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ATHENS, Greece (AFP) – A young whale that washed up near Athens last week was found dead on a nearby island Wednesday despite “superhuman” efforts to save the wounded animal, the Greek government said. The male Cuvier’s beaked whale was first found on a beach south of the Greek capital late last week. Experts quickly gave it hydration and antibiotics before returning it to the sea on Friday evening. The dolphin-like whale had a badly […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) – Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon set a new record for January just three weeks into the year, according to data released Wednesday, a worrying sign of the surging destruction of the world’s biggest rainforest. Nearly 360 square kilometers (140 square miles) of forest cover — an area more than six times the size of Manhattan — were destroyed in the Brazilian Amazon from January 1 to January 21, said […]
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) – An oil spill caused by a ruptured pipeline in Ecuador’s Amazon region leaked almost 6,300 barrels into an environmental reserve, according to information provided Wednesday by the company that owns the conduit. The firm OCP said it had “collected and reinjected 5,300 barrels of crude into the system” since the accident on Friday when heavy rains caused a boulder to fall on the pipeline in a mountainous region. OCP said the […]
by Peter Martell Agence France-Presse VARISEIA, Cyprus (AFP) – In a long-abandoned village in the UN buffer zone that divides Cyprus, an endangered curly-horned wild sheep offers hope not only for wildlife but that bitter ethnic divisions might slowly be healed. The mouflon, a majestic breed endemic to the Mediterranean island, is one of many species flourishing in the no-man’s-land created when inter-communal strife sliced Cyprus in two in the 1960s. “Without human influence, the […]
by Samir Tounsi Agence France-Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) – Relations between the United States and Mexico are under strain as the Mexican government pushes ahead with planned energy sector reforms that have alarmed Washington and foreign investors. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wants to strengthen the state-owned electricity provider and roll back the effects of liberalization under previous governments that he says favored private companies. That has prompted warnings that Mexico is in danger […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – The US government announced Monday it wants to revive a regulation limiting air emissions of mercury and other toxic substances from fossil fuel-fired power plants that had been undermined by the previous administration. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “is proposing to reaffirm that it is appropriate and necessary to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants,” the agency said in a statement. In May […]
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) – An oil spill in eastern Ecuador has reached a nature reserve and polluted a river that supplies water to indigenous communities, the country’s environmental ministry said Monday. Nearly two hectares (five acres) of a protected area of the Cayambe-Coca national park have been contaminated, as well as the Coca river — one of the biggest in the Ecuadoran Amazon, the ministry said in a statement. The park of some 400,000 hectares […]
MARSEILLE, France (AFP) – French authorities said Monday they would begin testing limited daily permits to visit one of the most pristine coves near the Mediterranean city of Marseille, where summer crowds have sharply increased erosion risks. The high cliffs and sapphire-blue waters at the Sugiton pebble beach are a main tourist draw for the Calanques National Park, not least because other areas of the forest reserve are often closed due to fire risks. Some […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Climate change is on track to ramp up the annual cost of US flood damage more than 25 percent by 2050, according to new research Monday that warns disadvantaged communities will likely bear the brunt of the financial burden. The study published in the journal Nature Climate Change used new flood models to map out the present and future impact of sea level rise, tropical cyclones and […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Researchers estimate there are significantly more species of trees on Earth than currently known, with more than 9,000 species yet to be discovered, according to a study published Monday. “Estimating the number of tree species is essential to inform, optimize, and prioritize forest conservation efforts across the globe,” said the study, which was published in the US National Academy of Sciences journal PNAS and involved dozens of scientists. About 64,100 […]
by Florian CAZERES Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Rising tensions with Moscow over Ukraine have exposed Germany’s problematic dependence on Russian gas, inflaming an already heated debate over soaring energy prices. As Germany pursues its target to transition to cleaner energy sources over the next decade, Europe’s biggest economy has counted on gas temporarily filling the gap while it builds up its sun and wind energy capacity to replace nuclear and coal plants. But […]
by Francisco JARA Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) – The oil spill off the coast of Peru sparked by a volcanic eruption thousands of miles away is twice as big as previously reported, the government said Friday. The announcement came hours after a court banned four directors from the Spanish oil company Repsol, which owns the refinery where the accident took place, from leaving the country for 18 months. Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez told reporters […]
