From April 23 to 29, the United Nations Environment Programme’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee is holding its fourth session to develop a legally binding international treaty on plastic pollution in Ottawa, Canada. However, countries are divided over what the contents of the landmark agreement should be. “This process is without doubt an accelerated and ambitious one, because we don’t have decades to act,” said Inger Andersen, UN Environment Programme’s executive director, as Reuters reported. View this post on Instagram A post shared by UN Environment Programme (@unep) Plastics p ..read more

In its new Global EV Outlook 2024, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said electric vehicle (EV) sales will reach 17 million this year — up from 14 million in 2023. In 2024, EVs are projected to make up roughly one out of nine cars sold in the United States, one in four in Europe and 45 percent of total car sales in China, an IEA press release said. “Electric cars continue to make progress towards becoming a mass-market product in a larger number of countries,” the report said. “Tight margins, volatile battery metal prices, high inflation, and the phase-out of purchase incentives in some co ..read more

Have you ever noticed that meadows of long grass seem to be teeming with butterflies, bumble bees, beetles, crickets and other insects? Meanwhile, short-cropped, bright green lawns appear devoid of critters in comparison. A six-year study of butterfly sightings in 600 gardens in the United Kingdom has confirmed that letting your lawn grow wild can significantly increase butterfly and moth numbers. “Nature is in crisis; 80% of butterflies have declined since the 1970s, so we need to take action now to protect them. We wanted to be able to give tried and tested gardening advice that will benefit ..read more

President Joe Biden will celebrate Earth Day with the announcement of $7 billion in residential solar grants through the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All program. The program will save recipients roughly $400 a year on their energy bills and create 200,000 jobs, a press release from the White House said. The program is in line with the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of directing 40 percent of federal benefits for green energy investments to disadvantaged communities, reported Reuters. “We’re opening up a market where everybody, no matter their zip code or their ..read more

A new study has found high concentrations of perfluoroalkyl acids, or PFAA, in sea spray. In fact, researchers noted that the levels of PFAAs in sea spray aerosols were even higher than in seawater itself, and the researchers estimated that emissions of PFAAs from sea spray could be even greater than those in the atmosphere from manufacturing sources and other known polluters. The study looked at PFAAs that are remobilized from seawater into sea spray via field studies of the Atlantic Ocean between the UK and Chile, The Guardian reported. Researchers Bo Sha and Jana Johansson used a sea spray ..read more

If you’ve ever listened to “Riders on the Storm” by The Doors, you know that before any music from instruments begins, there is the sound of heavy rain and thunder, giving the song an ambience created by the “music” of nature. Likewise, about halfway through “Blackbird” by The Beatles, the sound of a male blackbird singing adds the inimitable chorus of the natural world to the melody. As much as nature’s music has been sampled and added to songs over the history of modern music, its symphony of sounds have never been credited or given royalties. Sounds Right is a new Museum for the United Nati ..read more

The Biden administration has finalized a new rule to protect United States public lands, including offering leasing of the lands for conservation in a similar manner as it does for drilling, grazing and mining, reported Reuters. The final Public Lands Rule will help the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to improve and protect the resilience and health of these lands from the impacts of climate change. At the same time, the regulations will help preserve intact landscapes and essential wildlife habitat, facilitate “responsible development” and recognize natural and cultural resources, a pres ..read more

Researchers have found a way to reuse metal waste as an electrocatalyst that can split water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen, which could be help make hydrogen production more sustainable. Hydrogen is considered a clean, renewable energy source, but the process to produce it often comes with a major carbon footprint. According to a 2021 study, the greenhouse gas emissions from blue hydrogen (hydrogen that is produced and followed by carbon capture and storage) can be 20% greater than natural gas or coal when used for heat, and the World Energy Council reported that 96% of hydrogen relies on fos ..read more

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