Environment

PRETORIA, Jan 7 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A severe drought is threatening South Africa’s wildlife industry, with game farmers keeping fewer animals and tourists visiting game lodges in smaller numbers.

Parts of the country have been affected by consecutive years of abnormally hot weather and below average rainfall that have scorched grazing lands and dried up watering holes since 2015, the driest year on record.

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The Australian government on Monday announced the establishment of a national bushfire recovery fund with an initial funding of A$2 billion.

Announcing this, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the recovery fund will help those affected by the deadly Australian bushfires, which have recorded more than 20 deaths, wiped out thousands of houses and businesses, and continue to bring devastation to many communities as the burning continue in more than six-million hectares of land across the country.

SYDNEY, Jan 3 (NNN-Xinhua) — Australia is once again bracing for extreme fire conditions on Friday, with widespread evacuations amid warnings that conditions could significantly deteriorate over the weekend.

Strong winds and temperatures above 40 degrees celsius were forecast for the States of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, where at least nine people lost their lives earlier in the week.

COLOMBO, Jan 2 (NNN-BERNAMA) — Sri Lanka’s Transport Ministry, on Wednesday launched a mega project across the island country to convert railway stations into green projects as part of a beautification programme, Xinhua news agency reported.

Transport Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, quoted in local media reports said that he had instructed all railway department officials to launch the project, starting from the Dematagoda Railway station, in capital Colombo.

PORT LOUIS, Dec 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Mauritius closed its main airport and shops and other businesses in the capital also closed as the tropical cyclone Calvinia approached.

The Indian Ocean island’s meteorological service said Calvinia had remained almost stationary for some time at about 120 kilometres east of Mahebourg, a small village in southeastern Mauritius.

“A movement towards the west will bring the centre closer to Mauritius,” the weather service said in a statement. 

SYDNEY, Dec 31 (NNN-XINHUA) – Two more people were confirmed dead and several more remain missing in Australia on Tuesday, as the result of severe bush-fires in the country’s southeast.

“It’s been confirmed today that there are two deceased persons in Cobargo, and a third person remains missing with grave concerns for their safety,” New South Wales (NSW) Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said.

Those who lost their lives are believed to be a father and son, who were attempting to defend their home from an oncoming fire-front, in the town of Cobargo, in the southeast of NSW.

Manila, Dec 29 (AFP/PTI) The number of deaths from a powerful storm that hit the Philippines on Christmas has climbed to 41, authorities said Sunday, with tens of thousands still in evacuation centres.

Typhoon Phanfone left the Philippines on Saturday after devastating several islands in the central Visayas, including popular tourist destinations, but the extent of the damage continued to grow as assessments came in.

BANDA ACEH, Dec 26 (NNN-ANTARA) – On one Sunday morning, Mawardi was watching cartoons with his two brothers at his house, on Meulaboh Bay in Indonesia’s westernmost province of Aceh, when a 9.3-magnitude earthquake literally shook them from their seats.

His mother and grandmother, who were also inside the house, panicked and rushed his brothers and him out of the house. They received no formal warning alerts about what was going on.

BERLIN, Dec 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) – President of the German federal parliament, Wolfgang Schaeuble, urged Germans to cut back on their consumption for climate protection.

In an interview with German newspaper, Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung, Schaeuble said, “Climate protection is not for free,” and warned against promoting recent climate reforms to citizens as a “social benefit.”

Last week, Germany’s upper house of parliament finally approved a package of climate laws, seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most populous state was paralyzed by “catastrophic” fire conditions Saturday amid souring temperatures, while one person died as wildfires also ravaged the country’s southeast.

“Catastrophic fire conditions are as bad as it gets,” New South Wales Rural Fire Services Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters. “Given we have a landscape with so much active fire burning, you have a recipe for very serious concern and a very dangerous day.”