Environment

Climate change pushing Australia’s platypus towards extinction

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Prolonged drought and other effects of climate change are pushing Australia’s unique platypus population towards extinction, scientists warned in a study published Monday. The river-dwelling animal has already disappeared from up to 40 percent of its historical range on Australia’s east coast due to the drought, land clearing, pollution and building of dams, which fragment their habitat, the researchers said. They predicted that if the current threats persist, platypus numbers will […]

“OBB Nightjet” takes its maiden voyage

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) – The first night train to set off for Belgium in 16 years departed from Vienna Sunday, carrying Austrian and European politicians who hope the new route can set an example as the continent tries to meet its climate targets. The carriages of the “OBB Nightjet” pulled out of Vienna’s main station punctually at 8:38 pm to the strains of a live band playing the EU anthem “Ode to Joy”, the slogan #loveyourplanet […]

Oil and gas firms invest less than 1% in green energy

PARIS, France (AFP) – While certain oil and gas majors have sought to burnish their green credentials, overall less than one percent of the sector’s total investment is going into clean energy projects, a report said Monday. Experts are increasingly worried that that target set in the 2015 Paris accord to limit global temperature rises to “well below” 2C is rapidly becoming unattainable, condemning the world to a cascade of costly droughts, superstorms, floods and […]

Climate activists march on Davos

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) – Hundreds of climate activists, young and old, embarked on a three-day march on Sunday to the make their voices heard at the 50th World Economic Forum in the Swiss town of Davos. The group, brandishing banners warning “Climate crisis: a world economic failure” and “there is no Planet B,” urged political and business leaders to take responsibility for averting environmental catastrophe as they set off from the small town of Landquart some […]

Qatar signs $470 million solar deal

Doha, Qatar (AFP) – Gas-rich Qatar signed a $470-million deal on Sunday to build its first solar energy plant, capable of meeting up to one-tenth of peak national power demand. The Al-Kharsaah plant, near the capital, is a 10-square-kilometre (4-sq-mile) joint venture with French and Japanese partners due for completion in 2022 ahead of the football World Cup. “Eight times the solar power pledged in the World Cup bid will be produced,” Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi […]

UK looks to offshore wind for green energy transition

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Benoît PELEGRIN Britain, a global leader in offshore wind energy, plans to make the sector one of the pillars of its transition to carbon neutrality in the coming decades. The country aims to quadruple its offshore electricity production capacity by 2030 by utilizing the windswept North Sea and a favorable policy environment. “It’s more conducive to build offshore in the UK than anywhere else in Europe,” said James Brabben, of […]

Amazon indigenous leaders accuse Brazil of ‘genocide’ policy

PIARACU, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s pledge to open up the Amazon to mining companies was tantamount to “genocide”, indigenous leaders said Friday at a meeting to oppose the government’s environmental policies. Hundreds of elders gathered this week at Pairacu, deep in the rain forest, to form a united front against Bolsonaro’s environmental policies, which have seen deforestation in the jungle nearly double since the Brazilian leader came to power a year ago. […]

Fires, then floods: How much can a koala bear?

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A week ago, koalas at an Australian wildlife park were in the path of raging bushfires. On Friday, they were soaking wet and being carried to safety from flash floods. Months of drought that have contributed to Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season have this week given way to huge downpours in some of the blaze-ravaged areas. At the Australian Reptile Park on the nation’s east coast near Sydney, heavy rains on Friday […]

Global decision-makers gather in Davos

PARIS, France (AFP) – Stuart WILLIAMS Global decision-makers gather in Davos starting Tuesday for their annual meeting, with challenges facing the planet — from climate change to conflict in the Middle East — as imposing as the Alps that surround the Swiss resort. Observers fear the annual World Economic Forum will serve only to again expose the differences between East and West, the US and the EU, and business and activists in combating the most […]

Heating woes fuel Balkan smog crisis

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZGOVINA (AFP) – Rusmir SMAJILHODZIC and Emmy VARLEY in Belgrade As winter grips the Balkans, the poor are caught in a cruel bind, being forced to light fires at home for heating while fuelling a pollution crisis smothering the region.   In recent weeks, Balkan capitals from Belgrade Sarajevo to Skopje and Pristina have been ranked among the world’s top 10 most polluted major cities, according to the monitoring application AirVisual. While […]

Solar-powered barge a key ‘interceptor’ for plastic waste

KLANG, Malaysia (AFP) – Patrick Lee Scooping waste from a Malaysian river to stop it reaching the sea, a solar-powered barge named the “Interceptor” is the latest weapon in a global battle to rid the world’s waters of plastic. Trash is being dumped into seas and rivers in enormous quantities, polluting vital habitats, endangering a kaleidoscope of marine life and sullying once pristine tourist spots. Some eight million tons of plastics enter the world’s oceans […]

Climate change linked heatwave caused mass starvation of seabirds

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Issam AHMED Around a million North Pacific seabirds known as common murres died during a 2015-16 heatwave that disrupted their food supply, scientists said Wednesday, the biggest mass mortality event ever recorded among avian species. Julia Parrish, an ecologist at the University of Washington and co-author of a paper on the subject published in the journal PLOS ONE told AFP that the increased frequency of such heatwaves appeared to […]