Environment

Quarter of world’s population facing extreme water stress

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Nearly a quarter of the world’s population lives in 17 countries facing extremely high water stress, close to “day zero” conditions when the taps run dry, according to a report released Tuesday. The World Resources Institute’s Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas ranked water stress, drought risk and riverine flood risk using a peer-reviewed methodology. “Agriculture, industry, and municipalities are drinking up 80 percent of available surface and groundwater in an average […]

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July hottest month measured, 2019 set to be among warmest years

by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — July was the hottest month across the globe ever measured, and 2019 is on track to be one of the warmest years, according to data released Monday by the European Union’s Earth observation network. Searing heatwaves saw records tumble across Europe last month, with unusually high temperatures around the Arctic Circle as well. Wildfires unprecedented in scope and intensity burned in Siberia and Alaska, releasing more than 100 […]

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Crocodiles hunt in flooded Indian city

VADODARA, India (AFP) — Crocodiles hunted dogs in the flooded streets of the Indian city of Vadodara after it was battered by nearly 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rain in 24 hours leaving five people dead, police said Friday. Waist-high water remained Friday in the Gujarat state city where the main railway station and most roads were closed by the freak deluge. About 5,000 people were evacuated from their homes as water from the overflowing […]

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Asian countries turning back wealthy world’s waste

PARIS, France (AFP) — Several Southeast Asian countries, sick of being the wealthy world’s rubbish dump, have in recent weeks turned back container-loads of waste from foreign shores. It comes after China last year stopped accepting the world’s used plastic, having previously been the biggest market for recyclables. After Indonesia on Tuesday announced it had sent back illegally imported garbage from France and Hong Kong, here is a roundup. China  On January 1, 2018, China […]

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Siberia forest fires spark potential ‘disaster’ for Arctic

by Maria PANINA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Gigantic forest fires have regularly raged through the vast expanses of Russia’s Siberia, but the magnitude of this year’s blazes has reached an exceptional level with fears of a long-term impact on the environment. As fires sweep across millions of hectares enveloping entire cities in black smoke and noxious fumes, environmentalists warn of a disaster threatening to accelerate the melting of the Arctic. More than 3.2 million hectares […]

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Record 42.6C in Paris as Europe heatwave hits blistering peak

by Stuart WILLIAMS PARIS, France (AFP) — Paris on Thursday baked in an all-time high temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius (108.7 Fahrenheit) as a ferocious heatwave smashed records across northern Europe, sparking concerns about public health and causing new misery for rail travelers. As records also tumbled in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, Paris beat the previous top of 40.4C set in July 1947. Trains have been slowed in several European countries to avoid damage […]

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End in sight for US heat wave that set temperature records

by Brian KNOWLTON WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States sweltered in dangerously hot weather on Sunday, with major cities including New York, Philadelphia and Washington broiling in temperatures that rose into triple digits. An oppressive heat wave stretching from the Midwestern plains to the Atlantic coast had nearly 150 million people struggling to stay cool in stifling heat that set records in a handful of states. By Sunday afternoon, the National Weather Service […]

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Thai farmers on the cash trail with snail slime

by Delphine THOUVENOT and Anusak KONGLANG NAKHON NAYOK, Thailand (AFP) — Giant snails inch across a plate of pumpkin and cucumber in central Thailand, an “organic” diet to tease the prized collagen-rich mucus from the molluscs, which to some cosmetic firms are now more valuable than gold. The snails at Phatinisiri Thangkeaw’s farm were once the scourge of rice farmers, loathed for eating the buds of new crops. “Farmers used to throw them on the […]

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Iceland tries to bring back trees razed by the Vikings

by Jeremie RICHARD REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AFP) — Before being colonized by the Vikings, Iceland was lush with forests but the fearsome warriors razed everything to the ground and the nation is now struggling to reforest the island. The country is considered the least forested in Europe; indeed, forests in Iceland are so rare, or their trees so young, that people often joke that those lost in the woods only need to stand up to find […]

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Least forested country in Europe – Iceland tries to bring back trees razed by the Vikings

  by Jeremie RICHARD Agence France Presse REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AFP) — Before being colonized by the Vikings, Iceland was lush with forests but the fearsome warriors razed everything to the ground and the nation is now struggling to reforest the island. The country is considered the least forested in Europe; indeed, forests in Iceland are so rare, or their trees so young, that people often joke that those lost in the woods only need to […]

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Climate change threatens Greenland’s archeological sites: study

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — In Greenland, climate change isn’t just a danger to ecosystems but also a threat to history, as global warming is affecting archeological remains, according to a study published Thursday. There are more than 180,000 archaeological sites across the Arctic, some dating back thousands of years, and previously these were protected by the characteristics of the soil. “Because the degradation rate is directly controlled by the soil temperature and moisture content, rising […]

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Nine deer dead in Japan after eating plastic: wildlife group

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Nine deer have died after swallowing plastic bags in Japan’s Nara Park, a wildlife group said on Wednesday, warning that a surge in tourism may be to blame. The Nara Deer Preservation Foundation said that masses of plastic bags and snack packets were found in the stomachs of the deer which died between March and June this year. “The biggest litter found in one of the nine amounted to 4.3 […]

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