Environment

World’s northernmost coral reef in Japan bleached

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Bleaching has damaged the world’s northernmost coral reef in Japan, a researcher said Tuesday, the latest example of a global phenomenon scientists have attributed to high ocean temperatures. Healthy coral reefs protect shores from storms and offer habitats for fish and other marine life, including ecologically and economically important species. After coral dies, reefs quickly degrade and the structures that coral build erode. While coral can recover from mild bleaching, severe […]

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Size key to top speed in animals: study

by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — It’s not quite E=mc2, but scientists unveiled Monday a simple, powerful formula that explains why some animals run, fly and swim faster than all others. Call it the “speed rule”: strength alone does not determine top velocity because land mammals, birds and fish can only accelerate for as long as they can draw from available energy stored in muscle tissue. An intermediate body size — […]

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With materials scarce, Cuban designers master recycling chic

HAVANA, Cuba (Reuters) — Designers in Cuba are turning trash to treasure, forced to think outside the box and re-purpose rubbish amidst a shortage of raw materials in the Caribbean nation. Olaff Alejo’s salt lamps are eerily beautiful and designed to purify the air. Yet the Cuban designer must rummage through trash bins and scour the sidewalks of Havana for scraps of wood and obsolete electrical devices to manufacture them. In Cuba, designers of clothes and […]

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Microbes could have evolved to feed on plastic

HAWAII, United States (Reuters) — Surveys of ocean areas where floating plastic accumulates, such as the North Atlantic gyre, have found far less plastic than expected, perhaps less than a tenth as much. A mathematical formula developed by Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona researchers Blai Vidiella and Nuria Conde could not explain the trend, but the pair believes a population boom in microbes that evolved to biodegrade plastic is the explanation. Conde told Reuters: “What […]

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Trillion-ton iceberg breaks off Antarctica

by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A Delaware-sized iceberg, one of the largest ever seen, was set adrift after snapping from a West Antarctic ice shelf that will be closely watched for signs of collapse, scientists said Wednesday. A crack in the Larsen C ice shelf, a drifting extension of the land-based ice sheet, finally broke through after inching its way across the frozen formation for years. It created an […]

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Cash incentives help entrepreneur persuade Nigerians to recycle

LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) — Olamide Babajide goes out on the streets of Lagos to shop for old tires, a key component for her furniture products. Babajide is the founder of Pearl Recycling, a company that transforms recyclables like car tires, magazines, straws, plastics and wood among other things into household items. The company also offers money in exchange for recyclable garbage. Pearl Recycling was set up in 2014 with 5,000 U.S dollars that Babajide won […]

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Ice, watermelon and water sprays for animals at Beijing zoo amid heatwave

BEIJING, China — A heatwave in Beijing has prompted zoo staff to employ measures to protect its animals from high temperatures. Zoo personnel at the Beijing Wildlife Park provided ice and watermelons to the animals and employed water sprays to provide the creatures a respite from the heatwave that has prompted the government to hoist a yellow alert nationwide on July 9. China has a three-tier weather warning system, from red to the orange and yellow, […]

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White humpback whale spotted off Australia’s north-east coast

Gold Coast, Australia (Reuters) — A white humpback whale was spotted swimming off Australia’s Gold Coast on Tuesday (July 11). Authorities believe it may be a white whale called “Migaloo,” making its annual migration towards the Great Barrier Reef. Migaloo’s name is an indigenous word meaning white person, Australian media reported. Up to 5,000 humpbacks migrate north up Australia’s east coast between April and August each year from waters in the Antarctic to feed and breed […]

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Warmer Arctic harms crops in US, Canada: study

by Marlowe Hood Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Exceptionally warm years in the Arctic have provoked extra-cold winters and springs further to the south, decreasing crop yields across central Canada and the United States, researchers said Monday. “Our study demonstrates for the first time an apparent linkage between Arctic temperature variations and agricultural productivity in mid-latitudes,” they reported in the journal Nature Geoscience. Overall, global warming during the last half-century has boosted plant […]

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World’s ‘oldest’ hippo dies at Philippine zoo

MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Bertha, believed to be the world’s oldest hippopotamus, has died aged 65, the Manila zoo said Monday, having beaten the typical lifespan for the mostly herbivorous mammals by decades. The 2.5-tonne female was found dead Friday in her enclosure, with a post mortem examination concluding that Bertha, the zoo’s oldest resident, had died from multiple organ failure, zoo director James Dichaves said. “Bertha was among the pioneer animals here. Her mate […]

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Visitors flock to Berlin Zoo to see giant pandas

BERLIN, Germany (CCTV) — Visitors flocked to the new panda garden in Berlin Zoo on Thursday, on the first day it was opened to the public. On Wednesday, a grand launch ceremony was held, officiated by visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. When the zoo gate was opened to visitors on Thursday, some raced directly for the panda garden to catch a first glimpse of the exciting new arrivals. According to […]

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