By Frances Mao BBC News The South Pacific nation of Tonga has been devastated by a volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami hitting the shore. Kilometers underwater, the 15 January explosion ripped apart a deep-sea internet cable – severing the only cord of modern communication connecting 100,000 people to the rest of the world. On the […]
Tonga volcano and tsunami A key undersea cable that was destroyed in a volcano eruption in Tonga may take at least four weeks to be repaired, say New Zealand officials. The cable was severed during a volcanic eruption on Saturday, crippling communications and cutting the Pacific island off from the outside world. The eruption also […]
By Jonathan Amos BBC Science Correspondent When an enormous underwater volcanic eruption occurred in the South Pacific near Tonga on Saturday, satellites were in position to capture what had happened. That’s because there’s a large and growing fleet of Earth observation spacecraft overhead. Some have constant eyes on particular regions of the Earth, meaning their […]
The threat of further tsunamis around the Pacific after Saturday’s huge underwater volcano eruption near Tonga has passed, a monitoring group says. On Sunday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) said the threat had receded but coastal areas should remain alert for strong or unusual currents. The US and Japan earlier warned people to move […]
Tsunami waves caused by a giant underwater volcanic eruption have hit the Pacific country of Tonga. Social media footage showed water washing through a church and several homes, and witnesses said ash was falling over the capital, Nuku’alofa. A tsunami warning sent residents scrambling to higher ground. The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano […]
At least 208 people are now known to have died after a powerful storm struck the Philippines on Thursday, police are quoted as saying by local media. Super Typhoon Rai – with winds of about 195km/h (120mph) – sent some 300,000 people running for safety when it hit the country’s south-eastern islands. At least 239 […]
At least 34 people were killed in a volcanic eruption in Indonesia on Sunday, the country’s national disaster agency says. Mount Semeru engulfed villages in volcanic ash and hot mud on the island of Java, forcing thousands to flee. Seventeen people are still missing. Emergency teams and rescue dogs are looking for survivors and bodies […]
By Rajini Vaidyanathan BBC South Asia Correspondent COP26 India is accused of watering down a COP26 climate deal to cut coal consumption even as toxic air chokes its national capital, Delhi. Air quality in the city has been hovering between “severe” and “hazardous” for several days now. The Delhi government on Sunday announced that […]
By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website Our Planet Now A deal aimed at staving off dangerous climate change has been struck at the COP26 summit in Glasgow. The Glasgow Climate Pact is the first-ever climate deal to explicitly plan to reduce coal, the worst fossil fuel for greenhouse gases. The deal also […]
COP26 The COP26 climate summit in Glasgow is entering its final day, amid growing fears that the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C is unlikely to be met. UN Secretary General António Guterres bluntly told the Associated Press news agency that goal was on “life support”. He said the summit would probably not […]
