- How the ‘Attenborough Effect’ Is Causing Plastic Pollution to Plunge
- Britain in two-week coal-free record
- India plants 66 million trees in 12 hours as part of record-breaking environmental campaign
- A new artificial photosynthesis breakthrough uses gold to turn CO2 into liquid fuel
- Kids suing the US over climate change are getting global support
1) How the ‘Attenborough Effect’ Is Causing Plastic Pollution to Plunge
Celebrities like Sir David have a unique role to play in reducing plastic waste. In the final episode of Sir David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series, the iconic environmentalist turned his attention to the growing problem of plastic waste. The episode showed baby birds feeding on bits of plastic, coastlines covered in pollution, and marine environments around the world teeming with plastic waste. Throughout it all, Attenborough urged viewers to become more sustainable — and his efforts seem to have paid off. A new report shows that people in the US and UK reduced their single-use plastic use by 53% over the last 12 months. The authors attribute the steep decline to the “Attenborough effect.” Sir David Attenborough’s environment documentaries are having a positive impact on the public Attenborough’s TV series Blue Planet II and Our Planet are changing people’s behaviour GlobalWebIndex surveyed 3,833 people in the US and UK and found that 82% prefer sustainable packaging for the products they buy in everyday life and 66% are more likely to trust brands that make a pledge to be more sustainable.
https://happyeconews.com/2019/06/10/how-the-attenborough-effect-is-causing-plastic-pollution-to-plunge/
2) Britain in two-week coal-free record
Britain has not used coal to generate electricity for two weeks – the longest period since the 1880s. The body which manages the way electricity is generated said coal was last used at 15:12 on 17 May. Fintan Slye, director of the National Grid Electricity System Operator (ESO), said the British record for solar power had also been broken this month. Britain broke the record for a week of no coal earlier this month , which Mr Slye said would be a “new normal”. The government plans to phase out the UK’s last coal-fired plants by 2025 to reduce carbon emissions and Mr Slye said there was “still a lot of work to do”. But he added: “As more and more renewables come onto the system, we’re seeing things progress at an astonishing rate.”
https://happyeconews.com/2019/06/14/britain-in-two-week-coal-free-record/
3) India plants 66 million trees in 12 hours as part of record-breaking environmental campaign
Guinness World Records are expected to confirm the achievement in the coming weeks Volunteers in India planted more than 66 million trees in just 12 hours in a record-breaking environmental drive. About 1.5 million people were involved in the huge plantation campaign, in which saplings were placed along the Narmada river in the state of Madhya Pradesh throughout Sunday. India committed under the Paris Agreement to increasing its forests by five million hectares before 2030 to combat climate change . China is building a forest city of 40,000 trees that fights pollution Last year volunteers in Uttar Pradesh state set a world record by planting more than 50 million trees in one day. Observers from Guinness World Records also monitored Sunday’s plantation and are expected to confirm in the coming weeks that the effort set a new high. The campaign was organised by the Madhya Pradesh government, with 24 districts of the Narmada river basin chosen as planting sites to increase the saplings’ chances of survival. Volunteers planted more than 20 different species of trees.
https://happyeconews.com/2019/06/12/india-plants-66-million-trees-in-12-hours-as-part-of-record-breaking-environmental-campaign/
4) A new artificial photosynthesis breakthrough uses gold to turn CO2 into liquid fuel
Scientists developed a new way of achieving artificial photosynthesis, producing high-energy hydrocarbons by leveraging electron-rich gold nanoparticles as a catalyst. In photosynthesis, plants convert energy from sunlight into glucose by rearranging molecules of water and carbon dioxide. The new process mimics this natural ability via chemical manipulations that create liquid fuel, without requiring chlorophyll. This could create self-sustaining energy source that might one day power our homes and cars, simply by mimicking what plants do. Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories. Scientists have developed a new way of achieving artificial photosynthesis, producing high-energy hydrocarbons by leveraging electron-rich gold nanoparticles as a catalyst. In photosynthesis , plants convert energy from sunlight into glucose by rearranging molecules of water and carbon dioxide. The new process mimics this natural ability via chemical manipulations that create liquid fuel, without requiring chlorophyll.
https://happyeconews.com/2019/06/11/a-new-artificial-photosynthesis-breakthrough-uses-gold-to-turn-co2-into-liquid-fuel/
5) Kids suing the US over climate change are getting global support
“Fridays for Future” school strike in Vienna, Austria on May 31, 2019. In 2015, when a group of 21 children and teens first sued the US government over climate change, their claim in Juliana v. US was not totally new—youth in Uganda and the Netherlands had filed somewhat similar environmental suits—but it seemed a little strange. Shouldn’t these kids be playing video games or something, doing pretty much anything but litigating to save the planet? Now, the plaintiffs in Juliana v. US are part of an increasingly vocal global movement of young environmental activists leading the fight against climate catastrophe, most visible among them Swedish teen Greta Thunberg , who has chided world leaders for failing to take action. And they are banding together. In March, Thunberg inspired a worldwide protest, with kids skipping school to make the point that their future is on the line because of climate change.
https://happyeconews.com/2019/06/13/kids-suing-the-us-over-climate-change-are-getting-global-support/
