Climate Change & Environment
Latest stories
Tourists to Spain's Catalonia may soon see water restrictions in dry season

Spain's drought-stricken northeastern Catalonia is considering imposing water restrictions on tourists in the driest parts of the region if domestic consumption is not curtailed, the Catalan government said Tuesday.

The restriction of 100 liters (26 gallons) per tourist per day for hotels would go into effect if a municipality fails to keep domestic water use by residents below established limits for three consecutive months under the current "drought emergency" for Catalonia, officials said.

W140 Full Story
Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders in US more likely to believe in climate change

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the United States are more likely than the overall adult population to believe in human-caused climate change, according to a new poll. It also suggests that partisanship may not have as much of an impact on this group's environmental views, compared to Americans overall.

A recent poll from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds 84% of AAPI adults agree climate change exists. In comparison, 74% of U.S. adults hold the same sentiment. And three-quarters of AAPI adults who accept climate change is real attribute it entirely or mostly to human activity. Among the general U.S. adult population surveyed in an AP-NORC poll in September, only 61% say humans are causing it.

W140 Full Story
Asian Champions League semifinal postponed in UAE after heavy rain flooding

The first leg of the Asian Champions League semifinal between Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal has been postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday after torrential rain brought floods to the host country.

The Asian Football Confederation made the decision after thunderstorms pounded the UAE, flooding out portions of major highways and closing roads and bridges. The UAE's national federation had earlier called off all local football games.

W140 Full Story
65 killed in Pakistan as April rain doubles historical average

Lightning and heavy rains led to 14 deaths in Pakistan, officials said Wednesday, bringing the death toll from four days of extreme weather to at least 63, as the heaviest downpour in decades flooded villages on the country's southwestern coast.

Most of the deaths were reported in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in Pakistan's northwest bordering Afghanistan. Collapsing buildings have killed 32 people, including 15 children and five women, said Khursheed Anwar, a spokesman for the Disaster Management Authority. Dozens more were also injured in the northwest, where 1,370 houses were damaged, Anwar said.

W140 Full Story
Storm dumps heaviest rain ever in UAE, flooding roads and Dubai's airport

Heavy thunderstorms lashed the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, dumping the heaviest rain ever recorded in the country in the span of hours as it flooded out portions of major highways and Dubai's international airport.

The state-run WAM news agency called the rain "a historic weather event" that surpassed "anything documented since the start of data collection in 1949." That's before the discovery of crude oil in this energy-rich nation then part of a British protectorate known as the Trucial States.

W140 Full Story
More homes flooded in Russian region bordering Kazakhstan, other areas

Nearly 14,500 homes have been flooded in a Russian region bordering Kazakhstan after water levels spiked in a local river, local authorities said Tuesday.

The floods sparked evacuations of thousands in the Orenburg region, located some 1,200 kilometers (745 miles), southeast of the capital, Moscow, after a dam on the Ural River burst last week under the pressure of surging waters.

W140 Full Story
Much of central US faces severe thunderstorm threat and possible tornadoes

Tens of millions of Americans stretching from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Baltimore could face strong thunderstorms Monday night through Wednesday, with tornadoes possible in some states.

A large storm system hitting much of the central U.S. over the next few days is expected to bring severe thunderstorms to Kansas and Nebraska on Monday evening, the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center said.

W140 Full Story
Maui Fire Department to release after-action report on deadly Hawaii wildfires

The Maui Fire Department is expected to release a report Tuesday detailing how the agency responded to a series of wildfires that burned on the island during a windstorm last August — including one that killed 101 people in the historic town of Lahaina and became the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

The release comes one day before the Hawaii Attorney General is expected to release the first phase of a separate comprehensive investigation about the events before, during and after the Aug. 8 fires.

W140 Full Story
Heavy rains lash UAE as death toll in Oman flooding rises to 18

Heavy rains lashed the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, flooding out portions of major highways and leaving vehicles abandoned on roadways across Dubai. Meanwhile, the death toll in separate heavy flooding in neighboring Oman rose to 18 with others still missing as the sultanate prepared for the storm.

The rains began overnight, leaving massive ponds on streets as whipping winds disrupted flights at Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel and the home of the long-haul carrier Emirates.

W140 Full Story
Lightning, rains kill 36 people in Pakistan as authorities declare a state of emergency in southwest

Lightning and heavy rains have killed at least 36 people, mostly farmers, across Pakistan in the past three days, officials said Monday, as authorities in the country's southwest declared a state of emergency.

Most of the deaths occurred when lightning struck farmers harvesting wheat and rains caused houses to collapse in eastern Punjab province, said Arfan Kathia, a spokesman for the provincial disaster management authority. He said more rains were expected this week.

W140 Full Story