(67) Disposable Batteries’ Severe Impact on the Environment.
The increasing global demand for batteries is largely due to the rapid increase in portable power-consuming products such as cellular phones and video cameras, toys and laptop computers. Each year consumers dispose of billions of batteries, all containing toxic or corrosive materials. Some batteries contain toxic metals such as cadmium and mercury, lead and lithium, […]
(66) How Does Illegal Dumping In Waterways Affect the Environment ?
The illegal dumping of both industrial and household waste has become a huge environmental problem over the past few decades, especially in poorer countries. Many poor countries have lax environmental protection laws and corrupt law enforcement. Due to this, many larger companies dispose of toxic waste directly into waterways or water bodies. If they are […]
(65) Whales Keep Carbon out of the Atmosphere
The world’s largest whales are more than mere evolutionary marvels. By sequestering carbon in the ocean, they can help humanity fight climate change—an ecosystem service that may be worth millions of dollars per whale, according to a new analysis by economists with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Great whales, including the filter feeding baleen and […]
(64) Ethiopia Opens Africa’s First Waste-to-Energy Facility
In waste-to-energy incineration plants, rubbish is burned in a combustion chamber. The resulting heat is used to boil water until it turns to steam, which drives a turbine generator that produces electricity. Here, “waste-to-energy” incineration is a quadruple win: saving land space, generating electricity, preventing the release of toxic chemicals into groundwater, and reducing the […]
(63) Cigarette Smoke Produces 2 Times More Air Pollution Than Diesel Car Exhaust
Environmental tobacco smoke produces fine particulate matter, which is the most dangerous element of air pollution for health. Environmental tobacco smoke is a contributor of air pollution particles. These fine particles are a risk factor for chronic lung disease which can be debilitating and sometimes fatal. They can lead to conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, […]
(62) Is Google Destroying Our Planet ?
The internet is leaving a larger ecological footprint than we think. The production of the devices that we use to connect to the internet (a smartphone, a tablet, a computer, a television) require raw materials. A lot. Our extensive use of these devices combined with planned obsolescence puts a lot of pressure on the Earth’s […]
(61) Fires Are Devouring the Amazon. And Jair Bolsonaro is to Blame.
The ongoing destruction of the Amazon is taking place because of policy choices made by those who now rule Brazil. As the world watches in horror and terror as the Amazon burns, scientists have made clear that the cause, principally if not entirely, is human activity. The raging fires have become so potent that the […]
(60) The ‘Lungs of the Planet’ Amazon are in Danger of Reaching a Tipping Point .
(59) How Air Pollution Is Destroying Your Brain.
Just as air pollution impairs the lungs and reduces life expectancy, it also seems to harm the brain and cognition skills, especially among the elderly , according to a study newly published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, chronic exposure to air pollution appears to cause detrimental effects on cognition that […]
(58) 10 Worst Plastic Polluting Companies Found by Global Cleanups
Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestlé were identified as the world’s biggest producers of plastic trash in global cleanups and brand audits, a new report from Greenpeace and the Break Free From Plastic movement reveals. Over the span of nine months, an international team of volunteers sorted through 187,000 pieces of plastic trash collected from 239 cleanups […]