Environment

Climate crisis has ‘opened the gates to hell’, UN chief tells summit

By Issam AHMED UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday told world leaders the climate crisis had “opened the gates to hell” during a summit where leading polluters China and the United States were conspicuously absent. The talks were partly overshadowed by an announcement from Britain — also not present — that it was rolling back policies that would help it achieve its net-zero goal. Despite increasing extreme weather events and record-shattering global temperatures, greenhouse gas […]

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Tornado in eastern China kills 10, hundreds relocated

A tornado in eastern China killed 10 people and seriously injured several others, state media said Wednesday, the latest in a string of extreme weather events to strike the country. “Yesterday afternoon, a strong tornado occurred in Suqian, Jiangsu Province… causing casualties and property loss in certain areas,” state broadcaster CCTV said. The tornado affected more than 5,500 people, with 137 houses collapsing, according to “preliminary statistics” cited in the report. More than 400 people […]

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Heaviest rains in century bring floods to Caspian Sea coast: Iran media

Flash floods have injured 20 people in northern Iran, after what officials described as the region’s heaviest rains in a century, Iranian media reported. The rains have battered the cities of Astara and Talesh, on the Caspian Sea coast near the border with Azerbaijan since Sunday, the reports said. “Heavy rains … have fallen over Astara which have not been seen in 100 years,” Gilan province’s head of crisis management Amir Moradi told the ISNA […]

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Invasive species on the menu at London restaurant

By Daniel MATTHEWS and Sylvain PEUCHMAURD A London restaurant is exploring whether eating invasive species such as grey squirrel, American Signal crayfish and Japanese knotweed could help fight their spread, but scientists remain sceptical. The idea behind several “invasive species supper clubs”, the last of which was served on Tuesday at “zero waste” Silo restaurant in east London, is to “creatively popularise species that are detrimental to the environment”, chef Douglas McMaster, who runs the […]

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Most species of ‘world’s largest flower’ risk extinction: study

Most species of the famously large Rafflesia flower, which has long captured the imagination with its enormous speckled red petals, are now at risk of extinction, new research warned Wednesday. Rafflesia is actually a parasite, and lives on tropical vines across parts of Southeast Asia, producing blooms that are among the largest in the world. It is something of an enigma, with its flowers emerging unpredictably, and botanists have had limited success propagating it outside […]

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Australia warns of worse fires, heat as El Nino kicks in

Australia’s weather bureau confirmed on Tuesday that an El Nino weather pattern is under way, bringing hot and dry conditions that risk a severe wildfire season and drought. The announcement, which follows similar confirmations from other weather agencies, came as the country bakes in unseasonal heat, with the weather agency warning of more to come. Government forecaster Karl Braganza said elevated surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean could impact the country until early next year. […]

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Solar panels go into service near North Pole

By Viken KANTARCI Norway has installed solar panels in its Svalbard archipelago, a region plunged in round-the-clock darkness all winter, in a pilot project that could help remote Arctic communities transition to green energy. Neatly lined up in six rows in a field, 360 solar panels will on Thursday begin providing electricity to an old shipping radio station, Isfjord Radio, now converted into a base camp for tourists. The windswept archipelago — also known as […]

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Water shortage drives elephant migration from Zimbabwe

Large numbers of elephants from Zimbabwe’s biggest national park are moving to neighbouring Botswana in a search for water, a spokesman said Monday. “Many animals have and are moving from Hwange National Park into Botswana” Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo told AFP. Hwange National Park covers an area of more than 14,600 square kilometres (5,600 square miles) and is home to about 50,000 elephants. “Water bodies have dried up and the […]

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Marine heatwaves last longer in deeper water: study

Marine heatwaves may last longer and be more intense in deeper water, potentially threatening sensitive species as climate change makes the extreme events more frequent, researchers said on Monday. Oceans have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat produced by the carbon pollution from human activity since the dawn of the industrial age. Marine heatwaves — episodes of abnormally high water temperatures — have become more frequent and intense. These can have a particularly severe […]

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Scientists warn entire branches of the ‘Tree of Life’ are going extinct

By Lucie AUBOURG Humans are driving the loss of entire branches of the “Tree of Life,” according to a new study published on Monday which warns of the threat of a sixth mass extinction. “The extinction crisis is as bad as the climate change crisis. It is not recognized,” said Gerardo Ceballos, professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and co-author of the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). […]

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Climate protesters throng New York, demand end to fossil fuels

NEW YORK, Sept 17, 2023 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of New York on Sunday, calling for increased action against climate change ahead of the opening of the UN General Assembly. Taking up multiple city blocks, protesters from some 700 organizations and activist groups carried signs reading “Biden, end fossil fuels,” “Fossil fuels are killing us” and “I didn’t vote for fires and floods” in a demonstration that came […]

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California sues oil giants, alleging climate risks deception: NYT

LOS ANGELES, Sept 16, 2023 (AFP) – The US state of California sued five of the world’s largest oil companies on Friday, alleging the firms caused billions of dollars in damages and misled the public by minimizing the risks from fossil fuels, The New York Times reported. It follows numerous other cases brought by US cities, counties and states against fossil fuel interests over the impact of climate change as well as alleged disinformation campaigns […]

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