Environment News

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Two of Greenland's largest glaciers lost more ice to global warming over the last month, US researchers said Thursday.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Climate change poses a serious threat to essential water resources in the Himalayan region putting the livelihoods of 1.3 billion people at risk, experts said Thursday.

ACCRA (AFP) - Time is running out in the fight against global warming, the UN's top climate change official warned as a new round of UN talks got started here Thursday.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A surprising 20 million people in the European Union do not have access to decent toilets and suffer from a lack of hygiene, posing serious health risks, experts meeting at World Water Week in Stockholm said.

ACCRA, Ghana - Africa already is suffering from "climate shocks," the president of Ghana told a 160-nation climate conference Thursday, joining a chorus of calls to speed up the pace of talks on a new agreement to rein in carbon emissions.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - More than one billion people worldwide have no toilet and defecate outside, while some have to be shamed into changing their habits when presented with conveniences, a conference was told.

A man-sized grouper that trolls the tropical waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean for octopuses and crabs has been identified as a new fish species after genetic tests.

TAIPEI (AFP) - "Ghost Month" in Taiwan draws out devotees who prepare food offerings, burn incense sticks and ritual paper money, and set off firecrackers to honour their ancestors as well as wandering spirits.

ENSENADA, Mexico - Mexico said Wednesday it will invest 163 million pesos ($16 million) to save a highly endangered species of porpoise in the upper Gulf of California, asking reluctant fishermen to adopt safer methods or give up their trade entirely.

OAKLAND, Calif. - An Oakland, Calif., environmental group has announced that Chrysler LLC and three auto-parts makers have agreed to end their use of lead wheel weights in the state.

WINDHOEK (AFP) - Namibia will impose a ban on all trade with 'worked ivory' from next month in a bid to assert its control and abide by international regulations on endangered species, an official said on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON - Energy companies bid hundreds of millions of dollars Wednesday to explore for oil and natural gas beneath 1.8 million acres in the western Gulf of Mexico, while looking forward to the possibility of future drilling in federal waters now off-limits.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Eight scientific organizations urged the next U.S. president to help protect the country from climate change by pushing for increased funding for research and forecasting, saying about $2 trillion of U.S. economic output could be hurt by storms, floods and droughts.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Mayor Michael Bloomberg has proposed a renewable energy program for New York city that would include placing windmills on city bridges, solar panels on skyscrapers, and the use of tidal, geothermal and nuclear energy.

NIUE (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd joined Pacific island nations Tuesday in a call for immediate help to cope with the impact of climate change in the region.

Editor's Note: Each Wednesday LiveScience examines the viability of emerging energy technologies - the power of the future.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Support for climate-change proposals may be growing among investors in big U.S. companies.

INDIANAPOLIS - Federal officials accuse five Midwest states of violating a new pollution standard for tiny soot particles that can cause respiratory distress in children and the elderly.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Electric and hybrid vehicles may be better for the environment, but the California Legislature says they're bad for the blind.

PARIS (AFP) - The habitats of wild bird species are shifting in response to global warming, but not fast enough to keep pace with rising temperatures, according to a study released Wednesday.

LUDLOW, Pa. - A father and son are accused of intentionally releasing thousands of gallons of oil into two Pennsylvania streams in the Allegheny National Forest, killing an unknown number of fish, reptiles and amphibians.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - John McCain Tuesday flew to a Gulf of Mexico oil rig to demand expanded offshore drilling, but Democrats hit back by branding the White House hopeful as a puppet of profit-soaked US energy giants.

WELLINGTON (AFP) - The next US president will provide fresh impetus to the fight against global warming, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Tuesday.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan is planning to label consumer goods to show their carbon footprints in a bid to raise public awareness about global warming, an official said Tuesday.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged the United States on Tuesday to take more action on climate change and become more involved in the global debate on the issue.

MONDAY, Aug. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Recently discovered so-called free radicals that are attached to small particles of air pollution could cause lung damage and perhaps even lung cancer, researchers report.

As summer vacation ends and children head back to class, they might need a new school supply: face masks. About one third of American schools are within an "air pollution danger zone" near major highways and the pollutants that stream from cars and trucks, a new study finds. Previous research, including the UC Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS), has shown that exposure of school-age children to traffic pollutants near main roads is associated with a greater risk of developing asthma and other respiratory problems later in life. ...

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A week-long conference on the impact of lacking water resources around the world began in Stockholm Monday with calls for radical changes in behaviour and mentality when it comes to water usage.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Trina Solar Ltd said on Monday quarterly earnings more than doubled on strong demand for solar energy, but its shares fell as results missed Wall Street estimates due to a foreign exchange loss and the company said it has yet to sign contracts for all of its 2009 output.