Emissions Drop Equivalent to Covid Shutdowns Needed Every Two Years to Limit Warming to 2 Degrees C
Thu 1:44pmCarbon dioxide emissions must fall by the equivalent of a global lockdown roughly every two years for the next decade for the world to keep within safe limits of global heating, research has shown.Read more on E360 →Australian Miners Adopt Stricter Rules for Indigenous and Environmental Impacts
Wed 12:24pmAustralian mining companies will now be required to follow stricter rules governing the impacts of their projects on First Nations communities and the environment, according to new guidelines adopted by the Minerals Council of Australia, The Sydney Morning…Regulators Ban Fracking Permanently in the Four-State Delaware River Watershed
Mar 1, 2021, 11:37 amThe regulatory agency in charge of managing the Delaware River and its tributaries voted last week to permanently ban natural gas drilling and fracking within the entire four-state watershed, which supplies the drinking water for more than 13 million people in…How the Loss of Soil Is Sacrificing America’s Natural Heritage
Mar 1, 2021, 5:00 amA new study points to a stunning loss of topsoil in the Corn Belt — the result of farming practices that have depleted this once-fertile ground. Beyond diminished agricultural productivity and more carbon in the atmosphere, it is a catastrophic loss of an…Brazil Has Weakened Dozens of Environmental Laws During the Pandemic
Feb 24, 2021, 6:06 pmSince President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019, Brazil has approved 57 pieces of legislation that weaken environmental laws, from relaxing forest protections to declassifying the toxicity of dozens of pesticides, according to a new analysis…On U.S. East Coast, Has Offshore Wind’s Moment Finally Arrived?
Feb 24, 2021, 5:00 amAfter years of false starts, offshore wind is poised to take off along the East Coast. Commitments by states to purchase renewable power, support from the Biden administration, and billions in new investment are all contributing to the emergence of this…Noise Pollution Impacting Marine Animals Worse Than Previously Thought
Feb 22, 2021, 2:10 pmAnthropogenic noise pollution is plaguing our oceans and stressing marine fauna far more than previously understood, researchers concluded in a new analysis of more than 10,000 academic papers published in the journal Science. Human-generated noise disrupts…One-Third of Farmland in the U.S. Corn Belt Has Lost Its Topsoil
Feb 18, 2021, 5:33 pmMore than a third of farmland in the U.S. Corn Belt — nearly 100 million acres — has completely lost its carbon-rich topsoil due to erosion, according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The loss of…Why Drilling the Arctic Refuge Will Release a Double Dose of Carbon
Feb 18, 2021, 8:49 amIn the renewed debate over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one troubling impact of oil development has been overlooked: Disrupting the annual caribou migration will have a profound effect on the soil and release even more greenhouse gas into…An Illicit Trade in Brazil Is Sending Tiny Songbirds to Their Deaths
Feb 16, 2021, 7:38 amThousands of saffron finches are being snatched out of South American forests and sold in Brazil for use in brutal, illegal fighting rings. Lax wildlife laws have made it difficult for authorities to crack down on the lucrative trade, leaving traffickers and…Submarine Permafrost Has Been Overlooked as a Major Source of Greenhouse Gases, Scientists Warn
Feb 15, 2021, 1:17 pmScientists have found that permafrost buried beneath the Arctic Ocean holds 60 billion tons of methane and 560 billion tons of organic carbon — making it a major source of greenhouse gases not currently included in climate projections that could have a…Shell Plans to Expand Natural Gas Business Despite Climate Pledge
Feb 11, 2021, 2:57 pmShell has set new carbon emissions goals to become a net zero carbon energy company by 2050, but will continue to grow its gas business by more than 20 percent in the next few years. Read more on E360 →How Paving with Plastic Could Make a Dent in the Global Waste Problem
Feb 11, 2021, 5:00 amRoads in which waste plastic is melted down and mixed with paving materials are becoming more common around the world. Although for now they remain a niche technology, experts say the roads could become one of a diverse array of uses for discarded plastic.…As Plastic Pollution in Rivers Gets Worse, Species Are Increasingly Living on Litter
Feb 9, 2021, 4:40 pmScientists have long warned that the world’s major rivers and estuaries are hotspots for plastic waste, as trash and microparticles wash down tributaries and congregate before entering oceans. Now, new research has found that as this waste accumulates,…Assisting Evolution: How Far Should We Go to Help Species Adapt?
Feb 9, 2021, 5:00 amAn Australian project to help threatened marsupial species adapt to avoid predatory cats is among a host of ‘assisted evolution’ efforts based on the premise that it is no longer enough to protect species from change: Humans are going to have intervene to…Denmark Is Building an Artificial Island as a Clean Energy Hub
Feb 5, 2021, 9:00 amDenmark has approved a plan to build an artificial island 50 miles offshore in the North Sea to act as a clean energy hub that produces and stores wind energy , several news outlets reported. The island, equal in size to 18 football fields, will be linked to…California’s Rainy Season Now Starts a Month Later Than It Used To
Feb 4, 2021, 5:05 pmThe start of California’s rainy season has been getting progressively later in recent decades, and now begins a month after it did just 60 years ago, shifting from November to December, according to a new study published in the journal Geophysical Research…Water Warning: The Looming Threat of the World’s Aging Dams
Feb 3, 2021, 9:27 amTens of thousands of large dams across the globe are reaching the end of their expected lifespans, leading to a dramatic rise in failures and collapses, a new UN study finds. These deteriorating structures pose a serious threat to hundreds of millions of…Major European Lenders Back Out of Oil Trade in Ecuadorian Amazon
Jan 29, 2021, 10:00 amThree 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…World Losing Ice 57 Percent Faster Than In the 1990s, Study Finds
Jan 28, 2021, 2:39 pmThe 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…In a Refinery’s Ashes, Hope for an End to Decades of Pollution
Jan 28, 2021, 9:11 amAn 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…Tens of Millions of Birds Pass Through Just Two Western U.S. Corridors
Jan 27, 2021, 12:27 pmCalifornia’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…Avoiding a 'Ghastly Future': Hard Truths on the State of the Planet
Jan 27, 2021, 5:00 amA 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…A New Way to Track Endangered Wildlife Populations from Space
Jan 21, 2021, 4:52 pmScientists 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,…Biden to Make Environment Key Priority Among First-Day Actions
Jan 20, 2021, 1:02 pmJoe 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,…On U.S. Public Lands, Can Biden Undo What Trump Has Wrought?
Jan 20, 2021, 9:18 amPresident 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…More Than 400,000 U.S. Clean Energy Jobs Have Been Lost So Far During the Pandemic
Jan 15, 2021, 10:00 amThe 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…Scientists Say They Have Solved Desalination Mystery, Improving Efficiency
Jan 14, 2021, 2:09 pmScientists believe they have solved one of the biggest mysteries about desalination — exactly how reverse osmosis membranes work to remove salt and other chemicals from water — a breakthrough they say could help make the process more efficient and cheaper.…Forest Defenders: A Panamanian Tribe Regains Control of Its Lands
Jan 14, 2021, 9:28 amWith a landmark court ruling, the Naso people of Panama have won the rights to ancestral territory that includes two national reserves the tribe will now help manage. The victory comes as mounting evidence shows that Indigenous groups are often the best…As World’s Deltas Sink, Rising Seas Are Far from Only Culprit
Jan 13, 2021, 9:21 amAlthough climate change is often blamed for coastal inundation in places like the Bay of Bengal, other factors such as dam building and urbanization play an important role. Scientists say that more sustainable development policies can help blunt the impacts of…
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Welcome to EcoTopical Your daily eco-friendly green news aggregator.
Leaf through planet Earths environmental headlines in one convenient place. Read, share and discover the latest on ecology, science and green living from the web's most popular sites.
Leaf through planet Earths environmental headlines in one convenient place. Read, share and discover the latest on ecology, science and green living from the web's most popular sites.