(Representative image) DR’s technical monitoring metrics will enable countries to assess their capacity to anticipate, prepare for and adapt to drought (Photo: Reuters). NEW DELHI: Amid reports that three out of four people worldwide could face drought by 2050, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) during its 17th conference (COP17) on Wednesday took…

The Ross Fire burns in Palo Pinto County, Texas. (Photo: AP) A fast-moving wildfire in north-central Texas has destroyed a family home and business property, burned buildings at a youth camp and forced evacuations across sparsely populated ranch country west of Fort Worth, while local ranchers opened barns for animals needing evacuation.The Ross Fire began…

SpaceX has officially announced Starbase, a new $100+ billion spaceport in South Louisiana near Pecan Island. (Photo: @SawyerMerritt) SpaceX plans to build a $100 billion, 125,000-acre (50,585-hectare) Starship launch complex on Pecan Island in US’ southern Louisiana, an area that serves as protected habitat for dozens of migratory bird species and whose receding wetlands help…

(Representative image) The Typhoon is expected to hit the northern part of Taiwan by Friday (Photo: Reuters) Taiwan is experiencing torrential rains on Monday as it braces for Typhoon Saudel which is expected to hit the northern part of the island later this week.According to Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration, the typhoon is currently moving towards…

Romanian firefighters work to prevent a wildfire from reigniting as they tackle smoldering ground following a fire in the Deliblato Sands nature reserve in Serbia. (Photo: Reuters) Wildfires are stretching firefighting capacity across Europe, forcing countries to move aircraft, helicopters and crews across borders as several blazes burn at the same time. Serbia is using…

Wildfires sweep Europe, exposing deadly legacy of buried wartime explosives. Photo credit: AP Europe’s intensifying summer wildfires are exposing a danger that has survived generations: unexploded bombs, mines and other wartime munitions buried beneath forests and former battlefields. Heat and drought are now increasing the risk of these buried weapons exploding.Blasts linked to old munitions…

Two people have died in fires that broke out simultaneously Sunday on the island of Salamis near Athens, the local fire department said. (Photo: @CGTNOfficial) Two wildfires that broke out minutes apart on the Greek island of Salamina on Sunday killed two people and prompted the evacuation of about 500 people by sea, as crews…

The Fish and Wildlife Service restored peat wetlands at Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge North Carolina’s coastal peatlands are being restored to protect wetlands, reduce wildfire risks and keep carbon stored in the soil. The work is focused on bringing water back to areas that were once drained and altered for farming, timber harvesting…

The Comptroller and Auditor General raised concerns about the inadequacies within the Green India Mission program, noting that the goal of increasing forest cover was far from realized over a decade. The audit pointed to significant issues in planning and financial oversight, which severely undermined the mission’s objectives. Key vulnerable areas were neglected during afforestation,…

China issues red alert as Typhoon Dolphin approaches. (Photo: ANI) More than a million people were evacuated across eastern China, including Shanghai, after Typhoon Dolphin made landfall on Sunday, bringing transport services across the region to a halt and raising fears of flooding and landslides.Dolphin first struck Yuhuan in Zhejiang province at 5.30pm local time,…