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SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia enshrined deeper cuts to carbon emissions in new legislation Thursday, aiming to shed its decade-long reputation as a fossil-fuel-addicted climate laggard. Lawmakers in the lower house of parliament voted 89-55 in favor of a 43 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels, on the path to reaching net zero emissions by 2050. It is expected to go to the Senate for final approval in September. Heavily reliant […]
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Friday 7/22/2022 Japan’s nuclear regulator on Friday formally approved a plan to release more than a million tonnes of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean. The plan has already been adopted by the government and endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but plant operator TEPCO must still win over local communities before going ahead. The country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority approved TEPCO’s plan, […]
by David Williams Agence France-Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s unique wildlife is being devastated by bushfires, drought, habitat loss and global warming, a government report said Tuesday, warning that more species were headed for extinction. The five-yearly State of the Environment report prompted calls for dramatic action to reverse the “poor and deteriorating” state of flora and fauna depicted by scientists on land and at sea. The damage is being hastened by a climate […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Water in Utah’s Great Salt Lake has fallen to its lowest level ever recorded, authorities announced this week, a result of the ongoing drought impacting the western United States which scientists warn has been exacerbated by climate change. The average depth of the massive saltwater lake, the largest in the Western Hemisphere, fluctuates naturally with the seasons and local precipitation. But the economically and environmentally important basin has never […]
by Tony GAMAL-GABRIEL Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Another sandstorm has darkened Iraqi skies and it’s hard to breathe, but Baghdad motorcycle delivery rider Milad Mitti doesn’t have the luxury of missing a day’s work. Like most people in the now blistering hot desert country, the 30-year-old battles on in frustration, wearing goggles and a grey neck warmer over his mouth and nose “so I can breathe”. Iraq, still recovering from decades of war, […]
by Francesco GILIOLI, with Gildas LE ROUX in Rome Agence France-Presse CANAZEI, Italy (AFP) — An avalanche set off by the collapse of the largest glacier in the Italian Alps killed at least six people and injured eight others Sunday, an emergency services spokeswoman said. The glacier collapsed on the mountain of Marmolada, the highest in the Italian Dolomites, near the hamlet of Punta Rocca, on the route normally taken to reach its summit. The […]
LOS ANGELES, California (AFP) — Garbage be gone: California Thursday passed an ambitious law mandating reduction of non-recyclable plastic by at least 30 percent in six years, while also placing responsibility on producers. The measure is meant to tackle the persistent problem of plastic refuse — in California, about 85 percent of plastic waste ends up in landfills, according to the CalMatters publication. “California won’t tolerate plastic waste that’s filling our waterways and making […]
BRASÍLIA, Brazil (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday promised his Brazilian counterpart Jair Bolsonaro that Russia “is committed” to maintaining its delivery of much-needed fertilizers to the South American agricultural giant. Speaking in Brasilia, Bolsonaro said the two leaders had discussed by telephone “food security” and “energy insecurity,” without giving more details. In its own statement on the conversation, the Kremlin said Putin “stressed that Russia is committed to carry out its obligations […]
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) — Pollution is linked to more than 10 percent of cancer cases in Europe, a report by the European Environment Agency said Tuesday. Most of these cases are preventable, it said. “Exposure to air pollution, carcinogenic chemicals, radon, UV (ultraviolet) radiation and second-hand smoke together may contribute over 10 percent of the cancer burden in Europe,” the agency said in a statement. But EEA expert Gerardo Sanchez said “all environmental and occupational […]
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — Germany should extend the lifetime of its nuclear plants to avoid an “extreme scenario” in which a Russian gas stop could wipe 12 percent off the economy, a government advisor said Thursday. Prolonging the operational lifetime of Germany’s remaining reactors could “create some breathing space”, Veronika Grimm, a member of the government’s council of economic advisors, told the Funke media group. Germany turned its back on nuclear energy following the […]
by Matthew Walsh Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Hazmat-suited workers poke plastic swabs down millions of throats in China each day, leaving bins bursting with medical waste that has become the environmental and economic levy of a zero-Covid strategy. China is the last major economy wedded to stamping out infections no matter the cost. Near-daily testing is the most commonly used weapon in an anti-virus arsenal that includes snap lockdowns and forced quarantines when […]
A world severely blighted by plastic pollution is on track to see the use of plastics nearly triple in less than four decades, according to findings released Friday. Annual production of fossil-fuel-based plastics are set to top 1.2 billion tonnes by 2060 and waste to exceed one billion tonnes, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Even with aggressive action to cut demand and improve efficiencies, plastic production would almost double in […]
