News from the Earth — microplastic

After striking for the climate on Friday, September 24, activists from the Fridays for Future movement, along with young people from all over the world, are gathered in Milan from today, September 28, until the 30th, for the Youth Cop, a global youth climate conference, ahead of Cop 26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.Among them was Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. "We can no longer wait for empty and useless discussions, showcasing personalities who, while dyeing their communication green, continue to stand in the way of a fair ecological transition: it's time to really listen to our voices."A group of climate...

Millions of people from up to 180 countries have pledged to participate in the fourth World Cleanup Day held on Saturday, September 18. A 24-hour green wave of cleanups, socially distanced and safe, is stretched across the planet beginning in Fiji and ending in Hawaii.  World Cleanup Day is the largest single peacetime civic action against waste, aimed at raising awareness of the scale of the global waste crisis threatening the environment and the lives of millions of people and all living beings. The most recent World Cleanup Day was organized last year in 2020 and engaged 11 million people...

Among the very heavy environmental, economic and human damage from Hurricane Ida, one must also count hundreds of oil spills. Hurricane Ida, with its winds of up to 240 kilometers per hour, struck an area dense with oil platforms at sea and refineries on land. Currently, 88% of offshore production is at a standstill and about a hundred platforms have remained deserted. All this while the U.S. Coast Guard is working on 350 separate reports of oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. (source:lifegate.it) Leave oil in the ground, use renewables, remove plastics from your life, adopt an eco-friendly lifestyle...

Cups, straws, plates and other plastic items frequently used in everyday life will be banned on Russian territory. The production of disposable plastic items and packaging is expected to be permanently phased out in Russia in 2024, as stated by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. A recent poll reported that 80% of Russian citizens are ready to abandon the use of plastic plates, forks and glasses. 44% admitted to being categorically opposed to the use of disposable tableware, and another 38% are ready to give up the use of plastic. In 2019, 170 countries, including Russia, pledged to...

The Amazon rainforest is the largest tropical forest on Earth, with the highest density of plant and animal species anywhere. This impressive region provides essential ecological services, stabilizing the world’s rainfall patterns and storing massive amounts of carbon that mitigate climate change.  Spanning nine South American countries and 2.5 million square miles, the Amazon represents over half of the world’s remaining rainforest. Its moist, tropical vegetation stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Andes Mountains in the west, a reflection of the high rainfall, high humidity and high temperatures that prevail in the region year-round. Running through...