Newcastle UK (SPX) Apr 10, 2023 Ice sheets can retreat up to 600 metres a day during periods of climate warming, 20 times faster than the highest rate of retreat previously measured. An international team of researchers, led by Dr Christine Batchelor of Newcastle University, UK, used high-resolution imagery of the seafloor to reveal just how quickly a former ice sheet that extended from Norway … Continue reading Ice sheets can collapse faster than previously thought possible

Vlora, Albania (AFP) April 12, 2023 A team of Albanian marine biologists scan the azure waters of the Ionian Sea for a sign of one of the rarest marine mammals in the world. Mediterranean monk seals were once abundant, but now there are only a few hundred left in small scattered groups off Albania, Greece and Turkey and in Mauritania, on Africa’s Atlantic coast. Yet … Continue reading Albania pushes out boat to save world’s rarest seal

Los Alamos CA (SPX) Apr 10, 2023 Ponderosa pine forests in the Sierra Nevada that were wiped out by western pine beetles during the 2012-2015 megadrought won’t recover to pre-drought densities, reducing an important storehouse for atmospheric carbon. “Forests store huge amounts of atmospheric carbon, so when western pine beetle infestations kill off millions of trees, that carbon dioxide goes back into the atmosphere,” sahttp://dlvr.it/SmJGnj Continue reading California’s beetle-killed, carbon-storing pine forests may not come back

Moscow (AFP) April 11, 2023 Russia’s Shiveluch volcano erupted on Tuesday, spewing a cloud of ash across a vast swath of the Kamchatka Peninsula and potentially posing a risk to flights, according to local volcanology authorities. The Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), which monitors eruptions in the region, issued an aviation code red after the eruption, reporting that the ash cloud had drifted hundredhttp://dlvr.it/SmJGn2 Continue reading Russian volcano spews ash across Kamchatka Peninsula

Brasilia (AFP) April 7, 2023 Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest in the first quarter of 2023 was one of the worst on record, according to official figures released on Friday. Those figures show the scale of the task facing leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, just 100 days into his return to power. Satellite images from the INPE national space investigations institute showed 356 … Continue reading Despite Lula’s promises, deforestation still rampant in Brazil

Murillo, Colombia (AFP) April 8, 2023 Smoke billows from the crater of a snow-capped Andean volcano, reminding local inhabitants of the threat of another potential deadly eruption. Yet at the foot of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in the Colombian Andes, thousands of villagers are staying put to tend to their crops and pack animals, despite an urgent call from the government to evacuate. Luis … Continue reading As Colombian volcano rumbles to life, villagers resist evacuation

Washington (AFP) April 8, 2023 The World Bank’s ongoing reform could result in a $50 billion lending boost over the next decade, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told AFP ahead of stakeholders’ meetings next week where key changes are expected to be announced. Central bankers, finance ministers and participants from more than 180 member countries are expected to gather in the US capital for the International … Continue reading World Bank could lend $50bn more over decade with reform: Yellen

Paris (AFP) April 7, 2023 The French government said Friday there was “no health risk” from traces of a banned pesticide which were revealed in drinking water by a study from the country’s consumer safety watchdog. The ANSES watchdog on Thursday published the findings of research into the presence of around 200 complex chemical compounds in drinking water around the country, based on 136,000 samples … Continue reading French govt says ‘no health risk’ from pesticide in water

Rio De Janeiro (AFP) April 6, 2023 Protected Indigenous reservations in the Amazon rainforest absorb thousands of tonnes of airborne pollution each year, saving around $2 billion annually in healthcare costs for treating respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, according to a study published Thursday. The decade-long study analyzed the health impacts of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon, which release huge amounts of partihttp://dlvr.it/SmF3Tl Continue reading Amazon Indigenous lands prevent disease, save billions: study

Paris (AFP) April 6, 2023 Antarctic ice-sheets risk breaking into the sea faster than previously thought in stretches of up to 600 metres a day, speeding up the rise in sea levels, new research indicates. In a paper published Wednesday in science journal Nature, researchers studied traces left by retreating ice-shelves thousands of years ago on the seabed off Norway. Ridges revealed how quickly the … Continue reading Ice sheets could retreat faster than expected: study