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by Maria ANTONOVA Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — An unprecedented fuel spill that has polluted huge stretches of Arctic rivers was caused by melting permafrost, Russian officials said Friday, ordering a review of infrastructure in vulnerable zones. The spill — which has coloured remote tundra waterways with bright red patches visible from space — has highlighted the danger of climate change for Russia as areas locked by permafrost for centuries thaw amid warmer temperatures. […]
by Maria ANTONOVA Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday intensified efforts to clean up a major fuel spill that environmentalists say is the worst such accident in the Arctic, as investigators made their first arrest. A diesel reservoir collapsed at a power station outside the northern Siberian city of Norilsk on Friday, releasing 15,000 tonnes of fuel into a river and 6,000 tonnes into the soil, according to Russia’s state environmental watchdog. […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered a state of emergency and criticised a subsidiary of metals giant Norilsk Nickel after a massive diesel spill into a Siberian river. The spill of over 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel took place on Friday. A fuel reservoir collapsed at a power plant near the city of Norilsk, located above the Arctic Circle, and leaked into a nearby river. The accident is the second largest […]
MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A young humpback whale that swam up one of Canada’s major rivers and has been exploring the waters off Montreal for a few days was likely led astray while on a hunting trip, authorities have said. Since Saturday, the giant creature has been swimming in the St Lawrence river against the backdrop of the Montreal skyline — hundreds of kilometres (miles) from the waters it usually calls home. The humpback is […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Dormant “zombie fires” scattered across the Arctic region — remnants of record blazes last year — may be coming to life after an unusually warm and dry Spring, scientists warned Wednesday. “We have seen satellite observations of active fires that hint that ‘zombie’ fires might have reignited,” said Mark Parrington, a senior scientist and wildfire expert at the European Union’s Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service. The hotspots, which […]
by Olivier MORIN ALTA, Norway (AFP) — A blueish glow spreads across the snow as far as the eye can see, a few bare trees dotting the windy plateau. In this remote corner of Norway’s far north, two French adventurers are training for their next big exploit. Next month, Matthieu Bellanger and Loury Lag, both in their 30s, will leave eastern Canada for Alaska in a 130-day expedition passing through the famed Northwest Passage in […]
by Maria PANINA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Gigantic forest fires have regularly raged through the vast expanses of Russia’s Siberia, but the magnitude of this year’s blazes has reached an exceptional level with fears of a long-term impact on the environment. As fires sweep across millions of hectares enveloping entire cities in black smoke and noxious fumes, environmentalists warn of a disaster threatening to accelerate the melting of the Arctic. More than 3.2 million hectares […]
The increasing number of natural disasters and dangers linked to climate change, highlighted in a major UN report released on Thursday, represents “another strong wake-up call” to the world, which must be countered by finding sustainable solutions quickly, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has said. Speaking at the launch of the State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Mr. Guterres reiterated his call for action, underlining that the alarming conclusion that […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Seals and whales in the Arctic are shifting their feeding patterns as climate change alters their habitats, and the way they do so may determine whether they survive, a new study has found. Researchers harnessed datasets spanning two decades to examine how two species of Arctic wildlife — white whales and ringed seals — are adapting to their changing homes. Both species traditionally hunt for food in areas with sea ice […]
by Nova SAFO Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — A brutal cold spell that paralyzed the US Midwest, freezing water mains, causing power outages and canceling flights, eased on Friday, with forecasts predicting a rapid thaw. The two days of intense cold from the so-called polar vortex that descended on the US Midwest and Northeast will go down in memory for its scenes of winter at its most bitter. Blocks of ice […]
by Nova SAFO Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — The polar vortex is here — tens of millions of people in the United States braced Tuesday for a deep arctic chill, which authorities say could be life-threatening. Sub-zero temperatures already blanketing parts of Canada were already sweeping across the US Midwest and towards the East Coast. The big chill in the Midwest came on the heels of a major storm that dumped up […]
by Olivier MORIN with Gael BRANCHEREAU in Stockholm Agence France-Presse NORWAY (AFP) — Paying no attention to nearby divers, a killer whale and her calf hunting for food frolic in a snowy Norwegian fjord. Their favorite meal, herring, abounds, but climate change means both predator and prey must increasingly migrate further north. The clear and calm waters of Reisafjorden, in Norway’s Far North, have in recent years become the winter playground of the Scandinavian country’s killer […]
