Scientists are seeing surprising melting in Earth’s polar regions at times they don’t expect, like winter, and in places they don’t expect, like eastern Antarctica. New studies and reports issued this week at a major Earth sciences conference paint one …
Month: December 2018
The U.S. Treasury and U.S. Trade Representative’s office said on Tuesday they intended to sign a new bilateral insurance agreement with Britain that will provide insurance market regulatory certainty and continuity after Britain leaves the European Union. The Treasury and …
With its wooden walls and posters on protecting forests and fauna, Brazil’s pavilion at the U.N. climate talks in Poland offers no hint of the angst at home and abroad over mixed messages on global warming from its president-elect. But …
A new proposal from the Trump White House would roll back more Obama-era environmental regulations. Trump administration officials say Tuesday’s proposed change in the Clean Water Act provides “a clear, understandable, and implementable definition” of what kinds of bodies of …
A senior U.S. intelligence official said on Tuesday that Chinese cyber activity in the United States had risen in recent months, targeting critical infrastructure in what may be attempts to lay the groundwork for future disruptive attacks. “You worry they …
Environmental groups opposed to offshore drilling sued the federal government Tuesday to prevent future seismic tests for oil and gas deposits in Atlantic waters off the U.S. East Coast. Seismic testing, which uses air gun blasts, violates federal laws that protect marine …
Deforestation in Brazil’s tropical Cerrado savanna, which makes up a quarter of the country, fell 11 percent to a record low in 2018 compared with a year earlier, the Ministry of Environment said in a statement Tuesday. Deforestation in the South American country’s savanna biome totaled …
Protesters disturbed a U.S.-sponsored event promoting fossil fuels on the sidelines of U.N. climate change talks on Monday. The event called “U.S. innovative technologies spur economic dynamism,” touting the benefits of burning fossil fuels more efficiently, infuriated campaigners and many …
Google CEO Sundar Pichai is expected to tell members of the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday he runs the U.S. technology giant without political preference. “I lead this company without political bias and work to ensure that our products continue to …
A U.S. energy official says “no country should have to sacrifice economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability” during a U.N. climate discussions in Poland. Preston Wells Griffith, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of International Affairs at the Department …
Scientists have drilled a mile and a half (2.5 kilometers) beneath the seabed and found vast underground forests of “deep life,” including microbes that persist for thousands, maybe millions of years, researchers said Monday. Feeding on nothing but the energy …
When a U.S. district judge last month ruled a federal ban on female genital mutilation unconstitutional, he undercut the federal government and alarmed anti-FGM activists, who hope to eradicate the practice. The World Health Organization calls FGM, also known as …
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has discovered ingredients for water on a relatively nearby skyscraper-sized asteroid, a rocky acorn-shaped object that may hold clues to the origins of life on Earth, scientists said on Monday. OSIRIS-REx, which flew last week within a …
City frogs and rainforest frogs don’t sing the same tune, researchers have found. A study released Monday examined why Panama’s tiny tungara frogs adapt their mating calls in urban areas — an unexpected example of how animals change communication …
Russia is seeking to boost its power in Europe and grip over Ukraine with the proposed Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, the top U.S. energy diplomat said on Monday, in a step-up of Washington’s rhetoric against the pipeline. “Through …
A rise in small-scale illegal gold mining is destroying swaths of the Amazon rainforest, according to research released on Monday that maps the scale of the damage for the first time. Researchers used satellite imagery and government data to identify …
Puerto Rico’s governor signed a bill Monday to overhaul the U.S. territory’s tax laws in a bid to attract foreign investment and help workers and some business owners amid a 12-year recession. The bill creates an earned income tax credit, …
The Sudanese currency slid to 60 pounds to the dollar on the black market Monday, traders said, increasing the gap with the official rate of 47.5 pounds to its widest since a sharp devaluation two months ago. The growing gap …
A Chinese court has ordered a ban in the country on most iPhone sales because of a patent dispute between iPhone maker Apple and U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm. The Fuzhou Intermediate People’s Court granted Qualcomm’s request for preliminary injunctions against four …
Environment ministers from nearly 200 countries are arriving in the Polish city of Katowice to join haggling over ways to advance the 2015 Paris accord to curb climate change. National leaders have stayed away from this year’s climate change conference …
Tesla CEO Elon Musk dismissed the idea that the company’s new chairwoman can exert control over his behavior. Robyn Denholm, an Australian telecommunications executive, was appointed chairwoman of Tesla’s board last month, replacing Musk as part of a securities fraud …
Many companies including McDonald’s and Kellogg are purging artificial colors from their foods, but don’t expect your cheeseburgers or cereal to look much different. Colors send important signals about food, and companies aren’t going to stop playing into those perceptions. …
Efforts to boost global action against climate change are stuttering, as several key nations have objected to a key United Nations-backed report on the impacts of rising temperatures at the COP24 talks in Poland. Many developing nations say they are …
As the U.N. global climate conference in Katowice, Poland entered its second week Sunday, the non-governmental environmental organization Greenpeace demanded urgent action from world leaders to tackle climate change. Greenpeace activists projected a message onto the roof of the “Spodek” …