Major sandstorm disrupts air traffic in UAE, Gulf region (PHOTOS) 3/4/2015

A major sandstorm across the United Arab Emirates disrupted flights at Dubai's two international airports on Thursday and caused delays at other air transport centers in the Gulf, according to authorities. ...more

California used 70 million gallons of water in fracking in 2014 3/4/2015

California oil producers used 214 acre-feet of water, equivalent to nearly 70 million gallons, in the process of fracking for oil and gas in the state last year, less than previously projected, state officials told Reuters on Thursday. ...more

Oregon lawmakers consider banning plastic beads in cosmetics 3/4/2015

Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill to ban tiny plastic beads that show up in everything from toothpaste to facial scrubs and end up in waterways, harming fish that mistake them for food, environmentalists and lawmakers said on Thursday. ...more

China to toughen inspection on air quality data: Xinhua 3/4/2015

China's vice minister for environmental protection has announced a two-year inspection campaign to root out fake air quality data and accused some local governments of manipulating the data to meet national standards, state media said. ...more

Ice melt endangers Arctic mammals 3/4/2015

Three kinds of whale, six varieties of seal, the walrus and the polar bear all have these five things in common: they are marine mammals; they depend on the Arctic for their survival as species; they are vulnerable; and biologists know surprisingly little about them. ...more

AFED in UNEP’s Advisory Group on Global Environment Outlook 2/4/2015

Twelve authors and editors of AFED reports had also been selected as contributors to the sixth edition of the Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6), produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). ...more

Southeast Asia faces increasingly intense climate events: analysts 2/4/2015

Densely populated Southeast Asian island states such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and the Philippines are likely to face more intense climate events in future, analysts said on Thursday. ...more

Rare snow leopards are returning to Russia 2/4/2015

A ranger and volunteers hiking in Russia’s rugged Altai Mountains have found proof that endangered snow leopards have returned to the region: tracks in the snow of a young female leopard and her two cubs. ...more

California unveils historic water restrictions over drought crisis 2/4/2015

California announced sweeping statewide water restrictions for the first time in history Wednesday in order to combat the region's devastating drought, the worst since records began. ...more

Mediterranean Sea 'accumulating zone of plastic debris' 2/4/2015

Large quantities of plastic debris are building up in the Mediterranean Sea, say scientists. ...more