Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 19, 2022 A global standard limiting sulfur in ship fuel reduced artificial “ship track” clouds to record-low levels in 2020. Pandemic-related disruptions played a secondary role. Ship tracks, the polluted marine clouds that trail ocean-crossing vessels, are a signature of modern trade. Like ghostly fingerprints, they trace shipping lanes around the globe, from the North Pacific to the Mediterraneanhttp://dlvr.it/SbTkqd Continue reading Study finds evidence that fuel regulation reduced air pollution from shipping

Rochester NY (SPX) Oct 21, 2022 Deep below the ocean’s surface, the seafloor contains large quantities of naturally occurring, ice-like deposits made up of water and concentrated methane gas. For decades, climate scientists have wondered if this methane hydrate reservoir might “melt” and release massive amounts of methane to the ocean and the atmosphere as ocean temperatures warm. New research from scientists at the Univhttp://dlvr.it/SbTkq0 Continue reading Ancient ocean methane not an immediate climate change threat

Washington (AFP) Oct 15, 2022 Pakistan’s finance minister has promised international lenders to stay true to economic reforms despite a new estimate that his country quickly needs more than $16 billion to recover from devastating floods. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also said that a flood donors’ conference promised by French President Emmanuel Macron would take place next month which he hoped would help Pakistan both … Continue reading Pakistan vows IMF reforms as flood damage estimated at over $16 bn

Kampala (AFP) Oct 19, 2022 The death toll from an Ebola epidemic declared last month in Uganda has climbed to 44, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing in Geneva that there had been 60 confirmed and 20 probable cases, with 44 deaths and 25 recoveries. “We remain concerned that there may be more chains of … Continue reading Uganda Ebola epidemic death toll climbs to 44: WHO

Zurich (AFP) Oct 18, 2022 Swiss Re warned investors Tuesday that Hurricane Ian would push it into a third quarter loss of approximately half a billion dollars. The Swiss reinsurance giant gave a preliminary estimate of total insured losses from the hurricane which ravaged Cuba and the southern United States at $50-65 billion. “With sustained wind speeds of about 150 miles per hour (240 km/h), … Continue reading Hurricane Ian blows Swiss Re into loss

Berlin (AFP) Oct 18, 2022 Climate activists who won a landmark case against the German government last year are now taking their case to the European Court of Human Rights, an organisation representing them said on Tuesday. The group of nine young environmentalists are unhappy with the government’s climate plan in response to their legal victory, according to campaign group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH). “The governhttp://dlvr.it/SbQXQs Continue reading German youths take climate case against govt to European court

Lejone, Lesotho (AFP) Oct 18, 2022 It’s harvest time in Lejone, a small village nestling in mountains in southern Africa more than two thousand metres above sea level. The yield is not grain or fruit, but rainbow trout – the bounty from an undulating river at the foot of the peaks of Lesotho. Fishermen haul nets bulging with trout onto a floating platform. The fish … Continue reading Mountainous Lesotho finds gold in trout fish farming

Baghdad (AFP) Oct 19, 2022 Just a year into her marriage, Manal became one of the tens of thousands of Iraqis every year who divorce in a deeply conservative nation where break-up rates have risen. For Manal, like many other women, the reason was clear – her husband’s financial dependence on his family’s business meant that “he couldn’t take any decisions of his own”. The … Continue reading In Iraq, divorce rates soar even as stigma persists for women

Washington (AFP) Oct 18, 2022 Climate change is a prime suspect in a mass die-off of Alaska’s snow crabs, experts say, after the state took the unprecedented step of canceling their harvest this season to save the species. According to an annual survey of the Bering Sea floor carried out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, estimates for the crustaceans’ total numbers fell to … Continue reading Warming waters ‘key culprit’ in Alaska crab mass die-off

Doringbaai, South Africa (AFP) Oct 19, 2022 To those who live here, it’s like a little piece of heaven, boasting pink flamingos, white beaches and blue ocean waters. Yet this stretch of South Africa’s west coast has also become a battleground, pitching mining firms against environmentalists fearful that one of nature’s last wild treasures is being bulldozed away. Diamonds, zircon and other minerals have long … Continue reading Surfers, miners fight over South Africa’s white beaches