Climate Change & Environment
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2 people killed in floods in southern Germany

The death toll in floods across a large part of southern Germany rose to two on Monday as the body of a missing woman was found. Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the flooded region and officials warned that water levels could rise further in some areas.

The body of the 43-year-old, whom rescuers had been looking for since Sunday morning, was found in a basement in the Bavarian town of Schrobenhausen, police told German news agency dpa. A firefighter was found dead in nearby Pfaffenhofen on Sunday after an inflatable boat he and colleagues were using capsized.

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California firefighters continue battling wind-driven wildfire east of San Francisco

California firefighters made significant progress Sunday to tame a wind-driven wildfire that scorched thousands of acres 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of San Francisco, burned down a home and forced residents to flee the area near the central California city of Tracy.

The fire erupted Saturday afternoon in the grassy hills managed by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, one of the country's key centers for nuclear weapons science and technology. The cause was under investigation.

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Sri Lanka closes schools as floods and mudslides leave 10 dead, 6 missing

Sri Lanka closed schools on Monday as heavy rain triggered floods and mudslides in many parts of the island nation, leaving at least 10 people dead and six others missing, officials said.

The education ministry announced that the reopening of schools would depend on how the weather develops.

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UN official says better preparation has shrunk deaths despite worsening climate

As climate change makes disasters such as cyclones, floods and droughts more intense, more frequent and striking more places, fewer people are dying from those catastrophes globally because of better warning, planning and resilience, a top United Nations official said.

The world hasn't really noticed how the type of storms that once killed tens or hundreds of thousands of people now only claim handfuls of lives, new United Nations Assistant Secretary-General Kamal Kishore, who heads the UN's office for disaster risk reduction told The Associated Press. But he said much more needs to be done to keep these disasters from pushing people into abject poverty.

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Pakistan farmers pin poor mango crop on climate change

Pakistan's mangoes are normally a source of national pride and much-needed income, but farmers are blaming climate change for the parasites and extreme weather ruining much of this season's crop.

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Study: Cleaner shipping fuel accelerated global warming

An international effort to improve air quality by requiring ships to use less-polluting fuel caused a spike in global warming, according to research published Thursday on this unintended climate "shock".

Global shipping's switch to low-sulphur fuels starting in 2020 "could lead to a doubling (or more) of the warming rate" this decade and has already contributed to record-breaking heat over the past year, the study said.

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India court urges heatwave emergency declaration as deaths rise

An Indian court has urged the government to declare a national emergency over the country's ongoing heatwave, saying that hundreds of people had died during weeks of extreme weather.

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In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, a hidden underground world is under threat by the Maya Train

Rays of sunlight slice through pools of crystal water as clusters of fish cast shadows on the limestone below. Arching over the emerald basin are walls of stalactites dripping down the cavern ceiling, which opens to a dense jungle.

These glowing sinkhole lakes — known as cenotes — are a part of one of Mexico's natural wonders: A fragile system of an estimated 10,000 subterranean caverns, rivers and lakes that wind almost surreptitiously beneath Mexico's southern Yucatan peninsula.

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Avocados are Mexico's 'green gold' but growing them harms forests and waters

Consumers' love for avocados in the United States seems to know no bounds. From 2001 through 2020, consumption of this fruit laden with healthy fats tripled nationwide, rising to over 8 pounds per person yearly.

On average, 90% of those avocados are grown in the southwest Mexican state of Michoacán. As with other foods that have become trendy, such as acai berries, or widely used, such as palm oil, intensive avocado production is causing significant environmental damage.

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Papua New Guinea landslide survivors slow to move to safer ground after hundreds buried

Traumatized survivors of the massive landslide estimated to have buried hundreds in Papua New Guinea have been slow to move to safer ground as the South Pacific island nation's authorities prepare to use heavy machinery to clear debris and risk triggering another landslide, officials said Thursday.

Government and army geotechnical experts on Thursday were examining the stability of the massive swath of rubble that crushed Yambali village when a mountainside collapsed last week, Enga provincial administrator Sandis Tsaka said. Australian and New Zealand experts were expected to arrive on Friday.

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