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PRESS RELEASE: Close to $1 billion approved for environment and climate action at GEF meetings

Let’s secure Africa’s soils to tackle climate change and hunger

British minister suspended for manhandling protester

Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast as last century

Israel is joining forces with Arab states to save coral from climate change destruction

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Lexicon of Sustainability

PRESS RELEASE: Close to $1 billion approved for environment and climate action at GEF meetings

Governments have approved programmes and projects worth almost $1 billion to tackle growing threats to the natural world - and to help some of the Earth's most vulnerable people adapt to climate change - at two consecutive Global Environment Facility (GEF) meetings in Washington DC this week. They range from an ambitious $232 million integrated programme aimed at a “transformational shift in the agriculture and land use systems that are major drivers of environmental degradat

Let’s secure Africa’s soils to tackle climate change and hunger

Soils hold 70 percent of the planet’s land-based carbon — three times the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Not only is carbon-rich soil a crucial tool in mitigating climate change, it is also essential to meet the food needs of Africa’s population, which is set to grow by 1.3 billion by 2050. When soils are managed sustainably, they store organic carbon that locks in soil moisture and increases soil fertility; they also remove greenhouse gases from the atmosp

Israel is joining forces with Arab states to save coral from climate change destruction

Scientists from Israel and neighbouring Arab countries are joining forces to save Red Sea coral reefs from the threat of climate change. The alliance is the brainchild of Moaz Fine, an Israeli professor at Tel Aviv’s Bar-Ilan University, who invited marine experts from the countries that border the Red Sea to collaborate at a new research centre. The team will comprise representatives from Israel, Eritrea, Jordan and Egypt, with scientists from Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Yemen and

EPA rolls back Obama-era plan limiting coal-fired power plant emissions

The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said states can set their own carbon emissions standards for coal-fired power plants -- a rule that the agency itself says could result in 1,400 more premature deaths by 2030 than the Obama-era plan it will replace. The move fulfills part of President Donald Trump's promise to help the coal industry, but will likely face court challenges from environmental groups and several states who see the rollback as detrimental to clean a

Blue States Roll Out Aggressive Climate Strategies. Red States Keep to the Sidelines.

At a time when the country is already deeply fractured along partisan lines, individual states are starting to pursue vastly different policies on climate change with the potential to cement an economic and social divide for years to come. A growing number of blue states are adopting sweeping new climate laws — such as New York’s bill, passed this week, to zero out net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 — that aim to reorient their entire economies around clean energy, transfor

California Takes Big Step to Require Solar on New Homes

California took a major step Wednesday toward becoming the first state to require solar panels on nearly all new homes, the latest sign of how renewable energy is gaining ground in the U.S. The California Energy Commission voted 5-0 to approve a mandate that residential buildings up to three stories high, including single-family homes and condos, be built with solar installations starting in 2020. https://www.wsj.com/articles/california-set-to-require-solar-on-new-homes-15258

Global warming has changed the Great Barrier Reef ‘forever,’ scientists say

Two years after a long-lasting undersea heat wave scalded large sections of the Great Barrier Reef, scientists have found that because so many corals died, much of the reef has probably been altered “forever.” “What we just experienced is one hell of a natural selection event,” said Terry Hughes, director of the Australian Research Council Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Queensland. In a notably blunt study in the journal Nature — laden

Climate Change Or Global Warming? Three Reasons Not To Be Distracted By The Name Game

Social media is an interesting landscape of opinions, confirmation bias (consuming information that supports your beliefs), and expressions of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, a psychological term published in the literature that argues that people think they know more about topics than they actually do. This week two very worrisome but important climate change (or global warming) related studies were highlighted in the media. One study suggested an eastward shift in the well-known

Climate Lawsuits, Once Limited to the Coasts, Jump Inland

Until recently, communities suing fossil fuel companies over the costs of climate change have been located on the coasts: cities and counties in California, and New York City. But now, the litigation has jumped inland. Boulder and San Miguel Counties in Colorado, along with the city of Boulder, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against two oil companies, Exxon Mobil and Suncor Energy, the Canadian giant. The suit, filed in state court, argues that fossil fuels sold by the companies

Glacier loss is accelerating because of global warming

With global warming, we can make predictions and then take measurements to test those predictions. One prediction (a pretty obvious one) is that a warmer world will have less snow and ice. In particular, areas that have year-round ice and snow will start to melt. Alpine glaciers are large bodies of ice that can be formed high in mountains, typically in bowls called cirques. The ice slowly flows downwards, pulled by gravity, and is renewed in their upper regions. A sort of bal

Namibia: Rural Communities to Benefit From Renewable Energy

About 10 selected rural communities in the Kavango East, Kavango West and Zambezi regions will benefit from the Namibia Red Cross Society's renewable energy for climate change mitigation project that was officially launched on Tuesday. The project is financially supported by the European Union (EU), in partnership with the Spanish Red Cross. The beneficiaries are Mayana in Kavango East, Sikondo and Sharukwe in Kavango West and Mpacha, Lichaba, Walumba, Lisikili, Saili, Lyeeba

Recycling hope for plastic-hungry enzyme

Scientists have improved a naturally occurring enzyme which can digest some of our most commonly polluting plastics. PET, the strong plastic commonly used in bottles, takes hundreds of years to break down in the environment. The modified enzyme, known as PETase, can start breaking down the same material in just a few days. This could revolutionise the recycling process, allowing plastics to be re-used more effectively. UK consumers use around 13 billion plastic drinks bottles

Extreme weather: 'Africa is most vulnerable'

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is the UN's specialist agency dealing with weather, climate and water. Kenyan scientist Joseph Mukabana leads the WMO's Office for Africa and Least Developed Countries. He is responsible for coordinating the work of national meteorological services around the continent of Africa in order to improve weather and climate forecasting. He tells DW how extreme weather is affecting African countries. http://www.dw.com/en/extreme-weather-af

Young people sue Florida governor to force action on climate change

A group of young people on Monday sued Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) to force him to take action on climate change. The group of eight young Florida residents — represented by Oregon-based Our Children's Trust — sued Scott to demand that the state begin working on a court-ordered, science-based "Climate Recovery Plan," the Miami Herald reported. The group, which is reportedly made up of individuals ranging from 10 to 20 years old, is alleging Scott is not taking steps to combat

A warming world threatens the planet’s library of life

Climate change in the coming decades – even if global temperature rise can be kept to below 2°C – will adversely affect animal and plant species across the world. If the world adopts a “business as usual” approach, and we see a rise of 4.5°C, many more species could die off. This is the basic finding of new research by the World Wildlife Fund, the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, and James Cook University, Australia. Th

At some point, climate change must be injected into the energy debate

Even before the weekend heatwave and the unseasonable Sydney bushfires in mid-April, the Bureau of Meteorology's climate experts had clearly seen enough. The bureau broke with tradition at the end of last week and released a Special Climate Statement, before the remarkable autumn heatwave of 2018 had fully subsided. With more records since, an update is likely within days. Notable numbers include Australia beat its previous hottest April day by more than 0.6 degrees, with the

Climate Change Is Messing With Your Dinner

The world’s dinner tables are seeing the impact of climate change. As cold regions become warmer, and warm places hotter still, farming and fishing are shifting. An evolving climate means big changes for people who grow, catch and rear for a living, and everyone else who buys and eats what they produce. There are winners and losers. There are rich-world problems (less cod, more lobster) and poor (drought and pestilence). There are threats to the quality of the world’s basic s

New Zealand Cites Climate Change in Banning New Offshore Drilling

New Zealand will stop issuing permits for offshore oil and gas exploration as it moves to combat climate change, the government announced Thursday, but it stopped short of halting exploration already underway. The move provoked bitter responses from the petroleum industry, which said that New Zealand would be forced to rely on more expensive imports. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the move was part of the country’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to glo

'Day zero' water crises: Spain, Morocco, India and Iraq at risk as reservoirs shrink

Shrinking reservoirs in Morocco, India, Iraq and Spain could spark the next “day zero” water crisis, according to the developers of a satellite early warning system for the world’s 500,000 dams. Cape Town recently grabbed global headlines by launching a countdown to the day when taps would be cut off to millions of residents as a result of a three-year drought. Drastic conservation measures have forestalled that moment in South Africa, but dozens of other countries face simil

The oceans’ circulation hasn’t been this sluggish in 1,000 years. That’s bad news.

The Atlantic Ocean circulation that carries warmth into the Northern Hemisphere’s high latitudes is slowing down because of climate change, a team of scientists asserted Wednesday, suggesting one of the most feared consequences is already coming to pass. The Atlantic meridional overturning circulation has declined in strength by 15 percent since the mid-20th century to a “new record low,” the scientists conclude in a peer-reviewed study published in the journal Nature. That’s

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PRESS RELEASE: Close to $1 billion approved for environment and climate action at GEF meetings

Let’s secure Africa’s soils to tackle climate change and hunger

Build science in Africa

British minister suspended for manhandling protester

Himalayan glaciers are melting twice as fast as last century

Israel is joining forces with Arab states to save coral from climate change destruction

Recommended Sites

PRESS RELEASE: Close to $1 billion approved for environment and climate action at GEF meetings

Let’s secure Africa’s soils to tackle climate change and hunger

Israel is joining forces with Arab states to save coral from climate change destruction

EPA rolls back Obama-era plan limiting coal-fired power plant emissions

Blue States Roll Out Aggressive Climate Strategies. Red States Keep to the Sidelines.

California Takes Big Step to Require Solar on New Homes

Global warming has changed the Great Barrier Reef ‘forever,’ scientists say

Climate Change Or Global Warming? Three Reasons Not To Be Distracted By The Name Game

Climate Lawsuits, Once Limited to the Coasts, Jump Inland

Glacier loss is accelerating because of global warming

Namibia: Rural Communities to Benefit From Renewable Energy

Recycling hope for plastic-hungry enzyme

Extreme weather: 'Africa is most vulnerable'

Young people sue Florida governor to force action on climate change

A warming world threatens the planet’s library of life

At some point, climate change must be injected into the energy debate

Climate Change Is Messing With Your Dinner

New Zealand Cites Climate Change in Banning New Offshore Drilling

'Day zero' water crises: Spain, Morocco, India and Iraq at risk as reservoirs shrink

The oceans’ circulation hasn’t been this sluggish in 1,000 years. That’s bad news.