Energy Bangla

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.7 struck off the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido on Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, with Japanese authorities saying there was no danger of a tsunami. The quake hit at 12:25 pm (0325 GMT) off the southern coast of the island, at a location about 750 kilometres (470 miles) north of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake was measured at... »

Almost entire country was jolted strongly early this morning as a strong 6.6 magnitude earthquake hit Indian state Manipur, an official of Bangladesh Meteorological Department(BMD) told. According to a message of the Met Office, location of the earthquake was in Monipur, India region and the distance of the epicentre was 353 kilometres from Dhaka Seismic Observatory at Agargaon. The Met Office recorded a strong earthquake today at 05 hours 05... »

A strong 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck northeast India near the country’s borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh early Monday, sending people fleeing into the streets with dozens injured in the panic. The early morning tremor was strongly felt across northeast India and in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, where television reports said at least 24 people were taken to hospital after being injured in the scramble that ensued. The US Geological Survey... »

Almost 200 countries approved a historic climate-change deal Saturday. Above, ice shed by the Perito Moreno glacier floats in Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina’s Santa Cruz province Nov. 27, 2015. After two weeks of negotiations, 195 countries agreed unanimously Saturday to finalize an ambitious plan to curb fossil-fuel consumption to keep the rise in global temperatures to less than 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. Talks on the final draft... »

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama discussed the Paris climate summit — where talks have been running through the night — in a phone call on Friday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said. Without giving direct quotes, a statement on its website cited Xi as saying that China and the US “must strengthen coordination with all parties” and “make joint efforts to ensure the Paris climate summit reaches... »

France is to deliver Wednesday a streamlined draft of a historic global pact to fight climate change, as world leaders scrambling to overcome dealbreakers showed optimism ahead of a weekend deadline. The 195-nation UN talks have been billed as the last chance to avert the worst consequences of global warming: deadly drought, floods and storms, and rising seas that will engulf islands and densely populated coastlines. To seal an elusive... »

The European Union has granted Bangladesh €8 million to help the country’s most vulnerable communities build resilience to climate change and related disasters. The grants will be routed through the Global Climate Change Alliance+ Flagship Initiative (GCCA+). Starting early 2016, a new four-year project will be implemented by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, the UNDP and the UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). The GCCA+ aims at... »

Economic losses from the impacts of climate change in Southeast Asia could be 60% higher than previously estimated, reducing the region’s gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 11% by 2100, according to a new Asian Development Bank (ADB) study. The analysis is an update to a 2009 ADB report that estimated a 7% annual reduction in economic output due to climate change. “The economic costs of not reining in... »

It is a battle being played out around resource-rich Australia. In one corner ecologists, and climate change campaigners, who warn coal mines are ticking “carbon bombs”; in the other, mining giants and politicians, who argue they are vital for economic success. Coal is the nation’s second most valuable export, adding almost $30 billion to the economy in 2013-14, and supports 150,000 jobs, according to the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).... »

Honduras, Myanmar and Haiti top a new list of nations hardest hit by two decades of storms, floods, landslides and droughts that killed more than half a million people, climate analysts reported Thursday, warning of more frequent disasters if Earth’s overheating cannot be tamed. Scientists point to the mounting threat from storms, floods, droughts and rising seas if mankind cannot brake emissions from heat-trapping greenhouse gases, especially from fossil fuels.... »