Environment

WATCH: Spectacular thunderstorm wows locals in east China

LIANCHENG COUNTY, China (CCTV) –A spectacular thunderstorm has wowed Chinese netizens and smart phone users with its vertical column of downpours in east China’s Fujian Province. The thunderstorm occurred Friday last week. Even amateur footage cannot hide the awesomeness of this half-hour awe-struck celestial phenomenon. Most viewers of the footage aspired for an explanation. “This spectacle occurred due to localized strong convection, judging by our radar returns. The wet microburst against sunshine made it all […]

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Sri Lanka navy rescues two elephants washed out to sea

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Two young elephants washed out to sea were saved from drowning Sunday by the Sri Lankan navy in the second such incident off the island in as many weeks. The navy said the pair of wild elephants were brought ashore after a “mammoth effort” involving navy divers, ropes and a flotilla of boats to tow them back to shallow waters. Photos showed the elephants in distress, barely keeping their trunks […]

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Fewer ‘good air’ days in China despite official efforts

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese cities had fewer “good air” days in the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year despite government efforts to curb incessant smog, according to official data. China has vowed to target coal-burning and vehicle emissions, increase investment in clean energy and punish polluters in a bid to improve the air quality of the world’s second largest economy. But the measures had yet to bear fruit in […]

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Solar eclipse offers millions a chance at citizen science

by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Millions of people, from students to rocket scientists, are poised to contribute to a massive scientific effort to study the total solar eclipse that will sweep across the United States August 21. The entire country will fall into shadow as the “Great American Eclipse” passes, though the darkest path, or “totality,” will be contained in a 70-mile (113-kilometer) ribbon that moves from Oregon to […]

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Paying to preserve trees helps fight warming: study

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Paying small amounts of cash to convince landowners not to cut down their trees is a highly effective strategy for reducing carbon emissions that drive climate change, researchers said Thursday. Trees are important because they absorb lots of carbon dioxide, which is a by-product of fossil fuel burning and is the primary of driver of global warming. The analysis of a system called “Payments for Ecosystems” in Uganda showed its […]

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World’s northernmost coral reef in Japan bleached

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Bleaching has damaged the world’s northernmost coral reef in Japan, a researcher said Tuesday, the latest example of a global phenomenon scientists have attributed to high ocean temperatures. Healthy coral reefs protect shores from storms and offer habitats for fish and other marine life, including ecologically and economically important species. After coral dies, reefs quickly degrade and the structures that coral build erode. While coral can recover from mild bleaching, severe […]

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Size key to top speed in animals: study

by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — It’s not quite E=mc2, but scientists unveiled Monday a simple, powerful formula that explains why some animals run, fly and swim faster than all others. Call it the “speed rule”: strength alone does not determine top velocity because land mammals, birds and fish can only accelerate for as long as they can draw from available energy stored in muscle tissue. An intermediate body size — […]

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With materials scarce, Cuban designers master recycling chic

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) — Designers in Cuba are turning trash to treasure, forced to think outside the box and re-purpose rubbish amidst a shortage of raw materials in the Caribbean nation. Olaff Alejo’s salt lamps are eerily beautiful and designed to purify the air. Yet the Cuban designer must rummage through trash bins and scour the sidewalks of Havana for scraps of wood and obsolete electrical devices to manufacture them. In Cuba, designers of clothes and […]

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Microbes could have evolved to feed on plastic

HAWAII, United States (Reuters) — Surveys of ocean areas where floating plastic accumulates, such as the North Atlantic gyre, have found far less plastic than expected, perhaps less than a tenth as much. A mathematical formula developed by Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona researchers Blai Vidiella and Nuria Conde could not explain the trend, but the pair believes a population boom in microbes that evolved to biodegrade plastic is the explanation. Conde told Reuters: “What […]

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Trillion-ton iceberg breaks off Antarctica

by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A Delaware-sized iceberg, one of the largest ever seen, was set adrift after snapping from a West Antarctic ice shelf that will be closely watched for signs of collapse, scientists said Wednesday. A crack in the Larsen C ice shelf, a drifting extension of the land-based ice sheet, finally broke through after inching its way across the frozen formation for years. It created an […]

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Cash incentives help entrepreneur persuade Nigerians to recycle

LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) — Olamide Babajide goes out on the streets of Lagos to shop for old tires, a key component for her furniture products. Babajide is the founder of Pearl Recycling, a company that transforms recyclables like car tires, magazines, straws, plastics and wood among other things into household items. The company also offers money in exchange for recyclable garbage. Pearl Recycling was set up in 2014 with 5,000 U.S dollars that Babajide won […]

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Ice, watermelon and water sprays for animals at Beijing zoo amid heatwave

BEIJING, China — A heatwave in Beijing has prompted zoo staff to employ measures to protect its animals from high temperatures. Zoo personnel at the Beijing Wildlife Park provided ice and watermelons to the animals and employed water sprays to provide the creatures a respite from the heatwave that has prompted the government to hoist a yellow alert nationwide on July 9. China has a three-tier weather warning system, from red to the orange and yellow, […]

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