Anger rises as India swelters under record heatwave

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New Delhi: Swathes of north India are sweltering under the longest heatwave on record, triggering widespread breakdowns in the supply of electricity and increasingly angry protests over the government’s failure to provide people with basic services.

The power crisis and heatwave, which some activists say has caused dozens of deaths, is one of the first major challenges for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected three weeks ago partly on promises to provide reliable electricity supplies.

Nasa readies satellite to measure atmospheric CO2

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Washington: Nasa is preparing a July 1 launch for its first satellite dedicated to measuring atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that plays a key role in climate change.

CO2 levels have reached their highest point in at least 800,000 years, according to the US space agency.

The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) satellite is very similar to its predecessor, OCO-1, which was destroyed during its launch in February 2009.

Australia says pollution falling at Great Barrier Reef

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Sydney: Australia on Thursday said it was confident the Great Barrier Reef would avoid a World Heritage downgrade after a new report card showed pollutants entering the water had been significantly reduced.

Unesco had warned that without action on water quality and rampant coastal development, the reef - covering an area roughly the size of Japan - would be declared “World Heritage in Danger”.

Japan considering new base on Antarctica

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Tokyo: Japan is looking at building a new base on Antarctica so scientists can study air trapped in ice a million years ago, in a bid to better understand climate change, an official said on Monday.

Tokyo already has four stations on the frozen continent, two of which are currently in use — the Syowa Station on the coast and the Dome Fuji Station inland.

Japanese research teams at Dome Fuji Station have sampled air captured in ice as long ago as 720,000 years, after drilling down 3,000 metres (1.86 miles).