Climate Change & Environment
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Latest storm blows out of Philippines, kills 10 and prompts massive evacuations

A tropical storm blew out of the central Philippines on Friday, leaving at least 10 dead, knocking down trees and power and prompting the evacuation of more than 433,000 people from landslide- and flood-prone villages long battered by typhoons.

Bualoi was the latest of back-to-back storms from the Pacific to threaten Asia. Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest to hit in years, caused at least 28 deaths in the northern Philippines and Taiwan, mostly drownings, before making landfall in China and dissipating on Thursday over Vietnam.

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Ragasa weakens but brings heavy rain and flood risk to northern Vietnam

Typhoon Ragasa weakened into a tropical depression early Thursday as it entered northeastern Vietnam, but it is still expected to bring heavy rains across the country's northern provinces.

By Thursday afternoon, the typhoon's sustained winds had weakened to a maximum 55 kph (34 mph) and Ragasa was forecast to dissipate eventually while remaining a rain threat for Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia.

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China, world's largest carbon polluting nation, announces new goal to cut emissions

With China leading the way by announcing its first emission cuts, world leaders said Wednesday they are getting more serious about fighting climate change and the deadly extreme weather that comes with it.

At the United Nations' high-level climate summit, Chinese president Xi Jinping announced the world's largest carbon-polluting country would aim to cut emissions by 7% to 10% by 2035. China produces more than 31% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions, and they have long been soaring.

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Trump calls climate change 'con job' as leaders of drowning nations watch at UN

Some countries' leaders are watching rising seas threaten to swallow their homes. Others are watching their citizens die in floods, hurricanes and heat waves, all exacerbated by climate change.

But the world U.S. President Donald Trump described in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday didn't match the one many world leaders in the audience are contending with. Nor did it align with what scientists have long been observing.

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Typhoon batters Hong Kong, south China after killing dozens in Taiwan and Philippines

Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest in years, whipped waves taller than lampposts onto Hong Kong promenades and turned seas rough on the southern Chinese coast on Wednesday after leaving deadly destruction in Taiwan and the Philippines.

In Taiwan, 17 people died after floods submerged roads and carried away vehicles in one county, and 10 deaths were reported in the northern Philippines.

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What to know about endangered gorillas and tourist tours tracking them

Sept. 24 is observed as World Gorilla Day. It was launched in 2017 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of a Rwanda-based gorilla study center founded by Dian Fossey, the American primatologist and conservationist who gained global renown for her research.

The gorillas Fossey studied and looked after were mountain gorillas that belong to the species known as the eastern gorilla and live mostly in the Virunga Massif, a mountainous area encompassing parts of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The second species, known as the western gorilla, inhabits areas of west and central Africa.

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Over 60,000 Europeans died from heat during 2024 summer

More than 60,000 people died from heat in Europe during last year's record-breaking summer, a benchmark study said Monday, in the latest warning of the massive toll climate change is having on the continent.

"Europe experienced an exceptionally deadly summer in 2024 with more than 60,000 heat-related deaths, bringing the total burden over the past three summers to more than 181,000," said the study published in Nature Medicine.

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Gabrielle rapidly intensifies into Category 3 hurricane in Atlantic

Gabrielle strengthened into a major hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean on Monday but was forecast to remain away from land.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said Gabrielle's maximum sustained winds increased to 120 mph (191 kph), making it a dangerous Category 3 hurricane.

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Super typhoon blows by northern Philippines and Taiwan

Thousands of people were evacuated from northern Philippine villages and schools and offices were closed Monday in the archipelago and neighboring Taiwan as one of this year's strongest typhoons threatened to cause flooding and landslides on its way to southeastern China.

Super Typhoon Ragasa had sustained winds of 215 kph (134 mph) with gusts of up to 295 kph (183 mph) when it slammed into Panuitan island off Cagayan province on mid-afternoon Monday, Philippine forecasters said.

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One of the rarest birds in the world finds a city sanctuary in Hong Kong

Critically endangered yellow-crested cockatoos found an unexpected sanctuary among Hong Kong 's towering skyscrapers, but like their human neighbors they now face trouble finding a place to call home.

Native to Indonesia and East Timor, the snow-white birds, their crests flashing like yellow crowns, squawk through the urban parks of the Asian financial hub. They make up roughly 10% of the species' global wild population, which numbers only up to 2,000 mature birds.

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