The European Union parliament just passed a vote that officially starts the clock on a long-simmering ban of single-use plastics: the EU member states will now have until 2021 to implement a ban on plastic straws, cutlery, cups, drink stirrers, and sticks for balloons.
Avocados grown in California and distributed to six US states have been recalled because of Listeria concerns, the US Food and Drug Administration reported on Saturday (March 23).
The average person living in Europe loses two years of their life to the health effects of breathing polluted air, according to a report published in the European Heart Journal on March 12.
Perfluorinated chemicals, or PFAS (which stands for “perfluoroalkyl substances”), are a little-known class of chemicals that have sparked one of the biggest drinking-water contamination crises in recent decades. And they are likely costing the European economy billions in health costs each year.
The American West is home to roughly 82,000 wild horses and burros. As idyllic as that sounds, their grazing damages rangeland and some begin to starve when their numbers grow too large, according to a report from Boise State Public Radio.
A story began circulating on internet news platforms on Wednesday (March 13) that more than 200 scientists from 40 countries had signed a declaration warning about the dangers to human health posed by Apple Airpods and other wireless headphones. That is incorrect.
Economists have found that when money is at stake, companies whose future depends on the weather are more likely to tie their decisions to the scientific consensus on climate change.
In schools across at least 40 countries, students are expected to walk out of their classrooms this Friday (March 15) to participate in what have become known as the “school strikes” against climate change inaction, according to Reuters. The climate advocacy group 350.org claims the count of countries joining the strike on Friday is even higher, with children from 72 countries committed to participating.
The possibility of a salmonella contamination led Pillsbury’s parent company to recall select batches of the popular brand’s Unbleached All Purpose Flour products, the US Department of Agriculture announced on Twitter on Monday (March 11). Hometown Food Company recalled about 12,000 cases of the flour, which had been shipped to US grocers including Publix and Winn-Dixie supermarkets.
When scientists say we need to stay below 2 degrees Celsius of warming to avoid catastrophic climate change, they’re talking about a global average two degrees above pre-industrial levels.
Right now, about 25% of all sea level rise comes from the melting Greenland ice sheet. That means every variable that affects the sheet’s melting is critically important to understanding how much sea levels could rise in the near future. But ice sheets are dynamic systems; the factors that affect their melting are numerous, and often subtle.
In the last 30 days, the US Occupational Safety and Health Authority cited a pet food company in Florida for failing to provide protective gear for workers handling corrosive chemicals, a Pennsylvania hair salon for exposing workers to hazardous materials, an Ohio musical instrument factory for exposing workers to toxic copper dust, and a Texas indoor gun range for exposing workers to unsafe levels of lead. Citations like that happen regularly, year-round, highlighting that even in a country with extensive worker safety rules, going to work is still a hazard for many.
Right now, clouds are likely covering roughly two-thirds of the Earth. And they’re doing us a huge favor: They reflect a lot of sunlight, preventing the planet from warming as much as it would without them.
Climate change is perfect for operas, if you think about it: plenty of pathos, despair, and potential for transcendent change to go around.
The largest bee in the world is black, has a giant curved jaw, and is the size of a human thumb. And up until this week, scientists believed it was extinct.
Before there were 40 ft long, 13 ft tall Tyrannosaurus rex, there were tinier tyrants.
The US government is allowing the use of an insecticide linked to declines in bees on two crops that attract bees.
The National Park Service was storing three buckets full of highly radioactive uranium in the visitor area of its Grand Canyon museum for nearly two decades, according to the park safety manager.
Sixty years from now, the typical winter in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania will feel like Memphis, Tennessee does today. For example, Philly’s 2080 winter will be about 9.1°F (5.1°C) warmer and 41.1% wetter than the winter of 2018. Memphis, meanwhile, will resemble Brenham, Texas, which is 10.9°F (6.1°C) warmer and 36.6% drier in winter than Memphis is now.
The Trump administration on Wednesday (Feb. 6) moved to roll back an Obama-era rule that would make light bulbs more efficient. Set to take effect in one year, the rule would change what type of bulbs could be sold in the US, and it would save more energy than any efficiency standard in Department of Energy history, according to E&E News.
The US government shutdown may not have secured funding for the border wall president Trump wanted, but last year’s budget did include $1.6 billion for the construction of 33 miles-worth of barrier, a section of which is about to be erected in Texas. And that section is slated to go right through the refuge lands of the National Butterfly Center.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic representative from New York, and Ed Markey, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, will hold a news conference unveiling the Green New Deal at 12:30pm eastern time on Thursday, Feb. 7.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) came to Congress with the promise to create an economic plan to dramatically reduce—and later, to eliminate—the US’s share of climate change-driving greenhouse gas emissions.
Last year was the fourth warmest on Earth on record, according to two separately conducted assessments from NASA and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And 2018 was a full 1.49°F (0.83°C) warmer than the 1950 to 1981 global average.
