Environment | WPN World People News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and partner agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA), California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), and San Mateo County Resource Conservation District (RCD) announced the near completion of work to remove a fish-passage barrier, improving access to high quality spawning habitat for migrating native steelhead trout in the San Francisquito Creek watershed.

In a settlement agreement with the United States, Safeway, the nation’s second largest grocery store chain, has agreed to pay a $600,000 civil penalty and implement a corporate-wide plan to significantly reduce its emissions of ozone-depleting substances from refrigeration equipment at 659 of its stores nationwide, estimated to cost approximately $4.1 million, announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice.

Unaltered stretch of the São João River running through the Atlantic forest in the Poço das Antas Reserve.

The palm oil sector was the single largest driver of deforestation in Indonesia between 2009-2011, accounting for about a quarter of the country’s forest loss, revealed Greenpeace International in new mapping analysis published. The analysis shows that significant deforestation took place in concessions currently owned by members of the palm oil industry’s largest sustainability organisation, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, including companies such as Singapore-based Wilmar International.

U.S. firefighters say they have made big gains in battling a massive wildfire in California that is threatening a famous national park.

Japan's government says it will spend $470 million to help deal with the repeated radioactive water leaks at the troubled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Japanese nuclear officials say the radiation level of a tank holding highly contaminated water at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has jumped in just one week to a potentially dangerous level.

Ethiopia, a country highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, land degradation, deforestation and food insecurity, is stepping up its efforts to fight climate change, promote sustainable rural development and build resilience. Two agreements were signed between the Government of Norway and the World Bank to provide significant financing for sustainable land management, climate-smart agriculture and forest protection in the country.

Water shortages and floods illustrate the risks posed by too little, or too much, water. By 2050 more than 40% of the world’s population will live under severe water stress and nearly 20% could be exposed to floods. The economic value of assets at risk from floods is expected to be about USD 45 trillion by 2050. Water pollution is also increasing, adding to uncertainty about future water availability.

More than 5,000 firefighters are battling a massive wildfire in the western U.S. state of California that is expanding into areas of a famous national park.