The post Angela Merkel stresses on the need to “speed up” the fight against climate change appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>Merkel, who is retiring after September elections, said that Germany and other countries had “not done enough” to meet the goal set out in the Paris climate accord of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“We shouldn’t pretend that we haven’t done anything, but it’s true that not enough has been done to reach the aim of staying well under two degrees and as close to 1.5 degrees as possible,” Merkel told reporters.
That is not just true of Germany, but of many countries across the world, which is why we need to increase the tempo.”
Merkel had already called for faster climate action last Sunday as she visited flood victims in Rhineland-Palatinate state.
One of the regions worst hit by last week’s devastating floods, Rhineland-Palatinate said Thursday that its death count had reached 128, taking the total count to 177 in Germany and 209 across Europe.
Merkel’s cabinet approved a huge emergency aid package Wednesday for flood-stricken regions, unlocking some 400 million euros ($470 million) in immediate relief.
We have also made clear that this sum will be increased if it proves not to be enough,” Merkel said Thursday.
She added that society faced a “profound transformation” as European governments looked to reach carbon neutrality in the coming decades.
Merkel, who will leave office after 16 years following the September 26 poll, defended her record on the environment.
She pointed to new emissions reductions targets agreed by her government earlier this year, which mean Germany now aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2045, five years earlier than the previous target.
The move came after Germany’s highest court demanded the government revise its targets, which it said were not ambitious enough.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Edge Media staff and is published from a syndicated feed)
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]]>The post Chinese people using social media to help speed up rescue efforts appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>At least 33 people have died there after a year’s worth of rain fell in three days in Zhengzhou city.
Users of the Weibo social media platform connected stuck or in-danger people with professional rescue teams and other helpers.
Encouraging hashtags such as “Henan, stay strong!” also quickly went viral.
As people shared tales of horror and pleaded for help online, thousands of social media users responded by redirecting their Weibo posts to emergency rescue teams so that they knew where to go.
When news emerged that various trains were being stranded after rail lines got submerged, people put together lists of each train number and the resources its passengers needed.
Some put together text-only versions of critical contact lists, after discovering that people in some areas could not download images because heavy rains had affected internet speeds.
Netizens also helped to organise streams of information so that it was up to date and clear.
According to local media reports, residents living near the Tielu Railway Station also delivered food and bottled water to passengers stuck in a train after a related hashtag was viewed more than 800 million times.
While some focused on giving emergency rescue advice, others shared information on mental health support and personal hygiene tips.
A hashtag related to menstruation amid the floods had more than 200 million views, as doctors and social workers reminded women to change their sanitary pads frequently to avoid the risk of infection. Others posted addresses to locations where women could collect free sanitary products.
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]]>The post Highest level emergency alert notice has been issued in China’s Henan province appeared first on The Edge Media.
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Photographs and videos posted on social media showed commuters trapped in chest-deep floodwaters on a train in the dark on a subway line in Zhengzhou city with a population of around 12 million.
More than 500 people were evacuated from the subway system late on Tuesday night; in all about 200,000 people had to be relocated in the city because of the rainfall.
The highest-level emergency alert notice has been issued across the province.
President Xi Jinping on Wednesday instructed authorities to deploy the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to rescue those stuck in inundated subways, hotels and public places.
The PLA has deployed 3,000 personnel to help local authorities in flood control and evacuation.
There were fears over the collapse of a dam posing further flood risk to the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, located on the banks of the Yellow river.
Local media reported widespread collapse of homes and structures because of the rains in the central province.
“From 8pm on July 17 to 8pm on Tuesday [July 20], total precipitation of 617.1mm was recorded in Zhengzhou, close to the city’s average annual precipitation of 640.8mm, said the city’s meteorological bureau,” Xinhua news agency reported.
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]]>The post At least 12 dead as flood rages through world’s biggest production of iPhones in China. appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>Many scientists think it is due to the impacts of climate change.
The city of Zhengzhou in the central province of Henan suspended inbound flights, while rescue workers and authorities worked Wednesday to prevent dam breaches, restore lost power, assess collapsed roads and pump out submerged gas station.
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]]>The post Six dead, 30 missing in Germany as houses collapse in floods. appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>On Thursday, police said that four people were dead and 30 missing around the wine-growing hub of ahrweiler, south of Bonn, after the Ahr river, which flows into the Rhine, burst its banks , bringing down the houses. Around 50 were stranded on roofs, and more houses were at risk of collapse.
“There are many places where fire brigades and rescue workers have been deployed. We don’t yet have a very precise picture because rescue measures are continuing,” a police spokesperson said.
Rail and road transport were disrupted and shipping on the Rhine, an important trade artery, was suspended.
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]]>The post Amitabh Bacchan’s Mumbai office flooded due to cyclone Tauktae. appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>He wrote,”There is an eerie silence in the midst of the cyclone…the pounding and the lashing rains all day.. trees fell, leakages all over, flooding in the vulnerable Janak Office..impromptu plastic cover sheets still in prep for the heavy monsoon rain, ripped apart.. sheds and shelters for some staff blown away.. BUT the spirit of fight impregnable… all hands on deck… stepping out, repairing, preventing helping in extenuating circumstances drenched.. but on it”.
He added that the staff is simply amazing in such conditions, their uniforms were wet and dripping but they continued. The megastar also gave them an immediate change of clothes from his own wardrobe. He also tweeted,”T 3906- The winds and the rain of cyclone Tauktae lashes us with intense ferocity.. my prayers for all to be safe and protected”.
T 3907 – इन संकट की घड़ियों में, प्रार्थना, प्रार्थना, प्रार्थना !
श्री काशी विश्वनाथ,#वाराणसी,
दि.17.5.2021 के सप्तऋषि /संध्या आरती के दर्शन।
हर हर महादेव
ॐ नम: शिवाय्pic.twitter.com/I612gZw61W
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) May 17, 2021
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