The Spine of San Francisco Is Now Car-Free

The plan to ban private cars from Market Street—one of the city’s busiest and most dangerous downtown thoroughfares—enjoys a remarkable level of local support.

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Cigarette butts are polluting the ocean more than plastic straws — so why not ban these?

Cigarette butts, which easily find their way into the ocean, contain plastic in the filters that are not biodegradable.

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Pacific Ocean’s rising acidity causes Dungeness crabs’ shells to dissolve

Acidity is making shells of crab larvae more vulnerable to predators and limiting effectiveness in supporting muscle growth

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Global heating may lead to wine shortage

Rise of 2C would cause 56% loss of vineyard land, while 4C would wipe out 85%

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Climate change could damage thousands of U.S. bridges, engineers say

Bridges built after World War II are susceptible to temperature variations, making them more likely to fail because of climate change, two civil engineers have found. Drastic fluctuations in climate, often blamed on humans, could cause significant deterioration to tens of thousands of steel-girder bridges across the United States, a study from Colorado State University civil engineers Susan Palu and Hussam N. Mahmoud concluded.

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Germany is turning 62 military bases into wildlife sanctuaries

They were once military bases at the centre of a 50-year war between the world's two superpowers. They will soon become a haven for rare birds and other animals. The German government has announced plans to convert 62 disused military bases just west of the Iron Curtain into nature reserves for eagles, woodpeckers, bats, and beetles.

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Coyotes Poised to Infiltrate South America

The crab-eating fox and the coyote may soon swap territories, initiating the first American cross-continental exchange in more than three million years

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Why bamboo is a super plant which can help combat climate change (6 amazing benefits and more)

Since I was a child I always felt a very close connection to nature and bamboo always had a very close place to my heart. At that time it was only in the form of decorative shrubs in my aunties garden which captivated me and since then I was a fan.

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Insecticides have gotten way more toxic to honey bees

Rising neonicotinoid seed treatments applied to corn and soy in US agricultural landscapes during the past 20 years are the primary driver of the change, the researchers found.

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Make big polluters pay for mass tree planting, officials say

Oil companies and airlines could fund 100m trees a year, says Committee on Climate Change

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Company Collects 80% of City's Recyclable Plastics and Turns It All into Lumber

This trailblazing Canadian company is building a new standard for sustainability since they started recycling the bulk of their municipal plastic waste into lumber. Roughly 80% of the plastic recyclables collected throughout Halifax, Nova Scotia are now being processed by Goodwood Plastic Products Ltd so they can be turned into building blocks.

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Mathematicians have solved traffic jams, and they’re begging cities to listen

Mathematicians are unimpressed by engineers’ solutions.

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Mount Vesuvius eruption 'turned victim's brain to glass'

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79, the damage wreaked in nearby towns was catastrophic. Now it appears the heat was so immense it turned one victim’s brain to glass – thought to be the first time this has been seen.

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Planet Just Had Costliest Decade for Global Natural Disasters: Insurance Industry Report

The Mississippi Basin floods were among the disasters with a massive price tag.

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Urine fertilizer: 'Aging' effectively protects against transfer of antibiotic resistance

Recycled and aged human urine can be used as a fertilizer with low risks of transferring antibiotic resistant DNA to the environment, according to new research from the University of Michigan. It's a key finding in efforts to identify more sustainable alternatives to widely used fertilizers that contribute to water pollution. Their high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus can spur the growth of algae, which can threaten our sources of drinking water.

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Australia faces falling inflows even as demand for water grows

Reservoirs across the country are recording reduced inflows as the climate warms and dries, which is likely to force cities to bolster the security of water supplies.

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Trump targets Greta Thunberg in barely coherent tirade

Donald Trump has targeted Greta Thunberg for the second successive day at Davos, bemoaning the climate activist’s criticism of his administration and the fact “she beat me out on Time magazine”.

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Australia to add 3.6GW of new solar and wind to grid in 2020

The sting of the newly confirmed dive in large-scale renewable energy investment that hit Australia in 2019 could be soothed somewhat with a record number of new solar and wind farms forecast to be completed in 2020.

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‘Patsy The Wonder Dog’ Saves 900 Sheep From Australian Bushfires

Since starting in September 2019, the Australian wildfires have killed more than 1 billion animals and devastated large swaths of the country. Countless courageous men and women have worked hard to combat the infernos and save the country’s animals, many of which are endangered. Among these brave rescue workers is Patsy — a six-year-old kelpie-border collie.

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People still want plastic bottles, says Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola will not ditch single-use plastic bottles because consumers still want them, the firm's head of sustainability has told the BBC. Customers like them because they reseal and are lightweight, said Bea Perez. The firm, which is one of the biggest producers of plastic waste, has pledged to recycle as many plastic bottles as it uses by 2030. But environmental campaigners argue many Coke bottles would still go uncollected and end up in landfill.

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DAVID BRIN: Skeptics versus Deniers: Creating a Climate of 'No!'

A fair number of people say there is a crucial distinction between climate-change 'Skeptics' and 'Deniers,' yet 'skeptics' still defend the core notion underlying the anti-Human-Generated Climate Change argument - that virtually 100% of the scientists studying climate change can be suborned, corrupted, or intimidated.

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Hero Dog Braved Through A Burning House To Rescue His Little Kitten Friend

With the chain of unfortunate events occurring around the world simultaneously, one cannot help but to hope for a silver lining that would tone down, even for a moment, the devastation that is unraveling before our very eyes. More often that not, it can come in the form of a heartwarming news about a certain incident involving animals and their selfless acts.

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Dr Peter Carter: summarising the lack of "climate emergency" at #COP25

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Ozone Layer Recovery Is Being Undermined by Pollution From U.S. Companies

THE GLOBAL RESPONSE to the “ozone hole,” as it came to be known in the 1970s, has long been held up as a model for environmental problem-solving — and the hope that we might yet be able to fix the climate crisis. After scientists realized that chemicals used for cooling and in aerosol sprays were causing the Earth’s protective ozone layer to thin, threatening to cause vast increases in cancers and other diseases, countries around the world came together to fix it.

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AI suggests Earth has had fewer mass extinctions than we thought

The late Devonian mass extinction around 375 million years ago may not have really happened, according to an analysis using machine learning

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Guardian and Observer appeal raises £1m for tree charities

The Guardian and Observer 2019 charity appeal has raised more than £1m for its climate emergency campaign in support of projects which aim to plant and protect trees, woodlands and rainforest. More than 13,000 readers donated an average of £75 each to the appeal, which totalled £1,015,000 on Thursday night. The money will be shared between four charities: Woodland Trust, Trees for Life, Trees for Cities and Global Greengrants Fund UK.

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The World's Oceans Are the Hottest They've Ever Been in Recorded History

A new study reveals that the change in oceanic temperature is equivalent to the detonation of five atomic bombs every second for 25 years.

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Trump has savaged the environment. The planet cannot afford a second term

What are the consequences of a second term of Donald Trump? To even consider the question sends the left-leaning mind into a paroxysm. Everything from nuclear war to the utter collapse of American democracy looms large in the imaginations of otherwise sober-minded people.

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Neanderthals 'dived in the ocean' for shellfish

Until now, there's been little evidence our evolutionary relatives could swim.

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YouTube ads of 100 top brands fund climate misinformation – study

Some of the biggest companies in the world are funding climate misinformation by advertising on YouTube, according to a study from activist group Avaaz. The group found that more than 100 brands had adverts running on YouTube videos on the site that were actively promoting climate misinformation. The brands, including Samsung, L’Oreal and Decathlon, were unaware that their adverts were being played before and during the videos.

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Incredible, secret firefighting mission saves famous 'dinosaur trees'

Firefighters were lowered by helicopter into a secret gorge to save the last remaining stand of Wollemi pine from the ferocious Gospers Mountain fire.

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Major breakthrough can turn plant waste into cheap biofuels

A new discovery could help lessen our reliance on fossil fuels by turning plant waste into biofuels, such as ethanol, in a much cheaper way than before. Among the many ways suggested to reduce humanity’s reliance on polluting fossil fuels is replacing them with biofuels. Now, researchers from Rutgers University have published a study to Green Chemistry showing they can produce these fuels from plant waste for a fraction of the cost of other methods.

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How Google researchers used neural networks to make weather forecasts

Google says its forecasts are better than existing methods—but only for 6 hours.

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How Google, Microsoft, and Big Tech Are Automating the Climate Crisis

In a deal that made few ripples outside the energy industry, two very large but relatively obscure companies, Rockwell Automation and Schlumberger Limited, announced a joint venture called Sensia. The new company will “sell equipment and services to advance digital technology and automation in the oilfield,” according to the Houston Chronicle. Yet the partnership has ramifications far beyond Houston’s energy corridor: It’s part of a growing trend that sees major tech companies teaming with oil giants to use automation, AI, and big data services to enhance oil exploration, extraction, and production.

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Save the Plankton, Breathe Freely

Students calculate how many of the breaths they take each day come from the phytoplankton, Prochlorococcus. Students use data collection and calculations to understand how the health of the ocean affects their lives.

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A viral photo of a tiger and her 5 cubs shows how the species is bouncing back from extinction

India's wild tiger population is finally on the rise. According to a tiger census released by the Indian government, India's tiger population has increased 33% since 2014. There are now around 3,000 Bengal tigers in the wild in India thanks to conservation efforts, stricter wildlife policies, and better safety monitoring.

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Species-saving tortoise returns to Galápagos

A giant tortoise whose legendary libido has been credited with saving his species from extinction is to return to the wild on the Galápagos Islands. Diego was among 14 male tortoises selected to take part in a breeding programme on Santa Cruz Island. The programme has been a success, producing more than 2,000 giant tortoises since it began in the 1960s.

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The Amazon is a key buffer against climate change. A new study warns wildfires could decimate it

When healthy, the Amazon rainforest is one of the planet's most critical defenses against further climate change. But a new study warns that this key barrier is in danger due to increasing wildfires, and that the forest could begin contributing more heat-trapping carbon to the atmosphere than it absorbs in the coming decades.

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Mushrooms and orange peel: could biotech clean up the building industry?

Cocoa husks, dried orange peel, ground blue pea flowers: the ingredients read like a tasting menu. They are, in fact, waste products that are used to make Orb – a sustainable building material that is carbon neutral. It’s versatile enough to be used for furniture or as a substitute for a wood-based sheet material.

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Feces from a giant kettle of vultures is disrupting CBP communications on the US-Mexico border

A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) radio tower near the Texas-Mexico border has become home to some 300 vultures, which have coated the structure’s entire surface, both inside and out, as well as the ground below, in “droppings mixed with urine,” according to a request for information the agency issued to vendors this week.

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Grass found growing around Mount Everest as warming climate melts ice

Grasses and shrubs have been found growing in increased numbers around Mount Everest and across the Himalayas as ice in the area continues to melt. Scientists used satellite data to study the proliferation of subnival vegetation – plants which grow between the treeline and snowline – in the vast region.

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UK Terrorism police list Extinction Rebellion as extremist ideology

Exclusive: Police scramble to recall guide issued to teachers putting climate activists alongside far-right groups

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Australia's severe wildfires were predicted by the government over a decade ago

Fires in the country have burned more than 8 million hectares and killed at least 24 people.

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Turn-by-turntables: How drivers got from point A to point B in the early 1900s

Long before GPS, drivers still wanted tech that could simplify the navigation process.

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African grey parrots are smart enough to help a bird in need

African grey parrots are the first bird to pass a test that requires them to understand when another animal needs help and to provide it, something chimps and gorillas have failed to do

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'Like sending bees to war': the deadly truth behind your almond-milk obsession

Bees are essential to the functioning of America’s titanic almond industry – and billions are dying in the process

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How Long Will Australia Be Livable?

Facing a future of fire, drought, and rising oceans, Australians will have to weigh the choice between getting out early or staying to fight.

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The Gene Drive Dilemma: We Can Alter Entire Species, but Should We?

A new genetic engineering technology could help eliminate malaria and stave off extinctions — if humanity decides to unleash it.

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10,000 camels in Australia to be shot because they drink too much water

Animals wreak havoc in drought-afflicted areas, causing damage to infrastructure

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A month at sea with no technology taught me how to steal my life back from my phone

As the head of a media and communications program, my life's digital-analogue balance was off. Four weeks at sea with no devices refocussed my views – even on things that had been there all along.

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