The pollution of the planet by microplastics is significantly cutting food supplies by damaging the ability of plants to photosynthesise, according to a new assessment. The analysis estimates that between 4%…Continue readingMicroplastics hinder plant photosynthesis, study finds, threatening millions with starvation
Tag: food
The Amazon rainforest could be reaching an irreversible tipping point beyond which it will decline until “we’re just left with scrub,” conservationists have warned. WWF’s biennial Living Planet report said the…Continue readingAmazon rainforest near tipping point partly driven by UK consumers, WWF says
Global wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 73% in 50 years, a new scientific assessment has found, as humans continue to push ecosystems to the brink of collapse. Latin…Continue readingCollapsing wildlife populations near ‘points of no return’, report warns
On staple crops, England’s wheat haul is estimated to be 10m tonnes, or 21%, down on 2023, according to analysis of the latest government data by the Energy and Climate Intelligence…Continue readingHarvest in England the second worst on record because of wet weather
The UK faces food shortages and price rises as extreme weather linked to climate breakdown causes low yields on farms locally and abroad. Record rainfall has meant farmers in many parts…Continue readingUK facing food shortages and price rises after extreme weather
In the ocean, tropical species are moving from the equator towards the poles as sea temperatures rise. Meanwhile, temperate species are receding as it gets too warm, they face increased competition…Continue readingGlobal marine life is on the move due to sea temperature rises
A new investigation by human rights experts appointed by the United Nations has expressed alarm at evidence of pollution from a North Carolina PFAS manufacturing plant, describing it as “alleged human…Continue readingUN human rights experts express alarm over PFAS pollution in North Carolina
Potentially toxic “forever chemicals” have been detected in the drinking water sources at 17 of 18 England’s water companies, with 11,853 samples testing positive, something experts say they are “extremely alarmed”…Continue reading‘Forever chemicals’ found in drinking water sources across England
Nearly half of the whales and dolphins found in UK waters over the past five years contained harmful concentrations of toxic chemicals banned decades ago, an investigation has found. Among orcas…Continue readingLevels of toxic PCB chemicals found at 30 times ‘safe’ limits in stranded whales
Spain, the world’s biggest producer of olive oil, suffered a very difficult year in 2022 and drought this year has compounded the problem. In Italy, this year’s olive harvest is down…Continue readingWinter isn’t coming: climate change hits Greek olive crop
Cyclone Freddy lasted a record 38 days. The storm barrelled 5,000 miles across the Indian Ocean, pummelling Madagascar and Reunion before striking the African mainland. It swirled over southern Mozambique and…Continue readingAfter the Storm, Malawi’s Farmers Face a Precarious Future
US industry disposed of at least 60m pounds of PFAS “forever chemical” waste over the last five years, and did so with processes that probably pollute the environment around disposal sites,…Continue readingUS industry disposed of at least 60m pounds of PFAS waste in last five years
Extreme droughts that have wrecked the lives of millions of people in Syria, Iraq and Iran since 2020 would not have happened without human-caused global heating, a study has found. The…Continue readingHuman-caused heating behind extreme droughts in Syria, Iraq and Iran
By Christoper Ketcham The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has assumed Nordhaus is to be trusted. The integrated assessment models used at the IPCC are based on Nordhausian visions of adaptation…Continue readingWhen Idiot Savants Do Climate Economics
Oil companies plan to pump crude oil from Lake Albert, Uganda to the coast of neighbouring Tanzania, with the goal of producing 1.4bn barrels over the next two decades. But the…Continue readingCounting the cost of Uganda’s east Africa oil pipeline – in pictures
