Climate Change & Environment
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U.S. and China Lead Push to bring Paris Climate Deal into Force Early

The U.S. and China are leading a push to bring the Paris climate accord into force much faster than even the most optimistic projections – aided by a typographical glitch in the text of the agreement.

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Last Month was Hottest March in Modern Times, Says U.S.

Last month marked the hottest March in modern history and the 11th consecutive month in which a monthly global temperature record was broken, the longest such streak in the 137 years of record-keeping, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

The report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces for March 2016 "was the highest for the month of March in the NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880."

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Netherlands Looks to Ban all Non-Electric Cars by 2025

By 2025, the Netherlands may only allow electric vehicles on the road. 

A majority of elected officials in the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Parliament, supported a motion proposed by the Labor Party (PvdA) to ban all diesel and petroleum cars from the Dutch market starting in 2025. If enacted, this proposal would allow existing fossil fuel-powered cars to stay on the road until they died, but when it comes to new sales, only electric cars would be permitted. 

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Scientists: First Signs of Coral Bleaching in Sydney Harbor

Coral bleaching has been detected in Sydney Harbor for the first time, Australian scientists said Tuesday, blaming the damaging phenomenon also found in the Great Barrier Reef on warming sea-surface temperatures.

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This Huge Region of Brazil is Even more Deforested — and Less Protected — than the Amazon

The Amazon has it bad, but the Cerrado may have it even worse. After all, at least you’ve actually heard of the Amazon.

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The North Pole is Slowly Moving towards London, and Scientists have Finally Figured out Why

Earth's North Pole has never been as stable as it looks on maps, with the planet wobbling slightly as it spins on its axis, and causing the poles to gradually drift.

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Some Whales Like Global Warming Just Fine

In May 2009, Ari Friedlaender, an ecologist with Oregon State University’s Marine Mammal Institute, was cruising along the Western Antarctic Peninsula when he encountered something he’d never seen. In Wilhelmina Bay, the water was so thick with humpback whales that “we couldn’t count them fast enough,” he recalls.  

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Gripped by Drought, Ethiopia Drills for Water

With Ethiopia in the grip of its worst drought in decades, the government has appealed for aid to help the 10 million people living in Africa's second most-populous nation.

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Paris Climate Deal to be Signed by over 130 Countries at U.N. Ceremony

A record number of more than 130 countries will sign the landmark agreement to tackle climate change at a ceremony at UN headquarters on 22 April, the United Nations said on Thursday.

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Can You Power a Business on 100% Renewable Energy? Ikea Wants to Try

In 2012, Ikea made headlines with its pledge to completely power its stores with renewable energy by 2020. Last week, HP, the US-based multinational IT company, made the same pledge, promising to switch completely to renewable by 2020. The fact that both Ikea and HP set the same deadline for renewables, despite the fact that their pledges were separated by four years, illustrates a stunning change in renewable power generation. When Ikea made its promise, it was in the process of installing its own power generation facilities. Four years later, HP has numerous other options.

It also has a lot of company on the renewables bandwagon. As part of its pledge, HP signed on for the RE100 campaign, joining fellow corporations Google, Starbucks, Novo Nordisk and Goldman Sachs. RE100 was launched less than two years ago by a coalition of businesses and nonprofits, but participating companies have, on average, already transitioned half of their energy use to renewables, according to a report released last month – and several companies have already hit the target.

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