Environment

Energy-saving LEDs boost light pollution worldwide

by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — They were supposed to bring about an energy revolution — but the popularity of LED lights is driving an increase in light pollution worldwide, with dire consequences for human and animal health, researchers said Wednesday. The study in the journal Science Advances is based on satellite data showing that the Earth’s night is getting brighter, and artificially lit outdoor surfaces grew at a pace […]

Dazzling display of Northern Lights light up Alaska skies

ALASKA, United States (Reuters) — The skies over Anchorage, Alaska were lit up by the soft green glow of the Northern Lights early Tuesday morning (November 21). The time lapse was captured by a local weather camera, NBC reported. The striking aurora display was seen in various parts of the state, giving residents a spectacular light show in the early hours of the morning. The Northern Lights are a result of collisions between electrically charged […]

Spain, Portugal struggle with extreme drought

by Adrien Vicente Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Spain and Portugal are grappling with a devastating drought which has left rivers nearly dry, sparked deadly wildfires and devastated crops — and experts warn that prolonged dry spells will become more frequent. Nearly all of Portugal has suffered extreme drought conditions during the last six months, which has not happened since 2005. A majority of Spain has also received considerably less rain than it normally would. “It’s […]

World’s largest whales are mostly ‘right-handed’: study

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Blue whales, the world’s largest animals, usually favor their right side when they lunge to catch food — a preference similar to right-handedness in people, researchers said Monday. But on certain occasions while moving upward in shallow water, these righties will almost always shift to their left to keep a good eye on their favored prey — tiny crustaceans known as krill. The reason for this situation-specific choice is likely […]

NASA launches next-generation weather satellite

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Santa Barbara County, California (AFP) — NASA on Saturday launched a next-generation satellite into space designed to monitor weather around the world and help improve forecasts. The satellite, called the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1), is a joint venture between the US space agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which provides weather reports and forecasts. The satellite was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket as scheduled at 1:47 […]

UN climate envoys agree on way forward, despite Trump

by Mariette le Roux and Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse BONN, Germany (AFP) — Negotiations to bolster the climate-saving Paris Agreement, crafted over two decades, closed in Bonn Saturday, deflated but not derailed by Donald Trump’s rejection of the treaty and defense of fossil fuels. The US President’s decision to yank the United States from the hard-fought global pact cast a long shadow over the talks, which ran deep into overtime. Negotiations were marked by […]

Turquoise waterfalls dry up after Mexico quakes

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico (AFP) — The Agua Azul waterfalls in southern Mexico are a playground of bright turquoise water cascading over limestone steps. But after a powerful earthquake hit the country, they dried up — and the area’s once-booming tourist economy along with them. The state of Chiapas, where the falls trickle near the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque, was the epicenter of the 8.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Mexico on September 7, killing 96 […]

World leaders plead for climate action at UN forum

by Mariette le Roux and Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse BONN, Germany  — World leaders shared the spotlight with a 12-year-old Pacific islander on Wednesday to drive home a plea for urgent climate action despite the Trump administration’s rejection of a planet rescue plan. UN chief Antonio Guterres, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel led the diplomatic push in Bonn, but it was a small boy with a big smile who got the message […]

Malaysia-born giant panda cub returns to China

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuters) — Nuan Nuan, the first Malaysia-born female giant panda cub, returned to China on Tuesday. Born on Aug. 18, 2015 to two loaned Chinese pandas, Nuan Nuan, meaning warmth, was loved by her keepers and other Malaysian people, according to staffers of the Giant Panda Conservation Center of the Malaysian National Zoo. “Giant panda is like a symbol of peace that can unite the two countries, which is a great experience. […]

Toxic smog continues to choke Indian capital even as some schools reopen

NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) — A thick cloud of toxic smog 10 times the recommended limit enveloped India’s capital New Delhi on Monday (November 13), as government officials struggled to tackle a public health crisis that is well into its second week. A U.S. embassy measure showed levels of poisonous airborne particles, known as PM 2.5, had reached 495 on Monday morning, compared with the upper limit of “good” quality air at 50. India’s weather […]

Dimming Sun’s rays to cool planet will affect storms too: study

by Marlowe Hood Agence France-Presse BONN, Germany (AFP) — Injecting billions of reflective particles into the stratosphere could help cool an overheating planet, but would also alter the intensity of tropical storms, researchers said Tuesday. Depending on the hemisphere in which such aerosols are released, hurricanes in the North Atlantic would become weaker or stronger, they reported in Nature Communications. Moreover, efforts to engineer lower global temperatures could induce severe drought in northern Africa’s Sahel, a region […]

Indonesia to investigate deaths of four beached whales

UJONG KAREUNG Beach, Aceh Province, Indonesia (Reuters) — Authorities will perform autopsies on four beached whales found in Aceh province to investigate  their cause of death, the investigation team said on Tuesday (November 14). Indonesian volunteers managed to save six whales beached on the northern tip of Sumatra but four died. Rescuers worked late into Monday (November 13) night to free six of 10 massive sperm animals using ropes and patrol boats and turn them back […]