Environment

Four children 'critical' in hospital as UK hit by Arctic weather

Four children were fighting for their lives on Monday, after being pulled from an icy lake as an Arctic blast sent temperatures tumbling across the UK. The youngsters were reported to have been playing on frozen ice near Birmingham, central England, on Sunday afternoon, when it gave way and they fell in.. The UK has been experiencing a cold snap for several days, with temperatures dropping to -10 Celsius degrees (14 Fahrenheit) in some areas, although the Met Office said the temperatures were "not unusual for this time of year". 

Mon, Dec 12, 2022 1 mins read

Environment

Sunlit Greece seeks to lure Europeans amid winter energy crisis

With most of Europe struggling with soaring energy costs, Greece has launched an initiative to put its mild winters to good use and attract sun-seeking travellers all year round.. With northern European countries facing much longer and bitterly cold winters, "energy-wise there are many more needs than here in the south where the winter is mild" and shorter, he added.

Mon, Dec 12, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

France bets on tech and transparency to beat Chinese caviar

At the fish farm near Bordeaux, Christophe Baudoin is running an ultrasound device over the belly of a large sturgeon to check its eggs.. Farming only started in France in the 1990s, and since it takes up to a decade to raise a sturgeon, progress is painstaking. 

Mon, Dec 12, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

Cash crops: Dutch use bitcoin mining to grow tulips

Tulips and bitcoin have both been associated with financial bubbles in their time, but in a giant greenhouse near Amsterdam the Dutch are trying to make them work together.. This saw prices for a single bulb rise to more than 100 times the average annual income at the time before the bubble burst in 1637, causing banks to fail and people to lose their life savings.

Sun, Dec 11, 2022 3 mins read

Environment

NASA Moon capsule Orion due to splash down after record-setting voyage

After making a close pass at the Moon and venturing further into space than any previous habitable spacecraft, NASA's Orion capsule is due to splash down Sunday in the final test of a high-stakes mission called Artemis.. And it broke the distance record for a habitable capsule, venturing 268,000 miles (432,000 kilometers) from our planet.

Sat, Dec 10, 2022 4 mins read

Environment

Activists warn a toothless UN nature pact will fail

The world's next global pact for nature is doomed without clear mechanisms for implementing targets, conservation groups said Saturday on the sidelines of UN talks, as hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Montreal demanding greater action.. Implementation mechanisms are at the heart of the Paris agreement on the fight against global warming, in the form of "nationally determined contributions."

Sat, Dec 10, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

Lascar Volcano in Chile stirs, sending plume skyward

A volcano in the Andes in Chile's north rumbled to life early Saturday, triggering minor earth tremors and sending a plume of smoke and ash 6,000 meters (nearly 20,000 feet) into a clear sky.. The volcano sent "an eruptive column" comprising volcanic ash and hot gases 6,000 meters above its crater, the service said. 

Sat, Dec 10, 2022 1 mins read

Environment

Kerry says US could 'tweak' green subsidies after EU anger

The United States is open to amending lucrative green subsidies that have drawn transatlantic anger for allegedly encouraging job losses in Europe, US climate envoy John Kerry said.. Several EU leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron, during a state visit to Washington, have said the US subsidies are enticing European companies to relocate to the United States.

Sat, Dec 10, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

Experts urge caution over biotech that can wipe out insect pests

Dozens of scientists, experts and campaigners called for a ban on the release of genetically-edited organisms into the wild, in a statement Friday warning of potentially severe risks to the world's pollinators.. But their use in the wild carries "understudied risks which could accelerate the decline of pollinator populations and put entire food webs at risk," according to the letter drafted by the French non-governmental organisation Pollinis. 

Fri, Dec 9, 2022 3 mins read

Environment

Canada to hasten permitting for critical minerals mines

Canada will look to quickly ramp up production of critical minerals that are vital to its transition away from climate-harming fossil fuels, according to a new strategy unveiled Friday.. There is no energy transition without critical minerals," says the strategy document.

Fri, Dec 9, 2022 2 mins read