Singapore on Thursday recommended supermarkets start charging for disposable carrier bags, a move aimed at slashing carbon emissions in a tiny nation that produces enough annual waste to fill hundreds of Olympic-sized swimming pools. A 2018 study by the Singapore Environment Council found shoppers take home 820 million disposable bagsContinue Reading
Climate change played a part in insured losses from natural catastrophes that totalled $130 billion globally in 2021, the fourth-highest on record, broker Aon said in a report on Tuesday. Economic losses – the combination of insured and uninsured losses – reached $343 billion, Aon said in the report whichContinue Reading
The fuel that powered the industrial revolution may be in decline at last. This year looks set to see the largest fall in electricity production from coal on record, according to a new report. The reduction is estimated to be more than the power generated from coal in Germany, SpainContinue Reading
Scientists have discovered a pristine, 3-km (1.8-mile) long reef of giant rose-shaped corals off the coast of Tahiti, in waters thought to be deep enough to protect it from the bleaching effects of the warming ocean. The reef, which lies at depths of more than 30 metres (100 feet), probablyContinue Reading
Peruvian President Pedro Castillo declared an environmental emergency on Thursday as clean-up teams struggled to contain a huge oil spill at the country’s biggest refinery, after rogue waves rocked a ship unloading crude there. The spill, blamed on unusual swells caused by a volcanic eruption thousands of miles away inContinue Reading
In late November 2021, Germany’s new coalition government announced its aim to phase out coal power across the country by 2030, eight years ahead of schedule. Earlier that month, the government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where activists have been protesting against coal mining, announced it would accelerate phasingContinue Reading
Two New Zealand navy vessels will arrive in Tonga on Friday carrying critical water supplies for the Pacific island nation reeling from a volcanic eruption and tsunami and largely cut off from the outside world. Hundreds of homes in Tonga’s smaller outer islands have been destroyed, and at least three people were killed after Saturday’s hugeContinue Reading
Scanning the shelves and internet for fish oil is a dizzying task. There are dozens of brands available and, although the typical consideration for the popular supplement is that quality matters most, it is not the only factor. These prized products travel a long way before being labelled as “pure”Continue Reading
One of the world’s last two northern white rhinos, a mother and her daughter, is being retired from a breeding programme aimed at saving the species from extinction, scientists said on Thursday. Najin, 32, is the mother of Fatu who is now the only donor left in the programme, whichContinue Reading
California’s giant sequoias are symbols of permanence – with some living for thousands of years. But the fierce wildfires ravaging the state threaten even these mighty trees, which are among the longest-lived organisms on Earth. There is something primeval about giant sequoias. Their weird, broccoli-like branches wouldn’t seem out ofContinue Reading