In a historic ruling, the European Court of Human Rights has found that Switzerland’s inadequate efforts to tackle climate change violated the human rights of its country’s citizens, represented by more than 2,000 older Swiss women. The landmark decision sets a powerful precedent for future climate-related lawsuits in Europe and around the world. “It is […]
Plastic pollution and global heating are caught in a “vicious circle” of one feeding the other, a new study by researchers from Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology has found. The mutually reinforcing relationship increases global heating, plastic waste, the degradation of materials and the leaching of chemicals into the biosphere, a press release from […]
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has issued a “red alert” as all major global climate records — greenhouse gas levels, near-surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, Antarctic sea ice cover, glacier retreat and sea level rise — were broken in 2023, a WMO press release said. Floods, swiftly intensifying tropical cyclones, heat waves, drought and […]
According to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), February 2024 was the planet’s ninth consecutive record-warm month. February’s average global temperature on land and the ocean’s surface was 2.52 degrees Fahrenheit above the century’s average of 53.8 degrees Fahrenheit — the warmest February in the 175-year NOAA planetary climate record. […]
California is not on track to meet its greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal for 2030, new data released by nonprofit think tank Next 10 and prepared by consulting firm Beacon Economics reveals. To do so, the state must triple its annual emissions reductions, the 2023 California Green Innovation Index said. “The increase in emissions following […]
The National Park Service (NPS) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have completed an air tour management plan for Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico. As part of the plan, commercial air tours will be banned in and around the national monument. Commercial air tours are a type of flight that visitors can pay to […]
Legal petitions have been filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by environmental groups and oil and gas interests challenging the Biden administration’s plan to offer additional Gulf of Mexico drilling leases. The congressionally mandated five-year plan includes three sales — the least number being offered since 1980, reported […]
Newly discovered documents confirm that the petroleum and automobile industries funded the early climate science of Charles David Keeling at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) from 1954 to 1956. Keeling became known for the “Keeling Curve,” which demonstrated the upward trajectory of the planet’s carbon dioxide levels. The documents show that industry leaders were […]
According to a new global policy report — The Economics of the Food System Transformation by the Food System Economics Commission (FSEC) — how food is produced and consumed worldwide is leading to environmental damage and health impacts that add up to about 12 percent of the world’s annual gross domestic product. The researchers found […]