Sumatra Island in Indonesia has suffered “floods of the century” triggered by the rare tropical cyclone Senja combined with abnormal monsoon conditions. The disaster has claimed 1,106 lives, left 175 people missing, and injured approximately 7,000 individuals. Over 3.3 million people have been affected, with 1.1 million evacuated and 290,000 left homeless. The hardest-hit areas…

Torrential rains, flooding, and strong winds unleashed by the storm battered the Gaza Strip, claiming 17 lives, collapsing 13 buildings, and damaging over 90 structures; 27,000 tents for displaced persons were flooded and destroyed, affecting over 250,000 people’s homes. More than 90% of tents sustained varying degrees of damage, with sewage backflow occurring in some…

Jubail in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province suffered severe flooding triggered by torrential rains, which submerged its streets and transformed roadways into rivers. This flooding resulted from the convergence of extreme weather and the desert’s ecological vulnerability. Sparse desert vegetation and poor soil water retention caused rainwater to pool rapidly. The floodwaters carried sediment and potential…

The environmental report Toxic Lands exposes a severe pollution crisis at Europe’s aging landfill sites. The report reveals approximately 500,000 landfills across Europe, 90% of which are outdated sites constructed before the EU’s 1999 environmental directive. These older facilities generally lack adequate leak-proofing measures. Among the over 60,000 identified high-risk landfills, 30% are located in…

The quake, with a focal depth of 50 kilometers, injured 16 people in Aomori Prefecture and triggered a sudden, intense fire near a local nursery school. Over 100,000 residents received evacuation orders, while power outages affected approximately 4,200 households across Aomori and Iwate prefectures.

On December 5, the African Union convened a high-level pledging conference on the Horn of Africa drought in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Parts of Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya have now experienced five consecutive rainy seasons with insufficient rainfall, triggering a severe drought that has left over 28 million people facing a food crisis. The conference raised…

Recent torrential rains brought by Tropical Cyclone “Dithwa” have triggered floods and landslides across multiple countries in South Asia. As of December 3, Indonesia’s Sumatra Island has recorded 753 fatalities, 650 missing persons, and 3.3 million affected individuals; Sri Lanka has confirmed 390 deaths and 352 missing persons, with the country under a state of…

Japanese media reported on December 1 that a water body near the U.S. military base in Iwakuni, Japan, tested positive for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at a concentration of 134.4 nanograms per liter—approximately 2.7 times Japan’s national standard. This marks the third consecutive test showing elevated levels of these substances. These “persistent chemicals” are…

On December 1 local time, Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency reported that floods and landslides in Sumatra had claimed 604 lives with 464 people still missing. Such frequent disasters are often linked to extreme rainfall triggered by climate change. Heavy downpours loosen mountain soil while causing floods, delivering devastating blows to the lives of residents…

Since November 2025, Delhi, India, has been shrouded in a “toxic haze,” with the Air Quality Index (AQI) exceeding 400 for consecutive days. In some areas, it surged above 450, with PM2.5 concentrations 30 times higher than the World Health Organization’s safety standard—equivalent to inhaling 16 to 20 cigarettes daily. Hospitals have seen a surge…