Environment

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian authorities began assessing the damage on Sunday from heatwave-spurred bushfires that swept through two states a day earlier, as cooler conditions provided a temporary respite from blazes that have scarred the country’s east coast for weeks. A satellite image shows wildfires burning east of Obrost, Victoria, Australia January 4, 2020. Satellite

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico City’s new ban on plastic bags has inspired visions of a journey back in time even as local makers of the packaging worry they could become obsolete. An employee helps a man to arrange groceries in a bag at a supermarket which no longer provides plastic bags for customers to

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia will carry out cloud seeding on Friday in a bid to prevent further rainfall over the capital Jakarta, after deadly flash floods and landslides following some of the heaviest rains ever recorded. FILE PHOTO: Youth sits on a car at an area flooded after heavy rains in Jakarta, Indonesia, January 2,

(Reuters) – Australian Nick Kyrgios has put his hand up to help the victims of raging bushfires in his country by promising a $200 donation for every ace he serves during the home summer season. FILE PHOTO: Tennis – Davis Cup Finals – Caja Magica, Madrid, Spain – November 19, 2019 Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of holiday makers raced to evacuate popular seaside towns on Australia’s east coast on Wednesday, fleeing ahead of advancing bushfires, as military ships and helicopters planned missions to rescue thousands more trapped by the blazes. A vehicle is engulfed in yellowish smoke as it travels along a highway during

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Coal-fired utilities around New Delhi were still operating on Wednesday despite threats from the Indian authorities to close them down if they had not installed equipment to cut emissions of sulfur oxides by the end of the year. FILE PHOTO: Buildings are engulfed in fog in Noida on the outskirts of

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A panel of scientific advisers, including several appointed by President Donald Trump, says some rollbacks of clean-air and vehicle rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency are based on weak scientific analysis and should be revised, according to draft reports published on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sign

MELBOURNE/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Thousands swarmed to beaches on Australia’s east coast on Tuesday to escape fierce wildfires bearing down on several seaside towns, as the government readied naval vessels and military helicopters to aid firefighting and evacuations. A bushfire rages in Broulee, New South Wales, Australia, December 31, 2019, in this still image taken from

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Thousands of tourists and residents in an Australian seaside town hunkered down in public buildings or waded into water at the seafront on Tuesday as wailing emergency sirens warned of a looming, fierce firefront. FILE PHOTO: The sky glows red as bushfires continue to rage in Mallacoota, Victoria, Australia, December 31, 2019,

NEW DELHI/DHAKA (Reuters) – The second coldest weather in 119 years sweeping across western and northern India has led to dense fog, killing at least six people and disrupting many parts of the country, including the capital New Delhi. A man rows his boat on the partially frozen Dal Lake on a cold winter morning

The rhino named Fausta is seen in Ngorongoro, Tanzania in this undated picture obtained by Reuters on December 29, 2019. Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority via REUTERS DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – A rhino believed to the world’s oldest has died at the age of 57 in a Tanzanian conservation area, authorities said. Fausta, a female

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Residents and holidaymakers in part of the Australian state of Victoria were urged to leave on Sunday ahead of what is expected to be a day of extreme fire danger. FILE PHOTO: Firefighters work at the scene of a bushfires in Bilpin, New South Wales, Australia in this still image from a

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Residents of two small communities in the southern Australian state of Victoria were told to evacuate on Saturday, as a bushfire burned out of control nearby and as temperatures were set to rise. Authorities said the fire could affect the town of Goongerah, nearly 450 km (280 miles) east of Melbourne with

(Reuters) – SQM, the world´s No. 2 lithium producer, said on Friday it “regrets” a ruling by a Chilean environmental court that it should be prosecuted over excessive water use in the country´s northern Atacama Desert. FILE PHOTO: An aerial view shows the brine pools of SQM lithium mine on the Atacama salt flat in

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – President Tayyip Erdogan has revived plans to dig a canal on the edge of Istanbul despite opposition from hundreds of petitioners and the city’s new mayor against the kind of mega project that has come to define Turkey’s economic boom and bust. FILE PHOTO: The Russian Navy’s landing ship Azov sails in

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australian authorities said on Friday they are focused on protecting water plants, pumping stations, pipes and other infrastructure from intense bushfires surrounding Sydney, the country’s largest city. Firefighters battling the blazes for weeks received a reprieve of slightly cooler, damper conditions over Christmas, but the respite is not expected to last long.