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by Marion THIBAUT Agence France Presse Churchill, Canada (AFP)– Sprawled on rocky ground far from sea ice, a lone Canadian polar bear sits under a dazzling sun, his white fur utterly useless as camouflage. It’s mid-summer on the shores of Hudson Bay and life for the enormous male has been moving in slow motion, far from the prey that keeps him alive: seals. This is a critical time for the region’s polar bears. Every year […]
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Some one billion children are at “extremely high risk” due to climate change harms, a rights group warned on Wednesday, adding that youths’ living standards failed to improve in the last decade. The KidsRights index, based on figures supplied by UN agencies, also said more than one-third of the world’s children, some 820 million, were currently exposed to heatwaves. Water scarcity affected 920 million children worldwide, while diseases […]
Wellington, New Zealand (AFP) — Saving an endangered bird and commuting via helicopter in New Zealand may sound like a dream gig, but so far a job to protect a rare flightless bird is not taking off among applicants. The Department of Conservation in the tiny town of Haast — perched on the western edge of Mount Aspiring National Park — has received just three applications so far for the role, said operations manager Wayne […]
by Ryland JAMES Agence France Presse Wellington, New Zealand (AFP) — The world’s fattest parrot can’t fly, and now it can’t run either. Voting began on Monday in New Zealand’s always-controversial Bird of the Year contest, with angry twitchers spitting feathers at a decision to ban the twice-winning kakapo. The beguiling owl parrot — which resembles a verdant feathered bowling ball — already won the contest in 2008 and 2020, and came runner up in […]
Faida, Iraq (AFP) — Authorities in northern Iraq on Sunday unveiled an “archaeological park” of 2,700-year-old carvings from the rule of the Assyrians, including showing kings praying. The 13 stunning monumental rock-carved bas-reliefs were cut into the walls of an irrigation canal that stretches for some 10 kilometres (six miles) at Faida in northern Iraq. The panels, measuring five metres (16 feet) wide and two metres tall, date from the reigns of Sargon II (721-705 […]
Paris, France | AFP | Europe faces a higher-than-usual chance of a cold blast of weather before the end of the year, but the winter overall is likely to be warmer than average, the continent’s long-range weather forecaster said Thursday. Temperatures this winter will be crucial for homeowners worried about the record cost of heating their homes, and for European policymakers seeking to avoid energy rationing due to cuts in Russian gas supplies. “We […]
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse Geneva, Switzerland (AFP) — Heatwaves will become so extreme in certain regions of the world within decades that human life there will be unsustainable, the United Nations and the Red Cross said Monday. Heatwaves are predicted to “exceed human physiological and social limits” in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and south and southwest Asia, with extreme events triggering “large-scale suffering and loss of life”, the organisations said. Heatwave […]
Hobart, Australia (AFP) — The death of about 200 pilot whales at a Tasmanian beach has renewed questions about what causes such mass strandings and whether they can be prevented. With the help of Karen Stockin, a whale stranding expert at New Zealand’s Massey University, here are the answers to five key questions: What causes mass strandings? Scientists are still trying to work that out. They do know that there are multiple types of stranding […]
by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France Presse United Nations, United States (AFP) — If rising seas engulf the Maldives and Tuvalu, will those countries be wiped off the map? And what happens to their citizens? The prospect is no longer science fiction as global warming gathers pace, posing an unprecedented challenge to the international community, and threatening entire peoples with the loss of their land and identity. “This is the biggest tragedy that a people, a […]
by Patrick GALEY Agence France Presse Paris, France (AFP)– Human-caused climate change made this summer’s drought across the Northern Hemisphere at least 20 times more likely, according to a rapid analysis released Wednesday that warns such extreme dry periods will become increasingly common with global heating. The three months from June-August were the hottest in Europe since records began, and the exceptionally high temperatures led to the worst drought the continent has witnessed since the […]
Sydney, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s government vowed to stop plant and animal extinctions Tuesday as it listed the grey snake and a small wallaby among 15 new threatened species. Many of Australia’s unique species are clinging to existence, their habitats shrinking from human activity and extreme events such as the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, wildlife groups say. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government announced a new 10-year scheme to try to halt the slide into extinction […]
Paris, France | AFP | by Kelly MACNAMARA Climate change increased the rainfall from Hurricane Ian by more than 10 percent, according to a new quick-fire analysis, as one of the most powerful storms ever to hit the United States devastated parts of Florida. Ian “could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida history”, President Joe Biden said after the storm brought ferocious winds, turned streets into churning rivers that swept away homes and left an […]
