An area of forest the size of France has regrown around the world over the past 20 years, showing that regeneration in some places is paying off, a new analysis has found. Nearly 59m hectares of forests have regrown since 2000, the research found, providing the potential to soak up and store 5.9 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide… Read More Forest the size of France regrown worldwide over 20 years, study finds
In the past year, Roc Sandford has left the tiny Scottish island which is his off-grid home only once, to get a Covid vaccination. The rest of the time he has been alone with the birds, sheep and open skies. His days are busy but evenings can be lonely; cooking for one is “very sad”,… Read More Harriet Sherwood: The man orchestrating climate protest … from a shed in the Hebrides
The world’s glaciers are melting at an accelerating rate, according to a comprehensive new study. A French-led team assessed the behaviour of nearly all documented ice streams on the planet. The researchers found them to have lost almost 270 billion tonnes of ice a year over the opening two decades of the 21st Century. The… Read More Jonathan Amos: World's glaciers melting at a faster pace
We see how our forests are turning into large mud pools. We see how the sources of our rivers are silting up and how their courses are diverting. We see how the tree shadows begin to disappear, how the harvested fruits are diminishing, and how the crystalline water of the Tapajós River, of the igarapés – the… Read More Val Munduruku: How I took the fight to save the Amazon to the world stage
I grew up and learned about caring for nature thanks to a pilot programme (Fatima Experimental Center) for the conservation of Amazonian fauna run by the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza (OPIP). Today, Pastaza Kikin Kichwa Runakuna (Pakkiru – the current name for OPIP, my home organisation) consists of more than 180 grassroots communities and 13 associations,… Read More Andrés Tapia: Oil exploitation is threatening the Ecuadorian rainforest – and the planet
Global carbon dioxide emissions are set to surge dangerously this year as the global economy undergoes a huge recovery. In a new report, the International Energy Agency estimates that carbon emissions from energy use are on track to spike by 1.5 billion tonnes in 2021, as heavy coal consumption in Asia, and in China in particular,… Read More Dire warning for the planet: Coal is powering the economic recovery // Welcome that kind of activism: US climate envoy John Kerry on Disha Ravi
COVID-19 is not a random event. It is a symptom of a global economic system that is destroying the living planet and killing off our magnificent wildlife. COVID-19 might be the first pandemic many of us have experienced. But unless we change course, it will almost certainly not be the last. So before we spend… Read More George Monbiot: In 2008, we bailed out the banks. In 2021, we need to bail out the planet
More than a third of the vast floating platforms of ice surrounding Antarctica could be at risk of collapsing and releasing “unimaginable amounts” of water into the sea if global temperatures reach 4C above pre-industrial levels, UK scientists say. Researchers from the University of Reading said that limiting the temperature rise to 2C could halve the area at… Read More Third of Antarctic ice shelves ‘will collapse amid 4C global heating’
The year is 2050. Walk out of the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas, and drive north across the sun-baked scrub where a few remaining oil pumpjacks nod lazily in the heat, and then you’ll see it: a glittering palace rising out of the pancake-flat ground. The land here is mirrored: the choppy silver-blue… Read More Frank Swain: The device that reverses CO2 emissions
NB: Anyone who still needs evidence that capitalism is the structural form of nihilism may reflect on these facts: DS Banks funneled more money into fossil fuels in 2020 than in 2016, according to a report by the Rainforest Action Network. JPMorgan, Citi and Wells Fargo were the biggest financiers from 2016 to 2020. Funding of the companies… Read More SOPHIE KIDERLIN: The biggest banks have poured $3.8 trillion into fossil fuels since 2016. J P Morgan tops the list of contributors
