Environment

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: Wildfires have scorched over 44,000 hectares in 18 Russian regions, the Federal Aerial Forest Protection Service (Avialesokhrana) said in a statement on Saturday, adding that 155 forest fires had been extinguished in the previous 24 hours.

"As of May 11, 2019, a total of 54 forest fires are active in Russia, which engulf 44,245 hectares, active efforts are underway to extinguish the fires," the statement reads.

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (APP): Top executives from across the United Nations system have called for more action on part of member states to mitigate the existential threat posed by climate change, saying doing so was a “moral, ethical and economic imperative”.

BRUSSELS, May 10 (Xinhua): U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has for the second time this week canceled part of his travel plans in Europe, cutting short a trip that was supposed to shore up U.S. commitment and ties with traditional allies. Instead, he left a trail of disagreements that dogged the transatlantic relations.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Pompeo's first stop was about the Arctic, where the Arctic Council for the first time in 23 years did not issue a declaration that would also act as a guideline for the next chairing country.

BEIJING, May 11 (Xinhua): The Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration issued an alert Saturday for mountain torrents in parts of southern China.

From Saturday night to Sunday night, some areas in the central and southwestern provinces of Hunan and Guizhou and Chongqing Municipality will be prone to mountain torrents.

To guard against mountain torrent disasters, the two agencies told local authorities to strengthen real-time monitoring and flood warnings and brace for evacuation.

11 May 2019; DW: After 12 days of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations, countries have agreed to treat plastic as hazardous waste. Germany is considering a ban that would go even further.

Almost every country in the world, except the United States, agreed to a deal on Friday that would sharply reduce the amount of plastic being washed into the world's oceans.

Bhubaneswar, May 10 (PTI) Over one million trees that once stood tall and provided green cover to the Odisha capital have been felled by the raging winds of Cyclone Fani, the uprooted trunks and bare branches testimony to the intensity of the storm that barrelled through the state last week.

The extremely severe cyclonic storm on May 3 did not result in major casualties but the environmental damage in the city is immense and it will take more than a decade to recover, officials said.

10 May 2019; AFP: A herd of endangered deer wait under the shade of one of the sparse trees in this parched central Myanmar landscape, watching as rangers dispatch drinking water -- a life-saving resource funded by wellwishers across the country.

Shwe Settaw nature reserve in Magway Division is home to the endemic species of Eld's or golden deer. But their habitat lies in the country's central dry zone, a low-lying plain astride the Irrawaddy River where water shortages are rife in the hot season.

TOKYO, May 10 (Xinhua): Miyazaki Prefecture on the southeast coast of Kyushu Island in southwest Japan was rocked by a series of earthquakes Friday morning, the country's weather agency said, although no tsunami warnings or advisories have been issued.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), a magnitude 5.6 offshore quake jolted Miyazaki and neighboring prefectures at 7:43 a.m. local time (2243 GMT Thursday).

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. demand for coal to generate electricity will keep sliding in coming months, federal officials said Thursday, despite efforts by the Trump administration to shore up the struggling industry.

Renewable energy sources including wind, solar and hydropower are expected to fill much of the gap left by coal’s decline, according to the Energy Information Administration.

ISLAMABAD, May 9 (APP): Minister for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul on Thursday informed the National Assembly that the government is currently working on a plan to prohibit single use plastic bags in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) by August 14.

Replying to a question of Ms. Naureen Farooq Ibrahim in the National Assembly, the minister said that an SRO under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 is being drafted to give legal cover to the proposed action.