Month: September 2023

Hurricane Lee whirled through open waters on Thursday as forecasters warned it could become the first Category 5 storm of the Atlantic season.  Lee was not expected to make landfall while on a projected path that will take it near the northeast Caribbean, although forecasters said tropical storm conditions were possible on some islands. Meteorologists said it was too early to provide details on potential rainfall and wind gusts.  The Category 4 hurricane was about 1,260 kilometers east of the northern Leeward Islands. It had winds of up to 215 kilometers per hour and was moving west-northwest at 24 kph.  The storm was expected to grow even more powerful late Thursday and remain a major hurricane into next week.  "Lee continues to strengthen at an exceptional rate," the National Hurricane…

As delegates gather in Kenya for the inaugural Africa Climate Summit, seeking ways to combat the effects of climate change, activists are screening films illustrating the impacts of global warming in Africa and calling for climate justice for the continent. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi. Camera — Amos Wangwa ...

Earth has sweltered through its hottest Northern Hemisphere summer ever measured, with a record warm August capping a season of brutal and deadly temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization. Last month was not only the hottest August scientists ever recorded by far with modern equipment, it was also the second hottest month measured, behind only July 2023, WMO and the European climate service Copernicus announced Wednesday. August was about 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial averages. That is the threshold that the world is trying not to pass, though scientists are more concerned about rises in temperatures over decades, not merely a blip over a month's time. The world's oceans — more than 70% of the Earth's surface — were the hottest ever recorded, nearly 21 C, and have…

Researchers at Oregon State University have developed a process that uses polluted water to produce hydrogen while purifying the water at the same time. VOA’s Julie Taboh reports on advances in the fossil fuel alternative. ...

Greece is working with Israel on developing artificial intelligence technology that would help in early detection of dangerous wildfires, the Greek prime minister said Monday. After talks with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, Kyriakos Mitsotakis also said that Israel could be brought into the European Union fold when it comes to civil protection initiatives to better coordinate firefighting efforts. Israel and Cyprus are among several countries that have dispatched firefighting aircraft and crews to help battle wildfires in Greece that consumed vast tracts of forest over the last two months, including the EU's largest such blaze on record that claimed the lives of 20 people. Mitsotakis said Greece could act as a proving ground for Israeli AI technology in…

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced Monday a 20.7 billion yen ($141 million) emergency fund to help exporters hit by a ban on Japanese seafood imposed by China in response to the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. The discharge of the wastewater into the ocean began Aug. 24 and is expected to continue for decades. Japanese fishing associations and groups in neighboring countries have strongly opposed the release, and China immediately banned all imports of Japanese seafood. Hong Kong has banned Japanese seafood from Fukushima and nine other prefectures. Chinese trade restrictions have affected Japanese seafood exporters since even before the release began, with shipments held up at Chinese customs for weeks. Prices of scallops, sea cucumbers and other seafood popular in China…

Nuclear fusion has excited scientists for decades with its potential to produce abundant carbon-free energy. In the Pacific Northwest state of Washington, one startup is hoping to win the race to develop the technology that finally makes that power available to consumers. From Seattle, Phil Dierking has our story. (Camera and Produced by: Philip Dierking) ...

With their outsized ears and fluffy fur, rabbits are often seen as cute and harmless. Yet the creature is behind one of the globe's most harmful biological invasions, ravaging Australia, whose efforts to limit the problem have tended only to make things worse.  Back in 1859, a mere 24 European breeding rabbits, scientific name Oryctolagus cuniculus, disembarked from England, brought over by Thomas Austin, who enjoyed hunting parties on his Victoria estate.   But 150 years on, and according to a 2022 study by PNAS, a peer reviewed journal of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, some 200 million rabbit colonizers now roam the land of the kangaroo, devouring vegetation as they go, laying waste to native plant species, causing habitat degradation and threatening the survival of numerous native species. …

The news lit up the world of weed: U.S. health regulators are suggesting that the federal government loosen restrictions on marijuana. Specifically, the federal Health and Human Services Department has recommended taking marijuana out of a category of drugs deemed to have "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse." The agency advised moving pot from that "Schedule I" group to the less tightly regulated "Schedule III." So what does that mean, and what are the implications? Read on. First of all, what has actually changed? What happens next? Technically, nothing yet. Any decision on reclassifying — or "rescheduling," in government lingo — is up to the Drug Enforcement Administration, which says it will take up the issue. The review process is lengthy and involves taking public…

India's moon rover has completed its walk on the lunar surface and been put into sleep mode less than two weeks its historic landing near the lunar south pole, India's space mission said. "The rover completes its assignments. It is now safely parked and set into sleep mode," with daylight on that part of the moon coming to an end, the Indian Space Research Organization said in a statement late Saturday. The rover's payloads are turned off and the data it collected has been transmitted to the Earth via the lander, the statement said. The Chandrayaan-3 lander and rover were expected to operate only for one lunar day, which is equal to 14 days on Earth.  "Currently, the battery is fully charged. The solar panel is oriented to receive the…

A group of friends and neighbors meets for a weekly meal, choosing from a special menu of nutritious foods paid for by social programs meant to keep older adults eating healthy.   They're all over 60, and between enjoying butternut squash soup, sandwiches, oats and eggs, they chat and poke fun about families, politics, and the news of the day.   But if you're imagining people gathering for lunch in a senior center, think again.  Long before COVID put a pause on social gatherings, some senior centers were losing their lunch appeal. Others didn't reopen after the pandemic.  Enter this elegant solution that's gained popularity: Give some of the federal and state money set aside to feed seniors to struggling restaurants and have them provide balanced meals with more choices,…

After consulting with several doctors in the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, Aayat Hameed was advised to seek help from a mental health expert for her bouts of unspecified anxiety, random palpitation attacks and occasional but strong suicidal thoughts. A psychiatrist diagnosed her with acute depression. On a recent hot summer day, Hameed was among scores of other patients visiting a mental health clinic in Srinagar, where she had been undergoing rounds of counselling along with prescription medication. “I realized seeing a psychiatrist or reaching out to someone you trust really helps to deal with suicidal thoughts and depression,” Hameed said. She's already recovered about 40% over the course of her one-month treatment, the young student said. For over three decades, Kashmiris have been living through multiple crises. Violent armed…

A little over a week after India became the first country to land on the moon’s south pole, it launched a rocket to study the sun, marking another milestone in its space exploration program that is growing in ambition. The rocket blasted off shortly before noon on Saturday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, in southern India, for a 1.5 million-kilometer, four-month journey toward the sun. “Mission accomplished,” the India Space Research Organization’s control room announced as the spacecraft hurtled into the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Scientists clapped and shook hands while thousands, including school children standing in a viewing gallery, cheered. Tens of thousands more watched live broadcasts of the rocket’s liftoff on ISRO’s website and on television. The mission to study the sun’s outer layer is named…

The elephant population in southern Africa has increased by 5% since 2016 to nearly 228,000, according to results of a first ever aerial census conducted last year. However, there are concerns over the animals’ mortality rate. The elephants are mostly found in a large conservation area, the Kavango Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area, or KAZA. KAZA covers 520,000 square kilometers across Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe and contains the world’s largest elephant population. Presenting the census results Thursday, survey coordinator Darren Potgieter said the outcome shows a stable population. "Overall, across KAZA, the elephant population appears to be stable," he said. "However, there is some variation within the different regions. Some areas have shown possible increases in elephant numbers, most remained stable while for some areas, potentially decrease in elephant…

On Friday, Texas became the most populous state with a ban in effect against gender-affirming care for minors. The law was allowed to kick in after a court ruling Thursday, part of a flurry of action across the country on policies aimed at transgender people and their rights. A separate Texas ruling blocked a law that drag show performers feared would shut them down. Here's a look at the latest developments and what's next. Texas gender-affirming care ban takes effect In its ruling Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court allowed a law banning gender-affirming care including puberty blockers, hormones and surgery for minors. The ruling is not final, but allows enforcement of the law while courts determine whether it's constitutional. The decision is also a reversal of a lower court from…

The U.S. space agency NASA says a new 10-meter-wide crater on the moon “is likely the impact site of Russia’s Luna 25 mission.”   The Russian mission was aiming to pull off a soft landing on the moon’s south pole last month, but instead the spacecraft crashed on the moon.     NASA said, “the Russian spacecraft Luna 25 experienced an anomaly,” causing the spacecraft to crash on August 19.     NASA said Russia had pictures of the area surrounding the crash site that were taken in June 2022 and those photographs did not reveal a crater in the area.   "Since this new crater is close to the Luna 25 estimated impact point...  it is likely to be from that mission, rather than a natural impactor,” said the NASA report.  …

Releasing helium balloons and the use of thick shopping bags will be banned starting Friday in parts of Australia as state authorities there impose more restrictions on single-use plastic. Releasing helium balloons into the sky is now banned in the Australian state of Queensland. Research has shown that plastic balloons are a significant threat to seabirds, which can mistake them for food. There are also new bans in other parts of the country, including microbeads found in personal care and cleaning products. Western Australia is restricting the use of polystyrene packaging, while South Australia is banning single-use bowls and plates, starting Friday. There are exemptions for some businesses, including medical clinics and dental practices. The restrictions add to Australia’s existing waste laws. In 2018, the Queensland government outlawed single-use lightweight…