Climate Change & Environment
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Climate Change could Drain Global Seafood Supplies

Seafood lovers are set to see less shellfish, salmon and other fish on their dinner plates as climate change warms the oceans and makes them more acidic.

The findings from a series of studies out this week suggest rising greenhouse emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are adding stress to oceans that are already suffering from overfishing, pollution and destruction of coastal ecosystems like mangroves.

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Australian Study: Sea Turtle Nests at Risk from Climate Change

Rising sea levels from climate change are a threat to sea turtle populations as eggs laid on beaches become submerged in saltwater, Australian scientists said Thursday.

Eggs buried by female turtles in usually "high and dry" areas on beaches could be inundated by rising sea levels and storm surges, a study by researchers from Australia's James Cook University said.

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Bluer Skies Beijing Picks up Pace in Cutting Dependency on Coal

Blue skies in Beijing were a welcome surprise this week for the residents of Gaobeidian, a migrant neighborhood on the outskirts of the city.

Gaobeidian sits near the smokestacks and cooling towers of an 845-megawatt power plant, the last coal-fired plant operating in the Chinese capital. Billowing smoke forms a hazy backdrop as children play and women hang clothes out to dry.

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World Must Cut Pollution to Save Marine Life, Study Warns

If left unchecked, global warming will cause irreversible damage to marine life in the world's oceans, forcing fish to search for cooler waters and destroying valuable coral reefs, an international study said.

Keeping global average temperatures within two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures is the only way to stave off the worst effects of climate change on the Earth's oceans, which provide 90 percent of the planet's habitable space, said the study in the journal Science.

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France Signals 'Breakthrough' in Climate Talks

France signaled a "breakthrough" Tuesday at 46-nation talks in Paris tasked with paving the way for a highly-anticipated climate rescue pact to be inked in December.

Ministers and top officials at an informal gathering reached consensus on several issues that have stymied the official negotiations for years, France's top climate negotiator Laurence Tubiana told journalists.

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Coal Plant Proposed for Pristine Thai Coast Sparks Outcry

Plans to build an 800-megawatt coal power plant near some of Thailand's most popular beaches have sparked protests and a hunger strike by activists who say officials aren't considering its impact on the pristine environment that makes the area an international tourist destination.

More than 100 members of the Save Andaman from Coal Network this week staged a march and sit-in outside the prime minister's office in the nation's capital against plans to build the plant near southern Thailand's Andaman coast about 650 kilometers (400 miles) south of Bangkok.

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Pacific Man's Bid to be First Climate Refugee Rejected

A Pacific islander who launched a landmark bid to become the world's first climate change refugee faces deportation from New Zealand after a court rejected his appeal.

Ioane Teitiota, 38, argued that he should not be sent back to Kiribati because rising seas threaten to deluge the island nation, making it unsafe for him and his family.

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Ministers in Paris to Boost Flagging Climate Talks

Foreign and environment ministers and other high-level officials from 45 countries are set to gather in Paris Monday seeking to re-energize climate talks mired in technical details and political squabbling.

Just four months ahead of a U.N. conference in the French capital tasked with producing a historic climate pact, U.S. scientists this week said 2014 was a record year for sea level rise, land temperatures, and the greenhouse gases that drive dangerous global warming.

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Copenhagen Faces Bumpy Road to Carbon Neutrality

Copenhagen says it is on track to become the world's first carbon neutral capital by 2025, but even after emissions fell more than expected some critics dismiss the plan as a vanity project.

The Scandinavian city launched its carbon neutrality scheme in 2009, when it hosted the UN Climate Change Conference.

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USAID Backs How-to Course to Help Asia Cope with Climate Change

The U.S. government is setting up a course to train officials in the Asia-Pacific region in the basics of preparing and financing projects to help communities weather climate change, experts from the USAID development agency said on Friday.

Financing needs for climate change adaptation - efforts to adjust to extreme weather and rising seas - are estimated at tens of billions of dollars per year in developing countries.

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