Wassup World. Today is Thursday, October 11, 2018 and if you haven't noticed, we're switching things up. The Weekly Environmental Wrap Up will be coming out on Thursday mornings from now on. We will still be rebreaking news regarding Water, Air, Soil, Urban Spaces, Power, and People. Before I get into this weeks news, I'd like to implore you to share this podcast with everyone you know, just tell them to find Wassup World News on Spotify, Itunes, Google Play, or wherever else they get podcasts.
The nations of the world — including the U.S. — unanimously approved a landmark climate report warning that we need far stronger climate policies to stop catastrophic climate change than the world agreed to in Paris in 2015. The “Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC” from the United Nation sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that on our current emissions path, we will cross a key threshold of dangerous climate change (1.5ºC or 2.7°F) by 2040 which would almost certainly cause ice melt that would inundate coastlines and intensify droughts and poverty, worsening food shortages and wildfires, and cause a mass die-off of coral reefs and in turn ocean life. The United States has since redacted it's approval of the report.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/07/climate/ipcc-climate-report-2040.html
A federal court Friday upheld the massive national monument former President Obama created off of the New England coast in the Atlantic Ocean. In a blow to commercial fishing and other industries who felt the protections afforded by the monument significantly impede their businesses, Judge James Boasberg ruled that the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument complied with the law. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/410101-court-upholds-obamas-atlantic-ocean-national-monument
Environmental groups are linking a second Duke Energy Corp. coal-ash site to arsenic pollution in North Carolina rivers after the facilities were flooded by Hurricane Florence. A water sample from the Cape Fear River near Duke’s Sutton power plant in Wilmington contained 710 micrograms of arsenic per liter, Waterkeeper Alliance said in a statement Wednesday. The state standard for drinking water supply and fish consumption is 10 micrograms. In response, Duke Energy said that initial tests showed the discharges “are not harming water quality.”
More than 50,000 people from across Europe gathered near the Hambacher Forest in western Germany on Saturday to defend the area from the expansion of coal-fired energy and demand much more ambitious climate action. It was the largest-ever anti-coal demonstration in the Rhineland.
Drink companies Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestle were found to be the world’s biggest producers of plastic trash, a report by environmental group Greenpeace said on Oct. 9. An ESDO report published on October 2 found that in India particularly PRAN Food produces 27% of total single-use plastic waste while Abdul Monem, with its Igloo brand ice cream 20%; Bombay Sweets with its Potato Crackers 10%; while multinational company Nomad Foods Limited, with its brand iglo, produces 9% of the total waste. Coca-Cola came in at nearly 2% of total waste in India.
research published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports describes how bees given a small amount of his mushroom mycelia extract exhibited remarkable reductions in the presence of viruses associated with parasitic mites that have been attacking, and infecting, bee colonies for decades. The Author, Paul Stamet’s believes that the bee-helping mycelium will give beekeepers a powerful new tool in helping to save the world's ailing bee populations.
https://www.tuscaloosanews.com/news/20181006/mushrooms-could-help-save-worlds-bees
New Land Enterprises has announced a bold plan to build a 21-story mass timber apartment building in MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin. If completed, the building, known as Ascent, would be the tallest timber structure in the Western Hemisphere according to the company. Mass timber is an engineered product made by combining layers of lumber into a stronger material. The material is capable of building much taller buildings than conventional wood construction methods because it only chars (rather than burning up) in a fire and offers enhanced strength.
The 164 year old Westmoreland Coal Co. announced Tuesday that it had filed a chapter 11 petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston and had entered into a restructuring agreement with a group of its lenders. The Colorado-based firm has $1.4 billion in debt, according to the bankruptcy filing. Westmoreland is the fourth major American coal company to file for bankruptcy in the past three years, The Associated Press noted.
Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has announced that it would no longer be needing the services of several fossil fuel-powered plants, which supported the grid prior to the arrival of the Tesla Powerpack Farm. The Hornsdale Power Reserve battery farm has proven beyond doubt that it is quicker, more flexible, more accurate, and even more cost-effective than fossil fuel-powered back-up plants.
Dutch courts have enforced a ruling that The emission of greenhouse gases must be reduced by at least 25% by the end of 2020 compared to the level of 1990.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke acted Monday to ban mining in a 30,000-acre spot near Yellowstone National Park, saying it’s not an appropriate spot for mineral extraction. Zinke’s order, bans all mineral extraction, including drilling and gold and silver mining, except for any preexisting claims, for 20 years, the maximum allowable by law.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/410414-zinke-extends-mining-ban-near-yellowstone
That's it for this Weekly Environmental Wrap Up. Things may have changed by the time you're listening to this. please subscribe and share this podcast with every single person you know 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 for caring. Peace out World.