Climate Change & Environment
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'Trash is Gold' as Benin Community Turns Waste into Biogas

Garbage has never smelled so sweet for a small village in southern Benin since it opened a pilot waste treatment centre to turn household rubbish into gas -- and cash. 

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Hurricane Lane Grows to Category 5 as It Heads toward Hawaii

Hurricane Lane has grown to a category 5 storm as it approaches Hawaii with potential for torrential rain, flash flooding and landslides, forecasters said.

As per the latest models, the center of Lane will move very close to or over the main Hawaiian Islands from Thursday through Saturday, the National Weather Service's Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu said.

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Science Says: Hotter Weather Turbocharges US West Wildfires

As temperatures rise in the U.S. West, so do the flames.

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Choking Hazard: Air Pollution Hangs over Asian Games

Indonesia is about to open the Asian Games but its traffic-clogged capital Jakarta remains shrouded in a haze of air pollution that threatens to mar the world's second-biggest multi-sport event.

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Brace for Extra-Warm Weather through 2022

Manmade global warming and a natural surge in Earth's surface temperature will join forces to make the next five years exceptionally hot, according to a study published Tuesday.

The double whammy of climate change and so-called natural variability more than doubles the likelihood of "extreme warm events" in ocean surface waters, creating a dangerous breeding ground for hurricanes and typhoons, they reported in Nature Communications.

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California Fire Threatens Retirement Community

One of the fires scorching California Sunday moved in on a retirement community, prompting evacuation orders for thousands of people.

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Crews Battle Growing Wildfire near Homes in California

Firefighters worked furiously Friday to keep a Southern California wildfire from burning more homes while crews in the north finally gained ground on deadly and destructive blazes that have burned for two weeks.

Aircraft have been making flight after flight, dumping water and bright pink retardant to protect Lake Elsinore and other foothill communities as the fire sweeps through the dense, bone-dry brush of the Cleveland National Forest.

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New Zealand to Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags

New Zealand became the latest country Friday to outlaw single-use plastic shopping bags, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying they will be phased out over the next year as a "meaningful step" towards reducing pollution.

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Flash Floods Kill 27 in South India, Prompting US Travel Alert

Flash floods have claimed at least 27 lives in the southern Indian state of Kerala, officials said Friday, prompting the US to advise its citizens to stay away from the tourist hotspot.

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Monsoon, Landslides Kill 20 in Southern India

At least 20 people were killed Thursday in landslides triggered by heavy rains in southern India, an official said, pushing the nationwide monsoon death toll for this year to over 700.

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