Outside the mountain town of Sabiñánigo in northern Spain, an abandoned chemical factory stands on land still scarred by decades of Lindane production – a pesticide now banned worldwide – which left behind thousands of tonnes of toxic waste. Production ended in the 1980s, but the pesticide’s main by-product, hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), continues to
Alex Lenferna, University of Fort Hare “Reduce, reuse, recycle.” For more than 50 years, those three Rs have been the world’s go-to environmental mantra. On the face of it, the three Rs sound like an empowering call for each of us to play our part for the planet. However, the individualist approach behind
Alseno Kagiso Mosai, University of Pretoria and Hlanganani Tutu, University of the Witwatersrand Highly toxic metals are leaking out of nine abandoned mines in Krugersdorp, 32km west of Johannesburg, South Africa. The metals include uranium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium and mercury. This acid mine drainage – when water mixes with heavy metals in mines
ph. Don’t flush any wet wipes – even if they are ‘plastic free’ or ‘biodegradable’. Maridav / shutterstock Randa Lindsey Kachef, King’s College London The UK government recently announced a plan to ban plastics from wet wipes, causing my fellow river activists to release a collective sigh of relief. However, although a general
The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties – COP28 – starts in late November in Dubai. With the World Health Organisation (WHO), it will host the first Health Day and climate health ministerial, aiming to encourage commitments towards climate-resilient and sustainable low-carbon health systems. This health program has outlined five crucial focus
ph. Single-use plastics. Anton Petrus/Moment Katherine Harry, Colorado State University and Emma Rettner, Colorado State University Hundreds of millions of tons of single-use plastic ends up in landfills every year, and even the small percentage of plastic that gets recycled can’t last forever. But our group of materials scientists has developed a new
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here Recycling was once all the rage. Reduce, reuse, recycle! We recited it like a mantra. To toss our cans and bottles into the blue bin was to take on personal environmental responsibility; it meant we care. However, of late,
Every summer, wildland firefighters across the West gear up for a monumental task, aiming to stop fires that are burning hotter and moving faster with climate change. They accomplish this in two ways: on the ground and out of the sky. From above, helicopters sling buckets of water, while airplanes dump fire retardant —
The American West has always had forest fires — just not like this. Blazes are spreading further and burning longer, incinerating towns and exposing millions of people to noxious smoke. While a century of fire suppression and other land management choices contribute to the severity, climate change is a key factor fueling these
The multi-billion dollar chicken industry seems to be eyeing a climate-crisis-sized opportunity. At this summer’s 2023 Chicken Marketing Summit run by WATT Global Media, a new crop of sessions will teach the poultry industry how to target a particular kind of eater — “climavores.” “Climavores” are what we now call people who choose