Earth on the brink of a key warming threshold after chart-busting year

A wind change increased flames during a planned ignition on the Ross Moore Lake wildfire in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada, on July 28, 2023. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images A series of climate records last year gave new meaning to the phrase “off the charts,” the U.N.’s weather agency said on Tuesday, warning that … Read more

Wildfires made Canada’s air quality worse than the U.S. for the first time

Canada’s record-setting wildfire season hiked the country up global pollution rankings — and for the first time made its air quality worse than the U.S., according to a new report by air quality technology company IQAir. “In previous years, Canada had the cleanest air quality in all of North America,” said Glory Dolphin Hammes, CEO of … Read more

D’oh! Give NYC pizzerias tax break to comply with emissions crackdown: pie-loving pol

Big Apple pizzerias and other businesses that use coal- and wood-fired ovens should be given public dough — in the form of a tax break — to comply with a new emissions rule, a pie-loving Brooklyn pol says. The Adams’ administration’s controversial reg — which goes into effect April 27 — is already costing some … Read more

Paris has hiked parking charges on SUVs. Now cities like London are taking note

A view of the vehicles parked on the street in Paris, France on Nov. 22, 2023.  Anadolu | Anadolu | Getty Images Parisians have voted to hike parking fees on large SUVs — and it’s not the only European city to set its sights on heavier, more polluting cars. At a referendum in Paris last … Read more

NYC burns pizzerias with new rule cutting smoky pollutants by 75%

New York City has quietly approved a controversial green plan to require pizzerias and matzah bakeries using decades-old wood- and coal-fired stoves to cut their smoky pollutants by 75%. Mayor Eric Adams’ Department of Environmental Protection said the fresh edict takes effect April 27, with some city businesses having already coughed up more than $600,000 for new … Read more

Report lodged over ‘toxic pollution’ from Tawau gold mine

KOTA KINABALU: A police report has been lodged over alleged toxic waste pollution at the controversial gold mine in Sabah’s east coast Tawau district. Acting Tawau police chief Supt Champin Piuh confirmed that the report was lodged on Monday (March 4) morning by an employee of the company which owns the land at Bukit Mintri … Read more

Federal environment minister calls Premier Moe ‘immoral’ for flouting carbon-price law

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says Ottawa has to take action against Saskatchewan for breaking the federal carbon-pricing law. Premier Scott Moe said last week Saskatchewan would not submit the money it owes for the carbon price on natural gas as required on Feb. 29. Moe is protesting Ottawa’s decision to exempt heating oil from the levy … Read more

New satellite will track elusive methane pollution from oil and gas industry globally

A privately funded satellite is set to push methane tracking into a new era, once it launches into space on Monday. A collaborative mission between Environmental Defense Fund, Google, the Government of New Zealand and several other partners, MethaneSAT will track methane emissions around the globe in attempts to identify and quantify sources spewing the climate-heating greenhouse gas.  For 20 … Read more

North Pacific humpback whale numbers fall by 20%, but some scientists aren’t worried yet

A sprawling international study of humpback whales in the northern Pacific has found their population has shrunk significantly since 2012 — despite the once-endangered species’ remarkable comeback from the brink of extinction.  The new research, published in Royal Society Open Science journal on Wednesday, estimated a roughly 20 per cent drop in the cetacean species’ numbers … Read more

Norway wants to store carbon under the North Sea

The receiving dock at the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project, controlled by Equinor ASA, Shell Plc and TotalEnergies SE, at Blomoyna, Norway, on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Norway’s government wants to show the world it is possible to safely inject and store carbon waste under the seabed, … Read more