Nature Is Not a Machine—We Treat It So at Our Peril
Climate change, avers Rex Tillerson, ex-CEO of ExxonMobil and erstwhile US Secretary of State, “is an engineering problem, and it has engineering solutions.” This brief…
Nature & Environment
Smell something, tell something
Spanline Dixon, a retired teacher’s aide, is used to unpleasant smells. Her home in Brunswick, Ga. is near a waste and recycling facility, a water…
Are Brazil’s Amazon Policies ‘Crimes Against Humanity’?
On a tuesday afternoon in late March 2020, Zezico Rodrigues Guajajara was killed by gunmen as he was driving a motorbike near his home village on…
Old and new solutions pave way to net-zero emissions farming, studies show
New and emerging technologies could pave the way to net-zero carbon emissions agriculture in the next two decades, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of…
Green resources, reuse and recycling are key to cleaner e-car batteries
The shift to electric cars is crucial for cutting transport emissions. But the skyrocketing demand for e-cars has triggered growing concerns about their batteries’ environmental…
E-bikes are good for the environment and for you too
Global warming is a severe problem affecting the environment worldwide, primarily due to the excessive consumption of fossil fuels for transportation, which accounts for a fifth…
How nature can help carbon-intensive companies meet their net-zero commitments
This article is part of the Climate Breakthroughs: The Road to COP26 and Beyond For hard-to-abate sectors like transport, energy and aviation, tropical forests are…
Leaders make bold climate pledges, but is it ‘all just smoke and mirrors?’: Critics
Forty nations — producers of 80% of annual carbon emissions — made pledges of heightened climate ambition this week at U.S. President Joe Biden’s Leaders…
Poor unfortunate soils
We know everything about CO2. We know so much it looks almost tangible. Carbon dioxide is so often paired with global warming and climate change…
Are life-cycle assessments worth the (recycled) paper they’re printed on?
Developed to provide a blueprint for environmental action, LCAs often sow seeds of discord. What can be done to fix that? Single-use items — which…
Ambitious return to carbon markets to conserve Africa’s forests
Growth of voluntary carbon market and new investor interest in natural climate solutions in Africa prompts The Nature Conservancy to launch effort to help local…
How to rebuild California forests, with climate in mind
After the catastrophic fires of the past decade, land managers may need to reseed vast acreages. Can they buffer against climate change in the process?…
The open burning of waste poses grave health risks to millions
We’re generating more waste than at any other time in history what with a greatly increased global population, rampant consumerism and the wanton use of…
Life-saving drinking water disinfectants have a “dark side”
Disinfecting drinking water against spathogen is necessary, but by-products from the process are a ubiquitous — and likely growing — problem across the U.S. Solutions…
Why solar geoengineering should be part of the climate crisis solution
Q&A — Climate scientist David Keith The controversial technology of reflecting sunlight away from the planet could help blunt the worst impacts of climate change…
New research: nitrous oxide emissions 300 times more powerful than CO₂ are jeopardising Earth’s future
Nitrous oxide from agriculture and other sources is accumulating in the atmosphere so quickly it puts Earth on track for a dangerous 3℃ warming this…