Tag: ecology

New study warns against risks of ‘time-traveling pathogens’

As the climate warms, scientists have suggested that “time-traveling pathogens” unleashed by thawing Arctic permafrost may pose a risk to modern ecosystems. Permafrost is a hard layer of frozen ground made of soil, sand and rocks in high-latitude or high-altitude areas such as Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau and northern Canada. This icy layer traps microbes that… Read More New study warns against risks of ‘time-traveling pathogens’

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Driving out the rainforest invaders: crackdown on illegal mining brings hope after Bolsonaro

 Jonathan Watts in Altamira Like mechanised Valkyries, nine helicopters filled with armed men and women in camouflage uniforms swoop over dense forests and remote rivers – but this is not a scene from Apocalypse Now, it is a Brazilian government mission to forestall catastrophe in the Amazon rainforest. The aircraft from the country’s two main environmental agencies,… Read More Driving out the rainforest invaders: crackdown on illegal mining brings hope after Bolsonaro

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Judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial

The judge who heard the US’s first constitutional climate trial earlier this year has ruled in favor of a group of young plaintiffs who had accused state officials in Montana of violating their right to a healthy environment. “I’m so speechless right now,” Eva, a plaintiff who was 14 when the suit was filed, said in a statement. “I’m… Read More Judge rules in favor of young activists in US climate trial

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Growing and burying algae in the Sahara is the latest solution for the climate crisis

Out in the Sahara Desert, in one of the most inhospitable environments imaginable, a natural solution to the climate crisis is growing ­– and at a rapid rate. London-based startup Brilliant Planet has leased 6,100 hectares of land outside the remote coastal town of Akhfenir in southern Morocco, wedged between the Atlantic Ocean to the… Read More Growing and burying algae in the Sahara is the latest solution for the climate crisis

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Ancient trees competing for ‘Tree of the Year’

By Nadia Leigh-Hewitson, CNN From trees that have narrowly avoided destruction through arson, wartime bombing, and city-council-mandated felling, to trees that have shaded royalty, the Woodland Trust’s panel of tree experts has shortlisted 12 of the UK’s top trees in urban locations, and a thirteenth tree has been nominated by the public… https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/15/world/woodland-trust-tree-of-the-year-uk-c2e-spc-scn/index.html

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Yemen: UN removes 1m barrels of oil from tanker to avert environmental catastrophe

The transfer of more than 1 million barrels of oil from an ageing tanker moored off the coast of war-torn Yemen has been completed, avoiding an environmental disaster, the UN has said. In a statement on Friday, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for UN secretary general António Guterres, said the operation had prevented a “monumental environmental and… Read More Yemen: UN removes 1m barrels of oil from tanker to avert environmental catastrophe

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The deadly intersection of labor exploitation and climate change

Neither the corporate media nor our politicians who are beholden to corporate lobbyists honestly address the common root causes of (and solutions to) worker exploitation and climate change. Sonali Kolhatkar As temperatures soar in the United States this summer, some among us are lucky enough to be able to remain in air-conditioned interior spaces, ordering… Read More The deadly intersection of labor exploitation and climate change

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Air pollution linked to rise in antibiotic resistance that imperils human health

Air pollution is helping to drive a rise in antibiotic resistance that poses a significant threat to human health worldwide, a global study suggests. The analysis, using data from more than 100 countries spanning nearly two decades, indicates that increased air pollution is linked with rising antibiotic resistance across every country and continent. It also… Read More Air pollution linked to rise in antibiotic resistance that imperils human health

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The lesson from the Greece wildfires? The climate crisis is coming for us all

The climate crisis is not about a single photogenic weather event. The climate crisis is war, it is poverty, it is radicalisation, it is the disappearance of the habitat families have lived in for generations, and it is the geopolitical and security fallout of collapsing ways of making a living. The result is a movement… Read More The lesson from the Greece wildfires? The climate crisis is coming for us all

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