Group items tagged

Last month, an aerial survey of the northern section of Australia's Great Barrier Reef returned some pretty grim results, revealing that the World Heritage Site had been hit with the worst coral bleaching event in its history. The researchers have now continued their work along this magnificent stretch of coastline and the news isn't getting any better. The results of their end-to-end study now reveal that 93 percent of the reef has been affected by bleaching as a result of warmer sea temperatures in the area.

a new study has examined the health of the Great Barrier Reef over the last 30,000 years, and found that it has suffered five "death events" in the past - but its current woes could be the last straw.

But climate change is making it harder for resort owners and tour operators to make good on this promise. Climate change is having more of an impact on tourist destinations by eroding beaches and bleaching coral reefs. Mountain destinations are not immune either, as a warming climate melts glaciers and snow pack. The latest bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef has again brought to the forefront the growing impact of climate change on tourist destinations. According to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, warmer than usual waters have caused bleaching (PDF) along much of the reef, and have killed nearly a quarter of its coral.

When we first heard of green roofs, they sounded like a great idea, but one that would have a hard time gaining traction. Today, they are one of the great successes of green building, with more than 10,000 green roofs in the United States.

British Columbia will protect around 85% of the Great Bear Rainforest, which is "one of the world's largest temperate rainforests." The additional 15% will be available for logging under the "most stringent" standards in North America.

It may come as a surprise to learn that we are in the middle of the third great coral bleaching event in human history. And scientists are calling it the severest yet. The last great bleaching event was in 1998 when 11% of the world's coral reef coverage was lost. Some areas like the Maldives lost as much as 90% of their reefs. This event is worse, possibly much worse. 38% of the planet's reefs will be affected, with 12,000 sq km of reefs killed off entirely according to experts.

Great Adventure is joining large and small amusement parks around the world in what industry officials say is a budding solar trend in response to the demands of a young and environmentally-conscious clientele that loves both the planet and thrill rides, and wants to feel good about the fun they're having.

Radisson Blu® is one of the world's leading hotel brands under the Carlson Rezidor umbrella, a hotel group that includes 1,400 hotels in 115 countries. As a global leader, Carlson Rezidor has achieved a great deal of progress when it comes to designing and operating sustainable hotels. This article will focus on the sustainable achievements 

While national leaders spout optimistic platitudes celebrating the great achievement of the globally unifying Paris Agreement on climate, environmentalists note that there is little in the way of substantial action plans behind the many promises made last December. Meanwhile, the most intense El Niño in history is leaving in its wake a world gripped by 7 months of record high temperatures; drought, water shortages, and famine (especially in India and Africa); wildfires (Fort McMurray, Canada); record coral bleaching; and a fast shrinking Arctic ice cap that set stunning early melt records this winter and spring.

The New York State Public Service Commission has approved a $7.6 billion clean-energy subsidy for the Ginna, FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 nuclear power plants as part of the state's move to more sustainable energy. Environmental groups protested the grants, saying the production and transport of nuclear fuel release a great deal of carbon into the air.

It is a great day for big cats who have long being bought and sold as pets and status symbols - but only for some of them. A newly enacted law in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has finally put a long-awaited ban on the ownership and sale of big cats like tigers, cheetahs, leopards, and more as pets. This is a huge victory for big cats who have long been mistreated and neglected by owners who do not have the capacity to care for an animal whose rightful home is the wild.

Gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans - our great ape cousins teeter on the precipice of extinction. And it's not much of a secret that we humans have had a lot to do with putting them there. But what about the other primates? The news isn't much better, it turns out. According to a new study, 60 percent of primates - including drills and gibbons, lemurs and tarsiers, bush babies and spider monkeys - face the threat of extinction. Even those not in immediate danger of dying out are at risk, as the numbers of three-quarters of all primate species are trending downward.

Waste-to-energy technology has shown some success, but adoption has been slow, particularly in the US. This column looks at some of the challenges.

The Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition is a business-led public-private partnership harnessing the collective expertise of over 25 companies, including 3M, Aveda, Dow Water, Ecolab, General Mills, the Great Plains Institute, and Target, to advance the next frontier of corporate sustainability - the circular economy - here in the U.S. Environmental Initiative, a local nonprofit organization, is convening and facilitating the coalition

Often taking up more than half of a product's unit volume, some studies indicate that product packaging accounts for nearly half of all household waste. Simple, powerful solutions for reducing packaging waste lie in finding more efficient ways to meet consumer demands. The adoption of manufacturing practices that satisfy marketing and quality requirements without over-packaging goods would be a great and necessary shift for more sustainable production standards.

Greenpeace) finds that the 8,359 existing coal power plants in operation across the world consume enough freshwater to meet the basic water needs of 1 billion people - and about 25% of proposed coal power plants are planned in water-stressed regions. The report also proposes 3 policy changes to reduce water use in the global coal industry.

Before this year there had been three major bleaching events identified in the modern history of the reef - 1998, 2002 and 2016. Researchers last month identified the signs of another bleaching event taking place this year.

"As long as you have a good message you can create a great movie," Sharp advised, reminding the audience of the power of social media to raise awareness. The young filmmaker is certain that climate change is a matter that interests and concerns youth around the world. He also explained that he filmed 'Three Seconds' in order to create a motivational video focused on the impacts of global warming.

Wal-Mart has introduced a line of "all-natural," chemical-free cleaning products under its Great Value label. The products, which are priced more cheaply than brand-name eco-friendly cleaning products, use Wal-Mart's proprietary Evolve technology, which the company says allows the products to work as effectively as petroleum-based cleaners.

From tomatoes and paper pulp to lignin and sugar beets, it seems like researchers played with just about every fauna they could find in the search for the next great bioplastic feedstock this year.