Category Archives: NATURE

Watch: Doorbell camera captures moment Palisades fire burns home At least 16 people are dead as the two largest wildfires ripping across the Los Angeles area remain mostly uncontained. Firefighters are winning the battle against two other wildfires in the nation’s second-largest city. Cadaver dogs and search crews are scouring the scorched rubble of neighbourhoods after the most destructive wildfire in the city’s history. Residents have been told to stay out of the water on beaches across a swathe of the coastline because of contamination from the fires. What’s the latest? The largest fire in the Palisades is now more than 20,000 acres, although firefighters have made modest progress in increasing containment. The fire is moving east, threatening the exclusive neighbourhood of Brentwood, home to the Getty Center, a world-famous

The remains of townhomes destroyed by the Eaton Fire lie behind an advertising sign in Altadena, California. Photo: Frederic J. Brown / AFPSource: AFP The fires ravaging upmarket Los Angeles districts Pacific Palisades and Malibu will be the most expensive ever to hit California, according to experts, who expect premiums to rise in a region already abandoned by many insurers. Analysts at JPMorgan estimated that the total cost of damage and insured damage had doubled in less than 24 hours to $50 billion and $20 billion respectively. And the flames were still advancing on several fronts Friday. These record levels already far outstrip the 2017 Tubbs fire and the 2018 Camp fire, whose estimates of insured damage have climbed, according to sources, to as much as $16 billion. The value

An environmentalist based in Nakuru City, Ruth Chepngetich, on Thursday, warned residents living in an environment without trees, would have several significant negative effects on people’s health due to the current climate change, reduced air quality, soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, reduced water supply, and reduced recreational opportunities, especially for children. The environmental expert said trees play a crucial role in absorbing carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, and without trees, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would dramatically increase. Hence, having a negative health effect on the surrounding homesteads. In an interview with KNA, she said trees release oxygen into the atmosphere through photosynthesis and absorb pollutants, helping to improve air quality; without trees, air pollution would increase. She urged wananchi to embrace the government’s directive to

Fast-moving blaze kills at least five and puts 130,000 under evacuation orders in the heartland of US film industry. The wind whips up embers as the Palisades fire burns during a windstorm on the west side of Los Angeles, California [Ringo Chiu/Reuters] The Hollywood Hills was burning uncontrollably on Thursday morning as the worst wildfires in the history of Los Angeles raged across the city with a crescent of flame visible from space. The fast-moving blaze broke out in the Hollywood Hills on Wednesday night, threatening the heartland of the United States film industry as firefighters battled to control it amid dry, hurricane-force winds hindering operations and spreading the flames. At least six separate wildfires were burning in Los Angeles County, killing at least five people and putting 130,000 people

The Duchess of Sussex has said she is “devastated” following the death of her dog, Guy. In a post on Instagram, Meghan said had “cried too many tears to count” over the dog’s passing and thanked him for “so many years of unconditional love”. The duchess said she had adopted the beagle from an animal rescue in Canada in 2015 and that he had been “with me for everything” ever since. She did not say when the dog had died or its cause of death. The post was accompanied by a montage of photos and video showing the duchess and her family playing with Guy. In one, she is seen boiling fruit on a stove to make jam and telling the dog, “We’re jamming, Guy”. In another her husband, the

DEVELOPING STORY, Tremors were reported as far away as northern India and Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, where buildings shook. Dozens of people have been reported killed after a powerful earthquake hit near Tibet’s second-largest city of Shigatse, according to Chinese and US monitoring groups, with tremors felt hundreds of kilometres away in Nepal. The earthquake struck at 9:05am local time (01:05 GMT) on Tuesday at a depth of 10km (6.2 miles), according to the China Earthquake Networks Centre, which recorded a magnitude 6.8 quake, while the United States Geological Survey reported the earthquake to be magnitude 7.1. A magnitude 6.8 earthquake is considered strong and capable of causing severe damage. Multiple aftershocks have also been reported, with the largest measuring a magnitude 4.4. China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that nine

Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has come under heavy criticism for delivering a racially tinged speech at a political rally where he allegedly said the country’s women struggle to become supermodels despite looking better than Africans. The billionaire, who returned to the kingdom in August 2023 after spending 15 years in self-exile, said his Pheu Thai party would promote “pretty” Thai women as runway icons. Thaksin reportedly described African women as “black with flat noses” who land model roles that fetch them millions of baht. “African people, who have black skin and flat noses that make it difficult to breathe, are hired for millions of baht to be models,” he said at last Sunday’s campaign event supporting a candidate running in the Chiang Rai provincial election set for next

Temperatures drop across UK as arctic blast brings more snow PA Media Parts of the UK – including Northern Ireland – have already seen snow this week A cold arctic blast has swept into the UK, bringing widespread frost and more snow to parts of Scotland. Temperatures dropped overnight ahead of a bitterly cold weekend that could see “significant snow” and blizzard-like conditions. The whole of England is under amber health alerts – meaning there is a risk of a rise in deaths – with one local NHS service urging people to avoid going out early in the morning when the frost is thick. Yellow weather warnings for snow and ice are in place for most of England, Wales and Scotland between Saturday and Monday. Snow fell overnight in northern

The South African Weather Service has issued multiple warnings for severe thunderstorms and damaging winds in parts of North West, Free State and Western Cape. (Cecile Nijland/Netwerk24) The South African Weather Service has issued multiple warnings for severe thunderstorms and damaging winds in parts of the North West, Free State and Western Cape. Extremely hot and uncomfortable conditions are expected over the Western Cape, Northern Cape, and Eastern Cape. Impact-based warnings Yellow Level 2 warning: Severe thunderstorms leading to localised flooding of susceptible roads, low-lying areas and bridges as well as large amounts of small hail over an open area are expected over the western parts of the North West, north-eastern parts of the Northern Cape and over the north-western parts of the Free State. Yellow Level 1 warning: Damaging winds leading to difficulty in navigation

NAIROBI Kenya, Dec 24- The Kenya Meteorological Department has forecasted rainfall in various parts of the country from December 24 to December 30. Director of Meteorological Services David Gikungu said the rainfall will affect regions including the Highlands East and West of the Rift Valley, the Lake Victoria Basin, the Central and South Rift Valley, the Southeastern Lowlands, and the Coast. Gikungu noted that afternoon and nighttime showers and thunderstorms are expected in several areas, occasionally reducing to a few places during the first half of the forecast period. However, Northeastern and Northwestern Kenya will remain generally sunny and dry, with nights expected to be partly cloudy. Some areas may experience light rains on Wednesday morning. “Average daytime (maximum) temperatures of more than 30°C will be experienced in several parts

Weather warnings for strong winds have come into force in parts of the UK as millions of people take to the roads ahead of Christmas. The Met Office says gusts could reach 80mph in the far north of Scotland, with winds of 50-60mph further south. Disruption is expected on what motoring experts are predicting will the busiest weekend of travel this year. A yellow warning came into force at 07:00 GMT on Saturday and will last until 21:00 GMT on Sunday for Scotland, North West and North East England, and parts of Wales and Northern Ireland. The area covered by the warning widens on Sunday to take in South West England, Derbyshire, Hampshire, parts of the West Midlands and Yorkshire, and all of Wales and Northern Ireland. Westerly winds are

A hot day is expected in most parts of the country. (Gallo Images/ER Lombard) Brace yourself for extremely hot conditions on Friday and into the weekend.  Extremely hot and uncomfortable conditions are expected over parts of KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, according to the South African Weather Service. A Yellow Level 1 warning has also been issued for damaging winds leading to difficulty in navigation at sea, while small vessels at risk of capsizing in locality is expected between Table Bay and Plettenberg Bay. Impact-based warnings Yellow Level 1 warning: Damaging winds leading to difficulty in navigation at sea and small vessels at risk of capsizing in locality are expected between Table Bay and Plettenberg Bay. READ | Wind, waves and soaring temperatures: South Africans face a range of severe weather