Environment
- Salmon-Farming Giant Faces Billion-Dollar Lawsuitwww.huffpost.com Salmon-Farming Giant Sued For Allegedly Defrauding The U.S. Government
"It's pure fraud. It's totally illegal," the plaintiff's lawyer, Brendon DeMay, told HuffPost.
- New Dutch right-wing coalition to cut research, innovation, and environmental protections
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/15823220
> >### Four parties hammer out agreement filled with bad news for scientists > > ------------- > > >The nationalist, populist Party for Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, won 23% of the vote in the November 2023 House elections, putting Wilders—once a fringe figure who proposed a “head rag tax” on women wearing headscarves—close to the center of power. Since then, Wilders has been in contentious and often chaotic negotiations to form a government with three other parties, including the center-right party led by outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte, which saw its electoral share shrink to 15%. The governing plan endorsed by the four parties, which marks a crucial step in forming a new government, includes a series of harsh anti-immigration measures. Centrist and left-wing parties fiercely criticized the plan during this week’s debate. > > -------------- > > >Another sharp turn comes in environmental policy. The Netherlands, a major agricultural exporter, has more farm animals per square kilometer than any other country in Europe, and their waste emits high levels of nitrogen compounds that violate EU rules and harm the country’s ecosystems. Past government plans to tackle the issue have triggered massive protests by farmers and the rise of a new party, the Farmer-Citizen Movement, that won 4.7% of the vote and is part of the new coalition. > >
- www.theregister.com Microsoft's carbon emissions up nearly 30% thanks to AI
Company will require certain suppliers to run on 100% carbon-free electricity ... by 2030
- abcnews.go.com Facility seen polluting Malaysian river part of anti-pollution program promoted by US plastics industry
A plastics facility accused of polluting a Malaysian river is tied to Operation Clean Sweep, an anti-pollution program promoted by the U.S. plastics industry.
- abcnews.go.com Controversial methods to cool earth by reflecting sunlight gain traction as global temperatures rise
Relatively untouched ideas are gaining momentum as potential short-term solutions to lower Earth's temperature.
- finance.yahoo.com Biden Bans the Use of Fossil Fuels in New Federal Buildings
(Bloomberg) -- Fossil fuel use will be banned in new federal buildings starting in 2030 under a Biden administration rule that the natural gas industry fought for more than a decade. Most Read from BloombergBiden’s Gains Against Trump Vanish on Deep Economic Pessimism, Poll ShowsTaylor Swift Is Proo...
- phys.org Ocean currents threaten to collapse Antarctic ice shelves, study finds
A new study published in Nature Communications has revealed that the interplay between meandering ocean currents and the ocean floor induces upwelling velocity, transporting warm water to shallower depths. This mechanism contributes substantially to the melting of ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea of ...
- www.latimes.com California's war on plastic bag use seems to have backfired. Lawmakers are trying again
Ten years after California passed landmark legislation to reduce plastic bag use, the tonnage of discarded bags has skyrocketed. What happened?
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/11906510
> It was a decade ago when California became the first state in the nation to ban single-use plastic bags, ushering in a wave of anti-plastic legislation from coast to coast. > > But in the years after California seemingly kicked its plastic grocery sack habit, material recovery facilities and environmental activists noticed a peculiar trend: Plastic bag waste by weight was increasing to unprecedented levels. > > According to a report by the consumer advocacy group CALPIRG, 157,385 tons of plastic bag waste was discarded in California the year the law was passed. By 2022, however, the tonnage of discarded plastic bags had skyrocketed to 231,072 — a 47% jump. Even accounting for an increase in population, the number rose from 4.08 tons per 1,000 people in 2014 to 5.89 tons per 1,000 people in 2022. > > The problem, it turns out, was a section of the law that allowed grocery stores and large retailers to provide thicker, heavier-weight plastic bags to customers for the price of a dime.
- Given your zip code, The Earth911 site finds nearby places to recycle stuff
WELCOME TO THE EARTH911 RECYCLING SEARCH!
With over 350 materials and 100,000+ listings, we maintain one of North America's most extensive recycling databases.
- www.radicalphilosophy.com Jason W. Moore · Nature in the limits to capital (and vice versa) (2015)
Of all the varieties of crisis thinking, ecological crisis is perhaps the least developed. It is certainly the least conceptualized. To be sure, there is no scarcity of empirically rich analyses of biophysical shifts at every scale. But ecological crisis ...
- corporateeurope.org Crying wolf pays off for chemicals industry | Corporate Europe Observatory
As politicians get ready to cosy up with Big Toxics at a private event in a chemicals factory to discuss a new 'European Industrial Deal', Corporate Europe Observatory looks at how the Green Deal's proposals to reduce and replace toxic substances that harm health and ecosystems, have been delayed an...
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/12474306
> ! > > >As politicians get ready to cosy up with Big Toxics at a private event in a chemicals factory to discuss a new 'European Industrial Deal', Corporate Europe Observatory looks at how the Green Deal's proposals to reduce and replace toxic substances that harm health and ecosystems, have been delayed and sidelined. This is the result of chemicals lobbying including an industry-commissioned study that has scaremongered over the impacts of new regulations. > > > ! > > ! >
- www.theguardian.com Revealed: the 1,200 big methane leaks from waste dumps trashing the planet
The huge leaks of the potent greenhouse gas will doom climate targets, experts say, but stemming them would rapidly reduce global heating
- eos.org How Did We Miss 20% of Greenland’s Ice Loss? - Eos
The ice loss was hidden in places existing monitoring methods can’t reach, such as hard-to-map fjords. Machine learning helped scientist revise mass loss estimates and uncover patterns in glacial retreat.
- EXPERT REACTION: UN report on migratory species shows shocking state of wildlife
EXPERT REACTION: UN report on migratory species shows shocking state of wildlife
Nearly half (44%) of the world’s migratory species are showing population decline, according to the first-ever report on the State of the World’s Migratory Species by the Convention on the Conservati
- www.tomshardware.com Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power — government now requiring commercial miners to report energy consumption
The U.S government wants to crack down on the ballooning energy consumption of Bitcoin miners.
- www.desmog.com Revealed: The Climate Denial Network Behind ‘Classic Astroturf’ Farmers’ Campaign
A network of climate science deniers has been accused of “hijacking” rural concerns over a new social media campaign “to save the farming industry”. ‘No Farmers, No Food’ has gained over 50,000 followers on X in the fortnight since its launch, which was framed as a response to the widespread f...
- www.theguardian.com Atlantic Ocean circulation nearing ‘devastating’ tipping point, study finds
Collapse in system of currents that helps regulate global climate would be at such speed that adaptation would be impossible
- sentientmedia.org ‘The Smell of Money’ Film Is Bringing Together Environmental and Food Justice Advocates
A new documentary chronicles the damage hog farm pollution has caused communities of Eastern North Carolina.
- www.theguardian.com ‘Symbol of polarisation’: EU scraps plans to halve use of pesticides
Move is among bloc’s latest environmental concessions to farmers as protests continue across Europe
- www.theguardian.com Australian red meat industry says it doesn’t need to meet its self-imposed net zero target
Meat and Livestock Australia announced a 2030 net zero target in 2017, which experts say is ‘effectively not possible’
>Prof Mark Howden, the director of the Australian National University Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, said the sector’s net zero target is “effectively not possible”.
>“It’s pretty well embedded in the public consciousness that red meat is high profile in terms of greenhouse gas emissions per serve,” Howden said.
>“I suspect the industry saw this as a fundamental threat to their future … A few years ago everybody was kind of jumping on the net zero bandwagon without actually thinking through what it actually meant,” he said.
>The CSIRO found the industry would fall short of meeting its net zero target, and instead recommended the adoption of a “climate-neutral” target that would require a reduction of methane emissions rather their complete elimination.
- www.theguardian.com Move to sustainable food systems could bring $10tn benefits a year, study finds
Existing production destroys more value than it creates due to medical and environmental costs, researchers say
- earth.org EU Delays Key Agricultural Policies Amid Mounting Pressure from European Farmers | Earth.Org
Unfair competition from the import sector, rising costs, and new green rules tabled by the EU have sparked farmers' protests in recent weeks.
- themessenger.com Over 40% of Tree Species Are Heading for Extinction
The study finds that two-thirds of trees in a critical biodiversity hotspot are threatened, suggesting the risk to trees worldwide is grossly underestimated
- news.bloomberglaw.com US Becomes Top LNG Exporter After Overtaking Australia, Qatar
The US has become the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas for the first time, with 2023 shipments overtaking leading suppliers Australia and Qatar.
- phys.org Ecosystem benefits to humanity expected to decline by 9% by 2100
As climate change redistributes terrestrial ecosystems across the globe, the world's natural capital is expected to decrease, causing a 9% loss of ecosystem services by 2100. That's according to a study of natural capital published in the journal Nature led by scientists at the University of Califor...
- phys.org Forest fragmentation is changing the shape of Amazonian trees, finds study
Due to clear-cutting, the area of undisturbed rainforests is decreasing. At the edges of deforested areas, temperatures rise, and there is more light. Trees are able to adapt to changes in their living conditions and environment, but how does environmental change affect the shape of trees in the tro...
Due to clear-cutting, the area of undisturbed rainforests is decreasing. At the edges of deforested areas, temperatures rise, and there is more light. Trees are able to adapt to changes in their living conditions and environment, but how does environmental change affect the shape of trees in the tropical rainforest? To date there has been no overall understanding of this.
Associate Professor Eduardo Maeda from the University of Helsinki coordinated an international project investigating tree shapes on the edges of the tropical rainforest. Matheus Nunes, who previously worked at the University of Helsinki and is now active at the University of Maryland, headed a study where data were collected through terrestrial laser scanning to model Amazonian trees.
The findings were recently published in Nature Communications. The study clearly demonstrated that trees growing on forest edges are shaped differently from those growing deep in the forest.
- www.politico.com Greens erupt as fossil fuel ‘phaseout’ is dropped from proposed climate deal
“COP28 is now on the verge of complete failure,” former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said. But organizers of the summit in Dubai urged nations to be flexible and compromise.
- www.theguardian.com Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels to hit record high
Projected rate of warming has not improved in past two years, analysis shows
- www.theregister.com World’s largest nuclear fusion reactor comes online in Japan
JT-60SA produces largest volume of plasma ever made by humans, paves way for ITER
- www.commondreams.org Al Gore Says Fossil Fuel Industry Has 'Captured the COP Process'
The former U.S. vice president accused the United Arab Emirates of "abusing the public's trust" by naming the CEO of its national oil company as president of COP28.
- newatlas.com ‘Not right now’: Key marine species turned off sex by plastic chemicals
A new study has found that chemical additives in everyday plastic might be stopping – or, at best, interrupting – the reproductive habits of a shrimp-like species that is key to the marine food chain. The findings provide a different perspective on the potential damage caused by specific pollutants.
- Vietnam Relied on Environmentalists to Secure Billions. Then It Jailed Them.
Original article here - https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/28/world/asia/vietnam-cop28-environment.html
- www.theguardian.com Motor emissions could have fallen by over 30% without SUV trend, report says
Global fall averaged 4.2% between 2010 and 2022 but would have been far more if vehicle sizes stayed same
- www.theguardian.com Revealed: Saudi Arabia’s grand plan to ‘hook’ poor countries on oil
Climate scientists say fossil fuel use needs to fall rapidly – but oil-rich kingdom is working to drive up demand
- www.theguardian.com ‘Insanity’: petrostates planning huge expansion of fossil fuels, says UN report
Plans by nations including Saudi Arabia, the US and UAE would blow climate targets and ‘throw humanity’s future into question’
The world’s fossil fuel producers are planning expansions that would blow the planet’s carbon budget twice over, a UN report has found. Experts called the plans “insanity” which “throw humanity’s future into question”.
The energy plans of the petrostates contradicted their climate policies and pledges, the report said. The plans would lead to 460% more coal production, 83% more gas, and 29% more oil in 2030 than it was possible to burn if global temperature rise was to be kept to the internationally agreed 1.5C. The plans would also produce 69% more fossil fuels than is compatible with the riskier 2C target.
The countries responsible for the largest carbon emissions from planned fossil fuel production are India (coal), Saudi Arabia (oil) and Russia (coal, oil and gas). The US and Canada are also planning to be major oil producers, as is the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is hosting the crucial UN climate summit Cop28, which starts on 30 November.
- phys.org Governments should stop converting land use, says UN scientist
Governments need to stop allowing land to be converted in the face of rising global consumption, a leading UN scientist has warned, as data shows the world is off track to meet land degradation targets.
