Malaysia returns plastic trash to wealthy countries

Malaysia will no longer allow other countries to dump their plastic waste on its land. The country has successfully returned 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mostly wealthy nations since the end of last year. 

Climate Change Takes Center Stage in Davos

The number of people who are talking about fossil fuels as a real concern has increased dramatically over the last 12 to 24 months. Awareness of these issue may be growing, but global emissions are continuing to rise.

Australia's Wildfires Are Carrying Smoke Around The Globe

NASA released a radar animation that shows smoke from the fires 6,800 miles away in Chile. The skies over Chile have turned grey and hazy. Argentina has also seen sunsets tinged with red from the smoke. 

Australia had its hottest and driest year on record

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has released its annual climate statement for 2019, and found that last year was both the hottest and driest on record for the continent.

Australian bushfires point to an ominous pattern

Apocalyptic scenes are playing out across Australia as bushfires have burned millions of acres and ravaged more than 1,000 homes in New South Wales alone. The new normal is not only more lethal, it's also harder to predict.

The global soda tax experiment

They’re cloyingly sweet, nutritionally empty—and, increasingly, subject to taxation. More than 35 countries and seven cities in the US — now impose a tax on soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages, and several more places are considering it.

Depression and suicide linked to air pollution

Five studies found that a 10µg/m3 increase in the average level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution people were exposed to over long periods was associated with an approximately 10 percent increase in their odds of depression.

Recent rise in CFC emissions could delay ozone hole healing

The recently discovered increase in emissions of trichlorofluoromethane (CFC-11) may delay the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole by over a decade if it continues, suggests a modelling study.

Amazon deforestation paces ahead of recent historical norm

INPE’s satellite-based short-term deforestation detection system has recorded 8,683 square kilometers of forest clearing since January 1, the highest on record since the agency started releasing monthly data in 2007. 2019’s figure is 79% higher than a year ago.

California coastal waters rising in acidity at alarming rate

Waters off the California coast are acidifying twice as fast as the global average, scientists found, threatening major fisheries and sounding the alarm that the ocean can absorb only so much more of the world’s carbon emissions.

The wealthiest countries let us all down at the UN climate talks

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, Costa Rica’s minister for energy and environment, specifically blamed the United States, Brazil, and Australia for blocking progress by insisting on climate language unacceptable to most countries.

Excessive antibiotic use for children in low income countries

Between 2007 and 2017, children in eight low- and middle-income countries received, on average, 25 antibiotic prescriptions from birth through age 5 - up to five times higher than the already high levels observed in high-income settings. 

High cost of fossil fuel pollution on children's health

The study reports monetary estimates for the main children health problems that are consequences of early exposure to air pollution, 80 percent of which is attributable to burning of coal, oil, diesel and gas.

Arctic Temperatures in 2019 Second Warmest Ever Recorded

The NOAA report found that the average North Pole temperature from October 2018 to September 2019 was 1.9 degrees Celsius higher than the 1981-2010 average. Scientists have dubbed the warming phenomenon Arctic amplification.

Oil industry is spending billions on increasing plastics production

Petrochemical manufacturers are building 11 new ethylene plants on the Gulf Coast, with capacity for polyethylene growing by 30 percent as developing nations' demand for petrochemical/chemical products continues to increase.