Washington DC (SPX) Oct 04, 2023 The increasingly urgent climate crisis has led to a boom in commercial tree plantations in an attempt to offset excess carbon emissions. However, authors of a peer-reviewed opinion paper publishing October 3 in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution argue that these carbon-offset plantations might come with costs for biodiversity and other ecosystem functions. Instead, the authors say … Continue reading Carbon-capture tree plantations threaten tropical biodiversity for little gain

Brussels (AFP) Oct 5, 2023 EU members states and lawmakers struck a deal Thursday to eliminate by 2050 the use of powerful greenhouse gases commonly used in appliances such as fridges, air conditioners and heat pumps. Fluorinated gases – described as the “worst greenhouse gases you’ve never heard of” by Greenpeace – have a global warming effect up to 25,000 times greater than carbon dioxide. … Continue reading EU agrees to eliminate climate warming ‘F-gases’ by 2050

Paris (AFP) Oct 5, 2023 The world’s largest multilateral climate fund will aim to boost cash flow in a donor conference on Thursday, with all eyes on what the United States will provide for vulnerable nations. The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up as part of the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement to funnel grants and loans to developing countries for adaptation and mitigation projects … Continue reading Largest climate fund seeks new funding for vulnerable

Bangkok (AFP) Sept 22, 2023 For millions of Chinese tourists, Thailand used to be a happy land of water fights, lantern festivals and delicious food. But thanks to social media rumours and a blockbuster movie, the kingdom’s image among many Chinese people is now one of dangerous illegality and seedy scam border compounds – leaving visitor numbers plummeting. Thailand is hugely reliant on tourism, particularly … Continue reading Blockbuster movie scares Chinese tourists away from Thailand

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 20, 2023 With its crushing atmospheric pressure, clouds of sulfuric acid, and searing surface temperature, Venus is an especially challenging place to study. But scientists know that observing its surface can provide key insights into the habitability and evolution of rocky planets like our own. So to get a global perspective of Venus while staying well above its hellish atmosphere, NASA’s … Continue reading Venus on Earth: NASA’s VERITAS Science Team Studies Volcanic Iceland

Benghazi, Libya (AFP) Sept 20, 2023 Floods that killed thousands in the Libyan city of Derna also inundated one of the country’s premier ancient sites, threatening its UNESCO-listed monuments with collapse, a recent visitor and a leading archaeologist said. The immediate damage to the monuments of Cyrene, which include the second century AD Temple of Zeus, bigger than the Parthenon in Athens, is relatively minor … Continue reading Fears for ancient Cyrene after Libya floods

Brasilia (AFP) Sept 21, 2023 A lopsided majority of Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled Thursday against an effort to restrict native peoples’ rights to protected reservations on their ancestral lands, in a win for Indigenous activists and climate campaigners. Indigenous leaders in bright feather headdresses and body paint exploded in celebration outside the high court building in Brasilia as Justice Luiz Fux became the sixthhttp://dlvr.it/SwVWMf Continue reading Brazil court rules for Indigenous land rights in key case

Bordeaux (AFP) Sept 22, 2023 King Charles III on Friday puts the environment at the heart of the final day of his state visit to France, learning about climate-induced wildfires and visiting a sustainable vineyard in the heart of wine country. The 74-year-old British head of state – a lifelong environmentalist – wraps up three days of diplomacy aimed at forging closer cross-Channel links after … Continue reading King Charles’s France trip closing with climate focus

Derna, Libya (AFP) Sept 20, 2023http://dlvr.it/SwSFhq Continue reading Libya flood survivors endure unbearable wait for missing relatives

Rabat (AFP) Sept 20, 2023 Quake-hit Morocco’s government announced on Wednesday a budget of more than $11 billion for reconstruction, rehousing and socio-economic development of areas hit by the deadly disaster. The 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Al-Haouz province south of Marrakesh on September 8, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring thousands more. The government said in a statement it was setting aside 120 bhttp://dlvr.it/SwSFhQ Continue reading Morocco sets aside nearly $12 bn for quake recovery