Posts in category: Related News / Articles

Researchers at James Cook University in Australia have uncovered a vast network of undocumented “ghost roads” penetrating untouched rainforests in the Asia-Pacific region, leading to significant deforestation.

Using Google Earth to analyze tropical forests on the islands of Borneo, Sumatra, and New Guinea, the team documented approximately 1.37 million kilometres (850,000 miles) of roads—three to seven times the amount officially recorded in road databases. These ghost roads, which include bulldozed tracks through natural rainforest and informal roads on palm oil plantations, are strong indicators of imminent rainforest destruction, according to the study published in the journal Nature. The researchers described these roads as “among the gravest of all direct threats to tropical forests.” Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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A landmark decision by the European Court of Human Rights has significant implications, potentially paving the way for numerous global legal challenges, according to experts. The Strasbourg-based court found that Switzerland violated the human rights of over 2,000 elderly women by failing to adequately reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The plaintiffs argued that their increased vulnerability to heatwaves infringed upon their rights to privacy and family life.

This ruling marks the first instance of the court interpreting the European Convention on Human Rights, addressing a climate change-related issue. Despite its groundbreaking nature, the decision has faced criticism. The Swiss People’s Party, for example, decried the court’s overreach and suggested that Switzerland should exit the Council of Europe. Similar sentiments echoed in the UK, with Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho expressing concerns on social media about the implications of such judicial decisions on national security and policy-making, emphasizing that elected officials should lead on climate policy. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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US scientists have confirmed that the levels of the three most important heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere reached new record highs again last year, underlining the escalating challenge posed by the climate crisis.

The global concentration of carbon dioxide, the most important and prevalent greenhouse gas emitted by human activity, rose to an average of 419 parts per million in the atmosphere in 2023, while methane, a powerful if shorter-lasting greenhouse gas, rose to an average of 1922 parts per billion. Levels of nitrous oxide, the third most significant human-caused warming emission, climbed slightly to 336 parts per billion.

Through the burning of fossil fuels, animal agriculture and deforestation, the world’s CO2 levels are now more than 50% higher than they were before the era of mass industrialization. Methane, which comes from sources including oil and gas drilling and livestock, has surged even more dramatically in recent years, Noaa said, and now has atmospheric concentrations 160% larger than in pre-industrial times. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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On March 18, 2022, scientists at Concordia Research Station, situated on the East Antarctic Plateau, documented a historic meteorological event. The station recorded an unprecedented temperature surge, the largest ever at a meteorological centre on the planet. Instruments indicated that the temperature soared by 38.5°C above the average for that time of year, setting a new global record for temperature increase.

These events have raised fears that the Antarctic, once thought to be too cold to experience the early impacts of global warming, is now succumbing dramatically and rapidly to the swelling levels of greenhouse gases that humans continue to pump into the atmosphere.

These dangers were highlighted by a team of scientists led by Will Hobbs of the University of Tasmania in a paper that was published last week in the Journal of Climate. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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Following an all-time low maximum in September 2023, Antarctic sea ice has been tracking at near-record-low extent for the past six months. Last month, it hit its 2024 minimum extent, tying with 2022 for the second-lowest Antarctic minimum in the 46-year satellite record.

Arctic sea ice has reached its maximum extent for the year, peaking at 15.01m square kilometres (km2) on 14 March. The provisional data from the NSIDC shows that this year’s Arctic winter peak, despite favourable winds that encouraged sea ice formation, was 640,000 km2 smaller than the 1981-2010 average maximum. Read More

News Credit: Carbon Brief

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The National Trust’s survey, in collaboration with First News, unveils that over three-quarters of children are eager for more frequent encounters with nature. Despite this longing, 63% of parents report the challenge of visiting natural spaces more than once weekly, with lack of easy access being a significant hurdle.

The Trust urges the government to fulfil its commitment to making nature accessible within a 15-minute walk for all, a mandate supported by 80% of surveyed parents. This call aligns with Rishi Sunak’s January 2023 pledge to ensure that everyone is just a quarter-hour away from a green sanctuary, underscoring the movement to legislate this right to nature. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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The solar industry is on the brink of a significant challenge as it faces an imminent waste crisis much sooner than anticipated. A recent white paper, led by renewable energy engineering researcher Rong Deng from the University of New South Wales, reveals that solar panel waste is expected to reach critical levels within the next two to three years, a stark contrast to the previously estimated timeline of 2030. This urgent situation arises as the demand for solar panels could potentially increase five to tenfold, posing the risk of depleting global silver reserves within two decades. Deng emphasizes the immediate need for action to address this impending crisis.

The looming waste problem is attributed to two main factors: only Victoria has implemented a ban on disposing of solar panels in landfills, and the recycling costs for solar panels, ranging from $10 to $20 per panel, deter recycling efforts. Moreover, even when recycling is chosen, the current technology falls short of efficiently extracting valuable materials from the panels. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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The climate crisis has only accelerated concerns about crops’ nutritional value. That’s prompted the emergence of a process called biofortification,
a strategy to replenish lost nutrients or foods that were never had in the first place.

In 2004, researchers at the University of Texas, led by Donald Davis, unveiled a concerning trend: a significant decline in the nutritional content of 43 different food items, predominantly vegetables, observed from the mid to the late 20th century. Their findings highlighted notable reductions, such as a drop in calcium levels in green beans from 65 to 37mg and a nearly 50% decrease in the Vitamin A content of asparagus. Iron in broccoli stalks also diminished.

This issue of nutrient depletion has persisted, with subsequent studies linking the phenomenon to elevated levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). For instance, a 2018 investigation into the effects of increased CO2 on rice revealed diminished levels of protein, iron, and zinc, underscoring the ongoing challenge of declining food nutrient values. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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The full extent of the damage in Gaza has not yet been documented, but an analysis of satellite imagery shows the destruction of about 38-48% of tree cover and farmland.

Olive groves and farms have been reduced to packed earth, and munitions and toxins have contaminated soil and groundwater. The sea is choked with sewage and waste, and the air is polluted by smoke and particulate matter.

Researchers and environmental organisations say the destruction will have enormous effects on Gaza’s ecosystems and biodiversity. The scale and potential long-term impact of the damage have led to calls for it to be regarded as “ecocide” and investigated as a possible war crime. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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In late October 2012, Superstorm Sandy struck New York City with devastating force, causing over $60 billion in damage, claiming lives, and necessitating the evacuation of thousands from hospitals and nursing homes. This catastrophic event unwittingly provided cognitive neuroscientist Yoko Nomura with a unique research opportunity. Before Sandy’s landfall, Nomura had been conducting the Stress in Pregnancy study with a group of pregnant women in New York to examine how prenatal stress affects unborn children, focusing on its potential to alter gene expression related to neurobehavioral disorders like autism, schizophrenia, and ADHD through epigenetics.

The disaster introduced a critical new dimension to her study. Nomura was particularly interested in the subset of her participants who were pregnant during the hurricane, aiming to determine if the prenatal stress from experiencing such a disaster could have a distinct impact on their children compared to those conceived before or after the event.

Years after the storm, Nomura’s findings are profoundly revealing. Children who were in utero during Sandy show significantly higher risks of psychiatric conditions. For instance, girls exposed to the storm before birth have seen a dramatic increase in anxiety and depression rates in later life, while boys show heightened risks of ADHD and conduct disorder. Symptoms of these conditions have appeared as early as preschool, underscoring a stark difference in mental health outcomes based on prenatal exposure to stress. Read More

News Credit: The Guardian

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