Environment
Whales recovering from near extinction, but industrial fishing around Antarctica competes for their sole food source
The Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica is the world’s largest feeding ground for baleen whales – species like humpbacks that filter tiny organisms from seawater for food. In the 20th century, whalers killed roughly 2 million large whales in the Southern Ocean. Some populations, like the Antarctic blue whale, were reduced… Read
Climate ambitions face headwinds as EU changes guard
What does the future hold for EU climate policies? This week's unveiling of the new European Commission will be watched closely for clues -- at a time when defending the environment has skidded down the list of priorities in Brussels. It is a far cry from five years ago. Back… Read
Greenpeace sounds alarm on microplastics ingested by Hong Kong wildlife
Microplastic particles turned up in the vast majority of waste samples taken from Hong Kong wildlife in a Greenpeace study, the group said, suggesting that animals still ingest plastics even if they are not feeding in urban areas. The report was released ahead of November talks in South Korea, where… Read
School districts in U.S. race to invest in cooling solutions as classrooms and playgrounds heat up
Ylenia Aguilar raised her sons in Arizona, so they’re no strangers to scorching heat. She remembers “seeing soccer kids and my own children pass out and faint from, you know, heat-related illnesses,” she said. “It was seeing my sons dehydrated.” Schools across the U.S. are carpeted in heat-absorbing asphalt and… Read
Amazon rivers' low water levels bring fresh challenges for locals
Water levels in the rivers that run through the vast Amazon rainforest have been falling, after a record drought followed by less rain, presenting unprecedented challenges for the Ribeirinhos people living there. With rivers becoming more difficult to navigate and water too dirty to consume, many of the traditional rural… Read
Pollution of potent warming gas methane soars and people are mostly to blame
The amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, helping to turbocharge climate change, a new study finds. The study finds that in 2020, the last year complete data is available, the world put 670 million tons (608 million metric tons)… Read
Nearly 200 land and environment defenders killed in 2023, says NGO
Nearly 200 environmental and land defenders around the world were murdered in 2023, with Colombia once again the deadliest place for activists, watchdog Global Witness said in a report Tuesday. The report also sounds the alarm on a "crackdown on environmental activists across the UK, Europe and the U.S.," warning… Read
Oil and gas communities are a blind spot in America’s climate and economic policies
On a recent visit to Rangely, a small town in northwest Colorado, my colleagues and I met with the administrators of a highly regarded community college to discuss the town’s economy. Leaving the scenic campus, we saw families driving into the mountains in off-road vehicles, a favorite activity for this… Read
The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a year
The world creates 57 million tons of plastic pollution every year and spreads it from the deepest oceans to the highest mountaintop to the inside of people's bodies, according to a new study that also said more than two-thirds of it comes from the Global South. It's enough pollution each… Read
June-August 2024 summer hottest ever recorded: EU monitor
The 2024 northern summer saw the highest global temperatures ever recorded, beating last year's record and making this year likely Earth's hottest ever, the EU's climate monitor said Friday. The data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service followed a season of heatwaves around the world that scientists said were intensified… Read
