A community about our environment. All interesting links, discussions, and pictures are welcome here.
How China’s investment in Indonesia's nickel industry is impacting local communities: Waterways are polluted, fish have left, and residents report significant health issues
Unchecked nickel mining in Sulawesi, Indonesia, is harming local communities. What are the Indonesian government and the Chinese companies investing in the mines doing to mitigate the environmental consequences?
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/32316532
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Indonesia is home to the world’s largest nickel reserve, totaling 5.2 billion tons of ore and 57 million tons of metal, equivalent to 42 percent of the world’s nickel reserves. These resources are scattered mostly in Sulawesi and Maluku, in the eastern part of Indonesia. One of the richest mines is located in Joko’s hometown, Bahodopi district in Sulawesi.
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Nickel mining in Sulawesi began in the early 2000s, but it took off in the last decade after a surge in the global demand for nickel, a critical component of electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The worldwide transition to EVs is fueled by the pressing demand for eco-friendly transportation and a decreased reliance on fossil fuels. Capitalizing on its vast nickel reserves, Indonesia set its sights on becoming a major player in the global market by 2027.
In 2013, Indonesia-based mining conglomerates PT Bintang Delapan Investment and PT Sulawesi M
China's glacier area shrinks by 26% over six decades
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/20013316
China's glacier area has shrunk by 26% since 1960 due to rapid global warming, with 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely and glacial retreat intensifying in recent years, official data released in March showed.
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As the important water towers continue to shrink, less availability of freshwater is expected to contribute to greater competition for water resources, environmental groups have warned. Glacier retreat also poses new disaster risks.
China's glaciers are located mainly in the west and north of the country, in the regions of Tibet and Xinjiang, and the provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu and Qinghai.
Data published on March 21 on the website of the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, showed that China's total glacier area was around 46,000 square kilometres, with around 69,000 glaciers in 2020.
This compares to around 59,000 square kilom
Growth in global energy demand surged in 2024 to almost twice its recent average, the International Energy Agency (IEA) says
Global Energy Review 2025 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/19965216
Here is the report (pdf)
The world’s appetite for energy rose at a faster-than-average pace in 2024, resulting in higher demand for all energy sources, including oil, natural gas, coal, renewables and nuclear power, the World Energy Report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) show.
- The report finds that global energy demand rose by 2.2% last year – lower than GDP growth of 3.2% but considerably faster than the average annual demand increase of 1.3% between 2013 and 2023. Emerging and developing economies accounted for over 80% of the increase in global energy demand in 2024.
- The acceleration in global energy demand growth in 2024 was led
Unpacking China’s climate policy mixes shows a disconnect between policy density and intensity in the post-Paris era
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/19962518
Here you can download the study (pdf)
A high number of climate change policies in China does not sufficiently translate to high policy intensity and strong actions, a new study suggests.
It analyzes 358 national climate policies published from 2016 to 2022 in China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter. Especially in high-emitting sectors, China’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets (“objectives”) cover a relatively small number of actors and actions (“scope”), according to the study.
Summary:
- This is evident in sectors like energy, electricity and heating, which, despite being the largest emitters and having numerous policies, only have moderate policy intensity scores. This disconnect indicates that policy proliferation without policy strength may not effectively advance climate actions.
- A growing number of policy outputs in
Global Climate Report: "Each of the past ten years were individually the ten warmest years on record"
WMO’s State of the Global Climate report confirmed that 2024 was likely the first calendar year to be more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era, with a global mean near-surface temperature of 1.55 ± 0.13 °C above the 1850-1900 average. This is the warmest year in the 175-year observational record...
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/19768743
**The clear signs of human-induced climate change reached new heights in 2024, with some of the consequences being irreversible over hundreds if not thousands of years, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which also underlined the massive economic and social upheavals from extreme weather. **
Here you can download the report and supplements.
WMO’s State of the Global Climate report confirmed that 2024 was likely the first calendar year to be more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era, with a global mean near-surface temperature of 1.55 ± 0.13 °C above the 1850-1900 average. This is the warmest year in the 175-year observational record.
WMO’s flagship report showed that:
- Atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide are at the highest levels in the last 800,000 years.
- Globally each of the past ten yea
China's ghost cities aren't just an economic puzzle — they're a major environmental issue
China's ghost cities aren't just an economic puzzle — they're a major environmental issue.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/30936240
In the past 50 years, China has built around 500 new cities. The country’s sprawling new urban areas have been instrumental to its economic surge, but it’s not all rosy. In fact, a lot of these new buildings are empty.
By 2021, over 17% of the urban homes built in China since 2001 remained unoccupied. Although official data is lacking, that figure has undoubtedly only grown since 2021. By some estimates, there are between 20 million and 65 million empty houses in China, enough to house entire countries. This is a big problem, both economically and environmentally
A new study published in Nature Communications estimates that these unused homes collectively release 55.81 million tons of carbon dioxide annually — a staggering 6.9% of all emissions from China’s re
More than a thousand people have been evacuated near forest of Ofunato in northern region of Iwate
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/33064194
More than a thousand people have been evacuated near forest of Ofunato in northern region of Iwate
Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/01/japan-battles-largest-wildfire-in-decades
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
Copernicus: Global sea ice cover at a record low and third-warmest February globally
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU, routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air and sea temperatures...
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/19171727
- Daily global sea ice extent, which combines the sea ice extents in both polar regions, reached a new all-time minimum in early February and remained below the previous record of February 2023 for the rest of the month.
- Arctic sea ice reached its lowest monthly extent for February, at 8% below average. This marks the third consecutive month in which the sea ice extent has set a record for the corresponding month.*
- Antarctic sea ice reached its fourth-lowest monthly extent for February, at 26% below average. The daily sea ice extent may have reached its annual minimum near the end of the month. If confirmed, it would be the second-lowest minimum in the satellite record. This confirmation will only be possible in early March.
It is important to note that the new record low for the Arctic in February is not an all-time minimum. Arctic sea ice is currently approaching its annual maximum extent, which typically occurs in
More than half of the world’s CO₂ emissions in 2023 come from just 36 fossil fuel companies, report finds
A new briefing analyzing the latest emissions data from the Carbon Majors database.
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/19123746
TLDR (but the report is worth your click as it contains a lot of very illuminating diagrams and tables):
- The historical overview, spanning from 1750 to 2023, reveals that 67% of global fossil fuel and cement emissions can be traced to 181 entities, with over one-third of these emissions attributed to just 26 producers.
- In 2023, the database traced 33.7 GtCO₂e of emissions to the 169 active entities, marking a 0.7% increase from 2022. Notably, just 36 companies were linked to over half of global fossil fuel and cement CO₂ emissions that year.
- The top 20 highest carbon-producing entities in 2023 are dominated by state-owned enterprises, with 16 of the 20 being state-owned. This list also underscores the significant role of Chinese entities, with the eight entities on the list responsible for 17.3% of global emissions in 2023.
- Coal companies also feature prominently, with seven on the list, six from C
The World’s Largest Solar Plant Is Greenwashing China’s Uyghur Genocide
Renewable energy advocates have praised China’s record-breaking solar plant. The problem? It's built in Xinjiang, the Uyghur homeland.
Cross posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17602752
In June, the world’s largest solar plant opened in China—a 3.5 gigawatt (GW) behemoth. Covering 32,947 acres, it can produce enough energy alone to power Luxembourg. News sites and pro-solar groups hailed the project as a milestone, showcasing the country’s leadership in renewable energy and adding to a growing consensus that China could peak emissions ahead of schedule.
Nearly none, though, highlighted one obvious detail: the location of the plant, in the far western regions of Xinjiang, near the regional capital of Ürümqi. It’s the homeland of the Uyghurs, where, since 2018, what many consider a genocide has been taking place.
In fact, the solar plant is just an hour away from where Uyghur-American Rushan Abbas was born and grew up. Now based near Washington, D.C., she has been u
Researchers say reducing emissions and biodiversity loss and preventing invasive species could control disease
A Tesla Megapack battery system has officially turned on to replace Hawaii’s very last coal power plant.
This year's heat and drought in the Amazon intensify worries that it is approaching a tipping point.
The Amazon rainforest experienced its worst drought on record in 2023. Many villages became unreachable by river, wildfires raged and wildlife died. Some scientists worry events like these are a sign that the world’s biggest forest is fast approaching a point of no return.
As the cracked and baking river bank towers up on either side of us, Oliveira Tikuna is starting to have doubts about this journey. He’s trying to get to his village, in a metal canoe built to navigate the smallest creeks of the Amazon.
Bom Jesus de Igapo Grande is a community of 40 families in the middle of the forest and has been badly affected by the worst drought recorded in the region.
There was no water to shower. Bananas, cassava, chestnuts and acai crops spoiled because they can’t get to the city fast enough.
And the head of the village, Oliveira’s father, warned anyone elderly or unwell to move closer to town, because they are dangerously far from a hospital.
Oliveira wanted to show us wh
On 'Cancer Road,' Minnesota families ask: Is nitrate exposure to blame?
The amount of nitrogen applied to U.S. corn crops has increased 120 million pounds annually since 2000, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In Minnesota alone, authorities in 2017 found elevated levels of nitrates in 80 public water systems. In Iowa, 55,000 drinking water wells were contaminated with elevated nitrate concentrations, according to 2017 data. Private water wells serve about one-third of Wisconsin families; state authorities in 2022 found 10 percent of them exceed the 10 ppm nitrate safety limit.
Electrifying your home is about to get a lot cheaper.
Rebates from the IRA could help low- and middle-income households save thousands on heat pumps, weatherstripping, and other efficiency improvements.
'Eco-friendly' straws contain potentially toxic chemicals – posing a threat to people and wildlife.
Paper and bamboo straws contain ‘forever chemicals’ – maybe threatening the health of people and wildlife.
U.S. Supreme Court has put precious wetlands in peril
The U.S. Supreme Court court recently struck down the EPA’s definition of waters of the United States, or WOTUS, the term for what waters and wetlands the federal government had authority to regulate under the Clean Water Act.
As the Earth’s temperature continues to rise, climate change remains a lower priority for some Americans, and a subset of the public rejects that it’s happening at all. To better understand the perspectives of those who see less urgency to address climate change, the Center conducted a series of in-...
My conclusion: these people are beyond help.