What makes styrofoam good — like its insulating, shock-absorbing qualities that make it suitable for hot coffee cups, coolers, helmets and packing material — is also what makes it bad … for the environment, that is. This month’s Backgrounder looks at the technical and environmental aspects of this long-troubling plastic pollution source.
"Rising temperatures are triggering cascading effects across the polar region, from diminishing ice to changes in when plants flower and where wildlife is found."
Does the military use ecological restoration as a means to “green” over the complex relationship between nature and culture, undermining the impacts of history and warfare? Our latest BookShelf review of the new volume, “Bombs Away: Militarization, Conservation, and Ecological Restoration,” explores one author’s argument that it does.
"Mars emits methane, a European orbiter has confirmed. But scientists can’t say yet whether the source is geological or biological."
"Extreme weather events, supercharged by climate change, affected some 62 million people around the world in 2018, the United Nations' weather agency said Thursday."
"On Thursday, 41 scientists published the first worldwide analysis of a fungal outbreak that’s been wiping out frogs for decades. The devastation turns out to be far worse than anyone had previously realized."
"U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told governments to come to a September summit with concrete plans to boost climate action, as he released a flagship report on global warming by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Thursday."
"Global energy experts released grim findings Monday, saying that not only are planet-warming carbon-dioxide emissions still increasing, but the world’s growing thirst for energy has led to higher emissions from coal-fired power plants than ever before."
"Researchers are learning about a newly identified species of baleen whales, tracing sightings and sounds to learn that they stay mainly in tropical waters."
Since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the 33 largest global banks collectively provided $1.9 trillion in financing for fossil fuels, a study by environmental groups says.
Advertisement 
