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Category: Climate, Environment & Pollution (Page 1 of 29)

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.

Noise pollution caused by oil and gas exploration threatens the survival of Norway’s whales

2024-12-05 /

Miranda Bryan, writing in The Guardian »

Unlike the majority of humans, who see with their eyes, in the darkness of the ocean whales and dolphins see with sound. It is like going into a dark room and scanning the room with a torch, she says, only for somebody to suddenly turn on a big light. “You get blinded. And that’s how it is for the whales with noise – they get blinded.

“It’s not just a masking of the communication,” Vester says. “It’s also blinding their sensory organ of seeing underwater.”

Handful of countries responsible for climate crisis, international court of justice (ICJ) told

2024-12-04 /

Isabella Kaminski, writing for The Guardian »

The court heard how Pacific island states such as Vanuatu were bearing the brunt of rising sea levels and increasingly frequent and severe disasters. “We find ourselves on the frontlines of a crisis we did not create,” Regenvanu said.

The hearing is the culmination of years of campaigning by a group of Pacific island law students and diplomacy spearheaded by Vanuatu.

Over the next two weeks, the court will hear statements from 98 countries, including wealthy developed states with the greatest historical responsibility for the climate emergency, such as the UK and Russia, and states that have contributed very little to global greenhouse gas emissions but stand to bear the brunt of their impact, including Bangladesh and Sudan as well as Pacific island countries.

The US and China, the world’s biggest emitters, will make statements too, even though neither fully recognises the court’s authority.

Joe Biden’s administration just set tariffs of up to 271.2% for solar panels from Southeast Asia

2024-12-02 /

Climate change be damned.

This from the World’s second largest emitter of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas emissions. Expect more, worst, from the Trump administration.

Reuters »

U.S. trade officials announced on Friday a new round of tariffs on solar panel imports from four Southeast Asian nations after American manufacturers complained that companies there are flooding the market with unfairly cheap goods.

It is the second of two preliminary decisions that President Joe Biden’s Commerce Department is making this year in a trade case brought by Korea’s Hanwha Qcells, Arizona-based First Solar Inc and several smaller producers seeking to protect billions of dollars in investments in U.S. solar manufacturing.

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Climate change is a human rights issue

2024-05-29 /

Kuan-Wei Chen, McGill University and Hoda Asgarian, Bond University, writing in The Conversation »

In April, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favour of a group of seniors who alleged that the Swiss government’s failure to meet climate change mitigation targets is having an adverse impact on their health, well-being and quality of life.

This landmark decision by the highest human rights court in Europe confirms not only that climate change is intimately linked to human rights, but effectively holds all European governments accountable to adopt more rigorous measures to combat climate change. »

Daytime temperatures in Pakistan above 52° Celsius — 125.6 degrees Fahrenheit

2024-05-28 /

Akhtar Soomro and Ariba Shahid, writing for Reuters »

Temperatures rose above 52 degrees Celsius (125.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, the highest reading of the summer and close to the country’s record high amid an ongoing heatwave, the met office said on Monday.

Also » A weather station in New Delhi, India recorded (NDTV) record temperature at 52.3℃ (126℉). India also reported an all-time high in power demand.

Women Peace Security Index for 2023

2023-10-25 /

Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security (GIWPS) seeks to promote a more stable, peaceful, and just world by focusing on the important role women play in preventing conflict and building peace, growing economies, and addressing global threats like climate change and violent extremism.

This fourth edition of the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Index ranks and scores 177 countries on women’s status. The results show that countries where women are doing well are also more peaceful, democratic, prosperous, and better
prepared to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

This year, nine of the top ten best countries to be women are European, with Scandinavian countries leading the rankings. Denmark leads the 2023 rankings, scoring more than three times higher than Afghanistan.

1 Denmark
2 Switzerland
3 Sweden
4 Finland
4 Iceland
4 Luxembourg
7 Norway
8 Austria
9 Netherlands
10 New Zealand

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Driver will soon be charged a hefty toll to drive into downtown Manhattan

2023-10-08 /

The new toll beginning in spring 2024, is expected to be between US$9 and $23 per day for passenger vehicles. Commercial vehicles will be charged upon each entry and exit to the zone.

Regional planners believe the toll will nudge some drivers onto transit. The MTA plans to use the proceeds from congestion pricing to shore up its aging infrastructure.

Why New York Will Charge $23/Day To Drive Into Manhattan

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