Microsoft's Paul Allen launches major conservation project during 'shark week'

Microsoft's Paul Allen launches major conservation project during 'shark week': "Saving sharks from extinction may not be the first thing that comes to mind during Shark Week, which is famous for frightening tales of shark attacks. But a new project spearheaded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's charity aims to help conserve sharks worldwide, which face threats from human fishing, pollution, climate change and other causes.

While the recent rise in shark attacks along the East Coast certainly don't bolster general sympathy toward the sea creatures, this lack of awareness is also largely due to the fact that there are many things that we simply don't know about these creatures, which live in the vast abyss of the ocean.

SEE ALSO: Could Shark Week make us less afraid of sharks?

On Tuesday, Vulcan Inc. announced the Global FinPrint initiative, a research survey designed to provide key data needed in order to design and implement plans to save sharks from extinction.

Vulcan Inc. is a private investment company run by Microsoft founder Paul Allen, who also started the Great Elephant Census to combat Africa's elephant extinction crisis."



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Pope Francis says humans "irresponsible" with environment - CBS News

Pope Francis says humans "irresponsible" with environment - CBS News: "QUITO, Ecuador --Speaking to students and educators at a Catholic University in Ecuador's capital on Tuesday, Pope Francis delivered a strong speech in defense of the environment, warning that caring for the Earth is now no longer a recommendation, but an urgent requirement.

He said humans had damaged the planet by "our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed it. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder it at will." He quoted from his recent document on the environment, the encyclical Laudato Sii. In that document, released in June, the Pope urged immediate action to combat climate change."



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Pope Francis Urges Dialogue, Launches Environmental SOS in Ecuador

Pope Francis Urges Dialogue, Launches Environmental SOS in Ecuador: "QUITO:  Pope Francis called for dialogue on Tuesday in front of nearly one million people at an outdoor mass in Ecuador's capital, before launching an appeal for better care of the Amazon.

The pope addressed approximately 900,000 faithful who braved the cold and rain to hear his homily in Bicentennial Park, Quito a city recently rocked by anti-government protests.

The Argentine-born pontiff focused his message on "our revolution," the need to spread the Roman Catholic faith."



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Unprecedented heatwave: Behind the ‘Indian’ summer in Europe, climate change and an African scorcher | The Indian Express

Unprecedented heatwave: Behind the ‘Indian’ summer in Europe, climate change and an African scorcher | The Indian Express: "What lies behind the extraordinarily high temperatures experienced across Europe this week? Meteorologically, it is the result of the development of an area of high pressure above the Iberian Peninsula, which pushed hot winds north and east up to the southern Baltics, Belarus and western Ukraine, and as far north as southern Scandinavia.
Alongside have come the familiar warnings that the world’s climate has changed fundamentally — bringing with it extreme, and sometimes catastrophic, weather events.
The United Nations has issued an unusual safety advisory, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) have warned of future heatwaves in places where they have never occurred before."



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