Wassup world? Today is Thursday, November 1st, 2018 and this is the Weekly Environmental Wrap Up where we rebreak news you probably haven't heard about regarding Water, Air, Soil, Urban Spaces, Power, and People.
On Wednesday, the Department of the Interior approved Hilcorp Energy’s proposal to drill in the Beaufort Sea, six miles off the Alaskan coast. It would be the first oil and gas production facility in federal waters in Alaska.
recent studies have shown that heat stress from anthropogenic global warming has killed half of the Great Barrier Reef's corals since 2016, a new analysis from U.S. scientists warns that the entirety of world's largest coral system is at risk of bleaching and death as Australia enters it summer months.
Gov. Roy Cooper (D) signed an executive order on Monday pledging to slash North Carolina’s greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. North Carolina joins 17 other governors who have signed onto the U.S. Climate Alliance, which commits states to upholding the Paris agreement, tracking and reporting their progress as they work to reduce carbon emissions.
https://thinkprogress.org/north-carolina-paris-agreement-florence-c26f19f9fcef/
Washington state voters will decide this November whether to approve the nation's first carbon fee. Estimates of the annual cost to each Washington state household range from $159 to $440 in the first year of the fee. Oil companies have contributed almost all of the $29.7 million that has been raised so far to defeat the ballot measure—more money than has been devoted to any ballot initiative campaign in the state's history.
Air pollution caused the premature deaths of 600,000 children in 2016, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report released Monday. The report found that a staggering 93 percent of people under 15 years old—some 1.8 billion children and teenagers—are breathing toxic air.
China has announced it will legalise domestic trade in antique tiger bone and rhino horn - reversing a 25-year-old ban.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind today issued a new order authorizing the killing of the last two remaining wolves of the Old Profanity Territory pack in Ferry County. The targeted wolves are likely the pack’s last pup and its breeding male. The decision to kill wolves was made despite the fact that the cattle involved in a recent livestock predation were on a public lands grazing allotment past Oct. 15, when the rancher was legally required to remove his cattle.
Humanity has wiped out 60% of mammals, birds, fish and reptiles since 1970, according to a report released by the WWF. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/30/humanity-wiped-out-animals-since-1970-major-report-finds
Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Nestle, H&M, Mars and Unilever are among 250 major brands pledging to cut all plastic waste from their operations – a move described by the UN as the most ambitious effort yet to fight plastic pollution. The signatories have promised to eliminate all single-use plastics, and to invest in new technology so all packaging can be recycled by 2025.
Laboratory tests commissioned by EWG found levels of glyphosate, first produced by Monsanto as Roundup, in samples of General Mills’ Honey Nut Cheerios. The amount of the toxic pesticide exceeded the amount of both Vitamin D and Vitamin B12. In a sample of Quaker Oatmeal Squares, there was more glyphosate than Vitamin A.
https://www.ewg.org/release/tests-reveal-more-weed-killer-some-vitamins-kids-cereals
Simec Atlantis Energy Ltd., a renewable energy developer, announced a plan to extend its tidal stream project in Scotland by adding two new turbines. The MeyGen facility currently has a capacity of 6 megawatts, and the extension will bring it to 10 megawatts
A new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change finds that if Bitcoin is implemented at similar rates at which other technologies have been incorporated, it alone could produce enough emissions to raise global temperatures by 2°C as soon as 2033.
Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2018-10-bitcoin-global-couple-decades.html#jCp
The plaintiffs in the landmark climate case Juliana vs. the U.S. were planning to bring their case to trial this coming Monday, October 29, after fighting in the courts for three years. The U.S. Supreme Court took the highly unusual step of issuing a stay on the case at the request of the government—which argued the cost of litigation would be burdensome.
Hansjörg Wyss released a statement that he will give $1B over the next decade to help accelerate land and ocean conservation around the world saying in a NY Times piece - "For the sake of all living things, let’s see to it that far more of our planet is protected by the people, for the people and for all time."
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/opinion/earth-biodiversity-conservation-billion-dollars.html
#OUTRO That's it for this Weekly Environmental Wrap Up. This has been a podcast by Wassup World News. Things may have changed by the time you're listening to this. please subscribe and share this podcast with all your friends and fam, and don't forget to Tune in next week to hear more about the flora, fauna, and planet you care oh so much about. I'm John Brindley. Thank you very much for caring. Peace out World.