wildlife

Goat vs gecko: A tiny Caribbean island faces wildlife showdown

BY AMANDINE ASCENSIO

  • Several endemic species are particularly at risk, including the Terre-de-Haut racer snake, the Guadeloupe skink and a tiny brightly coloured gecko called Les Saintes Sphaerodactylus.
  • The tiny Caribbean island of Terre-de-Haut boasts pristine turquoise waters and deserted coves.
  • Several endemic species are particularly at risk, including the Terre-de-Haut racer snake, the Guadeloupe skink and a tiny brightly coloured gecko called Les Saintes Sphaerodactylus.
The tiny Caribbean island of Terre-de-Haut boasts pristine turquoise waters and deserted coves. It also has goats, hundreds of them.
There are as many goats as humans on the island and, while they charm the tourists as they roam on the beaches and graze in the gardens, there is a darker side to this uncontrolled feral herd.
They ravage protected areas, munch through vegetation and destroy the habitats of other animals -- some of which are endangered and endemic to Terre-de-Haut and other islands in Les Saintes archipelago.
Officials on the island chain, which is part of the French overseas territory of Guadeloupe, are now considering drastic action.
The animals could be shunted into designated grazing areas then, after health checks are carried out, they could be used for meat.
Marie Robert of the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), a government body, told AFP the situation was alarming.
"On Terre-de-Haut alone, the herd is estimated at least one goat per inhabitant, or about 1,500," she said.
"They overconsume native plants, leaving all the space to more resilient invasive exotic species."

Species at risk

At Le Chameau, the highest point on Terre-de-Haut, the vegetation is devastated -- trees stripped bare and branches gnawed away.
Robert said the destruction wrought by the goats raised the risk of landslides and threatened animal biodiversity.
Several endemic species are particularly at risk, including the Terre-de-Haut racer snake, the Guadeloupe skink and a tiny brightly coloured gecko called Les Saintes Sphaerodactylus.
It's feared that these species, already weakened by rats and stray dogs and cats, could disappear entirely.
The OFB is tapping the EU's fund for environmental projects, the LIFE programme, to help.
It has an estimated budget of 10 million euros to protect reptiles in Guadeloupe and the nearby islands of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy, which face similar pressures.
"It involves eradicating species like rats, but also bringing goats under control," said Philippe De Proft, a coastal warden in Les Saintes for nearly 20 years.

A new scourge?

The goats were brought over by humans and were used for many years as the only local source of meat.
But tourism has long since displaced livestock farming as a way of life.
The goats, however, have not stopped reproducing -- a female can give birth to two or three kids several times a year.
The authorities are looking to Saint-Barthelemy for inspiration.
Goats are already being captured there and confined to grazing areas.
Officials have given an exemption from the usual rules to allow the animals to be used for meat.
"Even wild adults can be put to good use," explained Rudi Laplace, whose Island Nature Experience group organised the capture on Saint-Barthelemy.
Officials on Les Saintes are keen to follow the example, and they cannot act quickly enough as a new scourge could be on the way.
Sheep abandoned by a farmer are beginning to proliferate -- from a single pair, the flock has now grown to 25 animals.
asa/jxb/ekf/giv

US

Top WTO official sounds fertiliser warning over Middle East war

BY AGNèS PEDRERO

  • "But with the risks linked to the war in the Middle East, there is once again a risk of falling off track," Paugam warned. apo/ag/pdw/giv/lb
  • Disruptions to fertiliser supplies caused by the Middle East war pose a double threat to global food security through scarcity and high prices, a top World Trade Organization official has warned.
  • "But with the risks linked to the war in the Middle East, there is once again a risk of falling off track," Paugam warned. apo/ag/pdw/giv/lb
Disruptions to fertiliser supplies caused by the Middle East war pose a double threat to global food security through scarcity and high prices, a top World Trade Organization official has warned.
Iran has virtually shut the Strait of Hormuz, choking a vital transit route for oil and gas -- as well as fertilisers.
A third of the world's fertilisers normally transit the strait, and the disruption has prompted multiple warnings about the impact on food production.
"Fertilisers are the number one issue of concern today. If there is no more fertiliser, there is an impact on quantities but also on prices," WTO Deputy Director-General Jean-Marie Paugam told AFP in an interview in Yaounde.
"The effect compounds the following year: harvests shrink and prices rise." 
The Gulf's ample supplies of natural gas, a key ingredient in artificial fertilisers, have made the region a major manufacturer.
But production has been severely impeded by the war, with some major facilities forced to shut down.
Major food exporters such as India, Thailand and Brazil depend on the Gulf for urea, a nitrogen-based fertiliser, making them vulnerable.
Because the war is only a few weeks old, there is currently no fertiliser shortage, Paugam said. 
"But if fertilisers from the Gulf do not circulate, we will feel a direct impact on supplies to major producer countries just as planting seasons begin for the crops that will be harvested next year," he said.
"If the Strait of Hormuz is blocked for three months, the impact will be significant."

Risk of stockpiling

Net food-importing countries would be in a very bad position, including "a large part of west Africa and north Africa", Paugam noted.
This effect can be amplified if countries start stockpiling, as happened during disruptions to international trade at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid set back the fight against hunger worldwide. Since then, the world returned to its trajectory towards eliminating hunger by 2030, one of the goals adopted by UN member states in 2015. 
"But with the risks linked to the war in the Middle East, there is once again a risk of falling off track," Paugam warned.
apo/ag/pdw/giv/lb

manufacturing

Dirty diapers born again in Japan recycling breakthrough

BY HIROSHI HIYAMA

  • In 2024, Japan produced 9.6 billion adult diapers and incontinence pads, compared to eight billion for babies, according to the Japan Hygiene Products Industry Association.
  • Billions of dirty diapers end up buried or burned every year in Japan  -- more from seniors than babies -- but a recycling breakthrough has given them a new lease of life, one hot mess at a time.
  • In 2024, Japan produced 9.6 billion adult diapers and incontinence pads, compared to eight billion for babies, according to the Japan Hygiene Products Industry Association.
Billions of dirty diapers end up buried or burned every year in Japan  -- more from seniors than babies -- but a recycling breakthrough has given them a new lease of life, one hot mess at a time.
A pilot project, billed as a world first, reuses the main ingredient in nappies to make new ones, offering hopes to ease bloated landfill sites and respond to a growing need for adult diapers in ageing Japan.
"Demand for baby diapers is falling. But a growing number of elderly people wear diapers, and more recently, even pets do too," Takahisa Takahara, president of Japanese hygiene product maker Unicharm, the firm behind the new initiative, told AFP.
"If we can transform the sense of guilt ordinary consumers may feel about using disposable products into something positive, and make using recycled products the norm in society, it will become economically viable," he said.
Unicharm is testing the scheme in two pioneering southern Japanese municipalities, Shibushi and Osaki, which recycle 80 percent of household waste -- four times the Japanese average.
The two localities, home to about 40,000 people, decided to take radical action around 25 years ago after predictions that their communal rubbish dump would be full by 2004.
Now, the landfill site will stay open for another four decades.
In 2024, diapers were included in the recycling drive, with residents required to write their names on designated bin bags.
"Ultimately, our top priority is to reduce our trash and extend the life of the landfill," Shibushi environment official Kenichi Matsunaga told AFP.

Nappy ending

The collected diapers are shredded, washed and separated into pulp, plastic and super-absorbent polymer (SAP).
Unicharm has been able to recycle these materials into products with less rigorous sanitary requirements, like toilet paper.
It has also achieved the breakthrough of managing to use the pulp, which makes up the bulk of a diaper, to make new ones.
The process follows a special ozone treatment for sterilisation, bleaching and deodorisation.
By 2028, Unicharm aims to recycle the plastic and absorbent polymer from soiled diapers to make new ones as well, Tsutomu Kido, senior executive officer of Unicharm's recycling business, told AFP.
For now, its recycled products are on sale only in some local stores, priced around 10 percent higher than those with fresh raw materials, or distributed to selected childcare and senior care centres.
The company is also testing a method to cut the amount of water in the recycling process, and aims to team up with 20 municipalities by 2035 to recycle their diapers.  

Ageing nation

Japan has a poor recycling rate, reusing not even 20 percent of municipal waste, according to the National Institute for Environmental Studies.
That compares to 67 percent in Germany, 44 percent in Britain and around 32 percent in the United States.
Waste per capita, however, is less than two-thirds the OECD average -- a typical American throws almost three times more.
Japan does relatively well on generating electricity by incinerating trash, too.
In the ageing nation, home to almost 100,000 people over 100, diapers and related products are used more by seniors than babies.
In 2024, Japan produced 9.6 billion adult diapers and incontinence pads, compared to eight billion for babies, according to the Japan Hygiene Products Industry Association.
The group predicts Japan will throw away 2.6 million tons of dirty diapers every year by 2030, up from around 2.2 tons in 2020.
By that date, the share of dirty diapers in Japanese trash by weight will rise to 7.1 percent from 5.2 percent in 2020, the environment ministry said.
By 2030, the national government wants at least 100 of more than 1,700 municipalities to start recycling diapers, or at least talk about it.
hih/stu/cms/lb

emergency

'Hero' Australian dog who saved 100 koalas retires

  • Bear's skills saved over 100 koalas as the Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke. 
  • An Australian dog credited with saving over 100 koalas from bushfires is retiring after a decade of service.
  • Bear's skills saved over 100 koalas as the Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke. 
An Australian dog credited with saving over 100 koalas from bushfires is retiring after a decade of service.
Bear, an 11-year-old Australian Koolie, was one of the first dogs in the country to be trained on the scent of koala fur.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare called using dogs to detect koalas a "novel" approach.
"No one knew if it could be done," IFAW head of programmes Josey Sharrad wrote in a statement about Bear on Monday.
As a pup, the four-legged hero's boundless energy made it tough to stay indoors, but he found his true potential in the bush.
"He literally went from chewing the walls of a Gold Coast apartment to roaming through the Aussie bush on a mission to save our most iconic species," Sharrad said.
Bear's skills saved over 100 koalas as the Black Summer bushfires raged across Australia's eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke. 
The tail-wagging detective with a "joyful and goofy" personality retires with an extensivelist of accolades -- including an Animal of the Year award and Puppy Tales Photos Australian Dog of the Year award.
He also features in a "dogumentary" called "Bear: Koala Hero", and in a book, "Bear to the Rescue".
Bear will embark on a slower-paced chapter on the Sunshine Coast with one of his former handlers, getting belly rubs and playing his favourite game, fetch.
One of his former handlers, Romane Cristescu, said Bear had been a "tireless ambassador for koalas for a decade". 
"He melted hearts all around the world, and opened many doors so we could have critical and difficult conversations about climate change and its impacts on the threatened koalas, as well as so many other species."
sp/oho/lb

France

600-year-old pinot noir grape found in medieval French toilet

BY BéNéDICTE SALVETAT REY

  • "She could have eaten the same grapes as us," the paleogeneticist at the University of Toulouse told AFP. The seed was found in a toilet in a 15th-century hospital in Valenciennes in northern France.
  • A 600-year-old grape seed discovered in the toilets of a medieval French hospital is genetically identical to the grapes still being used to make pinot noir wine, scientists said Tuesday.
  • "She could have eaten the same grapes as us," the paleogeneticist at the University of Toulouse told AFP. The seed was found in a toilet in a 15th-century hospital in Valenciennes in northern France.
A 600-year-old grape seed discovered in the toilets of a medieval French hospital is genetically identical to the grapes still being used to make pinot noir wine, scientists said Tuesday.
The seed reveals that people in France have been cultivating this immensely popular variety of grape since at least the 1400s, the scientists said in a new study.
It is not possible to say whether the fruit was "eaten like table grapes or whether people made wine from it at the time", study co-author Laurent Bouby told AFP.
But the research provides a link between modern France -- one of the world's largest wine-producing and -consuming countries -- and its distant wine-loving past.
Another study co-author, Ludovic Orlando, pointed out that the Hundred Years' War between England and France finally wrapped up in the mid-1400s.
And the brief life of France's patron saint, Joan of Arc, was also in the 15th century.
"She could have eaten the same grapes as us," the paleogeneticist at the University of Toulouse told AFP.
The seed was found in a toilet in a 15th-century hospital in Valenciennes in northern France. At the time, toilets were sometimes used as rubbish bins, the researchers explained.
The study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, involved sequencing the genome of 54 grape seeds dating from the Bronze Age -- from around 2,300 BC -- to the Middle Ages.
It confirms that generations of winegrowers had been using what are today called "clonal propagation" techniques, such as preserving cuttings of particular grape varieties for 600 years, the researchers said.
Ancient texts had offered indications this was happening, "but outside of paleogenomics, it is very difficult to characterise this technique", said Bouby of the Institute of Evolutionary Science of Montpellier.
But the new research found evidence this technique was being used in many areas as far back as the Iron Age, around 625–500 BC.

Aged like fine wine

The oldest grapes analysed in the study were from wild vines in the French region of Nimes dated to around 2,000 BC.
Domesticated vines then started to appear between 625 and 500 BC in France's southern Var region.
This lines up with when colonising Greeks were believed to have introduced viticulture -- cultivating grapevines -- to France, after founding the city of Marseille.
Orlando said it was already known that wine was traded at the time by the Greeks and the Etruscans, because of wine jugs called amphora that lasted through the centuries.
But the DNA of the grape seeds, particularly those from the ancient Roman period, revealed long-distance exchanges of domesticated grape varieties from places including Spain, the Balkans, the Caucasus and the Middle East.
It also showed there was plenty of genetic mixing of domesticated grape varieties and local wild vines during the Roman period, particularly in northern France.
In the future, "it would be very interesting to work closely with historians who have access to texts describing certain winegrowing techniques" to find out more, Orlando said.
Pinot noir, which is often associated with France's Burgundy region, is the fourth most widely grown grape in the world, according to the study.
ber-dl/rmb

rescue

Outlook worsens for whale stranded on German coast

  • It is possible that the stranded animal is the same whale that became entangled in a fishing net further east along Germany's Baltic Sea coast earlier this month. 
  • The health of a humpback whale stranded on Germany's Baltic Sea coast is deteriorating, conservationists said Tuesday, as efforts to free the animal continued.
  • It is possible that the stranded animal is the same whale that became entangled in a fishing net further east along Germany's Baltic Sea coast earlier this month. 
The health of a humpback whale stranded on Germany's Baltic Sea coast is deteriorating, conservationists said Tuesday, as efforts to free the animal continued.
The 10-metre (33-foot) long whale was first spotted stuck in shallow water close to Niendorf near the city of Luebeck early on Monday.
Rescuers have been trying since to get it back into deeper water, so far without success.
Carsten Manheimer of the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd told AFP that the whale had developed a skin condition resembling barnacles due to the water's low salinity.
"It is impossible to pull the whale out to sea," Manheimer said, adding that the animal was weak and that such an operation may do more harm than good.
On Monday, boats were used to generate waves in an effort to help the whale return to deeper water, without success.
However, rescuers did manage to partially free the whale from the netting that had become wrapped around its body.
Police said they had erected fencing on the beach to ensure the whale is not disturbed by onlookers.
Further discussions about possible rescue options for the animal were expected for Tuesday. 
Manheimer said his group was "on standby in case the experts still see a way" to help the whale.
It is possible that the stranded animal is the same whale that became entangled in a fishing net further east along Germany's Baltic Sea coast earlier this month. 
A week before that, a whale had likewise been sighted in the Baltic port of Wismar.
wik-jsk/fz/rmb

US

Back to black: facing energy shock, Asia turns to coal

BY SARA HUSSEIN

  • - Higher prices - Compounding the problem, most Asian countries do not have underground gas storage, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, leaving them especially vulnerable to price spikes.
  • Asian countries are ramping up use of polluting coal to tackle energy shortages and price spikes linked to the Iran war, but the crisis could have an environmental silver lining.
  • - Higher prices - Compounding the problem, most Asian countries do not have underground gas storage, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, leaving them especially vulnerable to price spikes.
Asian countries are ramping up use of polluting coal to tackle energy shortages and price spikes linked to the Iran war, but the crisis could have an environmental silver lining.
While leaning on the fossil fuel will raise emissions in the near term, the energy crisis is demonstrating the risks of energy import dependence, and could push policymakers to embrace renewables faster, analysts told AFP.
"The ongoing Iran oil and gas crisis shows the importance of having domestic energy sources that are not exposed to the global commodity market, which coal is," said Amy Kong, research analyst at Zero Carbon Analytics.
"Countries like Vietnam who have rapidly increased their share of solar generation, have a stronger buffer against rising energy import prices," Kong said.
Much of Asia is heavily exposed to the energy crisis that has unfolded since the US-Israel attack on Iran began last month.
More than 80 percent of the crude oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) that passes through the Strait of Hormuz heads to Asia, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh are all major importers of LNG from Qatar, which said last week that its export capacity had been slashed by 17 percent because of Iranian attacks.
It warned it would be forced to declare force majeure for up to five years on some long-term LNG contracts, signalling it may be unable to fulfill the agreements.

Higher prices

Compounding the problem, most Asian countries do not have underground gas storage, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, leaving them especially vulnerable to price spikes.
As a result, many nations are bumping up use of coal, which can be sourced regionally or even domestically, to prevent power outages and protect citizens from severe price shocks.
While it cannot be substituted directly in LNG plants, countries can run existing coal power plants at a higher capacity or bring idle units back online.
The shift has come in wealthy and developing economies alike.
In South Korea, a cap on how much power can be generated from coal has been lifted, while Thailand is preparing to resume operations at two coal power units decommissioned last year.
In India, already highly dependent on coal for electricity generation, the fuel is now being substituted for cooking gas. 
And in the Philippines, energy secretary Sharon Garin told AFP authorities "plan to ramp up cheaper coal, (domestic) natural gas, and renewables".
The increase in demand has pushed coal prices higher and even sparked talk of a windfall tax in coal-producing Indonesia, which reversed a decision taken last year to reduce production.
The shift is bad news for the environment in the short term. Coal is a top contributor to planet-warming greenhouse gases, and also a powerful air pollutant that is harmful for human health.

'Transition fuel'

The shift will "impose substantial environmental and public health costs," said Dinita Setyawati, senior energy analyst for Asia at think tank Ember.
Asia's vulnerability is due in part to its heavy reliance on LNG, often promoted as a "transition fuel" -- a less polluting option than coal that can "bridge the gap" as countries move towards renewable energy.
Upfront costs for LNG plants can be lower than for renewables that may require grid upgrades.
But renewables are now cheaper in the long run, and the current crisis is illustrating their benefits in terms of stable supply, said Putra Adhiguna, managing director at Energy Shift Institute, an energy finance think tank.
"The story of gas as a stable transition fuel is highly in question," he said.
And while temporary increases in coal capacity are an attractive stopgap, the banking sector is reluctant to finance construction of new coal projects, concerned about stranded assets as nations are forced to phase down fossil fuels to meet their climate obligations.
That could help refocus policymakers' attention on the benefits of renewables, said Adhiguna.
"I think we already see a bit of that coming from Southeast Asian countries," he said.
"There have been all these debates about how we can't afford to spend the money (on renewables) upfront, but I think this security of supply issue is going to override that."
sah/dan

cruelty

Eight people arrested in Brazil for 'brutal' attack on capybara

  • In recent years the semi-aquatic capybara -- native to South America -- has gained a devoted following online, and its image is increasingly used on toys, clothing and home decor items.
  • Rio de Janeiro police said Monday they had arrested eight people for brutally beating a capybara -- the world's largest rodent whose chill demeanor has inspired countless memes online in recent years.
  • In recent years the semi-aquatic capybara -- native to South America -- has gained a devoted following online, and its image is increasingly used on toys, clothing and home decor items.
Rio de Janeiro police said Monday they had arrested eight people for brutally beating a capybara -- the world's largest rodent whose chill demeanor has inspired countless memes online in recent years.
Resembling a giant, gentle guinea pig, the shaggy, light brown capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) is often seen roaming in the Brazilian city, particularly near streams and lagoons.
In an incident filmed by security cameras before dawn on Saturday, a group of attackers beat the capybara with sticks and iron bars in the working-class neighborhood of Ilha do Governador.
"This is a brutal crime that shocks society," said Felipe Santoro, the police commissioner in charge of the investigation, was quoted as saying by the O Globo daily newspaper. 
"It is an act of extreme cruelty toward a creature that posed absolutely no threat...yet was deliberately attacked nonetheless," he added.
The attackers -- including two minors -- were identified through CCTV footage and arrested on Saturday, police said in a statement.
The capybara, a 65-kilogram (143-pound) male, was taken to the Wildlife Care Center (CRAS) at the private Estacio University in southwestern Rio.
"We have been treating Rio's wildlife here for 22 years, and I have never before received a capybara subjected to such extreme aggression," veterinarian and head of CRAS Jeferson Pires told AFP on Monday. 
He said the creature was doing better, but was "suffering from head trauma, swelling with internal bleeding around his left eye, and multiple injuries to his back."
In recent years the semi-aquatic capybara -- native to South America -- has gained a devoted following online, and its image is increasingly used on toys, clothing and home decor items.
It is often used in posts about being zen and going with the flow.
One popular meme is "Comrade Capybara" -- depicting the animal as a communist revolutionary -- inspired by the 2021 "invasion" by capybaras of a luxury gated estate in Argentina that was built on a wetland that had been their natural habitat.
In early January, the death of a stray dog after it was beaten to death by teenagers sparked a massive wave of outrage in Brazil, even prompting a reaction from First Lady Rosangela "Janja" da Silva.
lg/fb/jgc

environment

Trump administration seeks to ease oil fears but industry wary

BY NINA ISENI WITH BEIYI SEOW AND ASAD HASHIM IN WASHINGTON

  • His comments came as energy industry leaders converge in Texas this week under the cloud of oil and gas supply disruptions from the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February.
  • A top US official in President Donald Trump's government sought to reassure fears about the oil market Monday as war raged on in the Middle East, but industry leaders remain wary.
  • His comments came as energy industry leaders converge in Texas this week under the cloud of oil and gas supply disruptions from the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February.
A top US official in President Donald Trump's government sought to reassure fears about the oil market Monday as war raged on in the Middle East, but industry leaders remain wary.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston that disruption to global energy flows is "temporary," as costs surged after US-Israeli strikes on Iran prompted Tehran's retaliation that virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz.
Wright said Washington has adopted "pragmatic solutions" such as by helping oil flow to Asian refineries. The United States also started releasing oil from its strategic reserves on Friday.
"But these are mitigants of a situation that's temporary," he stressed to a packed ballroom.
His comments came as energy industry leaders converge in Texas this week under the cloud of oil and gas supply disruptions from the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran in late February.
More than 10,000 attendees are expected for CERAWeek, the spring gathering that has taken on unexpected importance as fuel prices rocketed after the war began.
Wright said the United States would be able to release up to 1.5 million barrels of oil a day, and this could get close to three million barrels.
Attacks on critical energy facilities in Iran, Qatar and other Gulf countries have exacerbated global supply problems.
Oil prices tumbled Monday as Trump ordered a halt on strikes targeting Iranian infrastructure following "very good" talks. But Tehran denied that negotiations were underway.
Wright told CNBC on Monday that even though the world is undergoing a "short-term period of disruption" now, "the long-term benefits will be enormous."

'Economic terrorism'

Separately, the chief of UAE state energy company ADNOC slammed Tehran's actions to effectively block the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global energy supplies.
"Weaponizing the Strait of Hormuz is not an act of aggression against one nation," Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said in virtual remarks to the conference.
"It's economic terrorism against every nation. And no country should be allowed to hold Hormuz hostage," he added.
TotalEnergies chief Patrick Pouyanne expects "very high" liquefied natural gas prices by the summer, when gas storage in Europe is being refilled, if the strait is not reopened.
US energy giant Chevron's chief executive Mike Wirth warned that oil prices have yet to fully factor in fallout from the blockade.
"In particular, Asia is facing some real concerns about supply," he said, citing government measures to conserve stocks.
Even after the war ends, it will take time to rebuild inventories, he added.

Wind power projects

Outside the conference venue, dozens of demonstrators pushed back on fossil fuel reliance.
Chloe Torres of the Texas Campaign for the Environment said her community in Corpus Christi has been hit by "hyper-industrialization" from the fossil fuel and petrochemical industry. 
"We are rapidly running out of water," she said, adding that industrial demand has strained resources.
At the event, the Trump administration reached a deal with French energy giant TotalEnergies in which it would pay almost $1 billion to end its US offshore wind farm projects, the Interior Department said.
The $928 million reimbursement, which was what TotalEnergies paid for project leases, would instead be invested in US oil and gas projects.
"We're partnering with TotalEnergies to unleash nearly $1 billion" tied up in lease deposits, said Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.
The weeklong conference gathers experts from industry, finance, government and academia to discuss energy and other topics including trade and artificial intelligence.
Besides the war, much of the attention this year again centers on the profound reorientation of US energy and environmental policy under Trump.
This year's conference also features a plenary event with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado, who is due to speak Tuesday.
bur-mav-bys/jgc

energy

US, TotalEnergies reach 'nearly $1 bn' deal to end offshore wind projects

  • In Houston on Monday, TotalEnergies CEO Pouyanne said offshore wind was "not the most affordable way to produce electricity" in the United States, which he identified as being natural gas-fired power plants.
  • The United States and TotalEnergies on Monday signed an agreement to end the French company's offshore US wind farm projects and redirect those funds towards fossil fuel production, with the US interior secretary saying the deal was worth "nearly $1 billion."
  • In Houston on Monday, TotalEnergies CEO Pouyanne said offshore wind was "not the most affordable way to produce electricity" in the United States, which he identified as being natural gas-fired power plants.
The United States and TotalEnergies on Monday signed an agreement to end the French company's offshore US wind farm projects and redirect those funds towards fossil fuel production, with the US interior secretary saying the deal was worth "nearly $1 billion."
US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum made the announcement at the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston, at an event where he appeared alongside TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne, after which both men signed the agreement.
"We're partnering with TotalEnergies to unleash nearly $1 billion that was tied up in a lease deposit that was directed towards the prior administration's subsidies that were pushing expensive weather-dependent offshore wind," said Burgum.
Pouyanne welcomed the deal, saying it redirected TotalEnergies's $928 million investment in two wind farm leases off the North Carolina and New York coasts into US natural gas projects, in particular the Rio Grande LNG plant.
French giant TotalEnergies had four gigawatts (GW) of offshore projects under development, including 3 GW for the New York Bight project and 1 GW in North Carolina.
But at the end of 2024, Pouyanne announced that they were "put on hold" due to the unlikelihood of obtaining federal licenses from the Trump administration.
Under former president Joe Biden, the United States had accelerated progress on wind farm construction as part of its fight against climate change.
US President Donald Trump, however, has reversed course on many of Biden's climate policies, taking particular aim at wind power.
Trump has long complained about the aesthetics of wind farms, and says they produce expensive electricity.
In December, the Trump administration put five wind power projects on hold, citing "national security" risks. 
That order was then nullified by rulings at several US federal courts, allowing work to resume.
In Houston on Monday, TotalEnergies CEO Pouyanne said offshore wind was "not the most affordable way to produce electricity" in the United States, which he identified as being natural gas-fired power plants.
"We could recycle all this money we are dedicating into, I would say US energy policy, and, for us, in I would say smarter investment. So it was a win-win dialog," he said.
According to a TotalEnergies statement, the company has also signed a letter of intent with Glenfarne, the lead developer of the Alaska LNG project, for the longterm offtake of 2 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) over 20 years.
aha-ni-nal/mjf

climate

German court rejects landmark climate case against BMW, Mercedes

BY SARAH MARIA BRECH WITH SAM REEVES IN FRANKFURT

  • DUH executive director Barbara Metz said the decision did not "absolve Mercedes-Benz and BMW of their responsibility for the climate crisis, which stems from their sale of millions of internal combustion engine vehicles in order to maximise profits".
  • A German top court on Monday rejected a landmark climate case brought by environmentalists that had aimed to force auto giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz to stop selling combustion-engine cars from 2030.
  • DUH executive director Barbara Metz said the decision did not "absolve Mercedes-Benz and BMW of their responsibility for the climate crisis, which stems from their sale of millions of internal combustion engine vehicles in order to maximise profits".
A German top court on Monday rejected a landmark climate case brought by environmentalists that had aimed to force auto giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz to stop selling combustion-engine cars from 2030.
The case at the Federal Court of Justice was brought by campaigners of the group Environmental Action Germany (DUH), and marked the latest example of activists turning to the judiciary to enforce climate action.
The plaintiffs built their case on a landmark 2021 ruling by Germany's Constitutional Court that the state has a duty to protect future generations from the effects of climate change and sought to apply the principle to companies.
But handing down its ruling, Germany's highest court for civil and criminal matters rejected DUH's arguments. It found that citizens' personal rights were "not affected... by the business activities of the defendant," in a decision that upheld rulings by lower courts.
"Private individuals cannot demand that automobile manufacturers refrain from placing passenger cars with internal combustion engines on the market" ahead of European Union deadlines, it said.
The DUH case demanded a 2030 phase-out of fossil fuel-powered cars -- five years earlier than the target year in a European Union plan that was last year watered down after intense lobbying by automakers.
DUH executive director Barbara Metz said the decision did not "absolve Mercedes-Benz and BMW of their responsibility for the climate crisis, which stems from their sale of millions of internal combustion engine vehicles in order to maximise profits".
But she said the court had made it clear that responsibility for action lies with the federal government, and called on Chancellor Friedrich Merz to step up action to protect the climate.
The DUH said it was also considering whether to file an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Activists turning to courts

Mercedes welcomed the ruling for providing "a clarification of our democratic system".
"Setting legal requirements for climate targets is the responsibility of the legislature, not the judiciary," said the group in a statement, adding that climate protection remained a key consideration.
BMW added that the decision contributed to "legal certainty for companies operating in Germany". 
"Throughout the proceedings, we have consistently maintained the position that the debate over how to achieve climate targets must take place within the political process through democratically elected parliaments," the group added in a statement. 
The legal action is part of a wider trend of climate activists turning to courts.
Campaigners celebrated last May after a regional court in northern Germany ruled that companies could in principle be sued over the consequences of their emissions.
However, the court did not award damages to a Peruvian farmer, Saul Luciano Lliuya, who had brought the case against utility firm RWE.
The case against the carmakers was passed up to the Federal Court of Justice on appeal after lower courts in Stuttgart and Munich ruled in favour of the firms, finding they had complied with relevant regulations.
German carmakers have invested billions in the transition to electric and hybrid vehicles in a bid to meet EU climate targets.
But progress has been slowed by lower than anticipated demand, with many consumers put off by higher upfront costs and still patchy charging infrastructure.
burs-sr/fz/gv

meteorology

Planet trapped record heat in 2025: UN

BY ALEXANDRE GROSBOIS

  • "Ocean heat content reached a new record high in 2025 and its rate of warming more than doubled from 1960-2005 to 2005-2025," the WMO said.
  • The amount of heat trapped by the Earth reached record levels in 2025, with the consequences of such warming feared to last for thousands of years, the UN warned Monday.
  • "Ocean heat content reached a new record high in 2025 and its rate of warming more than doubled from 1960-2005 to 2005-2025," the WMO said.
The amount of heat trapped by the Earth reached record levels in 2025, with the consequences of such warming feared to last for thousands of years, the UN warned Monday.
The 11 hottest years ever recorded were all between 2015 and 2025, the United Nations' WMO weather and climate agency confirmed in its flagship State of the Global Climate annual report.
Last year was the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 Celsius above the 1850-1900 average, the World Meteorological Organization said.
"The global climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"Humanity has just endured the 11 hottest years on record. When history repeats itself 11 times, it is no longer a coincidence. It is a call to act."
For the first time, the WMO climate report includes the planet's energy imbalance: the rate at which energy enters and leaves the Earth system.
Under a stable climate, incoming energy from the Sun is about the same as the amount of outgoing energy, the Geneva-based agency said.
However the increase in concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases -- carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide -- "to their highest level in at least 800,000 years" has "upset this equilibrium", the WMO said.
"The Earth’s energy imbalance has increased since its observational record began in 1960, particularly in the past 20 years. It reached a new high in 2025."

Ocean heat record

WMO chief Celeste Saulo said scientific advances had improved understanding of the energy imbalance and its implications for the climate.
"Human activities are increasingly disrupting the natural equilibrium and we will live with these consequences for hundreds and thousands of years," she said.
More than 91 percent of the excess heat is stored in the ocean.
"Ocean heat content reached a new record high in 2025 and its rate of warming more than doubled from 1960-2005 to 2005-2025," the WMO said.
Ocean warming has far-reaching consequences, such as degradation of marine ecosystems, biodiversity loss and reduction of the ocean carbon sink, the agency said.
"It fuels tropical and subtropical storms and exacerbates ongoing sea-ice loss in the polar regions."
The Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have both lost considerable mass, and the annual average extent of Arctic sea ice in 2025 was the lowest or second-lowest ever recorded in the satellite era.
Last year, the global mean sea level was around 11 centimetres higher than when satellite altimetry records began in 1993. 
Ocean warming and sea level rise are projected to continue for centuries.

'Dire picture'

WMO scientific officer John Kennedy said global weather is still under the influence of La Nina, a naturally occurring climate phenomenon that cools surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. It brings changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns.
Conditions oscillate between La Nina and its warming opposite El Nino, with neutral conditions in between.
The warmest year on record, 2024, was around 1.55C above the 1850-1900 average, and started in a strong El Nino.
Forecasts indicate neutral conditions by the middle of 2026 with a possible El Nino developing before the end of the year, said Kennedy.
If so, "then we're likely to see maybe elevated temperatures again in 2027", he told a press conference.
The World Meteorological Organization's deputy chief, Ko Barrett, said the outlook was a "dire picture".
She said the WMO provided the evidence it sees, hoping that the information "will encourage people to take action".
But there was "no denying" that "these indicators are not moving in a direction that provides for a lot of hope", she said.
With war gripping the Middle East and fuel prices soaring, Guterres said the world should heed the alarm call.
"In this age of war, climate stress is also exposing another truth: our addiction to fossil fuels is destabilising both the climate and global security," he said.
"Today's report should come with a warning label: climate chaos is accelerating and delay is deadly," he said.
ag-rjm/rmb

climate

German court to rule in climate case against automakers

BY SARAH MARIA BRECH WITH LOUIS VAN BOXEL-WOOLF IN FRANKFURT

  • The case builds on a landmark 2021 ruling by Germany's Constitutional Court that the state has a duty to protect future generations from the effects of climate change and seeks to apply the principle to companies.
  • Germany's Federal Court of Justice is due to rule on Monday in a landmark climate case brought by environmentalists against auto giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
  • The case builds on a landmark 2021 ruling by Germany's Constitutional Court that the state has a duty to protect future generations from the effects of climate change and seeks to apply the principle to companies.
Germany's Federal Court of Justice is due to rule on Monday in a landmark climate case brought by environmentalists against auto giants BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Campaigners of the group Environmental Action Germany (DUH) argue that the car manufacturers should be forced to stop selling combustion engine cars after 2030.
The case builds on a landmark 2021 ruling by Germany's Constitutional Court that the state has a duty to protect future generations from the effects of climate change and seeks to apply the principle to companies.
The European Union had originally planned to phase out fossil-fuel-powered cars by 2035, but weakened those rules late last year following intense lobbying by automakers to allow some sales to continue. 
DUH campaigners Barbara Metz, Sascha Mueller-Kraenner and Juergen Resch argue that continued combustion-engine car sales after 2030 would be a violation of the German Basic Law or constitution.
"Corporations must operate their business models in a way that is compatible with a future worth living for all people," Resch said last year.
"We have the Constitutional Court's 2021 ruling on climate protection which specifically states that failing to take sufficient action to protect the climate is a violation of fundamental rights," the plaintiffs' lawyer, Remo Klinger, told AFP.
"This is the first time this kind of argument has come before the Federal Court of Justice."

'Legislature, not courts'

A key question in the case is whether the auto giants could be forced to stop selling polluting cars without the government directly legislating on the issue.
In a statement, BMW told AFP that "the debate over how to achieve climate targets must take place within the political process through democratically elected parliaments".
Mercedes-Benz agreed, maintaining that "the legislature, not the courts" should decide specific climate targets.
The legal action is part of a wider trend of activists turning to the judiciary to enforce climate action.
Campaigners celebrated last May after a regional court in northern Germany ruled that companies could in principle be sued over the consequences of their emissions.
However, the court did not award damages to a Peruvian farmer, Saul Luciano Lliuya, who had brought the case against utility firm RWE.
The case against the carmakers was passed up to the Federal Court of Justice on appeal after lower courts in Stuttgart and Munich ruled in favour of the firms, finding they had complied with relevant regulations.
German carmakers have invested billions in the transition to electric and hybrid vehicles in a bid to meet EU climate targets.
But progress has been slowed by lower than anticipated demand, with many consumers put off by higher upfront costs and still patchy charging infrastructure.
Speaking earlier this month, Barbara Metz said the plaintiffs would consider an appeal to the Constitutional Court if Monday's judgement went against them.
vbw-fec/fz/rl/lga

Global Edition

Torrential rains in Kenya kill 81 in March: officials

  • The capital Nairobi has the highest death toll in the floods, with 37 people killed, authorities said.
  • Torrential storms that have triggered flash floods in Kenya have killed at least 81 people this month, authorities said Sunday, as rain continued to pound much of the country.
  • The capital Nairobi has the highest death toll in the floods, with 37 people killed, authorities said.
Torrential storms that have triggered flash floods in Kenya have killed at least 81 people this month, authorities said Sunday, as rain continued to pound much of the country.
In the country's hard-hit west, residents waded through flood waters with their belongings on their heads and evacuated in crowded boats, AFP reporters saw.
Flash floods submerged entire villages in Kisumu county, destroying around 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of farmland and sweeping away crops.
More than 3,000 families have been forced from their homes in the community of Nyakach, with some sheltering in eight evacuation centres, locals said, as rising waters from the overflowing River Mirui continue to threaten the community.
"We have lost quite a number of farmlands with massive erosion, and the farm plants that we had planted ," said the chief of Nyakach, Seth Oluoch Agwanda, 57.
The capital Nairobi has the highest death toll in the floods, with 37 people killed, authorities said.
"The cumulative number of fatalities has unfortunately risen to 81," national police spokesman Muchiri Nyaga said in a statement.
"Additionally, flash floods have swept through several areas, displacing approximately 2,690 families and causing widespread destruction of infrastructure and property."
On Friday night, authorities called on residents to evacuate several slum neighbourhoods downstream from the Nairobi dam, warning of an imminent risk of flooding as rising water levels threatened to breach the dam embankment, according to local media.
The dam has held so far.

'No house not flooded'

The rain is forecast to continue until Tuesday.
Authorities called for "extreme caution".
Two people drowned overnight in floods in the town of Kiambu, just outside the capital, police told AFP.
Two also died as landslides hit the western village of Kasaka, burying numerous homes, reported private broadcaster Citizen TV.
The March rains have repeatedly turned Nairobi streets to raging rivers, flooding thousands of homes and businesses.
Critics have called for the resignation of Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja, who had vowed to improve the capital's drainage and road infrastructure when he took office in 2022.
In Nyakach, in the west, children walked through knee-high water and residents scooped water from inundated houses -- though some were submerged up to the roof.
""We are migrating because the place where we were staying is badly flooded. We still don’t know where we are going to get shelter with our animals because there is no house or home that is not flooded," Kennedy Oguta, 50, told AFP.
Scientists say human-caused climate change is increasing the probability, length and severity of extreme weather events.
Studies indicate east Africa has been hit by more extreme rains and droughts over the past two decades.
jcp/jhb/pdw

animal

A herd stop: Train kills 3 rare bison in Poland

  • "They are sometimes hit by trains, but these are usually isolated incidents," Professor Rafal Kowalczyk, from a local branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, told AFP. "I don't recall an accident where three bison were killed at the same time, run over by a train," the mammals specialist added.
  • Three wild European bison died on Sunday morning after being hit by a train in Poland's vast UNESCO-listed Bialowieza Forest in the east, the local police told AFP.  According to a police spokesman, a herd of Europe's largest mammals, whose male specimens can reach 900 kilograms (nearly 2,000 pounds), crossed onto the train tracks as a locomotive carrying some 50 passengers between Bialystok and Warsaw was steaming ahead. 
  • "They are sometimes hit by trains, but these are usually isolated incidents," Professor Rafal Kowalczyk, from a local branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, told AFP. "I don't recall an accident where three bison were killed at the same time, run over by a train," the mammals specialist added.
Three wild European bison died on Sunday morning after being hit by a train in Poland's vast UNESCO-listed Bialowieza Forest in the east, the local police told AFP. 
According to a police spokesman, a herd of Europe's largest mammals, whose male specimens can reach 900 kilograms (nearly 2,000 pounds), crossed onto the train tracks as a locomotive carrying some 50 passengers between Bialystok and Warsaw was steaming ahead. 
"No passenger was injured but three animals perished in this accident, which happened at 7:00 am, near the village of Witowo," spokesman Konrad Karwacki told AFP.
The "Zubr" line train, which takes its name from the Polish word for bison, did not derail and was able to resume its journey around an hour and a half after the collision. 
Some 1,200 bison, an emblematic animal in the eastern European country, currently inhabit the Polish part of the great Bialowieza Forest, considered the last primeval woodland in Europe.
The forest, which is divided by the Poland-Belarus border, is a treasure of biodiversity and a giant carbon sink.
Yet several bison fall victim to road accidents in the region every year. 
"They are sometimes hit by trains, but these are usually isolated incidents," Professor Rafal Kowalczyk, from a local branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, told AFP.
"I don't recall an accident where three bison were killed at the same time, run over by a train," the mammals specialist added.
Devastated by hunting, deforestation and the expansion of agriculture, the European bison nearly became extinct at the beginning of the 20th century. 
After disappearing from Bialowieza, its last habitat in Europe, before the outbreak of World War II, the species was saved at the 11th hour thanks to the release of bison reared in zoos back into the wild. 
sw/sbk/gv

Environment

Can nations save the shorebird that flies 30,000 km a year?

BY FRAN BLANDY

  • And it is only part of the 30,000 kilometers (18,600 miles) that the godwit travels every year from their breeding grounds in the Arctic to Patagonia where they spend the southern summer.
  • Chasing an endless summer, one shorebird species undertakes a grueling annual journey from the Arctic to the tip of South America and back -- a feat increasingly fraught with peril.
  • And it is only part of the 30,000 kilometers (18,600 miles) that the godwit travels every year from their breeding grounds in the Arctic to Patagonia where they spend the southern summer.
Chasing an endless summer, one shorebird species undertakes a grueling annual journey from the Arctic to the tip of South America and back -- a feat increasingly fraught with peril.
The Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica) is one of the world's most remarkable travelers, but its population has plunged 95 percent in four decades due to a complex mix of environmental changes across multiple countries.
It is one of 42 species proposed for international protection at a meeting of parties to the UN Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) that starts in Brazil on Monday.
Iconic creatures like the snowy owl -- of Harry Potter fame -- striped hyena and hammerhead shark are also on the list deemed in danger of extinction and needing conservation by the countries they pass through.
Migratory birds are facing "rapid and dramatic declines," said Nathan Senner, an ecologist and ornithology professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who has studied the Hudsonian godwit for 20 years.
Scientists are still unraveling the mysteries of the shorebird -- which can fly up to 11,000 kilometers (6,800 miles) in one stretch without stopping to eat, drink, or sleep.
And it is only part of the 30,000 kilometers (18,600 miles) that the godwit travels every year from their breeding grounds in the Arctic to Patagonia where they spend the southern summer.

Disrupted migrations

In order to do this "epic flight," they need "really predictable, abundant food resources" at every step of the journey, Senner told AFP.
That predictability is crumbling.
In the Arctic, shifting spring timing attributed to climate change has created a mismatch between when chicks hatch and the peak availability of insects they feed on.
One of the puzzles Senner is currently working on is why Hudsonian godwits have begun migrating later by six days than they did a decade ago.
Something "has either disrupted the cues that they use to time their migrations or their ability to successfully and rapidly prepare for the migration," he said.
In southern Chile, a boom in salmon and oyster farming has led to a build-up of infrastructure and the presence of people in the intertidal zones where they feed.
And in the United States, changes in farming practices are making the shallow water wetlands that the godwits rely on rarer and less predictable -- meaning they spend more time looking for a place to stop and feed.
"I think that is emblematic of lots of species, that most species can respond to one kind of change, but not a whole bunch of them all at the same time," said Senner.

Essential to ecosystems

"Climate change is taking a heavy toll on species that rely on a 'geological clock' for their survival; many are disappearing," Rodrigo Agostinho, president of Brazil's environmental agency (Ibama), told AFP.
These are some of the issues CMS parties will tackle at their meeting in Brazil's biodiversity-rich Pantanal, one of the world's most important global meetings for wildlife conservation.
These countries are legally obliged to protect species listed as at risk of extinction, conserve and restore their habitats, prevent obstacles to migration and cooperate with other range states.
Nevertheless, among the species listed under CMS, a report released earlier this month showed that 49 percent now have populations that are declining, up from 44 percent two years ago.
Amy Fraenkel, CMS executive secretary, told AFP that most of the species doing worse were birds, such as the Hudsonian godwit.
She said the situation was also "particularly alarming" for fish species, with 97 percent of those listed under the treaty threatened with extinction.
Migratory species "are essential to healthy ecosystems and a healthy planet," playing a key role in pollination, pest control and transporting nutrients, she said.
In a piece of good news, the meeting will propose removing Central Asia's Bactrian deer from its list of animals needing high protection, due to an increase in its population. 
fb/jgc/jfx

climate

Records shattered as US heatwave moves eastward

  • And in Phoenix, Arizona, one of the hottest cities in the United States, the daily low was a balmy 70F (21.1C) on Saturday, the earliest in the year such a level had been reached, the weather agency said.
  • A record-breaking heatwave afflicting the western half of the United States moved eastward Saturday toward the center of the country, bringing unseasonably warm temperatures to places that were at freezing or below just a week prior.
  • And in Phoenix, Arizona, one of the hottest cities in the United States, the daily low was a balmy 70F (21.1C) on Saturday, the earliest in the year such a level had been reached, the weather agency said.
A record-breaking heatwave afflicting the western half of the United States moved eastward Saturday toward the center of the country, bringing unseasonably warm temperatures to places that were at freezing or below just a week prior.
Dozens of cities from California to Colorado recorded their highest temperatures ever for the month of March, according to the National Weather Service Weather Prediction Center. 
On Saturday, areas that saw new records for the highest temperatures in March included 92 Fahrenheit (33.3C) recorded in Kansas City, Missouri, and North Platte, Nebraska.
Topeka, the state capital of Kansas, broke its March record Saturday with a high of 95F (35C), weather officials said.
In Wyoming, the least populous US state, all-time March temperatures were set in capital Cheyenne at 83F (28.3C).
On top of the monthly all-time highs, the heatwave reached several other temperature milestones.
For instance, in Chanute, Kansas, temperatures went from a record low of 13F (-10.5C) on March 16 to a record high of 91F (32.8C) just four days later.
And in Phoenix, Arizona, one of the hottest cities in the United States, the daily low was a balmy 70F (21.1C) on Saturday, the earliest in the year such a level had been reached, the weather agency said.
Cities recording all-time daily highs Saturday included Denver (86F), Grand Island, Nebraska (98F) and Midland, Texas (98F).
On Friday the heatwave had brought temperatures up to 44.4C (112F) in several areas along the southern California-Arizona border, a national US record for March.
The National Weather Service issued an extreme heat warning for the same desert areas on Saturday, as well as a red flag warning -- indicating high wildfire risk -- for much of the central Plains states of Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma.
Scientists say there is overwhelming evidence that current heatwaves are a clear marker of global warming, a process driven chiefly by the burning of fossil fuels.
With winter in the northern hemisphere officially ending on Friday -- the first day of astronomical spring -- the soaring temperatures were wreaking havoc on wildlife in the West.
Many plants and trees are already blooming, and vegetation is growing at a fantastic clip, fueled by heavy rains in December and January.
jgc/mjw

environment

In Finland, divers learn to explore icy polar waters

BY ANNA KORKMAN

  • With only two holes for entry and exit, the biggest challenge for the divers was "the overhead environment they are getting into", Wurz said. 
  • In a square hole carved out of the thick ice, two divers vanished into the depths of an Arctic lake, leaving nothing but bubbles at the surface.
  • With only two holes for entry and exit, the biggest challenge for the divers was "the overhead environment they are getting into", Wurz said. 
In a square hole carved out of the thick ice, two divers vanished into the depths of an Arctic lake, leaving nothing but bubbles at the surface.
Returning 45 minutes later, Marta Lukasik tapped her fist on the top of her head -- a diver's signal that means "I'm ok". 
On the frozen Lake Kilpisjarvi, just below the tree line at the intersection of the Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian borders, 12 divers were taking a course to learn how to dive in polar regions so they could carry out scientific research. 
"Just wow, every small thing you see in the water... Just wow," said Lukasik, a 41-year-old oceanology PhD student who works as a diving inspector on fish farms in Norway, mesmerised by the experience. 
For 10 days, the international group from different professions and backgrounds learnt vital skills below the 80 centimetres (30 inches) of ice covering the lake.
According to Erik Wurz, coordinator of the programme run by the Finnish Scientific Diving Academy which is part of the University of Helsinki, there is a critical need for skilled people who can conduct research in demanding polar environments. 
Climate change is warming and transforming the Arctic and Antarctic at a faster rate than the rest of the planet.   
"There's still a lot of questions to be covered in the polar regions and access is very limited," said Wurz, stood next to two large holes cut into the ice and a pitched wind shelter. 
"The number of scientific divers that can go under the ice is even more limited," he added, estimating there to be only around 100 to 200 people globally.

Teamwork

Wearing dry suits to fend off the 2 degrees Celsius cold in the water, the divers arrived on snowmobiles at the site, located close to the University of Helsinki's biological station at the foot of the Saana mountains.
Ruari Buijs, 21, checked his course mates at the "base Alpha" hole to make sure they were ready to dive, before helping them slide into the water with steel gas cylinders on their backs and torches attached to their arms.
"I think the most important thing is definitely teamwork," noted Buijs, who studied marine biology and oceanography at the University of Plymouth in Britain, as the divers disappeared. 
"For instance... if there's low visibility, there's always a line back," he said, indicating a yellow, 50-metre (165-foot) safety line in his hand, the other end tethered to the diver underwater. 
A light attached to a steel tank flickered in the clear water -- a sign post for the divers if they become disoriented. 
With only two holes for entry and exit, the biggest challenge for the divers was "the overhead environment they are getting into", Wurz said. 
"They are going into an ice cave."   

'Critical point'

The day's task was to practice drilling a sample of the ice sheet, so-called "ice coring", explained Caroline Chen, 23 -- a Canadian trained scientific diver and research assistant at the University of Hamburg. 
"Sometimes you bump your head, I'm still getting used to this," she said. 
In this "safe setting", the divers were training to be "confident when they are deployed to Antarctica" or any polar expedition where they would not have the luxury of warm buildings and showers nearby, Wurz said.
Have finished the course, Wurz joined an expedition to the Antarctic research station Scott base, 1,350 kilometres (840 miles) from the South Pole.
"We are at a really critical point in time because the polar regions are changing very fast," Wurz said. 
"There are huge areas of shelf ice breaking off...that has not happened before at such a fast rate," he added.
An AFP review of US data showed in March that Arctic sea ice is headed for one of its smallest winter peaks on record due to human-induced warming. 
"We need to get samples and reliable data from these regions because they are the fastest changing on the planet in the warming ocean," Wurz said. 
Still beaming after her dive, Lukasik described how the sun piercing through layers of snow and ice had created rays in the water.
"You need to be a little crazy to go into that environment," Buijs said with a smile.
"I think it's the second most hostile environment known to man, apart from the vacuum of space," he said, adding that he hopes to work as a marine biologist on the islands around Antarctica. 
"It's like a whole new world, and I would love to explore that."
ank/po/tw

weather

Record-breaking heat wave grips western US

  • "This heat wave would be virtually impossible for the time of year in a world without human-induced climate change," the World Weather Attribution network of climate scientists said in a report.
  • A record early heat wave striking the west of the United States on Friday is a one-in-500-years type event and all but certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say.
  • "This heat wave would be virtually impossible for the time of year in a world without human-induced climate change," the World Weather Attribution network of climate scientists said in a report.
A record early heat wave striking the west of the United States on Friday is a one-in-500-years type event and all but certainly the result of human-caused climate change, experts say.
The heat has been toppling records this week and was set to continue into the weekend across western cities and expanding eastward.
Four spots in the desert area near the California-Arizona state border registered 44.4C (112 Fahrenheit) on Friday, a US national record for March.  
The locations were near the city of Yuma and at Martinez Lake in Arizona, and in the vicinity of Winterhaven and Ogilby in California.
Already, 65 cities have seen new March highs, ranging from Arizona and California to Idaho, Weather.com reported.
Death Valley on Thursday scorched in 40C degrees while the often cool and foggy San Francisco tied its historic March record at 29C degrees, and skiers in Colorado were hitting the slopes shirtless.
The National Weather Service issued extreme heat warnings Friday for much of the southwest, ranging from Los Angeles and coastal southern California to the desert gambling capital of Las Vegas.
Warnings were also issued against leaving children or pets in cars.
The phenomenal heat when winter is only just ending alarmed climate watchers.
"This heat wave would be virtually impossible for the time of year in a world without human-induced climate change," the World Weather Attribution network of climate scientists said in a report.
They called the event so rare that despite overall rising temperatures, something this serious is only "expected to occur about once every 500 years."
"These findings leave no room for doubt. Climate change is pushing weather into extremes that would have been unthinkable in a pre-industrial world," said one of the study's authors, Friederike Otto, a professor at Imperial College London.
"In the US West, the seasons that people and nature were used to for centuries are disappearing, putting many, including outdoor workers and those without air conditioning, in danger," she said. "The threat isn't distant -- it is here, it is worsening, and our policy must catch up with reality."

'This is global warming'

Scientists say there is overwhelming evidence that today's heat waves are a clear marker of global warming, a process driven chiefly by the burning of fossil fuels.
With the northern hemisphere officially exiting winter on Friday -- the first day of astronomical spring -- the soaring temperatures were wreaking havoc on wildlife in the West.
Many plants and trees are already blooming, and vegetation is growing at a fantastic clip, fuelled by heavy rains in December and January.
Terry Salas, who was out and about in Los Angeles on Thursday, told AFP the climate across the United States in recent weeks had been crazy.
"This is very unusual. We're still in winter," she said. "But this is global warming. The East Coast is just tornadoes and snow, and here we are, we're sizzling."
"We're having summer temperatures that we never, ever had in March."
bur-sms/jgc/js

tourism

Vanishing glacier on Germany's highest peak prompts ski lift demolition

BY OLIVIER FENIET WITH BRYN STOLE IN BERLIN

  • Other lifts elsewhere on the Zugspitze peak will continue operating, but none will remain on the Schneeferner glacier once the demolition work begun on Friday is completed.
  • Vanishing glaciers atop Germany's highest mountain prompted the start of demolition operations of a ski lift Friday, as global warming reshapes the Alps.
  • Other lifts elsewhere on the Zugspitze peak will continue operating, but none will remain on the Schneeferner glacier once the demolition work begun on Friday is completed.
Vanishing glaciers atop Germany's highest mountain prompted the start of demolition operations of a ski lift Friday, as global warming reshapes the Alps.
A ski slope down the Schneeferner glacier on the Zugspitze mountain has melted away, leading the lift operator to begin dismantling the structure after more than 50 years of service.
"The glaciers in Bavaria will inevitably melt away, as they can no longer survive in the face of climate change," Christoph Mayer, a glaciologist at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences, told AFP.
High-tension cables anchoring the existing ski lift were cut with blasting charges in Friday's operation.
The lift's pylons, which were built on the ice, then fell and were dragged away through the snow by heavy machinery.
The peak of Zugspitze, which stands at 2,962 metres (9,700 feet), is located in the Wetterstein massif along Germany's border with Austria.
"The ice is receding, the terrain and the lift have changed drastically," said Laura Schaper, spokeswoman of the ski lift operator Bayerische Zugspitzbahn Bergbahn AG. 
"The slope has become significantly steeper, and for that reason it's no longer technically feasible to keep operating the lift."
New data on the remaining glaciers in the Bavarian Alps released Thursday found that the glaciers have receded by more than a quarter just between 2023 and 2025, losing around one million cubic metres of ice.
Wilfried Hagg, a geologist at the Munich University of Applied Sciences who worked on the study alongside Mayer, told AFP that climate change is entirely to blame.
Hagg told AFP that there's "absolutely no" chance of saving any of Germany's remaining glaciers. 
There are four remaining glaciers in Bavaria: the northern part of the Schneeferne and the Hoellentalferner, which is also located on the Zugspitze.
Two others are both located on the Berchtesgarden massif: the Wazmann, at 2,713 metres, and Blaueis at 2,607 metres.
Those glaciers "are in very bad shape," Hagg said, with the two on Berchtesgarden "likely to disappear completely very soon -– this year or next".

'Absolutely doomed'

The northern Schneeferner glacier, where the lift was being demolished, could survive for a few more years but will vanish within the decade, Hagg said. 
The nearby southern Schneeferner glacier was declared dead in 2022.
"That would leave one very last glacier on the Zugspitze, known as the Hoellentalferner, which is set to disappear in the 2030s," Hagg said.
Already, summer melt far outpaces the winter snowfall even at the high elevation of the Zugspitze glaciers, according to Mayer and Hagg.
"Even under the most optimistic climate scenarios, or even if we could stop global warming immediately, they would disappear," he said. "They're absolutely doomed."
According to the EU's Copernicus climate observatory, the last three years have been the warmest ever recorded globally, due to increased greenhouse gas emissions that are causing global warming.
Globally, approximately 41 percent of total glacier loss occurred during the decade between 2015 and 2024, according to Earth System Science Data, which notes the greatest losses in Alaska, western North America and Central Europe.
The ski slopes of the Zugspitze are among the most popular in Germany, and for decades the ice of the glaciers has helped extend ski season on either side of winter by helping snow settle on the mountain.
Other lifts elsewhere on the Zugspitze peak will continue operating, but none will remain on the Schneeferner glacier once the demolition work begun on Friday is completed.
Hagg said the melting of the nearby Hoellentalferner glacier has also led to some rockslide and become more dangerous for climbers, as ice that once held boulders and rock walls in place melts away.
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