EDN Week in Review: Environmental News for the Week of April 30

“The People Who’ll be Most Hurt by Climate Swings Did the Least to Cause Them, Study Says” (Chris Mooney, Washington Post) “There has been a lot of debate about how rich countries can help poor countries to adapt, but they have overlooked this aspect — that the impacts of climate variability change might be worse in the poorer countries,” said Sebastian Bathiany, a climate change researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands who led the research published in Science Advances….” More… “Humans Didn’t Exist the Last Time There Was This Much CO2 in the Air” (Eric Holthaus, Grist) “On Wednesday, scientists at the University of California in San Diego confirmed that April’s monthly average atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration breached 410 parts per million for the first time in our history…” More… “Old Arctic Sea Ice Is Virtually Gone—and That’s Bad” (Brian Kahn, Earther) “On Thursday, the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) released its monthly sea ice analysis. It shows that April saw its second-lowest sea ice extent on record, driven by a massive meltdown in the Bering Sea (reminder: ice started melting there during Arctic winter)…. More… “Science Textbooks are Seriously Under-Representing Climate Change” (Natasha Geiling, Think Progress) “…less than four percent of the pages in the most popular introductory physics, biology, and chemistry books published between 2013 and 2015 were devoted to discussing climate change….” More… “Scott Pruitt Wants to Freeze Fuel Economy Standards. Here’s What That Would Do.” (David Roberts, Vox) “It is signature Pruitt: a crude sledgehammer to regulations, with only desultory gestures at justification…” More… “The EPA’s Ethics Controversies Keep Growing. Here’s What You Need To Know” (Zahra Hirji, Buzzfeed News) “Before coming to the EPA, Pruitt was Oklahoma’s attorney general. In that role, he had a cozy relationship with oil and gas companies and repeatedly sued the EPA over environmental regulations, such as the Clean Power Plan. There’s also a growing number of ethics concerns tied to Pruitt’s role in the job….” More… “States Sue The EPA To Protect Obama-Era Fuel Efficiency Standards” (Camila Domonoske, NPR) ” ‘We’re not looking to pick a fight with the Trump administration, but when the stakes are this high for our families’ health and our economic prosperity, we have a responsibility to do what is necessary to defend them,’ California’s attorney general, Xavier Becerra, said….” More… “David Attenborough Backs ‘Last Chance’ Push to Study Australian Biodiversity” (The Guardian) “The Australian Academy of Science and its New Zealand counterpart, the Royal Society Te Apārangi, are launching a 10-year plan to study and name unknown species, warning that a sound understanding of biodiversity is critical in the face of a global extinction crisis….” More… “Hawaii to Ban Certain Sunscreens Harmful to Coral Reefs” (BBC) “”This will make a huge difference in protecting our coral reefs, marine life, and human health.” The bill states that the chemicals kill developing coral, increase coral bleaching and cause “genetic damage to coral and other marine organisms…” More… “Bans on Plastic Straws Are Growing. But Is the Travel Industry Doing Enough?” (Adam H. Graham, New York Times) “Global momentum has built in recent months to ban plastic straws and replace them with biodegradable ones…” More… “Food Giants Unilever, Nestle and PepsiCo Will Get Tougher on Single-Use Plastics” (Madeleine Cuff, GreenBiz) “The U.K.’s biggest supermarkets, food manufacturers and processors — from Lidl and Aldi to Nestle, Unilever and PepsiCo — unveiled an industry-wide promise to overhaul their practices, in an unprecedented step which underscores the impact public concern over plastic waste is having on businesses practices across the country….” More…

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