Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday placed a five-point recommendation to protect the planet and save people from the adversities of the climate changes. “To protect the planet and ourselves I’d suggest— political leadership must encourage robust international collaboration; the global temperature increase must be limited to 1.5 degree Celsius and all Paris provisions must be implemented; and promised funds have to be made available to the vulnerable countries,” she told a roundtable on Climate Action at the UN headquarters in New York. The Prime Minister was addressing the high-level roundtable event held on the sidelines of the 75th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) virtually. Placing two other suggestions, she in her pre-recorded video statement said, “Polluting countries must increase their NDCs through necessary mitigation measures, and recognize that rehabilitation of the climate refugees is a global responsibility.” Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has some ideas and experiences to share on adaptation and resilience. “We’ve prepared Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 to deal with the challenges of climate change and water management,” she said. The prime minister said Bangladesh has built 4,291 cyclone shelters and 523 flood shelters in the country. Some 56,000 volunteers are available to facilitate preparation prior to any cyclone, she added. “That’s why we joined the ‘REAP’ initiative which aims to make one billion people around the world safer from disasters by 2025,” Sheikh Hasina said. Noting that Bangladesh is the current Chair of CVF (Climate Vulnerable Forum), she said the Global Center of Adaptation’s regional office has recently been established in Dhaka. The Prime Minister extended thanks to UN Secretary-General António Guterres for his concern regarding the impacts of climate change. This roundtable event convened by the UN Secretary-General showcased high-impact solutions by governments and real economy leaders, in line with the Secretary-General’s six climate-positive actions to recover better together. The event showed the vast social and economic benefits of a sustainable recovery and of action to limit global warming to 1.5°C by achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. UN Secretary-General António Guterres made the introductory remarks at the 90-minute event featuring a roundtable with around 20 global climate leaders from governments, private sector and civil society. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, President of Chile Sebastián Piñera Echenique, Nigerian President Mahamadou Issoufou, Fijian Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering spoke at the high-level event. UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney, President of Microsoft Brad Smith, Chief Minister of Indian Bihar State Nitish Kumar, CEO of European Climate Foundation Laurence Tubiana, Brazil’s largest private sector bank Itau-Unibanco CEO Candido Botelho Bracher, CEO of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) Dinah McLeod, among others, spoke at the roundtable. International journalist and television presenter Femi Oke moderated the roundtable. Source: UNB AH

In a tantalizing first, scientists have discovered water at a planet outside our solar system that has temperatures suitable for life. Two research groups announced this week that they've found water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet 110 light-years away in the constellation Leo. This so-called Super Earth is just the right distance from its star to conceivably harbor life. It's the only exoplanet known so far to have both water and temperatures needed for life, the University College London team reported in the journal Nature Astronomy on Wednesday. But lead author Angelos Tsiaras stressed, "This is definitely not a second Earth." Its star and atmosphere are so different than ours, "Earth-like conditions are not possible," Tsiaras told reporters. "The only question that we're trying to ask here, and we're pushing forward, is the question of habitability." A Canadian-led team announced similar findings Tuesday. In a paper just submitted to the Astronomical Journal for publication, these scientists suggest it might even be raining there. "This represents the biggest step yet taken toward our ultimate goal of finding life on other planets, of proving that we are not alone," the study's lead astronomer, Bjorn Benneke of the University of Montreal, said in a statement. Discovered in 2015, the planet known as K2-18b is twice the size of Earth with eight times the mass. While it's thought to be rocky, no one knows if water's flowing on the surface. Its star, a red dwarf, is considerably smaller and cooler than our sun, a yellow dwarf, and its atmosphere is also different than ours. Nonetheless, Tsiaras said K2-18b could help determine, "Is the Earth unique?" The results are doubly exciting, Tsiaras noted, given this is not only the first Super Earth with water detected in its atmosphere but the planet also resides within the habitable zone of its star. The research teams used archived data from the Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft to analyze the planet's atmosphere. Further observations are needed to determine whether the planet is indeed a true water world, using next-generation observatories like NASA's James Webb Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Ariel, both due to launch in the 2020s. Future telescopes on Earth and in space should help uncover more Super Earths orbiting red dwarf stars — believed to be the most common planets and stars in our Milky Way galaxy. Super Earths are defined as having a mass greater than Earth but less than gas giants like Uranus and Neptune; more than 1,260 have been confirmed to date. While water already has been identified in the atmospheres of hot gas giants circling other stars, the latest findings represent the first detection of water vapor in the atmosphere of another type of exoplanet, Tsiaras said. A NASA tally currently lists more than 4,000 confirmed exoplanets and another 4,000 potential candidates. Most have been detected using the transit method, where telescopes watch for a slight, fleeting dimming of a star's light as a planet passes in the field of view. For now, scientists know K2-18b takes 33 days to orbit its star, so one year there is one month here. At this distance, temperatures range from minus-100 degrees to 116 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 73 degrees to 47 degrees Celsius.) The star, glowing red in the day sky, is believed to bombard the planet with radiation harsh enough to quickly inflict any human visitors with cancer, although "life there may have evolved differently" in order to survive, noted the London team's Ingo Waldmann. A sister planet, meanwhile, orbits closer to the star and is likely too hot to be in the habitable zone. The cloud cover isn't too thick on K2-18b, otherwise it would have obscured the water vapor in the atmosphere, according to the scientists. The surface, meanwhile, could be wet or dry. The London data suggest water vapor makes up anywhere between 0.01% and 50% of the atmosphere — "quite a big range," Waldmann acknowledged. Either way, given the planet's mass, it would be difficult to walk on the surface. "Maybe not quite your vacation destination just yet," Waldmann joked. Source: AP/UNB AH

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left Dhaka to attend One Planet Summit on her three day official visit in Paris. On Monday at 10 a.m. Hasina along with her companions left for France on an Emirates flight. After a half-hour stopover in Dubai, Prime Minister is scheduled to reach Paris on Monday evening. France's President Emanuel Macron, World Bank President Jim Young Kim and UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres invited world leaders to attend Tuesday's conference. Deputy Leader of Parliament Sajeda Chowdhury, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Chief Whip of the Jatiya Sangsad ASM Feroz, Cabinet Secretary, the Chiefs of the three services and high officials were present at the Shahjalal International Airport to see the P.M off. Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests Isaiyak Ahmad is with the Prime Minister in this trip. This “One Planet Summit” will be held from 11 to 13 December.  This summit will bring all the local, regional and national leaders, as well as non-governmental organizations, foundations and private sectors together to discuss about climate change challenges.   On Tuesday, The prime minister will hold a bilateral meeting with France President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace. After that, she will join the French President’s Lunch in honor of the leaders.  Later in the afternoon, The Prime Minister will take part in a high level meeting with world leaders at the One Planet Summit.  After that, she will also attend a reception to the expatriate Bangladeshis in Paris on the night. The Prime Minister and her companions will return to the country on December 14. N/AP