Indonesia raised the alert status for the offspring of the infamous Krakatoa volcano to its second highest level on Monday, a day after it erupted and spewed a towering ash cloud 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) into the sky.Authorities bumped the threat of Anak Krakatoa, which means Child of Krakatoa, to level three of a four-tier volcanic alert system after witnessing a sharp rise in activity in the last month with the biggest eruption coming on Sunday.They also widened the exclusion zone around t

The number of coal-fired power plants in the pipeline worldwide declined in 2021, according to research released Tuesday, but the fossil fuel most responsible for global warming still generated record carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, threatening Paris climate goals.Since the 195-nation treaty was inked in 2015, coal power capacity under construction or slated for development has dropped by three-quarters, including a 13-percent year-on-year decrease in 2021 to 457 gigawatts (GW).Globally, ther

A key finding in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) climate report has been widely misinterpreted, according to scientists involved in the study.In the document, researchers wrote that greenhouse gases (GHG) are projected to peak "at the latest before 2025".This implies that carbon could increase for another three years and the world could still avoid dangerous warming.But scientists say that's incorrect and that emissions need to fall immediately.

A single vaccine shot against Human Papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer, delivers comparable protection for girls and women under 21 as two doses, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) immunisation experts said."This could be a game-changer for the prevention of the disease, seeing more doses of the life-saving jab reach more girls," the WHO said.More than 95 percent of cervical cancer is caused by sexually-transmitted HPV, which is the fourth most common type of canc

The death toll from landslides and floods in the Philippines rose to 80 on Wednesday with scores missing and feared dead, officials said, as rescuers dug up more bodies with bare hands and backhoes in crushed villages.Most of the deaths from tropical storm Megi – the strongest to hit the archipelago this year – were in the central province of Leyte, where a series of landslides devastated communities.26 people died and around 150 were missing in the coastal village of Pilar, which is part of

Those lucky enough to have seen them will never forget.For just a few days every year, the elfin cloud forest of Costa Rica came alive with crowds of golden toads the length of a child's thumb, emerging from the undergrowth to mate at rain-swelled pools.In this mysterious woodland the cloud drapes over mountain ridges and "the trees are dwarfed and wind-sculpted, gnarled and heavily laden with mosses," said J Alan Pounds, an ecologist at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in

At least 24 people have been killed in landslides and flooding across central and southern Philippines, authorities said Monday, after tropical storm Megi dumped heavy rain and disrupted travel ahead of the Easter holidays.More than 13,000 people fled to emergency shelters as the storm pounded the region Sunday, the national disaster agency said, flooding houses, inundating fields, cutting off roads and knocking out power.The central province of Leyte was among the hardest hit, with landslide

A full 99 percent of people on Earth breathe air containing too many pollutants, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Monday, blaming poor air quality for millions of deaths each year.Fresh data from the United Nations (UN) health agency showed that every corner of the globe is dealing with air pollution, although the problem is much worse in poorer countries."Almost 100 percent of the global population is still breathing air that exceeds the standards recommended by the World Health

With a whopping 70 percent of humanity predicted to be living in urban areas by the middle of the century, United Nations (UN) climate experts see a huge opportunity to create ideal cities that are walkable, leafy and energy efficient.Urban areas currently account for around 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, notes a comprehensive report on climate change solutions from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released this week.We are in the "urban cent

Campaigners and leaders of countries vulnerable to climate change said Monday's United Nations (UN) report on stemming the climate crisis is an urgent call to action for the rich world.Here is a summary of their reactions.'Immoral' Failure "This collective failure to act at the scale and speed necessary to combat the climate crisis is irresponsible and immoral...