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NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — German luxury carmaker BMW has been sued in the United States over “defeat devices” installed in tens of thousands of vehicles in order to cheat diesel emissions tests, lawyers for the plaintiffs said Tuesday. The case, filed in federal court in New Jersey, will become a class-action suit once it is certified by a judge. The suit singles out the BMW X5 and 335D model diesel cars sold between […]
by Becky Davis Agence France-Presse China appears to be “winning” its war on air pollution, making so much progress that life expectancy could rise by more than two years, according to a US university study. The Chinese government has been waging a battle to clear its skies of smog that has cut life expectancy in some regions and prompted its citizens to buy masks and air purifiers to protect themselves during peak pollution days. The […]
by Victoria Loguinova-Yakovleva Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Weary of local officials dismissing the deadly smog that covers their city, citizens of Siberia’s industrial hub Krasnoyarsk decided to take action and monitor air quality themselves. But they quickly came up against those same authorities in the remote region 4,200 kilometers (2,600 miles) east of Moscow. Krasnoyarsk boasts dozens of factories as well as one of the world’s biggest aluminium plants. The natural resources […]
by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, Russia (AFP) — The ozone layer that protects life on Earth from deadly ultraviolet radiation is unexpectedly declining above the planet’s most populated regions, according to a study released Tuesday. A 1987 treaty, the Montreal Protocol, banned industrial aerosols that chemically dissolved ozone in the high atmosphere, especially above Antarctica. Nearly three decades later, the “ozone hole” over the South Pole and the upper reaches of the stratosphere […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Primary schools will be closed on Monday in Tehran as thick fog caused by pollution smothers the Iranian capital and most of the surrounding province, local authorities said. They also announced Sunday they would impose traffic restrictions in Tehran, home to 8.5 million inhabitants, allowing cars onto the streets in alternating shifts, depending on their number plates. Similar measures were taken in December when primary schools in Tehran and most of […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — When coral reefs come in contact with plastic trash in the ocean, their risk of becoming diseased skyrockets, said an international study out Thursday. Researchers examined more than 120,000 corals on 159 reefs — some polluted with plastic, others not — from Indonesia, Australia, Myanmar and Thailand for the study in the journal Science. “We found that the chance of disease increased from four percent to 89 percent when […]
by Robin Millard Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — London’s first electric-powered black cabs hit the streets on Tuesday, the British capital’s iconic taxis getting a facelift for the modern age that should help cut pollution in the city. The new-look cabs will meet the strict new emissions regulations required for all new London taxis from 2018. They are replacing the old diesel cabs, with more than 9,000 electric taxis — around half the […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is in peril from climate change and widespread bleaching, but scientists said Tuesday a small portion may be resilient enough to keep much of the rest alive. About three percent of the World Heritage site — home to the planet’s largest collection of coral reefs with 3,800 in all — has so far emerged relatively unscathed from a host of threats, from warming waters to pollution […]
NEW DELHI, India (Reuters) — Delhi residents woke up to a bright morning and improved visibility on Saturday (November 18) after an overnight drizzle marginally improved the smog levels in the city. However, the levels of poisonous air borne particles, known as PM 2.5, remained “very unhealthy”. According to a U.S. embassy measure, the level of PM 2.5 stood at 256 at 11 am (0530GMT) – five times the upper limit of “good” quality air […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Air pollution in New Delhi worsened again Sunday and officials warned of little relief in sight from the smog, which has even caused one airline to cancel flights to the world’s most polluted capital. The US embassy website Sunday showed levels of the smallest and most harmful airborne pollutants reached 676, about 27 times the World Health Organization’s safe maximum, after falling slightly late last week. Delhi authorities have halted […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – New Delhi banned all construction, barred lorries from entering the city and announced stringent restrictions on private car use on Thursday, seeking to combat a massive spike in pollution across large swathes of India and Pakistan. Tens of thousands of schools in Delhi and surrounding states remained closed as a hazardous fog of toxic pollution cloaked the region for a third day, bringing growing calls for urgent government action to tackle […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – Schools closed across large swathes of north India on Thursday as pollution hit hazardous levels for the third day, with growing calls for urgent government action to tackle what doctors are calling a public health emergency. Punjab’s government said it was closing all 25,000 schools in the state for the rest of the week due to the acrid air blanketing north India and parts of neighboring Pakistan. The decision came […]
