Environment

PARIS (Reuters) – Parisians confined to their flats by a lockdown imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus can at least now open their windows and breathe in fresh air, listen to the birds and enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep. French tenor singer Stephane Senechal sings from his apartment window in Paris as a lockdown

FILE PHOTO: Hurricane Dorian is shown from the International Space Station more than 200 miles above the earth as it churns in the north-western Caribbean near the United States mainland in this photo taken September 2, 2019. Christina Koch/NASA/Handout via REUTERS HOUSTON (Reuters) – The 2020 Atlantic hurricane season could see a greater than average

Vericool, a Livermore, Calif.-based startup that’s replacing plastic coolers and packaging with plant-based products, has raised $19.1 million in a new round of financing. The company’s stated goal is to replace traditional packaging materials like polystyrene with plant-based insulating packaging materials. Its technology uses 100% recycled paper fibers and other plant-based materials, according to the

A long exposure picture shows cars of Swedish automobile manufacturer Volvo displayed in front of a showroom of Stierli Automobile AG company in St. Erhard, Switzerland April 11, 2019. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Swedish automaker Volvo Cars confirmed Tuesday it is in talks with California to reach a voluntary emissions agreement. Mary Nichols, who

LONDON (Reuters) – Barclays (BARC.L), one of the biggest lenders in Europe to the fossil fuel industry, on Monday set itself a target to reach “net zero” for its own carbon emissions and the activities it finances by 2050. FILE PHOTO: People queue at Barclays Bank in St Albans, as the spread of the coronavirus

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Air pollution has decreased in urban areas across Europe during lockdowns to combat the coronavirus, new satellite images showed on Monday, but campaigners warned city-dwellers were still more vulnerable to the epidemic. A general view shows the South Tower during the lockdown imposed by the Belgian government to slow down the coronavirus

(Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday unveiled measures to help oil refineries cope with fallout from the coronavirus outbreak, including waiving anti-smog requirements for gasoline and extending the deadline for small facilities to show compliance with the nation’s biofuels law. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler looks on during

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil will cut back on efforts to fight environmental crimes during the coronavirus outbreak, an official at environmental agency Ibama told Reuters, despite concerns that reduced protection could lead to a spike in deforestation. FILE PHOTO: A deforested and burnt plot is seen in Jamanxim National Forest in the Amazon, near Novo

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin, wed on Wednesday at her family’s Australia Zoo, in an event that spurred online protest as it came just hours before a ban on ceremonies with more than two witnesses took effect. Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late Steve Irwin, poses at

PARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European airlines crippled by the coronavirus have demanded lasting relief from environmental taxes – in a move that pits their immediate survival against longer-term emissions goals. FILE PHOTO: American Airlines passenger planes crowd a runway where they are parked due to flight reductions to slow the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at

WINNIPEG, Manitoba/OTTAWA (Reuters) – After failing to grow wheat in Canada’s subarctic Yukon territory 15 years ago, farmer Steve Mackenzie-Grieve gave it another shot in 2017. Farmer Steve Mackenzie-Grieve holds some of his wheat yield at the Yukon Grain Farm near Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada February 19, 2020. Picture taken February 19, 2020. REUTERS/Crystal Schick Thanks

MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indians breathed easier on Monday as lockdowns ordered to combat the spread of the coronavirus in India’s megacities kept cars off the road and closed factories, improving air quality and letting people see blue skies instead of heavy gray smog. FILE PHOTO: A view of deserted roads along Bandra during a 14-hour

ZAGREB (Reuters) – A large earthquake struck near the Croatian capital Zagreb on Sunday, leaving a teenager critically injured after an apartment building in the city collapsed, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences and a hospital official said. Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic walks at an area affected by an earthquake in Zagreb, Croatia

FILE PHOTO: A man wearing a protective face mask is seen following an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), at Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, China March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song (Reuters) – Air pollution from nitrogen dioxide, a gas emitted by cars, power plants and factories, fell by 40% over Chinese cities due to temporary restrictions

FILE PHOTO: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg takes part in a protest outside the EU Council as EU environment ministers meet in Brussels, Belgium, March 5, 2020. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/File Photo LONDON (Reuters) – They walked out of class to fight climate change. Now, as coronavirus shuts schools around the world, they’re starting their own. Fridays

FILE PHOTO: Logo of Bayer AG is pictured at the annual results news conference of the German drugmaker in Leverkusen, Germany February 27, 2019. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/File Photo (Reuters) – Negotiations between Bayer AG and plaintiff lawyers to settle claims its glyphosate-based weedkillers cause cancer have been slowed by the coronavirus outbreak, according to the mediator

(Reuters) – Wind and solar energy companies on Thursday called on Congress to pass tax incentives that would help the sector avoid project delays and keep financing flowing amid a pandemic that has choked off supply chains and slowed construction. FILE PHOTO: An array of solar panels is seen in the desert near Victorville, California,

LONDON (Reuters) – Governments must not let the coronavirus pandemic derail action on climate change, an architect of the landmark Paris agreement warned on Wednesday, saying the vulnerabilities laid bare by the virus could serve to spur a more concerted response. FILE PHOTO: France’s climate ambassador Laurence Tubiana attends a conference at the France’s state-owned

WARSAW (Reuters) – The European Union should scrap its Emissions Trading System or exempt Poland from the scheme, which helps combat global warming, to free up funds for Warsaw to fight the effects of the coronavirus, a senior Polish official said. Emergency workers help a man as they arrive to a hospital dedicated for coronavirus

(Reuters) – The spreading coronavirus is threatening project schedules in the booming U.S. solar industry following a year in which the sector topped natural gas as the nation’s top new power source, according to a report published on Tuesday. FILE PHOTO: An array of solar panels is seen in the desert near Victorville, California, U.S.