Amazon’s plastic waste soars by a third amid pandemic, report finds 15/12/2021

Amazon’s plastic packaging waste soared by almost a third, to 270,000 tonnes, during the pandemic last year, according to a report from marine conservation group Oceana. ...more

Vehicle emission declines decreased deaths, Harvard study finds 15/12/2021

Researchers say that thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars have been saved in the United States by recent reductions in emissions from vehicles. ...more

Killer heatwaves and floods: Climate change worsened 2021 weather extremes 14/12/2021

Extreme weather events in 2021 shattered records around the globe. Hundreds died in storms and heatwaves. Farmers struggled with drought, and in some cases with locust plagues. Wildfires set new records for carbon emissions, while swallowing forests, towns and homes. ...more

U.N. agency confirms 2020 Arctic heat record 14/12/2021

An Arctic temperature record of more than 100 Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) was reached in a Siberian town last year during a prolonged heatwave that caused widespread alarm about the intensity of global warming, a U.N. agency confirmed on Tuesday. ...more

Bugs across globe are evolving to eat plastic, study finds 14/12/2021

Microbes in oceans and soils across the globe are evolving to eat plastic, according to a study. ...more

EU urged to rachet up green energy standards for buildings 14/12/2021

The EU executive is under pressure to ratchet up green energy standards for buildings, as it prepares a further batch of legislation to tackle the climate emergency. ...more

Endangered Andean cats found just outside Santiago 14/12/2021

Chilean wildlife conservationists are excited about discovering a new population of Andean cats living close to Santiago. Experts think fewer than 1,400 of the Americas’ most endangered cats are left in the wild. ...more

Solar parks could be used to boost bumblebee numbers, study suggests 13/12/2021

Solar parks could provide habitats for wildlife – and particularly bumblebees – to flourish, if managed in the right way, benefiting farmers and nature, new research suggests. ...more

California is banning food from landfills and turning it into energy instead 13/12/2021

From January 2022, new rules come into effect in California which will require people to recycle their food waste. It will then be composted or turned into renewable energy. ...more

FEMA chief says powerful storms 'new normal' in era of climate change 13/12/2021

Powerful storms like the ones that tore through parts of the central United States this weekend are the "new normal" in an era of climate change, the top federal emergency management official said on Sunday. ...more