Environment

Guwahati/Patna, July 25 (PTI) The death toll in Bihar and Assam floods mounted to 198 on Thursday, with more than 1.17 crore people affected by the calamity in the two states, officials said.

In Assam, the death toll climbed to to 75 with one more person succumbing in Dhubri, while water level rose in seven districts of the state.

Due to release of excess water from Kuricchu Hydropower reservoirs in Bhutan's Kuricchu River, western Assam districts of Barpeta, Nalbari, Baksa, Chirang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri and South Salmara are facing rise in flood water level.

BERLIN (AP) — Europeans cooled off in public fountains Wednesday as a new heat wave spread across parts of the continent and was already breaking records.

Belgium and Germany registered their highest-ever temperatures, while the Netherlands saw its hottest day in 75 years.

And the mercury is expected to rise even further.

Paris and other parts of France could see temperatures exceeding 40 C (104 F) on Thursday along with Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

WELLINGTON, July 22 (Xinhua) -- A 3.9-magnitude earthquake with a depth of 7 km hit New Zealand's Christchurch at 8:43 a.m. local time on Monday.

"Just another reminder that the Christchurch aftershock sequence is still ongoing," New Zealand's GeoNet said on its Twitter account.

It came after a magnitude 3.5 earthquake on Saturday night.

According to the GeoNet website, Over 4,000 people reported they felt the jolt just before 9 a.m.

21 July 2019; DW: Nearly 150 million people from the Midwest to the Atlantic coast are sweating through scorching temperatures, with New York declaring a heat emergency. At least three people have died, and many events have been canceled.

People across much of the East and Central United States are facing dangerously hot weather, with major cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington experiencing temperatures nearing 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).

21 July 2019; DW: Italy's Mount Etna began spewing hot ash and lava overnight, forcing authorities to close two airports in eastern Sicily. Experts detected "lively spattering" at the volcano last month.

Europe's biggest active volcano, Mount Etna, erupted early Saturday with fiery explosions and lava flows, the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) said.

20 July 2019; DW: Tourists and a helicopter pilot have reported dozens of dead whales to authorities in Iceland.

David Schwarzhans and his American passengers, who were on a sightseeing tour, counted 50 long-finned pilot whales washed up on a remote beach in the west of the Nordic island.

The group took a video of their discovery on the Snaefellsnes Peninsula and alerted police on Thursday but the details were only made public on Saturday.

19 July 2019; DW: A US scientific agency has reported record-breaking temperatures in several regions across the globe, including Europe. Scientists have warned of the destabilizing effect of carbon emissions on Earth's climate.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said June 2019 was the hottest June in nearly 140 years.

The data confirms earlier reports from the EU's satellite agency that Europe's average temperature this year was 2 degrees Celsius hotter than normal.

Patna, Jul 18 (PTI) Flash floods caused by torrential rains in catchment areas of Nepal have ravaged a dozen districts of Bihar so far, claiming 78 lives and affecting 55 lakh people, the state's disaster management department said Thursday.

Sitamarhi reported the highest number of 18 casualties, followed by Madhubani (14), Araria (12), Sheohar and Darbhanga (nine each), Purnea (seven), Kishanganj (four), Supaul (three) and East Champaran (two), it said in a release.

The death toll increased by 11 since Wednesday, when it stood at 67.

Agra, Jul 19 (PTI) A massive greening drive is to be launched soon to curb environmental pollution in the eco-sensitive Taj Trapezium Zone of Agra spread over 10,400 sq km, said officials Friday.

Alarmed at the sharp pace of denudation due to the large-scale construction and expansion of infrastructural facilities, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced a target of planting 22 crore saplings by the end of August, said Forest Department officials.

Gandhinagar, Jul 16 (PTI) As many as 222 lions died, most of them due to natural causes, in the Gir forest region in Gujarat in the last two years, the Legislative Assembly was told Tuesday.

Among them, only 23 lions died because of "unnatural" causes such as getting hit by trains or falling into wells between June 2017 and May 2019.