Supreme Court limits the E.P.A’s power to control pollution
After stripping away constitutional protections for abortion and expanding gun rights, justices have issued yet another momentous ruling – one that jeopardises the federal government’s ability to regulate emissions. On Thursday, the US Supreme Court sharply limited the E.P.A’s ability to regulate carbon pollution from fossil fuel-fired power plants, making...
Current in Planet
Is reverting back to basics inevitable to save our planet?
Centuries of optimising our daily habits to save time, money, and effort has seen our planet pay the environmental cost. Can going back to old ways of life be the only way to reverse the damage? For centuries, humanity has chipped away at finding ways to make daily life easier....
Recyclable and biodegradable Covid test kits are in the works
Award-winning design and innovation consultants at Morrama have developed a concept for Covid tests that are both recyclable and biodegradable. Last November, ocean-dwelling plastic waste deriving from the pandemic was estimated at being over 26,000 tonnes. That’s more than the weight of 2,000 double decker buses. No one is happy about...
Could olivine rocks help our carbon capture efforts?
As climate scientists search for feasible ways to remove carbon dioxide from our atmosphere, a plentiful type of rock called olivine – and the process of chemical mineralisation – is providing an exciting lead. It’s looking increasingly likely that achieving our net zero goals will depend not only on green...
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...
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 we headed towards extreme climate activism?
In the last month alone, two deadly climate change demonstrations have taken place in the US and UK. As most governments remain slow to act on environmental matters, is climate extremism inevitable? British climate scientist James Lovelock once said that climate change should be viewed as a war, and in war ‘democracy can be put on hold’. It’s not news to anyone that climate activists have started going great lengths to...
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...
EU citizens could sue governments over air pollution
A European Court of Justice advisor has confirmed that governments could be held liable if they do not meet their promises to improve air quality. Forget betting on the football or waiting for your tax rebate to come through, why not sue your national government for allowing local air pollution levels to reach dangerous levels? Okay, I’m only half joking – but when the World Health Organisation announced that 99...
Egypt launches major environmental project ahead of COP27
The East African nation will host the next world climate conference in November. It’s leading by example by launching a new mangrove reforestation project. Remember when the UK hosted COP26 just weeks after being exposed for shipping over half of its plastic waste to be burned overseas? That was awkward. This public knowledge combined with its poor event planning saw Britain come under much scrutiny for not leading by...
