Scientists: Noida’s snowfall like hailstorm had imprints of climate change

The unusually heavy hailstorm that turned Delhi’s suburb of Noida into a snowfall-like site on February 7 was not a freak weather event, reported LiveMint. According to the report, senior government scientists have concluded that the event had a pattern similar to climate change and warned of more extreme weather in the future. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, used high-resolution climate models, and found that the extreme precipitation events are increasing during winter because of the western disturbances and it is largely because of climate change.

Climate change to worsen battle for resources between species

The steadily rising ocean temperature (the increase in sea temperature from 2017 to 2018 equalled 100 million times more than a Hiroshima bomb) is melting away the hunting grounds of polar bears, forcing 50 of the large carnivores to enter a Russian town in search of food. Local residents had to lock themselves indoors to avoid attacks, reported The Conversation. Scientists warn that this kind of aggressive interaction is only going to increase because of climate change.

Reports pointed out that in Australian kangaroos invaded human residential areas recently, and the heat wave in Canada (over 40°C) forced authorities to sprinkle water on the bats in the region to save them from dying. Wild and thirsty elephants in South Africa have trampled crops and raided community water tanks. Experts say climate change will exacerbate the battle for resources, both within and between the species.

Massive rise in methane levels worries scientists

Latest research has found a massive increase in atmospheric methane, which scientists said has  increased sharply over the past four years across the planet. Scientists called for urgent action to stop the rise as it threatens to destroy global efforts to contain global temperature rise to 2°C. Professor Euan Nisbet, one of the paper’s lead authors, called the discovery ‘alarming’ because the exact cause for the rise in methane levels is not known.

Methane is generated by cattle, decaying swamps, coal mines and natural gas plants. Some experts believe the spread of intense farming in Africa may be one of the reasons.

Study: Everyday climate change killing US coastal trade

New study says that coastal businesses in the US are sinking because of climate change as warming seas flood shops and parking lots. The study says the sea level in Annapolis, in the US state of Maryland, is rising at about twice the global rate. “What we’re seeing on the east coast now is a preview of what we’re going to be seeing on the west coast in the future as the rate of sea-level rise continues to climb,” the researcher said.

According to the US agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, worldwide sea levels were three inches higher in 2017 than the 1993 average, and they continue to rise one-eighth of an inch annually.

Alarming study: Insects, essential for ecosystems, may vanish within a century

The first scientific review of the health of planet’s insects has revealed disturbing findings according to which over 40% of the world’s insect species are heading for extinction, eight times faster than mammals, birds and reptiles. Insects are vital for the survival of all ecosystems, and the review forcefully highlights the global nature of the “catastrophe”.

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