In January of 2022, a massive volcano erupted under the ocean near Tonga. The eruption released huge amounts of methane - a dangerous greenhouse gas. Now scientists have discovered that the volcano's ash cloud also removed a lot of methane. The discovery could lead to new ways to fight global warming.
Posts tagged as “pollution”
Today marks the 56th celebration of Earth Day, a day set aside to remind people to protect our planet. This year’s theme, like last year, is "Our Power, Our Planet". The theme focuses attention on clean energy, while also reminding people of the power they have to fight the climate crisis.
Last Thursday, US President Donald Trump announced that his government has gotten rid of an important rule which says that the pollution causing global warming is dangerous. The change will make it much harder for the US government - now or in the future - to act on the climate crisis.
On Monday, the important international climate meeting COP30 began in Belém, Brazil. The United States is skipping the meeting, but leaders from almost 200 other countries from around the world are working hard to try to reach agreements needed to tackle the climate crisis.
A water company in England has removed a massive "fatberg" which was blocking pipes in a London sewer. The fatberg was a hardened mess of grease, oil, wet wipes, and other items that had been put down toilets and sinks instead of into trash cans.
In early August, people representing over 180 countries met for 10 days in Geneva, Switzerland. They hoped to reach an agreement on dealing with plastic pollution. But the meeting ended in failure. Most countries wanted to put limits on producing new plastic. But countries that produce lots of plastic fought the idea.
Under US President Donald Trump, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a plan that would remove a 2009 decision that says climate change is dangerous. If the plan goes through, it will make it extremely hard for the US government to limit pollution that causes global warming.
The world's countries have reached a new climate agreement. For the first time, the deal clearly calls on countries to move away from using fossil fuels to create energy. But many people say the agreement doesn't go far enough to protect the planet from global warming.
October 14 was International E-Waste Day - a day meant to highlight the problems of electronic waste. This year, the day was focused on "invisible" e-waste - things most people don't think of as electronics. The surprising category at the top of this group was toys.
On August 21, a cargo ship traveling from Singapore to Brazil became the first to try out a new kind of sail. The sail is expected to save fuel and cut pollution. If it works well, similar sails could become common on cargo ships over the next few years.
On August 29, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a huge change in the rules designed to protect America's wetlands. The EPA was forced to change the rules because of a Supreme Court decision that took away protection from most wetlands.