Tag: Environment

Surviving bleached Barrier Reef coral ‘more resilient to heat’

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Corals on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef that survived bleaching from rising sea temperatures were more resistant to another bout of hot conditions the following year, scientists said Tuesday, a “silver lining” for the embattled ecosystem. The 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) long UNESCO World Heritage-listed reef off Australia’s northeastern coast was hit by back-to-back bleaching in 2016 and 2017. Bleaching occurs when abnormal environmental conditions, such as warmer sea temperatures, cause corals to expel […]

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Thousands march for climate in Paris despite ‘yellow vest’ unrest

Paris, France | AFP | Up to 25,000 people marched through Paris on Saturday urging greater action on climate change, despite fears that their protest would be scuppered by “yellow vest” demonstrations. Police estimated the number of green activists heading onto the streets at 17,000 while organisers counted 25,000 urging world governments to better protect the environment. The numbers were similar to previous climate marches in Paris, despite sporadic violence in the city on Saturday among thousands of “yellow […]

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Ice is a lifeline for the world’s coldest region

by Maria ANTONOVA Agence France-Presse OY, Russia (AFP) — Innokenty Tobonov sinks his harpoon into a long block of ice while his helpers expertly push it out of freezing lake waters onto the snow-dusted surface before sliding it towards an idling tractor. After an hour of cutting ice blocks out of the lake in temperatures of minus 41 degrees Celsius (minus 42 Fahrenheit), cold vapor has frosted his eyelashes. But this is no excuse for […]

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“School Inside A Garden” program, bubuhayin ng DepEd

(Eagle News) — Nais buhayin ng Department of Education (DepEd) ang programang “School Inside A Garden (SIGA) program. Ayon kay Education Secretary Leonor Briones, ito ay bilang pagsuporta nila sa National Greening Program ng gobyerno. Layon din nitong protektahan ang kalikasan sa pamamagitan ng pagkakaroon ng mga halamanan sa paaralan. Nakapaloob sa nasabing program ay  ang dalawa ring proyekto ng ahensya na naglalayong makatulong sa pagpapanatili ng maayos na kapaligiran. Ito ay ang Gulayan sa […]

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Nepal attempts record with a Dead Sea of plastic bags

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Young Nepalis created a map of the Dead Sea with used plastic bags Wednesday in a bid to set a new international record and raise awareness about the vast volumes polluting the world’s oceans. Volunteers tied 100,000 colorful used plastic bags on a metal grid 20 meters (65 feet) long and five meters (16 feet) tall, shaped like the Dead Sea, on open ground in Kathmandu’s city center. The record attempt […]

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Earth needs climate ‘reality check’, space pioneer warns

KATOWICE, Poland (AFP) — The world needs a “reality check” on the threat posed by climate change, NASA astronaut Mae Jemison said Tuesday at a UN summit to chart mankind’s path away from runaway global warming. Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, brought a little galactic perspective to the COP24 talks in Poland, calling on delegates from nearly 200 countries to tackle “the most difficult problem we’ve ever faced.” “When people say save the […]

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India pollution watchdog fines Delhi over toxic smog

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — India’s environmental watchdog has slapped New Delhi’s government with a $3.5 million fine for failing to enforce rules to reduce smog in the world’s most polluted major city, officials said Tuesday. The National Green Tribunal penalized the capital administration for its lack of oversight after it emerged some polluting industries were still burning harmful waste in the open. The tribunal, a national body tasked with ruling on environmental matters, […]

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Disappearing Arctic sea ice threatens Canada’s polar bears: expert panel

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A committee of wildlife experts warned Monday that Canada’s largest land predator, the polar bear, was at risk of disappearing from its vast Arctic landscape as melting Arctic sea ice makes hunting prey a challenge. “It is clear we will need to keep a close eye on this species,” Graham Forbes, co-chair of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) said in a statement. “Significant change is […]

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2018 set to be among hottest years on record: UN

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Global temperatures in 2018 are set to be the fourth highest on record, the UN said Thursday, stressing the urgent need for action to rein in runaway warming of the planet. In a report released ahead of the COP 24 climate summit in Poland, the World Meteorological Organization pointed out that the 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years, and that “2018 is on course to […]

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Future uncertain for Australia’s unique platypus: researchers

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s unique platypus population is shrinking under pressure from agriculture and pollution, putting the egg-laying mammals’ future in doubt, researchers said in a report published Thursday. A three-year survey of the duck-billed animal suggested its numbers had fallen by 30 percent, to around 200,000, since Europeans settled the continent two centuries ago. “We have great concerns about the future survival of this unique species,” said Richard Kingsford, director of the University […]

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75-80 percent chance of El Niño in next 3 months: UN

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — There is a 75 to 80 percent chance of a moderate El Niño event forming in the next three months, possibly impacting weather patterns in several regions, the UN said Tuesday. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) noted that the impending El Niño is not expected to be as powerful as the 2015-2016 event that was linked to droughts, floods and coral bleaching. But, it “can still significantly affect rainfall and temperature […]

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