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by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A world addled by climate change has seen a four-fold increase in major flooding events since 1980, and a doubling of significant storms, droughts and heat waves, Europe’s national science academies jointly reported Wednesday. In Europe, where precise data reaches back decades, the number of severe floods has jumped five fold since 1995, according to the report, which updates a 2013 assessment. “There has been, […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Across Japan’s capital, delicate pink and white cherry blossoms are emerging, but the famed blooms are facing a potentially mortal enemy, experts say: an invasive foreign beetle. The alien invader is aromia bungii, otherwise known as the red-necked longhorn beetle, which is native to China, Taiwan, the Korean peninsula and northern Vietnam. The beetles live inside cherry and plum trees, stripping them of their bark. In serious cases, an infestation can […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — World landmarks from the Eiffel Tower to the Empire State Building will go dark this weekend to support the fight against climate change and highlight the dangers mankind poses to nature. The 11th edition of Earth Hour, an annual bid to raise awareness about climate change caused by burning fossil fuels, will see iconic structures cut the lights at a time when global temperatures are the highest on record. “Climate change […]
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — The world’s leading brands of bottled water are contaminated with tiny plastic particles that are likely seeping in during the packaging process, according to a major study across nine countries published Wednesday. “Widespread contamination” with plastic was found in the study, led by microplastic researcher Sherri Mason of the State University of New York at Fredonia, according to a summary released by Orb Media, […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — China will create a bastion of giant pandas three times the size of Yellowstone National Park to link up and encourage breeding among existing wild populations of the notoriously slow-reproducing animal, state media reported Thursday. At least 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) has been secured over the next five years for construction of the Giant Panda National Park in mountainous southwestern China for the nation’s favorite creature, the China Daily reported. […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand has sweltered through its hottest summer on record and can expect more of the same if climate change continues unabated, the government’s scientific agency said Tuesday. Daily temperatures averaged 18.8 Celsius (65.84 Fahrenheit), 2.1C more than normal, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said. With the mercury reaching as high as 38.7C in the South Island, NIWA said it was the hottest summer since records […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Tourists on a wildlife safari in central India were treated to a rare and vicious fight for survival between a sloth bear defending its young and a huge Bengal tiger. The ferocious battle between the jungle giants was captured on film by a tour guide in Maharashtra who had a ringside seat to the 15-minute brawl as the mother fought off the predator. Her instincts kicked into gear as the […]
by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A thriving “hotspot” of 1.5 million Adelie penguins, a species fast declining in parts of the world, has been discovered on remote islands off the Antarctic Peninsula, surprised scientists said Friday. The first bird census of the Danger Islands unearthed over 750,000 Adelie breeding pairs, more than the rest of the area combined, the team reported in the journal Scientific Reports. The group of […]
by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A thriving hotspot of some 1.5 million Adelie penguins has been discovered on the remote Danger Islands in the east Antarctic, surprised scientists announced Friday. Just 160 kilometers (100 miles) away in the West Antarctic, the same species is in decline due to sea ice melt blamed on global warming, they said. The first complete census revealed that the Danger Islands host more than 750,000 […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Sea ice cover in Antarctica has dropped to its second-lowest on record, Australian authorities said Friday, adding that it was not yet clear what was driving the reduction after several years of record-highs. The report came as scientists said earlier this week that the Arctic region was seeing record high temperatures, with sea ice covering the smallest area in winter since records began more than half-a-century ago. The Australian Antarctic […]
by Mathilde Bellenger Agence France Presse ANTARTICA (AFP) — A decade ago, a thick layer of ice covered the Collins Glacier on Antarctica’s King George Island. Now, the rocky landscape is visible to the naked eye, in a region that is both a victim of and a laboratory for climate change. “I had the opportunity to come here over a 15-year period, and even within a human’s lifetime, you can already see the changes brought […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Wind and solar power could meet 80 percent of US demand for electricity, as long as improvements are made in transmission and storage, researchers said Tuesday. Until a few years ago, these renewable energy sources were thought to be capable of supplying only about 20-30 percent of US needs, according to the report in the journal Energy and Environmental Science. Currently, the United States gets about two-thirds of its electricity […]
