Tamil Nadu is one of the largest wind energy producers in the country having nearly 10,000 MW of installed capacity.
| Photo Credit: File photo

Essential to note here that India added a record 44.61 gigawatts of solar capacity in the fiscal year 2025-26, which was more than the double it had added in the preceding fiscal. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Namibia has approved the killing of hundreds of animals, including elephants, to feed people affected by the severe drought, according to a notice from the southern African nation’s government. Last month, the United Nations reported that almost half of Namibia’s population suffered from acute food insecurity because of a widely reported food crisis in the country.

In response to this, Namibia’s Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism announced on Monday that meat from the 723 animals to be culled will be distributed as part of a drought relief program. The measure seeks to alleviate the growing hunger crisis in the country.

Also Read | Nearly 70 Million Suffering From Drought In Southern Africa: Report

“The Ministry will contribute 723 animals, comprising 30 hippos, 60 buffalos, 50 impalas, 100 blue wilderbeasts, 300 zebras, 83 elephants, and 100 elands. The animals are sourced from national parks and communal areas with sustainable game numbers,” the ministry said in a press release.

“The culling is being conducted by professional hunters and safari outfitters contracted by the Ministry and conservancies in specific areas. To date, 157 animals comprising different species were hunted in Mangetti. National Park, 20 in Mahango, 70 in Kwando, 6 in Bufallo, and 9 in Mudumo, delivering 56875 kilogrammes of meat.”

Meanwhile, about 68 million people in Southern Africa are suffering the effects of an El Nino-induced drought, which has wiped out crops across the region, the regional bloc SADC said on Saturday. The drought, which started in early 2024, has hit crop and livestock production, causing food shortages and damaging the wider economies. Heads of state from the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) were meeting in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, to discuss regional issues, including food security.

It is Southern Africa’s worst drought in years, owing to a combination of naturally occurring El Nino-when an abnormal warming of the waters in the eastern Pacific changes world weather patterns-and higher average temperatures produced by greenhouse gas emissions.

Countries including Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi have already declared the hunger crisis a state of disaster, while Lesotho and Namibia have called for humanitarian support.

Image for representation purpose only.
| Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak

The Minimum Support rices (MSPs) for both kharif and rabi seasons 2023-24 ensured a minimum return of 50% over the cost of production for all crops, said the Reserve Bank’s Annual Report released on May 30.

The overall public stock of foodgrains as on March 31, 2024 stood at 2.9 times the total quarterly buffer norm, the report said.

On November 29, 2023, the government extended the scheme of free distribution of foodgrains under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for five more years, effective from January 1, 2024.

The report, which is a statutory report of  Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) central board of directors, noted that the agriculture and allied activities faced headwinds from the uneven and deficient South-West Monsoon (SWM) rainfall coinciding with strengthening El Nino conditions.

The overall SWM rainfall in 2023 (June-September) was 6% below Long Period Average (LPA) at the all-India level.

As per the second advance estimates, the production of kharif and rabi foodgrains in 2023-24 was 1.3% lower than the final estimates of the previous year.

Also read: Guaranteed MSP is an ethical imperative

The output of millets could benefit from productivity gains, the report said.

MSPs in 2023-24 were increased in the range of 5.3-10.4% for the kharif crops and 2.0-7.1% for the rabi crops.

Moong witnessed the maximum MSP increase among kharif crops, while the increase was the highest for lentils (masur) and wheat among rabi crops.

A La Nina would have significant consequences for global agriculture because it typically brings wetter weather to eastern Australia and southeast Asia and drier conditions to the Americas.
| Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar/The Hindu

There are early signs that a La Nina weather event may form in the Pacific Ocean later this year, Australia’s weather bureau said on Tuesday.

A La Nina would have significant consequences for global agriculture because it typically brings wetter weather to eastern Australia and southeast Asia and drier conditions to the Americas.

The bureau said it had declared a “La Nina Watch”.

“When La Nina Watch criteria have been met in the past, a La Nina event has subsequently developed around 50% of the time,” it said.

Also Read | El Niño, La Niña and changing weather patterns 

La Nina events result from cooler sea surface temperatures in the Pacific. Warmer sea surface temperatures can cause an opposite weather phenomenon called El Nino, which occurred last year and lasted into early 2024.

“Sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific have been steadily cooling since December 2023,” the bureau said.

“The Bureau’s modelling suggests that ENSO will likely remain neutral until at least July 2024,” it said, using the formal name, the El Niño Southern Oscillation, that describes the switch between the two phases.

Japan’s weather bureau has said there is a 90% chance that the El Nino phenomenon will dissipate by the end of May.

Other forecasters have also heralded a La Nina later this year. Last week, Japan’s weather bureau said there was a 60% chance it would occur by November, and a U.S. government forecaster said there was a 69% chance that it would develop during July-September.

An area is uncovered by the lowering of the water level from the Magdalena river, the longest and most important river in Colombia, due to the lack of rain, in the city of Honda, January 14, 2016. While flooding and intense rain wreak havoc on several countries in Latin America, El Nino brings other harmful effects to Colombia with severe drought.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Japan’s weather bureau said on Friday there was a 90% chance that the El Nino phenomenon will dissipate by the end of May, while there was a 60% chance of the La Nina phenomenon occurring in the months up until November.

El Nino is a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific. La Nina is characterised by unusually cold ocean temperatures in the equatorial Pacific region and is linked to floods and drought.

Watch | Earth Day: wake-up call on climate change

In this episode, we will be discussing Earth Day, which The Hindu covered with thematic articles on April 22.

We look at multiple dimensions of climate change, beginning with the most recent Supreme Court ruling on climate change in terms of the rights of us citizens of India to have protection from the deleterious impact of climate change.

We look at heatwave projections for the entire Asia region in terms of what impact it could have on livelihoods, employment etc. We will also look at how algorithms can be used to project future droughts and floods across the region. And finally, we touch on the critical issue of water management and why it matters in the context of water-food-land nexus which together has an enormous impact on the economy.

We are joined by Jacob Koshy, the Deputy Science Editor at The Hindu.

Host: Narayan Lakshman

Guest: Jacob Koshy

Production: Richard Kujur

Pea plants are damaged by drought, due to the El Nino weather phenomenon in Madrid municipality near Bogota, Colombia, January 17, 2016.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Latin American nations must be on high alert as the weather phenomenon known as El Nino rapidly switches over to La Nina, experts said on Thursday, leaving populations and crops little time to recover.

El Nino and its abundant rains could soon turn into droughts caused by La Nina as well as an intense hurricane season across South America, experts said at a panel organized by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The full weather pattern involving El Nino, La Nina and a neutral phase typically lasts between two to seven years. But experts said that the transition period from El Nino to La Nina is getting shorter.

“We just saw it happen,” said Yolanda Gonzalez, director of the International Research Center for the El Nino Phenomenon. “A year ago we came out of a Nina, and in March there were already signs of a Nino.”

“Now in March, April there are signs of a Nina,” she added. “We haven’t been able to recover from the impact.”

In South America, the weather patterns can hit key crops such as wheat and corn, denting commodity-dependent economies.

The phenomenon is not caused by climate change, FAO’s technical team told Reuters, but experts have seen that the effects of the weather pattern, such as rainfall, heat waves and drought, have become more extreme.

The rapid transitions between El Nino and La Nina could also be correlated with climate change, FAO said, though scientists have yet to establish definitive causation.

“These abrupt changes, and the fact that these cycles are now almost overlapping, ultimately decreases the ability to adapt to the changes,” said Marion Khamis, FAO’s regional risk management specialist. “This implies a huge challenge.”

Parents accompany their children from school after their classes in Manila on April 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Thousands of schools in the Philippines suspended in-person classes on April 5, the Education Department said, as parts of the tropical country endured dangerously high temperatures.

The months of March, April and May are typically the hottest and driest in the archipelago nation but conditions have been exacerbated by the El Nino weather phenomenon. Many schools have no air-conditioning, leaving students to swelter in crowded, poorly ventilated classrooms.

“Even my smartest student is not in the mood to answer questions because it’s very hot,” said Mayette Paulino, who teaches a grade two class of around 27 children near Manila. She said “students feel tired and seem sleepy” as the heat intensified in the afternoon.

The Department of Education has issued an advisory giving school heads the power to decide when to switch to remote learning “in cases of extreme heat and other calamities”.

Official figures for April 5 showed 5,288 schools suspended in-person classes, affecting more than 3.6 million students. That was higher than the 4,769 schools on April 4. Some schools have reduced class hours to avoid teaching during the hottest times of the day.

Bheapril Balbin, 37, whose two young children attend a primary school near Manila, supported the decision for students to stay home during the hot weather. “The heat is too much, my children couldn’t take it,” Bheapril told AFP.

“Some of their classmates got sick, they had a headache because of the extreme heat. My youngest has an asthma, extreme heat is bad for him.”

“The heat index was expected to reach the “danger” level of 42 or 43 degrees Celsius (107.6-109.4 degrees Fahrenheit) in several areas of the country on Friday,” the state weather forecaster said.

In Manila, the heat index was forecast to hit the “extreme caution” level of up to 40C (104F), when heat cramps and exhaustion are possible. The country’s heat index measures what a temperature feels like, taking into account humidity. Friday’s actual maximum temperature in Manila was 35.5C (95.9F).

“The heat will get worse because we’re not yet at the peak of the summer season,” Lorie Dela Cruz of the state weather forecaster told AFP, noting the first half of May was usually the hottest period. She said the actual temperature was “within the normal range” for this time of year. Nearly 300 schools in Manila had remote learning on April 5.

The central regions of the main island of Luzon were the hardest hit, with more than 1,600 schools suspending in-person classes. Save the Children Philippines chief Alberto Muyot said on Wednesday the extreme heat meant “children are simply unable to concentrate in the classroom and their health is also at risk”.

Harare, Zimbabwe:

Zimbabwe declared drought a national disaster on Wednesday, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa saying the country needed $2 billion in aid to help millions of people who are going hungry.

A severe dry spell induced by the El Nino weather pattern is wreaking havoc across southern Africa. 

“No Zimbabwean must succumb or die from hunger,” Mnangagwa told a press conference. 

“To that end, I do hereby declare a nationwide State of Disaster, due to the El Nino-induced drought.”  

Due to poor rains, more than 2.7 million people will not have enough food to put on the table this year, he said. 

This season’s grain harvest was expected to bring in just over half of the cereals needed to feed the nation, he said.

The naturally occurring El Nino climate pattern, which emerged in mid-2023, usually increases global temperatures for one year afterwards.

It is currently fuelling fires and record heat across the world.

In southern Africa, Zimbabwe is the third country to declare drought a national disaster after Malawi and Zambia.

The measure allows for more resources to address the crisis.

The drought has also affected electricity production, as Zimbabwe is highly reliant on hydroelectric power. 

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the latest El Nino is one of the five strongest ever recorded, adding its impact will continue by fuelling heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases.

El Nino reached a peak in December but should still result in above-normal temperatures until May over almost all land areas, the WMO said.

Major food growing areas in Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe received only 80 percent of average rainfall during the mid-November-to-February  southern hemisphere summer, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said, warning of an increased risk of food insecurity.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)