Tag - pollution

 
 

POLLUTION

Activists hold placards during a rally ahead of environment day in Jakarta on June 4, 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 1, 2024
Green pledges lack ambition, say Indonesian youth ahead of vote
While candidates have spoken during campaigns about the urgent risks posed by climate change, in a new development, detail is missing from policies.
One way to cut the steel industry’s emissions is to recycle more iron and steel products than the world currently does.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2024
What steel decarbonization needs
One way to cut the industry's emissions is by recycling more iron and steel products than we currently do.
The most relevant measure to gauge plastic bag use isn’t how many carriers get used, but how much material is consumed and how much pollution is produced in their making.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 25, 2024
Plastic bag bans have failed in every way except one
Reusable plastic bags need to be used 52 times before its environmental impact drops below that of a disposable one, according to a 2018 Danish study.
Some 5 million people globally die of causes related to air pollution from fossil fuels each year and climate change has a huge impact on people's health and psychological well-being.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2024
We’re finally recognizing climate change’s mental health toll
Climate change's impact on health, including psychological well-being, is overwhelming. COP28 took stock of this and put youth at the center of discussions like never before.
A paper published in The Lancet in December found that plastics likely enter most of our major organs and even affect the good bacteria that makes up our microbiome.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2024
We don't know how worried we should be about nanoplastics
Nanoparticles can slip into the bloodstream, get into organs, and sneak into cells where they may cause harm.
Climate activists install a portrait of French President Emmanuel Macron at Trocadero Square in front of the Eiffel tower to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement, in December 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 12, 2024
We need to remain true to the pillars of green wisdom
While the Group of Seven countries bear the greatest CO2 responsibility, China, which is now the second-largest emitter in history, must be fully committed, too.
Columbia University researchers have found that on average, bottled water contain 110,000 to 370,000 tiny plastic particles in each liter, 90% of them nanoplastics.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jan 9, 2024
Bottled water has more plastic particles than previously thought
The discovery of nanoplastics, which could not be detected until recently, suggests that health concerns linked to plastic pollution may be dramatically underestimated.
Kotaro Seki, CEO of Ellange, in front of the truck that he uses to collect nets from fisheries
JAPAN / Society / OUR PLANET
Jan 7, 2024
Trash into treasure: Can fishing net waste be the future of fashion?
A pair of Japanese startups are looking to solve a problem for the nation's fisheries: What to do with old fishing nets.
Voters in countries representing more than 40% of the world’s population, including India, Indonesia and the U.S., will go to the polls between now and the end of 2024.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2023
Democracy and climate politics are set to collide next year
Voters in countries representing more than 40% of the world’s population will go to the polls between now and the end of next year.
Scientists discovered what they described as widespread and dangerous levels of toxic chromium in areas of Northern California severely burned by wildfires in 2019 and 2020.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 15, 2023
Wildfires are unleashing dangerous metals from soil, study shows
Firefighters and anyone living downwind of a wildfire would be at most immediate risk if chromium 6 becomes airborne.
Traffic along a highway amid heavy smog and pollution in New Delhi in November
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 7, 2023
As China enjoys cleaner air, India's pollution struggle continues
Huge swaths of northern India choke on clouds of polluted air during winter as temperatures drop, winds disappear and farmers set fields ablaze.
Workers organize used clothing for packaging at a warehouse near Barcelona on Aug. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 7, 2023
How to fix the carbon crisis in fast fashion
Positive partnerships between brands and manufacturers are crucial for the sector to achieve its net-zero goals.
While broad-based action at the COP28 summit is critical, the fact is that just a few key actors such as the U.S., China and India have the power to bring about a radical reduction in global emissions.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023
COP28 can deliver progress on climate change, but will it?
Committed global climate action at every level of government, the economy, and society is needed to tackle such a complex, multifaceted challenge.
A mother assists her child to breathe with the help of a nebuliser at the emergency ward of the government-run Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya children hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 10, 2023
'Like breathing poison': Delhi children hardest hit by smog
"Imagine telling a parent not to let their child go out and play in this toxic environment."
Pedestrians and shoppers walk past a branch of fashion retailer H&M in central Stockholm on July 17.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023
Sustainable cloth-maker Renewcell struggling amid slow adoption
Stock in Renewcell lost over 80% of its value in the last month and the firm has reported an operating loss of $17 million in nine months.
People wearing sun protection gear amid a heat wave walk on a street in Beijing in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 3, 2023
Climate's 'Catch-22': Cutting pollution heats up the planet
The removal of air pollution may have had a greater effect on temperatures in some Chinese cities than the warming from greenhouse gases.
PFAS substances can be found in firefighter foam, outdoor gear, artificial turf, medical equipment and countless other products.
WORLD
Oct 21, 2023
‘Forever chemical’ bans face hard truth: Many can’t be replaced
As lawmakers around the world weigh bans of "forever chemicals,” many manufacturers are pushing back, saying there often is no substitute.
An inspector from the International Atomic Energy Agency observes crates of fish to be taken as samples from Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Oct 19, 2023
IAEA inspectors test Fukushima fish
China and Russia have banned Japanese seafood imports since the discharge began but Japan says it is safe, a view backed by the IAEA.
While there should be a balance between entrepreneurial innovation and environmental responsibility, pollution should be the primary concern, not economic growth.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2023
Embracing the green growth mindset
Some high-carbon economic activities need to shrink while low-carbon, high-efficiency sectors need to grow.
Water treated through the Advanced Liquid Processing System and diluted with seawater flows from the upstream water tank to the downstream water tank at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant during its second release in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2023
Chinese scientists join Fukushima water review
Experts from China will join those from Canada, South Korea and the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency in collecting samples and marine creatures.

Longform

The sun shines from behind a waving Philippine flag at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial.
Eighty years after the Battle of Manila, old foes forge new ties