Billionaire Bloomberg to fund $5m public health projects in 40 cities worldwide
Exclusive: Melbourne, Accra and Ulaanbaatar among cities to benefit from funding pledged by former New York mayor to tackle issues from air pollution to obesity Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire bête noire of both the sugar industry and the tobacco industry, famously fought for a ban on the sale of large-sized colas and other sweet drinks […]
Chinese appetite for totoaba fish bladder kills off rare porpoise
Only 30 vaquita are left in Gulf of California as pirate fishermen net them when fishing for highly valued totoaba maws The world’s rarest marine mammal is on the verge of extinction due to the continuing illegal demand in China for a valuable fish organ, an undercover investigation has revealed. There are no more than […]
NY Times’ Stephens can’t see the elephant in the room on climate change | Dana Nuccitelli
Hint: the elephant is the obstructionist political party’s symbol There was tremendous outcry when the New York Times hired opinion columnist Bret Stephens, who has a long history of making misinformed comments about climate change. Stephens didn’t assuage those fears when he devoted his first column to punching hippies, absurdly suggesting that our lack of […]
Large-scale solar industry takes off as 12 new plants secure finance
Support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency has helped put large-scale solar on a solid footing despite cuts to its own funding Australia’s large-scale solar industry now appears to be on solid ground, with all 12 plants recently awarded grant funding by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency reaching “financial close” this month. That means they […]
Drug money destroying swaths of forest in Central America – study
Cocaine traffickers’ efforts to launder profits by creating agricultural land results in loss of millions of acres, researchers say Cocaine traffickers attempting to launder their profits are responsible for the disappearance of millions of acres of tropical forest across large swaths of Central America, according to a report. The study, published on Tuesday in the […]
38 million pieces of plastic waste found on uninhabited South Pacific island
Henderson Island, part of the Pitcairn group, is covered by 18 tonnes of plastic – the highest density of anthropogenic debris recorded anywhere in the world One of the world’s most remote places, an uninhabited coral atoll, is also one of its most polluted. Henderson Island, a tiny landmass in the eastern South Pacific, has […]
The sad demise of trees in our streets | Letters
The privatisation of public space through redevelopment is the main culprit, writes Michael Ball. Plus additional letters from Marie Paterson, Professor Steven Rose and Beryl Wilkins Re Ian Jack (We hardly notice them. But street trees are monuments to city life, 13 May), part of the Victorian heritage of the public realm were 8 million […]
Diesel emissions scandal causes 38,000 early deaths a year, study finds
Global inventory of nitrogen oxide emissions shows highly polluting diesel cars are ‘urgent public health issue’ The global human health impact of the diesel emissions scandal has been revealed by new research showing a minimum of 38,000 people a year die early due to the failure of diesel vehicles to meet official limits in real […]
UK faces sharp rise in destructive wind storms due to global warming
If climate change heats world by more than 1.5C, damaged buildings are likely to increase by over 50% across Midlands, Yorkshire and Northern Ireland The UK is set to reap the whirlwind of climate change with the huge damage caused by wind storms expected to increase sharply, according to new analysis. Even the minimum global […]
BP shareholders urged to reject chief's £9m pay package
Campaigners claim strategy appears ‘misaligned’ with climate change threat but another successful revolt deemed unlikely BP shareholders are being urged to vote against executive pay packages this week on the grounds they are too high and not taking climate change seriously. The UK-based firm suffered a rare and humiliating shareholder rebellion last year when chief […]