Dhaka – Leaders of the International Farakka Committee (IFC) have urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the occasion of the historic Farakka Long March Day to take an initiative to ensure natural flow of water in Bangladesh’s rivers. The IFC…
Category: Environment
NGOs slam Japan for investing abroad in carbon-polluting coal
Days before Japan will host a G7 summit, NGOs slammed the Asian nation for financing coal-powered energy in developing countries, even as other countries and investors shun the climate-damaging fossil fuel. Within the G7 bloc, Japan stands out for funnelling…
Houses, roads damaged by ‘Roanu’ will be reconstructed soon: Maya
Dhaka-Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya on Tuesday said houses and roads damaged by cyclonic storm ‘Roanu’ will be reconstructed very soon.
Dialogue on ‘Regional City’ held at BAU
Myensingh – A dialogue Regional City was held on Tuesday at Syed Nazrul Islam Bhavan of Bangladesh agricultural University (BAU) in Mymensing. The programme was organised by the Mymensingh and the Sherpur municipality, World Vision Bangladesh and 16 NGOs of…
Burning all fossil fuels would scorch Earth
Using up all known fossil fuel reserves would render Earth even more unliveable than scientists had previously projected, researchers said on Monday. Average temperatures would climb by up to 9.5 degrees Celsius (17 degrees Fahrenheit) — five times the cap…
Death star’ moon may hide a buried ocean
Saturn’s moon Mimas has a surprising wobble that might betray an underground sea. In this view captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft on its closest-ever flyby of Saturn’s moon Mimas, large Herschel Crater dominates Mimas, making the moon look like the…
Developing countries want balance in post-Paris work
Bonn (Hilary Chiew) – Developing countries stressed the importance of maintaining balance and coherence among the various bodies in implementing the work arising from the decisions from Paris under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This they…
Bangladesh’s urban slums swell with climate migrants
By Rafiqul Islam Dhaka (IPS) – Abdul Aziz, 35, arrived in the capital Dhaka in 2006 after losing all his belongings to the mighty Meghna River. Once, he and his family had lived happily in the village of Dokkhin Rajapur…
Program taken to observe World Environment Day in Faridpur
Faridpur Correspondent A preparatory meeting to chalk out a program to observe the World Environment Day of June 5 was held here on Sunday afternoon in the conference room of Deputy Commissioner of Faridpur. The meeting was chaired by ADC…
Little power to bring changes, say two Dhaka mayors
Dhaka – Two mayors of the bifurcated Dhaka City Corporation think lack of coordination among various service-providing agencies and political clouts have made their job to improve living in the capital, report unb staff writers M Jahangir Alam & Maksud-Ul-Islam…
India records its hottest – 51C – day ever
A city in India’s Rajasthan state has broken the country’s temperature records after registering 51C, the highest since records began, the weather office says. The new record in Phalodi in the desert state comes amid a heatwave across India.
Now or never’ to save Barrier Reef: scientists
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef could be beyond saving in five years without “now or never” funding to improve water quality as climate change ravages the World Heritage-listed site, scientists warned Thursday. The world’s biggest coral reef ecosystem is under pressure…
Ad-hoc body on Paris Accord suspends meet as change to agenda proposed
Bonn (Indrajit Bose) — The Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA), a new body established by the twenty-first session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UNFCCC, convened its first session in the morning of…
India to ‘divert rivers’ to tackle drought
Image caption India is heavily dependent on monsoon rains which have been poor for the past two years India is set to divert water from its rivers to deal with a severe drought, a senior minister has told the BBC.…
Mysterious mounds in South America are likely worm poop
As an earthworm biologist and soil scientist, Anne Zangerlé has spent most of her research career looking down. Trekking through the steamy tropical wetlands of Colombia and Venezuela in search of strange, six-foot-tall (two-meter-tall) towers called surales, however, forced her…
Global warming behind growing lightning strikes: Experts
Dhaka- The incidents of lightning strikes in the country are gradually increasing due to rising temperature and climate variability caused by global warming, taking its heavy toll on human lives, experts said.
Thai villagers hail gold mine closure in rare environmental win
Thai villagers on Wednesday celebrated a junta move to shutter a controversial gold mine, a rare blow to big business in a kingdom where environmental concerns are often secondary to profit-making. The Chatree mine complex straddles three provinces in northern…
Cities hold the key to a livable future: Worldwatch Institute
Washington, D.C.-Today, nearly 3.9 billion people-half of the world’s population-live in urban areas. By 2050 that number is expected to nearly double. According to Can a City Be Sustainable? (State of the World), the latest edition of the annual series…
Khokon coming good on free Wifi promise for DSCC
Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon has formally inaugurated the first of 50 promised ‘hotspots’ – limited zones offering free WiFi internet paid for by the city corporation – in the areas covered by DSCC. Dhaka, UNB News Agency…
Thai villagers hail gold mine closure in rare environmental win
Thai villagers on Wednesday celebrated a junta move to shutter a controversial gold mine, a rare blow to big business in a kingdom where environmental concerns are often secondary to profit-making. The Chatree mine complex straddles three provinces in northern…
Fifth of world’s plants under threat, warns Kew Gardens
A fifth of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction, British researchers warned Tuesday in an unprecedented global census of the plant kingdom. The survey by Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London, said 21 percent of species…
Ban on fishing in Kaptai Lake from May 12
Rangamati Correspondent Rangamati district administration has imposed a ban on fishing for three months in the Kaptai Lake from May 12 midnight to ensure boosting fish population in the lake. The ban is enforced to protect mother fishes from the…
Alberta officials say oil sands city saved from fire’s worst
Alberta premier’s declared Canada’s oil sands city saved and said a plan will be put together within two weeks so 88,000 residents forced to evacuate can return to their homes. At least two neighborhoods in Fort McMurray were scenes of…
Weather aids firefighters battling blaze in Canada oil region
Authorities battling a forest fire in Canada looked to Mother Nature for more help Monday, as cooling temperatures and rain slowed the spread of the blaze that had forced the evacuation of an entire city. There was more good news…
The case for burning ivory
Chris Alden and Ross Harvey Jo’burg – Kenya is about to destroy its entire stockpile of elephant ivory. More than 100 metric tons of “white gold” – both illegally harvested (confiscated from poachers or traders) and naturally accruing (from natural…
War and peace and water
Laura Tuck Washington, DC – India is currently facing its worst water crisis in years, with an estimated 330 million people – one-quarter of its population – affected by severe drought. Ethiopia is also dealing with its worst drought in…
From the front lines of climate change
Loren Legarda and Marcela Guerrero Manila/San Jose – On April 22, dignitaries representing no fewer than 175 parties signed the global climate change agreement concluded in Paris in December, setting a record for the adoption of an international accord. The…
Greens want govt steps to ensure supply of safe water in Dhaka
Dhaka – Green activists have urged the government for immediate steps to check water pollution, recover water-bodies and ensure safe water for all unb news agency reported. They said poor water management, unchecked water pollution and supply of unsafe water…
Sea-level rise claims five islands in Solomons
Five islands have disappeared in the Pacific’s Solomon Islands due to rising sea levels and coastal erosion, according to an Australian study that scientists said Saturday could provide valuable insights for future research. A further six reef islands have been…
Wave of dead sea creatures hits Chile’s beaches
Heaps of dead whales, salmon and sardines blamed on the El Nino weather phenomenon have clogged Chile’s Pacific beaches in recent months. Last year, scientists were shocked when more than 300 whales turned up dead on remote bays of the…