Tag: Environment

Mount Everest, the high-altitude rubbish dump

by Paavan Mathema and Annabel Symington Agence France-Presse KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — Decades of commercial mountaineering have turned Mount Everest into the world’s highest rubbish dump as an increasing number of big-spending climbers pay little attention to the ugly footprint they leave behind. Fluorescent tents, discarded climbing equipment, empty gas canisters and even human excrement litter the well-trodden route to the summit of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak. “It is disgusting, an eyesore,” Pemba Dorje Sherpa, […]

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Japan passes anti-plastic law but with no sanctions for polluters

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A bill intended to reduce the volume of microplastics dumped into the ocean was approved by Japan’s parliament on Friday, but it included no sanctions for failure to comply. The measure, which received unanimous approval in the upper house, seeks to encourage businesses to reduce their use of microplastics, including microbeads — tiny plastic particles used in exfoliating creams and other cosmetic products. But the law contains no details of punishment […]

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Mexico jaguar population grows 20% in eight years

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico’s population of wild jaguars has grown 20 percent in the past eight years, according to a study released Thursday, a bit of good news for an iconic species whose numbers have been declining. There are an estimated 4,800 jaguars in Mexico, found the study, carried out by a consortium of institutions and academics with remotely activated cameras triggered by sensors. That was a 20-percent increase from the first edition […]

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Erdogan takes ‘crazy projects’ to new level with Canal Istanbul dream

by Fulya OZERKAN Agence France Presse KARABURUN, Turkey (AFP) — The waves of the Black Sea lap peacefully on the shore of the Turkish coastal village of Karaburun outside Istanbul. Not far away, water buffalo peacefully graze on green pastures. But if President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wins the June 24 presidential elections and succeeds in implementing one of his most controversial plans, this arcadian scene will be transformed by a shipping canal comparable to Panama […]

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SoftBank plans $60-100 bn investment in solar in India: report

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s SoftBank is planning to invest between $60-100 billion in a solar power project in India, a Japanese report said Friday, as the firm looks to expand its interests into various sectors. The report by public broadcaster NHK comes after SoftBank announced in March it would partner Saudi Arabia on a multi-billion dollar solar project that the company’s founder called the largest in the world. NHK said the massive investment in India […]

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Mexico jaguar population grows 20% in eight years

  MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexico’s population of wild jaguars has grown 20 percent in the past eight years, according to a study released Thursday, a bit of good news for an iconic species whose numbers have been declining. There are an estimated 4,800 jaguars in Mexico, found the study, carried out by a consortium of institutions and academics with remotely activated cameras triggered by sensors. That was a 20-percent increase from the first […]

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‘Shocking’ die-off of Africa’s oldest baobabs: study

by Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Some of Africa’s oldest and biggest baobab trees — a few dating all the way back to the ancient Greeks — have abruptly died, wholly or in part, in the past decade, researchers said Monday. The trees, aged between 1,100 and 2,500 years and some as wide as a bus is long, may have fallen victim to climate change, the team speculated. “We report that […]

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Thai turtle’s plastic-filled stomach highlights ocean crisis

BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Startling images of plastic shreds, rubber bands and other debris found jammed in the stomach of a green turtle in Thailand have highlighted the crisis of waste-strewn seas following the widely publicized death of a whale this month. Thailand is one of the world’s largest consumers of plastic, which kills hundreds of marine mammals and reptiles swimming off its coasts every year. The problem grabbed public attention in the first week […]

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UN says world choking on plastic as environmental crisis grows

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Up to five trillion grocery bags are used each year and like most plastic garbage barely any is recycled, the UN said Tuesday as it warned the world was choking on trash. In a report for International Environment Day, the UN warned at current levels the earth could be awash with 12 billion tonnes of plastic trash by the middle of the century. “Our oceans have been used as a […]

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Study warns of alarming decline in Australian fish

  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Conservation experts warned Wednesday of alarming falls in Australian fish populations and called for more marine reserves and better management to halt the decline. A 10-year study, looking at nearly 200 species at 544 sites, found the main cause was overfishing, with climate change also contributing, although the organization that manages the nation’s fisheries disputed the findings. The research, in the decade to 2015 by the University of Tasmania and […]

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Recycling plastic — Japan style

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — At a recycling plant outside Tokyo, workers in face masks pick through an unending torrent of plastic rubbish, fuelled by a national obsession with pristine packaging — and famously strict rules that ensure much of it is reclaimed and reused. Some 10 tonnes of recyclable plastics are brought in every day to be processed at the Ichikawa Kankyo Engineering center, where workers hover over conveyor belts removing any stray items or […]

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Switch to e-cars will cost Germany 75,000 jobs: study

  Frankfurt am Main, Germany (AFP) — The growing use of electrified vehicles is expected to cost Germany’s crucial car sector some 75,000 jobs by 2030, a study found Tuesday, with smaller auto parts suppliers set to be worst hit. The IG Metall union, which commissioned the study along with BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler and a string of car parts makers, said the pivot towards cleaner engines posed a “major challenge” to Germany’s biggest industry, which […]

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