The United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Monday approved the first overhaul of the country’s electric transmission policy in more than a decade. The changes will make new interregional lines faster and bring more renewable energy to meet increasing demand. “Our country is facing an unprecedented surge in demand for affordable electricity while […]
Scotland’s climate hasn’t historically been supportive to large mosquito populations, as it tends to be cooler. But now, scientists have discovered widespread populations of mosquitoes around Scotland, and they fear warming temperatures could lead to increasing public health risks from mosquito-borne diseases. Scientists at the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Virus Research found 16 different […]
Swiss company Climeworks has opened the biggest operational direct air capture (DAC) plant in the world to pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Mammoth plant, located in Iceland, is nearly ten times bigger than Orca, its second-largest plant. “Starting operations of our Mammoth plant is another proof point in Climeworks’ scale-up journey to megaton […]
Vermont’s House of Representatives has passed S.259, a state bill aimed at collecting recovery costs for climate-related damages from the biggest emitters, such as fossil fuel companies. The bill, called the Climate Superfund Act, was introduced to create a Climate Superfund Cost Recovery Program, in which fossil fuel businesses would undergo an assessment to determine […]
The planet just had its hottest April ever recorded, extending a streak of 11 consecutive record-setting months, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The monthly bulletin from C3S said the average global temperature was 1.61 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average — the highest for a 12-month period. It was also […]
According to the new Global Electricity Review 2024 from thinktank Ember, renewable energy now exceeds more than 30 percent of the world’s electricity supply, following a fast rise in solar and wind power. According to Ember’s executive summary of the report, record solar and wind construction in 2023 means “a new era of falling fossil […]
Scientists have reclassified what was the last remaining glacier in Venezuela to an ice field, following significant shrinkage. The reclassification means that Venezuela is believed to be the first Andean country, and the first country globally, to lose all of its glaciers. The Humboldt glacier, or La Corona, had been the only remaining glacier in […]
It’s no secret that humans produce and use far too much plastic. The more than 400 million tons generated each year is polluting our planet and choking our oceans. The plastic crisis is so great that 80 percent of marine debris — from microplastics to fishing gear — is made from plastics, according to the […]
Following days of heavy rains in Brazil, the country’s southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul is experiencing severe landslides and flooding. At least 85 people have been killed. Of the 497 cities in the area, more than two-thirds have been affected by the storms, which have destroyed roads and bridges, reported Reuters. On Monday, […]