Environment

Female monkeys use wile to rally troops

PARIS, France (AFP) — Female vervet monkeys manipulate males into fighting battles by lavishing attention on brave soldiers while giving noncombatants the cold shoulder, researchers said on Wednesday. After a skirmish with a rival gang, usually over food, females would groom males that had fought hardest, while snapping at those that abstained. When the next battle came along, both those singled out for attention and those aggressively shunned would participate more vigorously in combat, according […]

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Riders on the waves: China’s jellyfish-hauling mules a dying breed

XIANRENDAO, China (AFP) — With a crack of his whip, Qin Yusheng drives his mules through the ocean surf off the Chinese coast, labouring to bring in the day’s catch. For decades, equine-powered carts have trundled through the shallow waters off the peninsula near Xianrendao to meet shallow-keeled trawlers piled high with jellyfish, which teem in the waters of the Yellow Sea. Now Qin, 55, and his last two mules are ready to retire, as the area’s […]

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Zoo Atlanta sets up voting website for twin panda naming

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, United States (Reuters) — Fans around the world are being invited by Zoo Atlanta on Monday (November 21) to vote on possible names for giant panda twins born on September 3. The 11 week old twins born to Lun Lun and Yang Yang in the United States will be named on December 12, their 100th day of life, in accordance with Chinese tradition. Zoo Atlanta has set up a website to help fans […]

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Sydney Zoo celebrates arrival of first baby echidnas, known as puggles, in nearly 30 years

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (Reuters) — Sydney’s iconic Taronga Zoo unveiled three healthy baby echidnas, known as puggles, on Thursday (November 17), the first to be born there in nearly 30 years. Hatched between the 16th-30th of August this year, the puggles, who have recently opened their eyes, weighed in between 250 and 500 grams, the Zoo confirmed in a statement. Echidnas are a rare Australian mammal that lays eggs, hatching after 10 days and carried in […]

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Paris Agreement passes first stress test at COP22: WFF

MARRAKECH, Morocco (20 November, 2016) –- In response to the close of COP22, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, leader of WWF International’s Climate & Energy Practice, issued the following statement: “The UN climate talks continue to be filled with twists and turns, but they have delivered what they needed to this week – putting substance behind the promise of the Paris Agreement so it can be fully implemented. The Marrakech work has not been the most glamorous, but it’s […]

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Marrakesh climate talks play down Trump win impact

  (Reuters) — Government representatives and officials at this year’s U.N. climate talks have played down the impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s victory last week on global momentum to tackle global warming, while Fiji leaders prepare to host next year’s international conference on climate change. Speaking to delegates at a news conference COP22 President Mezouar said ”We don’t have any doubt about the spirit of pragmatism of President Donald Trump, nor the commitment demonstrated […]

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World looks up to gaze at extra bright ‘supermoon’

by Kerry SHERIDAN with Katy Lee in Paris MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Skygazers took to high-rise buildings, tourist landmarks and beaches worldwide on Monday to catch a glimpse of the closest “supermoon” to Earth in almost seven decades. The unusually big and bright moon happens when the Earth’s satellite rock is full at the same time as, or very near, perigee — its closest point to our planet on its monthly ellipsis-shaped orbit. At […]

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Record heat in 2016 but no drop in CO2 emissions: reports

  by Céline Serrat and Marlowe Hood MARRAKESH, Morocco (AFP) – The year 2016 is on track to be the hottest on record, the UN forecast Monday, while the World Bank calculated that 26 million people slip into poverty annually due to natural disasters, reflecting the risks posed by climate change. Scientists, meanwhile, reported that greenhouse-gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming, remained constant for the third year running in 2015. All […]

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Skygazers gawp at extra bright ‘supermoon’

by Sam Reeves Jakarta, Indonesia (AFP) — Skygazers took to high-rise buildings, observatories and beaches Monday to get a glimpse of the closest “supermoon” to Earth in almost seven decades, and snap dramatic pictures. The unusually big and bright moon appeared at its most impressive just as night fell over Asia, but astronomy enthusiasts will be able to see Earth’s satellite loom large anywhere in the world shortly after sunset, weather permitting. The phenomenon happens […]

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CO2 emissions level off, still too high to save climate: report

by Mariëtte Le Roux MARRAKESH, Morocco (AFP) –Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels have been nearly flat for three years in a row — a “great help” but not enough to stave off dangerous global warming, a report said Monday. Emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide stayed level in 2015 at 36.3 billion tonnes (GtCO2) and were projected to rise “only slightly”, by 0.2 percent in 2016, according to the annual Global Carbon Budget report compiled […]

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New York braces for the looming threats of climate change

New York, United States ( AFP ) -by Catherine TRIOMPHE On calm days, waters innocently wash against the aging seawalls at Manhattan’s southernmost park, but in decades to come they could inundate the island’s lower districts. If the latest apocalyptic climate change projections come true — with sea levels rising upwards of 28 inches (70 cm) by 2050 — Wall Street and Ellis Island could be swallowed up. The wrath of Superstorm Sandy — which killed more than […]

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Last 5 years were the hottest on record – UN

MARRAKESH, MOROCCO (Reuters) — The past five years were the hottest on record with mounting evidence that heat waves, floods and rising sea levels are increasing because of man-made climate change, the United Nations weather agency said on Tuesday (November 8). A report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed 2015 was the first year in which temperatures were one degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, partly because of an El Niño weather event […]

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