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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Researchers estimate there are significantly more species of trees on Earth than currently known, with more than 9,000 species yet to be discovered, according to a study published Monday. “Estimating the number of tree species is essential to inform, optimize, and prioritize forest conservation efforts across the globe,” said the study, which was published in the US National Academy of Sciences journal PNAS and involved dozens of scientists. About 64,100 […]
by Florian CAZERES Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Rising tensions with Moscow over Ukraine have exposed Germany’s problematic dependence on Russian gas, inflaming an already heated debate over soaring energy prices. As Germany pursues its target to transition to cleaner energy sources over the next decade, Europe’s biggest economy has counted on gas temporarily filling the gap while it builds up its sun and wind energy capacity to replace nuclear and coal plants. But […]
by Francisco JARA Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) – The oil spill off the coast of Peru sparked by a volcanic eruption thousands of miles away is twice as big as previously reported, the government said Friday. The announcement came hours after a court banned four directors from the Spanish oil company Repsol, which owns the refinery where the accident took place, from leaving the country for 18 months. Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez told reporters […]
RAYONG, Thailand (AFP) – Oil washing up on a beach on Thailand’s east coast could be the “nail in the coffin” for pandemic-hit hotels and restaurants, local hospitality businesses said Saturday. The Thai navy and pollution experts are scrambling to clean up Tuesday night’s spill in the Gulf of Thailand where at least 60 tonnes of crude leaked about 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the coast of Rayong province. Crews in yellow plastic protective suits […]
by Archana THIYAGARAJAN Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – India’s capital New Delhi is shivering through an unusually harsh bout of winter cold, blamed for killing scores of homeless people and leaving other hard-up residents struggling to keep warm. The sprawling megacity’s 20 million inhabitants are accustomed to year-round weather extremes, from blistering summer heat to torrential downpours and thick, toxic smog at the end of autumn. Still, the bracing chill and blustery rains […]
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) – Ecuador said it was monitoring the progress of an operation to clean up an oil leak in the Amazon jungle that threatens to pollute a river. Heavy rains caused a mudslide at Piedra Fina in the eastern Napo province on Friday. A rock struck and ruptured an oil pipeline resulting in the leak of a “huge quantity” of oil, a ministry official said on Saturday. The environment ministry said on Sunday […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – A judge on Thursday canceled the sale of oil and gas exploration leases of some 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico, after environmental groups sued the Biden administration citing major concerns. Federal District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras declared existing contracts invalid, saying the Department of the Interior did not adequately consider the leases’ impact on climate change when issuing them. According to the ruling, officials had used […]
SYDNEY, Austalia (AFP) – Australia unveiled a billion-dollar package to protect the climate-ravaged Great Barrier Reef on Friday, hoping to prevent the vast network of corals from being removed from UNESCO’s World Heritage list. Conservative prime minister Scott Morrison announced the Aus$1 billion (US$700 million) nine-year plan, months after narrowly avoiding the reef being placed on UNESCO’s “in danger” list. “We are backing the health of the reef and the economic future of tourism operators, […]
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) – Sweden’s government on Thursday announced it was approving a plan to provide a final storage place for radioactive spent nuclear fuel by burying it in metal containers deep in bedrock. The site of the final storage will be a facility in Forsmark, which is also the home of one of Sweden’s three nucelar power plants, about 130 kilometres ( 81 miles) north of Stockholm. “We are doing this to take responsibility, […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said Thursday it will work with Japan’s atomic energy agency to provide technical assistance to a US start-up run by Bill Gates that is building a next-generation nuclear reactor in Wyoming. American billionaire Gates is the founder and chair of TerraPower, which plans to build its plant in the US state by 2028 using a new technology called Natrium, touted as a “carbon-free, reliable energy solution”. The Japanese […]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) – A long-abandoned fuel tanker off the coast of war-torn Yemen poses a “grave threat” to millions of the impoverished country’s residents, potentially exacerbating its humanitarian crisis, Greenpeace warned on Thursday. The 45-year-old fuel vessel FSO Safer has 1.1 million barrels of crude on board and has been moored out at sea about six kilometres (four miles) off Yemen’s western lifeline port of Hodeida. “The abandoned tanker, with its toxic […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Glaciers are retreating faster globally due to climate change but they melt more quickly when they flow into a lake than when they end on land, with consequences for water supplies, a new study found on Thursday. The Swiss-funded study is the first large-scale, detailed analysis of the phenomenon in mountain glaciers and could help forecast major water shortages and huge flood waves. It examined all 319 glaciers in the eastern […]
