Great news about the environment - share your stories
According to “breakthrough” new research, funded by a clutch of consumer goods firms, French scientists have discovered a plastic-eating enzyme they claim could offer an innovative recycling solution for millions of tonnes of toxic plastic waste material.
http://econews.com.au/64104/mutant-enzyme-created-by-scientists-recycles-plastic-bottles-in-hours/
CORONAVIRUS FREE ZONE PLEASE (unless it relates to good news about the environment)
More than 2 billion people across the planet burn dried animal dung for energy, sure beats cutting down trees.
Online retailers Amazon are doing big business. Dung cakes are sold in packages that contain two to eight pieces weighing 200 grams (7 ounces) each. Prices range from 100 to 400 rupees ($1.50 to $6) per package.
First ‘Bios Park’ That Lets Us Bury Cremated Remains of Our Loved Ones So They Grow into Trees
Since the world’s cemeteries are quickly running out of grave space, Canada has just opened up the world’s first “Bios Park”: a patch of land devoted exclusively to fostering forests of trees grown from the remains of loved ones.
For the last 23 years, green funerary company Bios has been coming up with new ways to help people mourn their loved ones without using traditional burial methods that are notoriously expensive and harmful for the environment.
More specifically, the organization is responsible for creating the “Bios Urn”, a biodegradable urn containing a tree-planting mixture that can be combined with the cremated remains of a beloved family member or pet. Once planted in the ground, the urn blossoms into a tree that can support the planet while also serving as a living memorial for the deceased.
“The tree grows from the ashes, the urn biodegrades leaving absolutely no trace, and death becomes a transformation and return to life through nature,” reads the Bios website. “On an individual level, it’s very therapeutic in a time of immense grief. On a global level, we are taking collective responsibility for much-needed planetary restoration. We are talking thousands, if not millions, of trees planted every year.”
Since developing the Bios Urn two decades ago, the company has shipped their urns and planters to more than 50 countries around the world for about $140 a pop.
Last month, Bios announced the launch of their first “Bios Park” green space for grieving individuals and families to plant the urns.
Photo by Bios
The newly-opened “Boisé de Vie” Bios Park—which translates to “Wood of Life” in English—is being opened as an extension of the Granby Catholic Cemetery in Granby, Québec, although the cemetery is open to people of all religions.
The Bios Urns are currently available with eight different native tree species, including oak, gingko, lilac, hydrangea, sugar maple, crabapple, serviceberry, and amur maple. The Bios Park can also accommodate family plots for up to 9 people.
MORE: Changing The Expensive Funeral Game, She’s ‘The Green Reaper’
“We decided what choice of trees to offer families after checking with the city about the regulations on accepted native tree species and with the help of a gardener from our local garden center,” reads the Bios website. “We have chosen hardy species which do not require much care and maintenance and which also grow well in our area.”
Bios says they now hope that the trailblazing burial space will be just the first of many new Bios Parks to launch during the coming months.
WA have been doing that for years, we have Pinnaroo the cremated [my late parents included] have their ashes scattered over the bush; the Wallabies hop around amongst the bush and those that are not scattered are buried with a small plague. The cremated have a plague on either a wall, a tree, a rock or a seat. I have mentioned this before some years back with photos of the Wallabies.
Great news indeed :)
Wonderful news Incognito.
Monarch butterlfy migration in Mexico.
Scientists are trying to save's England's dwindling glow worm population by introducing them into a preserved fragment of their natural habitat in Devon
The controversial factory ships can be more than 328 feet long and 'vacuum' up huge quantities of fish every day as they move through the water.
Drought over for cattle farmer Jono Clarke after ‘hellish’ three years
Jack Morphet, The Sunday TelegraphJune 13, 2020 7:00pm
Mud means money for struggling farmersInside the devastating Gospers Mountain blaze
The mountain above the Clarke family’s bone dry cattle farm in the state’s central west burned like a Roman candle on Christmas Day.
The flames threatened to deliver the coup de grace to a beef cattle family financially and spiritually wounded by three “hellish” years battling the state’s worst ever drought.
But helicopters, fireys in their trucks and backburning by farmers stopped the flames just as they charred some of his fencing and threatened far worse, and now widespread, soaking rain has spurred new growth in the paddocks and new hope in his heart.
Australia sees dramatic drop in influenza cases
Health authorities say social distancing, travel bans and other coronavirus guidelines have led to a dramatic drop in seasonal influenza cases and deaths.
In the first five months of 2019 — a particularly severe flu season — the national total of laboratory-confirmed influenza cases reached 74,176.
But Immunisation Coalition data shows the number of cases in 2020 had plummeted since coronavirus lockdowns were introduced — from 20,032 cases in the first three months, to 504 in April and May.
Australian Medical Association (AMA) SA president Dr Chris Moy said the number of flu deaths prevented since the coronavirus pandemic began was probably "quite significant".
"It may have, up to this point, saved more people than it's actually killed, and certainly the response to COVID has actually saved a lot of people," he said.
"The only proviso to that is that it is possible that we may have actually delayed an [influenza] outbreak.
"But I think [the number] will still be less, because we have a far more highly immunised population this year than we have had in previous years."
Source: ABC
Put a sock in it incog
Ecellent news Banjo, thank you for the info and if I may add a bit to it-
'Record' vaccination uptake
The drop in influenza cases had previously been predicted, but the magnitude of the decline is "a phenomenon … that we've never seen before", Dr Moy said.
"The mechanism of spread of influenza is essentially the same as that of COVID, and that is droplet spread," he said.
"By applying the physical distancing, the restrictions … [have] closed down the transmission of influenza at the same time."
Dr Moy said a high vaccination uptake this year was potentially another factor in keeping flu rates low, and had contributed to a "level of herd immunity".
"We've had record numbers of vaccinations at an early stage, which has partly been due to the urgings of the providers and health authorities like ourselves," he said.
"We really did not want, early on, outbreaks of COVID and influenza happening at the same time."
While it is difficult to know exactly how many vaccines have been administered this year, the Australian Immunisation Register puts the number at more than 7.3 million.
At the end of last month, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt announced a record 18 million vaccinations would be made available during the 2020 season.
Wales to Plant a Huge National Forest
Wales announced the government-led, $5.9 million project to create a National Forest in order to preserve nature, improve biodiversity, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Other goals include their "commitment to tackling climate change." The plan is set to plant on 5,000 acres of land each year to eventually increasing to 10,000 acres per year in order to hopefully meet their mark of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050.
Scientists Close to Creating Artificial Photosynthesis
Scientists are on the cusp of being able to use artificial photosynthesis to generate renewable energy from the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. If created in large amounts, this could be a crucial step towards mitigating climate change. While scientists are getting close to making this achievable, there are still some obstacles ahead. According to Heinz Frei from the Berkley Lab, “There are two challenges that have not yet been met. One of them is scalability. If we want to keep fossil fuels in the ground, we need to be able to make energy in terawatts — an enormous amount of fuel. And, you need to make a liquid hydrocarbon fuel so that we can actually use it with the trillions of dollars’ worth of existing infrastructure and technology.” No big deal, but hey, we're making progress!
After the drought and massive fish kills Menindee's massive Lake Pamamaroo fills.
Lake Pamamaroo, which can hold about 300 gigalitres of water, in June 2020. Photo Declan Gooch.
Hundreds of gigalitres of water began to flow down the Darling River earlier in the year thanks to rain over the river's northern catchment. The water first filled up the relatively small Lake Wetherell, but there was so much more on the way that WaterNSW opened the gates to Lake Pamamaroo.
Aerial view of a vast boreal forest, a low impact area. Boreal forests are defined as forests growing in high-latitude environments where freezing temperatures occur for 6 to 8 months
This map compares low human impact areas (green) with high impact (purple). Map shows the level of agreement between the four input datasets. ‘Full’ indicates all four datasets are in full agreement and all identify that cell as low human influence, while ‘none’ indicates zero of the datasets identify that cell as low human influence. ‘Majority’ reference areas where three out of the four, ‘Mixed’ two out of four and ‘Minority’ one out of four datasets identify that cell as low human influence
These Countries Are Leading the Transition to Sustainable Energy
What does COVID-19 mean for the energy transition? While lockdowns have caused a temporary fall in CO2 emissions, the pandemic risks derailing recent progress in addressing the world's energy challenges.
The current state of the sector is described in the World Economic Forum's Energy Transition Index 2020. It benchmarks the energy systems of 115 economies, highlighting the leading players in the race to net-zero emissions, as well as those with work to do.
With pressure to get idle economies back to "normal," the short-term shift to a more sustainable energy sector could be in doubt. But the current crisis also presents an opportunity to rethink how our energy needs are met, and consider the long-term impact on the planet.
Unprecedented Change
The past decade has seen rapid transformations as countries move towards clean energy generation, supply and consumption. Coal-fired power plants have been retired, as reliance on natural gas and emissions-free renewable energy sources increases. Incremental gains have been made from carbon pricing initiatives.
Since 2015, 94 of 115 countries have improved their combined score on the Energy Translation Index (ETI), which analyzes each country's readiness to adopt clean energy using three criteria: energy access and security; environmental sustainability; and economic development and growth.
But the degree of change and the timetable for reaching net-zero emissions differ greatly between countries, and taken as a whole, today's advances are insufficient to meet the climate targets set by the Paris Agreement.
The 10 Countries Most Prepared for the Energy Transition
Sweden is the nation most ready to transition to sustainable energy. WEF Fostering Effective Energy Transition 2020 edition
Sweden tops the overall ETI ranking for the third consecutive year as the country most ready to transition to clean energy, followed by Switzerland and Finland. There has been little change in the top 10 since the last report, which demonstrates the energy stability of these developed nations, although the gap with the lowest-ranked countries is closing.
Top-ranked countries share a reduced reliance on imported energy, lower energy subsidies and a strong political commitment to transforming their energy sector to meet climate targets.
The UK and France are the only two G20 economies in the top 10 however, which is otherwise made up of smaller nations.
Powerful Shocks
Outside the top 10, progress has been modest in Germany. Ranked 20th, the country has committed to phasing out coal-fired power plants and moving industrial output to cleaner fuels such as hydrogen, but making energy services affordable remains a struggle.
China, ranked 78th, has made strong advances in controlling CO2 emissions by switching to electric vehicles and investing heavily in solar and wind energy - it currently has the world's largest solar PV and onshore wind capacity. Alongside China, countries including Argentina, India and Italy have shown consistent strong improvements every year. Gains over time have also been recorded by Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Kenya and Oman, among others.
But high energy-consuming countries including the US, Canada and Brazil show little, if any, progress towards an energy transition.
In the US (ranked 32nd), moves to establish a more sustainable energy sector have been hampered by policy decisions. Neighboring Canada grapples with the conflicting demands of a growing economy and the need to decarbonize the energy sector.
The COVID-19 pandemic serves as a reminder of the impact of external shocks on the global economy. As climate change increases the likelihood of weather extremes such as floods, droughts and violent storms, the need for more sustainable energy practices is intensified.
Policy-makers need to develop a robust framework for energy transition at local, national and international levels, capable of guarding against such shocks.
"The coronavirus pandemic offers an opportunity to consider unorthodox intervention in the energy markets, and global collaboration to support a recovery that accelerates the energy transition once the acute crisis subsides," says Roberto Bocca, Head of Energy & Materials at the World Economic Forum.
"This giant reset grants us the option to launch aggressive, forward-thinking and long-term strategies leading to a diversified, secure and reliable energy system that will ultimately support the future growth of the world economy in a sustainable and equitable way."