After year of climate disasters, world off-track to curb warming
Catastrophic floods, crop-wilting droughts and record heatwaves this year have shown that climate change warnings are increasingly becoming reality and this is "just the beginning", experts say, as international efforts to cut planet-heating emissions founder.
The year did see some important climate progress, with major new legislation particularly in the United States and Europe as well as a deal at the UN climate talks to help vulnerable countries cope with an increasing onslaught of devastating climate impacts.
But the goal of keeping warming within a safer limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius since the pre-industrial era appears increasingly in peril, with carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels -- the main driver of global heating -- on track to reach an all-time high in 2022.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned world leaders at a climate summit in Egypt in November that humanity faces a stark choice between working together in the battle against global warming or "collective suicide".
They opted to put off the most important decisions for another time, observers say.
This year UN climate science experts issued their strongest warning yet of the dangers facing people and planet, with a landmark report on climate impacts in February dubbed an "atlas of human suffering".
Since then a series of extreme events has illustrated the accelerating dangers of climate change, at barely 1.2C of warming.
Record heatwaves damaged crops from China to Europe, while drought has brought millions to the point of starvation in the Horn of Africa.
Floods super-charged by climate change engulfed Pakistan, affecting 33 million people and causing some $30 billion in damage and economic losses.
"The year 2022 will be one of the hottest years on earth, with all the phenomena that go with higher temperatures," said climate scientist Robert Vautard, head of France's Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute.
"Unfortunately, this is just the beginning."
This year is on track to be the fifth or sixth warmest ever recorded despite the impact, since 2020, of La Nina -- a periodic and naturally occurring phenomenon in the Pacific that cools the atmosphere.
When this phenomenon reverses, potentially within months, the world will likely climb to a "new level" in warming, said Vautard.
- Still polluting -
Economy-battering climate extremes, which amplified the energy price surges for many countries as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, provided the backdrop to last month's high-stakes UN climate talks in Egypt. The negotiations did make history, with wealthy polluters agreeing to a fund to pay for climate damage increasingly unleashed on poorer countries. Pakistani climate minister Sherry Rehman called the move a "down payment on the longer investment in our joint futures". But vulnerable nations and campaigners said the Egypt conference failed to deliver on the emissions reductions needed to curb climate losses and damages in the future. "COP27 tackled the consequences of climate change, but not the cause -- fossil fuels," said Harjeet Singh of Climate Action Network. To keep the 1.5C limit in play, planet-heating emissions need to be slashed by 45 percent by 2030, and be cut to net zero by mid-century. At 2021 UN talks in Glasgow, nations were urged to ramp up their emissions reduction commitments. But only around 30 countries have heeded that call, leaving the world on track to hot up by about 2.5C.
Behind the byline
A journalist is your first point of contact with information that is either informative, educative and entertaining, regardless of the medium you choose to consume your news. But have you ever asked yourself if these journalists who put themselves on the front lines to deliver news and impactful stories are mentally okay? One in four Kenyans suffers from mental illness, but there is no substantive data and research on the mental health of journalists, a gap that is now becoming more evident in the wake of public mental health crises and appeals for help from journalists. In the spirit of ending mental health stigma and discrimination, NTV’s health and science reporter Brygettes Ngana took the lens to her colleagues who opened up about their mental health status behind the scenes.
September 1, 2024
The bandit lands
Over the last 25 years, Kenya’s expansive North Rift has been an insecurity hotspot. Countless accounts of community conflicts, resulting in deaths, injuries, livestock theft, and assaults on security personnel, have plagued the region, becoming a defining feature for thousands of residents. Efforts, pronouncements and promises to secure peace in the restive region have been an elusive task for successive Administrations, to-date.
Will the latest efforts to bring development and peace in this region bring the cycle of violence to end, or will it be another chorus of promises to grant the residents a life of dignity and normalcy, but with nothing to show for it?
NTV's Zainab Ismail visited the region with an aim of understanding the underlying issues, the realities on the ground and the impact of the violence to the residents of this area. This is NTV Presents: The Bandit Lands
August 25, 2024
How specialised programs in Kisumu are empowering the signing community | EQuality
This week on Equality, our Gender Affairs Reporter, Ruth Munyi, takes us to Kisumu County, where she uncovers the inspiring story of economic empowerment for the deaf community.
Despite the challenges of their disability, they are breaking barriers and becoming financially independent. We tell you how specialised training programs are not only equipping them with essential skills but also shielding them from exploitation.
August 24, 2024
Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge: Ultimate Price.
It is now thirty-four years since the death of then vocal ACK Bishop of Eldoret Diocese Alexander Muge that occurred through a tragic and suspicious road accident near Kipkaren river along Webuye -Eldoret highway.
At the time, the late Muge was a fierce government critic and was among prominent religious leaders who had joined forces with a section of politicians, academics, lawyers and other civil society groups, in agitating for a return to multiparty politics in the country. His death was largely seen as a political assassination as Kenya grappled with one of the darkest periods of its post-independence history. What were the circumstances surrounding his demise and how did the vocal man of the cloth meet his death? Duncan Khaemba speaks to a survivor who witnessed the late Bishop Muge breathe his last, his children who were teenagers at the time as well as a section of church leaders who knew him at a personal level. Bishop Alexander Kipsang Muge: Ultimate Price. August 18, 2024
Four-year-old develops fistula after being defiled by neighbour | Equality
A young mother is grappling with emotional trauma while her four-year-old daughter recovers from serious injuries inflicted by a man who defiled her. #Equality
August 18, 2024
The plastic restaurant in Lamu making progress in addressing plastic pollution | Heartbeat
The communities in the Lamu archipelago have made remarkable progress in addressing plastic pollution. After the successful construction of a Flipflopi boat using recycled plastic, the community has expanded its efforts to include other plastic recycling projects. These initiatives now encompass the construction of sustainable hotels, eco-friendly restaurants, and innovative recreational platforms. The islanders have taken the lead in championing the protection of the marine ecosystem, urging similar initiatives within the county.
August 13, 2024
Logs of contention: The Battle for Kenya's eucalyptus
A year after the lifting of the logging ban in Kenya, local timber manufacturers are concerned about the indiscriminate cutting down of Eucalyptus trees to process veneers by foreign nationals from India and China. The eucalyptus veneers are being processed for export as raw materials to India and China. Kenyan timber manufacturers claim that the country has lost close to a billion shillings in revenue in the last three months due to Chinese and Indian timber processors failing to remit local taxes. Despite a ban on eucalyptus exports to China, NTV has established that the exports of eucalyptus veneers are ongoing. The Kenya Association of Manufacturers is warning that the uncontrolled harvesting of eucalyptus trees could jeopardize Kenya’s 15 billion tree-growing campaign to increase the country’s tree cover by 30 percent in the next decade as a climate mitigation measure. NTV’s Health and Science reporter, Brygettes Ngana, provides insights into the intricacies behind the eucalyptus veneer business that is depleting the country's tree reserves and revenue, on #LogsOfContention.
August 11, 2024
Thank you for the rain
Five years ago, Kisilu, a Kenyan farmer, began using his camera to document the life of his family, his village, and the impacts of climate change. When a violent storm brought him together with a Norwegian filmmaker, we witness his transformation from a father to a community leader and, ultimately, to an activist on the global stage.
August 7, 2024
#CoupDeterred: Intrigues of attempted coup on President Moi's government
Last Thursday marked exactly 42 years since the failed coup attempt of 1st of August 1982 pulled by rebel airforce soldiers against president Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi's government. So much has been written about the coup, yet that was not all there was to it, there is a whole lot more that is unreported.
August 4, 2024