Environment

A drought-hit California town finds itself sinking into the ground

“You’ve got too many farmers pumping all around,” complained Raul Atilano. This octogenarian resident of Corcoran, the self-proclaimed farming capital of California, was struggling to make sense of the strangest of phenomena: his already suffering town is sinking, ever so gradually, into the ground. A constant stream of trucks carrying tomatoes, alfalfa or cotton outside this town of 20,000 shows just how inextricably Corcoran’s fate is tied to the intensive farming practiced here. To irrigate […]

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Hundreds of families homeless as Greek fires rage, rain saves Turkey

Hundreds of firefighters fought fires that have devoured record numbers of woodlands in Greece on Saturday and left hundreds of families homeless, but heavy rains brought respite to hard-hit Turkey. More than 1,450 Greek firefighters backed by at least 15 aircraft were battling the blazes, with reinforcements arriving from abroad, the fire service said. In Pefkofyto, in the north of Athens, pensioner Tasos Tsilivakos struggled to contain his tears. “This is a horrible disaster,” he […]

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Sumatran tigers infected with coronavirus at Indonesian zoo

Two Sumatran tigers were recovering at a Jakarta zoo after being infected with coronavirus, Indonesian officials said Sunday, as they probed how the critically endangered animals got sick. Nine-year-old Tino and 12-year-old Hari tested positive in mid-July after they experienced flu-like symptoms, trouble breathing and appetite loss. But the male tigers were on the mend after treatment. “Both animals are healthy now,” Suzi Marsitawati, head of Jakarta’s Parks and Forest Service, said in a statement. […]

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Heatwave hits Japan site of Olympic marathon

Japan’s northern Hokkaido region was supposed to offer cooler climes for next week’s Olympic marathons and race walks, but now the area is battling a heatwave. Olympic organisers moved the two events from Tokyo in 2019, worried that even shifting the start times to dawn would not be enough to keep athletes safe from the heat. The summer temperatures in Hokkaido’s Sapporo were expected to be kinder — around five or six degrees Celsius cooler […]

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Heatwave causes massive melt of Greenland ice sheet

Greenland’s ice sheet has experienced a “massive melting event” during a heatwave that has seen temperatures more than 10 degrees above seasonal norms, according to Danish researchers. Since Wednesday the ice sheet covering the vast Arctic territory, has melted by around eight billion tonnes a day, twice its normal average rate during summer, reported the Polar Portal website, which is run by Danish researchers. The Danish Meteorological Institute reported temperatures of more than 20 degrees […]

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Earth’s ‘vital signs’ worsening as humanity’s impact deepens

by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — The global economy’s business-as-usual approach to climate change has seen Earth’s “vital signs” deteriorate to record levels, an influential group of scientists said Wednesday, warning that several climate tipping points were now imminent. The researchers, part of a group of more than 14,000 scientists who have signed on to an initiative declaring a worldwide climate emergency, said that governments had consistently failed to address the root cause of […]

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Record-shattering heatwaves caused by pace of warming: study

Heatwaves that obliterate temperature records as in western Canada last month and Siberia last year are caused by the rapid pace, rather than the amount, of global warming, researchers said Monday. The findings, reported in Nature Climate Change, suggest that humanity is likely to see a lot more deadly scorchers in the coming decades. “Because we are in a period of very rapid warming, we need to prepare for more heat events that shatter previous […]

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Iceland, home to world’s most expensive feather treasure

by Jeremie RICHARD Agence France-Presse STYKKISHOLMUR, Iceland (AFP) — On a remote island in Breidafjordur Bay off the west coast of Iceland, a thousand-year-old harvest takes place — the hunt for elusive eiderdown, used to make some of the world’s best duvets and quilts. The handpicked down sells for thousands of euros (dollars) a kilo, catering to those looking for exclusive products. Every summer, nearly 400 Icelandic farmers comb through hollow surfaces in the rock, on […]

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Israel freezes UAE oil deal over environmental concerns

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Israel’s environmental protection ministry said Sunday it was delaying implementation of a proposed oil transport deal with the United Arab Emirates, freezing a project that has angered environmentalists. The agreement, which followed the UAE and Israel establishing diplomatic ties last year, would see Gulf oil brought to the Red Sea port of Eilat by tanker, than moved by pipeline through mainland Israel to the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon, from where it […]

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Ohrid Lake region avoids UNESCO ‘in danger’ list

SKOPJE, Republic of North Macedonia (AFP) — The Lake Ohrid region, shared by North Macedonia and Albania, avoided being listed as an endangered world heritage site by UN’s culture agency UNESCO on Sunday, despite concerns about urbanisation and pollution. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee gave the two Balkan nations two more years to implement recommendations to improve the region’s conservation and welcomed efforts undertaken so far. Albania and North Macedonia should by February 2023 submit a report […]

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Finland rallies to save one of world’s most endangered seals

by Sam KINGSLEY PUUMALA, United States (AFP) — The serene, icy waters of Finland’s Lake Saimaa are a boon to fishermen and tourists, but their presence also threatens one of the world’s rarest and most endangered seals. Despite seeing numbers recover in recent decades, the Saimaa ringed seal still faces extinction amid climate change and die-hard fishing habits. Out on Saimaa, a dark grey, whiskered creature pops its head up and breaks the surface in […]

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