Author: Max Merzer

Environment
Global News
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‘Social Distancing’ of Trees Ensures Biodiversity in Tropical Forests, Finds Study

The saying goes that the Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But based on a new study on a forest in Panama, that may be far from the truth for tropical trees that practice a kind of “social distancing” to ensure biodiversity. In the study published in the journal Science, researchers combined computational modelling with data […]

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Environment
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Global News
News

Sunscreens May be Less Harmful to Aquatic Ecosystems Than Expected

An interesting study from the University of Alberta is providing new insight into the impact of sunscreen on aquatic ecosystems. The experts have found that sunscreens may be much less toxic to small aquatic creatures than what has been assumed in the past. The research paves the way for a better understanding of how chemicals interact in […]

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Climate Change
Featured
Global News
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Spending Bill Targets Kerry’s Office, Global Climate Spending

House Republican appropriators want to eliminate funding for John Kerry’s position as President Joe Biden’s special envoy and for other international climate efforts. The House State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee advanced its fiscal 2024 spending bill on June 23, including a prohibition on funding for envoys not authorized by Congress or confirmed by the Senate. “Over […]

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Canada
Environment
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Global News
Nature
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Activists take Canada’s environment minister to court in fight to save northern spotted owl

Advocacy group says continued destruction of critical habitat leaves it no choice but to take legal action against Steven Guilbeault Environmental groups in Canada are taking legal action against the country’s environment minister, arguing his delay in protecting old growth forest is harming the critically endangered northern spotted owl. In February, Steven Guilbeault said he would recommend […]

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Environment
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Forests

Almost Half of All Life on Earth ‘Declining Towards Extinction’ – Queen’s Boffins Find

Almost half of all life on Earth is “declining towards extinction… putting human wellbeing under increasing threat”, a grim new report from Queen’s University Belfast has found. The work was led by PhD student Catherine Finn and Dr Daniel Pincheira-Donoso from Queen’s School of Biological Sciences alongside Dr Florencia Grattarola from the Czech University of […]

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Climate Change
Environment
Featured

Meet the Woman Who May Revamp Climate Finance

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who first burst onto the international climate policy scene with a searing speech at 2021’s COP26 conference in Glasgow, is now spearheading a push for global institutions to finally meet the challenges of environmental degradation. Why it matters: Her effort, known as the Bridgetown Initiative, or another like it may help avert the suffering of billions […]

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Climate Change
Environment
Featured

Starmer Accuses Government of ‘Turning Britain’s Waterways Into an Open Sewer’

Lib Dems call for Thérèse Coffey to resign after raw discharges sent into English rivers 825 times a day last year. Keir Starmer has accused the government of “turning Britain’s waterways into an open sewer”, as data showed raw discharges were sent into English rivers 825 times a day last year. Private water companies have […]

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Climate Change
Environment
Forests

‘Bees Are Sentient’: Inside the Stunning Brains of Nature’s Hardest Workers

‘Bees are sentient’: inside the stunning brains of nature’s hardest workers ‘Fringe’ research suggests the insects that are essential to agriculture have emotions, dreams and even PTSD, raising complex ethical questions When Stephen Buchmann finds a wayward bee on a window inside his Tucson, Arizona, home, he goes to great lengths to capture and release […]

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Environment

‘I Would Have Been India’s Elon Musk’: The Maths Teacher Who Built a Solar Car From Scratch

An Indian man has caused a sensation with the solar-powered car he created over 11 years. Bilal Ahmed, a maths teacher from Srinagar in Kashmir, set out to build a ‘luxurious’ and sustainable vehicle that is not just for the super wealthy. He achieved his dream in June 2022. Soaring fuel prices in the northern region […]

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Environment

All Fish Tested From Michigan Rivers Contain ‘forever Chemicals’, Study Finds

Researchers found PFAS chemicals – used to make products resistant to heat and water – in all samples of 12 species of fish. All fish caught in Michigan rivers and tested for toxic PFAS contained the chemicals – and at levels that present a health risk for anyone eating them, according to a new study. Researchers […]

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