Australia facing some of the most devastating floods in its history
Over the past weeks, freak rain storms have brought devastating floods to Australia. Spreading from Queensland to NSW, and now Sydney, residents have been urged to flee their homes as a civilian death count rises. A record-breaking ‘rain bomb’ has destroyed entire communities across Australia’s Eastern coast. Torrential rainfall...
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The dark side of lithium and our supposed electric future
Lithium offers the most promising avenue out of our current reliance on fossil fuels. But are we underestimating the level of ecological damage inflicted by mining it on a mass scale? Widely used in our electric devices, from mobile phones and laptops, to cars and aircraft, demand for lithium is...
Why we should talk more about Europe’s rapidly growing forests
With laser-like focus on deforestation in the Amazon, we’ve forgotten to celebrate the growth of forests around us and the job they’re doing to sustain our natural world. The Amazon rainforest tends to make headlines whenever wildfires begin, as entire ecosystems and species are irreversibly destroyed. But more frequently, it’s human-led...
Final IPCC report warns ‘now or never’ to prevent climate disaster
Climate scientists have provided something of a final warning in the latest IPCC report. Efforts to make emissions peak by 2025 must materialise ‘now or never’ to avoid devastating climate impacts. Good afternoon… humanity is running out of time. The third and final section of the IPCC’s comprehensive review of climate...
Edible food packaging is the future of snack time
Using seaweed and algae, several food manufacturers are starting to cut back on single-use plastic waste by making their wrappers fully edible. Ever finish your snack and wish you had a little something more to munch on? What if we told you that soon, you’ll be able to eat the...
Heatwaves at both Earth’s poles alarm climate researchers
Over the weekend, temperatures at both the Earth’s poles soared to between 30C and 40C higher than expected levels. If this becomes the norm, researchers are seriously concerned about an abrupt climate breakdown. At this time of year, the Antarctic should be rapidly cooling after its summer while the Arctic...
Could privatising the moon be the next human space venture?
A UK-based think tank wants to solve poverty on Earth by privatising the moon. Just in case anyone felt like we didn’t have the resources to deal with problems on Earth, economists are now suggesting that the moon could be of help. A British, neoliberal think-tank called The Adam Smith Institute says that our moon should be divided into sections of land and allocated to various countries. Once this is...
Major shipping routes could be changed to protect blue whales
Off the coast of Sri Lanka, a unique pod of blue whales circulate the waters all year round. Environmentalists are calling for shipping routes to be adjusted to keep them safe. In 2008, a unique and endangered pod of whales was discovered in the Indian Ocean. Most blue whales typically migrate far distances for food, but the group living off the tip of Sri Lanka are believed to stay in the...
Protests erupt in Brazil over Bolsonaro’s anti-environment bills
Thousands of demonstrators have gathered in the country’s capital to oppose what activists call a ‘death combo’ of five ecocidal proposals being considered by congress. With Brazil the world’s biodiversity champion, you’d assume its leaders would be at the forefront of climate action. Yet President Jair Bolsonaro, the right-wing ‘Trump of the Tropics’ as he’s been referred to, is flagrantly contrair, responsible for destroying about 10,000 square miles of...
There is no real snow at this year’s Winter Olympics
As climate change causes shorter winters and warmer summers, what will happen to the world’s biggest snow sports competition? This year’s Winter Olympics may look no different to any other from the outside - but this is the first time in history where close to 100 percent of the snow on the mountains is artificial. On the man-made slopes of Beijing’s Yanqing district, snow guns have already used over 200 million...
