Latest News
Car sharing can make a dent in carbon pollution -
An analysis of Car2go, North America's largest one-way car service, finds that over the course of three years, each car shared kept as many as 11 others off the streets, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 13 metric tons a year. Across the five study cities, the effect was like taking 28,000 privately-owned cars off the road. The Guardian
EPA to airplanes: Get your carbon pollution under control -
This week the agency formally declared that the greenhouse gas emissions from airplane engines contribute to climate change and threaten human and environmental health. The announcement paves the way for the EPA to regulate pollution from U.S. airlines. InsideClimate News
Extreme weather events increase risk of conflict -
A new study argues that disasters like heat waves and droughts, which are on the rise with climate change, increase tensions in ethnically diverse countries, making them more vulnerable to outbreaks of violence. The researchers found that since 1980, 23 percent of the conflicts in these multi-cultural places have coincided with weather disasters—compared with just 9 percent of them worldwide. Reuters
Solar plane completes its trip around the world! -
Solar Impulse 2, a solar-powered aircraft co-piloted by Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg, touched down in Abu Dhabi early this morning. Since it first took off in March 2015, the plane has overcome months of delays to spend more than 23 days in the air—Even so, the flight is a major milestone for planes running on nothing but sun. The Guardian
Indonesian tour guides are buying up land to protect wildlife -
The Orangutan Green Team, a group of 28 guides, have now bought 73 hectares of land along a river near Tanjung Puting National Park. The reason? To keep palm oil development from encroaching on the habitat of the thousands of orangutans, 200 different bird species, and other rare wildlife that live in the park. ABC
Kenyan ivory dealer gets 20 years in prison -
Feisal Mohamed Ali, who was found guilty of possessing 413 pieces of ivory worth $400,000, was also fined $200,000. The strict punishment is unusual, but the Kenyan government wanted to send a clear message to illegal wildlife traders. Motherboard