By Damien Gayle, The Guardian Emissions caused by wealthiest 1% so far this year would take someone from poorest 50% three years to create. There are calls for increased taxes on climate-polluting examples of extreme wealth such as private jets. Photograph: dogayusufdokdok/Getty Images The world’s richest 1% have already used up …
Shrinking trees and tuskless elephants: the strange ways species are adapting to humans
By Patrick Greenfield, The Guardian A tuskless African elephant in Gorongosa national park, which saw heavy poaching during Mozambique’s civil war. As elephants were killed for their ivory, the genes for large tusks were removed from the population and many adults, especially females like this one, now have no tusks …
Seven sustainable finance predictions for 2025
By Eugene Ellman, Corporate Knights Expect to see more Canadian leadership on transition investing, simplified climate disclosure rules in Europe and creative solutions to regulatory uncertainty under Trump As heat, storms and flooding rack the planet, the investment industry has been poked and prodded in the last decade into reallocating …
How a fantasy oil train may help the Supreme Court gut a major environmental law
By Stephanie Mencimer, Grist Even if the railway promoters win, here’s why the train won’t get built. A freight train near Moab, Utah, makes its way up a steep grade. VW Pics / Getty Images The state of Utah has come up with its share of boondoggles over the years, but …
Miami’s luxury beachfront properties are sinking much faster than scientists expected
By Kristin Toussaint, Fast Company A new study found that 35 buildings along the coast sank as much as 8 centimeters from 2016 to 2023. [Collage: FC: Bilanol/iStock/Getty Images Plus (source photo)] High rises are heavy, and that can cause the ground below them to slowly sink and settle, especially …
Why great design has always been sustainable
By Lisa Gralnek, Fast Company Designing for the future should be the standard. [Illustration: Getty Images] With 2024 tracking to set a new global temperature record—surpassing the high reached just last year—and with an obvious uptick in human suffering due to war, social upheaval, political strife, and environmental degradation everywhere, …
Canada pushes out target for net-zero electricity grid by 15 years
By Nia Williams, Reuters Electrical transmission cables connecting to Quebec at the Churchill Falls hydroelectric project in Churchill Falls, Newfoundland, Canada July 2007. REUTERS/Greg Locke/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights Dec 17 (Reuters) – Canada unveiled finalized Clean Electricity Regulations (CER) on Tuesday that aim to create a net-zero electricity grid by 2050, …
Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ taint rural California drinking water, far from known sources
By Hannah Norman, Grist PFAS chemicals have unexpectedly turned up in well water in rural farmland, far from any industrial areas, airports, or military bases. Juana Valle stands next to the well on her property. Researchers have found worrisome levels of chemicals called PFAS in her well water. Hannah Norman / …
Why an Atlantic circulation collapse could spell disaster
Fast Company It’s hard to overstate how widespread and calamitous the impacts could be if the system of ocean currents known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation were to collapse. Among the many reasons why we ought to cut climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions as quickly and sharply as possible, the …
A Supreme Court Case About a Railway Could Have Widespread Impacts on U.S. Environmental Laws
By Wyatt Myskow, Inside Climate News A proposed Utah railway would quadruple the Uinta Basin’s oil production if built. Colorado and environmentalists have fought the project, arguing its impacts would extend far beyond Utah’s own borders. An aerial view of the Uinta Basin oil fields, where a proposed 88-mile railway …