News

By Hugh Weldon, 2018 Young Champion of the Earth for Europe We don’t talk much about air pollution. But we should, because the air we breathe is slowly killing us.

As a global movement to tackle air pollution gathers pace, innovators are rising to the challenge, unveiling products and technologies that remove some of the dangerous toxins that are seeping into our lungs and accelerating climate change.

The mobile payment platform Ant Forest rewards its users for pollution-free lifestyles. As they accumulate enough points virtually, a real tree is planted.

Chile owns the biggest fleet of electric buses in Latin America and the Caribbean today. The 200 e-buses hit the road earlier this year in the capital city, Santiago, as part of a plan to cut emissions and reduce air pollution. By 2040, Chile aims to convert its public transport system to an all-electric fleet.

Artists are known to take inspiration from the world around them. So it’s no surprise that some have begun shining light on one of the most pressing environmental issues of our time—air pollution.

For proper monitoring and implementation of the global conventions, transparency and availability of information from the key actors involved is important.

When the sun’s first rays hit the green paddy fields in Ghagotpada in northern Bangladesh, fifty-year-old Mafruha is already hard at work in her kitchen. In this impoverished village, her home is a haven, always teeming with other women. While they mingle, Mafruha is whipping up delicacies for her visitors.

Bees are a key part of the global food system but air pollution is making it harder for them to do their job. Find out why.

When animals and insects pick up the pollen of flowers and spread it, they allow plants, including many food crops, to reproduce. Birds, rodents, monkeys and even people pollinate, but the most common pollinators are insects, and among them, bees.

Wild mushroom picking in Eastern Europe is more than a tradition. It is a social event. Every year, in late summer and early fall, thousands of people roam the woods for the biggest, most perfect specimens. They take their children along to teach them which mushrooms are edible and which are poisonous, which are ripe and which should be left for another week or so, passing on generations-old teachings and care for the woods.

In our all-too-hectic urban lives, a city park is a great place to unwind. Trees and green spaces have mental health and well-being benefits, on top of being great for relaxation and recreation.

A few years ago, a team of scientists and engineers speculated in a documentary series what might become of Earth if humans suddenly disappeared. They predicted events beginning one day after the disappearance of humankind to one hundred years into the future, and explored the ways man-made structures might collapse, while nature replenished.

  Geneva, 11 May 2019 – Decisions on plastic waste have been reached today in Geneva, as approximately 180 governments adopted a raft of decisions aimed at protecting human health and the environment from the harmful effects of hazardous chemicals and waste.

Every year, birds make epic journeys across the world to survive. Over millions of years certain species of birds have become hard-wired to seek food and nesting sites along routes.

From Lagos and Lahore to London, it’s the poorest people who are most affected by air pollution. The poor tend to be priced out of the leafy suburbs where there are fewer highways and air quality is better.

Through collective action, environmental protection can be achieved. This is what the Kalinga indigenous people in the Philippines demonstrated to the world when they stopped the famous Chico River Dam Project from being constructed, and it is what inspired Joan Carling to make her lifelong mission fighting for human rights in land development.

As the sun beats down on a traditional loom in Burkina Faso’s morning heat, a curious shiny material starts to emerge. Not your usual cotton texture, the weft criss-crosses over-and-under, and the woven product is smooth and sparkling.

An asthma attack is a frightening experience, threatening to deprive you of your ability to breathe, and life itself. According to World Health Organization estimates, 235 million people suffer from asthma, which is the most common chronic disease among children. Over 80 per cent of asthma deaths occur in low and lower-middle income countries.

Burning plastic smells awful. It also gives you that choking feeling… which is no surprise when you know that plastic is basically made of oil and gives off toxic fumes when it burns.

Did you know that several countries, such as the Maldives, Malta and the Bahamas, meet all their water needs through the desalination process—that is, they convert seawater to freshwater?

In winter, Afghanistan’s capital city, Kabul, is not for the faint-hearted—below-zero temperatures are not uncommon and snowfalls are frequent and sometimes heavy. With an average temperature of -1°C, January is the coldest month, with occasional drops to -25°C. Located at a high altitude of approximately 1,800 m above sea level, in a narrow valley between the Hindu Kush mountains, Kabul is one the world’s highest capitals.

Hundreds of thousands of children across the world took to the streets in March to demand that governments move faster to protect the environment. The unprecedented “youthquake” seemed to signal a new era and world leaders sat up and paid attention.

Erupting volcanoes, earthquakes, dust storms and meteorites smashing into the Earth’s crust are natural phenomena that can cause climate change and air pollution: dinosaurs may have met their end after a giant meteorite kicked up so much dust that it blocked out the sun for decades, reducing photosynthesis and preventing the growth of plants.

The smell of exhaust fumes is unpleasant and unhealthy, and the gases are known for affecting happiness, intelligence and overall human well-being.

Marine biologists will tell you that fish species such as tuna and swordfish, known as the deep-water divers of the ocean for hunting at depths of 200 metres, are today repeatedly coming to surface view.