Archive for January 2021
Major European Lenders Back Out of Oil Trade in Ecuadorian Amazon
Three major European banks — Credit Suisse, ING, and BNP Paribas — have announced they will no longer finance the trade of oil extracted from the Amazon Sacred Headwaters region in Ecuador. The decision is seen as a major victory for environmental and Indigenous rights activists, who campaigned heavily to stop the international financing of fossil fuel development in the region, Reuters reported.
Read MoreWorld Losing Ice 57 Percent Faster Than In the 1990s, Study Finds
The world has lost an estimated 28 trillion metric tons of ice since the mid-1990s as rising global temperatures have sped up the melting of sea ice, ice sheets, and glaciers, according to a new study published in the journal The Cryosphere. The annual melt rate has jumped 57 percent in the past three decades, the research found, from 800 billion metric tons per year in the 1990s to 1.2 trillion tons today.
Read MoreIn a Refinery’s Ashes, Hope for an End to Decades of Pollution
An old industrial site in Philadelphia is being converted into a vast e-commerce distribution center, a trend being seen in other U.S. cities. But the developers of these brownfields must confront a legacy of toxic pollution and neglect of surrounding communities of color.
Read MoreTens of Millions of Birds Pass Through Just Two Western U.S. Corridors
California’s Central Valley and the Colorado River Delta host tens of millions birds every year during the spring migration, according to a new study published in the journal Ornithological Applications. The findings highlight the regions as critical corridors for conservation, with up to 80 percent of some species’ populations passing through the two areas.
Read MoreAvoiding a ‘Ghastly Future’: Hard Truths on the State of the Planet
A group of the world’s top ecologists have issued a stark warning about the snowballing crisis caused by climate change, population growth, and unchecked development. Their assessment is grim, but big-picture societal changes on a global scale can still avert a disastrous future.
Read MoreA New Way to Track Endangered Wildlife Populations from Space
Scientists have developed a new technique for remotely surveying elephants and other wildlife that is quicker and has the same accuracy as human counts done on the ground or in low-flying airplanes. The system, which uses satellite images and deep learning, could help improve the monitoring of endangered species in habitats across the globe.
Read MoreBiden to Make Environment Key Priority Among First-Day Actions
Joe Biden is set for a flurry of action to combat the climate crisis on his first day as U.S. president by immediately rejoining the Paris climate agreement and blocking the Keystone XL pipeline, although experts have warned lengthier, and harder, environmental battles lie ahead in his presidency.
Read MoreOn U.S. Public Lands, Can Biden Undo What Trump Has Wrought?
President Joe Biden has an ambitious public lands agenda, vowing to ban new oil and gas drilling on federal territory and restore protections for key areas. But because of rules changes and a conservative makeover of the courts, reversing the Trump legacy will not be easy.
Read MoreMore Than 400,000 U.S. Clean Energy Jobs Have Been Lost So Far During the Pandemic
The clean energy sector in the United States lost 429,000 jobs last year due to the economic impacts of Covid-19, with the industry hitting its lowest number of workers since 2015, according to a new analysis of federal unemployment filings. Based on the industry’s current growth rates, it could take well into 2023 for clean energy jobs to reach their pre-pandemic levels.
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