Environment

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) created environmental protections in areas of government and most private developments. Some advocate for rolling back CEQA to decrease housing costs. Others argue the roll back undermines California’s position as a climate leader and worsen water quality and pollution conditions. Is affordable housing worth worsening environmental conditions? Should CEQA’s roll back wording be updated to best protect California’s environment?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/42916278

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China has pledged for the first time to cut its greenhouse gas emissions in absolute terms, committing to reduce economy-wide net emissions by 7–10% from peak levels by 2035, “striving to do better.” President Xi Jinping announced the target in a video address to a high-level climate summit in New York convened by UN Secretary-General António Guterres during the General Assembly.

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Experts welcomed the structural shift to an absolute cut but judged the ambition insufficient for a 1.5°C pathway. “Anything less than 30% is not aligned with 1.5 degrees,” said Lauri Myllyvirta of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). Greenpeace East Asia’s Yao Zhe said the plan “still falls short,” even for tempered expectations. Belinda Schäpe, a China policy analyst at CREA, framed the pledge as politically cautious and argued China’s clean-energy boom could still deliver reductions of 30% or more by 2035 if current trends hold. In her words, today’s announcement should be viewed as the floor, not the ceiling.

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A good-news story. Geopolitical enemy or not, at least someone's doing something about the problem.

Honestly I found this video in particular hard to watch.

It’s a gut-wrenching story and hits heavy because we all know that these companies will never be dismantled and the people within them investigated and ultimately held responsible.

You might have seen this video in your yt recommendations, I don’t usually watch veriatsium, but it’s worth a watch.

The world’s biggest polluters are also the most protected from the environmental harm they helped create, a new study finds.

Antibiotics, antidepressants and other drugs frequently leach into the environment, where they can impact ecosystems and human health.

A new modeling study estimates that every year, thousands of tons of the most-used antibiotics are released into the world’s rivers from human consumption alone—and 11 percent of them reach the world’s oceans or inland sinks. Researchers have also discovered widespread contamination of aquatic ecosystems with antidepressants, heart medications and other drugs in recent years.

Shell reported a malfunction April 25, and the company was later issued a notice of violation. Residents are still looking for answers.

A new study finds that 28 of the most populated cities in the U.S. are sinking, which can increase flood risks and weaken infrastructure.

The rise in e-commerce has created a commensurate rise in demand for single-use paper packaging. Fast-growing, high-yield eucalyptus has become a popular choice for paper but farming communities in Mozambique are paying the price for cheap paper according to a Mongabay documentary produced by Boaventura Monjane, Davide Mancini and Juan Maza.

Tunisian environmentalist Semia Labidi Gharbi, awarded a global prize for her role exposing a major waste scandal, has a message for wealthy nations: developing countries are "no dumping ground".

More than 45,000 people have been affected by flash floods in Somalia since mid-April, the United Nations said, with at least four people killed.

How sound waves could help track space junk and meteors

Scientists on Union glacier in Antarctica fear the region is reaching a dangerous tipping point

As pollution levels hit record highs and fresh water becomes ‘the new oil’, is it time to radically reimagine our relationship to the natural world?

In Ecuador, Indigenous communities are fighting for stronger safeguards to protect their sovereignty as more oil drilling looms. A right to say no to unwanted development could revolutionize a consultation process used around the world.