Environment
Natural surroundings and ecological issues
Latest stories
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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.
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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...
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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.”
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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...
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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...
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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...
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Texas investigators seek evidence of manslaughter, other crimes in 27 flood deaths at Camp Mystic
Camp Mystic faces a criminal investigation that could include manslaughter or negligent homicide charges in the deaths of 27 girls amid devastating flooding in Texas last year, court documents show.
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Is it 'killer robots' or 'super intelligence'? At the UN, leaders see both
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — It's killer robots versus super intelligence.
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Agency says sea turtle eggs laid on California beaches are a first for the US West Coast
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A reptile believed to be struggling in sand at a Southern California beach was simply making history: a sea turtle laying eggs on the U.S. West Coast.
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Another beluga whale dies at Chicago aquarium after rescue mission from Canada park
CHICAGO (AP) — A third beluga has died at a Chicago aquarium after being rescued this summer from a shuttered Canadian marine park in a complex international operation that moved 30 whales to aquariums in the U.S. and Spain.
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Aircraft company identifies 2nd pilot killed in Yosemite helicopter firefighting crash
A contract aircraft company has identified the second pilot killed in the weekend crash of a firefighting helicopter in Yosemite National Park as Ryan Cutter.
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New York, California sue to block Trump administration deals canceling offshore wind projects
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic attorneys general from California and New York sued the Trump administration Tuesday over its plans to buy back offshore wind leases as President Donald Trump seeks to discourage the expansion of wind energy in favor of fossil fuels.
