Global environmental developments in September 2022

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - Several reports regarding climate change and its growing effects were released in September along with encouraging initiatives and pledges for environmental protection.

Below is a list of environmental developments, reports and events compiled by Anadolu Agency.

Sept. 1:

- The Amazon rainforest records its worst month for fires in August since 2010.

- A high court in South Africa stops Shell Oil Company from conducting seismic blasting along the ecologically sensitive Wild Coast region in Eastern Cape province.

Sept. 2:

- A court in Uganda sentences two men to 17 years each in prison for poisoning to death six lions in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

- Rwanda’s traditional baby gorilla naming ceremony returns with a physical ceremony with the government committing to expanding gorilla habitats.

Sept. 3:

- The decomposed body of a giant whale and a dead dolphin wash up on the shore of Bangladesh’s southern Kuakata beach.

Sept. 4:

- Authorities announce that the death toll from torrential rains and flash floods in Sudan has risen to 112 since June.

Sept. 5:

- South Korean authorities halt dozens of flights across the country and recommend closing schools and businesses in coastal areas as powerful Typhoon Hinnamnor gradually moves toward the southern island of Jeju.

Sept. 6:

- Spain's water reserves drop to their lowest level since 1995, according to official data.

Sept. 7:

- The rise of extreme heat and forest fires will likely worsen air quality and put human health in danger over the course of this century, according to a UN report.

- The World Bank Group says it delivered a record $31.7 billion in financing in fiscal year 2022 to help developing nations address the increasingly dire challenges caused by climate change.

- The World Meteorological Organization urges southern African states to expand early warning weather systems to protect livelihoods from the increasing effects of climate change.

- China declares two gibbon species extinct in the wild as a result of human activity.

Sept. 8:

- This summer has been the hottest in Europe’s documented history with August seeing a record-high temperature, the EU’s Earth observation satellite program revealed

Sept. 9:

- Pakistan says that recent destructive floods caused more than $30 billion in damage and that the country will need international assistance to rebuild its infrastructure.

- By 2030, 250 million people in Africa will be hit by a scarcity of fresh water, according to a new UN report.

Sept. 10:

- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits flood-battered areas in Pakistan, calling on the international community to act swiftly to assist Islamabad in dealing with the devastation caused by torrential rains and massive flooding.

- At least 11 people have been killed and dozens injured in lightning strikes in Bangladesh in the last two days, and data showed that nearly 70% of the deaths were recorded in the climate change-affected nation between April and June.

Sept. 12:

- Indonesia and Norway sign a new agreement for the protection of rainforests.

- Switzerland’s plans for a nuclear waste repository plant near the border spark protests and concerns in Germany.

Sept. 13:

- The Illegal trade of marine species is destroying aquatic life on East Africa’s coast as fishermen armed with banned gear catch endangered species for their economic survival, researchers warn.

Sept. 15:

- Just as Earth’s ozone layer is slowly recovering from a hazardous hole found in it nearly 40 years ago, the recovery is being impeded by the impact of climate change, says a British Antarctic Survey meteorologist and one of the scientists who first discovered the ozone hole.

Sept. 16:

- Gases released from methane craters on Siberia's Yamal and Gydan peninsulas as well as the immense amounts of carbon dioxide released from wildfires in the region can accelerate global warming, experts have warned.

Sept. 17:

- The fastest terrestrial animal, the cheetah, has been reintroduced into India 70 years after it was formally declared extinct in 1952.

Sept. 19:

- Japan warns more than eight million people in the southern and western parts of the country to evacuate due to powerful Typhoon Nanmado.

Sept. 20:

- The EU wastes more food than it imports, according to a new report by the environmental group Feedback EU.

- Türkiye's first lady Emine Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sign a goodwill document to extend the country's Zero Waste project around the world.

- Angelina Jolie, a top Hollywood actress and special envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, arrives in Pakistan to help people impacted by the devastating floods.

Sept. 21:

- Denmark pledges at the UN General Assembly in New York to be the first country to provide funding to developing nations that suffer "loss and damage" caused by climate disruptions.

- France assures Pakistan of help in the revival of its economy and reconstruction in the wake of devastating floods and announces holding an international financial and development conference this year.

- Several UN human rights experts call on member countries to help flood-hit Pakistan, calling it an "international obligation."

Sept. 22:

- Only 35 of 230 stranded whales are believed to be alive on a remote beach on the west coast of Australia’s island state of Tasmania.

- The British government lifts a ban on fracking for shale gas that has been in place since 2019.

Sept. 24:

- The Doel 3 reactor in operation in Belgium for 40 years is shut down in compliance with Belgian law on a nuclear phase-out.

Sept. 27:

- Germany lost one of its five glaciers to the extremely hot weather experienced this summer, according to a recent report.

- China launches three environment-monitoring satellites into space which will provide data for land surveys, urban planning and disaster prevention.

Sept. 28:

- US authorities warn that Hurricane Ian is slated to bring mass devastation to parts of Florida as it barrels toward the southeastern state with winds nearing Category 5 status.

- The United Nations expresses concern about leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea, urging that the seals be closed as soon as possible.

Sept. 29:

- Mexico rises to the top of the list as the most dangerous place for land defenders and environmental activists worldwide, according to a report by the NGO Global Witness.

- US President Joe Biden says Hurricane Ian, which has brought flooding and destruction to Florida, "could be the deadliest" in the state's history.

Sept. 30:

- As drought continues to take a toll on livestock and people in East Africa, wildlife in Kenya is dying in large numbers in many protected parks across the country.