European monitor says France has record wildfire burn area
A European forest monitor said France has seen a record area burned by wildfires. The source item did not provide figures, locations, a time period, or detail…
Climate & Environment
Published stories in Climate & Environment.
Scientists warn Great Barrier Reef faces high bleaching risk
Scientists warned that Australia's Great Barrier Reef is at very high risk of extreme and widespread bleaching and possible ecosystem collapse linked to this y…
International seabed body extends The Metals Company exploration contract
The international body that oversees ocean-floor mining granted a five-year extension to an exploration contract held by Canadian firm The Metals Company. The…
Swiss researchers copy NASA climate data to supercomputer
Researchers have copied large amounts of publicly available climate and environmental data from NASA onto a Swiss supercomputer to train artificial intelligence models and to keep a safeguard copy amid concern over US funding cuts. Switzerland's Federal Insti…
Greece prepares for first heatwave of the year
Greece is preparing for its first heatwave of the year after avoiding the record heat that affected much of Europe in June. Meteorologist Theodoros Kolydas said Sunday on Facebook that maximum temperatures in Thessaly, parts of the Peloponnese and the greater…
Spain forecast to face third summer heatwave
Spain is expected to enter its third heatwave of the summer on Tuesday, with temperatures forecast to rise above 40C across large parts of the country, the national weather office said. AEMET said a persistent area of high pressure would trap hot, dry air fro…
UNESCO members to consider new endangered heritage listings
UNESCO member states are due to vote in Busan, South Korea, on new additions to the World Heritage list and the World Heritage in Danger list, with several sites facing threats linked to conflict, climate change, pollution or other pressures. The United Natio…
Trump administration further limits US endangered species protections
President Donald Trump's administration finalized two rules on Friday that narrow protections under the US Endangered Species Act. One rule rescinds the “blanket rule” that had automatically applied endangered species protections to species listed as “threate…
Nigerian court dismisses challenge to Shell onshore asset sale
A Nigerian court on 17 July dismissed a lawsuit by Bubaraiye Dakolo, the monarch of Ekpetiama kingdom in southern Bayelsa state, that sought to halt Shell's plan to offload its onshore assets over accusations of decades of environmental pollution. Dakolo had…
EU proposes softer carbon market rules for companies
The European Union proposed easing its carbon trading scheme for companies as it set out reforms to one of its main climate policies under pressure to support industry. The proposed overhaul of the Emissions Trading System, or ETS, follows disputes among EU c…
US science report says climate event attribution has improved
A new report from the United States' top science advisory body says scientists can now link some specific extreme weather events to human-caused climate change with greater confidence, a finding that could affect lawsuits seeking damages from fossil fuel comp…
Study projects more Amazon deforestation after soy moratorium ends
A paper published in Science projects that the end of the Amazon Soy Moratorium will lead to at least 1.4 million hectares of additional deforestation in Brazil over the next decade. The paper examined the Amazon Soy Moratorium, a voluntary agreement under wh…
AFP analysis links Europe's June heatwave to at least 12,000 excess deaths
An AFP analysis of national statistics indicated that at least 12,000 excess deaths were recorded across nine European countries during June's heatwave, and the toll could still rise as more data is released. All-time temperature records were broken in severa…
UK-backed mission heads to Greenland to study melting ice
An international team of scientists set sail from Britain on Thursday for Greenland to study rapidly melting ice with drones, mini-submarines and autonomous swimming robots. The RRS Sir David Attenborough polar research ship was leaving Harwich in southeast E…
Scientists say climate change made west Africa heavy rainfall five times more likely
Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group said climate change has made extreme rainfall in west Africa about five times more likely than it was in the late 19th century, after floods in the region killed nearly 100 people last month. The group said…
Philippine communities build bamboo barriers to protect mangroves
Communities in the Philippines are trying to protect damaged mangrove forests by building bamboo barriers that slow waves and keep sediment from blocking tidal channels. In Batuan town in Masbate province, environmentalist Andrea Pimentel of WWF-Philippines i…
Conservation groups sue over Trump species habitat rule
Conservation groups sued US President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday, accusing it of weakening a core Endangered Species Act protection by removing habitat destruction from the legal definition of "harm" to vulnerable plants and animals. The Interio…
North American heat wave spreads east as alerts affect more than 100 million
A record-breaking heat wave was spreading Tuesday from the Mountain West toward the eastern United States and Canada, with more than 100 million people under heat alerts. Hot and dry conditions also contributed to intense wildfires in southwestern Ontario and…
Tokyo officials try shorts at work during hot summer weather
Some Tokyo metropolitan government officials are wearing shorts at work under a loosened summer dress code aimed at helping offices reduce reliance on air conditioning. On Tuesday, with temperatures in Tokyo around 34C, at least five men in one metropolitan g…
Trump signs orders cutting two Utah national monuments by about 90 percent
President Donald Trump signed executive orders reducing two national monuments in Utah to roughly one-tenth of their current size, opening millions of acres of protected land to fossil fuel extraction and mining. Trump signed the proclamations at a White Hous…