Bombay Durpun - Nature

Featured

Anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France

Freed anti-whaling activist Paul Watson on Friday arrived in France after five months in detention in Greenland pending an extradition demand from Japan, an airport source told AFP.

Mayotte hospital on life support after cyclone

The haggard faces in the wreckage-and-water-strewn corridors betrayed the nerves and exhaustion of those soldiering on at the main hospital on the French archipelago of Mayotte, ravaged by a deadly cyclone last weekend.

Last news

Biden restores environmental safeguards dropped by Trump

The administration of President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced it would restore safeguards in a cornerstone environmental law weakened under Donald Trump -- including a duty to assess the climate impacts of proposed infrastructure projects.

Iraq 'green belt' neglected in faltering climate fight

Envisioned as a lush fortress against worsening desertification and sand storms, the "green belt" of Iraq's Karbala stands as a wilted failure.

Cruise ships at center of dispute in Florida's idyllic Key West

The island-city of Key West off the southern tip of Florida invites visitors to stroll slowly, enjoy turquoise waters and take in the sunset. But according to some residents, that idyllic peace is endangered -- by lumbering, tourist-filled cruise ships.

Endangered North Atlantic right whales make a stand in Cape Cod

After many hours scouring Cape Cod Bay and a few false alarms, those aboard the Research Vessel Shearwater on a bright April day make their first sighting: three North Atlantic right whales, including a rare mother-calf pair.

Climate activists block four of London's busiest bridges

UK climate activist group Extinction Rebellion on Friday shut down four of London's busiest bridges, snarling traffic on the first day of the Easter bank holiday.

Israel to top up shrinking Sea of Galilee with desalinated water

Israel, a leader in making seawater drinkable, plans to pump excess output from its desalination plants into the Sea of Galilee, depleted by overuse and threatened by climate change.

Ship stranded off US delights curious, worries environmentalists

Holding binoculars and toting folding chairs the sightseers are laser-focused: the objective is to see the massive container ship Ever Forward, which has been stranded for a month in the mud of the US East Coast's Chesapeake Bay.

341 dead in S.Africa floods as hunt for survivors widens

The death toll from South Africa's "unprecedented" floods climbed to 341 on Thursday as helicopters fanned out across the southeastern city of Durban in an increasingly desperate search for survivors.

Senegal eyes economic boom in oyster farming

The mangrove swamp near Joal-Fadiouth, a fishing village in southern Senegal, teems with oysters.

'Green cities' focus of largest Dutch garden expo

Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Wednesday opened the gates to one of Europe's largest gardening fairs, a once-in-a-decade show focusing this year on how to make cities greener.

Gas tank graveyard has Mexico City residents up in arms

Thousands of disused gas cylinders sit outside under the sun at a former refinery in Mexico City, producing a foul smell that neighbors say has made their lives a nightmare.

French Greens face crisis after failed presidential bid

France's Green party were facing a financial and political crisis on Monday after a deeply disappointing presidential election saw their candidate finish sixth and struggle to put climate change on the national agenda.

In 'project of the century', Swiss seek to bury radioactive waste

Storing radioactive waste above ground is a risky business, but the Swiss think they have found the solution: burying spent nuclear fuel deep underground in clay.

Record 1st-quarter deforestation in Brazilian Amazon

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon set a new quarterly record in the first three months of 2022 compared to a year earlier, official data showed Friday.

Climate activists shut London's Tower Bridge

UK climate activist group Extinction Rebellion shut down London's iconic Tower Bridge on Friday after two of its protesters abseiled over its sides.

India under fresh scrutiny as UN panel calls for shunning coal

The mounds of jet-black coal shimmering under the afternoon sun at the Dadri power plant are a raw illustration of India's coal dependence -- a habit that despite increasing pressure, the country is finding hard to kick.

Increase in atmospheric methane set new record in 2021: US

For the second year running, US scientists observed record increases in the atmospheric concentration of the potent greenhouse gas methane, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Thursday.

'Cyber Rodeo' bash fetes new Tesla plant in Texas

Electric car lovers are flocking to Austin for an enormous party Thursday celebrating a new Tesla "gigafactory" in Texas the size of 100 professional soccer fields.

Thai national parks ban single-use plastics

Thailand on Wednesday banned styrofoam packaging and single-use plastics from national parks as it fights a scourge of waste threatening wildlife.

DR Congo Pygmies attacked in wildlife park: rights group

Troops and rangers in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in eastern DR Congo have carried out attacks on indigenous Pygmies living in the famed wildlife haven, a rights watchdog said on Wednesday

Mexico seeks 'miracle' to save near-extinct vaquita porpoise

Mexican naval vessels, spotter planes and conservationists are patrolling the upper Gulf of California in a race against time to save the world's rarest marine mammal from extinction.

In a southern US capital, an unending water crisis

Every morning, 180 students at a school in Jackson, Mississippi have to board a bus to be taken to another nearby school. The reason? Their school lacks the water pressure needed to flush its own toilets.

'Now or never' to avoid climate catastrophe, warns UN

Humanity has less than three years to halt the rise of planet-warming carbon emissions and less than a decade to slash them almost in half, the UN said Monday in a landmark report on stopping global warming and ensuring a "liveable future".

Nearly entire global population breathing polluted air: WHO

A full 99 percent of people on Earth breathe air containing too many pollutants, the World Health Organization said Monday, blaming poor air quality for millions of deaths each year.

Pipe dreams: Pakistan sewage workers hope for better future

Nearly naked and covered with a black, foul-smelling muck, Shafiq Masih struggles out of a sewer he has just cleaned by hand in an upmarket district of Lahore, Pakistan's second biggest city.

UN talks on climate change solutions hung up on finance

Negotiations to finalise a key UN report on how to stave off climate catastrophe, already two days into overtime, remained stymied Sunday on the issue of financial needs, participants told AFP.

Scientists risk arrest to sound climate alarm

A loosely federated network of scientists in more than two dozen countries plan acts of civil disobedience starting this week to highlight the climate crisis, members of Scientist Rebellion told AFP.

Kenya jail goes green to fix sewage woes and protect sea

Heading north from Mombasa, the unmistakable whiff of a foul stench in the air was as reliable as any mile marker for motorists taking the highway along the Kenyan coast.

Ukraine war drives German inflation, darkens growth outlook

Inflation in Germany has surged to a post-reunification high, data showed Wednesday, as the war in Ukraine sent energy prices soaring and diminished the prospects for growth in Europe's largest economy.

German economists slash 2022 growth outlook on Ukraine, energy

The German government's economic advisers slashed their growth forecast for 2022 on Wednesday, warning that the war in Ukraine and soaring energy prices would take a toll on Europe's biggest economy.

Senegal's water-stressed capital faces difficult future

Many residents of the Senegalese metropolis Dakar get up in the middle of the night hoping to collect water from their taps, which mostly run dry.

'Trash has value': Kenyan inventor turns plastic into bricks

"Plastic still has value," said Nzambi Matee of the mountains of discarded oil drums, laundry buckets, yoghurt tubs and other trash being shredded into colourful flakes at her Nairobi factory.

Invasive ants hit Texas hard - now a killer fungus is coming for them

When crazy ants roll into new parts of Texas, the invasive species wipe out local insects and lizards, drive away birds, and even blind baby rabbits by spewing acid in their eyes.

Will big biodiversity ambitions be enough to save nature?

After the world missed almost all of its targets to protect fast-dwindling nature for the last decade, observers following a new round of negotiations are focusing as much on how goals will be put in place as the headline targets.

Australia declares 'mass bleaching' at Great Barrier Reef

Australia's spectacular Great Barrier Reef is suffering "mass bleaching" as corals lose their colour under the stress of warmer seas, authorities said Friday, in a blow widely blamed on climate change.

In climate fight, rich nations must give up oil first: report

Rich countries must end their oil and gas production by 2034 to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius and give poorer nations time to replace fossil fuel income, according to a report released Tuesday.

Tunisian eco-pioneers battle to save Sahara oasis life

A remote oasis in Tunisia's desert was exhausted by decades of wasteful water use for agriculture -- but now pioneers around an eco-lodge are reviving the spot with innovative projects.

High seas treaty talks fail to reach a deal

The clock ran out Friday at UN talks to forge a legally binding treaty to protect open oceans beyond national jurisdictions, with no schedule set for prolonging the discussions.

Belgium delays nuclear energy exit 10 years due to Ukraine war

Belgium on Friday delayed by a decade a plan to scrap nuclear energy in 2025, spooked by the huge rise in energy prices due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Bombay Durpun - Nature (English)