Environment

UNESCO announces 20 new biospheres in 21 countries

ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) – UNESCO on Wednesday added 20 new sites in 21 countries to its global network of biosphere reserves, the UN agency’s designation for specially protected regions. New biosphere reserves are designated each year to promote sustainable development, protect terrestrial, marine and coastal ecosystems and encourage conservation. For the first time, Lesotho, Libya and Saudi Arabia joined the list. In Lesotho, the Matseng Biosphere Reserve covers an area of 112,033 hectares in the northern […]

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Tunis residents decry beaches too polluted for swimming

by Akim Rezgui with Francoise Kadri in Tunis EZZAHRA, Tunisia (AFP) — Tahar Jaouebi looks out from a beach south of Tunis remembering the 1990s, when the water was still clean enough to bathe in. “Now I can’t swim any more, and neither can my son,” he says. Jaouebi, 47, is one of hundreds of protesters who formed a human chain over the weekend to highlight the pollution plaguing the coast south of the Tunisian […]

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La Niña climate cycle may reemerge in 2021: UN

  GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The weather phenomenon La Niña could resurface before the end of 2021, after petering out four months ago, the UN said Thursday, predicting above-average temperatures despite its generally cooling influence. The World Meteorological Organization said that there was now a 40-percent chance that La Niña, which last held the globe in its clutches between August 2020 and May, would reappear again by year-end. “But despite La Niña’s cooling influence, temperatures […]

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Solar could comprise almost half US power by 2050, govt says

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Solar power could account for nearly half of the United States’ electricity supply by the middle of the century, according to a government study released Wednesday. The report, released by the Department of Energy, said solar could account for much as 40 percent of the power supply by 2035 and 45 percent by 2050, up from its current level of just three percent. However reaching this level would require […]

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On thin ice: Near North Pole, a warning on climate change

by Ekaterina ANISIMOVA A massive icebreaker cuts its way through the frozen waters of the Arctic Ocean, clearing a path to the North Pole, all white as far as the eye can see. But even here, the impact of climate change can be felt. Dmitry Lobusov has seen it. For 13 years he has captained the “50 Let Pobedy” (“50 Years of Victory”), part of a growing fleet of icebreakers that Russia is using to […]

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Donkey milk soap soaking up fans in Jordan

by Mussa Hattar MADABA, Jordan (AFP) — Friends and family initially mocked one Jordanian family’s new venture making soap from donkey milk. But now, a year on, the company is cleaning up as customers bray for more. Atan Donkey Milk Soaps produces 100 percent natural soaps from its farm in Madaba, 35 kilometres (21 miles) southwest of Amman, where it keeps 12 donkeys, and a small manufacturing workshop in the Jordanian capital. Although other regions […]

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Merkel’s record mixed as she takes wheel at last IAA show

by Sophie MAKRIS Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – No German leader’s diary would be complete without a visit to the venerable IAA motor show, which welcomes Angela Merkel on Tuesday for the last time in her chancellorship. But the biennial celebration of all things auto-related is mired in controversy this year as Germany struggles to adapt its flagship industry to the electric and digital revolution. Merkel, who is quitting politics after an election on […]

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Conservation meet mulls moratorium on deep sea mining

by Laure FILLON Agence France-Presse MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – The world’s top conservation forum will vote this week on whether to recommend a moratorium on deep sea mining, with scientists warning that ecosystems degraded while dredging the ocean floor 5,000 metres below the waves could take decades or longer to heal. The proposed ban is among a score of measures deemed too controversial to be decided remotely ahead of the International Union for the Conservation […]

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Tottenham Spurs aiming to stage world’s first ‘net-zero carbon’ match

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Tottenham are aiming to host the “world’s first net-zero carbon” football match at an elite level when the Premier League team face Chelsea on September 19. Spurs have joined forces with the British government and broadcaster Sky to raise awareness of the dangers of climate change. The London club hope the fixture, branded “GameZero”, will inspire fans to reduce their own carbon footprints. The eco-friendly London derby comes less than […]

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Funding needed to tackle life-shortening air pollution: report

by Natalie HANDEL PARIS, France (AFP) — Even as air pollution shaves years off life expectancy, fossil fuel projects get more funding than clean air initiatives, a global report said Tuesday. An annual survey by the Clean Air Fund, which looks into how much money is given to the fight against air pollution by donor governments and philanthropic organisations, found that air quality is low on the list of funding priorities. Less than one percent […]

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Crews work to contain oil spill in Gulf after Ida’s passage

WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) – Workers have deployed containment booms and skimmer devices as they attempt to contain a sizable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico discovered after Hurricane Ida roared through the area, the US Coast Guard said Sunday. The spill is in waters off Port Fourchon, Louisiana — near where Ida made landfall — in a region that is a major hub of the US petrochemical industry. An oil slick now […]

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Conservation meet mulls plan to protect 80% of Amazon

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – Should 80 percent of the Amazon be declared a protected area by 2025? The world’s top conservation body is on Sunday poised to decide whether its 1,400 members can vote on this controversial proposal, put forward by indigenous groups. Submitted under an emergency provision to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the measure calls for a “global action plan” to halt rampant deforestation […]

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