Environment

Global warming will make insects hungrier, eating up key crops: study

by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse TAMPA, United States (APF) – Researchers have found a new way that global warming is bad for the planet: more hungry bugs. Rising temperatures will stimulate insects’ appetites — and make some prone to reproducing more quickly — spelling danger for key staples like wheat, corn and rice which feed billions of people, researchers said Thursday. And since these three crops account for 42 percent of the calories people eat […]

300 endangered turtles found dead on Mexico beach

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — More than 300 sea turtles from an endangered species were found dead on a beach in southern Mexico, trapped in a banned type of fishing net, environmental authorities said. In Mexico’s second mass turtle death in as many weeks, the Pacific Ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) were found floating just off the beach of Puerto Escondido in the state of Oaxaca, their shells forming a bleak mini-island. “They had drowned at […]

Bees get hooked on harmful pesticide: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — Bumblebees acquire a taste for food laced with a pesticide known to harm them, according to a study suggesting the chemicals pose an even greater threat to pollinators than previously thought. In experiments, researchers showed that bees initially put off by sugar water containing neonicotinoids — the most widely-used class of insecticide worldwide — soon started seeking them out to the exclusion of untainted food. The findings were published Wednesday in […]

Paris aquarium offers haven for unwanted goldfish

by Brice Le Borgne Agence France-Presse Paris’ biggest aquarium has created a refuge for goldfish, providing a second life for any unwanted pets who might otherwise find themselves flushed down the toilet. The Aquarium de Paris allows the city’s residents to drop off their fish, with the numbers using the service swelling around the time of the long summer holidays. Instead of facing death in the city’s sewerage system, the rejected goldfish find themselves given […]

Sightings, satellites help track mysterious ocean giant

by Sandra Ferrer BREST, France (AFP) — The sight of a basking shark’s brooding silhouette gliding through the waters off western France is more than just a rare treat for sailors — it is a boon for scientists trying to trace its secretive migrations across the globe. It may be the world’s second largest fish, growing to more than 10 metres (35 feet), but the basking shark, or Cetorhinus maximus, is an enigma for scientists […]

Choking hazard: Air pollution hangs over Asian Games

by Kiki Siregar Agence France-Presse Indonesia is about to open the Asian Games but its traffic-clogged capital Jakarta remains shrouded in a haze of air pollution that threatens to mar the world’s second-biggest multi-sport event. Jakarta’s toxic skies have been stuck at unhealthy levels for weeks despite drastic efforts to cut down on congestion, including an odd-even licence plate system and the closure of some schools and toll roads. The city’s air-quality index reading hovered […]

‘Devastating’ dolphin loss in Florida red tide disaster

  by Kerry Sheridan Agence France-Presse SARASOTA, United States (AFP) — A state of emergency has been declared in Florida as the worst red tide in a decade blackens the ocean water, killing dolphins, sea turtles and fish at a relentless pace. More than 100 tons of dead sea creatures have been shoveled up from smelly, deserted beaches in tourist areas along Florida’s southwest coast as a result of the harmful algal bloom this month alone. […]

Brace for extra-warm weather through 2022: study

by Marlowe Hood  Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Manmade global warming and a natural surge in Earth’s surface temperature will join forces to make the next five years exceptionally hot, according to a study published Tuesday. The double whammy of climate change and so-called natural variability more than doubles the likelihood of “extreme warm events” in ocean surface waters, creating a dangerous breeding ground for hurricanes and typhoons, they reported in Nature Communications. “This […]

New Caledonia protects huge swathe of coral reefs

NOUMEA, France (AFP) — New Caledonia agreed Tuesday to tougher protections around a huge swathe of some of the world’s last near-pristine coral reefs, in a move conservationists hailed as a major breakthrough. The Pacific nation, a French overseas territory, is home to a rich array of wildlife including 2.5 million seabirds and over 9,300 marine species, such as dugongs — marine mammals related to manatees — and nesting green sea turtles, many of which thrive […]

New Zealand to ban single-use plastic bags

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand became the latest country Friday to outlaw single-use plastic shopping bags, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying they will be phased out over the next year as a “meaningful step” towards reducing pollution. New Zealand uses “hundreds of millions” of single-use plastic bags each year, many of which end up harming marine life, Ardern said. “We need to be far smarter in the way we manage waste and […]

Firefighters make progress in California but weather not promising

  by Josh Edelson Agence France-Presse MENDOCINO, United States (AFP) — Thousands of firefighters, backed by US troops and crews from as far away as Australia and New Zealand, made progress Wednesday in their battle with California’s biggest wildfire on record — but the weather forecast for the rest of the week is not promising, officials said. Nearly 20 major fires have ravaged the sprawling western state over the past two weeks, fanned by strong winds and […]

Ten ways the planet could tip into ‘Hothouse Earth’

  by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Even if humanity slashes greenhouse gas emissions in line with Paris climate treaty goals, the planet could overwhelm such efforts and irretrievably tip into a hellish ‘hothouse’ state, top scientists warned Monday. Under such a scenario, Earth’s average temperature would stabilize 4 or 5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, rather than the 1.5 C to 2 C (2.7 or 3.6 Fahrenheit) cap called for […]