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Common water disinfectant creates potentially toxic byproduct: study

A group of chemical compounds used to disinfect water for one-third of the US population and millions of others globally produces a potentially toxic byproduct, according to new research published Thursday, sparking calls for an "immediate" investigation into possible health impacts.

Fears rise of gender setbacks in global climate battle

As global climate negotiators seek to eke out progress, participants say they are witnessing backsliding in one unexpected area -- gender.

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Ukraine war drives German inflation, darkens growth outlook

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

German economists slash 2022 growth outlook on Ukraine, energy

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

Senegal's water-stressed capital faces difficult future

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

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

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

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

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

Will big biodiversity ambitions be enough to save nature?

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

Australia declares 'mass bleaching' at Great Barrier Reef

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

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

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

Tunisian eco-pioneers battle to save Sahara oasis life

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

High seas treaty talks fail to reach a deal

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

Belgium delays nuclear energy exit 10 years due to Ukraine war

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

Lost children survive 25-day ordeal in Amazon

Two Brazilian Indigenous boys aged seven and nine have been found after surviving 25 days lost in the Amazon rainforest, where they ate fruit and drank rainwater to stay alive, officials said Friday.

UN report to lay out options to halt climate crisis

Nearly 200 nations gather on Monday to confront a question that will outlive Russia's invasion of Ukraine: how do we stop carbon pollution overheating the planet and threatening life as we know it?

Three decades ago world told to 'act now' on climate

With the planet facing the "potentially serious consequences" of global warming, UN experts writing 32 years ago urged an indifferent world to take immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Ecuadoran toad breaks its silence after 100 years

Ecuadoran biologist Jorge Brito was trekking through the forest when he heard what he thought was the chirp of a cricket.

The Med gets first offshore wind farm as Italy vows energy revolution

The Mediterranean's first offshore wind farm is rising from the shallows off Italy, its turbines a symbol of hope for a Europe suffering an energy crisis exacerbated by war.

Indonesia's president takes camping trip to site of new capital

Indonesian President Joko Widodo took a camping trip to the country's future capital, he said on social media Tuesday, posing for photographs in a forest at the site of the new city.

Sparkling pools, empty taps: Cape Town's stark water divide

On Cape Town's beaches, swimmers shower off sand from their feet. Irrigation pipes water the region's famed vineyards. And Shadrack Mogress fumes as he fills a barrel with water so he can flush his toilet.

Honduras clarifies stand on open-pit mines

Honduras on Friday clarified that existing open-pit mining contracts remain in effect, after President Xiomara Castro said she was banning the practice.

UN holds biodiversity talks on deal to stave off mass extinction

Global efforts to cut plastic and agricultural pollution, protect a third of wild spaces, and ultimately live "in harmony with nature" will dominate UN biodiversity negotiations starting Monday, held in person after a two-year pandemic delay.

Brazil stars protest Bolsonaro environmental policy

Iconic Brazilian singer Caetano Veloso led a star-studded protest Wednesday against President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policy, seeking to block a series of bills activists say would be devastating for the Amazon rainforest and beyond.

Kenya launches bid to save wild bongos from extinction

The first mountain bongos have been released into a sanctuary beneath Mount Kenya under a world-leading programme to save the extremely rare forest antelopes from certain extinction in the wild.

Los Angeles suing Monsanto for chemicals in waterways

Chemical company Monsanto found itself in the horns of yet another lawsuit Monday, as Los Angeles sued the firm for allegedly knowingly polluting waterways in one of the biggest cities in the United States.

US announces new emissions standards for trucks and buses

The United States on Monday announced tougher emissions standards on trucks and buses starting from 2027, and said it would spend almost $1.4 billion on expanding green public transit.

Yemen rebels back UN proposal for abandoned oil tanker

Yemen's Huthi rebels have signed a UN agreement hoped to help stop a rusting oil tanker in the Red Sea becoming an ecological and humanitarian catastrophe, officials said Monday.

Probe accuses Swiss mining firm of hiding Guatemala pollution

Two subsidiaries of Swiss mining company Solway Investment Group hid reports of pollution in an indigenous area of northeastern Guatemala, an international consortium of media companies said Sunday.

Chile creates national park to save glaciers

Chile said Saturday it is creating a vast national park to protect hundreds of glaciers that are melting due to climate change.

Long road ahead for Iraq pledge to phase out gas flares

In the oilfields of southern Iraq, billions of cubic feet of gas literally go up in smoke, burnt off on flare stacks for want of the infrastructure to capture and process it.

UN takes 'historic' step toward global treaty on plastic trash

The United Nations on Wednesday agreed to start negotiating a world-first global treaty on plastic pollution in what has been hailed as a watershed moment for the planet.

Progress on recycling smartphones, but more to do

Smartphone manufacturers have promised to do better when it comes to recycling and reconditioning their product, responding to pressure from environmental campaigners.

Ford unveils new structure as it speeds electric car push

Ford announced Wednesday it is creating separate businesses for its conventional and electric-auto operations, as it accelerates its build-out of emission-free vehicles.

Climate crisis: Indigenous groups both victims and saviours

Long portrayed as victims of climate change, indigenous peoples who have struggled for years to protect ancestral lands and ways of life from destruction are finally being recognised as playing an important role in defending precious environments.

Poorer nations need $60 bn a year to protect nature: NGOs

Wealthy countries should provide at least $60 billion every year to the world's poorest nations to combat biodiversity loss, an alliance of environment groups said Tuesday.

US Supreme Court hears climate case as UN issues stark warning

A divided US Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday in an environmental regulation case with potentially far-reaching implications for the Biden administration's fight against climate change.

Climate migrants could face a world of closing doors

People driven from their homes as global warming redraws the map of habitable zones are unlikely to find refuge in countries more focused on slamming shut their borders than planning for a climate-addled future, according to a top expert on migration.

On the front line in Liberia's fight to save the pangolin

Clutching a single-barrelled rifle in lush northern Liberia, Emmanuel says his 10 children were able to get an education thanks to his gun.

US Supreme Court to hear high-stakes environmental case

The conservative-dominated US Supreme Court is to hear an environmental regulation case on Monday with potentially far-reaching implications for the Biden administration's fight against climate change.

Lessons on climate grief from the people of the sea ice

Marilyn Baikie's remote Inuit community has more wisdom than they could ever want about ecological grief.

Melting glaciers, fast-disappering gauge of climate change

A crack widens in the San Rafael glacier in Chile's extreme south, and a ten-storey iceberg crashes into the lake by the same name -- a dramatic reminder of the impacts of global warming.

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