The world lost 10 football fields of old-growth tropical forest every minute in 2023 and despite uplifting progress in the Amazon, the picture elsewhere is less rosy, researchers said on Thursday.

Tropical forests absorb carbon and are a vital ally in the fight against climate change, but they are also the most ravaged by deforestation.

A $62 million project to dredge Puerto Rico's biggest and most important seaport began Wednesday amid fierce opposition from environmentalists and a pending lawsuit.

Crews with California-based Curtin Maritime will remove nearly 3 million cubic yards (76 million cubic feet) of marine floor to open the San Juan Bay to larger vessels including tankers that will serve a new liquid natural gas terminal on Puerto Rico's north coast.

In a drill at a 12th century monastery near Athens, a fast-approaching wildfire threatens to trap clergy and a group of people attending a baptism.

Volunteers and firefighters race to pull them to safety through clouds of red smoke, as a drone buzzing overhead sends live video of the rescue to a national coordination center.

A major spring storm was expected to drop more than a foot of snow in parts of New England on Wednesday night, while heavy rains soaked the East Coast and cleanup work continued in several states wracked by tornadoes and other severe weather blamed for at least three deaths.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for several states in New England, where 7 to 18 inches (18 to 46 centimeters) of snow were expected with some local amounts topping 24 inches (61 centimeters) at higher elevations. Parts of New Hampshire and Maine were expected to see the highest amounts.

The periodical cicadas that are about to infest two parts of the United States aren't just plentiful, they're downright weird.

These insects are the strongest urinators in the animal kingdom with flows that put humans and elephants to shame. They have pumps in their heads that pull moisture from the roots of trees, allowing them to feed for more than a decade underground. They are rescuers of caterpillars.

California has entered spring with an above-average mountain snowpack and major reservoirs in good shape for a second consecutive year, staving off immediate water supply concerns but not allaying drought worries in a warming world.

The California Department of Water Resources measured the water content of the Sierra Nevada snowpack Tuesday at 110% of the April 1 average, a benchmark date because that is when it has historically been at its peak and helps inform runoff forecasts.

Violent rain and hailstorms have killed seven people in eastern China's Jiangxi province this week, including three people who fell from their apartments in a high-rise building.

Dozens of homes were severely damaged by the storms, which started Sunday, and more than 800 people have been resettled, state broadcaster CCTV said Wednesday, citing a Jiangxi government emergency agency.

Zimbabwe declared a state of disaster Wednesday over a devastating drought that's sweeping across much of southern Africa, with the country's president saying it needs $2 billion for humanitarian assistance.

The declaration was widely expected following similar actions by neighboring Zambia and Malawi, where drought linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon has scorched crops, leaving millions of people in need of food assistance.

In a significant stride towards advancing sustainable practices in Lebanon's food industry, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the American University of Beirut (AUB) embarked on a pioneering collaboration, marked by the launch of the Private Sector Transition to Green and Circular Economy in Lebanon project.

"This underscores a shared commitment to fostering resource efficiency, cleaner production, and ultimately, a circular economy in Lebanon," the American University of Beirut said in a statement.

Climate change is making giant heat waves crawl slower across the globe and they are baking more people for a longer time with higher temperatures over larger areas, a new study finds.

Since 1979, global heat waves are moving 20% more slowly — meaning more people stay hot longer — and they are happening 67% more often, according to a study in Friday's Science Advances. The study found the highest temperatures in the heat waves are warmer than 40 years ago and the area under a heat dome is larger.