Environment

A sailing boat is seen through smoke haze from bushfires in front of the cliffs of North Head, Sydney Harbour, Australia, December 5, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Coates SYDNEY (Reuters) – Firefighters were on Thursday battling several blazes ringing Sydney, leaving Australia’s most populous city blanketed by smoke that is expected to linger for days. Bushfires have

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio has placed a hold on the Senate confirmation of President Donald Trump’s pick to become the deputy secretary of the Interior Department over concerns about the agency’s plans to expand offshore drilling, his office said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) questions U.S. Secretary of

LONDON (Reuters) – Investors cheered Spanish group Repsol’s (REP.MC) pledge to slash net carbon emissions to zero by mid-century, saying they hope it will pile pressure on rival oil and gas companies to follow suit in the fight against climate change. FILE PHOTO: The logo of Spanish energy giant Repsol SA is seen during the

WARSAW (Reuters) – Five tigers that were trapped “in horrific circumstances” in a truck on the Polish-Belarussian border in October arrived at an animal shelter in the Spanish city of Villena on Monday, ending an ordeal that had alarmed animal lovers, the shelter said. “If you know what these animals have had to endure, in

MANILA (Reuters) – A typhoon struck the Philippines on Tuesday, killing one man and bringing heavy rains that prompted suspension of air travel and government offices in the capital, and warnings of floods, storm surges and landslides. Local governments evacuated some 225,000 people ahead of the arrival overnight of Typhoon Kammuri, known locally as Tisoy,

MADRID (Reuters) – The world must choose hope over surrender in the fight against climate change, U.N. secretary-general Antonio Guterres said on Monday, warning a summit in Madrid that governments risked sleepwalking past a point of no return. The latest round of annual negotiations to bolster the 2015 Paris Agreement to curb global warming began

(Reuters) – Fires in Indonesia that spread a smoky haze over Southeast Asia this year burned at least 1.6 million hectares of mostly degraded land and carbon-rich peatlands, data from a respected research group showed on Monday. FILE PHOTO: Burnt trees are pictured during a forest fire in Kapuas regency near Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan

MADRID (Reuters) – Bank of England Governor Mark Carney will lead a push by the United Nations to make the finance sector take proper account of the risks posed by climate change, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday. Governor of the Bank of England Mark Joseph Carney makes remarks during a “Governor Talks”

TAMBAKLOROK, Indonesia (Reuters) – Indonesian fisherman Miskan says the once-abundant catches he used to enjoy have been dwindling in recent years on this stretch of the Java Sea. Birds perch on dead-trees at Bedono, a village affected by land subsidence and rising sea level, in Demak regency near Semarang, Central Java province, Indonesia, November 28,

DURRES, Albania (Reuters) – Albania ended its search on Saturday for survivors of a powerful earthquake that killed 51 people, and buried more victims of the disaster including toddler twins and their mother. A care is pictured after the earthquake that shook the country, in Durres, Albania, November 30, 2019. REUTERS/Florion Goga The 6.4-magnitude quake,

SITIO PARIAHAN, Philippines (Reuters) – Danica Martinez, 16, grew up in a house that grows taller every few years. Bamboo huts are risen on stilts in the submerged coastal island Sitio Pariahan, Bulakan, Bulacan, north of Manila, Philippines, on November 25, 2019. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez Her father raises the stilts of their bamboo hut so water

LISBON/SYDNEY (Reuters) – Thousands of people in Asia and Europe joined rallies demanding more action on climate change on Friday, aiming to force political leaders to come up with urgent solutions at a United Nations conference next week. A student activist poses for a portrait during a ‘Solidarity Sit-down’ outside of the office of the

GRAAFF-REINET, South Africa (Reuters) – South Africa’s Karoo region has always been parched – it means land of thirst in the language of its earliest inhabitants, the Khoisan hunter gatherers. FILE PHOTO: Hydrologist Gideon Groenewald feels cracks in the clay in the dried up municipal dam in drought-stricken Graaff-Reinet, South Africa, November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mike

BRASILIA (Reuters) – A Brazilian judge on Thursday ruled to free four volunteer firefighters jailed this week on accusations they had set fires in the Amazon rainforest to drum up donations, according to court documents. FILE PHOTO: Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) fire brigade members attempt to control hot points

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Two winter storms blasted the United States on Wednesday, stranding motorists and causing thousands of flight delays as Americans jammed highways and airports to visit family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday. Scores of vehicles got stuck on Interstate 5 after a “bomb cyclone” – a supercharged winter storm caused by

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Two winter storms blasted parts of the United States on Wednesday, disrupting travel plans for millions of Americans who typically jam the country’s highways and airports to visit family and friends over the long Thanksgiving weekend. One of the hardest-hit areas was Minnesota’s Twin Cities region, which was blanketed in white by