Category: Environment

Home » Hot Topics » Environment » Page 4
Not just polar bears — climate change could push African rhinos to extinction
Post

Not just polar bears — climate change could push African rhinos to extinction

New research is ringing alarm bells about how climate change may impact one of Africa’s most iconic and vulnerable animals: the rhinoceros. “Climate change has the potential of wiping out all of them in the blink of an eye,” says Hlelowenkhosi Mamba, an Eswatini native and Fulbright scholar. Read more: news.mongabay.com Photo: news.mongabay.com

How Our Electric Grids are Blocking a Climate Revolution
Post

How Our Electric Grids are Blocking a Climate Revolution

The biggest and dirtiest secret of the energy market is that most of it is lost in generating, transmitting, distributing, and using it. Solving this problem would be revolutionary, reducing competition for resources that contributes to conflict as well as climate change. Energy is one of the most valuable businesses in the world, worth trillions...

Europe is not prepared for rapidly growing climate risks
Post

Europe is not prepared for rapidly growing climate risks

Extreme heat, drought, wildfires, and flooding, as experienced in recent years, will worsen in Europe even under optimistic global warming scenarios and affect living conditions throughout the continent. The EEA has published the first ever European Climate Risk Assessment (EUCRA) to help identify policy priorities for climate change adaptation and for climate-sensitive sectors. According to the assessment,...

Deep-sea mining could cause $500bn in environmental damage – report
Post

Deep-sea mining could cause $500bn in environmental damage – report

The undertaking is proving not to be financially or environmentally viable. Deep-sea mining could cause up to 25-times more damage to the world’s biodiversity than land-based mining, resulting in $500bn of lost value, according to a new study published on Thursday. Many of the critical minerals needed in the production of electric vehicles (EV) can...

SpaceX rocket launches pioneering methane-tracking satellite to orbit
Post

SpaceX rocket launches pioneering methane-tracking satellite to orbit

A new satellite that will track climate-heating methane emissions from oil and gas companies around the world launched this week from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base.  The washing-machine-sized satellite, named MethaneSAT, lifted off Monday (March 4) atop a Falcon 9 rocket, one of 53 payloads on SpaceX’s Transporter-10 rideshare mission. MethaneSAT is designed to ultimately help policymakers...

Post-mortem ecology: the rise of “green funerals”
Post

Post-mortem ecology: the rise of “green funerals”

Funeral rites have not escaped the glare of the ecological transition. While alternative methods of burial are slowly emerging, traditional means of burial and cremation are evolving to reduce ecological impact, in particular with the advent of greener cemeteries. In the words of André Malraux, “the most beautiful tomb is the memory of man”. The...

Cancer-causing PCB chemicals still being produced despite 40-year-old ban
Post

Cancer-causing PCB chemicals still being produced despite 40-year-old ban

Industry could be producing more cancer-causing PCB chemicals today than at any other point in history, despite their production having been banned more than 40 years ago. PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are human-made substances that were used as coolants and lubricants in electrical equipment until they were banned due to their links to health problems and because...

Climate change could be coming for the elephants, study shows
Post

Climate change could be coming for the elephants, study shows

Hotter temperatures and decreased rainfall increase stress on elephants older than 40 by reducing the amount of food available and prompting migrations, according to a modeling study based on 50 years of data in the Greater Virunga region of East Africa. The risks add to the threat of poaching and an increased conflict with humans...