Environment

Environment refers to the natural and physical surroundings in which living organisms exist, including air, water, land, climate and ecosystems, as well as their interactions. It encompasses both biotic components such as plants, animals and microorganisms and abiotic elements such as soil, minerals and atmospheric conditions. The environment influences life processes, human activities and the functioning of ecosystems.

Forest with technology - image generated by AI
Machine learning accelerates discovery of high-performance metal oxide catalystsScience

Machine learning accelerates discovery of high-performance metal oxide catalysts

Researchers have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to significantly advance the discovery and optimization of multicomponent metal oxide electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction…
SourceSourceMay 26, 2024 Full article
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Gas strategy fuels concerns about the cost of energyClimate

Gas strategy fuels concerns about the cost of energy

By Dani Alexander, UNSW in Sydney The Australian government's gas strategy has stoked old tensions between advocates of fossil fuels and those who want our reliance on…
SourceSourceMay 25, 2024 Full article
Image: Island covered by trees, Maldives
Low-lying Maldives seeks easier funding to battle wavesNews

Low-lying Maldives seeks easier funding to battle waves

Malé, Maldives (AFP) - The Maldives on Saturday demanded international funding to battle rising sea levels, saying the low-lying Indian Ocean archipelago was being unfairly…
SourceSourceMay 25, 2024 Full article
Image: Beautiful outdoor nature with sky and sunset or sunrise around coconut palm tree (s. heatwave, climate)
Mexico heat waves leave 48 dead since MarchNews

Mexico heat waves leave 48 dead since March

Mexico City, Mexico (AFP) - Mexico has registered 48 deaths in a series of heat waves since March, the government said Friday, as scientists warned…
SourceSourceMay 24, 2024 Full article
Image: Close-up of Woman Preparing Herbs in Pounder
Celebrations as new biopiracy treaty agreed at UNNews

Celebrations as new biopiracy treaty agreed at UN

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP (Updated) - Representatives of Indigenous peoples celebrated Friday at the United Nations following the agreement of a treaty against the pillaging…
SourceSourceMay 24, 2024 Full article
Image: Still life of world intellectual property day (s. biopiracy, patent)
Agreement reached at UN on biopiracy treatyNews

Agreement reached at UN on biopiracy treaty

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP More than 190 nations agreed Friday on a new treaty to combat so-called biopiracy and regulate patents stemming from genetic resources…
SourceSourceMay 24, 2024 Full article
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What Australia’s new gas strategy gets wrongClimate

What Australia’s new gas strategy gets wrong

By Samantha Hepburn, Deakin University in Melbourne Australia’s gas future must involve energy security and climate security. The new government strategy fails to strike this…
SourceSourceMay 24, 2024 Full article
Image: wolves
Culling controversy as French wolf population falls in 2023News

Culling controversy as French wolf population falls in 2023

By Laure FILLON | AFP Lyon, France - The estimated number of wolves in France last year was 1,003, down nine percent from the year…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
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Uncertainty clouds UN talks on biopiracy treatyNews

Uncertainty clouds UN talks on biopiracy treaty

By Agnès PEDRERO | AFP Geneva, Switzerland - UN talks to create a global treaty to combat biopiracy and the exploitation of genetic resources hung…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Image: Tiger Habitat
India plans ‘historic’ tiger transfer to Cambodia this yearNews

India plans ‘historic’ tiger transfer to Cambodia this year

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (AFP) - India will send four tigers to Cambodia this year in a "historic" bid to revive the kingdom's big cat population,…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Image: Working industrial cargo ship in the sea (mining)
WWF takes Norway to court over deep sea miningNews

WWF takes Norway to court over deep sea mining

Oslo, Norway (AFP) - The World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) Norwegian chapter said Thursday it would take legal action against Norway for opening up…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Image: Tiehm buckwheat (s. rare plants)
Flower or power? Campaigners fear lithium mine could kill rare plantNews

Flower or power? Campaigners fear lithium mine could kill rare plant

United States | AFP Delicate pink buds sway in the desert breeze, pregnant with yellow pompoms whose explosion will carpet the dusty corner of Nevada…
SourceSourceMay 23, 2024 Full article
Image: bottle and glass
Bottled water is full of microplastics. Is it still ‘natural’?Climate

Bottled water is full of microplastics. Is it still ‘natural’?

By Joseph Winters | Grist Is bottled water really “natural” if it’s contaminated with microplastics? A series of lawsuits recently filed against six bottled water…
SourceSourceMay 22, 2024 Full article
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Shell faces shareholder revolt over climate strategyNews

Shell faces shareholder revolt over climate strategy

London, United Kingdom (AFP) - More than a fifth of Shell investors have revolted against its climate strategy in a key vote, the British energy…
SourceSourceMay 21, 2024 Full article
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Demise of rangelands ‘severely underestimated’: reportNews

Demise of rangelands ‘severely underestimated’: report

By Nick Perry | AFP Paris, France - From camel drivers in the Sahara to nomads on the Mongolian steppe, traditional herders the world over…
SourceSourceMay 21, 2024 Full article
Image: Rendering by S Bekessy in collaboration with C Horwill, J Ware & M Baracco, RMIT’s School of Architecture and Design
Trees please me, but we also need biodiversity in our citiesNews

Trees please me, but we also need biodiversity in our cities

By Sarah Bekessy, RMIT University in Melbourne Increasing the amount of nature in our cities can provide many benefits as long as it's done with biodiversity in…
SourceSourceMay 20, 2024 Full article
Aerial image of Antarctic iceberg
Climate change key driver of record-low Antarctic sea ice: studyNews

Climate change key driver of record-low Antarctic sea ice: study

By Linda GIVETASH | AFP Paris, France - Climate change played a key role in last year's record-low levels of Antarctic sea ice, a study…
SourceSourceMay 20, 2024 Full article
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Finding Where the Grass is GreenerScience

Finding Where the Grass is Greener

By Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo Researchers at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, enhance land surface maps to…
SourceSourceMay 19, 2024 Full article
Image: Ecologist taking water sample from the river with test tube for examination (s. pollution, cancer)
Cancer drug pollution is a growing global concernClimate

Cancer drug pollution is a growing global concern

By Valérie S. Langlois and Diana Castañeda-Cortés | The Conversation As incidence of cancer increases globally, the use of cancer drugs is also growing at…
SourceSourceMay 18, 2024 Full article
Image: Mining fields on frozen terrain
Energy transition risks critical mineral shortage: IEANews

Energy transition risks critical mineral shortage: IEA

By Isabel Malsang and Nick Perry | AFP Paris, France (UPDATED) - The sharp drop in prices for minerals critical to the green energy transition…
SourceSourceMay 17, 2024 Full article
Image: Scenic Photo of Coral Reef
Global coral bleaching event expanding to new countries: scientistsNews

Global coral bleaching event expanding to new countries: scientists

Washington, United States | AFP | Muser NewsDesk The massive coral bleaching episode signaled by US authorities last month is expanding and deepening in reefs…
SourceSourceMay 17, 2024 Full article
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Tesla’s German factory gets approval for extensionNews

Tesla’s German factory gets approval for extension

Berlin, Germany (AFP) - Tesla on Thursday said its plans to extend its production site outside Berlin had been approved, overcoming opposition from residents and…
SourceSourceMay 16, 2024 Full article
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Equity Must Be Considered in Ocean Governance to Achieve Global Targets by 2030Science

Equity Must Be Considered in Ocean Governance to Achieve Global Targets by 2030

By Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) As the world presses forward with urgency towards reaching global biodiversity and climate targets by 2030, there must be increased…
SourceSourceMay 16, 2024 Full article
Image: Methane plume emitting from oil and gas facility
Global methane emissions automatically detected in satellite imagery using AIScience

Global methane emissions automatically detected in satellite imagery using AI

As global temperatures rise to record highs, the pressure to curb greenhouse gas emissions has intensified. Methane is particularly targeted because its significant global-warming potential…
SourceSourceMay 16, 2024 Full article