The Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi Reports Rare Bird Sighting on Qarnain Island 14/8/2024

The Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi (EAD) recently spotted a red-footed booby, a rare member of the booby family, during periodic monitoring operations on Qarnain Island in the Arabian Gulf region. Considered one of the rarest and smallest booby species, it is widespread on the coasts and islands of tropical regions, yet remains very rare in the region, due to the lack of resident groups in the country. ...more

More than 47,000 people died in Europe last year due to heat, report says 14/8/2024

More than 47,000 people died in Europe due to scorching temperatures in 2023, with countries in the region's south hit the hardest, according to a report by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) published on Monday. ...more

Carbon offset setback risks corporate backtrack on climate goals 14/8/2024

Stalled efforts to expand companies' use of carbon credits to offset greenhouse-gas emissions are raising the prospect that some will backtrack or abandon targets to shrink their carbon footprint. ...more

Successful environmental projects benefit nature and people, study finds 14/8/2024

Restoring and protecting the world’s forests is crucial if humanity is to stop the worst effects of climate breakdown and halt the extinction of rare species. ...more

Conservationists ask Tanzania to ban sport hunting of elephants 14/8/2024

Conservationists petitioned Tanzania on Monday to end elephant trophy hunting in a vast wildlife reserve area that spans its common border with Kenya. ...more

China's central bank to extend low-carbon lending tool to end of 2027 13/8/2024

China's central bank will extend a programme providing financial institutions with low-cost loans intended to help companies to cut carbon emissions, the government said on Sunday. ...more

Australian fossil fuel exports ranked second only to Russia for climate damage with ‘no plan’ for reduction 13/8/2024

Australia’s coal and gas exports cause more climate damage than those from any other country bar Russia, according to a new study that argues the country is undermining a global agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. ...more

Pantanal waterway project would destroy a ‘paradise on Earth’, scientists warn 13/8/2024

Dozens of scientists are sounding the alarm that carving a commercial waterway through the world’s largest wetlands could spell the “end of an entire biome”, and leave hundreds of thousands of hectares of land to be devastated by wildfires. ...more

Startling genome discovery in butterfly project reveals impact of climate change in Europe 13/8/2024

The chalkhill blue has some surprising claims to fame. For a start, it is one of the UK’s most beautiful butterflies, as can be seen as they flutter above the grasslands of southern England in summer. ...more

China's rains and floods led to near doubling of natural disaster losses in July 13/8/2024

Extreme rainfall and severe flooding in China led to a near doubling in economic losses from natural disasters in July from a year earlier, the government said. ...more