Environment

More than 100 tons of dead sea creatures have been shoveled up from smelly, deserted beaches in tourist areas along Florida’s southwest coast as a result of the harmful algal bloom this month alone. A state of emergency has been declared in Florida, United States, as the worst red tide in a decade blackens the […]

Green Transportation

Elon Musk says in Talks with Saudis on Taking Tesla Private

AFP

By Rob Lever | – Washington (AFP) – Tesla chief executive Elon Musk disclosed Monday that he was in talks with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and other investors to take the electric automaker private. The revelation came after Musk claimed in an August 7 Twitter post that financing for a deal to take Tesla […]

Afghanistan

Farmers in War-Torn Afghanistan Hit by Worst Drought in Decades

AFP

With Emal Haidary | – Mazar-i-Sharif (Afghanistan) (AFP) – After his wheat crop failed and wells dried up, Ghulam Abbas sold his animals and joined thousands of other farmers migrating to cities as Afghanistan’s worst drought in living memory ravages the war-torn country. A huge shortfall in snow and rain across much of the country […]

Pollution

France to set Penalties on Plastic Waste, Ban Straws

Julien Dury

Paris (AFP) – France plans to introduce a penalty system next year that would increase the costs of consumer goods with packaging made of non-recycled plastic, part of a pledge to use only recycled plastic nationwide by 2025, an environment ministry official said Sunday. Brune Poirson, secretary of state for ecological transition, said the move […]

Pollution

US jury orders Monsanto pay $290mn to cancer patient in weed killer trial

Glenn Chapman

San Francisco (AFP) – A California jury on Friday ordered chemical giant Monsanto to pay nearly $290 million for failing to warn a dying groundskeeper that its weed killer Roundup might cause cancer. Jurors unanimously found that Monsanto — which vowed to appeal — acted with “malice” and that its weed killers Roundup and the […]

Climate Change

Burning Fossil Fuels risks Tipping Earth into ‘Hothouse’ State: Study

Kerry Sheridan

Tampa (AFP) – The planet urgently needs to transition to a green economy because fossil fuel pollution risks pushing the Earth into a lasting and dangerous “hothouse” state, researchers warned on Monday. If polar ice continues to melt, forests are slashed and greenhouse gases rise to new highs — as they currently do each year […]

Climate Change

“It’s Quite Scary”- Climate Scientists Alarmed as Europe Melts in Record Heat

AFP

In Lazio, the region where Rome is located, heatwaves have caused around 7,700 deaths since 2000

Climate Change

Heatwave Deaths to Rise 2,000% over next 60 Years in 1/3 of Earth

TeleSur

The researchers relied on historical data and used climate models to estimate future temperatures. Heatwave-related deaths could rise up to 2,000 percent by 2080, according to a new study, the Week Magazine has reported. The research published in PLOS Medicine Tuesday found that heatwaves which are a critical public health issue, will “increase in the […]

Climate Change

Today’s Abnormally hot Arctic Temperatures not observed since Time of Christ

Kerry Sheridan

Tampa (AFP) – Planet-warming greenhouse gases surged to new highs as abnormally hot temperatures swept the globe and ice melted at record levels in the Arctic last year due to climate change, a major US report said Wednesday. The annual State of the Climate Report, compiled by more than 450 scientists from over 60 countries, […]