ASIA

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">8/20</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">predictable mo-fo</font></p><p><a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3008/stunning-forecast-a-century-of-ice-loss-for-nearly-100000-glaciers/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3008/stunning-forecast-a-century-of-ice-loss-for-nearly-100000-glaciers/</font></a></p><div class="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; width: 600px; max-width: 600px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pat Brennan,<br style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory</font></b></p></div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word; width: 600px; max-width: 600px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The ice in one of the world’s highest concentrations of non-polar glaciers could see significant melting before the end of the century, potentially affecting sea levels around the globe, according to a new computer model from the NASA Sea Level Science Team.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word; width: 600px; max-width: 600px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The region, known as High Mountain Asia, could see ice loss run from 29 to 67 percent, depending on the level of greenhouse gas emissions over the period modeled.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word; width: 600px; max-width: 600px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to </span><a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2019.00331/full" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; overflow-wrap: break-word;">the study</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">, </span><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">water flow in monsoon-fed river basins, driven largely by</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> melting glaciers, could hit its peak by 2050 – potentially reducing runoff beyond that time</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> and forcing changes in how water is consumed, or forcing communities to find other water sources. Understanding the coming changes in such flows is critical to proper planning for hydropower, irrigation, and water supplies.</span></font></p><h2 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1.5em auto 0.5em; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.01em; width: 600px; max-width: 600px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A Leap Forward in Glacier Modeling</font></h2><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word; width: 600px; max-width: 600px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The new “Python Glacier Evolution Model,” or PyGEM, uses extensive data sets, instead of less detailed estimates from isolated, regional effects or extrapolations based on a small number of glaciers.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word; width: 600px; max-width: 600px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This is a huge advance compared to previous studies,” said David Rounce, a researcher at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, and a member of the NASA Sea Level Science Team, who is lead author of the new modeling study. “We are able to assess changes in glacier mass and runoff at an unprecedented scale.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word; width: 600px; max-width: 600px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>By sheer number, High Mountain Asia accounts for 44 percent of all the glaciers in the world—apart from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets—though it accounts for only a fraction of glacial mass. The melting of these glaciers over decades contributes significantly to rapid, and accelerating, global sea-level rise</b>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 30px; overflow-wrap: break-word; width: 600px; max-width: 600px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As they grow in power and precision, computer models are revealing the intricate dance of climate, ice-melt, and sea-level rise with increasing clarity....[map]</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></p><header style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 165px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; color: rgb(56, 56, 56); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><div class="article--header" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 20px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; color: rgb(255, 255, 255); float: none; line-height: 1em;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/why-so-many-epidemics-originate-in-asia-and-africa-and-why-we-can-expect-more-131657" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">Why so many epidemics originate in Asia and Africa – and why we can expect more</a></h2><p class="byline" style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 2px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 11px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; line-height: 1.2; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); clear: both;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/suresh-v-kuchipudi-964138" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration-line: none; outline: none;">Suresh V Kuchipudi</a>, <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">Pennsylvania State University</em></span></p></div></header><div class="content" data-raw="" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 165px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(56, 56, 56); font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">COVID-19 is not the first – nor likely the last – to emerge from the two continents.</span></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">EW</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/worlds-most-polluted-cities-2630812632.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/worlds-most-polluted-cities-2630812632.html</a></font></div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The latest data on the world's most polluted cities is out, and confirms that Asia has a major crisis on its hands when it comes to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">air pollution</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <a href="https://www.airvisual.com/world-most-polluted-cities?continent=&country=&state=&page=1&perPage=50&cities=" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">report</a>, released by <a href="https://t.co/DaMSTKfTRO" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">Greenpeace</a> and software company IQAir AirVisual, shows that 22 of the world's 30 most polluted cities are in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/india" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">India</a>. Five are in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/china" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">China</a>, two in Pakistan and one is the capital of Bangladesh: Dhaka.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While India dominates the list numerically, Bangladesh is actually the world's most polluted country on average when weighted by population, followed by India and Pakistan, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/world/asia/india-air-pollution.html?emc=edit_mbe_20190306&nl=morning-briefing-europe&nlid=8863129420190306&te=1" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The New York Times reported</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The report looked at 2018 air quality data assessing levels of particulate matter PM2.5, a particularly dangerous form of air pollution that has been linked to a growing number of health problems from pneumonia and heart disease to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/air-pollution-dementia-2602268931.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">dementia</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/air-pollution-diabetes-epa-2583155988.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">diabetes</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The report assessed 3,000 cities and found that 64 percent of them had PM2.5 levels higher than <a href="https://www.who.int/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">World Health Organization</a> (WHO) safety guidelines, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/mar/05/india-home-to-22-of-worlds-30-most-polluted-cities-greenpeace-says" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The Guardian</a>. Every city in Africa and the Middle East exceeded the guidelines, as well as 99 percent of South Asian cities and 89 percent of East Asian cities. The study estimates that air pollution will cause seven million early deaths next year, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/05/health/100-most-polluted-cities-2018-intl/index.html?utm_campaign=fossil-fuels&utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=post&utm_content=single-image&utm_term=no" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">CNN reported</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Air pollution steals our livelihoods and our futures, but we can change that," Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia Yeb Saño told The Guardian. "We want this report to make people think about the air we breathe, because when we understand the impacts of air quality on our lives, we will act to protect what's most important."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The report indicated that China was having some success in its <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/chinas-war-on-pollution-helps-kick-coal-habit-1881952951.html" target="_self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">war on pollution</a>. PM2.5 levels fell around 12 percent for the Chinese cities listed in the report between 2017 and 2018, The New York Times reported. India, however, has had less success. Its cities' pollution levels saw relatively no change between the two years.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We're still in denial," Jai Dhar Gupta, founder of Indian pollution mask company Nirvana Being, told The New York Times. "The priority for 99 percent of Indians is necessities: food, shelter and clothing. Health and environment are not even in the top 10."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here are the world's 100 most polluted cities according to the report, as summarized by CNN:</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1. Gurugram, India</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2. Ghaziabad, India</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3. Faisalabad, Pakistan</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4. Faridabad, India</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5. Bhiwadi, India</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">6. Noida, India</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7. Patna, India</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">8. Hotan, China</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">9. Lucknow, India</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10. Lahore, Pakistan</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">11. Delhi, India</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">....</font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/climate-change-will-make-rice-less-nutritious-putting-millions-worlds-poor-risk">https://www.alternet.org/climate-change-will-make-rice-less-nutritious-putting-millions-worlds-poor-risk</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
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</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><h1 class="title" style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; letter-spacing: -1px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why India and China's No-Show at New York Climate Change Talks Could Be a Disaster</font></h1><div id="node-34365" class="node node-type-manual_feed_item clear-block" style="padding-bottom: 1em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="meta" style="padding-bottom: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; background-image: url(" http="http" insideclimatenews.org="insideclimatenews.org" sites="sites" all="all" themes="themes" solve="solve" images="images" dot-bottom.png="dot-bottom.png" background-position="background-position" background-repeat="background-repeat" repeat-x="repeat-x"><div id="authoredBy" style="width: 343.969px; float: left;"><div style="width: 185.203px; float: right; text-align: right;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sep 4, 2014</font></div><div style="clear: both;"><div class="pagecount" style=""><div class="content"><div class="field field-type-text field-field-source"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item odd"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">(Quartz)</font></div></div></div><p style="line-height: 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The leaders of the world's largest and third-largest emitters of greenhouse gases won't be attending a global summit on climate change later this month. China is sending a lower-ranked official; it's not yet clear if India will send its environmental minister.</font></p></div></div><p style=""><a href="http://qz.com/259949/why-india-and-chinas-no-show-at-climate-change-talks-could-be-a-disaster/" title="Read original story" style="text-align: right; text-decoration: none; outline: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Read original story</font></a></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font>

<h2 class="yiv6779876562null" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 32.5px; outline: none; display: block; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: -0.75px; text-align: left; font-variant: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://insideclimatenews.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=7c733794100bcc7e083a163f0&id=46f7a1840d&e=06876ede6b" style="text-decoration: underline; line-height: 1.2em; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Global Climate Inaction Will Mean Economic Turmoil for South Asia, Warns Bank</font></a></h2>

<p style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; outline: none; display: block; text-align: left; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The first comprehensive study ever issued on the economic costs that uncontrolled climate change would inflict on South Asia predicts a staggering burden that would hit the region's poorest the hardest.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- A prominent environmentalist who was fatally shot last month by a policeman after investigating illegal logging was mourned Friday by more than 500 villagers who gathered in a forest that the activist had sought to protect.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The memorial for Chut Wutty was in Koh Kong province in a forest near where the activist was killed after taking two journalists to look at a logging camp where a Chinese company is building a hydropower project.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chut Wutty's killing on April 26 drew worldwide condemnation and highlighted conflicts over land in Cambodia.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We want to send a very clear message to the illegal loggers that we are not afraid of them," ceremony organizer and rights activist Ou Virak said in a telephone interview.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The government says a military policeman shot Chut Wutty during a heated argument, and then killed himself as a colleague tried to wrest his gun away from him.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Human rights and environmental groups have demanded a full investigation.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Chut Wutty was aggressive in his work, and environmentalists say he earned powerful enemies. Illegal logging is rampant in Cambodia, and often occurs under the protection of government agencies or important people, environmental groups have charged. Some protests against land grabs by influential people in recent years have been suppressed with deadly force.</font>

<font size="4" style="" face="Times New Roman">On Monday, Prime Minister Hun Sen issued a directive temporarily suspending new land concessions to private companies in an effort to ease political pressure over the issue.</font></p>

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