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by Issam AHMED Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) — Water covers 70 percent of the Earth’s surface and is crucial to life as we know it, but how it got here has been a longstanding scientific debate. The puzzle was a step closer to being solved Thursday after a French team reported in the journal Science they had identified which space rocks were responsible, and suggested our planet has been wet ever since […]
by Nina LARSON GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Global temperatures boosted by climate change will still be higher than usual despite the cooling effect of a La Nina weather phenomenon expected to develop in the coming months, the UN said Thursday. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there was a 60 percent chance of a La Nina event between September and November. But WMO chief Petteri Taalas warned in a statement that “even if a La […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rampant fires in the Amazon are “poisoning the air” of the world’s biggest rainforest, causing a sharp rise in respiratory emergencies in a region already hit hard by Covid-19, said a study published Wednesday. The fires that engulfed the Brazilian Amazon last year to global outcry caused an estimated 2,195 people in the region to be hospitalized for respiratory distress driven by inhaling smoke-polluted air, found the study by […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse More than half the ice shelves ringing Antarctica that prevent huge glaciers from sliding into the ocean and lifting sea levels are at risk of crumbling due to climate change, researchers said Wednesday. Melt water running into deep fissures caused by warming air is undermining the structural integrity of these natural barricades, they reported in Nature. “If the ice shelves fill up with melt water, things can happen very quickly,” […]
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius (AFP) — Eighteen melon-headed whales washed up on the shores of Mauritius on Wednesday, the country’s fisheries minister said, dismissing any link to a devastating oil spill earlier this month. The whales, some of which were still alive when they were found and later died, were stranded on the south-eastern beaches of Grand Sable, and some of them had injuries. Fisheries minister Sudheer Maudhoo told a press conference that all 18 of the […]
by Marlowe HOOD PARIS, France (AFP) — More than half the ice shelves ringing Antarctica that prevent huge glaciers from sliding into the ocean and lifting sea levels are at risk of crumbling due to climate change, researchers said Wednesday. Melt water running into deep fissures caused by warming air is undermining the structural integrity of these natural barricades, they reported in Nature. “If the ice shelves fill up with melt water, things can happen […]
by Haydar Indhar Agence France-Presse DIWANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) — With its neighbours activating new dams, Iraq’s historic twin rivers could run dry — unless new infrastructure projects and tense talks with Turkey and Iran bear fruit. Nowhere is the effect on the country more palpable than in Basra, Iraq’s only coastal province. Here, the Tigris and Euphrates — on which millions of Iraqis rely to farm — meet at the Shatt al-Arab waterway before spilling […]
NIAMEY, Niger (AFP) — Several districts of Niger’s capital Niamey were submerged in floodwaters on Tuesday after heavy rainfall caused the Niger River to break its banks. Homes, rice fields and market gardens were destroyed as the Nigerien government asked residents to evacuate affected areas of the city. Almost all of Niamey’s 1.5 million inhabitants live on the banks of the river and some have even built their houses in its bed. “The damage is […]
by Andrew BEATTY Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s devastating 2019-2020 bushfires were “clearly” fuelled by climate change, a government inquiry reported Tuesday following some of the largest forest fires ever recorded worldwide. With this year’s fire season already underway, authorities recommended urgent action to limit the impact of extreme blazes, expected “to become more frequent” in future. The deadly bushfires raged for nine months to March and were most severe in New South Wales […]
by Olivier MONNIER Agence France-Presse TORONTO, Canada (AFP) — In the shadow of Canada’s largest cluster of skyscrapers, Toronto is looking to preserve a majestic, centuries-old oak tree — but efforts have been complicated by the pandemic. The towering 24-meter (79-feet) high Northern Red Oak is one of the oldest trees in these parts, having sprouted an estimated 300 years ago, around the time that French explorers set up a trading post on the nearby […]
LOS ANGELES, California (AFP) — Thousands of firefighters made small progress on Monday as they battled to contain historic wildfires in California, with potentially dangerous lighting storms proving milder than expected and temperatures easing. Governor Gavin Newsom said some 625 fires were burning throughout the state and had scorched more than 1.2 million acres — nearly the size of the Grand Canyon. Of those fires, 17 were considered major, he said, including the LNU Lightning […]
PORT LOUIS, Mauritius (AFP) — The broken stem of a Japanese-owned ship which ran aground causing a devastating oil spill in pristine waters off Mauritius, has been successfully sunk in the open ocean, the national crisis committee said Monday. The MV Wakashio ran aground on a coral reef off the Indian Ocean island on July 25 and began leaking oil two weeks later, prompting a race against the clock to pump all the fuel off the […]
