Plastic Burning Makes It Harder for New Delhi Residents to See, Study Suggests
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Health + Wellness
New Delhi's smog is particularly thick, increasing the risk of vehicle accidents. SAJJAD HUSSAIN / AFP via Getty Images
India's New Delhi has been called the "world air pollution capital" for its high concentrations of particulate matter that make it harder for its residents to breathe and see. But one thing has puzzled scientists, according to The Guardian. Why does New Delhi see more blinding smogs than other polluted Asian cities, such as Beijing?
<p>To answer this question, scientists looked at the chemical composition of the region's smog and found that its density is likely linked to the burning of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastics</a>. The specific <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals" target="_self">chemicals</a> released by this burning and other industrial processes are responsible for around 50 percent of the low visibility, the study authors wrote.</p><p>How did they reach this conclusion? The study, published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-00677-x" target="_blank">Nature Geoscience in late January</a>, measured the chemical composition of the particulate matter in the cities of Delhi and Chennai. These are both cities in the Indo Gangetic Plain, a region blanketed in dense smog, particularly in December and January, a PTI story published by <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/plastic-burning-fog-visibility-reduction-delhi-7163964/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Indian Express explained</a>.</p>
<p>The researchers found that the smog in both cities, though particularly in Chennai, had high amounts of chloride. The researchers then looked at which chemicals also spiked along with the chloride, and found it matched what would be released by the burning of plastic, The Guardian explained.</p><p>"We realised that despite absolute PM2.5 mass burden over Delhi being much less than other polluted megacities around the world, including Beijing, the pollution and atmospheric chemistry of Delhi is much more complex to understand," lead author and IIT Madras Department of Civil Engineering associate professor Sachin S Gunthe told PTI. "This work put forward importance of measurements and modelling approaches to scientifically conclude that half of the water uptake and visibility reduction by aerosol particles around Delhi is caused by the hydrochloric acid (<a href="https://indianexpress.com/about/hcl-technologies/" target="_blank">HCl</a>) emissions, which is locally emitted in Delhi potentially due to plastic contained waste burning and other industrial processes."</p>
<p>The low visibility is a deadly and costly problem for New Delhi, the study authors wrote. It increases car accidents and flight delays. Particulate matter in general caused 12,000 excess deaths in New Delhi in 2017, according to one estimate. But the burning of plastics poses other, unique risks, The Guardian explained. It can release highly toxic dioxins that contaminate the food chain and react with smog to increase levels of ground-level ozone, which have been linked to crop yield reductions of 20 to 30 percent.</p><p>However, the study's findings have one bright side.</p><p>"Given that we find plastic burning as a potential cause of the reduced visibility, we hope these findings will help policy makers to efficiently enforce and implement policies that are already in place towards regulating open burning of plastic contained-waste and other potential chlorine sources," Gunthe told PTI.</p>
<p>Still, the problem of plastic waste is larger than two cities in India. Around 90 percent of waste in low income countries is either left in dumps or burned outdoors, according to The Guardian. The emissions from the burning of plastics can also contribute to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. This means the ultimate solution needs to be a global one.</p><p>"Better waste management needs to be a priority but eliminating plastic pollution also requires a rethink of global plastic production and use," Gary Fuller concluded for The Guardian.</p>
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
A bridge over the Delaware river connects New Hope, Pennsylvania with Lambertville, New Jersey. Richard T. Nowitz / Getty Images
In a historic move, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) voted Thursday to ban hydraulic fracking in the region. The ban was supported by all four basin states — New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York — putting a permanent end to hydraulic fracking for natural gas along the 13,539-square-mile basin, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
<p>The vote affirms a 2010 moratorium by the DRBC, an agency that manages the water. Pressured by environmental groups, commissioners used their authority to safeguard public and environmental health and limit future pollution, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.</p><p>"Today's decision is a historic watershed moment and one that will significantly contribute to a clean energy future," Patrick Grenter, associate director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign, <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2021/02/fracking-outlawed-delaware-river-basin-commission" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a statement</a>. "Fracking threatens the health of our people, water, climate, and communities and we're relieved to see it outlawed in the Delaware River Basin."</p><p>Fracking for natural gas involves blasting high volumes of pressurized water and chemicals into rock formations. This has led to contaminated water wells, while wastewater spills have transmitted radioactive materials into surface and groundwater, <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2021/02/25/delaware-river-basin-commission-votes-to-ban-fracking-in-the-watershed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">StateImpact Pennsylvania reported</a>. These pollutants and chemicals are linked to cancers and other health issues in humans and wildlife, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/marisa-guerrero/fracking-banned-delaware-river-basin" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NRDC reported</a>. </p><p>If fracking were to be allowed in the Delaware River Basin, these same impacts could affect the 17 million people that rely on the basin for drinking water, putting 45,000 people who live within a mile of the planned fracking well locations at high risk for those health problems, the NRDC added. The basin is also a critical habitat for one of the most important fisheries in the country, home to diverse species such as native trout, American eels and bald eagles.</p>
<p>The debate on fracking in the region began over a decade ago. During Pennsylvania's natural gas boom, commissioners expressed concern over the high quantity of basin water required to support it, StateImpact Pennsylvania found.</p>
<p>In response, the DRBC imposed a fracking moratorium in 2010, but never finalized drilling regulations, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Supporters of basin drilling argued that the commission did not have the authority to regulate drilling, StateImpact Pennsylvania noted. </p><p>Despite yesterday's vote, the ban still faces opposition. </p><p>Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry President and CEO Gene Barr said that the votes by New York, New Jersey and Delaware did not have Pennsylvania's "best interests in mind," StateImpact Pennsylvania reported. </p>
<p>"There is no support to any claim that drilling results in widespread impacts to drinking water, rivers or groundwater," <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fracking-ban-vote-delaware-river-16dbb425b97cff0fb6f10186b0a2bae8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Barr told AP</a>. "This was a political decision uninformed by science."</p>
<p>Last month, State Sens. Gene Yaw (R., Lycoming) and Lisa Baker (R., Luzerne) and the Pennsylvania Republican Caucus said the moratorium, now a ban, "amounts to an illegal taking of property from Pennsylvania owners of mineral rights and from taxing authorities," The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.</p>
<p>While Thursday's fracking ban could be seen as a promising sign for reducing fossil fuel reliance, the Biden team will face challenges addressing the climate crisis without also slashing jobs in an industry that accounts for a significant amount of U.S. employment. </p>
<p>For the time being, environmental groups are celebrating a rare climate victory. </p><p>"Banning fracking in the Delaware River Basin is an historic event," the NRDC added, crediting years of hard-fought advocacy by environmental groups and activists alike. "It marks a commitment to protecting human and environmental health — not just for those who depend on the Delaware River, but for an entire planet threatened by climate change."</p>
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person holding green leaf vegetable
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Bringing your own reusable grocery bags when you go shopping is one of the easiest ways to cut down on your plastic consumption — according to the UN Environment Program, up to 5 trillion single-use plastic bags are used globally each year.
The most sustainable option is to use a bag you already have, whether it's an old tote or a laundry basket (thank TikTok for that idea). You can also make your own reusable grocery bags out of T-shirts. But if you'd rather purchase designated reusable grocery bags, here are our recommendations.
<div class="redactor-editor" dir="ltr" placeholder="Start writing..." spellcheck="false"><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p></div>
<h2>Why switch to reusable bags?</h2><p>The <a href="https://www.unep.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">UN says</a> people produce 300 million tons of plastic waste each year, and about 60% of the plastic produced since the early 1950s has ended up in a landfill or the natural environment.</p><p>Plastic grocery bags are made from low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Technically, this type of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/plastic-recycling-myth-2647706452.html" target="_self">plastic can be recycled</a>. However, in practice, plastic bags easily clog recycling machinery, so <a href="https://millerrecycling.com/ldpe-out-of-landfills" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">most municipal recycling centers</a> do not accept this type of material. </p><p>A <a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-07/documents/smm_2015_tables_and_figures_07252018_fnl_508_0.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">study by the EPA</a> showed that only about 6% of the LDPE generated in 2015 was recycled. Other types of plastic, by comparison, were recycled at 18% and 10% rates.</p><div class="redactor-editor" dir="ltr" placeholder="Start writing..." spellcheck="false"></div><p>Although some grocery stores offer plastic bag recycling, the easiest way to get around this is to refuse plastic bags in the first place. Many cities have instituted <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/new-york-plastic-bag-ban-begins-2645319695.html" target="_self">plastic bag bans</a>, but more often than not, it's up to individuals to choose to make the switch to reusable grocery bags in their day-to-day lives.</p><p><em><em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/about-ecowatch-2641507575.html?rebelltitem=47#rebelltitem47" target="_self">Melissa Smith</a> is an avid writer, scuba diver, backpacker, and all-around outdoor enthusiast. She graduated from the University of Florida with degrees in journalism and sustainable studies. Before joining EcoWatch, Melissa worked as the managing editor of Scuba Diving magazine and the communications manager of The Ocean Agency, a non-profit that's featured in the Emmy award-winning documentary Chasing Coral.</em></em></p><em><em><br></em><ul class="ee-ul"></ul></em>
Best Overall: ChicoBag Reusable Grocery Bag
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTIxNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTMyMDQ2N30.RTnT_sQQbH0ucKu_QvfyFIhavWHa_acNOMrOxiHVsGE/img.jpg?width=980" id="63ab1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e127ef0807a470e3b1d33edd96a646c6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />ChicoBag
<p>Standard reusable grocery bags — foldable cloth "green bags" that typically have company logos on them — are bulky, can't be machine washed, and tend to break down after a number of uses. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/ChicoBag-Original-Reusable-Shopping-Grocery/dp/B006WA9LRA" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ChicoBag reusable grocery bags</a> solve these problems and more. They hold up to 25 pounds each, can be tossed in the wash, and stuff down into a tiny attached pouch that you can easily keep in your purse or the center console of your car until you need them.</p><p><strong>Customer rating:</strong> 4.8 out of 5 stars with over 1,000 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why buy: </strong>Machine washable; Certified B Corp; Climate Neutral Certified; Supports 1% For the Planet; Fair Labor Association member
$24
Most Convenient For Shopping: Lotus Trolley Bags
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTIyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDc2NjkxNH0.tdZukrUtxoElloqocyeKnjFia8vFu7oIKd1vFfil0Mo/img.jpg?width=980" id="37f6c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cbb1cc8bb094a1a4d7c09f497ebcbf25" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Lotus Sustainables
<p>If you prefer bigger reusable grocery bags that add convenience to your shopping experience, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Trolley-COOLER-Reusable-Grocery-Eco-friendly/dp/B07WTLWF4Z?th=1" target="_blank">Lotus Trolley Bags</a> may be perfect for you. These bags fold flat and nestle in your cart so that you can sort items while you shop. There's a large insulated cooler bag, as well as two standard reusable shopping bags and a bag with pockets for wine bottles and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/brown-eggs-healthier-than-white-eggs-2314254330.html" target="_self">egg cartons</a>. Each can hold up to 50 pounds and has double-stitched seams for added durability.</p><p><strong>Customer rating: </strong>4.6 out of 5 stars with over 3,000 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why buy:</strong> Machine washable; Removable rod for non-cart use; Supports 1% for the Planet
$50
Most Popular: BAGGU Standard Reusable Shopping Bag
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTI1Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDY5MTgxM30.weLONkbrGfiRaU-3AjOFfuaO9hVTrvxeSiGhBfg4kMg/img.jpg?width=980" id="ba8f6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="deea1a99acc91840e54d35dad7ae9dbf" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />BAGGU
<p>For another versatile option, try the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N4D829J?tag=ecowatch-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank">Baggu Standard Reusable Shopping Bag</a>. This product is modeled after a conventional <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/thailand-plastic-bag-ban-2643538829.html" target="_self">plastic grocery bag</a> but is made with 40% recycled ripstop fabric. Baggu reusable bags can carry up to 50 pounds but stuff down into a five-inch internal pocket for carrying.</p><p><strong>Customer rating:</strong> 4.7 out of 5 stars with over 50 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why buy:</strong> Machine washable; Made with 40% recycled materials; Ethically manufactured; Packaging made from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified material
$12
Best Handmade Bag: Ecodunia Canvas Tote Bag
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTI1MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNTc2NzgwMn0.WY9Zby2RhohlKTOT3nahq38hGn4TATd1jHehxs76btw/img.jpg?width=980" id="5ca43" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ffff86b74fdce3945022712198b15de2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Ecodunia
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ecodunia-Canvas-Tote-Women-Eco-Conscious/dp/B08LY82NYW/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Ecodunia&qid=1613051665&sr=8-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ecodunia's reusable bags</a> have a sturdier feel than most products on this list. The canvas used to make each bag is produced from 100% renewable resources and natural cotton, plus they have long handles for comfortable carrying over your shoulder. Ecodunia's fun prints will likely make you want to use these bags for more than carting groceries, but they're great for a weekend trip to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/farmers-markets-coronavirus-safety-2645581711.html" target="_self">farmers market</a>.</p><p><strong>Customer rating:</strong> 5 out of 5 stars with under 5 Amazon reviews</p><p><strong>Why buy: </strong>Made from natural cotton; Machine washable; Handmade; Provides dignified work for communities in Kenya </p>
$38
Best Tote Bag: Simple Ecology Tote Bundle
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTI1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY3MzY0MDE5Nn0.Y9qxNgfCSoO6SowBXX7KbQLWhzPDn2m5mYU5IFT-mG4/img.jpg?width=980" id="38328" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d6ff115df9ceaa39fe785a318c015307" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />Simple Ecology
<p>Another canvas bag option comes from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Simple-Ecology-Reusable-Shopping-Certified/dp/B086Z7XQ79?ref_=ast_sto_dp" target="_blank">Simple Ecology</a>. This brand's eco-friendly grocery bags are made with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified cotton and feature pop-out sleeves for more fragile goods and double-stitched seams for extra reinforcement. The large size has about the same capacity as a grocer's paper bag. Simple Ecology also has a reusable bag <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N6AUMBG/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01N6AUMBG&pd_rd_w=MA3ZS&pf_rd_p=cbc856ed-1371-4f23-b89d-d3fb30edf66d&pd_rd_wg=hVunQ&pf_rd_r=G6RTQ1Z5DKEY325MAJZ9&pd_rd_r=5d298b3a-1be7-4ebd-a9e1-d5d672a40497&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExMzc4RVAxWjNLOTdCJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNTc0NTAwMzBDMjFYOVJPTUpWSCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNjYyOTM4M0s4Vk81SVBPS1NFSyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=" target="_blank">starter kit</a> that comes with a tote and several reusable produce bags.</p> <p><strong>Customer Rating: </strong>4.6 out of 5 stars with over 900 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why Buy:</strong> GOTS certified; Machine washable; Biodegradable; Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certified packaging when purchased from manufacturer
$33
Best Bulk Bags: BagPodz Reusable Shopping Bags
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY2MTI2NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjk3MTE3Mn0.9zdJfkEbue1iq8Xywwk89-qt0Zcv9wvrDqFUUSzelcE/img.jpg?width=980" id="85dd2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1fa8fd5a709a4d14d797ce4c796efa86" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="400" data-height="400" />BagPodz
<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/BagPodz-Reusable-Bag-Storage-System/dp/B00QJ9PBBY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">BagPodz Reusable Shopping Bags</a> are all about convenience. You can get a pack of five or 10 bags, all of which fit in a low-profile "pod" that can be stored for use on the go. When at the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/vancouvers-grocery-store-plastic-bags-2638807121.html" target="_self">grocery store</a>, the pod clips to your cart and has an easy-dispense pocket for when it's time to check out. After use, just stuff them back into the pod. BagPodz reusable bags are made with Bluesign® certified materials, which means they're manufactured sustainably.</p> <p><strong>Customer Rating:</strong> 4.8 out of 5 stars with over 2,000 Amazon reviews</p><strong>Why Buy: </strong>Machine washable; Made with Bluesign certified material
$35
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New EarthX Special 'Protecting the Amazon' Suggests Ways to Save the World’s Greatest Rainforest
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Popular
A 3-hour special film by EarthxTV calls for protection of the Amazon and its indigenous populations. EarthxTV.org
To save the planet, we must save the Amazon rainforest. To save the rainforest, we must save its indigenous peoples. And to do that, we must demarcate their land.
<p><a href="https://earthx.org/protecting-the-amazon/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Protecting the Amazon</em></a>, the latest special film program from EarthxTV, explains the need for these actions and how to work in solidarity with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/indigenous-peoples" target="_self">indigenous peoples</a> to preserve Amazonia.</p><p>The Amazon rainforest and the indigenous tribes that call it home are in danger. The newest scientific reports predict the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-rainforest-collapse-2649776959.html" target="_self">world's largest rainforest will collapse by 2064</a>, causing dangerous water shortages, catastrophic biodiversity loss and much more. As the ecosystem degrades, it will also lose its ability to store carbon, changing from a carbon sink for the planet into a carbon source. A 2020 study estimated that the Amazon is already <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-rainforest-carbon-emissions-2650166673.html" target="_self">on the brink of turning into a net carbon emitter</a>. Going past that threshold would throw the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> into full swing.</p>
<p>Unsustainable development, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation" target="_self">deforestation</a>, cattle ranching and soybean production are the main culprits behind this rapid destruction. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-brazil-gold-mining-2645732733.html" target="_self">Illegal gold mining</a> plays a big part, too.</p><p>Princess Esmeralda of Belgium, president of the Leopold III Fund for Nature Exploration and Conservation and one of the co-hosts of the 3-hour special, lamented the bleak outlook.</p><p>"The current state of the Amazon rainforest is dire," she told EcoWatch. "During 2019 and 2020, deforestation continued at a frightening pace and scale. Last year, it increased by 30 percent from what was already a record-breaking year in 2019."</p><p>The conservation journalist also pointed out how <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/amazon-deforestation-bolsonaro-2649115946.html" target="_self">deforestation, invasion of indigenous lands and mining in the rainforest have skyrocketed under Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro</a>, a known pro-development, anti-Amazon, anti-indigenous candidate. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/jair-bolsonaro" target="_self">Bolsonaro</a> was elected with the support of the "so-called BBB (beef, bullets and bible)," a very powerful lobby composed of militaries, Christian evangelists and meat producers, Princess Esmeralda said. She estimated that almost 20 percent of the Amazon had been lost in the last half-century.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, attempts to stop the destruction have fallen short.</p><p>According to Rob Harding, executive producer of <em>Protecting the Amazon</em>, "The international community's attempts to nurture a healthier Amazon have thus far failed... The urgency of this situation is clear."</p><p>Citing his motivations behind pitching the special project, Harding added, "There's no time like the present to help raise awareness and inspire meaningful action by instilling a sense of global collective responsibility. We believe that <em>Protecting the Amazon</em> will do all of the above."</p>
<p>The film event, a rare collaboration and amplification of indigenous voices and their allies, brings together some of the world's biggest players in conservation – including Jane Goodall, legendary indigenous rights advocates Chief Raoni Metuktire and Chief Ninawa Huni-Kui and Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson – on the same virtual stage to highlight our collective responsibility to the rainforest.</p><p>All make the case for demarcating indigenous lands in the Amazon as an effective forestalling against the catastrophes forecasted above. Demarcation is the constitutionally-mandated federal process wherein indigenous territories are identified and studied to determine and mark off boundaries, explained Gert-Peter Bruch, co-host of the special and co-founder of the Alliance of Mother Nature's Guardians.</p>
<p>Satellite views of the rainforest make clear that where there are federally-recognized, demarcated and protected indigenous territories, the richest and most contiguous forests still remain, said Christian Poirier, program director for Amazon Watch, a partner in the special program.</p><p>"These are essentially islands of forests in a sea of deforestation," he told EcoWatch. "Everything around them has been degraded and deforested."</p><p>Importantly, he added, these areas remain pristine because (1) indigenous peoples are effective stewards of the rainforest, and (2) the federal government of Brazil has recognized the rights of indigenous peoples to these lands and helps to keep out destructive actors.</p><p>"The demarcation of indigenous lands is fundamental to the future of the Amazon, both in terms of its environmental conservation and in terms of respecting the human rights of indigenous peoples, who are the best stewards of the rainforest," Poirier said. Without demarcation, "the Amazon would cease to exist as we know it today."</p>
<p>In theory, once land is demarcated, non-indigenous equipment, installations and occupants would be required to leave, for good, Bruch explained. This would allow indigenous peoples to continue to act as custodians of the land as they have since time immemorial.</p><p>In the Amazon and indeed even on a global scale, indigenous peoples make up approximately 4 percent of the world's population, and yet they effectively watch over 80 percent of the planet's remaining biodiversity, Poirier explained.</p><p>"Because they are proven the best stewards of the rainforest, we need to learn from them how to keep the rainforest from reaching a tipping point," Poirier said. "The integrity of their territories is a fundamental component of that, but it goes beyond their territories. This is a worldview we need to apply to understanding how to preserve the rainforest in conjunction with its peoples ‒ its forest peoples and its indigenous peoples. We need to have their voice centered in any conversation about land conservation and their rights upheld."</p>
<p><em>Protecting the Amazon</em> calls for this critical mass and solidarity with indigenous peoples in protecting their rights and the forest, simultaneously. The film event notes the long history of fierce indigenous resistance to the many efforts to disenfranchise and evict them from their lands. All speakers also insist that indigenous peoples cannot do this work alone.</p><p>Bruch concluded with a hope that the special event would refocus the world on these pressing issues and remind everyone that the destiny of the indigenous guardians of the Amazon is linked to ours, and that their protection depends on the protection of their territories.</p><p>"Solidarity is so critical and... this event is a critical step towards raising awareness... of the work (indigenous peoples) have always done to benefit us all," Poirier said. "If they are unsuccessful in protecting their areas, all of humanity will suffer gravely."</p><p>View the film on demand on <a href="https://earthx.org/earthxondemand/" target="_blank">EarthxOnDemand</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY5NDQxMS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDc5MzIxM30.yA7xyURHdb8k9uod4xzcKlca2LK9Tei5K5ZQdBY-TLQ/img.png?width=980" id="c31e1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="919f5b7bb78b2d4fd6b6f48c6e3db1a1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2048" data-height="1080" />
A new EarthxTV film special calls for the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the indigenous people that call it home. EarthxTV.org
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A rare bird not seen for 170 years has turned up in Borneo's South Kalimantan province in Indonesia. robas / Getty Images
In October 2020, two men living in Indonesia's South Kalimantan province on Borneo managed to catch a bird that they had never seen before. They photographed and released it, then sent the pictures to birdwatching organizations in the area for identification.
<p>To the men's surprise, the bird wasn't just new to them. Ornithologists identified it as the black-browed babbler (<em>Malacocincla perspicillata), </em>a bird last documented around 170 years ago. It is so rare that the data on the <a href="http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=1428&Bird_Image_ID=28450" target="_blank">only collected specimen</a> lists it as "presumed extinct."</p><p>"It feels surreal to know that we have found a species of bird presumed by experts to be extinct," Muhammad Rizky Fauzan, who found the bird along with Muhammad Suranto, told <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/25/black-browed-babbler-found-in-borneo-180-years-after-last-sighting" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "We didn't expect it to be that special at all — we thought it was just another bird that we simply have never seen before."</p><p>Ornithologist Panji Gusti Akbar was equally surprised when he saw Fauzan and Suranto's picture of the bird on WhatsApp, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/mystery-bird-not-seen-in-172-years-makes-surprise-reappearace-in-borneo-forest/#:~:text=Mystery%20bird%20not%20seen%20in%20172%20years%20makes%20surprise%20reappearance%20in%20Borneo%20forest,-by%20Elizabeth%20Claire&text=The%20black%2Dbrowed%20babbler%20was,sometime%20between%201843%20and%201848" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mongabay reported</a>.</p><p>"I contacted as many leading ornithologists as possible, and they all agreed that there is no other bird that [it] looks [like] other than a black-browed babbler," Akbar told Mongabay. "It just blew my mind."</p>
<p>The black-browed babbler was first captured on an expedition to the East Indies in the 1840s, according to The Guardian. Charles Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's nephew, named and described it. German naturalist Carl A.L.M. Schwaner collected the only known specimen, now located at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands, Mongabay reported.</p><p>Lead author Akbar detailed the new find in a <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c1a9e03f407b482a158da87/t/6034c09a3440914018d3c306/1614071211606/Black-browed-Babbler.pdf" target="_blank">paper published in BirdingAsia</a> on Thursday. The report noted that this is the longest an Asian bird has been lost to science. The authors also detailed the rediscovered bird's physical characteristics and the differences between the one in the recent photograph and the taxidermied specimen.</p><p>"The facial appearance of the bird was very distinct, with the crown being chestnut brown, demarcated by a broad, black eye-stripe extending across the malars (cheekbone) to the nape and necksides," the report authors wrote.<br></p><p>There are three major differences between the live and stuffed specimens. The former has maroon irises instead of yellow; its legs are slate gray instead of brown; and its bill is a different color.</p>
<p>"These three parts of a bird's body are known to lose their tint and are often artificially colored during the taxidermy process," Akbar told The Guardian.</p><p>The researchers do not have enough information to determine the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> status of the rediscovered species, but they hope to do further study. However, The Guardian noted massive <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/deforestation" target="_self">deforestation</a> in lowland Borneo, and Akbar believes habitat loss poses a threat. The bird's reemergence is another argument for preserving Borneo's unique <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rainforest" target="_self">rainforest</a>.</p><p>"It's sobering to think that when the black-browed babbler was last seen, Charles Darwin's Origin of Species hadn't even been published and the now extinct passenger pigeon was still among the world's commonest birds," Ding Li Yong of BirdLife International and study coauthor said in a <a href="https://www.orientalbirdclub.org/club-news/2021/2/25/black-browed-babbler-rediscovered" target="_blank">press release</a>. "Who knows what other riches lie deep within Borneo's fabled rainforests, especially in the Indonesian part of the island?"</p>
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A resident of Austin, Texas scrapes snow into a bucket to melt it into water on Feb. 19, 2021. Winter storm Uri brought historic cold weather, leaving people in the area without water as pipes broke. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
By Andrea Germanos
President Joe Biden is being called on to back newly reintroduced legislation that seeks to remedy the nation's drinking water injustices with boosts to infrastructure and the creation of a water trust fund.
<p>"From the plague of water shutoffs due to unaffordable bills during a pandemic, to the recent heartbreaking scenes across the South of frozen pipes leaving millions without water, it has become desperately clear that our country is in a water crisis," said Food & Water Action executive director Wenonah Hauter in a statement Thursday.</p><p>"Grave crises require robust solutions, and this is just what the WATER Act provides," said Hauter.</p><p>The WATER Act — the acronym for the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity, and Reliability Act of 2021 — was reintroduced Thursday by Democratic Reps. Brenda L. Lawrence (Mich.) and Ro Khanna (Calif.). Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the companion legislation in the Senate.</p>
<p>Supporting the measure is a diverse collection of over 500 organizations including Corporate Accountability, the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Food & Water Watch, and the NAACP. Seventy-four lawmakers in the House and Senate are co-sponsors.</p>
<div id="15a8c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="540104ac79929e24f0c378cf6232614a"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1364990521668755458" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It’s no coincidence the communities with the highest rates of coronavirus infections are the same ones with dirty w… https://t.co/LFSqgPaSN8</div> — Rep. Ro Khanna (@Rep. Ro Khanna)<a href="https://twitter.com/RepRoKhanna/statuses/1364990521668755458">1614274075.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Echoing Hauter, Lawrence said in a statement that we "have a water crisis in the United States that affects every corner of our country." And waiting to act on the issue, she added, is simply not an option.</p><p>"Access to clean and safe drinking water is a basic human right," said Lawrence.</p>
<p>According to a summary from the Michigan Democrat's office, the WATER Act:</p><ul><li>Provides $34.85 billion a year to drinking water and wastewater improvements;</li><li>Creates a water trust fund;</li><li>Creates up to nearly one million jobs across the economy and protect American workers;</li><li>Prioritizes disadvantaged communities with grants and additional support;</li><li>Expands funding for technical assistance to small, rural, and Indigenous communities;</li><li>Funds projects to address water contamination from PFAS;</li><li>Requires U.S. EPA to study water affordability, shutoffs, discrimination, and civil rights violations by water providers;</li><li>Upgrades household wells and septic systems;</li><li>Helps homeowners replace lead service lines; and</li><li>Provides more than $1 billion a year to update water infrastructure in public schools.</li></ul>
<p>Assets for the trust fund would be created by "rolling back a small portion of the Trump administration's corporate tax cuts by increasing the corporate income tax rate by 3.5 percentage points."</p><p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/23/water-emergency-threatens-every-corner-our-country-analysis-shows-80-spike-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Affordability</a> has long been a drinking water-related concern in communities across the U.S. — as have other issues including the <a href="https://www.ewg.org/research/national-pfas-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">presence</a> of a class of chemicals known as PFAS and <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/water-privatization-facts-and-figures" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">privatization</a> woes. The Flint, Michigan water <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">crisis</a> also punctuated concerns about the management of water systems and drinking water safety.</p><p><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/18/blood-abbotts-hands-anger-gop-leaders-surges-food-water-shortages-compound-texas" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Events</a> over the past year have only underscored the need for public investment in the nation's water systems, WATER Act supporters say.</p>
<p>"The crisis in Texas illuminated how vital access to running water is for human survival. And the Covid-19 pandemic has put on display the unjust reality of America's water affordability, reliability, and equity crisis," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/02/25/congress-just-introduced-answer-americas-water-woes-unprecedented-support-water?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">said</a> Brittany Alston, deputy research director of Action Center on Race & the Economy (ARCE).</p><p>Alston said that the WATER Act represented "a real solution" to those problems. She added, "The only way to combat America's water crisis is with this type of bold, reparative change that both challenges corporate power and addresses water affordability, accessibility, and quality across the entire country, especially in low-income and BIPOC communities."</p>
<p>In a June<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2020/jun/23/clean-water-should-be-an-american-human-right-not-a-government-profit-machine" target="_blank"> op-ed </a>at The Guardian, Sanders and Lawrence — who also teamed up last year to introduce the WATER Act — detailed the nation's water crisis, writing, in part:</p><blockquote>Unbelievably, when it comes to water infrastructure, America's challenges resemble those of a developing country. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives our drinking water infrastructure a "D" grade and our wastewater infrastructure a "D+." The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that raw sewage overflows at least 23,000 times each year. Up to 1.7 million Americans lack access to basic plumbing facilities such as a toilet, tub, shower, or basic running water. Almost 200,000 households have absolutely no wastewater system. Up to 10 [million] homes across America get water through lead pipes. Six years since the start of its water crisis, Flint still does not have clean water. Meanwhile, in Denmark, South Carolina, families are forced to travel 20 miles each month in order to collect clean drinking water.<br>Not only do Americans have to deal with poor-quality and often toxic drinking water, we have the "privilege" of paying an arm and a leg for it. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, nearly 14 [million] households were unable to afford their water bills, whose <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/23/millions-of-americans-cant-afford-water-bills-rise" target="_blank">prices increased more than 40% since 2010</a>. At this rate, more than a third of American households may not be able to afford their water bills five years from now. Furthermore, due to the economic meltdown caused by the coronavirus, millions of Americans who don't know where their next paycheck will come from are now at risk of losing their water service. As public health officials warn that this deadly disease will be with us for quite some time, how are families supposed to wash their hands regularly when their utility company is shutting off their water?</blockquote><p>According to Food & Water Watch's Hauter, the need for swift action is clear.</p><p>"The time for Congress and the Biden administration to make this critical legislation a priority has very clearly come," she said. "Our country can't wait any longer for a functional, safe, and affordable water system for every community."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/25/biden-urged-back-bold-reparative-water-justice-bill" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Infants and young children may experience high phthalate levels because they often put plastic products in their mouths. Image Source / Getty Images
By Stephanie Eick
You may not realize it, but you likely encounter phthalates every day. These chemicals are found in many plastics, including food packaging, and they can migrate into food products during processing. They're in personal care products like shampoos, soaps and laundry detergents, and in the vinyl flooring in many homes.
<p>They're also in the news again after an editorial by scientists in the <a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2020.306014" target="_blank">American Journal of Public Health</a> included an urgent call for better federal regulation of the chemicals.</p><p>In particular, scientists are urging state and federal agencies to eliminate phthalates (pronounced THAL-ates) from products used by pregnant women and children. Despite evidence of the harm these chemicals can cause, federal regulation in the United States has been minimal beyond <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/01/26/2018-01451/prohibition-of-childrens-toys-and-child-care-articles-containing-specified-phthalates-revision-of" target="_blank">children's toys</a>. A recent move by the General Mills-owned food brand Annie's to <a href="https://www.annies.com/faq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eliminate phthalates from its macaroni and cheese</a> suggests stricter rules are feasible.</p><p>So, what's the risk, and what can you do about it?</p><p>I'm an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wKXbh1UAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environmental epidemiologist</a> who studies the impact of pregnant women's exposure to environmental chemicals. Here are answers to three important questions about phthalates.</p>
<h2>Who's at Risk?</h2><p>Ortho-phthalates, commonly referred to as phthalates, are synthetic chemicals that are used to manufacture plastic. They help make plastic more flexible and harder to break.</p><p>Despite their abundance in many products, phthalates can be harmful to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412018329908" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pregnant women</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935115001899?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their children</a>. These chemicals can disrupt the endocrine system, the glands that release hormones as the body's chemical messengers. Studies suggest that can lead to pregnant women <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412021000684" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">delivering their babies early</a>. Other studies have found that children born to mothers exposed to high levels of phthalates can have a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0013935115001899?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lower IQ</a> and poorer social communication development, and that these children are also more likely to develop <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP2358" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ADHD</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0161813X18303255?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">behavior problems</a>. Researchers have also found effects on the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1280349/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">genital development of male infants</a> born to mothers exposed to phthalates during pregnancy.</p><p>While phthalates can be found in nearly everyone, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412018329908" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">minority women have been found to be especially burdened</a>. Studies show that many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2018.03.030" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">beauty products</a> targeted at these communities contain high levels of chemicals.</p><p><a href="http://doi.org/10.1097/MOP.0b013e32835e1eb6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Infants and young children</a> may experience high phthalate levels because they often put plastic products in their mouths as they explore the world.</p><p>Phthalates can enter food at <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Phthalates_FactSheet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">many places</a> in the supply chain, including through plastic tubing for liquids during production, plastic storage containers and even food preparation gloves. Foods that are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4050989/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">high in fat</a> in particular can absorb phthalates through exposure during processing. Eating out doesn't avoid the risk. A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.02.029" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study of U.S. children and adults</a> showed that those who ate food outside of their homes had higher phthalate levels.</p>
<h2>How Do I Know if a Product Has Phthalates?</h2><p>Figuring out which products have high levels of phthalates isn't always easy. While <a href="https://phthalates.americanchemistry.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">phthalates</a> are required to be listed on ingredients labels, they are sometimes included instead as part of the fragrance, which <a href="https://www.safecosmetics.org/fragrance-disclosure/learn-more/trade-secrets/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">allows them to be excluded</a> from the ingredients list.</p><p>Many companies have voluntarily removed phthalates, and many consumer products are now labeled "phthalate free." The <a href="https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental Working Group</a>'s Skin Deep website also offers a way to search for details about chemicals in cleaning and personal care products.</p>
<h2>How Do I Keep My Family Safe?</h2><p>Phthalates are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/Phthalates_FactSheet.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rapidly metabolized</a> and generally removed from the body once exposure stops. Until there is better regulation, a few simple changes can make a big difference in promoting health and reducing phthalate levels in the home.</p><p>One <a href="http://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1003170" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">easy change</a> is to swap out all plastic food packaging containers with glass containers. If that's not possible, it's best to let food cool to room temperature before placing it in plastic food storage containers.</p><p>Don't microwave anything in plastic, because phthalates can <a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110100507" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">migrate from food storage containers</a> into food.</p><p>You can also reduce phthalate exposure by checking labels to avoid using products that include phthalates, by <a href="http://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1003170" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eating less processed food</a> that might have absorbed phthalates during production, and by cooking more meals at home.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephanie-eick-1212588" target="_blank">Stephanie Eick</a> is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Reproductive Health, University of California, San Francisco.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: Stephanie Eick does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-phthalates-and-how-do-they-put-childrens-health-at-risk-155841" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
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An oil pumpjack is seen in a Texas cotton field against a backdrop of wind energy. ChrisBoswell / Getty Images
Many congressional districts with the most clean energy potential are current fossil fuel hubs, potentially reducing political barriers to a just transition away from the energy sources that cause climate change, a Brookings report says.
Of the 155 congressional districts with high renewable energy potential, 91 are currently represented by a Republican.<p><br>Although fossil fuel companies have laid off well over 100,000 workers in the last year alone, in some cases while their executives raked in <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/MVY1h1-_RTJN7mQ5ZLkJ0w4W3fCDQw4nwFmrMQqrWk3p_9LV1-WJV7CgLcCV2Df3L1V8BtsW2_x6NM3601T9W5c5Qtv1W8mMBW74KJT267rhm4W17YTpJ8p5pTPW6kyj365Dcpr0W84Kmdm5JDgWFN8w9R8dmmRHNW3QMyqv4jhm4BN3W2BvyqbzFjW4CCrmM8WKztLW8YKVFK6vCrRLW3nCpt375_vHRW2sDJXQ1R8Kc4W8lQ9pd8M5g2HW2f1fnZ5F_X1PW6F98Pr8kHHRSW3b9jnl6hY8MvW1RmG5X8ysxJ0W2cRmR06xHGjfW6FqMSC6pd4yNW8Gn8zS5rfsl9W3XfPnx4zdZgVVjgcXV4b1fyyW4llG__99Vgp2W48Ds8c5QqTfYW3CwWFf5tS3Q2W96QcZ99487Rr31Ng1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bonuses funded by government bailouts</a>, the Brookings researchers describe a fear of transitioning to renewable energy in geographically concentrated regions and communities historically dominated by the fossil fuel industry. </p><p>The Brookings report did not address the billions of dollars spent by fossil fuel companies over decades to deny the science of climate change and fund politicians who support their industries. </p><p>While many workers in the fossil fuel industry are finding <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/MVY1h1-_RTJN7mQ5ZLkJ0w4W3fCDQw4nwFmrMQqrTy5nxG7V3Zsc37CgL8bW40b_lj927k13W7BcJZT8BqWSMW3tbhQG4bHXgFW639_Rf3s01YkW1bcZZ55dDP_PW5sqqPG6HcmKgN3ZmLcg9KXlDW9fDBRM4d8ls6W6c6tr62qqs6LW50t0NS2WVbq3N7XF1wXYV06kW7_Fh133KRKM8W5Z2j8k3PNYKmW3j7RDX1SBHYBW5D7SM44RNQL4W71Pf2Z7bWdt6V1SGF85j4knsW5ZdjY673mNQGW6vP-_G4dRgFsVjntSb6LHB7pW5gxjl28rpMVtW6xjfx21t26zKW6VNVL68Mng3TN64Mq75nctXmW2xS4BD7N0tXkW49tMfh5fQGRkW4NQskf7BkRkHW5x5BdW7CzVKNW7-HWBP5HnvCTW3vb3D55RC2_3W3tyYzP78jh4wW8vNy9y6k4D863nqX1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their skills transfer easily</a> to renewable energy, oil and gas workers could also be employed plugging orphaned wells, which leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and other pollutants.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p>Brookings: <a href="https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2021/02/25/stories/1063725859?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113098412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-839hnX7b4zvCuqLUebVBKHK2HmH_2m8irPUGeEuycSZygZjz_VnUscwzq9nRj6WUpT1dNLTFsa-40M5MyUjMRwCs0j3w3Rs855EyCa7x_gAR9tTT0&utm_content=113098412&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">E&E</a>, <a href="https://www.axios.com/clean-energy-jobs-transition-biden-c656cb47-fe7e-4a8c-9737-981e006aff6f.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113098412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-820Rqwn19yHmMV1VXr5zuWUaA-6TDDux8h9pANCdwtRhxc1z_MdVhdY31lRccPdnX-I5iaExEyGuZyPUBiHzAnGEPeejcUei8O-dxiI8GSKaM4iNU&utm_content=113098412&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Axios</a>; Bonuses: <a href="https://bailoutwatch.org/analysis/bailed-out-oil-firms-lay-off-workers?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113098412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9u3p0E67jWSCvYD7I-2YFDhEp58vEJzLASuQGVA_qPbufk2qtOPkaRawD25U7NHyobohaYbVYDBBfVGhmzqNRKbEDNNbRvanzDupjNjauDi0ddZWM&utm_content=113098412&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">BailoutWatch</a>; Orphaned Wells: <a href="https://www.kxan.com/weather/weather-blog/curbing-climate-change-while-also-putting-unemployed-oil-gas-workers-back-to-work/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=113098412&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-89DPzr9Bwxk-sF9J39afc8oKu10cH4J_RQhKymU3VaHOTdmij2mnhRByaaz24lZD0thps-E4K4IDbaBotigWb2c4l9MRB_1lVfJVGNDTzr2br-O4A&utm_content=113098412&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">KXAN</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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This Popular Condiment Is Helping Save Sea Turtles From One of Israel’s Worst Oil Spills
23h
Animals
A sea turtle rescued from Israel's devastating oil spill. MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP via Getty Images
Rescue workers in Israel are using a surprising cure to save the sea turtles harmed by a devastating oil spill: mayonnaise!
<p>The condiment can both help break down the tar that has coated even the turtles' insides and clean out their system, Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Michmoret, explained to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mayonnaise-help-turtles-oil-spills-c5f679439e7a0f95fb79384978944cde" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.</p><p>"They came to us full of tar. All their trachea from inside and outside was full of tar," he said.</p>
<p>Tar from a mysterious oil spill began washing up on Israeli beaches last week, as EcoWatch reported previously. The spill is being called one of the worst ecological disasters in the nation's history, and has now covered most of Israel's 120 miles of coastline along the Mediterranean, according to The Associated Press. It has now also spread to the coastline of Lebanon.</p><p>The spill has generated around 1,000 tons of tar, which has seriously affected <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a>, including sea turtles. The injured turtles have been taken to the National Sea Turtle Rescue Center, which is north of Tel Aviv. Ivgy told The Associated Press Tuesday that the center was currently treating 11 turtles. Yaniv Levy, the center's founder and director, told <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-with-mayonnaise-and-q-tips-israelis-save-oil-drenched-turtles-1.9562907?v=1614269214502" target="_blank">Haaretz</a> the same day that the center was treating 27 turtles total and six for tar damage specifically.</p>
<p>The tar-coated turtles have to be cleaned both inside and out, Levy explained.</p><p>"They all got here with a coat of tar on their heads, and in their eyes, nostrils, mouth, digestive system and stomach," he said. "With this kind of damage they have no chance to survive without treatment. We removed the tar from their nostrils and eyes so they could breathe and see."</p><p>The mayonnaise helps clean the digestive system. First, volunteers use vegetable oil to thin the tar. Then, they use mayonnaise to dilute the tar and remove it from the stomach and intestinal lining. At the same time, the mayonnaise provides fats and proteins to the turtles while it is not safe for them to eat solid food.</p><p>"If they eat regular food, it turns into a lump with the tar and could cause blockages, which is why we don't give them solid foods during the first days," Levy said.</p>
<div id="69149" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5c72399c478551575fe4f92bdb8d25dc"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1364507790841180160" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">At this Israeli turtles hospital, oil spill victims are saved with Q-tips and mayonnaise
https://t.co/XrmHbKrmHu https://t.co/bmmlcY4wTJ</div> — Haaretz.com (@Haaretz.com)<a href="https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/statuses/1364507790841180160">1614158983.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>This isn't the first time mayonnaise has been used to treat sea turtles rescued from an oil spill. The Turtle Hospital in Florida also recommends it as a safe and effective treatment, according to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56194624" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BBC News</a>.</p><p>Mayonnaise is an effective treatment because of its unique properties, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/mayonnaise-sea-turtle-treatment-after-isreal-oil-spill.html" target="_blank">Live Science explained</a>. That is because it is an emulsion, a mixture of two liquids that don't usually mix, in this case oil and water. The egg yolks in mayonnaise contain both water and lecithin, a molecule that is hydrophilic (water-attracting) on one side and hydrophobic (water-repelling) on the other. That means that, when the yolks are combined with acid (usually lemon juice or vinegar) and oil to make mayonnaise, the oil sticks to the hydrophobic sides of the lecithin molecules, and the hydrophilic sides stick out, sticking to the water and preventing it from separating from the oil.</p>
<p>Live Science explained why this is good news for tar-coated turtles:</p><blockquote>Because mayonnaise has both hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties, it can interact with both the oily, hydrophobic tar and hydrophilic molecules in a turtle's digestive tract. The hydrophobic oil can mix with the tar, making it thinner and less viscous; meanwhile, the hydrophobic ends of the lecithin molecules are also drawn towards the tar, with their hydrophilic ends facing out. This creates a barrier around the tar that better interacts with water, making the toxic substance less sticky.</blockquote><p>In Israel, the treatment appears to be working. Levy told Haaretz he thought the turtles in his care would be ready to be released in a month or two.</p><p>"A little more mayonnaise and they'll all recover and get back to natural food," he said.</p>
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Could a 'Digital Twin of Earth’ Help Scientists Predict the Future of Climate Change?
25 February
Science
A "digital twin of Earth." European Space Agency
As the weather grows more severe, and its damages more expensive and fatal, current weather predictions fall short in providing reliable information on Earth's rapidly changing systems.
<p>That's why a team of European scientists and ETH Zurich computer scientists are putting their heads together to "marry" the earth sciences and computer sciences to create a "<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-00986-y?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+nclimate%2Frss%2Fcurrent+%28Nature+Climate+Change+-+Issue%29" target="_blank">digital twin of Earth</a>." The simulation will provide an information system for scientists and policymakers to test scenarios with different sustainable development options, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2021/02/a-highly-accurate-digital-twin-of-our-planet.html" target="_blank">ETH Zurich reported</a>.</p><p>"If you are planning a two-metre high dike in The Netherlands, for example, I can run through the data in my digital twin and check whether the dike will in all likelihood still protect against expected extreme events in 2050," Peter Bauer, deputy director for Research at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and co-initiator of the project Destination Earth, told ETH Zurich.</p>
<p>Over the past 20 years, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather">extreme weather</a> events have been on the rise, according to a <a href="https://www.undrr.org/news/drrday-un-report-charts-huge-rise-climate-disasters" target="_blank">report by the United Nations</a>. From 2000 to 2019, 1.23 million people were killed by 7,348 major natural disasters. Twenty years before that, in comparison, there were 4,212 natural disasters, killing 1.19 million. This increase comes with a heavy price tag. Extreme natural weather cost $2.97 trillion in global economic losses in the past two decades, compared to the $1.63 trillion, two decades prior.</p><p>These numbers are expected to grow, urging researchers to design large-scale policy solutions across nations.</p><p>As part of their plans to become climate neutral by 2050, the European Union launched the Destination Earth initiative to track and plan for the future of extreme weather, monitor the health of the planet and support and inform EU environmental policy, according to a <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/destination-earth-destine" target="_blank">EU policy report</a>.</p>
<p>In an effort to advance the "digital revolution of earth-system sciences" a team of scientists and researchers, including Bauer looked at the steady advancement of weather models since the 1940s, <a href="https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2021/02/a-highly-accurate-digital-twin-of-our-planet.html" target="_blank">ETH Zurich reported</a>. Their <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-021-00023-0" target="_blank">paper</a> was published Monday in <em>Nature Computational Science.</em></p><p>The climate problem is a complex one, requiring weather predictors to cover more than just local regions, but encompass the "complex processes of the entire Earth system," ETH Zurich reported. Yet, while their findings are not meant to "invalidate the steady progress achieved in weather prediction over the past decades," the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-021-00023-0" target="_blank">authors stress</a> the urgent need to develop a "high resolution" and "more realistic representation" of Earth's changing atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, land surfaces and biosphere.</p>
<p>"We are willfully destructive," Mami Mizutori, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction <a href="https://www.undrr.org/news/drrday-un-report-charts-huge-rise-climate-disasters" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said in a statement</a> about the UN report on natural disasters. "Disaster risk is becoming systemic with one event overlapping and influencing another in ways that are testing our resilience to the limit. The odds are being stacked against us when we fail to act on science and early warnings to invest in prevention, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction."</p><p>While the "digital twin of Earth" model is a bold step forward, it is necessary to ensure nations are prepared to handle the future of extreme weather, the authors wrote.</p><p>"The apparent effects of climate change on our environment — in particular on the frequency of occurrence and the intensity of environmental extremes — require urgent political response and much faster progress in delivering skillful predictions of future change," the authors wrote.</p>
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Melting ice in places such as Greenland could stop a critical ocean current. Paul Souders / Getty Images
The climate crisis could push an important ocean current past a critical tipping point sooner than expected, new research suggests.
<p>The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) helps move heat from the tropics to the Northern Hemisphere, and is one of the reasons why Europe has relatively mild winters, <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/a-major-ocean-current-might-be-on-the-verge-of-a-climate-change-tipping-point" target="_blank">Science Alert explained</a>. However, the current has begun slowing down in recent years, and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scientists" target="_self">scientists</a> want to know what it would take for the current to stop. A study published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/118/9/e2017989118" target="_blank">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday</a> calculates that this moment could come sooner than expected.</p><p>"It is worrying news. Because if this is true, it reduces our safe operating space," Johannes Lohmann of the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen and study co-author said in a <a href="https://www.tipes.dk/steady-now-unfortunate-timing-and-rate-of-change-may-be-enough-to-tip-a-climate-system/" target="_blank">press release</a>.</p><p>Essentially, the new findings come down to timing. The AMOC is threatened by increasing freshwater into the North Atlantic as the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/greenland" target="_self">Greenland</a> ice sheet melts. A certain amount of freshwater will cause the current to stop. But Lohmann wanted to test what would happen if that water were added quickly instead of gradually.</p><p>"These tipping points have been shown previously in climate models, where meltwater is very slowly introduced into the ocean," Lohmann told <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/a-major-ocean-current-may-be-hurtling-towards-collapse-1846337333" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gizmodo</a>. "In reality, increases in meltwater from Greenland are accelerating and cannot be considered slow."</p>
<p>So researchers used an ocean model called Veros to calculate when the current would stop if freshwater were gradually added, the press release explained. Researchers then added freshwater at increased rates and found that quickly added freshwater would stop currents before reaching the initial freshwater threshold.</p><p>This has serious implications for the AMOC current itself. If it were to completely halt, tropical monsoon patterns would shift, rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere would decrease and the North Atlantic would get stormier. It also raises concerns about other climate tipping points, such as polar ice sheets collapsing or the Amazon rainforest drying out. If the AMOC can stop before the previously calculated tipping point is reached, is the same true for other systems?</p><p>"The results show that the safe operating space of elements of the Earth system with respect to future emissions might be smaller than previously thought," the study authors wrote.</p>
<p>However, outside scientists urged caution. Dave Sutherland, an associate professor in Earth sciences at the University of Oregon, told Gizmodo that the findings were important and timely, but that the models did not take all details into account, such as the location of the meltwater entering the ocean from Greenland.</p><p>Lohmann agreed that more testing is needed, but also pressed the urgency of climate action.</p><p>"Due to the potentially increased risk of abrupt climate change in parts of the Earth system that we show in our research, it is important that policymakers keep pushing for ambitious short- and mid-term climate targets to slow down the pace of climate change, especially in vulnerable places like the Arctic," Lohmann told Gizmodo.</p>
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Gavin Newsom Sued for 'Completely Unacceptable' Approval of Oil and Gas Projects in California
25 February
Politics
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tours the Chevron oil field west of Bakersfield, where a spill of more than 900,000 gallons flowed into a dry creek bed, on July 24, 2019. Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
Accusing California regulators of "reckless disregard" for public "health and safety," the environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity on Wednesday sued the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom for approving thousands of oil and gas drilling and fracking projects without the required environmental review.
<p>The <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/Center-v-CalGEM-Complaint.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lawsuit</a> claims that the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) failed to adequately analyze environmental and health risks before issuing fossil fuel extraction permits, as required by law. According to the suit, California regulators approved nearly 2,000 new oil and gas permits without proper environmental review.</p><p>"CalGEM routinely violates its duty to conduct an initial study and further environmental review for any new oil and gas well drilling, well stimulation, or injection permits and approvals," the suit alleges. "Instead, CalGEM repeatedly and consistently issues permits and approvals for oil and gas drilling, well stimulation, and injection projects without properly disclosing, analyzing, or mitigating the significant environmental impacts of these projects."</p>
<div id="18713" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2a09e4b10fa749c78e24fe406333d693"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1364658901313060865" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We took Gov. Newsom to court for granting new oil and gas permits w/o environmental review.
"The governor is openl… https://t.co/AAShi3a1rm</div> — Center for Bio Div (@Center for Bio Div)<a href="https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv/statuses/1364658901313060865">1614195010.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The center noted that "despite Gov. Newsom's progressive rhetoric on climate change, he has failed to curb California's dirty and carbon-intensive oil and gas production."</p><p>"His regulators continue to issue thousands of permits without review, and the governor has refused to act on his stated desire to ban fracking," the group said in a <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/newsom-administration-sued-over-thousands-of-unlawful-oil-gas-projects-2021-02-24/" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Newsom's regulators also failed to meet the governor's deadline to publish a draft health-and-safety rule after vowing to do so before the end of 2020."</p><p>Last September, as deadly climate-driven wildfires <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/what-climate-crisis-looks-fires-have-now-burned-record-2-million-acres-california" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ravaged</a> large swaths of California and turned skies in the San Francisco Bay Area an <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/green-new-deal-or-blood-red-apocalypse-your-choice-dems-urged-embrace-bold-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">apocalyptic shade of orange</a>, Newsom <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/ban-fracking-calif-now-not-2024-say-climate-groups-following-newsom-order-phase-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">called on</a> the Democrat-controlled state legislature to stop issuing new fracking permits by 2024, drawing widespread rebuke from climate campaigners who argued that now is the time to act.</p>
<p>Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, said Wednesday that "it is completely unacceptable for Gov. Newsom to continue to ignore our flagship environmental law that's meant to protect people from oil industry pollution."</p><p>"Newsom can't protect our health and climate while giving thousands of illegal permits each year to this dirty and dangerous industry," Kretzmann added. "We need the courts to step in and stop this."</p><p>Deborah Sivas, director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Stanford Law School and an attorney representing the Center for Biological Diversity in the lawsuit, said that "state laws are designed to protect communities and minimize pollution."</p><p>"The state can't continue to pretend these fundamental protections don't apply to one of the most polluting and dangerous industries on the planet," added Sivas.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/24/avowed-climate-champion-gavin-newsom-sued-completely-unacceptable-approval-oil-and" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Kenyan professor Wangari Maathai poses during the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 15, 2009. Olivier Morin / AFP / Getty Images
By Kate Whiting
From Greta Thunberg to Sir David Attenborough, the headline-grabbing climate change activists and environmentalists of today are predominantly white. But like many areas of society, those whose voices are heard most often are not necessarily representative of the whole.
<p><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/8-black-environmentalists-need-know/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Environmental issues are deeply interconnected with racial justice</a> as Black people have historically been disproportionately impacted by pollution, climate change and lack of access to green space.</p><p>In June 2020, 25 Black environmental leaders published an open letter calling for an end to the '<a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/uploads-wysiwig/Statement%20on%20systemic%20and%20pervasive%20racism%20within%20the%20environmental%20field.pdf" target="_blank">systemic and pervasive racism within the environmental field</a>.' They called for an end to negative narratives around Black people and their relationship with nature in the U.S., Europe and Africa and listed solutions to eradicate racism, from education to ensuring access to wildlife.</p><p>From environmental justice advocates to scientists and social entrepreneurs, here are just a handful of the many Black environmentalists who have contributed to our global understanding of the need to look after our planet.</p>
1. Wangari Maathai
<p>In 2004, Professor Maathai made history as the <a href="https://www.nobelpeaceprize.org/Prize-winners/Prizewinner-documentation/Wangari-Maathai" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize</a> for her dedication to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She started the <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Green Belt Movement</a>, a community-based tree planting initiative that aims to reduce poverty and encourage conservation, in 1977. More than 51 million trees have been planted helping build climate resilience and empower communities, especially women and girls. Her environmental work is celebrated every year on <a href="http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/node/955" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wangari Maathai Day on 3 March</a>.</p>2. Robert Bullard
<p>Known as the 'father of environmental justice,' Dr Bullard has <a href="https://www.unep.org/championsofearth/laureates/2020/robert-bullard" target="_blank">campaigned against harmful waste</a> being dumped in predominantly Black neighborhoods in the southern states of the U.S. since the 1970s. His first book, Dumping in Dixie, highlighted the link between systemic racism and environmental oppression, showing how the descendants of slaves were exposed to higher-than-average levels of pollutants. In 1994, his work led to the signing of the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/albert-huang/20th-anniversary-president-clintons-executive-order-12898-environmental-justice" target="_blank">Executive Order on Environmental Justice</a>, which the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/27/executive-order-on-tackling-the-climate-crisis-at-home-and-abroad/" target="_blank">Biden administration is building on</a>.<br></p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7983f54726debdd824f97f9ad3bdbb87"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T_VjSGk8s18?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTY4OTYxMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzA2NTg5MH0.Bo1gWG2ciWhbBFN5X0pX5h68T566FLm1eO_ulQYYjqg/img.png?width=980" id="31f4c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="685c35c43855fcf8319ac2edba5e4fd2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1696" data-height="1204" />
Pollution has a race problem. Elizabethwarren.com
3. John Francis
<p>Helping the clean-up operation after an oil spill in San Francisco Bay in January 1971 inspired Francis to <a href="https://planetwalk.org/about-john/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stop taking motorized transport</a>. Instead, for 22 years, he walked everywhere. He also took a vow of silence that lasted 17 years, so he could listen to others. He has walked the width of the U.S. and sailed and walked through South America, earning the nickname "Planetwalker," and raising awareness of how interconnected people are with the environment.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09b968e0e9964e31406954dcea45981d"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vgQjL23_FoU?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
4. Dr. Warren Washington
<p>A meteorology and climate pioneer, Dr. Washington was one of the first people to develop atmospheric computer models in the 1960s, which have helped scientists understand climate change. These models now also incorporate the oceans and sea ice, surface water and vegetation. In 2007, the <a href="https://www.cgd.ucar.edu/pcm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parallel Climate Model (PCM)</a> and <a href="https://www.cesm.ucar.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Community Earth System Model (CESM)</a>, earned Dr. Washington and his colleagues the <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2007/summary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nobel Peace Prize</a>, as part of the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a>.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="09fbf6dc37f275f438a0d53ec0fe1874"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bvJ4jTy2mTk?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
5. Angelou Ezeilo
<p>Huge trees and hikes to pick berries during her childhood in upstate New York inspired Ezeilo to become an environmentalist and set up the <a href="https://gyfoundation.org/staff/Angelou-Ezeilo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Greening Youth Foundation</a>, to educate future generations about the importance of preservation. Through its schools program and Youth Conservation Corps, the social enterprise provides access to nature to disadvantaged children and young people in the U.S. and West Africa. In 2019, Ezeilo published her book <em>Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders</em>, co-written by her Pulitzer Prize-winning brother Nick Chiles.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ce4547d4e5c0b9ad2927f19fd75bf4ab"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YojKMfUvJMs?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
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