TOKYO – The impact on Tokyo from a major quake could be much more devastating than the government has predicted, a new study shows.

Stockholm – Hurricanes, torrential downpours and droughts will become more frequent with global warming, threatening species especially in bio-diverse ecosystems and tropical rainforests.

LONDON – Expanding cities threaten to eat up a swath of land the size of France, Germany and Spain combined in less than 20 years, putting the world under even more environmental pressure, experts said at a climate conference on Tuesday.

PERTH – A tropical cyclone approaching Australia’s Pilbara iron ore mining belt coast has intensified and winds of more than 250 kms (155 miles) an hour are expected when it crosses the coast on Saturday afternoon local time, the weather bureau said.

Sydney – Even if we manage to curb global warming to two degrees Celsius, future generations could still face a sea level rise 12 to 22 metres higher than present levels, a study reveals.

LONDON – The UK government will consider replacing a scheme to cut corporate energy use with an alternative environmental tax if it cannot reduce the scheme’s administrative costs, finance minister George Osborne said in his budget statement on Wednesday.

SINGAPORE – Australia, one of the world’s top mining and agricultural nations, faces a quickening pace of climate change, according to a snapshot of the nation’s weather, forcing farmers to alter cropping strategies and miners to cope with more intense floods.

Preparations are on in China to launch a moon mission and bring about two kilogram of lunar soil samples to Earth, People’s Daily reported Friday.

TOKYO- The hunt was on Monday for a penguin that scaled a sheer rock face to escape from a Tokyo zoo, and was last seen swimming in a river in the Japanese capital.

WASHINGTON – Foreign seeds are hitching rides on scientists and tourists to the Antarctic and could someday upset the ecology of the warmest patches of the remote land, international researchers said.