Ocean heating breaks record, again, with disastrous outcomes for the planet

Ocean heating breaks record, again, with disastrous outcomes for the planet

A lemon shark in the mangroves in the Bahamas. Image by Anita Kainrath / Ocean Image Bank. By Elizabeth Claire Alberts via Mongabay Human actions are rapidly changing the world’s oceans, whether through overfishing, pollution or coastal development. But among the most intense pressures placed on the seas right now is humanity’s ongoing burning of fossil fuels, pumping dangerous amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which in turn has pushed sea temperatures to record levels. […]

January 31, 2024 7

Environment

Climate change made 2023 Amazon drought 30 times more likely, scientists say

The river that supplies water to the Kokama Indigenous People of the Porto Praia community was mostly dry in October of 2023. Image © Marizilda Cruppe / Greenpeace. By Carla Ruas via Mongabay Global warming was the main driver of the severe drought that parched the Amazon River Basin in 2023. That is the alarming conclusion of a new report from World Weather Attribution (WWA), a team of international climate scientists […]

January 29, 2024 14

South Africa

South Africa bets big on natural gas as it begins a belated push to revamp its energy supplies and slash emissions, bolstered by EU endorsement of investments in gas.

By Seth Onyango, bird story agency South Africa is emerging as an early beneficiary of the European Parliament’s vote last July to designate natural gas and nuclear projects as “green energy” investments. The vote was seen as an opportunity for natural gas-endowed states in Africa to continue ploughing billions from the sale of the commodity into their economies. The recent unveiling of a gas terminal project in South Africa led […]

January 25, 2024 5

Business / Economics

King coal set to lose crown for electricity production: IEA

Renewables are set to displace coal as the top source of energy for electricity production globally in 2025, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. In its annual report on the electricity market, the IEA said that renewables -- in particular from solar panels -- should see their share of total electricity production surpass a third of the total, passing from 30 percent last year to 37 percent in 2026. If […]

January 24, 2024 15

Business / Economics

Lessons from Finland’s attempt to transition to a circular economy

Tracegrow, a Finnish company, uses recycled batteries and industrial waste to create agricultural fertilizers. A number of companies are innovating to increase circular solutions. At the national level, however, experts underline that great challenges remain to advance circularity. Image courtesy of Tracegrow. By Sean Mowbray via MongaBay In 2016, Finland became the first country in the world to adopt a national circular economy road map, with the ambition to become a […]

January 24, 2024 7

Environment

‘Hold Developed States to Account for Climate Justice’, Secretary-General Urges in Remarks to Group of 77 Plus China Summit

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the Third South Summit of the Group of 77 and China, in Kampala: It is a pleasure to join you for this very important summit. I thank the Government of Uganda for its hospitality and congratulate it on the leadership of the Group of 77 (G77) plus China. Sixty years ago, recognizing the need for unity and solidarity in the face of […]

January 23, 2024 17

Business / Economics

Cooperation only path to protecting humanity from ongoing crises, Commonwealth Secretary-General tells Non-Aligned Movement Summit

The Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, addressed leaders from 121 Non-Aligned Movement countries, calling for greater cooperation to protect all humanity from overlapping economic, environmental and security challenges. She was speaking at the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement in Kampala, Uganda, on 20 January 2024. Addressing leaders, foreign affairs ministers and strategic partners as an official observer, the […]

January 22, 2024 5

Environment

Agricultural nitrogen pollution is global threat, but circular solutions await

By Claire Asher via MongaBay As the world grapples with escalating climate change, policymakers remain laser-focused on CO2, with humanity striving to decarbonize energy systems, capture carbon, issue carbon credits, and plant millions of trees to absorb emissions. But carbon dioxide is just one of several powerful greenhouse gases destabilizing the global climate, and just one of the human-produced pollutants severely impacting the natural world and threatening to push Earth out […]

January 18, 2024 18

Environment

‘Cowboys’ and intermediaries thrive in Wild West of the carbon market

Women making skirts from grass in Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea. Image by Rita Willaert via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). By John Cannon via Mongabay When Andrea Babon learned about what a company called Kanaka Management Services (KMS) had been up to in Papua New Guinea, she was aghast at the apparent incoherence of its plans. The India-based carbon credit consultancy had scoped out a forest conservation project in Oro province that […]

January 12, 2024 11