We Have Too Many Fossil-Fuel Power Plants to Meet Climate Goals: Study
Himalayan Glaciers Melting at an Alarming Rate ; Mapping the Flow of the World's Plastic Waste ; and More Picks
Himalayan Glaciers Melting at an Alarming Rate, Spy Satellites Show (Mili)
From National Geographic: “Hotter temperatures have melted as much as a quarter of Himalayan glacial ice in the past 40 years, reveals a study of declassified spy satellite photos from the 1970s.”
Brazil Deforestation Exceeds 88% in June Under Bolsonaro (Chris)
The author writes, “Environmentalists have warned that Bolsonaro’s strong remarks calling for the development of the Amazon and criticizing the country’s environmental enforcement agency Ibama for handing out too many fines would embolden loggers and ranchers seeking to profit from deforestation.”
Journalists, Pundits, and Retired Politicians Put On a Show for Lobbyists (Chris)
From Tarbell: “As the rules on political participation by nonprofits and trade associations have been loosened, it’s become remarkably common for lobbying groups to pay astronomical sums to influential insiders who drive news coverage and public opinion, according to a review of conference schedules from the last two years by MapLight and Tarbell.”
Mapping the Flow of the World’s Plastic Waste (Gerry)
The author writes, “It was in 1950 that our thirst for plastic truly began. In just 65 years, plastic production soared almost 200 times, resulting in about 6,300 million metric tons of waste today. How does the world deal with this much debris? The truth is, a lot of plastic waste — both trash and recycled materials — is often shipped overseas to become someone else’s problem.”
In Afghanistan, Experts Work to Restore a Trove of Buddha Figurines Smashed by the Taliban (Russ)
The author writes, “The sculptures were unearthed in the 1930s and 1970s by French and Afghan archaeologists at a site in Nangahar province known as Hadda. According to museum officials, the Hadda figures make up ‘one of the richest collections’ to be found in Central and South Asia.”
