Pubs and restaurants in England today started serving food and drink outdoors, in what has been one of the most anticipated stages of ending lockdown. However, environmental experts say reopening for outdoor dining only could cause a spike in air pollution from gas-burning patio heaters. Gas-burning heaters emit nitrogen oxides (NOx) – a family of poisonous, … Read more
Why more of us are seeing stars: Lack of light pollution from pubs and restaurants during lockdown is a boon for skygazers Study found 1 in 20 counting stars at home could see more than 30 in dark areas A countryside charity conducted study with 8,000 participants counting stars It found 49% of participants could … Read more
Talk about kelping the environment! Just Eat is testing compostable SEAWEED food boxes in drive to tackle plastic pollution in the takeaway sector Just Eat is testing Notpla’s seaweed-coated boxes with 11 restaurant partners The trial will last 3 weeks, during which Just Eat predicts as many as 30,000 plastic boxes will be prevented from … Read more
A Bolivian lake that was once an oasis of natural beauty full of thriving wildlife has become a waterless basin full of plastic waste. Lake Uru Uru in western Bolivia is covered in mountains of rubbish including plastic bottles and other man-made garbage for as far as the eye can see. The piles of rubbish … Read more
Smog has blanketed huge swaths of Nepal as air pollution in the Himalayan country soared to hazardous levels. Nestled between China and India – two of the world’s biggest polluters – Nepal often suffers from poor air quality. But hundreds of raging wildfires across the country have aggravated the situation, sending smoke and ash into … Read more
Even small hikes in air pollution lead to more deaths from heart and lung diseases, more research has confirmed. The study found that when nitrogen dioxide levels jumped by 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air (µg/m3), there was a 0.4 per cent increase in deaths the next day. Researchers described it as ‘robust evidence’ … Read more
Oil and gas companies knew for decades that their industry was responsible for significant levels of air pollution and that it could cause health problems but lobbied for laxer standards and publicly downplayed the risks, it has been claimed. Internal documents from the likes of Shell, Exxon and Imperial Oil warned as far back as … Read more
ELECTRIC VEHICLES PM’S PLAN: Boris Johnson has vowed to ‘ban new sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2030’ . He announced £2.8billion in funding as part of his ten-point green plan, including £1.3billon on the rollout of electric car charging points. REALITY: The 2030 target is viewed by the industry as ‘incredibly ambitious’ with car … Read more
Pollution from industries like coal mining and metal works may be causing more boys to be born with their testicles in the wrong place, a study has warned. Experts from France investigated cases of so-called ‘cryptorchidism’ — a condition in which one or both testicles have not descended into the scrotum by birth. While it … Read more
China’s capital and wide swathes of the country’s north have been cloaked in yellow smog as the worst sandstorm in a decade descended. Pollution levels in Beijing surged off the charts and flights were cancelled on Monday as landmarks including the Forbidden City were partly obscured by the haze of dust and sand. Residents used … Read more