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Climate change is increasingly influencing fire behavior worldwide and intensifying fire smoke, endangering public health from air pollution caused by fires. These are the results of two new climate change impact attribution studies, both published in Nature Climate Change, with involvement of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research PIK. The first study finds 15.8 percent higher global burned...

LIMA, Peru—Delegates from Humane Society International attending the 69th International Whaling Commission meeting in Peru, expressed bitter disappointment today that pro-whaling nations have once again voted against the creation of a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic. The votes were 40 in favour, 14 opposed with 3 abstentions, therefore failing by just one or two votes to achieve the three...

Nairobi – In half the world’s countries one or more types of freshwater ecosystems are degraded, including rivers, lakes and aquifers. River flow has significantly decreased, surface water bodies are shrinking or being lost, ambient water is growing more polluted, and water management is off-track. These are some of the findings of three reports tracking progress on freshwater, published...

Over half of Europeans polled (56%) oppose deep-sea mining and support a temporary ban on this new industry. This is according to representative research by Ipsos commissioned by the citizens’ movement WeMove Europe, Seas At Risk and the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition. This finding comes at a crucial time as world governments convene at the International Seabed Authority (ISA)...

Rome – New projections highlight potential climate risks to exploitable fish biomass for nearly all regions of the world's ocean, including top producer countries and those with high reliance on aquatic foods, according to a report released today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Global projections of exploitable fish biomass show declines of more than...

A new study by green group Transport & Environment (T&E) suggests that thousands of cases of high blood pressure, diabetes and dementia across Europe could be linked to the tiny particles emitted by planes. 52 million people - more than 10% of Europe’s total population - live within a 20km radius from the 32 busiest airports in Europe and are...

Nairobi – Households across all continents wasted over 1 billion meals a day in 2022, while 783 million people were affected by hunger and a third of humanity faced food insecurity. Food waste continues to hurt the global economy and fuel climate change, nature loss, and pollution. These are the key findings of a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report...

Renewables, energy savings, and flexibility options are positioned to replace nuclear power in the EU’s energy mix. A new EEB report highlights the feasibility of phasing out Europe’s ageing nuclear fleet and achieving climate neutrality by 2040. Building new nuclear power plants remains an unrealistic strategy for decarbonisation due to high cost overruns and lengthy construction times. However, the debate over...

In February 2024, three major investment companies stepped back from efforts to limit climate-damaging emissions. JPMorgan Chase’s and State Street’s investment arms have both quit a global investor alliance encouraging companies to avoid emissions, and BlackRock has largely limited its involvement. These companies aren’t the only ones backing out on climate agreements. In 2023, Amazon dropped an effort to...

Transforming food systems around the world would lead to socio-economic benefits summing up to 5 to 10 trillion USD a year, shows a new global policy report produced by leading economists and scientists of the Food System Economics Commission (FSEC). The most ambitious and comprehensive study of food system economics so far underlines that food systems are currently destroying...

Djéké Triangle Forest, Republic of Congo – One of the world’s most iconic lowland gorillas, Kingo, who was featured in international news media and inspired three decades of conservation, was found dead on Dec. 26, 2023. Lowland gorillas are listed as Critically Endangered by IUCN. Kingo's age is estimated to be 45 years. The cause of his death is...

Some populations of Antarctic krill are shifting south, closer to Antarctica, as ocean warming and sea-ice changes alter their habitat. Scientists fear the movement of krill will have a negative impact on predators like whales, seals and penguins, and alter broader ocean ecosystem functions. The finding, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment today, comes after an international scientific team, led...