A look at one of the worrying problems plastic is causing the earth and the creatures which live here…

This summer’s Beijing Olympics will be “basically” carbon neutral thanks to a series of energy saving measures such as the use of solar power and an afforestation program, a senior official said on Thursday.
Technology Minister Wan Gang said that the event was expected to generate 1.18 million tonnes of carbon, in part because so many […]

This sprawling, jade-hued lake in eastern China is pleasant enough on a cool spring day. But when spring warms into sultry summer, Chaohu turns slimy and stinky as algae fed by sewage, farm and factory runoff bloom, leaving it toxic and undrinkable.
China’s pollution busters, banking on a rather unorthodox approach, are hoping this summer might […]

EU countries would be allowed to charge heavy road users for the costs they incur on society, including congestion, air pollution and noise — something prohibited by EU law up till now — according to an early draft of a Commission proposal to revise its ‘Eurovignette Directive‘.
The draft document seen by EurActiv suggests that toll […]

The planet’s last river-dwelling finless porpoises are dying from exposure to insecticides and mercury in China, a new study says.
The mammals had already been declining as their natural habitat in and around the Yangtze River deteriorated.
In the new research, scientists also found high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other pollutants in the organs of […]

Polluting electricity generators in Europe are set to reap another round of extraordinary windfall profits from the carbon trading scheme meant to curb their carbon emissions, a new report revealed today.
The study, commissioned by WWF from world-leading carbon market analysts Point Carbon, estimates that the windfall to electricity generators in just the five states of […]

Growing levels of air pollution from power plants and automobiles have reduced the potency of flower fragrances by up to 90 percent as compared with pre-industrial levels in the United States, a new study has found.
The trend is unpleasant for human noses, but may be life-threatening for pollinators such as bees and butterflies.
“Many insects find […]

From Australia to the U.K., and all across the U.S., politicians and corporations are pondering banning or taxing plastic bags.
A hefty surcharge that began in 2003 in Ireland has spurred the public there to spurn plastic bags almost completely in favor of reusable cloth totes.
Plastic sacks are also taxed in Italy and Belgium. Grocery shoppers […]

Endurance events at the Beijing Olympics could pose a health risk if they are staged on heavily polluted days, the International Olympic Committee said on Wednesday, although it was prepared to reschedule such events.
Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC coordination commission, said there was a small chance of athletes suffering some damage to their health […]

 
The Bush administration, which has resisted regulating carbon dioxide emissions, this spring will propose rules that could affect everything from vehicles to power plants and oil refineries, the top U.S. environmental official told Congress on Thursday.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson said the agency will issue proposed rules “later this spring” on “the specific effects […]

 
Compact fluorescent light bulbs, long touted by environmentalists as a more efficient and longer-lasting alternative to the incandescent bulbs that have lighted homes for more than a century, are running into resistance from waste industry officials and some environmental scientists, who warn that the bulbs’ poisonous innards pose a bigger threat to health and the […]

 
The pilot of a ship that spilled thousands of gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay in November was charged by federal prosecutors Monday with criminal negligence and breaking environmental laws.
Capt. John Cota faces as much as 18 months in jail and more than $100,000 in fines if convicted of the misdemeanor charges, including harming […]

 
European Union leaders threatened the United States and China with trade sanctions Friday if the world’s two biggest polluters don’t commit to ambitious cuts in greenhouse gases by next year.
The warning came as the economic downturn focused European leaders on the impact on industry of their groundbreaking agreement last year to cut carbon emissions by […]

Tackling climate change, pollution and other environmental hazards is affordable and urgent action is needed to avoid irreversible damage, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said on Wednesday.
“Climate change is mankind’s most important long-term challenge,” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurria told Reuters after issuing a 520-page Environmental Outlook in Oslo.
The 30-nation OECD said possible […]

No areas of the world’s oceans remain completely untouched by humanity’s influence, according to a new study.Every area of the oceans is feeling the effects of fishing, pollution, or human-caused global warming, the study says, and some regions are being affected by all of these factors and more.
A team led by Ben Halpern of the […]