The world's first international treaty to protect the high seas is scheduled to be adopted Monday at the United Nations, a huge step for the "historic" environmental accord after more than 15 years of discussions.. But with so much of the world's oceans lying outside of individual countries' exclusive economic zones, and thus the jurisdiction of any single state, providing protection for the so-called "high seas" requires international cooperation.
Pressure to speed cuts in carbon pollution took a back seat at UN climate talks that ended late Thursday night, as emerging economies, including China, demanded that rich ones vastly scale up climate financing.. A long-standing tug-of-war at UN climate talks pits the European Union against a powerful negotiating bloc: the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC), which includes China, India and Saudi Arabia.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday the world is racing toward a climate change disaster, dismissing the current global response as woefully inadequate.. Guterres, who is hosting a climate summit in New York in September, said the 1.5 degree goal is "still possible," if the fight against climate change is accelerated.
Overfishing is driving coral reef sharks towards extinction, according to a global study out Thursday that signals far greater peril to the marine predators than previously thought.. "Carbon sequestration on coral reefs without sharks is much lower than it is on reefs with sharks," he said, meaning there is an impact on global warming.
The final launch of Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has been postponed due to a technical problem, French firm Arianespace said on Thursday, in the latest blow to European space efforts.. European space efforts were dealt another blow in December last year, when the first commercial flight of the next-generation Vega C light launcher failed.
Average global temperatures at the start of June were the warmest the European Union's climate monitoring unit has ever recorded for the period, trouncing previous records by a "substantial margin", it said on Thursday.. "Global-mean surface air temperatures for the first days of June 2023 were the highest in the ERA5 data record for early June by a substantial margin", Copernicus said.
Babies born by cesarean section don't acquire the same healthy bacteria as those delivered vaginally, a setback to the development of their immune system thought to increase their risk of certain diseases later in life.. Past research has shown infants born by C-section have vastly different gut bacteria composition compared to those born vaginally.
The world's first international treaty on the high seas, set to be adopted by the United Nations on Monday, contains landmark tools for the conservation and management of international waters.. It also calls for countries to assess the potential impact on international waters of activities within national jurisdictions that may cause "substantial pollution" or harm the high sea marine environment.
Howling gales and crashing waves pounded the coastline of India and Pakistan on Thursday hours before a powerful cyclone was due to make landfall, with those unable to flee seeking shelter where they could.. At sea, winds were gusting at up to 180 kilometres per hour (112 miles per hour), with speeds predicted to reach 115-125 kph and gusts of up to 140 kph by the time it makes landfall.
Flamingos and Dalmatian pelicans laze in the azure waters of a shallow lagoon near Albania's Adriatic coast. . - 'A better life' - A two-and-a-half-hour drive south of Tirana, the Narta lagoon and its marshy surroundings are home to more than 200 bird species, including 33 on Albania's red list of endangered flora and fauna.
