Environment

Australian parliament approves emissions caps on big polluters

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia will force coal mines, smelters and oil refineries to cut their emissions by about five percent each year after passing breakthrough climate laws Thursday targeting the nation’s worst polluters. “It’s the first time greenhouse gas emissions reduction has been written into Australian law,” University of New South Wales sustainability expert Tommy Wiedmann said. The laws apply to some 215 major industrial facilities — each producing more than 100,000 tons of […]

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Mexico sanctioned for not protecting endangered porpoise

Geneva, Switzerland (AFP) — Mexico was sanctioned on Monday by an international wildlife body for not doing enough to protect the vaquita porpoise, the world’s most endangered marine mammal. The trade sanctions issued by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) prevent Mexico from exporting millions of dollars worth of regulated animal and plant products around the globe. The population of Pacific porpoises — nicknamed “vaquita” or little cow in Mexico — has […]

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Spain mulls options as wildfires gain in size, intensity

by Alfons LUNA Agence France-Presse TÁBARA, Spain (AFP) — Walking through the charred remains of the forested hillsides of Sierra de la Culebra that were devastated by Spain’s worst wildfire last year, Pablo Martin Pinto is blunt. “We are moving from the era of big forest fires to mega forest fires in Spain,” says this wildfire expert from Valladolid University, warning that such vast blazes were “here to stay”. Last year, Spain suffered nearly 500 […]

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Tornado survivors in US pick through debris, grateful to be alive

  Rolling Fork, United States | AFP | by Inès BEL AIBA A brick house reduced to rubble, its floors strewn with personal effects like a pink backpack and a bottle of shampoo, somehow standing upright. That’s just one of many scenes of the utter devastation left by a tornado that ripped through the southern US state of Mississippi Friday night. And shell-shocked residents of the shattered town of Rolling Fork are now grappling with […]

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UN’s global disaster alert systems goal faces uphill climb

by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — How can anyone seek shelter from a natural disaster they don’t even know is coming? Last year the United Nations called for every person on the planet to be covered by early warning systems by 2027 — but months into the effort it is becoming clear that the project will require more data and expertise. With a relatively low price tag of $3.1 billion, […]

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South Africa art show highlights destructive ties between Man and Nature

by Umberto BACCHI Agence France Presse Johannesburg, South Africa (AFP) — A lioness towers over a seemingly dead hunter, her paws pinning his body to the ground. A woman dressed in black, her face replaced by a leopard’s head, sits flanked by three prowling wild cats. The two installations are part of the latest exhibition by 72-year-old American photographic artist Roger Ballen, which opens in Johannesburg, South Africa, next Tuesday. Renowned for his thought-provoking work […]

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New ‘glass-like’ orchid species discovered in Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A new species of orchid with delicate, glass-like blooms has been discovered by Japanese scientists, who found the pink and white plant hiding in plain sight. Despite its presence in Japan’s parks and gardens, it took researchers at Kobe University a decade to confirm that the plant — dubbed the “Spiranthes hachijoensis” — was a previously unknown species. “It was a surprise to discover a new species of spiranthes, which is […]

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Tornado hits southern California as wild weather continues

by Huw GRIFFITH Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A tornado tore through a southern California city Wednesday, ripping roofs off buildings and throwing cars around, as the state’s ongoing winter weather drama turned even wilder. A swirling mass of wind — of the kind usually seen in the Midwest — raked the city of Montebello near Los Angeles, breaking windows and sending residents scurrying to safety. “I was driving… and I saw […]

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Vienna museum tilts paintings to illustrate climate change threat

Vienna, Austria (AFP) Gustav Klimt’s well-known Attersee lake painting tilted by two degrees, Egon Schiele’s painting of a tree in late autumn rotated by five degrees. As part of the initiative “A Few Degrees More”, Vienna’s Leopold Museum has tilted 15 paintings by the number of degrees unchecked climate change could affect the landscapes depicted. The initiative, launched on Wednesday, comes after climate activists poured black liquid over a glass screen protecting a Klimt piece […]

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Sunken Philippine oil tanker found: officials

A leaking oil tanker that sank in the Philippines three weeks ago has been found, officials said Tuesday, as the slick reached waters known for their rich marine life. The Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 litres (210,000 gallons) of industrial fuel oil when it sank on February 28 off the central island of Mindoro, south of the capital Manila. Diesel fuel and thick oil from the vessel have since contaminated the waters and beaches of […]

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UN ‘survival guide’ report an urgent warning on climate

Paris, France (AFP) by Marlowe HOOD / Kelly MACNAMARA The world will cross the key 1.5-degree Celsius global warming limit in about a decade, the UN said Monday, warning that devastating impacts of climate change are hitting faster than expected. In the final instalment of a major series of reports, delivered in a crucial decade in human history, the UN’s climate advisory panel urged dramatic reductions in planet-heating emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s […]

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No freedom on the horizon for Bangkok ‘mall gorilla’

Bangkok, Thailand (AFP) by Rose TROUP BUCHANAN / Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI Seven storeys above a shopfloor hawking cheap perfume and nylon underwear, Thailand’s “shopping mall gorilla” sits alone in a cage — her home for 30 years despite a re-ignited row over her captivity. Activists around the world have long campaigned for the primate to be moved from Pata Zoo, located on top of a Bangkok mall, with singer Cher and actor Gillian Anderson adding their […]

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