Environment

Tiny killer threatens giant clam, aquatic emblem of the Med

by Claudine RENAUD Agence France-Presse Villefranche-sur-Mer, France (AFP) — With wing-shaped shells lined with iridescent mother-of-pearl and producing the fibers of rare and delicate sea silk, the noble pen shell clam is one of the most emblematic species in the Mediterranean and a bellwether for marine environmental health. But the giant mollusk, the world’s second biggest, is under mortal threat from a parasite that has ravaged populations since it was identified along Spanish coasts in 2016. Scientists […]

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2018 was fourth hottest year on record: researchers

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – he last four years have been the world’s hottest since record-keeping began, with 2018 the fourth warmest on record, according to data published Thursday by US research group Berkeley Earth. Temperatures in 2018 were around 1.16 degrees Celsius (2.09 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average temperature of the second half of the 19th century, from 1850-1900, often used as a pre-industrial baseline for global temperature targets. “Global mean temperature in 2018 […]

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Bean bonanza: coffee cafes pop up in remote corner of Indonesia

TORAJA, Indonesia (AFP) — For decades, there wasn’t a coffee shop anywhere in Indonesia’s Toraja region even as its high-quality beans grabbed top dollar on the international market. Locals in the lush, mountainous area on Sulawesi island used the bitter beverage in traditional ceremonies, gave away their extra beans to neighbors for free or traded them for a sack of rice and livestock. But Toraja is experiencing a mini-explosion in cafés, with dozens of shops sprouting […]

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Thousands of free tulips given to visitors as Netherlands celebrates National Tulip Day

By Marilou Francisco EBC Europe Eagle News Service (Eagle News) — The tulip is one of the world famous icons of the Netherlands. The star of flower bulbs takes the spotlight on the National Tulip Day held every year on the third Saturday of January at the historical center of Amsterdam, on Dam Square, near the Royal Palace. For 2019, the National Tulip Day took place on January 19 with the theme Flower Power. This […]

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Construction without coordination: how ants build megaprojects

by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Leaf-cutter ants build super highways to transfer food and building materials hundreds of meters without communicating with each other, scientists claimed Wednesday, in findings that could prompt a rethink about how some insect communities organize themselves. Each leaf-cutter colony can carve out nearly three kilometers of trails from the forest floor every year, investing an average of 11,000 hours into constructing and maintaining them. It had […]

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Snowboards out as Paris gets first taste of snow

PARIS, France (AFP) — Paris got its first snowfall of the season Tuesday, prompting travel alerts for commuters but giving snowboard enthusiasts a chance to hit impromptu urban slopes. The Eiffel Tower was closed as both tourists and locals made their way carefully along slushy sidewalks. Visitors to the Sacre-Coeur church in Montmartre watched snowboarders tackle the steep lawns running alongside the stairs leading up to the basilica. At least one major road to the […]

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Greenland ice melts four times faster in a decade: study

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Greenland’s melting ice, which causes sea levels to rise, disappeared four times faster in 2013 than in 2003 and is noticeable across the Arctic island, not just on glaciers, researchers warned on Tuesday. “While 111 cubic kilometers of ice disappeared per year in 2003, 10 years later this figure had almost quadrupled to 428 cubic kilometers,” the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Space Lab said in a statement. Its researchers contributed […]

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Scientists warn of climate ‘time bomb’ for world’s groundwater

by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Future generations face an environmental “time bomb” as the world’s groundwater systems take decades to respond to the present day impact of climate change, scientists warned on Monday. Found underground in cracks in soil, sand and rock, groundwater is the largest usable source of freshwater on the planet and more than two billion people rely on it to drink or irrigate crops. It is slowly replenished […]

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World to miss 2020 climate ‘turning point’: analysis

by Patrick GALEY Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The world is on course to miss its “best chance” of preventing runaway climate change by ensuring global greenhouse gas emissions peak in 2020, researchers warned Tuesday. Even as Earth is buffeted by super-storms, droughts and flooding made worse by rising seas, and as greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise globally, an analysis by the World Resources Institute showed that current efforts to limit temperature increases […]

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LOOK: Total lunar eclipse as seen from Paris

PARIS, France (AFP) — An unusual set of celestial circumstances came together over Sunday night and the wee hours of Monday for sky watchers in Europe, Africa and the Americas, where the moon was fully obscured before lighting up again with a faint red glow. Footages of the lunar eclipse over Paris. https://youtu.be/jsx9GNNsa1c

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Hong Kong failing to tackle wildlife smuggling epidemic: study

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong must do more to crack down on illegal wildlife smuggling by ending legal loopholes and lenient sentences, conservation groups said Monday, as they detailed the city’s role in the lucrative trade. Despite its comparatively small size, the bustling southern Chinese transport hub plays a “disproportionate” role in wildlife crime, researchers said, accounting for around a fifth of all global ivory seizures and nearly half of all pangolins seized […]

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