China
Tourists Are Trashing the World’s Tallest Mountain, So China Has Banned Them From Its Base Camp
China has closed its Everest base camp to tourists because of a buildup of trash on the world’s tallest mountain. The move comes as the Tibet Autonomous Region Sports Bureau said it had collected 8.4 metric tons (approximately 9.3 U.S.…
We Are Eating Large Wild Animals into Extinction
Much of the planet’s megafauna is being driven extinct because of the usual causes: habitat loss and rampant poaching for body parts like horns, bones and tusks. But there is another reason large vertebrates are going extinct: people keep on…
Insects Could Go Extinct Within a Century, With ‘Catastrophic’ Consequences for Life on Earth
More than 40 percent of the world’s insects could go extinct in the next few decades, according to a report that lead author Francisco Sánchez-Bayo told CNN was the first global review of the threats facing the class that makes…
What Does ’12 Years to Save the Planet’ Really Mean?
It’s a number that’s been thrown around a lot recently. There’s a danger it will be misunderstood. When I wrote about a report suggesting the pace of decarbonization needs to treble, I also mentioned the recent IPCC report which has…
Seeds on the Moon Started to Sprout for the First Time — but Quickly Died
China has taken a major step toward long-term space exploration. Earlier this month, the Chinese moon probe Chang’e 4 carried a container with cotton, mustard and potato seeds, yeast and fruit fly eggs to the moon’s far side (facing away…
Vital Ecosystems in Tidal Flats Lost to Development and Rising Sea Levels
Coastal development and sea level rise are causing the decline of tidal flats along the world’s coastlines, according to research that has mapped the ecosystems for the first time. Scientists from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and the…
UN: We Must End All Subsidies for Fossil Fuels
To keep voters and consumers happy, governments around the world spend between $160 billion and $400 billion each year on subsidies for the production and use of coal, oil and gas. The aim, of course, is to keep the prices…