Climate Change & Environment
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It was meant to be a Christian utopia. Now this Nigerian community is helpless against rising seas

The coastal Nigerian community of Ayetoro was founded decades ago and nicknamed "Happy City," meant to be a Christian utopia that would be sinless and classless. But now its remaining residents can do little against the rising sea.

Buildings have sunk into the Atlantic Ocean, an increasingly common image along the vulnerable West African coast. Old timber pokes from the waves like rotten teeth. Shattered foundations line the shore. Waves break against abandoned electrical poles.

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More than 1,300 people died during Hajj after walking in scorching heat

More than 1,300 people died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced extreme high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, Saudi authorities announced Sunday.

Saudi Health Minister Fahd bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel said that 83% of the 1,301 fatalities were unauthorized pilgrims who walked long distances in soaring temperatures to perform the Hajj rituals in and around the holy city of Mecca.

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1 person found dead, 2 still missing after floods, rockslide in Swiss Alpine village

Rescuers in Switzerland have found the body of one of three people a day after they were swept away in a rockslide that hit their Alpine village following massive thunderstorms and rainfall, authorities said Sunday. The other two are still missing.

One woman was pulled out alive from the rubble earlier on Saturday morning.

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Sweltering temperatures persist across the US, while floodwaters inundate Midwest

Millions of Americans sweated through a scorching weekend as temperatures soared across the U.S., while residents were rescued from floodwaters that forced evacuations across the Midwest. One person died during flooding in South Dakota, the governor said.

From the mid-Atlantic to Maine, across the Great Lakes region, and throughout the West to California, public officials cautioned residents about the dangers of excessive heat and humidity. Forecasters say the heat wave will continue early in the week in the Southeast, portions of the South and the Plains.

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Extreme heat in India kills more than 100 people in past three and a half months

A monthslong heat wave across swathes of India has killed more than 100 people and led to over 40,000 suspected cases of heat stroke in the past three and a half months, according to data from India's Health Ministry.

Between March 1 and June 18, 110 people in India died after suffering heat strokes, according to Health Ministry data provided to The Associated Press. Officials from India's Health Ministry and its subsidiary body, the National Centre for Disease Control, which compiled the figures, declined to comment.

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Rain helps 1,000 firefighters slow big New Mexico blazes

More than 1,000 firefighters in New Mexico took advantage of a break in the weather on Thursday to get the upper hand — for now — on a pair of wildfires that have killed two people, destroyed hundreds of homes and forced thousands to flee.

President Joe Biden issued a disaster declaration for parts of southern New Mexico, freeing up funding and more resources as crews worked to keep the flames from spreading. Their efforts have gotten a boost from a storm system that brought with it rain, hail and cooler temperatures to the mountain village of Ruidoso and other parts of the state.

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Historic flooding in China's Guangdong kills nine

Nine people have died and six are missing after downpours caused historic flooding in rural parts of Guangdong province in southern China, while authorities warned Friday of more flooding ahead in other parts of the country.

Four people died and four are missing, in Meixian district in Guangdong's Meizhou city, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday night. Another five are dead in Jiaoling county, which is also in Meizhou.

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Agricultural fire spreads through settlements in southeast Turkey, killing 5

Five people were killed and dozens more required medical treatment after a fire that started with the burning of crop stubble spread through settlements in southeast Turkey overnight, officials said Friday.

The blaze erupted in an area neighboring the provinces of Diyarbakir and Mardin. Fanned by winds, it moved quickly through the villages of Koksalan, Yazcicegi and Bagacik, Diyarbakir Governor Ali Ihsan Su said. The fire was brought under control early on Friday.

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Iberian lynx back from brink of extinction thanks to conservation efforts

Things are looking up for the Iberian lynx. Just over two decades ago, the pointy-eared wild cat was on the brink of extinction, but as of Thursday the International Union for Conservation of Nature says it's no longer an endangered species.

Successful conservation efforts mean that the animal, native to Spain and Portugal, is now barely a vulnerable species, according to the latest version of the IUCN Red List.

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Climate change made killer heat wave in Mexico, Southwest US even warmer and 35 times more likely

Human-caused climate change dialed up the thermostat and turbocharged the odds of this month's killer heat that has been baking the Southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America, a new flash study found.

Sizzling daytime temperatures that triggered cases of heat stroke in parts of the United States were 35 times more likely and 2.5 degrees hotter (1.4 degrees Celsius) because of the warming from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, World Weather Attribution, a collection of scientists that run rapid and non-peer reviewed climate attribution studies, calculated Thursday.

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