A beachgoer walks through sargassum seaweed that washed ashore on 18 May 2023, in Key West, Florida. A huge mass of sargassum seaweed formed in the Atlantic Ocean is headed for the Florida coastlines and shores in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Seaweed full of flesh-eating bacteria hitting Florida, creating a “perfect pathogen storm”

By Jess Thomson 30 May 2023 (Newsweek) – The massive blob of seaweed creeping across the Atlantic Ocean toward Florida may contain deadly flesh-eating bacteria. The 5,000-mile wide clump of seaweed is made up of sargassum seaweed, which has bloomed massively to form the “Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt.” A study from Florida Atlantic University published […]

The Butachimie chemical plant sits in Chalempe, eastern France, Tuesday, 8 November 2022. Photo: Jean-Francois Badias / AP Photo

Cracks emerging in Europe’s united front to battle climate change – “You can’t say I support the Green Deal, but not the ambition to restore nature. It’s not ‘à la carte menu.’”

By Samuel Petrequin 27 May 2023 BRUSSELS (AP News) – The European Union has been at the forefront of the fight against climate change and the protection of nature for years. But it now finds itself under pressure from within to pause new environmental efforts amid fears they will hurt the economy. With the next European […]

CO2 equivalent mixing ratio of atmospheric greenhouse gases, 1979-2022. The NOAA Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) tracks increases in the warming influence of heat-trapping gases generated by human activity, including carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and 15 other gases. This illustration depicts the increase in radiative forcing, relative to 1750, of virtually all long-lived greenhouse gases. The AGGI, which is indexed to 1 for the year 1990, is shown on the right axis. Graphic: NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory

NOAA index tracks how greenhouse gas pollution amplified global warming in 2022 – Methane and nitrous oxide rise near record levels – “Alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels exist, but cutting emissions associated with producing food is perhaps an even more difficult task”

23 May 2023 (NOAA) – Greenhouse gas pollution from human activity trapped 49 percent more heat in the atmosphere during 2022 than those same gases did in 1990, according to an annual NOAA report. NOAA’s Annual Greenhouse Gas Index, known as the AGGI, tracks increases in the warming influence of heat-trapping gases generated by human activity, […]

A satellite image shows a huge clothing dump in the Atacama Desert in Chile. The discarded clothes are located near the municipality of Alto Hospicio in the north of the country. Photo: SkyFi

Vast pile of discarded clothes in desert is so big it’s visible from space

By Aristos Georgiou 22 May 2023 (Newsweek) – A satellite image has revealed an enormous pile of discarded clothing that is so big it’s visible from space. The clothing pile, which contains everything from Christmas sweaters to ski boots, is located in the Atacama Desert—the driest non-polar desert in the world—near the municipality of Alto […]

Used cars from wealthy countries such as Japan, South Korea, European countries, and the US are lined up in the Fifa Park car lot in Cotonou, Benin. Photo: Nimi Princewill / CNN

As the West surges toward electric cars, here’s where the unwanted gas guzzlers go – “You have a very young population that’s getting richer and richer by the day. The first thing they want to do, as they can afford things, is some mobility.”

By Nimi Princewill and Ella Nilsen 21 May 2023 Cotonou, Benin (CNN) – Standing on the stony ground in the bustling Fifa Park car lot, Rokeeb Yaya is haggling over the price of a dark red car. It is one of a couple hundred vehicles, parked in long lines stretching out across the vast lot – […]

A layer of dense smoke spread through much of Alberta during the week of 14 May 2023, caused by forest fires. The smoke that enveloped Calgary briefly gave the city one of the worst air-quality ratings in the world, as the fires to the north and west led to the evacuation of roughly 29,000 people across the province. Photo: Jen Osborne / The New York Times

Alberta is on fire, but discussing climate change is taboo during 2023 election – “It’s very tough to talk about oil and gas in Alberta because it’s sort of the goose that lays the golden egg”

By Ian Austen 20 May 2023 (The New York Times) – When I arrived in Alberta recently to report an upcoming political story, there was no shortage of people wanting to talk about politics and the provincial election on May 29. But, even as wildfires flared earlier than usual and raged across an unusually wide […]

Map showing surface temperatures in Southeast Asia on 6 May 2023. Laos and Vietnam both experienced record-breaking temperatures. Graphic: MetDesk

Extreme heat smashes records in Asia in “one of the most brutal heat events the world has ever witnessed” – Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam all experience temperature spikes, in some places topping 43°C (110°F)

By Matthew Cappucci 8 May 2023 (The Washington Post) – A historic heat wave is bringing largely unprecedented temperatures to Southeast Asia, delivering a dangerous heat stress that could pose grave threats to vulnerable populations and smashing all-time records. Both Vietnam and Laos have recorded their hottest temperatures ever observed, in some places topping 110 […]

Trucks transport bauxite on a red-dirt mining road in the Boké region of Guinea. Photo: Chloe Sharrock / MYOP / The Washington Post

On frontier of new “gold rush” quest for coveted EV metals yields misery – “I am frustrated. But even more than that, I have lost hope.”

By Rachel Chason and Chloe Sharrock 27 April 2023 KAGBANI, Guinea (The Washington Post) – One of the poorest countries on Earth has become a crucial player in the world’s green-energy transition. Guinea, a West African nation of more than 13 million people, is home to the world’s biggest reserves of bauxite — a reddish-brown […]

Map of air pollution in Thailand on 30 April 2023. Graphic: PlumeLabs

Thailand air pollution leads millions to seek medical help – “Today is so smoggy. I cough so much.”

Bangkok, 20 April 2023 (AFP) – About 2.4 million people in Thailand have sought hospital treatment for medical problems linked to air pollution since the start of the year, health officials said, as toxic smog chokes parts of the country. Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai were among the most polluted cities in […]

Coastal anemones found side-by-side with pelagic (open ocean) gooseneck barnacles and pelagic bryozoans on a derelict fish crate recovered from the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Photo: Linsey Haram / Smithsonian Institution

Ocean plastic pollution reaches “unprecedented” levels – The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now so huge and permanent that a coastal ecosystem is thriving on it – “The problem is getting bigger and bigger by the minute”

By Ivana Kottasová 18 April 2023 (CNN) – Scientists have found thriving communities of coastal creatures, including tiny crabs and anemones, living thousands of miles from their original home on plastic debris in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – a 620,000 square mile swirl of trash in the ocean between California and Hawaii. In a new study published in the Nature […]

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