Environment

Extreme weather caused $165 billion in US damage in 2022: officials

Major hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, drought and a fierce winter storm caused more than $165 billion in damage in the United States last year with climate change "supercharging" some extreme weather, a US government report said Tuesday.. Other weather and climate disasters included wildfires in the western US and Alaska, flooding in Missouri and Kentucky, tornadoes across the southern and southeastern US and the December winter storm.

Last 8 years warmest on record globally: EU climate monitor

The last eight years were the warmest on record even with the cooling influence of a La Nina weather pattern since 2020, the European Union's climate monitoring service said Tuesday.. Average temperatures across 2022 -- which saw a cascade of unprecedented natural disasters made more likely and deadly by climate change -- make it the fifth warmest year since records began in the 19th century, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

11 people killed in Philippine storms: disaster agency

At least 11 people have died in storms across the Philippines in the past week, with more heavy rain expected in already sodden regions of the disaster-prone country, authorities said Tuesday.. Heavy rain has already inundated villages, with water levels reaching three metres (10 feet) in some places.

Europe ski resorts struggle to stay open in warm winter

Many Alpine ski resorts have closed or partially shut because of the lack of snow and high temperatures as Europe has seen what experts have said is "extreme" warm winter weather.. Several winter sport events have also been cancelled, postponed or moved because abnormally warm temperatures have stripped mountain slopes of their snow covering.

Alpine tourists ski amid brown hillsides

Brown hillsides and slivers of snow -- a common sight across Europe's Alps, and a far cry from the winter wonderland tourists had banked on.. While some snow started to fall again early this week, Europe has seen "extreme" warm winter weather in recent days, experts say, with 2023 already posting record January temperatures across the region. 

Strong 7.6-magnitude quake hits off Indonesia: USGS

A strong 7.6-magnitude earthquake hit deep under the ocean off Indonesia and East Timor early Tuesday, the US Geological Survey reported.. I woke up and found out that many of my friends felt it too," Hamdi, an Indonesian in Ambon, said to AFP. An unidentified resident in Dili, capital of East Timor, reported a "very strong, long shake," in a remark left at the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center (EMSC), a nonprofit monitoring center.

More rain lashes storm-battered California

Heavy rain lashed water-logged California Monday, with forecasters warning of floods as a parade of storms that have killed 12 people battered the western United States.. While heavy rain is not unusual for California during the winter, these downpours are testing the state.

Researchers dig up secrets of 'self-healing' Roman concrete

How have Rome's ancient aqueducts and architectural marvels such as the Pantheon, which features the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome, endured the test of time?. "Ever since I first began working with ancient Roman concrete, I've always been fascinated by these features," said MIT professor of civil and environmental engineering Admir Masic, an author of the study.

German police to evict anti-coal activists from Wednesday

German police said on Monday that they expected a "difficult" and "dangerous" task when they begin to remove thousands of anti-coal activists near an open cut mine in two days.. "The operational area is very large with difficult topography (and is) on the edge of an open pit mine, with particular dangers," he said.