Climate

Japan dominates

As the world marks the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, a promising movement for carbon neutrality is taking shape. By next month, countries representing more than 65% of harmful greenhouse gases and more than 70% of the world economy will have committed to achieve net zero emissions by the middle of the century.

This year is on course to be one of the three warmest ever recorded, the United Nations said on Dec. 2, as the UN chief warned the world was on the brink of "climate catastrophe".

Temperatures in the capital over the weekend were the highest on record for mid-May, according to the National Observatory of Athens, which said its weather station in Thiseio recorded just under 37 degrees Celsius on both days. 

The White House on April 23 pitched ``emerging'' research on the benefits of sunlight and humidity in diminishing the threat of the coronavirus as President Donald Trump encourages states to move to reopen their economies.

Past studies have not found good evidence that the warmer temperatures and higher humidity of spring and summer will help tamp down the spread of the virus.

In collaboration with the BEYOND Center of Excellence and the Research Center for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, the French Institute in Athens will host a conference at its Theo Angelopoulos Auditorium in Kolonaki titled "Climate Change Impacts: Space Innovation at the Service of the Citizen" on March 3.

Due to climate change, about one-third of plants and animals can disappear from the planet by 2070, according to a scientific report in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Over the past 10 years, ocean temperatures hit record highs.

In 2019, water temperatures in the oceans at depths of up to two kilometers were 0.075 degrees higher than the 1981-2010 average, Deutsche Welle reported.

2019 is the second warmest year ever recorded, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has announced, quoted by France Press. This was also the warmest decade.

2019 was only 0.04 degrees Celsius colder from 2016, the warmest year ever since the El Nino phenomenon. According to NASA data, in 2016 El Nino's extreme intensity has increased global temperatures by 0.2 degrees Celsius.

Red code in the state of South Australia - temperatures there have jumped to 42 degrees. Australia is preparing for another extreme heat wave, BNT reported.