Environment

Aussie scientists turn to drones to protect sea turtles

BRISBANE, Australia (AFP) — Australian researchers have discovered they were underestimating numbers at the world’s largest sea turtle nesting site after turning to drone technology for the first time. Raine Island, off the northern tip of Australia, plays host to around 60,000 female green turtles who migrate hundreds of kilometers from the Great Barrier Reef to lay their eggs each year. Scientists working to protect the endangered species had struggled with how best to keep […]

Whale that won Canadian hearts believed to be dead

SOREL, Canada (AFP) — A young humpback whale that swam up one of Canada’s major rivers, delighting Montrealers who packed the shores for a glimpse of the first of the species in local waters, is believed to have died, wildlife officials said Tuesday. The pilot of a passing commercial ship early in the morning spotted a “whale carcass” near Varennes in the Monteregie region of the Canadian province, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of […]

Russia sees melting permafrost behind Arctic fuel spill

by Maria ANTONOVA Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — An unprecedented fuel spill that has polluted huge stretches of Arctic rivers was caused by melting permafrost, Russian officials said Friday, ordering a review of infrastructure in vulnerable zones. The spill — which has coloured remote tundra waterways with bright red patches visible from space — has highlighted the danger of climate change for Russia as areas locked by permafrost for centuries thaw amid warmer temperatures. […]

Warmest May on record, Siberia 10C hotter

by Kelly MACNAMARA / Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Temperatures soared 10 degrees Celsius above average last month in Siberia, home to much of Earth’s permafrost, as the world experienceTemperatures soared 10 degrees Celsius above average last month in Siberia, home to much of Earth’s permafrost, as the world experienced its warmest May on record, the European Union’s climate monitoring network said Friday. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said May […]

Russia struggles to clean up Arctic river fuel spill

by Maria ANTONOVA Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday intensified efforts to clean up a major fuel spill that environmentalists say is the worst such accident in the Arctic, as investigators made their first arrest. A diesel reservoir collapsed at a power station outside the northern Siberian city of Norilsk on Friday, releasing 15,000 tonnes of fuel into a river and 6,000 tonnes into the soil, according to Russia’s state environmental watchdog. […]

India vows probe after elephant killed with explosives

NEW DEHLI, India (AFP) — India pledged to investigate Thursday the death of a pregnant elephant that ate explosives-filled fruit, as cricket and Bollywood stars joined a chorus of outrage over the incident. The elephant died in agony last week in the southern state of Kerala, the latest casualty in a growing conflict in South Asia between large animals and humans as ever more forest is lost to urban expansion. Footage of the animal standing […]

Weak demand pushing oil, gas toward ‘terminal decline’: report

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Falling fossil fuel demand coupled with mounting risk for investors could slash the value of oil, gas and coal reserves by two thirds, sending shock waves through the global economy, energy analysts warned Thursday. The value of projected profits for the sector could also fall by two thirds, according to a report from Carbon Tracker, a non-profit financial think tank focused on aligning capital markets with […]

Threat to national park, wetlands after India gas well blowout

GUWAHATI, India (AFP) — About 2,000 people have been evacuated from their homes as authorities struggle to control gas pouring from an exploded well near a popular ecotourism spot in northeastern India. The gas well in an oil field managed by state-owned Oil India Ltd blew out last Wednesday in Tinsukia district of Assam state, and “started releasing natural gas in an uncontrolled manner”, the company said. Authorities have established an exclusion zone of 1.5 kilometres […]

Putin declares state of emergency over Siberian fuel spill

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a state of emergency and criticised a subsidiary of metals giant Norilsk Nickel after a massive diesel spill into a Siberian river. The spill of over 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel took place on Friday. A fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant near the city of Norilsk, located above the Arctic Circle, and leaked into a nearby river. The accident is the second largest […]

Spain eyes new tax to rubbish plastic packaging

MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The Spanish government on Tuesday proposed new legislation on rubbish that seeks to dramatically reduce single-use plastic packaging, notably by taxing it. The move specifically aims to reduce the plastic cups and bottles used in the fast food and take-away sectors. “If we add up all the waste generated in a year in Spain… it would be enough to fill up the Santiago Bernabeu stadium 2,900 times,” said Environment Minister Teresa […]

Football pitch of rainforest destroyed every six seconds

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Vast tracts of pristine rainforest on three continents went up in smoke last year, with an area roughly the size of Switzerland cut down or burned to make way for cattle and commercial crops, researchers said Tuesday. Brazil accounted for more than a third of the loss, with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia a distant second and third, Global Forest Watch said in its […]

Wayward whale takes city break in Montreal

MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A young humpback whale that swam up one of Canada’s major rivers and has been exploring the waters off Montreal for a few days was likely led astray while on a hunting trip, authorities have said. Since Saturday, the giant creature has been swimming in the St Lawrence river against the backdrop of the Montreal skyline — hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the waters it usually calls home. The humpback is […]