Up to 77 million Bangladeshis have been exposed to toxic levels of arsenic from contaminated drinking water, and even low-level exposure to the poison is not risk-free, The Lancet medical journal reported. Over the past decade, more than 20 percent of deaths recorded in a study that monitored nearly 12,000 people in the Araihazar district of the capital Dhaka ...

Actor Don Cheadle has become a spokesman for the United Nations environment program. He was appointed Saturday in Rwanda's capital as a U.N. Environment Program Goodwill Ambassador and vowed to fight climate change and promote environment conservation. UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner announced the ...

Rich countries will bring to about 4.0 billion US dollars the amount committed to fighting deforestation by 2012, 500 million more than committed to at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen, Norway said Thursday. "We have reached around four billion dollars," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway, which is hosting an international deforestation conference, told a press conference. The ...

The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned. "If the various estimates we have received... come true, then we are in the situation where 40 years down the line we, effectively, are out of fish," Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN Environment Program's ...

The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned Monday. "If the various estimates we have received... come true, then we are in the situation where 40 years down the line we, effectively, are out of fish," Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN Environment Program ...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Recycling rates for many specialty metals used in high-tech devices are so low -- often less than 1 percent -- that they may become unavailable in two to three decades, a U.N.-appointed panel said on Thursday. The figure was disclosed as the U.N. Environmental Program (UNEP) began issuing a series of reports on metals, designed to ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Talks to define a mechanism for global forest protection should not be rushed if it is to work efficiently and fairly, a panel of experts said on Tuesday. Talks began in Paris last month to define an interim and global architecture for a financial incentive scheme to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation called REDD-plus. "We know any ...

From Sydney Harbor to the world's tallest tower in Dubai and the ancient pyramids, major landmarks went dark for an hour to join the battle against climate change. But politics and commercial priorities meant that some well-known energy-guzzling monuments did not join the record 4,000 cities and 125 countries in Saturday night's fourth annual Earth Hour organised ...

Monuments from Sydney's Opera House to Delhi's Red Fort went dark on Saturday for Earth Hour, a global power switch-off aimed at revitalising efforts against climate change. Ferry horns blared across Sydney harbour in a noisy start to the energy-saving event, which is supported by 4,000 cities in a record 125 countries and includes 1,200 landmarks ...

Sydney's iconic Opera House and Harbour Bridge went dark Saturday at the start of Earth Hour, followed by cities across Asia in a global switch-off aimed at revitalising efforts against climate change. Harbour ferry horns blared to signal the energy-saving event, which is supported by 4,000 cities in a record 125 countries and includes 1,200 famous landmarks ...