Environment
Natural surroundings and ecological issues
Latest stories
-
Rain eases in Bangkok but persistent flooding forces thousands to leave home
BANGKOK (AP) — Rain eased in Thailand ’s capital on Sunday, but flooding persisted in several low-lying areas, with thousands forced to move into temporary shelters. At least eight people were reported killed in the past 10 days nationwide.
-
Hurricane Nolo skirts Hawaii but could still unleash powerful winds, flash flooding
Hurricane Nolo has just skirted the Hawaiian Islands as it gained intensity. But officials say it still poses a risk for flash floods, dangerous winds and extreme surf in areas recovering from previous storms. Nolo was churning slowly south of Hawaii’s Big Island on Saturday with maximum sustaine...
-
'We're not giving up': Beset by climate change, island nations act as conscience of a warming world
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — When Palau President Surangel Samuel Whipps Jr. recently took his children to his nation's Helen Island, two-thirds of it was gone. Rising seas caused by climate change had swallowed generational burial grounds, washing away a people's entire culture and identity.
-
A persistent nor'easter batters US Northeast, causing coastal flooding, outages and at least 1 death
A powerful storm is creeping along the U.S. Northeast coast, causing high winds and knocking out electricity for thousands. The nor'easter is affecting the Mid-Atlantic area and New England. At one point, around 100,000 customers were without power on Saturday. The National Weather Service warns ...
-
Heavy rain and flooding in Bangkok disrupts traffic and prompts evacuations
Incessant rain has hammered several areas of Thailand’s capital, disrupting traffic and forcing thousands to evacuate. Authorities declared the city a disaster area. Thailand’s Meteorological Department warned that the deluge, which began Thursday, would continue through Sunday. Accumulated rainf...
-
China has kept its promise to stop funding overseas coal, but loopholes are helping coal expand
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Addressing the U.N. General Assembly in 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to stop funding overseas coal power plants in an effort to help curb climate change. Five years later, as the assembly meets this week, the world's climate commitments are dangerously offtrack...
-
Former VP Al Gore: A clean Earth is within world's grasp even as climate dangers accelerate
NEW YORK (AP) — Longtime climate warrior Al Gore sees victory within Earth's grasp. But he worries that it could still slip through humanity's fingers.
-
Roads flood in New Jersey, inundate some homes, as major signs of nor'easter take shape
Thousands are without power on the U.S. Northeast, while roads are flooding in some coastal New Jersey communities. The events Friday night signaled the first major signs of a powerful nor’easter expected to create dangerous conditions through the weekend. Tens of millions of people are in the pa...
-
Hurricanes in the Pacific threaten Hawaii and Mexico with floods and high surf
Residents on Hawaii’s Big Island are bracing for potentially life-threatening and catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Nolo. The U.S. National Weather Service said Nolo was about 145 miles south of the Big Island on Friday evening. Tropical storm conditions are expected to begin on land Friday ev...
-
Cheetah cubs at Prague Zoo are doing well after a period of strong storms and their mother’s illness
PRAGUE (AP) — Five cheetah cubs had to survive a weather scare and the illness of their mother after their birth at the Prague Zoo. But they are doing well now, the zoo said on Friday.
-
Europe uses subsidies, taxes and policy pauses to offset pain of high fuel prices
Governments across Europe are using subsidies, taxes, and policy changes to help their economies, companies and aggrieved citizens weather an energy crisis caused by wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that seven of the 10 nations wo...
-
Nepal's leader, at UN, says recent floods serve as a 'warning to the world' about climate change
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Nepal's prime minister scolded fellow world leaders Thursday, saying the nation's recent deadly flood reminds a warming world that climate change keeps hurting people who didn't cause the crisis but now need help.
-
It's been an intense hurricane season in the Pacific and there's still a long way to go
It’s already been an intense hurricane season in the Pacific Ocean — and there’s still quite a ways to go.
-
In their words: From across the world, leaders call for action on climate change at the UN
NEW YORK (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world cannot “allow countries and cultures to vanish beneath the waves” on Thursday as the General Assembly approved its first declaration on sea-level rise.
-
New firefighting fund launches but funding gap remains as wildfires worsen worldwide
NEW YORK (AP) — A United Nations report released Thursday shows that there is still a multibillion dollar funding gap for preserving tropical forests, which are key to fighting climate change.
-
Energy Department will spend $2 billion to squeeze more electricity from the aging power grid
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The Energy Department said Thursday that it will spend almost $2 billion to try to squeeze more electricity out of the nation's aging and stressed power grid, as President Donald Trump's administration steps up efforts to avoid blackouts amid skyrocketing energy demand spurr...
-
Ugandans plant trees near national park to keep people out of gorillas’ habitat
BWINDI, Uganda (AP) — In the tangled greenery of a Ugandan national park, mountain gorillas sit among the leaves, calmly carrying on as tourists trek into their forest home.
-
Powerful Hurricane Polo drenches Mexico's coast as Nolo takes aim at Hawaii
Nolo is now the latest hurricane in the Pacific Ocean. The National Hurricane Center says Nolo strengthened into a hurricane Thursday. It’s expected to intensify and make a turn toward Hawaii’s Big Island. Residents there are preparing for the possibility of catastrophic flooding in the coming da...
-
Scottsdale's water recycling program hits election-year backlash
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — A Phoenix suburb ditched a plan to send recycled water from toilets and other sources directly to residents' taps, after political candidates made unproven claims that the water is contaminated “poop water.”
-
US diplomats told to say ‘super intelligence’ — not ‘artificial intelligence' — after Trump's call
NEW YORK (AP) — The State Department is ordering diplomats in its international organizations bureau to use the term “super intelligence” instead of “artificial intelligence” in all communications following President Donald Trump’s attempt to rebrand the technology in his address to the U.N. Gene...
-
Newsom talks climate with world leaders in New York, accuses Trump of abdicating that responsibility
NEW YORK (AP) — Saying President Donald Trump has abdicated his responsibilities on climate change, California Gov. Gavin Newsom met with world and business leaders Wednesday to advance climate action and clean energy on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
-
NCFC Youth tests pesticide-free mosquito control at Raleigh soccer park
The traps mimic human scent and breath to draw in mosquitoes, offering an alternative to chemical sprays as insecticide resistance spreads in Wake County.
-
40 years after Chernobyl, Italy greenlights a return to nuclear energy
ROME (AP) — Italy’s Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to legislation paving the way for a return to nuclear power nearly four decades after the Chernobyl disaster prompted the country to abandon atomic energy.
-
Hurricane Polo fuels fears of landslides in Mexico's southwest as Nolo closes in on Hawaii
Southwestern Mexico is bracing for heavy rain and mudslides after Polo became a major hurricane in the Pacific. Forecasters also warned Wednesday that another system heading toward Hawaii could cause catastrophic flooding later in the week. Hurricane Polo is expected to skirt Mexico’s Guerrero st...
-
Climate disasters are growing. So are cuts to programs that prepare for them
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Sitting on the floor of a makeshift shelter for survivors of Nepal's deadly recent floods, Tenzin Dolma Ghale said she had nothing left but the clothes she was wearing. Her entire village and members of her family were washed away by the surge of water and debris that kill...
