Latest Stories from Jamie
The refugee camp recycling plastic waste into furniture
The Sahara Desert has become a central dumping ground for plastic waste from surrounding refugee camps. One of which, on the western border of Algeria, is making a dent in the trash by recycling it into furniture and useful items. Like a lot of places around the globe, the Sahara Desert is chock full of plastic waste. You’ll no doubt have seen documentaries and movies showing its majestic sandy dunes stretching...
Apple faces £768m lawsuit for allegedly ‘throttling’ older iPhones
Up to 25 million Britons who owned an older iPhone model in 2017 may be able to claim damages from Apple. A consumer champion claims the tech giant deliberately ruined phone performances to push buyers towards new devices. When it comes to our phone devices, somewhat ironically, we’re the ones under the thumb. Over the last few years, phone usage has become more obsessive than ever. Up to five hours...
These eco-zeppelins could help to clean up the aviation industry
A small Bedford-based tech start-up called Hybrid Air Vehicles has just sold 10 environmentally friendly airships to a Spanish airliner. Could this be the early knockings of a cleaner aviation industry? As you’re no doubt aware by now, the aviation industry is a serious carbon emitter. Reportedly responsible for around 2% of all human-created pollution, the planes that fly us across oceans and all over the globe continue to create...
Hawaiian start-up pioneers world’s first ‘ocean-assisted’ carbon capture plant
While the majority of carbon capture efforts are focused on air pollution, the current version of this ‘ocean-assisted’ tech can capture CO2 at a cost of $475 per ton – which is cheaper than any land project to date. Along a remote stretch of Hawaiian coastline, a geoengineering start-up is pioneering ‘ocean-assisted’ carbon removal – which can both sequester emissions and help to reduce ocean acidification. Now, as you’re no doubt...
The technology addressing the ocean’s carbon acidity problem
Carbon sequestration is largely deemed as a good thing for the climate, but our oceans are becoming more acidic with every metric ton stored. Here’s how technology is helping to balance that. Geoengineers continue searching for ways to sequester more of our atmosphere’s carbon within the ocean, but as with everything in life, there’s both a ying and a yang. It turns out nearly a third of all CO2 emissions we...
Sea ice worryingly falls to record lows in the Antarctic Ocean
Preliminary data from satellites reveals Antarctica’s levels of sea ice have dropped to their lowest level in 40 years, when the first ever measurements were taken. What would hump day be at this point without a depressing dose of climate change news? This week, scientists have discovered that there is now the smallest ice coverage in the Antarctic Ocean since data started being measured in 1979. Using satellite imagery, the US National...
Funding needs for climate disasters rise ‘more than 800%’ in 20 years
As extreme climate weather events become more common and severe, the need for funding is constantly on the rise – specifically, by 800% in the last 20 years. As of today, around just half of the overall economic cost has been met. Right now, diplomats from the economically richest nations are convening in Germany to discuss global policy on ‘loss and damage.’ Climate change has driven a fivefold increase in...
Report reveals tobacco’s ‘devastating’ ecological impact
It’s common knowledge that smoking kills a ridiculous amount of people every year – eight million, to be exact. What we hear far less about, however, is the tobacco industry’s ‘devastating’ impact on the planet. If the inevitability of lung disease and emphysema aren’t high enough stakes to convince you to pack in the cigarettes, let’s try a different approach. The World Health Organisation just released a comprehensive report outlining...
Grizzlies and polar bears are breeding thanks to climate change
Rising temperatures are simultaneously driving grizzly bears north and polar bears south, prompting interbreeding between both species. Conservationists are weighing up the possibility of controlling genetic adaption to help animals of the future cope with climate change. From time to time, it’s good to remind ourselves that climate change isn’t just an imminent threat to humanity. The ramifications of a warming world are constantly throwing delicate ecosystems off balance, and mother...
Opinion – Companies must overhaul wasteful return policies
The environmental cost of company returns is frankly massive. Up to a quarter of such items end up in landfill, simultaneously hindering profits and the planet. Here’s why it doesn’t have to be this way. What do you do when those new Yeezy crocs come out the box a tad too snug, or that ‘khaki’ coat turns up in a garish lime green? You box the items back up and...
