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The southern region, encompassing states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, has significantly reduced <keyword id="15300" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="water" source="Orion">water</keyword> storage compared to historical averages at just 17 per cent of reservoir capacity, according to the recent bulletin of the <keyword id="19912241" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Central-Water-Commission" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Central Water Commission" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Central Water Commission">Central Water Commission</keyword>. In the bulletin released by the CWC late Thursday concerning reservoir storage levels across various regions of India, it was reported that 42 reservoirs under CWC monitoring in the southern region have a total live storage capacity of 53.334 BCM (billion cubic meters). As per the latest report, the total live storage available in these reservoirs stands at 8.865 BCM, representing only 17 per cent of their total capacity. This figure is considerably lower compared to the storage levels during the same period last year (29 per cent) and the ten-year average for the corresponding period (23 per cent). The reduced storage levels in the southern region are indicative of worsening <keyword id="15300" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="water" source="Orion">water</keyword> scarcity and potential challenges for irrigation, <keyword id="20333839" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="drinking-water-supply" source="keywords">drinking water supply</keyword> and hydroelectric power generation in these states. In contrast, the eastern region, comprising states like Assam, Odisha and West Bengal, has shown a positive improvement in water storage levels compared to last year and the ten-year average. The bulletin highlighted that in this region, 23 monitored reservoirs with a total live storage capacity of 20.430 BCM currently hold 7.889 BCM of water, representing 39 per cent of their total capacity. This marks an improvement over the storage levels from the same period last year (34 per cent) and the ten-year average (34 per cent). The situation is less optimistic in other regions. The western region, consisting of Gujarat and Maharashtra, reports storage levels of 11.771 BCM, which is 31.7 per cent of the total capacity of 49 monitored reservoirs. This is notably lower compared to the storage levels of the previous year (38 per cent) and the ten-year average (32.1 per cent). Similarly, the northern and central regions also show declines in water storage levels compared to historical averages. The broader analysis provided in the bulletin categorizes reservoir storage across various river basins as "better than normal," "close to normal," "deficient," or "highly deficient". Notably, river basins like Brahmaputra, Narmada and Tapi are marked as having better-than-normal storage levels, whereas basins like Cauvery and east flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Pennar are classified as highly deficient. SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/ultraviolette-f77-mach-2-electric-sports-bike-launched-in-india-starting-at-2-99-lakh/slidelist/109615934.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/ultraviolette-f77-mach-2-electric-sports-bike-launched-in-india-starting-at-2-99-lakh/slidelist/109615934.cms" target="_blank">Ultraviolette F77 Mach 2 electric sports bike launched in India starting at ₹2.99 lakh</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/realme-c65-5g-with-5000mah-battery-120hz-display-launched-starting-at-10499/articleshow/109619597.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/realme-c65-5g-with-5000mah-battery-120hz-display-launched-starting-at-10499/articleshow/109619597.cms" target="_blank">Realme C65 5G with 5,000mAh battery, 120Hz display launched starting at ₹10,499</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/jiocinema-introduces-new-ad-free-premium-plans-starting-at-29/articleshow/109581033.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/jiocinema-introduces-new-ad-free-premium-plans-starting-at-29/articleshow/109581033.cms" target="_blank">An Ambani disruption in OTT: At just ₹1 per day, you can now enjoy ad-free content on JioCinema</a>

Southern India faces water crisis as reservoir levels plunge to just 17% capacity: CWC

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists predicted how climate hazards will worsen in nearly 1,000 major cities by 2100.</li><li>Heat waves, energy demand, and mosquito-borne diseases will spike as global temperatures rise.</li></ul>Monthlong heat waves. Skyrocketing energy demand. Greater risks of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/west-nile-triple-e-mosquito-virus-diseases-us-2024-9">mosquito-borne diseases</a>.These are the climate hazards that people living in nearly 1,000 of the world's largest cities will continue to face as global average temperatures rise through the end of the century, a new analysis by the World Resources Institute, an environmental-research group, found. And the impacts won't be felt equally. People living in low-income cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Indonesia face the greatest threats.The findings come as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-summer-2024-hottest-record-globally-and-europe">2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record</a>, and billions of people are expected to move into urban areas in the coming decades. More than half the world's population, or 4.4 billion people, lives in cities. By 2050, city dwellers are forecast to make up two-thirds of humanity, with the vast majority of that growth in Africa and Asia. Some 2 billion people currently live in the cities that WRI studied, from Seattle and Rio de Janeiro to Johannesburg and Bengaluru, India."Most climate modeling looks at hazards, exposure, and risks at a national scale because that's where a lot of policymaking and international agreements are focused," Eric Mackres, the senior manager of data and tools at the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities and a coauthor of the study, said. "But that's disconnected from where people live. We wanted to put more localized information in the hands of those decision-makers so they're informed about the risks that they are likely to experience."<h2 id="c108ac2f-66b9-4462-bb7a-b51785a2b482">Local climate hazards</h2>To make predictions at a city level, Mackres said WRI built on global climate modeling done by hundreds of other researchers. These models contain daily information — both historical data and projections through 2100 — on air temperature, humidity, and precipitation. WRI used that data to make its own projections about the length and frequency of heat waves, how often people will need to cool their homes and workplaces, and the number of days with optimal temperatures for mosquitoes in cities with at least half a million people. WRI compared how those local hazards are expected to change as global average temperatures rise from 1.5 degrees Celsius to 3 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels — a threshold scientists say the world is likely to cross by 2100.The world has warmed by about 1.2 degrees so far compared with mid-1800s levels, and the consequences are playing out around the world.<div type="image" title="A graph shows how long heat waves will last in seven regions around the world under 1.5 degrees of global warming compared to preindustrial levels." height="1080" width="1080" msid="113493288" hostid="261" sizebytes="66672"></div>In Bengaluru, India's fifth-most-populous city, extreme heat has caused severe water shortages and surging energy demand. Under 1.5 degrees of warming, heat waves could last about 13 days on average and stretch to nearly 38 days as global temperatures rise, WRI found. Bengaluru last year <a target="_blank" href="https://wri-india.org/news/release-bengalurus-first-ever-climate-action-plan-launched">launched its first climate-action plan</a>, which includes planting trees and expanding green spaces to help cool down urban centers.An enormous outbreak of dengue fever is underway in Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, peak days for transmission of mosquito-borne illnesses could increase from 69 to 118 a year, WRI found. The city is investing in vaccines, and community health workers are hunting down places that help mosquitoes breed, including standing water, to reduce risks.Meanwhile, places that haven't had to consider cooling strategies are now being forced to, including the US Pacific Northwest. Seattle was once the least-air-conditioned city. Now it ranks second behind San Francisco after a series of deadly heat waves prompted residents to install AC. The trend is playing out in cities that are already hot, too, like Tehran, Iran, and Marrakech, Morocco, and spiking energy demand along the way. If that demand is met with fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal, it could exacerbate the climate crisis, WRI said.WRI noted that there are limitations to its research, in part because there are a lot of unknowns about the future. National governments and cities can slow the climate crisis and protect people from its impacts, including by shifting away from fossil fuels and investing in infrastructure that's more resilient to heat and storms."Our findings are not a foregone conclusion," Mackres said. "These are choices we have between 1.5 and 3 degrees of warming, and none are out of the realm of possibility. It's really important that national decision-makers understand the impacts on cities and the actions that cities can take to both reduce climate change and to adapt to what's coming."<a target="_blank" href="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/19141193/">You can explore the data for your city here.</a>

A new tool shows what the climate crisis could feel like in your city

Globally, the rate at which people are installing solar panels and buying electric vehicles is "perfectly in line" with what experts have said is necessary to reach net zero emissions by 2050. That's according to <keyword id="293700" type="General" weightage="60" keywordseo="fatih-birol" source="Orion">Fatih Birol</keyword>, the economist who leads the world's energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency (<keyword id="66776" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="iea" source="Orion">IEA</keyword>). Thanks to a "staggering" rise in clean energy generation and investment over the last two years alone, the prospect of halting global heating at 1.5°C remains intact, he added. After a summer of unparalleled climate disasters in Libya, Greece and Canada, should dread turn to optimism? In a recent update on humanity's progress with cutting greenhouse gas emissions, the IEA concluded that by 2030: <keyword id="560717" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="fossil-fuel" source="Orion">fossil fuel</keyword> demand must fall 25% -the energy efficiency of homes, vehicles and other appliances must double -methane emissions from the oil and gas sector must fall 75% The report assumes that renewable energy capacity will need to triple and replace coal, oil and gas at a rapid pace by the end of this decade to guard against catastrophic levels of warming. But despite sources like solar consistently defying even the most bullish predictions, fossil fuels have hardly budged: they supplied 82% of the world's energy last year and 87% in 2000. Why? Fossil fuels linger, wind power stalls "Rapidly increasing renewable energy hasn't cut coal and gas consumption at the same rate because humankind is using a lot more electricity than we used to, especially in Asia," says Malte Jansen, a lecturer in energy and sustainability at the University of Sussex. "[In Europe and North America] renewable energy has slowly eaten into the proportion of energy generated by fossil fuels, while all other energy sources (nuclear, hydro, biomass) have remained about the same. In Asia, electricity demand has tripled since the 2000s, with the bulk of this energy coming from fossil fuels." And while the report was glowing in its assessment of solar power's performance, it noted that planned projects for generating wind energy this decade trail what the IEA says will be necessary by 2030. Jansen says wind is a particularly valuable energy source during winter, when energy demand peaks. Unfortunately, the wind industry has been buffeted by inflation. "For those involved in the construction of an offshore wind farm, this means the cost of both the physical parts (such as the turbines) and the debt (bank loans) has gone up," says Phil McNally, a research fellow in electricity markets at UCL. McNally does not believe this setback heralds the end of cheap offshore wind, as some have claimed. Instead, he argues, it means governments must produce strategic plans to grow the sector which include how much energy they wish to procure in auctions with developers. Net zero must come sooner According to the IEA, "almost all countries" will also need to move their net zero target dates forward by several years. Most developed countries, including the US and Australia, aim to fully decarbonise by 2050. Under the UN principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, developing countries have a bit longer: India plans for 2070, for example. A team of energy experts at Australian National University (with support from nearly 900 engineers) recently argued that Australia could hit net zero as early as 2035. But in the UK at least, government policies on net zero are moving in the opposite direction. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently scrapped requirements on landlords to raise the energy efficiency of their properties and delayed the phase-out of petrol and diesel car sales from 2030 to 2035. "As my own analysis has shown," says Tim Jackson, a professor of sustainable development at the University of Surrey, "the UK's fair share of the global carbon budget, taking into account the development needs of the poorest parts of the world, will be exhausted before 2030. Forget 2050. The science is clear. Delay is tantamount to capitulation." We've been here before What can earlier energy transitions teach us about what is happening today? According to energy historian Vaclav Smil, past energy transitions took on average 50-75 years to ripple through society. We no longer have that kind of time says Liz Conor, an ARC Future Fellow at La Trobe University. "To farm fields and build cities, we've gone from relying on human or animal muscle to wind and water to power sailboats and mill grain. Then we began switching to the energy dense hydrocarbons, coal, gas and oil. But this can't last." "We were first warned in 1859 that when burned, these fuels add to the Earth's warming blanket of greenhouse gases and threaten our liveable climate," she says. Environmental limits have spurred the shift to new energy sources before. Take England's transition from burning wood to coal. "England was once carpeted in forest. Endemic deforestation drove the change to coal in the 16th and 17th centuries. Most English coal pits opened between 1540 and 1640," Conor says. Later, dwindling whale populations saw the US abandon whaling as a source of fuel and lubricant for crude oil extraction. But the dominance of coal, oil and gas today was not inevitable. Conor points to 1850s New England, where steam generated from burning coal was three times more expensive than water for powering textile mills. Smil's research documents how waterwheels and turbines "competed successfully with steam engines for decades". "The energy of flowing water was free. Digging up coal was labour-intensive. Why did steam win?" asks Conor. The answer, she says, referring to work by human ecologist Andreas Malm at Lund University, is capital. "Locating steam engines in urban centres made it easier to concentrate and control workers, as well as overcoming worker walk-outs and machine breaking," Conor says. Today's energy transition requires another active intervention, she adds. "Once solar panels and wind turbines are built, sunlight and wind are free. It is the resistance of the old guard - fossil fuel corporations - that is holding us back." (The Conversation) NSA NSA

Climate crisis: Net zero goal still alive, says IEA

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The climate crisis is throwing a wrench into already messy supply chains.</li><li>Supply chains of late have been disrupted by a pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and rising costs.</li></ul>The world's supply chains are in even bigger trouble than you think.While <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-trade-war-covid-companies-moving-supply-chains-2022-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the COVID-19 pandemic</a> and <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3146489/us-china-trade-war-timeline-key-dates-and-events-july-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China's tensions with Washington</a> have been disrupting supply in the past few years, yet another thing is playing out that might even keep you from getting your holiday presents on time months from now: the climate crisis.The situation is serious this summer because of a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/historic-drought-hot-seas-slow-panama-canal-shipping-2023-08-21/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">historic drought</a> affecting rainfall that feeds into the Panama Canal. This has lowered the canal's water levels and limited the number and the weight of ships that can float on it.It's causing a buildup in the number of ships waiting to cross the waterway.Droughts aren't a new phenomenon at the Panama Canal — climate change has been associated with <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/panama-canal-tackles-climate-change-puzzle-too-little-rainwater-or-too-much-11624872601" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unpredictable weather</a> for years. But the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/panama-canal-drought-travel-ships-income-falling-el-nino-2023-8">dry weather</a> is worse this summer, in part because of the onset of the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/historic-drought-hot-seas-slow-panama-canal-shipping-2023-08-21/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">El Niño weather phenomenon,</a> which takes place every few years.This has added a new level of unpredictability that one supply-chain expert says might require the industry to "fundamentally transform."Nari Viswanathan, the senior director of the supply chain at the budget-management company Coupa, told Insider that the global supply chain had been designed to respond relatively quickly to market conditions like shifting demand.The climate crisis presents a new kind of unpredictability, one that Viswanathan said could require predictive weather analysis using algorithms and data.<h2>One shipper paid over $2 million to cross the Panama Canal — and this could hit consumer prices</h2>Project44, a supply-chain platform, told Insider earlier this month that the drought conditions had caused shipping capacity through the Panama Canal to drop by over 20% in the prior two weeks.The decline is concerning, as it is peak shipping season when retailers ramp up shipping in anticipation of increased demand ahead of holiday shopping. About <a href="https://www.globaltrademag.com/potential-shortages-loom-as-panama-canal-restrictions-impact-holiday-stocks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">40% of US container traffic</a> passes through the waterway."If this downward trend continues, it could prompt shippers to reevaluate their choice of ports for bringing in inventory to ensure holiday season shelves remain adequately stocked," Project44 added.The situation has the shipping giant Maersk worried."The low water levels at the Panama Canal are a clear example of the effects of climate change in rainfall and weather patterns across the globe, which causes a ripple effect through the supply chain," a company representative said.The congestion of massive container ships and energy tankers in the Panama Canal has gotten so bad that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/panama-canal-traffic-auction-shippers-paying-millions-for-crossing-2023-9">one shipper recently paid over $2 million just to beat the queue</a> to cross the waterway.Such surcharges add to transportation costs and could feed into high prices for the end consumer."Panama Canal surcharges and vessel restrictions will likely mean higher <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/24/us-trade-dominates-panama-canal-traffic-a-drought-is-threatening-it.html">clothing and shoe prices for US consumers</a> this holiday season," Stephen Lamar, the president and CEO of the American Apparel &amp; Footwear Association, told CNBC in June.The weather forecast isn't encouraging for ships crossing the Panama Canal in the short and long term, Jon Davis, the chief meteorologist at Everstream Analytics, told Insider.That's because the El Niño weather event is likely to strengthen, which would be associated with below-normal rainfall from late this year through early 2024, he said.<h2>Supply chains were already in chaos from COVID-19, geopolitics, and rising costs in China</h2>To be sure, the vessel congestion at the Panama Canal is troubling because it adds to the existing stress on the world's supply chains.The COVID-19 pandemic and China's strict on-off lockdowns, in particular, underscored the risks of depending so heavily on the East Asian country, which has been the world's factory floor for the past four decades.One example was the tech giant <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-accelerates-production-china-protests-2022-12">Apple, which was hit by supply-chain disruptions</a> from China's COVID-19 containment policies.The pandemic accelerated a global supply-chain diversification away from China that kicked off in about 2018 after President Donald Trump launched a <a href="https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3146489/us-china-trade-war-timeline-key-dates-and-events-july-2018" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">trade war against China</a>.<a href="https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-china-relations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington-Beijing tensions</a> are still high under the Biden administration, particularly in the area of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-investors-flag-retaliation-risks-after-bidens-china-tech-curbs-2023-08-11/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high-tech chips</a>, prompting investors across the board to reconsider their business risks.Even before geopolitics started playing an outsize role in the shifting of supply chains<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gdp-trump-tariff-trade-war-us-china-2018-10">,</a> it was costs that were already pushing some companies out of China.<a href="https://iems.ust.hk/publications/thought-leadership-briefs/can-chinese-manufacturing-firms-cope-with-rising-labor-costs-albert-park" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Wages and operating costs</a> have been rising over four decades amid China's turbocharged growth, so alternative aspiring low-cost factory hubs — such as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-trade-war-covid-companies-moving-supply-chains-2022-12">India and Vietnam</a> — have been pumping in billions of dollars to develop their own manufacturing ecosystems.

You Searched For "water crisis in India" and got 4 results

Southern India faces water crisis as reservoir levels plunge to just 17% capacity: CWC

PTI

A new tool shows what the climate crisis could feel like in your city

Catherine Boudreau

Climate crisis: Net zero goal still alive, says IEA

PTI

Add the climate crisis to the long list of things messing up supply chains this summer

Huileng Tan

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