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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello,

Today we draw attention to a warning by the United Nations’ research arm that the world is heading towards a series of environmental “tipping points” that could cause irreversible damage to water supplies and other life-sustaining systems.

“Once these thresholds are passed, the system fails to function as it normally would, and you get new risks cascading out, and these new risks can transfer to other systems,” said Jack O’Connor, lead author of the report by the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).

The Interconnected Disaster Risks report, published ahead of COP28 climate talks next month, identified accelerating rates of extinction, groundwater depletion, glacial melt and extreme heat as the major interconnected threats.

Speaking of interconnected threats, gunfire in the conflict in the Middle East triggered a wildfire in Lebanon. Lebanese civil defense fire brigades have been working on extinguishing a wildfire, Andrea Tenenti, spokesperson for the United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL told Reuters, adding that strong winds and a heat wave, along with minefields, increased the risk of the fires spreading.

“These fires are also occurring in minefields, which makes them more complicated to extinguish,” Tenenti said, adding that although the fires have affected uninhabited areas so far, they were close to border villages and olive groves.

1. World on brink of environmental tipping points, UN says

Climate change and the overuse of resources have put the world on the brink of six interconnected tipping points that could trigger abrupt changes in our life-sustaining systems and shake the foundation of societies”, the research arm of the United Nations warned. Click here for more on the report.

Fires ablaze at Israel’s border to Lebanon amid ongoing tension. Ayhan Uyanik, Lion Schellerer/ Reuters

2. Wildfires erupt in south Lebanon as Israel-Hezbollah border clashes escalate
The United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL said on Thursday it was working with Lebanese authorities to extinguish wildfires that have spread for several kilometers in south Lebanon after being started by gunfire along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

3. Hurricane Otis claims lives of at least 27 in Mexico

At least 27 people died due to Hurricane Otis, Mexico’s government said after one of the most powerful storms to hit the country unleashed devastation in the Pacific beach resort of Acapulco.

4. Mumbai issues guidelines to construction industry amid worsening air quality

India’s financial capital of Mumbai has asked construction sites to use barricades and banned the burning of garbage in open grounds in a bid to combat worsening air quality, according to a government notification. Read more about the guides from Mumbai’s Brihanmumbai Municipal Corp (BMC) on our Reuters story here.

5. Australia set for hot, dry weather for next three months 

Large swathes of Australia are set for below average rainfall and a greater chance of record temperatures over the next three months, the Bureau of Meteorology said, as the El Nino weather phenomenon brings hot, dry conditions.

The endangered red wolf, the lone wolf species native only to the United States, is slowly coming back thanks to a breeding and reintroduction program that also takes special care of the wolves’ teeth. Click here or on the image for the video. 

After Hawaii’s worst wildfire killed scores of people in August, local and federal agencies are reckoning with the toxic chemicals created when a built environment burns.

There are no clear records of what materials were used in building Lahaina. But the age of each structure gives surveyors clues, based on which construction materials were available and commonly used during that period. Buildings constructed in the 1940s-1960s were built when most hazardous materials were available for use.

“The major concerns are arsenic for the building materials, and you know there’s lead-based paint and lead pipes,” said Cory Koger, a chemist and toxicologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Click here to view our in-depth Reuters graphics piece.

68%

India will not be signing a pledge to cut cooling-related carbon dioxide emissions by at least 68% by 2050 compared with 2022 levels. The pledge was developed by the United Nations Environment Programme’s Cool Coalition and COP28 host, the United Arab Emirates. The pledge would require major investments by countries to shift to sustainable cooling technologies and also raise the cost of such products.

India cited the need for the world’s most populous country to have affordable cooling, two government officials told Reuters. Read more here.

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