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Not enough time in universe for monkeys to pen Shakespeare: study
If a monkey types randomly at a keyboard for long enough, it will eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare.
New doubt over production cuts in plastic pollution treaty
A global treaty to end plastic pollution may be in jeopardy, negotiators and environmentalists said Thursday, with new signs that countries may not be able to agree on production cuts.
Germany to bury nuclear waste but toxic dispute unresolved
An elevator rattles down about a kilometre (3,000 feet) below ground in five minutes to reach Germany's nuclear necropolis, a future repository set to to entomb much of its radioactive waste.
Papua New Guinea to boycott 'waste of time' UN climate summit
Papua New Guinea on Thursday declared a boycott of next month's UN climate summit, branding the global warming negotiations a "waste of time" full of empty promises from big polluters.
Funding hurdle at world's biggest nature protection summit
With two just days to go to the closure of UN talks in Colombia on ways to halt and reverse nature loss, delegates were at odds Wednesday on how best to finance the endeavor.
Spain’s warning system under scrutiny as flood toll rises
Spain's heavy flood death toll raises questions about how one of the world's most developed nations failed to respond adequately to extreme storms likely to intensify as climate change accelerates.
Smog-beset Pakistan megacity curbs rickshaws, restaurants
Pollution puffing rickshaws and barbeque restaurants were banned from operating in parts of Pakistan's second-largest city of Lahore on Wednesday, as public health officials battle choking smog.
'Peace among ourselves' crucial to save nature: UN chief
UN chief Antonio Guterres called Wednesday for "peace among ourselves" in order to save the planet, as devastating wars rage in Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon and Sudan.
How harmful are microplastics to human health?
Microplastics have been found throughout the human body -- including inside lungs, blood and brains -- and while it is not yet clear how harmful they are to our health, some researchers are sounding the alarm.
Who should get paid for nature's sequenced genes?
Much of the vanilla that flavors our ice cream today is artificial, derived from the genetic signature of a plant that hundreds of years ago was known only to an Indigenous Mexican tribe.
Nature destruction an 'existential crisis' for humans, says UN chief
Humanity faces an "existential crisis" caused by its rapacious destruction of life-sustaining nature, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned delegates Tuesday at a biodiversity summit in Colombia.
Nature destruction an 'existential crisis' says UN chief
Humanity faces an "existential crisis" caused by its rapacious destruction of life-sustaining nature, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned delegates Tuesday at a major biodiversity summit in Colombia.
World's first green energy island sails into cost storm
At a shipyard on the North Sea, workers in luminiscent vests are building dozens of massive, hollow concrete boulders, each the size of an apartment block.
The growing scourge of plastic pollution: in numbers
Nations could agree in December on a world-first treaty to reduce the amount of plastic leaking into the environment which, if nothing is done, is forecast to triple by 2060.
Big guns descend on Cali for final push in UN biodiversity talks
Heads of state, ministers and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres arrive in Cali Tuesday hoping to add impetus to grinding talks on ways to save nature from human destruction.
COP16 chair hails biodiversity attaining 'equal footing' with climate crisis
The world's biggest nature protection conference, under way in Cali, has placed biodiversity loss "on an equal footing" with the climate emergency, the meeting's Colombian president told AFP in an interview Monday.
Mowed down by cars, European hedgehog numbers shrinking
The Western European hedgehog -- the prickly, nocturnal critter people love to encounter in the garden -- is in decline, mowed down by cars as its shrinking habitat forces it to move ever closer to humans.
One in three tree species at risk of extinction: report
More than one in three species of trees are at risk of extinction worldwide, threatening life as we know it on Earth, according to a report published Monday.
Ship with suspected toxic waste returns to Albania
A ship carrying hundreds of tonnes of possibly toxic industrial waste returned to Albania's largest seaport of Durres on Monday, months after setting sail to dispose of the material in Thailand.
Cali's love motels adapt to host UN summit delegates
Aggrey Rwetsiba, a Ugandan delegate to the UN's biodiversity summit in Colombia, finds himself in unusual accommodations: a motel normally destined for trysts, with rooms featuring sex swings and stripper poles.
UN biodiversity summit making 'very good progress': officials
Crunch UN talks on ways to "halt and reverse" species loss by 2030 have made "very good progress," officials said Friday, as the summit in Colombia marked its halfway point.
G20 affirms commitment to transition from fossil fuels
G20 leaders affirmed their commitment to shifting away from fossil fuels after talks this week in Washington, according to a ministerial statement released Friday.
Covid lessons learned? UN summit mulls plan for healthy planet, and humans
The Covid-19 and Ebola outbreaks brought into stark relief the harms that can come to humans if we interfere too much with nature, placing ourselves in contact with animals carrying unknown pathogens.
UK climate strategy ruled lawful in landmark court case
A man whose home had to be demolished because of coastal erosion lost a landmark legal claim on Friday against the UK government that accused it of failing to meet obligations to protect citizens from the effects of climate change.
Smog in Pakistan megacity ends outdoor play for schoolkids
Schoolchildren in Pakistan's second-largest city of Lahore have been banned from outdoor exercise until January because of hazardous smog levels, officials said Friday.
Huge US lithium mine gets govt approval: company
An enormous lithium mine in the Nevada desert has been granted final government approval, the company that has the concession said Thursday, in a project it predicts will quadruple US production of a mineral critical to the renewable energy revolution.
World already 'paying terrible price' for climate inaction: Guterres
Humanity is 'paying a terrible price' for inaction on global warming, with time running out to correct the course and avoid climate disaster, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday.
More than a million Indians flee as cyclone approaches
At least 1.1 million people on India's eastern coast are fleeing to storm shelters inland, hours before a powerful cyclone is expected to hammer the low-lying region, ministers said Thursday.
European leaders meet to re-energise offshore wind power
The countries bordering the North Sea meet in Denmark on Thursday to seal commitments to boost offshore wind power, a sector that is suffering from stiff competition from China.
COP16 president hopeful of 'major announcements' soon
The Colombian host and president of the UN's COP16 biodiversity summit said Wednesday she expected "major announcements" soon regarding negotiations to increase funding and political commitment against the destruction of nature.
Chair of global plastics talks pledges deal next month
A global treaty to curb plastic pollution will be secured at a summit in South Korea next month, the chair of the talks pledged Wednesday, although he cautioned there were still complex disputes and the time frame was a "big challenge".
From Colombia's jungle to the world's fish tanks
Every day, local fishermen visit Ernesto Rojas to sell him small, colorful fish plucked from rivers in the Colombian jungle that end up in aquariums around the world.