Category: Environment

LONDON, February 3, 2010 (AFP) – The embattled chief of the UN climate change panel admitted Wednesday that a mistake in a landmark 2007 report had damaged the body’s credibility, in an interview with a British newspaper. But Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), refused to apologise in the interview […]

CHICAGO, January 20, 2010 (AFP) – Huge Asian carp, which act like “aquatic vacuum cleaners” and leap into the air when spooked by motorboats, may have invaded the US Great Lakes despite a massive effort to block them, officials said Tuesday. Researchers analyzing water samples have discovered fragments of Asian carp DNA in Lake Michigan, […]

Jan 18, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka rural farmers living close to forested areas with wild elephants will be taught to manage human animal conflicts through a new model dairy pilot project, its promoters said. Exetel, an Australian IT firm that runs a call centre in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society […]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, January 13, 2010 (AFP) – In just one terrifying minute the earth convulsed Tuesday in Haiti, flattening buildings and casually tossing chunks of twisted metal and concrete into the air. Thousands fled sobbing in terror and panic onto the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince, seeking to escape the fury of the 7.0 earthquake. But […]

BERLIN, January 10, 2010 (AFP) – The Arctic freeze gripping Europe left hundreds of people stuck in vehicles in deep snow or stranded at airports with scores of flights cancelled and power cuts to thousands of homes on Sunday. The treacherous conditions cut off villages in northern Germany and on the Baltic islands, and disrupted […]

BANDA ACEH, December 26, 2009 (AFP) – People across Asia paused Saturday to remember the day five years ago when an undersea earthquake unleashed a devastating wave that killed more than 220,000 people. A solemn day of prayers and remembrance to mark one of the world’s worst natural disasters was held in Indonesia’s Aceh province, […]

HAWTHORNE, December 22, 2009 (AFP) – Frederic Scheer is biding his time, convinced that by 2013 the price of oil will be so high that his bio-plastics, made from vegetables and plants, will be highly marketable.Cereplast, which has 25 employees in California and in Indiana, has accumulated a series of patents for the technology it […]

COPENHAGEN, December 19, 2009 (AFP) – They had been urged to side with the angels but ultimately, base political instinct seems to have prevailed among the world’s most powerful leaders as they sealed a climate pact among themselves, sparking fury elsewhere.From the eve of the 12-day marathon right until its finale, the overwhelming message in […]

COPENHAGEN, December 19, 2009 (AFP) – A UN conference on Saturday rammed through a battle plan against climate change forged by US President Barack Obama and other top leaders, sidelining smaller states which lashed the deal as a betrayal.After toxic exchanges through the night, the summit chair forced through a deal using a procedural tool […]

TAIPEI, December 3, 2009 (AFP) – When Yeh You-chin was a boy half a century ago, he ate migratory birds with relish, but now he is at the forefront of efforts to preserve the feathered visitors to his south Taiwan home. Yeh, the 59-year-old chief of Fangshan township, recently opened an exhibition hall devoted to […]

Dec 03, 2009 (LBO) – Sri Lanka is to get a loan of 100 million dollars from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to modernise the sewerage system in the capital Colombo and its suburbs.A government statement said the project will improve the urban environment and public health for about 1.5 million urban and suburb residents […]

NEW DELHI, November 28, 2009 (AFP) – Indian Premier Manmohan Singh said Saturday he was willing to commit his country to “ambitious” global carbon emission cuts, provided others shared the burden.Home to nearly 1.2 billion people, India is the only major greenhouse gas emitting nation yet to announce figures on reining in its carbon output, […]