insert_link Africa ‘Time bomb’: The used cars causing pollution and accidents in Africa Every year, around four to five million used cars are shipped to Africa, mostly from Europe, North America and Japan, to be sold in countries where newer vehicles are too expensive for most. But these old cars, often in poor condition, are also bringing high levels of pollution to the continent, as well as causing accidents on the roads. Some are now campaigning for governments to take action. todayFebruary 23, 2024 20
insert_link Environment How do whales sing? In a paper published Wednesday, scientists studied the voice boxes, or larynxes, from three dead, stranded baleen whales. Scientists say they are one step closer to figuring out how humpback and other types of whales sing: with specialized voice boxes that allow them to produce music loud enough to travel through the ocean. todayFebruary 23, 2024 8
insert_link Environment Activists urge Australia to end lucrative links to Myanmar junta’s mines A protest against the military coup in Myanmar, February 14, 2021, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). By Alex Shaw via Mongabay Pro-democracy activists have urged the Australian government to crack down on domestic companies involved in Myanmar’s mines, saying these firms are funding human rights abuses and environmental destruction carried out by the country’s military junta. In statements marking the anniversary of the February 2021 coup that overthrew the Southeast […] todayFebruary 23, 2024 12
insert_link Africa Climate change, extreme weather & conflict exacerbate global food crisis Global food insecurity has risen substantially since pre-pandemic times, exacerbated by extreme weather, climate change, war and conflict. What the U.N. World Food Program calls “a hunger crisis of unprecedented proportions” plays out differently around the world. In this story, three of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows detail the local situation in their region – from rising inflation and flooding in Nigeria to diminished local food […] todayFebruary 22, 2024 22
insert_link Africa Antibiotic use on Kenya’s dairy farms is putting consumers and animals at risk By Dishon Muloi, International Livestock Research Institute and Arshnee Moodley, CGIAR System Organization Farmers often use antibiotics to keep their livestock healthy. They’re sometimes used as “quick fixes”, to avoid more costly management measures like regular disinfection, waste management, routine vaccination or provision of clean drinking water. Animal husbandry now accounts for about two thirds of the global consumption of antibiotics. As livestock and fish production […] todayFebruary 22, 2024 10
insert_link Environment Earth’s early evolution: fresh insights from rocks formed 3.5 billion years ago The Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains look peaceful today - but 3.5 billion years ago the earth there was roiled by volcanoes. Instinctively RDH/Shutterstock Jaganmoy Jodder, University of the Witwatersrand Our Earth is around 4.5 billion years old. Way back in its earliest years, vast oceans dominated. There were frequent volcanic eruptions and, because there was no free oxygen in the atmosphere, there was no ozone layer. It was a dynamic and […] todayFebruary 22, 2024 12
Environment Scientists study levels of toxic mercury in Antarctic mammals Marine biologists collect skin samples from humpback whales and leopard seals in Antarctica to detect the presence of mercury in their bodies. The toxic heavy metal is believed to reach the ocean through rivers or rain. According to the UN environmental agency UNEP, if an animal consumes mercury, it may suffer "reproductive failure, behavioural changes and may even (die)." todayFebruary 21, 2024 17
insert_link Environment In Cambodia, an official’s cashew factory churns out timber from a protected forest By Gerald Flynn & Phoung Vantha Vegetation lurches over a concrete wall that runs alongside a quiet road in the northern Cambodian province of Preah Vihear. Behind the wall, and the rusty gate that serves as the only entrance point, sits one of Cambodia’s three medium-sized cashew nut processing factories. At 2 p.m. on a Thursday in late November last year, the road is silent under the […] todayFebruary 20, 2024 12
insert_link Environment In Brazil’s soy belt, community seed banks offer hope for the Amazon By Ana Ionova Not too long ago, the plot of land that Maria Ivonete de Souza inherited was barren, the soil hardened by years of cattle ranching. When the family had arrived to the Amazon from southern Brazil four decades earlier, her father had swiftly cleared the dense rainforest to make way for pasture. “He razed it all by hand, with a saw and an ax,” Souza […] todayFebruary 20, 2024 9
