Green Mission News – December 2024
Global Plastics AI Policy Tool
Countries are exploring ways to reduce the impact of plastic. This tool explores different policy interventions both regionally and globally.
https://global-plastics-tool.org/
How do you define climate adaptation? Here are 10,000 ways.
At COP29, a decade-long effort to realize the ambitions of the Paris Agreement could give the world a way to measure the success of climate adaptation.
https://grist.org/international/climate-adaptation-cop29/
Leaning into Indigenous knowledge on climate change
Native peoples attuned to the natural world have long collected detailed environmental information. Now scientists are cataloging these observations and learning how they’re affecting Indigenous communities globally.
Journalists, meet climate change
The headlines scream about war, crime, political strife, economic woes. But underlying it all — and more and more often bubbling to the top — is what future historians will likely look back and call the story of this century: Climate change.
https://ensia.com/notable/journalists-media-climate-change/
Trump’s Plans to Repeal Climate Policies Could Cost U.S. $50 Billion in Lost Exports, Forfeit Clean Energy Economy to Other Countries
https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-climate-policy-repeal-cost-exports.html
Scientists Seek to Grow More Heat-Tolerant Tomatoes
https://www.ecowatch.com/tomatoes-heat-tolerance-brown-university.html
Forests With More Diverse Trees Capture More Carbon, Study Finds
https://www.ecowatch.com/forests-tree-species-biodiversity-carbon-capture.html
How EPR, An Obscure Recycling Policy, Went From Radioactive To A Global Imperative
How EPR laws are shaping US packaging
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/epr-laws-shaping-us-packaging-094815026.html
‘A little dirty’: inside the secret world of McKinsey, the firm hooked on fossil fuels
Interviews and analysis of court documents show how the world’s most prestigious consulting firm quietly helps fuel the climate crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/nov/20/mckinsey-fossil-fuels
Climate denial a unifying theme of Trump’s cabinet picks, experts say
Loyalists selected for important roles have offered staunch support to fossil fuels and downplayed climate crisis
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/27/trump-cabinet-picks-climate-change
Plastics lobbyists make up biggest group at vital UN treaty talks
Fossil fuel and chemical industry representatives outnumber those of the EU or host country South Korea
The plastics crisis is now a global human health crisis, experts say
Alliance to End Plastic Waste Members Created 1,000x More Plastic Than They Cleaned Up, Greenpeace Investigation Finds
https://www.ecowatch.com/alliance-to-end-plastic-waste-greenpeace-investigation.html
As global fire risk rises, modern homes become toxic plastic traps
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/as-global-fire-risk-rises-modern-homes-become-toxic-plastic-traps/
PFAS and microplastics become more toxic when combined, research shows
Study detects synergistic effect making substances more dangerous, raising alarm since humans are exposed to both
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/25/pfas-microplastics-toxic
Philippine plastic law shows promise, says report, but critics stress flaws
‘Mind-Blowing’: Study Shows Fungal Networks Can Solve Problems and Make Decisions
https://www.ecowatch.com/fungal-networks-problem-solving.html
Getting real about capturing carbon from the air
https://www.cell.com/one-earth/abstract/S2590-3322(24)00421-4
New Solar Panel Recycling Facility Is Coming to Georgia
https://www.ecowatch.com/solar-panel-recycling-georgia-solarcycle.html
How Farming Saved My Body Image
After giving up competitive running, cycling, and triathlon, I bought a farm in Tennessee. I didn’t know at the time how challenging—and life-affirming—growing my own food would be.
The Leaf Blowers Will Not Go Quietly
Scores of US cities are trying to muffle the seasonal din of gas-powered leaf blowers. But the new regulations and fines are generating resistance, too.
Community Composters Innovate, Adapt, and Connect at the 8th National Cultivating Community Composting Forum
https://ilsr.org/articles/cultivating-community-composting-2024/
Can we protect ocean ecosystems and support thriving fishing and ocean energy industries, too?
Ireland’s struggle to balance competing interests offers insights for others weighing the options.
https://ensia.com/features/marine-protected-areas-ocean-ecosystems-fishing-ocean-offshore-energy/
How to overcome political polarization on climate change
Conversations — in real life — can help bridge the partisan divide, but the trick is to have some structure to the discussion, says a human ecologist
Trump promise to repeal Biden climate policies could cost US billions, report finds
Trump could stop in its tracks US’s emergence as clean energy superpower and forfeit billions in investment
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/14/trump-clean-energy-climate-policies
Republicans are on the cusp of making the awful climate news worse. But there’s still hope
There’s no sugarcoating this. The potential for long-term damage to the environment and to U.S. and global efforts to deal with climate change is immense.
Sadhguru’s Message (Save Soil organization) to America After Donald Trump’s Election Victory
Why high-speed rail conquered the world everywhere except the U.S.
In the past decade, a dizzying diversity of countries have joined the bullet train community. What’s holding the U.S. back?
https://www.fastcompany.com/91237121/why-high-speed-rail-conquered-the-world-everywhere-except-us
Carbon emissions from fossil fuels hit record highs in 2024: report
https://www.axios.com/2024/11/13/carbon-emissions-fossil-fuels-record-high
Planet on Track to Warm 2.7°C by 2100 Under Current Policies: Report
https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-action-tracker-report-2024-global-warming-projection.html
What Trump can do to reverse US climate policy − and what he probably can’t change
US farm groups want Trump to spare their workers from deportation
Cities Look to AI to Flag Residents’ Trash and Recycling Mistakes
Localities in Michigan and Alberta, Canada, are using cameras to call out people who put the wrong items in the recycling or compost bin.
Countries spend huge sums on fossil fuel subsidies – why they’re so hard to eliminate
Wildland-Urban Interface Areas Have Increased by More Than 35% in the Past Two Decades, Study Finds
https://www.ecowatch.com/wildland-urban-interface-development-wildfire-risks.html
Climate Change Is Killing Buildings in Slow Motion
It’s not just storms and floods: Wild temperature swings, severe heat and drought are exacting an invisible toll on the built environment.
How the Western Diet Has Derailed Our Evolution
Burgers and fries have nearly killed our ancestral microbiome.
https://nautil.us/how-the-western-diet-has-derailed-our-evolution-235683/
Armenia’s ecoligical disaster hampers green energy initiatives in Garabagh and Eastern Zangazur (with one minute video imbedded)
https://www.azernews.az/nation/234021.html
Huge election year worldwide sees weakening commitment to act on climate crisis
Among sweeping rightwing electoral victories across the globe, the ‘big loser of the elections has been climate’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/nov/23/election-climate-change-far-right
Can desalination quench agriculture’s thirst?
Miles away from the ocean, projects are afoot to clean up salty groundwater and use it to grow crops. Some say it’s a costly pipe dream, others say it’s part of the future.
What Could Happen If Trump Withdraws the U.S. From the Paris Agreement Again
Here’s what experts predict might occur—and why the country could be a “laughing stock globally.”
Americans will throw out 316 million pounds of food on Thanksgiving. Here’s how it fuels climate change
Cycling can make seniors healthier and more independent − here’s how to design bikes and networks that meet their needs