Manila: A Filipino environment activist trekked to the North Pole, signed the Arctic Declaration, and vowed to fight for the implementation of the declaration’s 10 demands.

The document calls on all nations to stop their dependence on fossil fuel, which contributes to the rapid melting of ice in the Arctic region; and to support the creation of Arctic Sanctuary, a spot called the world’s head.

Australia is considering reusing waste dredged from the Great Barrier Reef for land reclamation instead of controversially dumping it at the World Heritage site, but conservationists on Tuesday said it was not the solution.

The marine dumping proposal was approved by the Australian government in January as part of a major coal port expansion at Abbot Point on the Great Barrier Reef coast in Queensland state. The decision sparked uproar and Queensland authorities late on Monday said they would submit a “landmark proposal” to the federal government to use the dredge spoil to further develop Abbot Point instead.

People should eat no more than two portions of red meat per week to help the environment and meet increasing global food demand, scientists have concluded.

Population growth and the trend for Westerners eating more meat means that soon farmers will not be able to raise enough livestock, a study by Cambridge and Aberdeen universities found. The researchers warned that attempting to produce more meat could be devastating for the environment.

Due to global warming, scientists say, the chances of the southwestern United States experiencing a decadelong drought is at least 50 percent, and the chances of a “megadrought” – one that lasts up to 35 years – ranges from 20 to 50 percent over the next century.

The study by Cornell, University of Arizona and U.S. Geological Survey researchers will be published in a forthcoming issue of the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate.