Seas could rise higher than predicted, drenching coastal cities: study

NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Global seas could rise nearly twice as much as previous, widely accepted estimates, according to a study published on Thursday saying low-lying cities face possible disaster by the end of the century.


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Rescued sea turtle undergoes experimental treatment in Seattle

(Reuters) - Seattle veterinarians will test a rescued sea turtle on Friday to see whether treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, typically used for decompression sickness in human divers, has cured a buoyancy disorder preventing the marine reptile from being released back to the ocean. 











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Hundreds of homing pigeons perish in New York fire

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hundreds of homing pigeons kept atop a Brooklyn rowhouse were among the victims of a fire this week that displaced more than 20 families in the New York borough, fire officials and local media said on Thursday.


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United States, China to sign Paris climate accord on April 22

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and China confirmed Thursday that they will sign the Paris climate change agreement in New York on April 22, a move that officials hope will help the accord enter into force this year.


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Britain's greenhouse gas emissions fell 3.3 pct in 2015: government

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell by 3.3 percent in 2015, largely due to a decline in coal-fired power generation and marking the third straight yearly drop, preliminary government data showed on Thursday.


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U.S. environmental groups sue to overturn GMO salmon approval

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators are facing a lawsuit from a coalition of environmental organizations seeking to overturn the government's landmark approval of a type of genetically engineered salmon to be farmed for human consumption.


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Oklahoma storm-packing tornadoes injure seven, damage buildings

(Reuters) - Several tornadoes were reported in northern Oklahoma late on Wednesday, with heavy winds blowing down power lines, damaging structures and injuring at least seven people, regional officials said.











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Rescued sea turtles Thunder & Lightning arrive for rehab in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Reuters) - Two endangered olive ridley sea turtles found stranded and comatose along the northern Oregon coast in December were flown by the U.S. Coast Guard on Wednesday to San Diego to begin long-term rehabilitative care at SeaWorld.


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Britain to ship record amount of nuclear waste to U.S.: UK government source

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will ship 700 kilograms of nuclear waste to the United States under a deal to be announced by Prime Minister David Cameron at a nuclear security summit in Washington on Thursday, a British government source said.


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Rare Amur leopard euthanized at Oregon zoo

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - One of the planet's last remaining Amur leopards, a 20-year-old giant cat plagued by kidney disease and extreme old age, was euthanized at the Oregon Zoo, officials said on Wednesday.


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Westinghouse expects to sign India reactor deal in June: CEO

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chief executive of Toshiba Corp's Westinghouse Electric said on Wednesday he expects to sign a deal in June to build six nuclear reactors in India after marathon negotiations that began more than a decade ago.











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Supreme Court sympathetic to property owner in wetlands dispute

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared likely to rule that property owners can challenge the federal government in court over the need for permits under a national water protection law in a case involving a company's plans for a Minnesota peat mine.


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Climate forecasts underestimate sea-rise impact of Antarctic thaw: study

OSLO (Reuters) - Sea levels could rise 50 cm (20 inches) more this century than had been expected, according to a report published on Wednesday which found that Antarctic ice will melt faster than previously thought.











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California lawmakers urge CalPERS to divest from Exxon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two California Democratic congressmen on Wednesday urged the California Public Employees Retirement System, the largest U.S. public pension fund, to divest from oil giant ExxonMobil over its handling of the issue of climate change.











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Washington nuclear plant to restart this week after shutdown

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Washington state nuclear power plant is expected to be restarted this week after it was shut down to check an issue with a valve that was discovered during a maintenance test, a representative said on Wednesday.


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Kenyan wildlife rangers shoot dead stray lion near the capital

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan wildlife rangers shot dead a stray male lion in the outskirts of Nairobi after it attacked and injured a local resident, the Kenya Wildlife Service said.











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Hundreds of UK churches set to go green, switch to renewable energy-charities

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - More than 400 churches in the United Kingdom plan to switch to clean energy providers for their light and heat, shifting spending of 1 million pounds ($1.4 million) to renewables from fossil fuels, two Christian charities said on Wednesday.


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Drought cuts output of Zimbabwe's top export earner tobacco

HARARE (Reuters) - Production of tobacco, Zimbabwe's biggest export earner, is expected to fall 15 percent to 160 million kilograms this season following a drought that has left millions facing hunger, an industry survey showed on Wednesday.











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Probe of Exxon's climate change disclosures expands

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top attorneys from Massachusetts and the U.S. Virgin Islands said on Tuesday they will investigate whether Exxon Mobil Corp misled investors and the public about the risks of climate change.


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Terminix to pay $10 million for pesticide misuse: Justice Department

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pest control company Terminix International Co LP and its U.S. Virgin Islands operation were charged on Tuesday with illegally applying a restricted-use pesticide in multiple residences in the Virgin Islands, the U.S. Justice Department said.











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U.S. FTC sues Volkswagen over diesel advertising claims

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday sued Volkswagen Group of America, saying the U.S. arm of the German automaker falsely advertised more than a half million diesel vehicles as environmentally friendly when it knew they were emitting excess pollution.











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South Africa's stealthy lion Sylvester escapes from reserve again

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African lion called "Sylvester", who was on the loose for three weeks last year, has escaped from his game reserve again and is wandering a sparsely-populated mountain region, South African National Parks (SANParks) said on Tuesday.











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GMO labels spread as U.S. congressional effort to halt them fades

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Even as General Mills Inc and other companies vow to keep fighting mandatory labeling of genetically modified food ingredients, they have begun rolling out these disclosures across the United States to comply a new Vermont law.











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USGS revises seismic risk map to include quakes caused by humans

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Earthquakes caused by human activity will now be included in the U.S. Geological Survey's seismic risk maps, the agency said on Monday after a sharp rise in temblors linked to wastewater disposal wells used by the oil and gas industry in Oklahoma.


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Too early to hail dip in China's CO2, despite coal fall-study

OSLO (Reuters) - Reports of a historic dip in China's carbon dioxide emissions in the past two years are premature because of uncertainty over data showing the pace of a decline in coal use by the world's biggest consumer, a study showed on Monday.











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Alaska volcano erupts with massive ash cloud, diverting flights

(Reuters) - A volcano on the Alaska Peninsula erupted with little advanced warning over the weekend, spewing an ash cloud up to 20,000 feet (6,096 meters) high that prompted aviation warnings across the region, scientists said on Monday.


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China pushes for mandatory integration of renewable power

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has ordered power transmission companies to provide grid connectivity for all renewable power generation sources and end a bottleneck that has left a large amount of clean power idle, the country's energy regulator said on Monday.











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China's polluted Hebei promises clean-up for 2022 Winter Games

BEIJING (Reuters) - The top official in China's northern province of Hebei, one of the country's most polluted, has vowed to use the staging of the 2022 Winter Olympics to drive efforts to cut smog, promote clean energy and ease dependence on heavy industry.


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Magnitude 4.8 quake strikes offshore Mexico's Baja California, no damage

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck in the Gulf of California, east of Mexico's Baja California peninsula on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and local authorities said there were no reports of damage.











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Easter snow helps U.S. firefighters slowly contain prairie wildfire

(Reuters) - A wildfire that has scorched hundreds of thousands acres of prairie and ranch land in Kansas and Oklahoma since last week was slowly being contained, authorities said on Sunday, with a rare Easter snowfall providing some help to fire-fighting teams.


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Black Hawk helicopters aid crews fighting Kansas wildfire

(Reuters) - Black Hawk helicopters dumped buckets of water on an immense wildfire raging across Kansas and Oklahoma on Saturday, helping firefighters to get an edge on a blaze that has destroyed hundreds of square miles of ranch land, officials said.











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US officials extend emergency water assistance for Flint, Michigan

(Reuters) - Federal officials have extended an emergency declaration for Flint that has provided supplies of bottled water, filters and test kits to the Michigan city suffering from lead contamination in drinking water, the state governor said on Friday.


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One of Seattle zoo's twin orangutans dies at age 48

(Reuters) - An orangutan that was one of the first set of twins known to be born in captivity died at the Seattle zoo this week at age 48, after living two decades longer than the median life expectancy for the Asian great ape, a zoo spokeswoman said on Friday.











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Winds expected to feed wildfires in Kansas, Oklahoma

(Reuters) - Crews battling wildfires that scorched roughly 400,000 acres in Kansas and Oklahoma braced on Friday for wind gusts to resume, feeding a fire so big it shows on satellite images and its smoke has reached Kentucky.


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Polish minister approves tripling of logging in ancient forest

WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland will approve a tripling in the volume of wood to be harvested from Bialowieza Forest, the environment minister said on Friday, putting the country on a collision course with the European Union and environmentalists.











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Japan to see warmer weather during April-June: forecaster

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will see mostly warmer weather from April to June, the official forecaster said on Friday.


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Japan's Shikoku Electric to scrap aging nuclear reactor

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese utility Shikoku Electric Power Co said on Friday it would scrap the ageing 566-megawatt No.1 reactor at its Ikata nuclear plant on May 10.


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Blizzard sweeps through the U.S. Midwest, rain drenches South

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The blizzard that blasted Colorado and shut down Denver's airport swept through the U.S. Midwest on Thursday, dumping up to 13 inches (33 cm) in northern Wisconsin, but the storm was expected to leave the Midwest by the evening or earlier, forecasters said.











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South Carolina governor urges U.S. to divert plutonium from Japan

TOKYO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has written to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz demanding a shipment of weapons-grade plutonium en route to her state from Japan be turned back or sent elsewhere, according to a copy of the letter seen by Reuters.


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China leads as green energy investment plans hit record high

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - China helped push global green energy investment plans to record heights in 2015, offsetting a sharp fall in Germany, authors of a U.N.-backed report said on Thursday, predicting further growth.











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Much-needed rain forecast for South Africa, but too late for summer maize

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Most parts of South Africa are forecast to receive above average rainfall in the autumn season from April, the national weather service said on Thursday, too late to benefit the drought-seared summer maize crop.


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Japan whaling fleet returns from Antarctic hunt with 333 whales

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's whaling fleet returned on Thursday from its Antarctic hunt after a year-long suspension with a take of more than 300 whales, including pregnant females.











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Russian government mulls closing most dangerous coal mines: TASS

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's government is studying the issue of closing the country's most dangerous coal mines but no decision has been taken yet, TASS news agency quoted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich as saying on Thursday.


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Giant arch to block Chernobyl radiation for next 100 years

CHERNOBYL, Ukraine (Reuters) - In the middle of a vast exclusion zone in northern Ukraine, the world's largest land-based moving structure has been built to prevent deadly radiation spewing from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site for the next 100 years.











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U.S. Navy tug found off California 95 years after going missing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy tug missing since 1921 has been discovered sunk off San Francisco, officials said on Wednesday, solving a nearly century-old maritime mystery.


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Activist who freed minks sentenced under rarely used U.S. terrorism law

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A California animal rights activist who freed 2,000 minks from an Illinois fur farm in 2013 was sentenced on Wednesday to house arrest and ordered to pay $200,000 to the farm's owners, prosecutors said.


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Exclusive: Exxon Mobil must allow climate change vote - SEC

(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled Exxon Mobil Corp must include a climate change resolution in its annual shareholder proxy, a defeat for the world's largest oil producer, which had argued it already provides adequate carbon disclosures.


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Man nested in Seattle's landmark giant sequoia tree, draws coos, boos

(Reuters) - A man who nested in a giant sequoia tree in downtown Seattle, drew a flock of Twitter comments, with some cooing over #ManInTree and others condemning him for damaging the 80-foot-tall (24-meter-tall) city landmark before coming down on Wednesday.


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Michigan state officials accountable in Flint water crisis :inquiry

DETROIT (Reuters) - A task force appointed by Michigan’s governor said on Wednesday state officials showed stubbornness, lack of preparation, delay and inaction in failing to prevent a health crisis in the city of Flint caused by lead contamination in the drinking water.











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Frozen power lines trigger hundreds of flight cancellations at Denver airport

(Reuters) - More than 300 flights were canceled at Denver International Airport on Wednesday after freezing snow on power lines from a blizzard triggered a power outage, an airport spokesman said.











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U.S., Argentina take steps to tackle climate change

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and Argentina's President Mauricio Macri agreed on Wednesday to take joint steps to fight climate change including working to cut carbon emissions from air flights and integrating solar and wind power into electricity grids.


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Five bald eagles killed in Delaware

(Reuters) - Five bald eagles have died in Delaware, state officials said on Tuesday, weeks after 13 of the U.S. national birds were determined to have been killed by humans in neighboring Maryland.


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Exhausted by 40 desert marathons, Australian says: 'Save water'

OSLO (Reuters) - Exhausted after wearing out eight pairs of shoes in 40 marathons across deserts from Antarctica to the United States, Australian Mina Guli hopes her runs will inspire other people to safeguard the planet's fresh water supplies.











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World Bank approves $500 million loan for Beijing clean-air projects

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - The World Bank has approved a $500 million loan to China to support financing of projects to help control air pollution in and around Beijing.











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Zimbabwean 'wizard' bewitches a bumper crop amid drought

GAVU, Zimbabwe (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Among his neighbors, Phillip Tshuma, 67, is considered a wizard who commands the rains with the help of goblins. How else could he grow a bumper crop of ripening maize, sorghum, millet and peanuts in a season when many farmers in Zimbabwe have written off their crops?


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Asia most exposed to disaster risk but Africa likely to suffer more

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Asia has the largest number of people exposed to natural disasters, but African countries are the most vulnerable to them, largely because of political instability, corruption, poverty and inequality, a new global assessment shows.


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Australia announces A$1 billion clean energy fund, in break with past

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday said the country would establish a A$1 billion ($761.60 million) clean-energy innovation fund, in a major departure from his predecessor's much maligned approach to combating climate change.











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Exhausted by 40 desert marathons, Australian says: 'Save water'

OSLO (Reuters) - Exhausted after wearing out eight pairs of shoes in 40 marathons across deserts from Antarctica to the United States, Australian Mina Guli hopes her runs will inspire other people to safeguard the planet's fresh water supplies.


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Japan sends 331 kg of weapons grade plutonium to U.S.: Greenpeace

TOKYO (Reuters) - A ship loaded with weapons-grade plutonium left Japan for the United States on Tuesday in what is the largest such shipment of the highly dangerous material since 1992, the environmental group Greenpeace said.











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China state firms seen boosting green energy investment in Australia

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Chinese state-owned companies are expected to boost their investment in Australia's expanding renewable energy sector, attracted by a national leadership that is more favorable to the industry than its forerunner.


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Panama canal sets depth limit on ships due to drought

PANAMA CITY (Reuters) - The Panama Canal will next month impose new draft restrictions on ships due to falling water levels at nearby lakes that form part of the waterway, the authority that administers the canal said in a statement on Monday.


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No water, no jobs: How water shortages threaten jobs and growth

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - An estimated three out of four jobs globally are dependent on water, meaning that shortages and lack of access are likely to limit economic growth in the coming decades, the United Nations said on Tuesday.











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Brazil's arabica crop: Bigger and better after drought

GUAXUPE, Brazil (Reuters) - Whichever of the many forecasts for Brazil's maturing arabica coffee crop end up on the mark, there is no doubt the harvest will be large and have more big screen beans. It will also likely to be of excellent quality as La Nina kicks in.











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Apple's robot rips apart iPhones for recycling

(Reuters) - Apple Inc on Monday unveiled a robotic system called Liam to take apart junked iPhones and recover valuable materials that can be recycled, such as silver and tungsten.











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Factbox: The world's most expensive places to buy water

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Papua New Guinea is the most difficult and expensive place in the world to access clean water, forcing the poor to spend more than half their income on this essential resource, a charity said on Tuesday.


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Mexicans celebrate spring equinox at Pyramid of the Sun

Visitors, many dressed in white, trudge up the steps of the Pyramid of the Sun, north of Mexico City,  on Sunday to catch the first rays of the day and to celebrate the spring equinox.


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Carbon emissions highest in 66 million years, since dinosaur age

OSLO (Reuters) - The rate of carbon emissions is higher than at any time in fossil records stretching back 66 million years to the age of the dinosaurs, according to a study on Monday that sounds an alarm about risks to nature from man-made global warming.


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New England shivers under blanket of snow at onset of spring

BOSTON (Reuters) - Residents of much of coastal New England woke up on the second day of spring to discover lawns and roads blanketed with snow and schools closed in Boston, Providence and several other cities.


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EU trials new way to measure emissions but will it make a difference?

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An ungainly contraption that resembles a bicycle rack with tubing attached will become a common sight on cars around Europe over the coming months as a new way of measuring car pollution gains traction following the Volkswagen scandal.


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Michigan outlines Flint recovery plan

DETROIT (Reuters) - Michigan's government on Monday released goals to help the city of Flint recover from a health crisis caused by the lead contamination of its drinking water.











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Fiji extends state of disaster after super Cyclone Winston

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Fiji's government said on Monday it would extend for another month a state of natural disaster in areas of the country still reeling from the impact of a super cyclone, which hit the country last month.


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Mumbai rubbish dump fire causes spike in air pollution

MUMBAI (Reuters) - A fire in one of Mumbai's three rubbish dumps on Saturday has triggered a fall in air quality to "poor", the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board said.











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Australia scientists alarmed at new Great Barrier Reef coral bleaching

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian scientists managing the Great Barrier Reef have lifted their emergency response to the highest level following the publication of video footage of damage caused by coral bleaching.











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ADB commits $123.3 million to improve Manila's water supply

MANILA (Reuters) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday it would lend $123.3 million to the Philippines to modernize water supply in the capital, Manila, to reduce the risk of shortages as demand for water rises in the megacity.


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Emissions-cutting aviation deal must be enforceable: NGOs

MONTREAL (Reuters) - A deal this fall to cap carbon emissions from global aviation at 2020 levels must be enforceable and set long-term goals in line with the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, a coalition of environmental groups said on Monday.











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Magnitude 6.6 quake hits off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A large, magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit in the Pacific Ocean off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Sunday.


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Second bald eagle hatches at Washington, DC arboretum

(Reuters) - The second eaglet from a pair of bald eagles known as "Mr President" and "the First Lady" emerged from its shell on Sunday at Washington's National Arboretum.











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U.S. East Coast could see late snowfall after mild winter

(Reuters) - After a relatively mild winter, the East Coast of the United States could get a last-gasp snow storm on Saturday night, just before the first day of spring, weather forecasters said.


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Australian government abandons campaign to log World Heritage forest

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Australian government ended its push to log World Heritage-listed forests on the southern island state of Tasmania on Sunday, after the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO issued a report calling for the area to remain protected from logging.











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Sydney among first cities to switch off lights for Earth Hour

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Cities on Australia's east coast were among the first in the world to turn lights out on Saturday for the 10th annual Earth Hour, a global lights out event designed to highlight the threat from climate change.


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Bald eagle hatches in District of Columbia, a second on the way

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A pair of bald eagles known as "Mr President" and "the First Lady" welcomed their first eaglet on Friday in Washington's National Arboretum.











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China's forests recovering at the expense of other nations, study says

TORONTO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - After taking a beating from decades of logging, China's forests have begun to regenerate, but the problem of deforestation may have shifted to other nations exporting wood to the world's most populous country, researchers said on Friday.


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Greenpeace, German regulator clash over vehicle test data

BERLIN (Reuters) - Greenpeace and Germany's autos regulator clashed over some data from vehicle tests on Friday, highlighting the tensions over car pollution in the wake of Volkswagen's emissions test-cheating scandal.











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UK faces new legal action over air quality

LONDON (Reuters) - New legal proceedings have been launched against the British government by environmental law firm ClientEarth over what it says is a failure to tackle air pollution, the firm said on Friday.


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France moves toward full ban on pesticides blamed for harming bees

PARIS (Reuters) - French lawmakers approved plans for a total ban on some widely used pesticides blamed for harming bees, going beyond European Union restrictions in a fierce debate that has pitched farmers and chemical firms against beekeepers and green groups.











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China orders probe after polluting factory fined just $90

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's environment ministry has ordered an investigation after a provincial environmental protection body fined a polluting factory just 603 yuan ($90) for dumping waste water, state media said on Friday.


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Japan to send weapons grade plutonium back to U.S. this weekend, Greenpeace says

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will load weapons-grade plutonium onto a ship as early as this weekend to send to the United States, in what will be largest such shipment of the highly dangerous material since 1992, Greenpeace said on Friday.











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China to build nuclear plant in polluted Hebei province

BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims to build a nuclear reactor in the heavily polluted province of Hebei, which surrounds the capital Beijing, in a bid to cut smog and promote cleaner energy, the head of the country's nuclear agency said on Friday.


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Native American tribe to relocate from Louisiana coast as sea levels rise

NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A small Native American community in coastal Louisiana is to be resettled after losing nearly all its land partly due to rising seas, a first in the United States.


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Eight exotic birds killed by hailstorm at Fort Worth Zoo

(Reuters) - Eight exotic birds were killed at the Fort Worth Zoo on Thursday by a violent hail storm that dropped ice pellets the size of golf balls, a zoo spokeswoman said.


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Southern Africa drought needs swift response as millions hungry: aid agencies

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Southern African governments and donors must respond swiftly to the regional drought emergency triggered by El Niño, aid agencies said on Thursday, with millions in the region facing hunger.


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Newark school system set to test children for lead

NEW YORK (Reuters) - As many as 17,000 students in Newark, New Jersey schools could be tested for lead in their blood after findings showed elevated levels of the toxin have been in water in schools since at least 2012, city health officials said.


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Flood risk to persist in Mississippi River basin -NOAA outlook

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Heavy winter rains have left the Missouri and Mississippi River basins, from Iowa to Louisiana, at an elevated risk of moderate flooding through June, U.S. government forecasters said on Thursday.


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Drones set to revolutionize ecological monitoring: research

TORONTO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Ecologists have a new tool for protecting the environment and monitoring ecological changes, according to an Australian study published on Thursday: drones.


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Congress urges resignations of Michigan governor, EPA chief over Flint

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers on Thursday called for the resignations of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy, on the grounds that they failed to act fast enough to intervene with the city of Flint's contaminated drinking water.











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European cars to use more aluminum to meet CO2 targets

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The amount of light, recyclable aluminum in European cars will rise to 180 kg on average by 2020 as automakers look to cut harmful carbon emissions, a senior metals industry official said.











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Green entrepreneurs tackle Indonesia's growing trash mountains

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Some residents of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, frustrated by the mounting trash problem across the sprawling metropolis, have started taking matters into their own hands.











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Al Gore urges world leaders to sign Paris climate deal

MANILA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - World leaders must show their commitment to tackling global warming by signing the Paris climate agreement at a ceremony in April at the United Nations, climate change activist and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said.


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China to push Myanmar's new government on stalled dam

BEIJING (Reuters) - China signaled on Thursday that it will push Myanmar's new government to resume a controversial stalled dam project in the Southeast Asian country, saying the contract was still valid.


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China wasted 20 percent of wind power generated in 2015

BEIJING (Reuters) - Energy wastage on wind farms in China worsened in 2015, as plunging utilization rates kept 33.9 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) from being delivered to the grid, the energy regulator said, the equivalent of a fifth of total generated wind power.


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Norway satisfies EU smoked salmon appetite through Polish back-door

OSLO (Reuters) - Thousands of workers in Poland have jobs marinating and smoking Norwegian salmon thanks to a difference in tariffs imposed by the European Union on the Nordic non-member which is the world's biggest exporter of the fish.


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Norway launches oil exploration round in mature areas with Arctic focus

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway launched its 2016 oil and gas licensing round in mature areas on Thursday, expanding it to include blocks in the Arctic Barents Sea in a bid to increase northern exploration activity, the oil ministry said.











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Canadian man accused of smuggling $2 million in narwhal tusks detained

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Royal Canadian Mounted policeman accused of smuggling $2 million worth of narwhal tusks into the United States is now in custody, pending his trial on money laundering charges, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday.


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Mexico president Pena Nieto calls for measures to address air pollution

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday urged state and federal authorities to take measures to control air pollution, after the government declared an environmental emergency earlier this week due to severe air contamination.











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EPA chief warned in September Flint water crisis could 'get big'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warned in September that the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, could "get big" months before the EPA issued an emergency order requiring the state and city to take immediate steps to protect residents, emails released on Wednesday showed.











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Doubling renewables by 2030 could save $4.2 trln/yr-research

LONDON (Reuters) - Doubling the share of renewables in the global energy mix to 36 percent by 2030 could save the would economy up to $4.2 trillion a year, research by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) showed on Wednesday.


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Senate blocks bill that would override state GMO labeling laws

(Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday blocked a bill that would nullify state and local efforts to require food makers to label products made with genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, as the industry races to stop Vermont's law from taking effect on July 1.


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Bald eagle eggs about to hatch in Washington's National Arboretum

WASHINGTON - Two bald eagles, who are  known as Mr. President and The First Lady, tend to their eggs in a nest in the U.S. National Arboretum.











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FEMA denies Michigan governor's appeal for more federal funds

DETROIT (Reuters) - Federal officials have denied Michigan Governor Rick Snyder's request to give the city of Flint additional funds to help deal with its lead-contaminated water crisis, his office said on Wednesday.











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EU agrees on plan to end overfishing in Baltic Sea

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union lawmakers and member states have agreed on a long-term plan to end over fishing of cod, sprat and herring stocks in the Baltic Sea, the first such plan of its kind under the EU's reformed fisheries policy.


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Exclusive: Future of Egypt's wheat supplies hangs on FAO analysis: agriculture minister

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Egypt will allow wheat imports with trace levels of the common ergot fungus, the country's agriculture minister said, while government agencies try to resolve a dispute that has disrupted shipments to the world's biggest wheat buyer.











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Climate change, energy is back on EU summit agenda: draft

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU leaders meeting in Brussels this week will debate the Paris Agreement on climate change, a draft EU text showed, after officials previously said the migrant crisis had knocked it off the agenda.


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WFP says requires $220 million for drought-hit Zimbabwe

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The United Nations' food agency said on Wednesday it needed $220 million in funding to provide assistance to drought-hit Zimbabwe until March 2017.


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Global energy sector CO2 emissions flat in 2015: IEA

LONDON (Reuters) - Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the energy sector were flat in 2015, despite an uptick in economic growth, the IEA said on Wednesday.











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Australia pledges funds to combat dingo attacks on sheep flocks

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The Australian government on Wednesday pledged A$5.2 million($3.88 million) to help sheep farmers combat wild dogs whose attacks are compounding the difficulties of an industry trying to recover from a severe drought that has reduced flocks.











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Bali farmers insure rice fields in defense against El Nino

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Tourist taxi driver Nur-ul Aslam watches in hopeful silence as drops of rain begin to cloud his windscreen.


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Thai police charge executives after deadly bank accident

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two executives at a fire-fighting system supplier have been charged with negligence after an accident in which eight people were killed at the headquarters of Siam Commercial Bank, Thai police said on Wednesday.


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China says opens South China Sea tsunami alert center

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has set up a tsunami alert center in the South China Sea, the head of the country's maritime regulator said on Wednesday, in Beijing's latest effort to bolster its jurisdiction in the disputed waters.











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Health experts train local communities to prepare for disasters

BANGKOK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - When natural disasters strike, most public health risks come from sectors such as housing and construction, says Iranian health and disaster expert Ali Ardalan.


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Prince William's trafficking crackdown

Britain's Prince William, who is the president of United for Wildlife charity, is partnering with the transportation industry to shut down illegal wildlife trafficking routes.











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Baby seal bred at Japanese aquarium

KAMOGAWA, Japan - A newborn baby seal has won over a legion of fans, wriggling its way to the hearts of visitors at an aquarium in Japan.


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U.S. Plains wheat belt seen dry through June - meteorologist

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The southern U.S. Plains should stay drier than normal through June, potentially stressing the region's hard red winter wheat crop, an agricultural meteorologist said on Tuesday.











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California water cutbacks draw flood of complaints as reservoirs rise

GRANITE BAY, Calif. (Reuters) - Rick Williams stood on his dead front lawn near Sacramento, California, wondering why he still pays a drought surcharge on his water bill and cannot run his sprinklers as often as he needs when a nearby reservoir is so full it could overflow come spring.


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Congress criticizes EPA, Michigan over Flint water crisis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional panel on Tuesday criticized the Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan officials for failing to do more to sound the alarm about high levels of lead in the city of Flint's drinking water.


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Southern U.S. flooding causes closure of major highway

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Flooding caused by days of heavy rain forced the closure on Tuesday of a section of a major east-west U.S. highway on the Louisiana-Texas border along the rising Sabine River, officials in both states said.











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Flooding to cause closure of Interstate 10 along Texas-Louisiana border

(Reuters) - A major east-west U.S. highway, Interstate 10, will close at 9 a.m. Central Time on Tuesday in a section along the Louisiana-Texas border due to flooding that has hit the region, the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development said.


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China to release water from dam to alleviate SE Asia drought

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will release water from a dam in its southwestern province of Yunnan to help alleviate a drought in parts of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.











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Germany's top court starts hearing on nuclear shutdown

KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - Power firms brought a legal challenge on Tuesday against a German government decision to shut down the country's nuclear plants by 2022, a lawsuit that could allow them to claim 19 billion euros ($21 billion) in damages.











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Bangkok slaps curfew on world's biggest water fight amid drought

BANGKOK (Reuters) - The Thai capital will impose a curfew during Thailand's annual water festival next month to show solidarity with farmers hit by drought, city officials said on Tuesday.


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Zimbabwe says up to 4 million need food aid after drought

HARARE (Reuters) - The number of Zimbabweans requiring food aid has risen to 4 million, up from 3 million initially, a state-owned newspaper said on Tuesday, as the southern African nation grapples with its worst drought in more than two decades.











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German nuclear commission storage cost proposals due in April: minister

KARLSRUHE, Germany (Reuters) - A commission tasked with safeguarding funds for the shutdown of Germany's nuclear plants will present proposals at the end of April, the country's environment minister said on Tuesday.


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Salmon farmers' shares rise as Chilean algal bloom boosts prices

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - An algal bloom in Chile that has killed up to 20 percent of the nation's farmed salmon has sent shares of producers higher as the reduced supply has lifted selling prices.


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Record surge in 2016 temperatures adds urgency to climate deal, say scientists

OSLO (Reuters) - A record surge in temperatures in 2016, linked to global warming and an El Nino weather event in the Pacific, is adding urgency to a deal by 195 governments in December to curb greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change, scientists said on Monday.


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Inundated U.S. Southern states face more flooding from rivers

(Reuters) - Swollen waterways brought more flooding on Monday in Louisiana and Mississippi, where days of drenching rains have damaged thousands of homes and resulted in several thousand rescues of stranded residents.


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Sea level rise projected to displace 13 million in U.S. by 2100

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of people who could be displaced in U.S. coastal regions due to rising sea levels this century as a result of climate change is much higher than previously thought, with more than 13 million Americans at risk with a 6-foot (1.8 meters) rise including 6 million in Florida, scientists said on Monday.   The researchers assessed sea level change scenarios by 2100 from the U.S. Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for coastal states along with population growth tre











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Indonesia warns of fire risk in haze-prone regions in March-April

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia expects dryer than normal weather in several fire and haze-prone regions in western and central Indonesia in March and April, the state weather agency (BMKG) said on Monday, referring to a recent increase in fires and hotspots.


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Mountain Pakistan cuts forest loss, disaster risk with river power

AHMEDABAD, Pakistan (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In her home in the remote Hunza valley, Gul Mehreen smiles as she places a tea kettle on the electric stove in her immaculate kitchen.


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Eight killed in chemical accident at Siam Commercial Bank HQ: statement

BANGKOK (Reuters) - An accident at the headquarters of Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank, possibly caused by a fire retardant chemical, has killed eight people, the bank said on Monday.


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China expands power distribution reform to more regions

BEIJING (Reuters) - China is further expanding a pilot scheme that gives local authorities more control over electricity transmission and distribution prices, as the world's largest power market steps up deregulation to boost efficiency.


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At least four die as floods hit U.S. south, thousands of homes damaged

(Reuters) - Several people were killed after drenching thunderstorms moved through Louisiana and Mississippi at the weekend, triggering flooding across the lower Mississippi valley, authorities said.











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'Big 5' off the cards as South Africa closes 2016 leopard hunting season

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - For the first time in decades, hunters with deep pockets cannot target the so-called "Big 5" game animals in South Africa because the government has imposed a ban on leopard hunts for the 2016 season.











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Nordic pulp firms see future in turning birch trees into fashion

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Nordic pulp makers are developing clean ways to turn birch and pine trees into clothes or sofa covers to help revive their industry and meet demand from fashion and furniture firms for alternative textiles to cotton.


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Thunderstorms pound U.S. South after days of rain

(Reuters) - A line of severe thunderstorms hit Louisiana on Saturday, adding more rain to flooded rivers across the lower Mississippi Valley after days of downpours, meteorologists said.











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Lebanese government approves plan to solve trash crisis

BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Lebanese government on Saturday approved a plan to solve a seven-month garbage crisis that has fueled protests against the dysfunctional state and raised concerns for public health.


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Australian foreign minister to visit storm-hit Fiji

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's foreign minister, Julie Bishop, will travel to Fiji on Sunday to meet Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama and survey the damage wrought by cyclone Winston, her office said.


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Lebanese minister says garbage crisis '99 percent solved'

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk said on Friday the country's rubbish crisis had been "99 percent solved" at a government committee meeting on the issue.


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Flint families file lawsuits over children poisoned by water

(Reuters) - A group of Flint families with children has filed new lawsuits in the Michigan city's water crisis, accusing private companies of professional negligence and government employees of misconduct that led to the contamination of the water supply.


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Climate change link to extreme weather easier to gauge - U.S. report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists are better able to measure how climate change may cause extreme weather such as droughts, heat waves and heavy rain, but research does not clearly tie wildfires, tornadoes and hurricanes to global warming, the top U.S. scientific organization said on Friday.











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Huge festival starts in Delhi, defying environment, safety fears

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the opening on Friday of a giant music and dance festival that has been criticized for environmental damage and the possible safety risks of its enormous stage.


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China outdoing developed nations in controlling pollution: minister

BEIJING (Reuters) - China, often hit by choking smog that blankets the populous east and north, is doing a better job at controlling pollution than developed countries at similar stages of development, the environment minister said on Friday.


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Jackson, Mississippi residents asked to boil water, limit water use

(Reuters) - Residents in Jackson, Mississippi, the largest city in the state, were asked to boil their water and limit water use early on Friday after heavy rains and a mechanical issue caused a system outage, the city said.











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China to boost nuclear fuel reserves to feed new reactors

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will expand its strategic uranium reserve as part of its "five-year plan" for 2016-2020, with the aim of ensuring it has enough fuel to supply a massive program of new nuclear reactors.


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Oregon residents vote 'no' on canyonlands conservation

(Reuters) - Voters in a rural southeastern Oregon county have registered their opposition to proposals to expand federal protective status within 2.5 million acres of scenic canyonlands near the wildlife refuge recently occupied by anti-government militants.


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'MyShake' app, a personal tsunami warning system

Berkeley, CA (Reuters) - When an earthquake strikes literally every second counts. That was the case 5 years ago when a magnitude 9 quake unleashed a massive tsunami that devastated Japan. 


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'MyShake' app, a personal tsunami warning system

Berkeley, CA (Reuters) - When an earthquake strikes literally every second counts. That was the case 5 years ago when a magnitude 9 quake unleashed a massive tsunami that devastated Japan. 


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'Hearts are in pieces' five years after tsunami hits Japan

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (Reuters) - Japan on Friday mourns the thousands who lost their lives in a massive earthquake and tsunami five years ago that turned towns to matchwood and triggered the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.











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Pennsylvania families win $4.2 million damages in fracking lawsuit

HARRISBURG, Pa. (Reuters) - A federal jury ruled on Thursday that Cabot Oil & Gas Co must pay more than $4.2 million in damages to two families in northeastern Pennsylvania who said the company's fracking operations contaminated their ground water.











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Chunks of Argentina's Perito Moreno Glacier break off

Massive chunks of Argentina's Perito Moreno Glacier, which is known as the "White Giant," collapsed into the water on Thursday as tourists and locals watched from an observation deck.


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Serbia declares state of emergency due to flood threat after heavy rain

BELGRADE (Reuters) - The Serbian government declared a state of emergency on Thursday amid fears of widespread flooding that could force thousands to leave their homes following days of heavy rain that is expected to continue overnight.


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Louisiana black bear, the original teddy bear, off threatened list

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Louisiana black bear, inspiration for the teddy bear, will be taken off the U.S. list of threatened species, the Interior Department said on Thursday.


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Humans blamed for deaths of 13 bald eagles in Maryland

(Reuters) - The deaths of 13 bald eagles in Maryland's largest die-off of the U.S. national bird in three decades were caused by humans, officials said on Thursday.


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Flooding in U.S. South forces evacuations, rescues

(Reuters) - Forecasters warned on Thursday of more flooding in parts of Texas and Louisiana, where heavy rains this week have inundated homes, submerged cars and prompted evacuations and rescues by boats and military vehicles.











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U.S. forecaster sees La Nina possibly succeeding El Nino

(Reuters) - A U.S. government weather forecaster said on Thursday it sees a near 50 percent chance La Nina could develop by the Northern Hemisphere fall on the heels of the El Nino conditions likely to dissipate in the coming months.


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Tough environmental rules do not hamper global exports: OECD

LONDON (Reuters) - Countries with tough environmental policies such as carbon levies and air pollution rules are not at a big disadvantage when trading globally compared with countries that have looser regulations, a study by the OECD said on Thursday.











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U.S., Canada agree methane emissions cut to fight climate change

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Canada have agreed joint steps to fight climate change, including cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas industry and signing the Paris climate deal "as soon as feasible," the White House said on Thursday.











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Ethiopia plans new 2,000 MW dam: PM

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia, which plans to become a top regional electricity exporter, will soon launch a new 2,000 megawatt hydropower dam, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said on Thursday.


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Locals eating radioactive food 30 years after Chernobyl: Greenpeace tests

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Economic crises convulsing Russia, Ukraine and Belarus mean testing in areas contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has been cut or restricted, Greenpeace said, and people continue to eat and drink foods with dangerously high radiation levels.


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Japan says El Nino weakens, to return to normal weather in summer

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's weather bureau said on Thursday the El Nino weather pattern, which is often linked to heavy rainfall and droughts, was expected to continue weakening and that there was a high possibility the weather would return to normal by summer.


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Amid 'serious' situation, China eyes soil pollution law in 2017

BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims to pass its first soil pollution law next year hoping to tackle a "serious" problem that so far lacks dedicated legislation, a senior Chinese official said on Thursday.


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'Drowned Apostles' discovered alongside Australia's iconic 12 Apostles

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Massive underwater limestone towers have been found in line with Australia's famous '12 Apostle' ocean rock formations, in a surprise discovery that scientists said was previously thought impossible.











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Chile's salmon farms losing up to $800 million from algal bloom

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A deadly algal bloom has hit the world's second biggest salmon exporter, Chile, where nearly 23 million fish have already died and the economic impact from lost production is seen soaring to $800 million, industry and government sources told Reuters.











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Fukushima's ground zero: No place for man or robot

(Reuters) - The robots sent in to find highly radioactive fuel at Fukushima's nuclear reactors have “died”; a subterranean "ice wall" around the crippled plant meant to stop groundwater from becoming contaminated has yet to be finished. And authorities still don’t how to dispose of highly radioactive water stored in an ever mounting number of tanks around the site.


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Oregon soil tests find toxic metals pose 'low risk' to health - officials

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Oregon public health officials on Wednesday lifted warnings to Portland residents to stop eating vegetables grown in gardens near a glass factory where elevated airborne levels of hazardous metals were detected.











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It's a girl: baby gorilla born at Denver Zoo

DENVER - Adepa, the first western lowland gorilla to be born at the Denver Zoo in 11 years, clings to her mother, Tinga, and sleeps peacefully in her arms.


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German court widens K+S waste water investigation - WirtschaftsWoche

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A German court will widen an investigation into whether to extend a salt-water disposal permit for potash and salt miner K+S, WirtschaftsWoche reported on Wednesday.











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Torrential rains flood parts U.S. South, leaving man dead

(Reuters) - Heavy rains and high winds from a storm system moving north from Mexico flooded parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, leaving at least one person dead, officials said on Wednesday.


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Pain lingers five years on as tsunami-hit Japan town rises from ruins

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (Reuters) - Time has done little to help Japanese volunteer fireman Eiki Kumagai with memories of March 11, 2011, when he clung to some steps as a huge black tsunami surged through his town, washing away people he knew as they cried for help.


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Japan court issues injunction to halt Takahama nuclear reactors

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese court on Wednesday issued an injunction to halt operations at Kansai Electric Power's Takahama No.3 and No.4 nuclear reactors, the operator said, siding with local residents worried about the safety of the plant.


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Exclusive: Clash between countries stymies aviation emissions talks

WASHINGTON/MONTREAL (Reuters) - International aviation talks have hit a roadblock over a plan to limit carbon emissions for aircraft in a clash between developed and developing countries on how they view their responsibilities, two sources familiar with the matter said.


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Locals eating radioactive food 30 years after Chernobyl: Greenpeace tests

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Economic crises convulsing Russia, Ukraine and Belarus mean testing in areas contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster has been cut or restricted, Greenpeace said, and people continue to eat and drink foods with dangerously high radiation levels.


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Indian guru's festival on Delhi floodplain riles greens, worries police

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian environmentalists are aghast at the hosting of a huge cultural festival on the floodplain of Delhi's main river that begins on Friday, warning that the event and its 3.5 million visitors will devastate the area's biodiversity.


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China's debut Westinghouse reactor delayed until June 2017: exec

BEIJING (Reuters) - The world's first Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactor will go into operation in June next year, more than three years behind the original schedule, the head of China's leading state nuclear project developer said.











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Clouds over Indonesia obscure total eclipse of the sun for many

PALEMBANG, Indonesia (Reuters) - A solar eclipse enthralled Indonesia on Wednesday but clouds over some parts of archipelago spoiled the view for many of the skywatchers who had the opportunity to see it in totality.


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Amazon tribe in Peru frees hostages after negotiations

LIMA (Reuters) - An indigenous village in the Peruvian Amazon freed public officials it had been holding hostage to press for help after a ruptured pipeline spilled 1,000 barrels of crude on its lands, the state-owned energy company Petroperu said.











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Mysterious extinction of prehistoric marine reptiles explained

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One of the enduring mysteries of paleontology, the demise of a highly successful group of dolphin-like marine reptiles called ichthyosaurs that flourished in Earth's seas for more than 150 million years, may finally have been solved.


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Cargill says to cut antibiotic use in cattle by 20 percent

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cargill Inc [CARG.UL], a top U.S. meat processor, is trimming the use of antibiotics in its cattle supply amid concerns among some doctors and consumers about risks to humans from antibiotic-resistant bacteria.


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U.S. lawmakers seek independent review of coal cleanup subsidy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal auditors should examine a program that has allowed leading coal companies to lower cleanup insurance costs and could leave taxpayers on the hook if the miners declare bankruptcy, Democratic lawmakers said on Tuesday.











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Warm weather speeds up peak bloom for Washington's cherry trees

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington's renowned cherry trees are expected to hit their peak bloom from March 18 to 23, earlier than first predicted due to unseasonably warm weather, the National Park Service said on Tuesday.











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Oregon to release soil test results in pollution scare this week

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Oregon officials this week will release test results on soil from neighborhoods near two Portland glass factories accused of spewing toxic metals into the air for years, a revelation that has led to a class-action suit and demands for more oversight.


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Death Valley comes alive with super bloom of flowers

Death Valley National Park, famous for its hot, dry climate, is experiencing a rare super bloom profusion of wildflowers.











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Killer whale Tilikum in deteriorating health at SeaWorld

ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) - Tilikum, the killer whale that dragged a SeaWorld trainer underwater to her death during a 2010 show in Florida, is in deteriorating condition due to health issues, the company said on Tuesday.


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Tourists flock to Indonesia to see rare total solar eclipse

TERNATE/PALEMBANG, Indonesia (Reuters) - Thousands of astronomy enthusiasts are flocking to Indonesia this week to catch a rare event - the country's first total solar eclipse in nearly 33 years.











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Indonesian province declares emergency as forest fires flare

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's western province of Riau has declared a state of emergency over forest and land fires blazing on the island of Sumatra, a government official said on Tuesday.











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Prayers, tourism for solar eclipse in Southeast Asia

    Tourists have flocked to Indonesia's Palembang, all eager to see a solar eclipse on early Wednesday morning.


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Clinton's pledge to curtail fracking falls on unconvinced ears

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton's vow to regulate oil and gas fracking almost out of existence was met with skepticism Monday, failing to convince either industry or environment groups that she would - or could - end the controversial drilling practice if she becomes president.











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Magnitude 6.2 earthquake strikes of Samoa: USGS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A earthquake measuring magnitude 6.2 has stuck off Samoa on Tuesday, the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) reported.


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United States delivers first payment to global climate fund

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has paid $500 million into the United Nations' Green Climate Fund, the first tranche of the $3 billion it pledged as part of the commitments it made in the December Paris Climate Agreement, the State Department confirmed Monday.


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U.S. EPA chief urges states to do more on safe drinking water

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The problems that led to Flint, Michigan's water crisis must not be repeated in other U.S. cities and states, the top U.S. environmental health official said on Monday.











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No bail urged for New Hampshire man in Bundy standoff

CONCORD, N.H. (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors urged a federal judge on Monday to keep a New Hampshire man behind bars while he awaits trial for allegedly helping to orchestrate a high-profile 2014 armed standoff with federal agents.


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Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau attends panda naming ceremony

Toronto - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other officials watched two giant panda cubs play at the Toronto Zoo on Monday after revealing the names of the animals.











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Lawsuit over Flint, Michigan, crisis says 17 children have high lead levels

(Reuters) - A group of Flint, Michigan, parents and their children filed a class action on Monday alleging that gross negligence by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and others caused the city's drinking water to become contaminated with lead.











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Oklahoma expands plan to curtail earthquakes in state

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma's oil and gas regulator released an expanded plan on Monday that will curtail wastewater injection volumes and well depth to deal with the state's increasingly frequent earthquakes.


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EU to defer decision on safety of weed-killer ingredient: sources

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will defer a decision on whether to extend approval for weed-killer ingredient glyphosate, used in herbicides including Monsanto's Roundup, following a dispute between EU and U.N. agencies over whether it causes cancer, EU sources said on Monday.











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Deluges increasing in world's wettest and driest regions: study

OSLO (Reuters) - Extreme downpours are increasingly hitting both the wettest and driest regions of the world and global warming will raise the risks of bigger cloudbursts for the rest of the century, a study showed on Monday.


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China says new Tibet railway project will not harm environment

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tibet's environment will not be damaged by the construction of a second railroad linking the remote area to the rest of China, the region's deputy Communist Party boss said on Monday.











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Oregon to release soil test results in pollution scare this week

PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Oregon officials this week will release test results on soil from neighborhoods near two Portland glass factories accused of spewing toxic metals into the air for years, a revelation that has led to a class-action suit and demands for more oversight.


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U.S. climate change campaigner dies snorkeling at Great Barrier Reef

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Award-winning American environmental photographer Gary Braasch died on Monday while snorkeling at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef.











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China's carbon emissions still increasing: China envoy

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's carbon emissions did not peak in 2014 and are still increasing, China's senior climate change envoy, Xie Zhenhua, said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.


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Philippines signs new GMO rules, food industry relieved

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has approved a new set of rules on genetically modified organisms after a top court demanded an overhaul of previous regulations, providing relief to farmers and importers worried that any delay would spark a food crisis.











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China's CO2 emissions may have peaked in 2014: study

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's carbon emissions, by far the world's highest, may have peaked in 2014, according to a study published on Monday, potentially putting Beijing under pressure to toughen its climate pledges.


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Bolivia agrees $300 million nuclear complex with Russia's Rosatom

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia and Russia's state-owned atomic energy corporation Rosatom said on Sunday they had signed a provisional agreement for the construction of $300 million nuclear complex in the Andean nation.


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Flint becomes U.S. Democratic flash point, but residents want action

FLINT, Mich. (Reuters) - The Flint water crisis has united Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in outrage, but some residents suffering through the city's major public health scandal want more than talking points from the presidential contenders.











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VW brand boss sees U.S. emission deal within months: paper

BERLIN (Reuters) - Volkswagen's brand chief Herbert Diess said it will take months rather than weeks to reach an agreement with U.S. regulators on an emissions fix for 600,000 diesel cars, a newspaper reported on Saturday.


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U.S. land managers reject development near Grand Canyon

(Reuters) - U.S. land managers on Friday rejected a plan that could have opened the way for housing and commercial expansion near the Grand Canyon’s celebrated South Rim, a surprise decision that was decried by developers but praised by environmental groups.











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China sets cap for energy consumption for first time

BEIJING (Reuters) - China aims to keep energy consumption within 5 billion tonnes of standard coal equivalent by 2020, it said in its five-year plan published on Saturday, marking the first time the world's second-biggest economy has set such a target.


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IMF's Lagarde eyes subsidies, simple things to tackle climate change

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - Turning the tide on global warming should be tackled by big and small steps that range from cutting subsidies to riding bicycles, International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said on Friday.











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Florida mayors press presidential debate moderators for climate airtime

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mayors of 21 cities in Florida on Friday called on the moderators of next week's presidential debates in Miami to ask candidates how they would deal with rising sea levels caused by climate change, a concern of the state's coastal communities.


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Germany, France, UK press for tougher emission targets after Paris deal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Germany, France and Britain pressed the European Union for more ambitious greenhouse gas targets at a meeting of environment ministers on Friday, clashing with the EU executive and several eastern and central European states.











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Prosecutors charge K+S CEO and chairman in waste water case

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Friday they were pressing charges against the chief executive, chairman and 12 other employees of potash and salt miner K+S over suspected illegal waste water disposal.


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Monsanto threatens to exit India over GM royalty row

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Monsanto Co, the world's biggest seed company, threatened to pull out of India on Friday if the government imposed a big cut in royalties that local firms pay for its genetically modified cotton seeds.











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WFP says 16 million face hunger in southern Africa, emergency looms

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Almost 16 million people face hunger in Southern Africa because of a drought exacerbated by an El Nino weather pattern and that number could climb to almost 50 million, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday.


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U.S. proposes lifting protections for Yellowstone-area grizzlies

CODY, Wyo. (Reuters) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed on Thursday stripping Endangered Species Act protections from the grizzly bear in and around Yellowstone National Park, saying the animal's numbers have rebounded sufficiently in recent decades.











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Carbon tax wrangling center stage at Canada climate change talks

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Strains over stalled Canadian oil pipeline projects and Ottawa's push to impose a national carbon price hung over talks on Thursday between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the country's 10 provinces on how to tackle global warming.


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U.S. sends elite disaster experts to respond to Ethiopia drought

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The United States is sending an elite team of disaster experts to respond to Ethiopia's worst drought in 50 years, it said on Thursday.











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U.S. top court denies bid to block mercury air pollution rule

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Obama administration on Thursday in rebuffing a bid by 20 states to halt an Environmental Protection Agency rule to curb emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants.











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EU nations hand out 535 million free carbon permits for 2016

LONDON (Reuters) - European nations have handed out a combined 535 million free European Union carbon permits to industry to cover 2016 emissions, the European Commission said on Thursday.


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China aims to boost renewable energy with 'green certificates'

BEIJING (Reuters) - China plans to set up a market for renewable energy certificates to try to increase the use of cleaner energy as the world's largest greenhouse gas producer tries to reduce its reliance on coal.


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Delayed La Nina seen buoying U.S., Asia crops: MDA weather

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A delay in the onset of the La Nina weather pattern this year is likely to buoy crops across key growing regions in the United States, Australia and India, a leading weather forecaster said on Thursday.


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Vale/BHP's Samarco to pay $5 billion in damages for dam disaster

BRASILIA/RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Mining company Samarco and its owners, BHP Billiton and Vale SA, reached a deal with the Brazilian government on Wednesday to pay an estimated 20 billion reais ($5.1 billion) in damages over 15 years for a deadly dam spill in November.











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Japan's nuclear refugees face bleak return five years after Fukushima

NARAHA (Reuters) - Tokuo Hayakawa carries a dosimeter around with him at his 600-year-old temple in Naraha, the first town in the Fukushima "exclusion zone" to fully reopen since Japan's March 2011 catastrophe. Badges declaring "No to nuclear power" adorn his black Buddhist robe.


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Huge quake strikes off Indonesia but tsunami warnings canceled

JAKARTA (Reuters) - A massive quake struck on Wednesday off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, a region devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean quake and tsunami, but initial fears of another region-wide disaster faded as tsunami warnings were canceled.











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Thousands without power after storm hits Washington state

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A storm packing fierce winds has left thousands of customers without power in western Washington state on Wednesday, and a woman was seriously injured after a tree toppled onto a Seattle-area home, authorities said.


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EU politicians begin inquiry into VW emissions scandal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Parliament on Wednesday began a year-long investigation into the Volkswagen emissions scandal and whether regulators could have done more to prevent it.


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South Africa farms may need $1.15 billion to recover from drought - industry group

BOTHAVILLE, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa's farming sector may need up to 18 billion rand ($1 billion) over the next three years in financial assistance to recover from a devastating drought, industry group Agri SA said on Wednesday.


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New satellite program aims to cut down illegal logging in real time

TORONTO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Taken from outer space, the satellite images show illegal loggers cutting a road into a protected area in Peru, part of a criminal enterprise attempting to steal millions of dollars worth of ecological resources.


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German prosecutors seek 325 million euro in damages from K+S - WiWo

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German prosecutors are seeking 325 million euros ($353 million) in damages from potash and salt miner K+S over suspected illegal waste water disposal, weekly magazine WirtschaftsWoche reported.


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Greenpeace says China increasing coal-fired capacity

BEIJING (Reuters) - Greenpeace East Asia said on Wednesday that China had a total of 210 coal power projects in the pipeline"for environmental assessment permitting at the end of 2015, despite overcapacity in the industry and pollution concerns.


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Tiguan owner sues VW dealership over emissions scandal

BOCHUM, Germany (Reuters) - A Volkswagen car owner sued a German VW dealership on Wednesday, demanding the seller cancel the contract and take back his Tiguan diesel compact car, one of the models affected by the automaker's emissions test cheating scandal.











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Parts of Great Barrier Reef face permanent destruction due to El Nino: scientists

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef face permanent destruction if the current El Nino, one of the strongest in two decades, does not ease this month, scientists said on Wednesday.











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Aid agencies brace for devastating Mongolian 'dzud' this winter

ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - Global aid agencies are responding to a call for assistance by Mongolia as harsh winter weather raises fears for the safety and livelihoods of the country's traditional pastoralists, who have already been hit hard by a drought last year.


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At least four hurt when possible tornado tears through Alabama

(Reuters) - At least four people were hurt and dozens of homes damaged when a possible tornado swept through Alabama late on Tuesday, forecasters and local officials said.


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Ethiopian mothers struggle to feed sick children as food aid runs out

SERIEL, Ethiopia (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The worst part of Mulugeta Kassaw's job is not when dangerously thin children arrive at his health center in drought-stricken northern Ethiopia, often at death's door.











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Samarco to pay at least $5 billion in Brazil dam spill deal: source

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Samarco Mineracao SA [SAMNE.UL] will pay at least 20 billion reais ($5 billion) over 15 years as part of a deal reached with the Brazilian government to settle a lawsuit for damages caused by a deadly dam spill at a mine in November, a government source told Reuters on Tuesday.











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Lead still found in some Flint, Michigan, water: governor

(Reuters) - Five months after Flint, Michigan, changed its water supply due to problems with lead contamination and discolored drinking water, nearly 9 percent of the city's sites tested for lead in the water continue to exceed federally acceptable limits, the governor's office said on Tuesday.


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Bin Laden called for Americans to rise up over climate change

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden wrote a letter calling on the American people to help President Barack Obama fight "catastrophic" climate change and "save humanity", in the latest evidence of his worries about environmental issues, newly released documents show


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Future of U.S. solar threatened in nationwide fight over incentives

Los Angeles (Reuters) - Two sun-drenched U.S. states have lately come to very different conclusions on a controversial solar power incentive essential to the industry's growth.











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Volvo boss says hybrid cars will compete on cost with diesel

GENEVA (Reuters) - Tighter emissions rules in Europe will push up the price of diesel-engined cars to the point where plug-in hybrids will become an attractive alternative, Volvo Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson said on Tuesday.


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U.S. moves to end use of Bayer Cropscience, Nichino America insecticide

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it is issuing a notice of intent to cancel all Bayer CropScience and Nichino America flubendiamide products that pose a risk to aquatic invertebrates.











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Tajikistan warns neighbours drought may be coming

DUSHANBE (Reuters) - Tajikistan, which sits on Central Asia's main water source, warned its citizens and neighbours in the region on Tuesday of a potential drought this year and urged them to stock up on food.











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African drought tames Victoria Falls' thunderous roar

VICTORIA FALLS, Zambia (Reuters) - Tourists staring in wonder at the full force of the Zambezi River cascading over Victoria Falls struggle to believe the region is suffering one of its worst ever droughts, but local guide Patrick Sakala knows all is not well.


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Nepal extends Everest permits for climbers put off by earthquakes

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal has extended the climbing permits of hundreds of foreigners forced to abandon the Himalayas after last year's twin earthquakes, the government said on Tuesday, to encourage them to return to the mountains.











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