President Trump has said that he wants the nation to have “crystal clear water,” and it would be hard to find anyone who would disagree with that. However, last week, the Administration released an executive order that would take the country in the opposite direction — rolling back a rule aimed at bettering the drinking […]
Tag: pollution
The Spirit of the Steppes: Saving Central Asia’s saiga
In 2015, disease wiped out 200,000+ adult saiga; now a new viral outbreak threatens Mongolia’s entire population. But these steppe antelope are resilient, and could recover, if protected from traffickers. The beauty of the saiga belies first impressions. It may be hard to look beyond the big nose — a bulbous schnozz that looks like […]
World on track to lose two-thirds of wild animals by 2020
The number of wild animals living on Earth is set to fall by two-thirds by 2020, according to a new report, part of a mass extinction that is destroying the natural world upon which humanity depends. The analysis, the most comprehensive to date, indicates that animal populations plummeted by 58% between 1970 and 2012, with […]
The Earth stands on the brink of its sixth mass extinction and the fault is ours
Life on Earth is in trouble. That much we know. But how bad have things become – and how fast are events moving? How soon, indeed, before the Earth’s biological treasures are trashed, in what will be the sixth great mass extinction event? This is what Gerardo Caballos of the National Autonomous University of Mexico […]
POLL: Should microplastics be banned in cosmetics?
Cosmetics companies must be banned from using plastic microbeads in scrubs, toothpaste and beauty products because of the marine pollution they are causing, say a group of MPs. Members of the environmental audit committee have called for a ban within 18 months after hearing that trillions of tiny pieces of plastic are accumulating in the […]
Pigeon patrol takes flight to tackle London’s air pollution crisis
They’ve been driven from Trafalgar square for being a nuisance, derided as rats with wings and maligned as a risk to public health. But now pigeons could play a small part in helping Londoners overcome one of the capital’s biggest health problems – its illegal levels of air pollution blamed for thousands of deaths a […]
POLL: Should microbead hygiene products be banned?
US lawmakers are to decide whether to ban personal care products containing microbeads – minuscule pieces of plastic considered harmful to the environment – after proposed legislation was approved by a bipartisan committee. Microbeads, typically under 5mm in size, are used as abrasive exfoliants in products such as toothpastes and facial cleaners. They often evade […]
Global marine populations slashed by half since 1970
Populations of marine mammals, birds, reptiles and fish have dropped by about half in the past four decades, with fish critical to human food suffering some of the greatest declines, the WWF warned on Wednesday. In a new report, the conservation group cautioned that over-fishing, pollution and climate change had significantly shrunk the size of […]