Climate chaos and Bhopal cleanup mark new year start

teleSUR English

*United Kingdom, torrential rains and strong winds disrupt new year’s celebrations *Brazil, the highest number of fires reported in the Amazon since 2007 *India, authorities clear toxic waste 40 years after Bhopal gas disaster

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00:00We now move on to other topics.

00:14In the United Kingdom, some areas were flooded on Wednesday as heavy rains and strong winds

00:19continued to disrupt New Year celebrations.

00:22Several communities in the Manchester area were flooded, with homes evacuated and cars

00:27submerged up to the roofs.

00:29After nearly a month's worth of rain fell in just two days, a major incident was declared

00:35and mountain rescue teams were called in to help firefighters deal with flooded homes

00:40and stranded vehicles.

00:42In Stockport, rivers were overflowing and local floods chiefs warned that extra measures

00:48may have to be taken.

00:49At one point, more than 150 communities across the United Kingdom were under flood warnings,

00:56most of them in northern England.

00:59By the end of the day, however, dozens of those warnings had been lifted.

01:09And in Brazil, during 2024, there was a 42% increase in the number of forest fires recorded

01:15in the Amazon and the highest number since 2007.

01:19According to the National Institute for Space Research, in the last year, 186,463 forest

01:27fires were recorded, while the agency insists that there were indications that the total

01:33area that suffered deforestation could be the lowest in years.

01:38According to reports, deforestation in the region from 2023 to August 2024 had decreased

01:44by more than 30% and was at the lowest in nine years.

01:48At the same time, the director of Amazon Watch, Andrew Miller, pointed out that the fires

01:53and droughts experienced in 2024 in the Amazon rainforest could be indicators of an ecological

02:01turning point.

02:06And on Thursday, Indian authorities removed hundreds of tons of toxic waste remaining

02:10for over 40 years after the world's deadliest industrial disaster struck the city of Bhopal.

02:16And as dozen trucks carried the 337 tons of waste in a slow convoy to the disposal

02:23site some 225 kilometers away at Pitampur town.

02:28According to State Gas Relief and Rehabilitation Department Director Swantra Kumar Singh, the

02:35convoy has been fortified with the highest security protocol ever witnessed in the movement

02:40of industrial waste in the country.

02:43For decades, people had blamed a high level of sickness on underground water pollution

02:50after the toxic gas leak from the Union Carbide factory in December of 1984.

02:56Therefore, this initiative by the Indian authorities will substantially improve the living conditions

03:01of the communities near the disaster area.

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