes during peak demand in winter without reducing electricity production at the power plant.

Storing heat underground is effective due to the insulating properties of the ground, which makes it difficult for heat to escape. Mälarenergi’s caverns are expected to retain heat for several weeks, and the heat loss will be minimal once the adjacent ground temperature rises after a few years.

In London, the clay surrounding the tunnels on the Underground has been heated by people and trains, making it challenging to cool down tube carriages and platforms. The Västerås project is not the first of its kind, as a similar system in Finland supplies heat to 25,000 apartments all year round. Fleur Loveridge at the University of Leeds praises the cavern solutions as a great option among others for energy storage.

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Climate change: Norwegian seafloor holds clue to Antarctic melting

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According to new research, the melting ice sheet in Antarctica may recede far more quickly than previously anticipated.

The proof comes in the form of seafloor traces off the coast of Norway that show the retreat of a vanishing European ice sheet thousands of years ago. The glaciers in Antarctica that are receding the fastest are now seen to do so at a rate of up to 30 metres per day.

Yet, if they accelerated, the additional melt water would have significant effects on sea level rises all throughout the world. Since the 1990s, the surface of the world’s oceans has already risen by almost 1 centimetre due to ice loss from Antarctica brought on by climate change.

The maximum retreat with the Norwegian sheet, according to the researchers, was more than 600m per day.

“This is something we could see if we continue with the upper estimates for temperature rise,” explained Dr Christine Batchelor from Newcastle University, UK.

“Although, worryingly, when we did the equations to think about what would be needed to instigate such retreat in Antarctica, we actually found there are places where you could get similar pulses of withdrawal even under the basal melt rates we know are happening at the moment,” she told BBC News.

Significantly, the areas with the fastest rates were those with relatively flat seafloors. These are areas where the thickness of the ice above is more likely to be uniform and where less melting is needed to make the ice float to speed up its retreat.

On the seafloor near Antarctica, there have been reports of similar corrugations, but the examples are rather small. Because the Norwegian research region is so much larger, it provides a much clearer picture of how quickly ice can retreat in a warming climate.

Currently, scientists utilise satellites to keep an eye on the glaciers that terminate in the ocean in Antarctica. The spacecraft can determine where the tides are raising and lowering the ice.

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Swiss court case ties human rights to climate change

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More than 2,000 women are suing the Swiss government for allegedly infringing their right to life and health through its climate change policies.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will consider the case as the first one involving the effects of climate change on human rights. It comes after six years of futile court fighting in Switzerland.

Switzerland’s temperatures are rising faster than the average for the world, and heatwaves are happening more frequently. The 73-year-old average age of the Swiss women claim that the threat of climate change puts their life, health, and even human rights in jeopardy. Their medical records were submitted as evidence to the court.

They urge Switzerland to make a bigger effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions by issuing an order from the ECHR. The Swiss government acknowledges that climate change can have an impact on health, but claims that it cannot be directly linked to the wellbeing of older women.

If the women prevail, the case might serve as a precedent for all 46 of the nations that make up the European Court. Human activity is causing global temperatures to rise, and climate change now threatens every aspect of human existence.

Unchecked global warming will have disastrous effects on humanity and ecosystems, including increased droughts, rising sea levels, and a mass extinction of species.

Globally, extreme weather events are already getting more and more dangerous, endangering lives and livelihoods.

Climate scientists believe that if we wish to prevent the worst effects of climate change, temperature rises must be curbed. They claim that by 2100, global warming must be limited to 1.5C.

If the increase in global temperature is not maintained to 1.5C, Europe will be at risk of flooding brought on by excessive precipitation, according to the UN climate organisation, the IPCC.

This was the case in Europe last summer, extreme temperatures can also raise the risk of wildfires. In comparison to the average, France and Germany burned nearly seven times more land between January and the middle of July 2022.

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Claude Lorius: The Glaciologist Who Proved Human-Caused Global Warming

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Claude Lorius, a renowned glaciologist known for his contributions to proving human-caused global warming, passed away at the age of 91. Over the course of his lifetime, Lorius led 22 expeditions to Greenland and Antarctica.

During one of his trips to Antarctica in 1965, he made a significant discovery after dropping ice samples into a glass of whiskey. Lorius realized the scientific potential of studying ice cores, which led to his groundbreaking research on air bubbles trapped in ice, providing evidence of global warming caused by human-made pollution.

His research gained international recognition and helped scientists study 160,000 years’ worth of glacial records. In addition to his scientific work, Lorius was an advocate for the environment and served as the inaugural expert of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1988.

He was awarded the CNRS gold medal in 2002, along with his colleague Jean Jouzel, and was the first Frenchman to receive the prestigious Blue Planet Prize.

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Dutch city of Haarlem may be world’s first to ban most meat ads

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Due to the way meat affects the climate, Haarlem, Netherlands, plans to outlaw the majority of meat advertisements in public places. It will begin enforcing the ban in 2024, in what is believed to be the first such action by a city.

The meat industry and other people who claim it stifles free speech have opposed the motion put out by GroenLinks, a green political party. According to the UN, animals produce more than 14% of all greenhouse gases created by humans, including methane.”Meat seriously damages the ecosystem. We cannot inform people of the climate catastrophe while urging them to purchase items that contribute to it “The motion’s author, GroenLinks councilman Ziggy Klazes, told the publication Trouw.

The 160,000-person city’s administration claims that a decision has not yet been made regarding whether sustainably produced beef would be exempt from the ad banAdditionally, members of the Christian Democratic Challenge party backed the measure.

The meat business quickly retaliated. Spokesman for the Central Organization for the Meat Sector: “The authorities are going too far in telling people what’s best for them.”

According to the right-wing BVNL party, it “would be disastrous for pig farmers” and was a “intolerable violation of entrepreneurial freedom.” Councilman Joey Rademaker of the Haarlem BVNL claimed that outlawing advertisements with political overtones was practically totalitarian.

According to Statistics Netherlands, although more than half of Dutch people consume meat, only about 95% of them do so daily.

Ads for the aviation and fossil fuel industries have already been outlawed in Amsterdam and The Hague.

Methane emissions from greenhouse gases, which include those from beef, are the highest. The environmental impact of lamb is the second largest, but these emissions are 50% lower than those of beef.

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French mayor threatens €15,000 deposit to climb Mont Blanc

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According to a French mayor, climbing the Mont Blanc now requires a €15,000 (£12,640; $15,370) deposit to cover rescue and potential funeral expenses. Mayor of Saint-Gervais, a town at the base of Western Europe’s tallest mountain, with a summit elevation of 4,807 meters, is Jean-Marc Peillex.

He claimed that those who disregarded warnings and climbed the mountain through the Goûter route were “playing Russian roulette.” Rockfalls have risen due to the hot wave. According to Mayor Peillex, the average cost of a mountain rescue is €10,000, while the average cost of a burial is €5,000. In a press release, he stated that it was unacceptable for the French taxpayer to bear those expenses.

According to his statement on the village’s official website, mountaineers coming from Saint-Gervais or the adjacent Alpine resort of Chamonix were no longer being taken by mountain guides up the well-known Goûter route, also known as the Royal Way. Their ruling is valid until no later than the middle of August.

Some “pseudo climbers,” according to Mayor Peillex, insisted on going up the mountain “with death in their knapsack.”

“I wanted to make people respond, to understand that today going up is incredibly risky, nearly suicidal,” he told the BBC.

Rockfalls have forced him to close the mountain refuges at Goûter and Tête Rousse until further notice.

He has not yet issued a legal ruling on the proposed deposit, but has the power to impose it, he told the BBC. He said the amount “has to be startling to focus attention on this”. “If anyone thinks it’s illegal they can go to court to challenge it,” he added.

He said a group of Romanians were found on the mountain on 30 July wearing shorts and trainers. A police helicopter ordered them through a loudhailer to turn back, he said, “and while they did so, they said they would return the next day”!

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UN Paris Climate Agreement getting within reach, says a report

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A report, developed by the Climate Action Tracker group, says that the goals of the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement are getting within reach.

The report has been developed after China, one of the superpowers, made a fresh assurance in connection with climate change.

It is learned that the change in the political climate in the United States with the defeat of US President Donald Trump in the US Presidential Election against Democrat candidate Joe Biden has also influenced the outcome of the report.

Apart from the afore said points, the fresh assurances delivered by many developed countries like the US and China and certain developing countries have impacted the report.

The development means that the world could limit the rise in the temperature to less than 2.1 C by the end of this century.

Earlier, certain study reports warned that if the things progressed in this place a 3 C rise in the temperature might be witnessed.

Anyway, experts are still worried that the long-term optimism is not matched by short-term plans to cut CO2.

Climate change is a serious issue. It is high time to find a solution to this crisis.

The Paris Climate Agreement was a landmark agreement towards the end of brining the issue of climate change under control.

The walkout of certain countries like the US from the agreement has reduced the strength to an extent.  

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Europe experiences warm winter

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Europe has experienced a warm winter this year. The average temperature of this year’s winters has been at least 1.4 C above than the previous year.

Definitely, the increase in the temperature in the continent of Europe is the after-effect of climate change.

Not only this continent, but also the entire world suffers due to climate change at this juncture.

It is high time to formulate an effective universal strategy to counter the issue of climate change.

The Paris Climate treaty was a good beginning. Unfortunately, that does not work in the right direction at this moment. The departure of the US from the climate treaty obligation left the organisation less powerful.

What Europe experiences at this moment is a remainder. The world can no longer remain insensitive about climate change.

It is inhuman to put the burden of our mistake to our successors. It is our duty to keep earth inhabitable for the future generation.

The more love we have in our future generation, the more careful we becomes in the matter of climate change, as the actual victim of this issue is the future generation not the present.


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Young climate activist to trademark her name

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Young climate activist Greta Thunberg has announced her plan to trademark her name and the movement she has launched to mobilise the people of the world against the issue of climate change – Fridays For Future.

The decision has been justified on the ground that her global movement has been misused by some to amass funds.

The big decision taken by the youngster has been announced through her social media handle – where she is extremely active nowadays.

Many in the platform have supported her brilliant decision.

Ms. Greta is a global figure at this moment. The Fridays For Future movement she has launched has already surmounted the limitation of border, becoming a powerful global movement to sensitise the people of the world about the problems of the issue of climate change.

The climate activist is very active in the social media. She recently engaged in a heated exchange of words with US President Donald Trump – who is known for his narrow minded attitude towards the issue of climate change.

The activist now has many supporters across the world. Over the last few years, many have come out openly in the streets to voice their support to the cause raised by the activist.

The climate movement is active not only in the west but also in the developing world – even in the under-developed world.

The youngster represents a generation who is worried about the irresponsible attitude of the establishment towards the issue of climate change.


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