environment news
Suez Canal: How are they trying to free the Ever Given?
By Reality Check & Visual JournalismBBC News image copyrightSatellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies An operation to free a giant container ship stuck in the Suez Canal is continuing, with warnings it could take days or even weeks. The Ever Given, operated by the Taiwanese company Evergreen Marine, is the length of four football pitches and …
Why cutting down trees can be good for the climate
A massive tree felling operation has been going on in the vast Kielder Forest of Northumberland for the last few weeks. Thousands of trees have been cut down as part of a project that claims to be improving the environment and tackling climate change. The BBC’s chief environment correspondent Justin Rowlatt reports on work to …
Sport urged to drop high carbon sponsorship deals
Chemicals giant Ineos runs the cycling team Ineos Grenadiers featuring Chris Froome Sports teams and competitions have been urged to drop sponsorship deals from companies that promote “high carbon lifestyles, products and services”. It says there are more than 250 sponsor agreements worldwide between sports groups and high carbon industries. “Sport floats on a sea …
Local traffic changes ‘more divisive than Brexit’
Low Traffic Neighbourhoods were introduced to tackle increasing traffic on minor roads, but now they are dividing communities. They use street furniture such as planters to block roads in residential areas. It lowers traffic, but can make it harder for drivers to get around. One in 20 Londoners now live in one and they are …
Covid: The man with ‘super antibodies’
John Hollis didn’t realise he’d been infected with Covid-19. But he later discovered he’s one of the rare people who has “super antibodies”. The antibodies are so good at killing the virus, he’s practically immune to the disease. Still, if scientists hope to find others like John, they’ll have to tackle long standing mistrust among …
Japan’s triple disaster 10 years on: The day ‘tomorrow didn’t come’
It’s 10 years since Japan was hit by a giant 9.0-magnitude earthquake, triggering a massive tsunami. Along the north-east coast dozens of towns and villages were engulfed by the wave. The disaster triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant 250km north of Tokyo. The BBC spoke to Kiyokazu Sasaki who lost his entire …
Coronavirus: Divers find Philippine reef covered with single-use face masks
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is washing up on coral reefs close to the Philippine capital, Manila. According to an estimate by the Asian Development Bank, during the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak, the city could have been generating up to 280 tonnes of extra medical waste per day. Environmental groups are warning that the plastic …
Covid and bird flu: The other lockdown putting livelihoods at risk
Dealing with the effects of Covid lockdown has been tough enough, but for poultry farmers in Wales there is a second viral challenge on their doorstep – bird flu. Following a bird flu outbreak in November 2020, a nationwide lockdown has been in place since December, forcing all captive birds to stay indoors. Any farms …
Then and now: A ‘megadrought’ in California
The latest update from the US Drought Monitor in December 2020, showed that much of the country’s western states were gripped by extreme or exceptional drought, with Nevada, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, Colorado and western Texas being the worst affected. Source link
Why Greenpeace is dropping huge boulders into the sea
A Greenpeace ship has been dropping huge boulders into the sea off Brighton this week to stop fishing boats from trawling the sea bed. The action is part of campaign to tighten restrictions on the most destructive forms of fishing in protected areas of UK waters. But leaders of the fishing community describe the action …
