Pollution

A White House official confirmed that the U.S. would not be sending any high-level officials for the upcoming COP30 Climate Summit in Brazil. This will ease some concerns among world leaders who were worried Washington might send a team of negotiators to sabotage the talks. Brazil will host the high-level leaders summit in Belem, Amazonian City next week. The UN climate talks begin there two weeks later. Earlier this week, the U.S. warned that it would use visa restrictions and sanction to retaliate to nations who voted in favor of a UN shipping agency plan, the International Maritime Organization (IMO),...

The largest drug companies in the U.S. won a trial in 2022, but the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed that decision. The 4th U.S. The 4th U.S. The 4th Circuit has reopened the case and said that the lower court must re-evaluate if the three drug companies are responsible for paying for addiction treatment and prevention in the city and the county, on the basis of their alleged failures to stop "suspicious", large orders from pharmacies. Cencora's spokesperson stated that the company is disappointed with the ruling, and they are considering their next steps. This could include a second appeal....

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday reinstated a lawsuit for $2.5 billion against drug distributors who were accused of contributing towards an opioid crisis in West Virginia. This decision overturned a 2022 trial victory by the biggest drug suppliers in the U.S. The 4th U.S. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled a lower court erred in concluding that Cencora Corp, McKesson Corp, and Cardinal Health had not created a "public inconvenience" by supplying a large number of addictive pills to the pharmacies of Cabell County and Huntington. The 4th Circuit has reopened this case and said...

Bill Gates, philanthropist and billionaire investor, called on world leaders to focus on improving health outcomes and not temperature reduction targets in advance of the COP30 Climate talks in Brazil. COP30 is scheduled to take place in Belem, a port city in Brazil's Lower Amazon Region from November 10-21. The countries are expected to update their national climate commitments, and evaluate progress made on the renewable energy targets set at previous summits. In the last decade, the world has been working to achieve the Paris Agreement goals. This includes limiting global warming below 2 degrees Celsius over the pre-industrial level...

Automakers formed alliances with electric vehicle companies to avoid heavy fines from the European Union for carbon emissions. Several legacy automakers could face fines, as the transition from ICEs to EVs has been slower than expected. As of Monday, here are the details on the regulations and alliances that will be in place for 2025. Initial EU fines were based on carbon emissions levels in 2025. The European Commission, under pressure from the automakers, allowed compliance in March based on average emissions between 2025 and 2027. All alliance agreements currently in existence, as identified by their pool managers, will expire...

Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit against California on Friday challenging two state laws requiring large companies to disclose their greenhouse gas emission and climate-related risks. Exxon filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California arguing that Senate Bills 261 and 253 violated its First Amendment rights because they force Exxon "to serve as a mouthpiece" for ideas it does not agree with. The company asked the court to stop the state of California enforcing these laws. Exxon claims that the Californian frameworks for reporting climate change are misleading and counterproductive. The oil giant claims...

The U.S. Supreme Court will be deciding a number of cases during the new nine-month session that begins Monday. These include issues like presidential powers, trade tariffs, transgender sportspeople, guns, race laws, campaign finance laws, gay "conversion therapies", religious rights, and capital punishment. The following are some of the cases that will be heard during the upcoming court term. Separately, the court has also acted in emergency cases in several cases that involved challenges to President Donald Trump’s policies. LOUISIANA ELECTORAL DISTRICTS The conservative justices of the court signaled on October 15, their willingness to undermine another key section in...

Climate Investment Funds, a multilateral lender, announced on Monday that its board had approved a plan for helping restore Fiji's ecosystems and strengthening the island's capacity to withstand global warming. The Climate Investment Funds announced the agreement on Monday, ahead of the November round of U.N. talks. Fiji and the other Small Island Developing States are pushing for the world to do even more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CIF announced that it would provide $27 millions in financing, and hopes to attract an additional $20 million from World Bank and Progreen. This multi-donor initiative is designed to support the...

Trump Administration weighs COP30 Participation Energy Secretary indicates he's open to going Conservative groups oppose U.S. attending global climate meeting By David Sherfinski The global COP30 Summit, which will take place in Brazil's Amazonian City of Belem next month, is expected to bring together representatives of almost every country in the world to discuss their efforts to combat climate change. There are many countries that must make major decisions about how to keep greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, which Trump has said the U.S. will abandon. The White House is yet to publicly disclose whether or...

The contamination is not widespread and is only limited to a clove farm located in Lampung, Indonesia, according to a task force that investigates contamination cases. Bara Hasibuan, the task force's spokesperson, said that cloves from the Sumatra farm will not be sold before further laboratory testing. Authorities are still searching for the source of contamination. The task force didn't disclose any further details about this farm. Indonesia has been investigating cases radioactive contamination The task force has been in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and U.S. authorities. The contamination was first detected In a batch shipped...

The United States threatened on Friday to use sanctions and visa restrictions to retaliate to nations who vote in favor of the plan proposed by an agency of the United Nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for global warming from ocean shipping. Next week, U.N. member countries will vote on the International Maritime Organization’s Net-Zero Framework to reduce global CO2 gas emissions. The international shipping industry handles about 80% of the world's trade and is responsible for about 3% of greenhouse gases. Under pressure from investors, large container carriers agree that a global regulation framework is essential...

The World Bank's executive directors, 19 of them, issued a statement last week expressing their support for its continued efforts to combat climate change. They did so in defiance of the United States, the largest shareholder and other countries. Sources familiar with the situation said that the executive directors of the U.S. and Russia as well as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Japan, who are both negotiating deals with the U.S. on trade, abstained from signing the document. After a meeting with World Bank management the directors, who represent over 120 countries, released a statement highlighting their expectations that the bank...

Scientists in Brazil's Amazon have created a "time-machine" that pumps carbon dioxide into the canopy of the rainforest to simulate future atmospheric conditions to gauge the biome's adaptation. This is an open question which will be discussed next month at the COP30 United Nations Climate Summit hosted by Brazil. The AmazonFACE project, near Manaus, Amazon's largest city, features six steel tower rings that loom over the jungle canopy. Each ring is surrounded by groups of 50-70 mature trees. After baseline testing, the scientists will fumigate three of the rings using carbon dioxide in levels that simulate climate forecasts over the...

Brazil wants to assist developing countries in securing more funding to adapt to climate change. The COP30 summit president stated that. A U.N. study estimated the world would need to spend $310 Billion a year to prepare for rising sea levels, warmer days, and other conditions associated with a warming atmosphere by 2035. According to the U.N.'s Adaptation Gap Report, this is about 12 times what is currently spent annually on climate adaptation efforts. COP summits have so far not resulted in major increases in funding for climate adaptation. These funds are still behind investments in renewable energies and other...

Scientists in Brazil's Amazon have created a "time-machine" that pumps carbon dioxide into the canopy of the rainforest to simulate future atmospheric conditions to gauge the biome's adaptation. This is an open question which will be discussed next month at the COP30 United Nations Climate Summit hosted by Brazil. The AmazonFACE project, near Manaus, Amazon's largest city, features six steel tower rings that loom over the jungle canopy. Each ring is surrounded by groups of 50-70 mature trees. After baseline testing, the scientists will fumigate three of the rings using carbon dioxide in levels that simulate climate forecasts over the...

Climate damage: Russia must pay! Rebuilding Gaza will increase emissions Massive gaps in military emissions data Emma Batha Researchers estimate that the first three years of the conflict generated 237 million tons of greenhouse gasses (GHG). This is equivalent to the annual emissions of Belgium Austria and Ireland combined or 120 million cars running on fossil fuels. This is pushing us into the wrong direction, at a time we need to drastically cut emissions," said Lennard de Klerk of Climate Research, the lead author of a report that tallied the war's emission, published in this month. De Klerk stated that...

Petrobras failed a part of the test required to get a drilling license in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, Brazil's Environmental Agency wrote in its report made public on Wednesday. The agency Ibama said that Petrobras had passed the broad test. However, the technical report required the firm to resubmit their animal-rescue plans, listing this as a step necessary for its bids to drill in an ecologically sensitive area. Ibama wrote that the plan "is not capable of ensuring adequate actions for animal care." Petrobras and Ibama didn't immediately respond to requests for comments. Petrobras had previously stated that it...

Climate Week will kick off in New York City on Sunday, marking the biggest year ever for the event. Organizers report a record number companies participating and more than ever events to attend. This response was almost unanticipated in an event-hosting country that is the wealthiest nation on the planet. The host has a climate-denying program of increasing fossil fuels and rolling back pollution regulations, and defunding U.S. climate science and action. Climate Week organizers even wondered if people would show up, said Climate Group Chief executive Officer Helen Clarkson. Clarkson stated that there was a lot of enthusiasm. Climate...

Three people familiar with the plans said that Brazil would be the first to announce an investment into the Tropical Forests Forever Facility. This multilateral funding mechanism was proposed by Brazil to support the conservation of endangered forest globally. The President Luiz inacio Lula da So will announce the investment at the U.N. on Tuesday in New York. This is a move to unlock more contributions both from wealthy and developing countries, who have been at odds over funding global climate policies. The Brazilian government believes that the TFFF could be the main deliverable for the U.N. Climate Summit known...

Residents and local leaders from Ecuador's central Azuay Province took to the streets Tuesday to call for the suspension of an mining project by Canada’s Dundee Precious Metals. They claim that the project will have a negative impact on a crucial water reserve. Dundee had been granted an environmental permit by the government of President Daniel Noboa to begin construction of the Loma Larga Gold Mine there. However, as the community's pressure grew, the country’s energy minister suspended construction in August until Dundee provided an environmental management plan. Provincial authorities rejected the project because it would affect the 3,200-hectare Quimsacocha...

Archaeologists have confirmed that an ancient civilization has disappeared because of climate change by finding a small sculpture of toads and other water-related symbols near Caral, the once oldest city in the Americas. Climate change is a large-scale, long-term shift in weather patterns. It can be caused by natural factors such as solar activity changes or volcanic eruptions. Human activities have been the main cause of climate change since the early 1800s. Archaeologists found the small sculptures of two amphibians dating back 3,800 year, as well anthropomorphic figures in mud walls, earlier this year, at the Vichama archaeological site, around...

Naturally-regenerating forests are often ignored by policymakers working to curb climate change even though they hold an untapped potential to rapidly absorb planet-warming carbon from the atmosphere, scientists found in a research paper published Tuesday. The research in Nature Climate Change suggests that these so-called secondary forest, which have grown back after being destroyed, usually for agricultural purposes, can help the world get closer to the target of net-zero emission needed to slow down global warming. They found that young forests consisting of trees aged between two and forty years can remove up to eight-times more carbon per hectare from...

Brazil, the COP30 President, proposed on Friday that pledges of emissions reductions be expanded to include companies, states and cities. This was to bolster climate efforts after the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Agreement. Brazilian diplomats working on the climate summit are working closely with U.N. officials to encourage countries to submit revised targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions before September. Many missed the deadline of February. In the Paris Accord, where almost all countries agreed to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius or less from pre-industrial levels by 2050, it is required that these targets be submitted and...

Loreto, Peru: Illegal gold mining pollutes the region Nearly 80 percent of the population has mercury levels that are unsafe Most at risk are pregnant women and children By Dan Collyns Test results revealed this month showed that nearly 80% (of those tested) had mercury levels far above the safe limit in six communities along the Nanay River and Pintuyacu River. Jairo Reategui davila, Apu or leader of San Antonio de Nanay - one of the communities tested - said that the majority of its population was contaminated. He said, "We are concerned and we want the authorities to act."...