PARIS, France (AFP) — Swimming in the Seine in October may seem like a fast-track to catching germs, but for TV adventurer and environmental activist Alison Teal, who has spent years paddling her surfboard in polluted waters, taking the plunge into Paris’ river was the perfect way to promote her cause – to fight pollution and clean our oceans.
Tag: Environment
“Goat Fire Brigade” helps save Spain from forest fires
GIRONA, Spain (Reuters) — Much of Europe was scorched this summer, with numerous forest fires breaking out and in Spain goats and sheep are helping to fight the blazes – one nibble at a time. Dubbed ‘Goat Fire Brigades’ the animals are part of a pilot program in the Girona region of northern Spain, run by Pau Costa Foundation. Tapping into an old agricultural practice, the herds are set out to graze in strategic areas of […]
Giant sea snail plan to rescue Barrier Reef
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A giant starfish-eating snail could be unleashed to help save the Great Barrier Reef, officials said Monday, with a trial underway to breed thousands of the rare species. Predatory crown-of-thorns starfish, which munch coral, are naturally-occurring but have proliferated due to pollution and run-off at the struggling World Heritage-listed ecosystem. Their impact has been profound with a major study of the 2,300-kilometer (1,400-mile) long reef’s health in 2012 showing coral cover halved […]
WATCH: Tokyo’s baby panda turns three months old
Panda cub in Japan turns three months old. It’s the first panda to be born in Tokyo’s Ueno zoo in five years. (AFP Video) https://youtu.be/GuhzA3P1AAw
Take a Look: Spectacular northern lights illuminate Lapland sky
LAPLAND, Finland (Reuters) — Green, purple, pink and yellow lights danced across the sky in striking aurora displays over northern Finland early on Friday (September 8), the result of collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere. According to the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Centre there was a strong geomagnetic storm on September 6 and 7 connected to a coronal mass ejection observed on Monday (September 4). Travel magazine “All […]
Smart garden makes urban farming easy
LONDON, England (Reuters) — The lack of space in towns and cities means growing your own vegetables and herbs is often limited to what can fit on your windowsill. But so-called ‘smart gardens’ are bringing the window box in to the 21st century. ‘Click and Grow,’ based in Estonia, is at the forefront of smart garden technology designed to make urban farming easy. At the IFA consumer technology fair in Berlin, the company previewed its […]
Fire department stops wildfire spread in Los Angeles, continues to contain it
LOS ANGELES, USA (Reuters) — Fire officials said that they had effectively stopped the uncontrolled spread of a massive brush fire on the northern edge of Los Angeles on Monday, but were still working to contain it, according to local news sources. More than 1,000 firefighters are battling the fire, dubbed the La Tuna Fire, which started in Los Angeles County on Friday and has rapidly burned thousands of acres of land. California Governor Jerry […]
Chile’s Easter Island declares huge marine protection zone
LA SERENA, Chile (AFP) — Along with a marine park that already exists, the new area will cover 720,000 square kilometers (280,000 square miles) around the island, which sits 3,500 kilometers (2,200 miles) off the Chilean coast. The waters around the island are a spawning ground for tuna, shark, marlin and swordfish, and they also host shallow-water coral reefs that are home to unique marine species. The seas around the island are under threat from over-fishing, rising […]
Man arrested for causing wildfire in Northern California
BUTTE COUNTY, California (Reuters) — Authorities have arrested a 29-year-old man for causing a fast-moving wildfire that has destroyed 10 homes and forced the evacuation of some residents in Northern California, fire officials said on Wednesday (August 30). John Ballenger of the town of Oroville is accused of “recklessly” starting a campfire outside a designated area and allowing it to spread out of control, Cal Fire Butte County Chief Darren Read said in a statement. […]
Ancient whales were predators not gentle giants – scientists
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Ancient whales had extremely sharp predator teeth similar to lions, Australian scientists said Wednesday in a discovery they believe debunks theories the mammals used their teeth to filter feed like today’s gentle giants. There are two major groups of whales — toothed creatures such as killer whales, and baleen, which filter plankton and small fish from the ocean for food with special bristle-like structures in their mouths. Using 3D scanners, Museums […]
Giant alpine spider endangered by climate change, scientist warns
MONT BEGO, France (Reuters) — The survival of the giant alpine spider, scientifically known as Vesubia Jugorum, is threatened by global warming, archeologist and species specialist Marco Isaia warned. The spider lives in grassland with rocky outcrops at heights between 2,600 and 2,700 meters (8,500-8,900 feet) in the French and Italian Alps. The species, also referred to as the wolf spider, is endemic to the French national parc of Mercantour, home to the Mont Bego peak, […]
Elephant hit by tourist bus in Malaysia dies
KUALA, Lumpur (AFP) — A wild elephant in Malaysia has died after being hit by a tourist bus on a busy highway, an official said Friday, the second pachyderm to meet its end in the area in two months. The 10-year-old bull was killed on the road connecting the western state of Perak with Kelantan in the east, which passes through thick jungle. “A bull elephant was knocked down by a bus and died. We […]





