Climate Change & Environment
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Red tide in South Africa is causing mass deaths of crayfish

A toxic algae bloom known as a red tide is causing the mass deaths of crayfish and other ocean life on parts of South Africa's west coast.

The environment ministry warned people on Thursday against collecting and eating the crayfish, which could be toxic, and police were deployed on some beaches.

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Climate change fueled deadly rainstorms in Iberia, Morocco

Human-driven climate change intensified torrential downpours that killed dozens and forced thousands of people from their homes across Spain, Portugal and Morocco earlier this year, a network of climate scientists said Thursday.

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How bomb cyclones form and create dangerous conditions

When turbulent weather with whipping winds and heavy snow is in the forecast, meteorologists sometimes warn that a storm could "bomb out" or become a bomb cyclone. But what exactly does this mean?

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, certain storms undergo bombogenesis, which happens when a storm's central pressure drops at least 24 millibars in 24 hours. These storms are sometimes called bomb cyclones. Storm intensity is measured by central pressure, so the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm.

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Northeast US scrambles to clear piles of snow as new storm descends

Snowplows cleared the way for ambulances and fire trucks in Rhode Island. New York City workers geared up to dump massive basins of warm water on piles of snow and ice. And in Boston, officials tried to clear sidewalks coated in packed snow that cut off access for people using wheelchairs.

The gigantic snowstorm this week across the Northeast U.S. dropped piles of powder from Maryland to Maine and left cities on Wednesday scrambling to clear towering heaps that were not showing signs of melting anytime soon.

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Blizzard warnings and travel bans as snow intensifies in Northeast US

Millions of people in New York City and a large swath of the northeastern U.S. were stuck at home under road travel bans and blizzard warnings Monday as heavy snow and strong winds intensified, creating whiteout conditions in the densely populated region.

Snow fell at a rate of 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.6 centimeters) an hour early Monday from New York through Massachusetts. Some areas have gotten well over a foot (30 centimeters) of snow since Sunday, along with wind gusts of over 30 mph (48 kph) and low visibility.

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Torrential rains unleash landslides that kill 7 in southern Philippines

Torrential rains set off two landslides that killed seven people and floods that displaced more than 3,000 villagers in the southeastern Philippines, officials said Friday.

A boulder-laden landslide buried a house and killed a couple and their two daughters Friday in the coastal city of Mati in Davao Oriental province, disaster-response and provincial officials said.

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Organizers of Winter Games made clean energy a priority

It takes an immense amount of energy to power venues and make snow for the Winter Olympics and, for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, organizers pledged that virtually all of the electricity would be clean.

The organizing committee said that energy use is where they can make the most meaningful impact, since it has been one of the main drivers of planet-warming emissions at major events. And Italy's largest electricity company, Enel, guaranteed the supply of entirely certified renewable electricity for event venues.

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Warming world increases days when weather is prone to fires around the globe

The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy — ideal to spark extreme wildfires — has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows.

And more than half of that increase is caused by human-caused climate chang e, researchers calculated.

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Rescuers push through winter storm to 6 survivors of a California avalanche

Crews pushed through mountainous wilderness near Lake Tahoe during a snowstorm to rescue six backcountry skiers who survived an avalanche but were trapped by its snow and ice. Nine others from their tour group remained missing.

Two of the six were taken to a hospital for treatment, said Ashley Quadros, a spokesperson for the Nevada County Sheriff's Office.

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California photographer is on quest to photograph hundreds of native bees

In the arid, cracked desert ground in Southern California, a tiny bee pokes its head out of a hole no larger than the tip of a crayon.

Krystle Hickman crouches over with her specialized camera fitted to capture the minute details of the bee's antennae and fuzzy behind.

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