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The World Environment News is a daily environmental update bringing you all the latest environmental stories, pictures and video from across the globe, courtesy of the Reuters news service. if it’s happening in the world of environment, it’s happening in the World Environment News.
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Latest News (120 stories)
Analysis: New Facilities Spotlight Next-Generation Biofuels
Photo: Bruno Domingos
Date: 21-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Matt Daily
After a decade of promise, advanced biofuels makers are entering a crucial make-or-break period with the first of a new generation of production facilities about to come on line.
Fed By Dry Brush, Wildfires Persist In Southwest
Photo: Joshua Lott
Date: 21-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Mike Saucier
An Arizona wildfire whipped up by winds and dry conditions threatened to trigger more evacuations on Sunday, just as firefighters were nearly done battling the biggest of four blazes in the state.
Tropical Storm Alberto Not Seen To Gain Strength, Forecasters Say
Date: 21-May-12
Country: USA
Author: David Adams
Tropical Storm Alberto churned slowly toward the South Carolina coast on Sunday where heavy rain and dangerous surf are expected from the beach resort of Myrtle Beach south to Savannah, Georgia, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Guatemala Volcano Spits Lava And Ash
Date: 21-May-12
Country: GUATEMALA CITY
Author: REUTERS
Guatemala's Fuego volcano belched burning lava and black ash into the sky early Saturday, leading the government to issue an airplane advisory and close sections of highway.
EPA Report Outlines Potential Pebble Mine Risks
Date: 21-May-12
Country: ALASKA
Author: Yereth Rosen
Large stretches of salmon-spawning streams and thousands of acres of wetlands would be wiped out if a large-scale mining project were to be built in southwestern Alaska's copper-rich Bristol Bay region, according to a report issued Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency.
China Cries Foul After U.S. Sets Tariffs On Solar Imports
Date: 21-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Matt Daily and Leonora Walet
The United States imposed punitive tariffs on solar panel imports from China, the latest in a series of trade disputes between the world's two biggest economies and sparking accusations by Beijing of protectionism.
Oklahoma Park Accused Of Letting Kids Play With Tigers
Date: 21-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Steve Olafson
The Humane Society of the United States is accusing an Oklahoma exotic animal park of allowing children to handle and pose for photographs with juvenile tigers in what they called "a petting zoo for carnivores."
Total Says Stops Elgin Gas Leak
Photo: Total E&P/Handout
Date: 18-May-12
Country: FRANCE
Author: James Regan
France's Total said it had succeeded in stopping the gas leak at its well at the Elgin platform in the North Sea after it pumped heavy mud into it.
Rocky Mountain Cave Closure Sought Over Bat Disease
Photo: U.S. Geological Survey/Greg Turner/Handout
Date: 18-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Laura Zuckerman
The U.S. government is seeking to close caves in national forests in the Northern Rockies to stem the spread of white-nose bat syndrome, a disease that has killed an estimated 5.5 million bats in 19 states and is spreading westward, officials said on Wednesday.
Winds, Low Humidity Bedevil Arizona, Colorado Firefighters
Date: 18-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Michael Saucier
Firefighters struggled against strong winds on Thursday to halt the advance of Arizona wildfires that have charred over 30 square miles of dry ponderosa forest, brush and grass, and a blaze in nearby Colorado swelled overnight.
Fugitive Penguin 337 Spotted Alive In Tokyo Bay
Photo: Tokyo Coast Guard Office/Handout
Date: 18-May-12
Country: JAPAN
Author: Ruairidh Villar
After Penguin Number 337 made a daring bid for freedom from a Tokyo aquarium and vanished into the waters of Tokyo Bay two months ago, many feared the worst for the adventurous feathered fugitive.
Denmark Aims Low With Green Energy policy
Photo: Bob Strong
Date: 18-May-12
Country: DENMARK
Author: Barbara Lewis
Over a beer or two, Danes like to tell a story that goes like this: One night the energy ministers of the countries around the North Sea got together to divide up its oil and gas wealth. The Danish minister got very drunk, but the Norwegian managed to stay sober. As a result, Norway carved out a jagged shape that included Ekofisk, which has proved to be a major field, and Denmark was left with the dregs.
Apple To Use Only Green Power For Main Data Center
Photo: Robert Galbraith
Date: 18-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Poornima Gupta
Apple Inc plans to power its main U.S. data center entirely with renewable energy by the end of this year, taking steps to address longstanding environmental concerns about the rapid expansion of high-consuming computer server farms.
Brazil Navy Investigates New Oil Spill Off Coast
Date: 18-May-12
Country: BRAZIL
Author: Peter Murphy and Jeb Blount
An oil spill was discovered off Brazil's coast near the country's Espirito Santo state, Brazil's Navy said on Thursday, the latest in a series of spills that have raised questions about the safety of a massive expansion of the country's oil production capacity.
UK Climate Experiment Canceled On Patent Concerns
Date: 17-May-12
Country: UK
Author: Nina Chestney
British scientists have abandoned an experiment to test the possibility of spraying particles into the upper atmosphere to stem global warming, largely due to concerns over a patent for some of the technology, the project's leader said.
Insight: In Ohio, "Fracking" Boom A Delicate Issue For Obama
Date: 17-May-12
Country: USA
Author: John Whitesides
Out past the vacant storefronts and abandoned buildings, beyond the shuttered steel mills and decaying industrial plants, residents of eastern Ohio suddenly are seeing dollar signs.
Extreme Rain Doubled In Midwest: Climate Study
Date: 17-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Deborah Zabarenko
The number of extreme rainstorms - deluges that dump 3 inches or more in a day - doubled in the U.S. Midwest over the last half-century, causing billions of dollars in flood damage in a trend climate advocates link to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
South Africa Seizes 10 Rhino Horns In Arrest Of Vietnamese
Date: 17-May-12
Country: SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Jon Herskovitz
South Africa, the country home to the most rhinos in the world, has been losing almost two of the threatened animals a day to poachers who sell the horns in China and Southeast Asia for use by the affluent as a traditional medicine ingredient.
No Ties Or Hand-Driers As South Korea Readies For Hot Spell
Date: 17-May-12
Country: SOUTH KOREA
Author: Meeyoung Cho
South Korean businessmen, typically clad in uniform dark blue suits, are being urged to dump their jackets and ties as the summer looms in a bid to save electricity amid tight supplies as offices turn up the air conditioning.
EU Airline Carbon Cash Should Help Fill Climate Fund
Photo: Darren Staples/Files
Date: 16-May-12
Country: BRUSSELS/LONDON
Author: Barbara Lewis and Nina Chestney
EU nations should pledge that funds from paying for airline emissions will help poor countries deal with global warming, the bloc's climate chief said on Tuesday, after finance ministers stopped short of a firm commitment.
World Living Beyond Its Resources, Summit Off-Track: WWF
Photo: Desmond Boylan
Date: 16-May-12
Country: SWITZERLAND
Author: Tom Miles
Biodiversity has decreased by an average of 28 percent globally since 1970 and the world would have to be 50 percent bigger to have enough land and forests to provide for current levels of consumption and carbon emissions, conservation group WWF said on Tuesday.
Total Starts Injecting Mud To Kill North Sea Gas Leak
Photo: Total E&P/Handout
Date: 16-May-12
Country: UK
Author: Karolin Schaps
France's Total started pumping heavy mud down its leaking well in the North Sea on Tuesday to try to stop an escape of gas that has lasted nearly eight weeks and could deprive Britain of nearly 6 percent of its supply this summer.
EU Says India, China Violate Carbon Law
Date: 16-May-12
Country: BELGIUM
Author: Barbara Lewis
A total of 10 Chinese and Indian commercial airlines have broken EU law requiring them to offset their carbon emissions, while all other international carriers flying to or from Europe have complied, the European Union's climate chief said on Tuesday.
EU ETS Emissions Down In 2011, Permit Glut Grows
Date: 16-May-12
Country: BRUSSELS/LONDON
Author: Barbara Lewis and Nina Chestney Jeff Coelho
Carbon emissions in the European Union's Emissions Trading System (ETS) fell by more than 2 percent in 2011 but an oversupply of permits key to driving greener energy use worsened, European Commission data showed on Tuesday.
First Pacific Tropical Storm Of 2012 Forms Southwest Of Mexico
Date: 16-May-12
Author: Sandra Maler
The first tropical storm of the year formed in the Pacific Ocean southwest of Mexico on Monday and was named Aletta, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center said.
Anti-Whale-Hunt Activist Held By German Court
Photo: Paul Darrow/Files
Date: 15-May-12
Country: GERMANY
Author: Elisa Oddone
A marine conservationist renowned for disrupting whale hunts appeared in court in Germany on Monday facing extradition to Costa Rica over charges arising from a confrontation with a ship that was fishing for sharks.
Mexican Wind Energy Boom Plays Out On Gusty Shores
Photo: Jorge Luis Plata
Date: 15-May-12
Country: MEXICO
Author: David Alire Garcia
On an arid plain where sudden gusts of wind can rip roofs off buildings and knock over tractor trailers, Mexico is building a new engine for its energy future.
China "Instant Buildings": Just Add Labor, Fireworks And A Cow
Photo: Broad Group/Handout
Date: 15-May-12
Country: CHINA
Author: Terril Yue Jones
As a crane lowered a steel-and-concrete slab onto support pillars, construction workers swarmed around to bolt it down - a choreography of mad-dash steps against a backdrop of firecrackers, and a sacrificed cow, to herald China's latest "instant building".
Gas-Rich States Lose Fracking Lottery
Photo: Les Stone
Date: 15-May-12
Country: USA
Author: Joan Gralla
While Pennsylvania, northwestern Louisiana and gas-rich areas around the Gulf of Mexico are losing jobs and revenue as the fracking industry shrinks after a price collapse, oil-rich North Dakota and Texas are in the midst of a boom.
BP Resumes Cherry Point, Wash. Refinery Restart: Sources
Date: 15-May-12
Country: HOUSTON
Author: Erwin Seba
BP Plc was resuming the restart of its 225,000 barrel per day (bpd) Cherry Point, Washington, refinery on Monday, according to sources familiar with refinery operations.