Manila (AFP) May 4, 2021 US climate envoy John Kerry said Tuesday island nations faced a situation “beyond existential” due to climate change, as he called for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and coal plant financing. The 20 countries responsible for most of the world’s emissions had a “special responsibility” to take action, Kerry said – but warned they were not “moving in the … Continue reading US climate envoy Kerry says islands face ‘beyond existential’ threat

Paris (AFP) May 4, 2021 French lawmakers on Tuesday approved a new law to limit climate change that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will burnish his green credentials ahead of elections next year, though critics say the measures fall short of what is necessary. Macron’s centrist majority assured, as expected, the bill’s passage in the lower-house National Assembly, but it now faces a tougher vote in … Continue reading French climate bill gets parliament OK despite green opposition

A survey of more than 200 CEOs maintains that poor digital marketing practices and meaningless metrics are “putting the board to sleep.” According to the study, 62 percent of the CEOs believe that too much of marketing budgets is wasted on activities that don’t deliver meaningful results, while nearly as many — 60 percent — think that the marketing potential of social media has been … Continue reading Many CEOs Skeptical of Social Media Marketing

Cincinnati OH (SPX) May 01, 2021 Uncapped, idle oil wells could be leaking millions of kilograms of methane each year into the atmosphere and surface water, according to a study by the University of Cincinnati. Amy Townsend-Small, an associate professor of geology and geography in UC’s College of Arts and Sciences, studied 37 wells on private property in the Permian Basin of Texas, the largest … Continue reading Inactive oil wells could be big source of methane emissions

Washington DC (UPI) May 3, 2021 Biologists and conservation scientists have long been operating under the assumption that inbreeding should be avoided at all costs, but a new survey – published Monday in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution – suggests mating with relatives isn’t always bad. If it were, researchers contend, animals would be trying a lot harder to avoid inbreeding. “People assume that … Continue reading For animals, inbreeding isn’t all that bad, new research shows

Washington DC (UPI) May 3, 2021 The world’s smallest plants, single-cell organisms called diatoms, provide exceptional carbon capture services, according to researchers. According to a new study, published Monday in the journal Frontiers in Plant Sciences, diatoms mostly use a single cellular pathway to capture and concentrate CO2. Every year, diatoms floating near the surface of the ocean capture 10 to 20 billhttp://dlvr.it/Rz1RgD Continue reading Tiny ocean plants called diatoms use a single carbon capture pathway

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 30, 2021 Smoky summers in the west can now be linked to a worsening trend of wildfire smoke impacting air quality clear into September, according to new research. University of Utah researchers on Friday published a study in Environmental Research Letters showing that trends in poor air quality events will affect an area from the Pacific Northwest to the Rocky Mountains … Continue reading Wildfire smoke trends worsen for western U.S., study says

Ermelo, South Africa (AFP) April 30, 2021 Darkness enveloped a disused mine in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province as a pick-up truck left the site’s entrance and drove off into the night, loaded with coal. Informal miner Bonginkosi Mhlanga threw a pickaxe over his shoulder and descended back below ground, where he would remain until daybreak. Locally known as “zama zamas” – “those who try and … Continue reading ‘It’s all we have’: the plight of S.Africa’s informal miners

N’Djamena (AFP) April 30, 2021 A printed sheet of paper bearing a photo of Adoussouma hung on the crumbling wall at the Komeissou family home in Chad’s capital N’Djamena, marking his death Tuesday in protests against the new military junta. The young man’s broad smile in the picture was the only cheery face seen Thursday around the large house, where about 40 relatives and friends … Continue reading The ‘good lad’ who died for political change in Chad

Paris (ESA) May 01, 2021 One tends to think of mountain glaciers as slow moving, their gradual passage down a mountainside visible only through a long series of satellite imagery or years of time-lapse photography. However, new research shows that glacier flow can be much more dramatic, ranging from about 10 metres a day to speeds that are more like that of avalanches, with obvious … Continue reading Glacier avalanches more common than thought