Recent reports have found that the world is on track to pass a critical temperature limit by as early as the 2030s. If this happens, climate disasters will be frequent and the Earth’s atmosphere and ecosystems will be altered. While this news is frightening, there are steps that can be taken to prevent this from happening such as government...
Global fossil fuel subsidies hit a record total of $7tn in 2022 as governments rushed toshield consumers from soaring energy prices sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,the IMF estimates.The IMF study said subsidies for coal, oil and natural gas in 2022 were equivalent to7.1 per cent of global gross domestic product. This represented more thangovernments...
The glamour of gold leaves a trail of mercury and lead that poisons miners and residents of African countries. Ashima Sharma reports on the toxic legacy of mines in Africa. In the village of Rosh Pinah, southern Namibia, 30 children carried lead in their blood. A report on these 30 children detailed chronic lead exposure relating to...
In early 2023, the Guardian published an article suggesting that more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets are worthless. These credits are essentially a promise to protect forests and can be bought as a way to “offset” emissions elsewhere. Verra, the largest certifier of these offset credits, said the claims were “absolutely incorrect” but the story still...
ExxonMobil, the fifth-leading producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the world from 1880 to 2010, has been planning since 2018 to raise its yearly carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 17% by 2025, according to internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg. The news comes in stark contrast to efforts to slow down the pace of...
Climate-induced water insecurity poses one of the biggest threats to humanity and will lead to more hunger, disease and displacement Oxfam water engineers are having to drill deeper, more expensive and harder-to-maintain water boreholes used by some of the poorest communities around the world, more often now only to find dry, depleted or polluted reservoirs. ...
A catastrophic die-off of emperor penguin chicks has been observed in the Antarctic, with up to 10,000 young birds estimated to have been killed. The sea-ice underneath the chicks melted and broke apart before they could develop the waterproof feathers needed to swim in the ocean. The birds most likely drowned or froze to death....
I spend a lot of time critiquing solutions for low-carbon transformation, and that leads, inevitably, to people asking me: what works? What should we be doing? Most recently, that came in the form of a question on Quora that was well enough formed to trigger me to write down the solution set: “What exactly is the current...
Researchers have found that the plastic mulch used to support the growth of Californian strawberries sheds large quantities of plastic mulch fragments. These particles have been shown to negatively impact soil qualities, casting doubt on the long-term viability of their use. The findings from the survey are likely to apply world-wide to plastic use in...
Top environmental fund chief calls on countries to defund activities ‘destroying’ nature. A new global fund for nature conservation alone won’t do much to solve the biodiversity crisis. This is according to the CEO of the Global Environment Facility. Countries have pledged to channel more money toward environmental protection. But that won’t be enough to...