Ecology
Huge China Reforestation Campaign Kicks Into High Gear
If you want a feel-good story about a country that takes climate change seriously and is willing to take significant steps to protect the environment, China is a good place to start. Long the poster child for poisonous air, foul…
2017 Second Hottest Year On Record, After Only 2016
2017 was the second hottest year on record with regard to global average temperatures — after only 2016 — according to a new report from the Europe-based Copernicus Climate Change Service. The high level of heat was accompanied by abnormally…
Trump Plan to Reduce Marine Monuments Could Put Vital Ecosystems at Risk
A report from United States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke recommends shrinking three ocean monuments and opening them up to commercial fishing. The monuments, two in the Pacific Ocean and one in the Atlantic Ocean, are undersea treasures according…
Sweden Hails New Climate Act as ‘Most Ambitious in the World’
Sweden’s ambitious new climate change legislation entered into force this week, setting out a framework for the Scandinavian nation to become a net zero greenhouse gas emitter by 2045. The new Climate Act, which became law on 1 January 2018,…
California Becomes First US State to Ban Incandescent Lightbulbs
California became the first US state to completely ban incandescent light bulbs on Monday, after new energy efficiency standards for lighting came into effect. The rules, which California is introducing two years ahead of the rest of the US, effectively…
Low-Carbon Electricity Outstrips Fossil Fuel Electricity in 2017
2017 was a record-breaking year for clean electricity in the UK, with new analysis from Carbon Brief today revealing more power came from low-carbon sources than all fossil fuels combined for the first time since the industrial revolution. Between 2009…
Vehicles are Now America’s Biggest CO2 Source but EPA is Tearing Up Regulations
Some of the most common avatars of climate change – hulking power stations and billowing smokestacks – may need a slight update. For the first time in more than 40 years, the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in the…