FILE PHOTO: Workers dump waste into a landfill located just beside Dhaleshwari river, water from which flows into the Buriganga river, in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
SINGAPORE 鈥� Volunteers in dozens of countries were set to plant trees, clean up trash and urge governments to do more to combat climate change to mark Earth Day, as scientists warn of more extreme weather and record temperatures this year.
The run-up to the 54th annual celebration of the environment, officially marked on Saturday, has included a week of conservation and clean-up activities around the world, and festivals were due to begin in Rome and Boston on Friday.
Thousands were expected to gather in London on Friday to begin four days of events known as the 鈥淏ig One鈥�, organized by the Extinction Rebellion activist group. A rally was to be staged in Washington urging President Joe Biden to commit to ending fossil fuel use.
On Saturday, volunteers will also begin major clean-up campaigns at Lake Dal in India鈥檚 Srinigar and Florida鈥檚 hurricane-hit Cape Coral.
On Thursday, Biden pledged to increase U.S. funding to help developing countries fight climate change and curb deforestation in Brazil鈥檚 Amazon rainforest during a meeting with leaders from the world鈥檚 largest economies.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told countries attending Biden鈥檚 Major Economies Forum that 鈥渁 quantum leap in climate action鈥� was required to limit temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius. He warned in a recorded Earth Day message that 鈥渨e seem hellbent on destruction鈥�.
Earth Day this year follows weeks of extreme weather with temperatures hitting a record 45.4 degrees Celsius (113.7 Fahrenheit) in Thailand and another punishing heatwave in India, where at least 13 people died of heatstroke at a ceremony last weekend.
Scientists warned this week that killer heatwaves were putting 鈥渦nprecedented burdens鈥� on India鈥檚 agriculture, economy and public health, and undermining the country鈥檚 long-term efforts to reduce poverty, inequality and illness.
Average global temperatures could hit record highs this year or in 2024, driven by climate change and the anticipated return of the 鈥淓l Ni帽o鈥� weather phenomenon, climate scientists said on Thursday.