China's meteorologists on July 31 renewed a yellow alert for high temperatures as a persistent heat wave continued to scorch some parts of China.

China's meteorologists on July 31 renewed a yellow alert for high temperatures as a persistent heat wave continued to scorch some parts of China.

China's meteorologists on July 31 renewed a yellow alert for high temperatures as a persistent heat wave continued to scorch some parts of China.

Vast areas of central and southern China, including Chongqing, Hubei and Fujian, will see temperatures ranging from 37 to 39 degrees Celsius, with some areas expected to suffer from temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said.

The largest wildfire in California's recorded history expanded to almost 300,000 acres on August 7, postponing the start of the school year as ash choked the air and thousands of people remained driven from their homes.

n recent days, the outskirts of Redding have been ravaged by the Carr wildfire, and scientists have directly connected the blaze, which has claimed six lives and dozens of properties, to climate chang

Polar bears could be sliding towards extinction faster than previously feared, with the animals facing an increasing struggle to find enough food to survive as climate change steadily transforms their environment.

With previous studies showing recent drops in polar bear numbers, survival rates and body condition, scientists said the new research suggests the species is facing an even worse predicament than was feared.

The Arctic is warming twice as rapidly as the global average, diminishing the sea ice that polar bears rely upon for food and forcing many to embark from water on to land where they desperately forage for goose eggs or rubbish from bins in far-flung towns.
National Geographic contributing photographer and speaker Cristina Mittermeier acknowledged Thursday that her now-viral photographs of a starving polar bear went “too far” in linking the bear’s condition to the effects of climate change.

“With this image, we thought we had found a way to help people imagine what the future of climate change might look like. We were, perhaps, naive. The picture went viral — and people took it literally.”
“We said, ‘This is what climate change looks like.’ While science has established that there is a strong connection between melting sea ice and polar bears dying off, there is no way to know for certain why this bear was on the verge of death.
“Every piece of evidence shows that polar bears are dependent on sea ice and if we don’t change the trajectory of sea ice decline, polar bears will ultimately disappear.”, according to Dr Steven Amstrup, who led polar bear research for 30 years in Alaska.