Environment

Seeking an ‘angel’: African startups face funding challenge

By Aymeric VINCENOT in Addis Ababa, with Joris FIORITI in Paris ADDIS ABABA, July 7, 2023 (AFP) – Kubik is proud of its pioneering, climate-friendly technology that recycles one of the world’s environmental curses — plastic waste — into construction blocks. But for the award-winning Ethiopian startup to achieve liftoff has been no easy task. It has had to fight tooth and nail to raise funds, says its youthful boss. Kubik takes in bundles of […]

Climate change, El Nino drive hottest June on record

By Benjamin LEGENDRE Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The world saw its hottest June on record last month, the EU’s climate monitoring service said Thursday, as climate change and the El Niño weather pattern looked likely to drive another scorching northern summer. The EU monitor Copernicus also said preliminary data showed Tuesday was the hottest day ever recorded — beating the record set only the day before. It’s the latest in a series of […]

Monday world’s hottest day on record, initial measurements show

PARIS, France (AFP) — Monday was the world’s hottest day on record, exceeding an average of 17 degrees Celsius (62.6 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time, according to initial measurements taken on Tuesday by US meteorologists. The average daily air temperature on the planet’s surface on July 3 was logged at 17.01C by an organisation attached to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This measurement surpasses the previous daily record (16.92C) set on […]

As prices soar, Japan returns to human waste fertiliser

MIURA, Japan, June 30, 2023 (AFP) – It’s cheap, recycled, and has centuries of tradition: “shimogoe” or “fertiliser from a person’s bottom” is finding new favour in Japan as Ukraine’s war hikes the price of chemical alternatives. As in several parts of the world, the use of “night soil” to fertilise crops was once common in Japan. However, the advent of sewage systems and treatment facilities, as well as chemical fertilisers, saw it fall out […]

Smog and extreme heat, an unsafe combo for Texans

By Moisés ÁVILA Agence France-Presse HOUSTON, June 30, 2023 (AFP) — Extreme temperatures have combined with habitual smog in Houston for more than two weeks, and Erandi Trevino feels the hazardous combination in her body. “It burns my face. I feel it in my nostrils,” Trevino says. The heat wave sprawling across the southern United States has lasted since June 14, and the sultry air and humidity make for temperatures that feel like they are […]

Chicago battles unhealthy air quality amid Canadian wildfire smoke

The iconic skyline of Chicago was veiled in a thick blanket of smoke originating from the raging wildfires in Canada. The 360 Chicago Observation Deck of the John Hancock Building provided a striking view of the city obscured by the heavy haze on June 27, 2023. In response to the deteriorating air quality, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson issued a statement urging residents to exercise caution. “The City of Chicago is carefully monitoring and taking precautions […]

Jumbo problem: Sri Lanka’s battle with plastic pollution

By Amal JAYASINGHE Agence France-Presse HORANA, Sri Lanka, June 27, 2023 (AFP) — Heart-wrenching images of revered elephants and cattle eating plastic in Sri Lanka have prompted politicians to toughen pollution laws, but skeptical conservationists warn past bans were repeatedly ignored. After an estimated 20 elephant deaths and countless other wild animals perishing due to single-use plastics in the past decade, officials say a law banning many such items is expected to come into force […]

Amazon or Nile? New quest aims to settle old debate

By Eugenia LOGIURATTO RIO DE JANEIRO, June 27, 2023 (AFP) – What’s the longest river in the world, the Nile or the Amazon? The question has fueled a heated debate for years. Now, an expedition into the South American jungle aims to settle it for good. Using boats run on solar energy and pedal power, an international team of explorers plans to set off in April 2024 to the source of the Amazon in the […]

Beijing temperatures near record as extreme heat sweeps northern China

BEIJING, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – Beijing on Thursday appeared to log its hottest June temperature since reliable records began, according to weather data and local media reports, as swathes of northern China sweltered in 40-degree heat. Scientists say rising global temperatures — caused largely by burning fossil fuels — are aggravating extreme weather worldwide, and many countries in Asia have experienced deadly heatwaves and record temperatures in recent weeks. At the Nanjiao weather station […]

Billie Eilish headlining climate concert at Eiffel Tower

By Philippe GRELARD Agence France-Presse PARIS, June 22, 2023 (AFP) — Billie Eilish, Lenny Kravitz and Jon Batiste are headlining a concert aimed at building awareness around climate at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris on Thursday. The concert, organised by NGO Global Citizen, features on the sidelines of an international summit launched by President Emmanuel Macron. Artists H.E.R. and Eilish’s brother Finneas are also on the bill for the free show at […]

How climate change fuels extreme heat

  TOKYO, June 22, 2023 (AFP) – Heatwaves across Asia and beyond have already broken records this year, while the arrival of the El Nino climate phenomenon will mean even more extreme temperatures. Here AFP looks at how climate change produces extreme heat, how scientists evaluate heatwaves and the risks to human health: What is extreme heat? Extreme heat is defined from a baseline of the average temperature in any one location, which varies widely […]

Europe is world’s fastest warming continent: climate report

PARIS, June 19, 2023 (AFP) – Europe should brace for more deadly heatwaves driven by climate change, said a sweeping report on Monday, noting the world’s fastest-warming continent was some 2.3 degrees Celsius hotter last year than in pre-industrial times. Crop-withering drought, record sea-surface temperatures and unprecedented glacier melt are among the consequences laid out in a report by the World Meteorological Organization and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. The continent, which has […]