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It may have deadly animals and wild weather, but Palm Cove in Australia’s northeast has been named the world’s best beach, beating rivals in Hawaii, Greece and Fiji. The two-kilometre stretch of pristine white sands backed by rows of palm trees was ranked number one beach in the world by the magazine Conde Nast Traveller. Palm Cove sits well within Australia’s “Croc Country” and its bustling restaurants and high-end hotels were battered by Tropical Cyclone […]
Natural predators like birds, beetles and bugs might be an effective alternative to pesticides, keeping crop-devouring pests populations down while boosting crop yields, researchers said Wednesday. Pests are responsible for around 10 percent — or 21 million tonnes — of crop losses every year, but controlling them has lead to the widespread use of chemical pesticides. Could birds, spiders and beetles among other invertebrate predators do the job as well? Researchers in Brazil, the United […]
By Robin MILLARD GENEVA, March 5, 2024 (AFP) – The warming El Nino weather phenomenon that peaked in December was one of the five strongest ever recorded, the United Nations said Tuesday, predicting that it would produce above-normal temperatures from now to May. Though El Nino is now gradually weakening, its impact will continue over the coming months by fuelling the heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) […]
Vietnamese capital Hanoi was blanketed by a thick haze of pollution on Tuesday that obscured high-rise buildings and left the city’s nearly nine million people breathing toxic air. The city topped air monitoring website IQAir’s table of the world’s most polluted cities early Tuesday afternoon. Levels of PM2.5 pollutants — cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs — were classified as “very unhealthy” and hit more than 24 times the World […]
By Bruno KALOUAZ In the Tian-Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan, villagers have made an artificial glacier to provide water for their drought-hit farms. Standing on the ice hillock, farmer Erkinbek Kaldanov said he was optimistic about harnessing nature to counteract climate change. “We won’t have any more problems with water,” said the farmer, who was worried for his sheep last year after some unusual temperature spikes. “When the glacier melts, there will be enough water for […]
One-fifth of fish species in the Mekong river face the threat of extinction, according to a new report from a coalition of regional and international environmental groups. The Mekong — among the world’s most biodiverse rivers, surpassed only by the Amazon and the Congo — is home to some 1,148 recognised species of fish, with millions of people relying on its waters for their incomes. But it faces a multitude of threats, according to environmentalists, […]
By Juan BARRETO, Juan RESTREPO ON BOARD THE ARC SIMON BOLIVAR, Antártida, March 2, 2024 (AFP) – Sea ice levels in Antarctica have registered historic lows for three consecutive years, portending grave consequences for life on Earth as we know it. But looking out over the southernmost continent, scientist Miguel Angel de Pablo laments that humanity seems to be oblivious to the warnings. “We (scientists) are very worried… because we don’t see how we can […]
MANILA, March 1, 2024 (AFP) – Faulty warning systems, poverty and deforestation of mountains in the southern Philippines turned recent unseasonably heavy rains into deadly disasters, scientists said in a report Friday. More than 100 people were killed in landslides and floods in January and February on the country’s second-largest island of Mindanao as the northeast monsoon and a low pressure trough brought downpours. A study by the World Weather Attribution group found the unsually […]
By Andrew LEESON If you want a snappy death, one expert’s advice is to leap into a river near the Australian city of Darwin — within minutes, you’ll be in the jaws of one of the hundreds of crocodiles that stalk its murky waters. That’s the promise of Grahame Webb, whose conservation efforts are credited with helping wrestle Australia’s saltwater predators back from the verge of extinction. “You can’t sugarcoat crocs; these are seriously dangerous,” […]
By Ella IDE Marilina Barreca has two grim options: feed her cows tainted fodder or set them to graze on barren hillsides as Sicily battles a crop-devastating drought which is sucking reservoirs dry. Regional authorities in the southern Italian island declared a state of emergency earlier this month, after the winter rains hoped for following last year’s punishingly hot summer failed. “The situation is tragic,” Barreca told AFP as she looked out over the Madonie […]
HANOI, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) – Southern Vietnam, including business hub Ho Chi Minh City and its “rice bowl” Mekong Delta region, suffered an unusually long heatwave in February, weather officials said Wednesday. Several areas of the delta are also suffering drought and farmers are struggling to transport their crops due to low water levels in the region’s canals. The intense period of heat began on February 9, meteorologists told AFP, with temperatures reaching up […]
WASHINGTON, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) Cities across the United States and Canada reached record February temperatures this week, with multiple municipalities experiencing summer-like heat despite three remaining weeks of winter. The midwestern city of Saint Louis, in Missouri, saw the mercury hit 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday, the highest temperature ever recorded in that month, after the heat peaked at 80F on Monday. An El Nino weather pattern is at play, in […]
