Tag: ecology

The great Amazon land grab: how Brazil’s government is turning public land private

Imagine that several state legislators decide that Yellowstone National Park is too big. Also imagine that, working with federal politicians, they change the law to downsize the park by a million acres, which they sell in a private auction. Outrageous? Yes. Unheard of? No. It happens routinely and with increasing frequency in the Brazilian Amazon. The most… Read More The great Amazon land grab: how Brazil’s government is turning public land private

Dilip

George Monbiot: Carbon offsetting is not warding off environmental collapse – it’s accelerating it / Oliver Milman: Joe Manchin attracts global anger over climate crisis

There is nothing that cannot be corrupted, nothing good that cannot be transformed into something bad. And there is no clearer example than the great climate land grab. We now know that it’s not enough to leave fossil fuels in the ground and decarbonise our economies. We’ve left it too late. To prevent no more… Read More George Monbiot: Carbon offsetting is not warding off environmental collapse – it’s accelerating it / Oliver Milman: Joe Manchin attracts global anger over climate crisis

Dilip

Chemical pollution exceeds safe planetary limit

The production and release of plastics, pesticides, industrial compounds, antibiotics and other pollutants is now happening so fast and on such a large scale that it has exceeded the planetary boundary for chemical pollution, the safe limit for humanity, a new study claims. We asked Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez, a PhD candidate at Stockholm University and one… Read More Chemical pollution exceeds safe planetary limit

Dilip

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Is midnight upon us? Doomsday Clock panel to set risk of global catastrophe

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to unveil its measure of how close human civilisation is to the edge of extinctionOn 24 October 1962, an American nuclear chemist, Harrison Brown, started to pen a guest editorial for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists just as the Cuban missile crisis reached its climax. “I am writing on… Read More Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Is midnight upon us? Doomsday Clock panel to set risk of global catastrophe

Dilip

Malaysia: Buddhist monks fight to protect mountain home

A cool breeze sweeps through the Dhamma Sakyamuni Monastery. Sitting cross-legged on the polished stone floor, monks meditate silently under the gaze of a Buddha painted gold. Above them, stalactites hang from the rough limestone ceiling. This is one of the last remaining limestone cave temples in Malaysia. It sits nestled into the foot of Mount Kanthan, one of… Read More Malaysia: Buddhist monks fight to protect mountain home

Dilip

Oliver Milman: How the speed of climate change is unbalancing the insect world

The climate crisis is set to profoundly alter the world around us. Humans will not be the only species to suffer from the calamity. Huge waves of die-offs will be triggered across the animal kingdom as coral reefs turn ghostly white and tropical rainforests collapse. For a period, some researchers suspected that insects may be… Read More Oliver Milman: How the speed of climate change is unbalancing the insect world

Dilip

Last year the oceans absorbed heat equivalent to 7 Hiroshima atomic bombs detonating each second

I was fortunate to play a small part in a new study, just published in the journal Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, which shows that the Earth broke yet another heat record last year. Twenty-three scientists from around the world teamed up to analyze thousands of temperature measurements taken throughout the world’s oceans. The measurements, taken… Read More Last year the oceans absorbed heat equivalent to 7 Hiroshima atomic bombs detonating each second

Dilip

Bruno Latour: The pandemic is a warning: we must take care of the earth, our only home

The climate crisis resembles a huge planetary lockdown, trapping humanity within an ever-deteriorating environment. There is a moment when a never-ending crisis turns into a way of life. This seems to be the case with the pandemic. If so, it’s wise to explore the permanent condition in which it has left us. One obvious lesson is… Read More Bruno Latour: The pandemic is a warning: we must take care of the earth, our only home

Dilip

A green paradox: Deforesting the Amazon for wind energy

Balsa wood is used in Europe, and also more intensively in China, as a component in the construction of the blades of wind turbines. Already-installed wind turbines, with blades that stretch to 80 metres, can cover an area of approximately 21,000 square metres, which is equivalent to about three football pitches. More recent wind turbine designs can… Read More A green paradox: Deforesting the Amazon for wind energy

Dilip

US is world’s biggest plastic polluter // Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

The advent of cheap, versatile plastics has created “a global scale deluge of plastic waste seemingly everywhere we look”, the report states, with the US a leading contributor of disposable plastics that ends up entangling and choking marine life, harming ecosystems and bringing harmful pollution up through the food chain. Plastic waste has increased sharply… Read More US is world’s biggest plastic polluter // Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

Dilip