Climate change in India: A growing environmental crisis

As torrential rains cause flash floods and landslides in India, the country grapples with an environmental crisis. The heavy rain comes after an unbearable heat wave. Murali Krishnan writes from New Delhi for Deutsche Welle (DW).

In a nutshell:

India is a country of extremes. Extreme topography from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean. Extreme heat this past June that drove temperatures as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 F) and caused no end of misery, most especially among those without the means to cool themselves. Now comes extreme rainfall—monsoons on steroids—bringing landslides and flash floods, death and destruction, ruination, extreme misery.

Key quote:

"South Asia has become the poster child of climate change. The entire region, not just India, is witnessing a clear trend in rising heat waves, floods, landslides, droughts and cyclones. This is already affecting the food, water and energy security of the region."

Big picture:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long been criticized for his fierce protection of India's coal industry, going so far as to unleash tax raids on coal critics. Modi's climate policy and has generally favored a relaxed timeline for winding down greenhouse gas emissions, vowing to reach net zero a comfortable 50 years from now without offering a realistic plan for getting there. Meanwhile, the latest UN assessment differs starkly from the current priorities of the Modi government and warns of imminent catastrophe without drastic emissions cuts before 2030.

Read the full story from Deutsche Welle (DW).

www.dw.com

Climate change in India: A growing environmental crisis

US EPA head announces oil and gas emission rules rollbacks during visit to Santa Fe, New Mexico

Inside the web of pro-oil and gas groups shaping Canada’s climate change narrative

The American livestock industry’s main lobbying group treated climate change as a PR problem

A Canadian LNG project is expected to push emissions past standards

Climate change is on the ballot —even if Dems aren’t saying those words

Meet the flower whose evolution is outpacing climate change

To block solar energy projects, one community lumped them in with junkyards and adult bookstores

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Pennsylvania health advocates say Trump’s first 100 days in office have caused “100 harms” to local communities

“They're terrorizing these scientists because they want to keep them silent.”

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.