Tag: China

The Daily Climate, April 26, 2021

Articles include: wood pellet loophole in Paris Accord; bike licensing and justice; hydrogen and the grid; California oil spillers and the law; jobs; US and China and Clean technology; electric trucks; Canada’s melting permafrost; Report: halting methane emissions.

Know Your Supplier: Why America Should Consider Not Buying Cheap Chinese Solar Panels

Forbes: Know Your Supplier: Why America Should Consider Not Buying Cheap Chinese Solar Panels.

he Biden Administration is promoting the participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping in a White House climate summit at a time when Congress is considering whether or not to halt the import of solar panels from China for human rights reasons.

“China’s Solar Dominance Presents Biden With an Ugly Dilemma,” read the headline of a New York Times article published yesterday. “President Biden’s vow to work with China on issues like climate change is clashing with his promise to defend human rights.”

The Daily Climate, April 19, 2021

Articles include: forests cut for fuel; immigration driven by climate change; infrastructure funding and orphan wells; Greta Thunberg and Congress; ALEC fighting climate change science; bottom trawling fishing; US and China; climate guide for kids; drought in the western US & Mexico; methane & old wells; Louisiana oil haven; allergies worsened by climate change.

The Daily Climate, April 16, 2021

Articles include: Canadian methane emissions; Hawaiian coral reefs; phase-out of non-EVs; better highways; funding focus changes on infrastructure; Japan & hydrogen; South Korea funding coal plants; wildfires and Alaska; Utilities and clean energy standards; clean hydrogen energy; US and China – foes; 3% of ecosystems remain intact – study.

The Daily Climate, April 14, 2021

Articles include: clean energy focus; blue carbon credits; John Kerry off to China; Glacier in Alaska is moving; Mexico & coal; Cost of rechargeable batteries; Brazil & Indigenous land rights; Endangered American rivers; companies call on Biden to reduce GHGs.

How an election in Greenland could affect China — and the rare-earth minerals in your cellphone

Washington Post: How an election in Greenland could affect China — and the rare-earth minerals in your cellphone.

Sitting on vast, untapped reserves of uranium and rare-earth minerals, Greenland holds the keys to massive wealth.

But many Greenlanders have grave doubts about whether they should allow the world to exploit those resources, given the risk that mining could pose to the Arctic territory’s fragile environment.

The remote, snow-covered island sent a clear message to global mining interests this week when voters handed a rare victory to Inuit Ataqatigiit, a democratic socialist party with a 34-year-old leader and an environmental bent. The party, whose name translates to “Community of the People,” had campaigned on halting what was on track to become a massive mining operation in southern Greenland, led by an Australian company and backed by Chinese investment.

The Daily Climate, March 30,2021

Articles include: Eastern Kentucky and flooding; Biden offshore wind farms; Massachusetts law and gas ban; Japan’s cherry blossoms peak; Electric vehicles; investigating trump attacks on science; Russian oil leaks; DOE & carbon capture; Study: China and coal-based electricity (published by Ember, the London-based energy and climate research group – no link provided); Biden reducing methane emissions.

The Daily Climate, March 17, 2021

Articles include: In the Pacific, global warming disrupted the ecological dance of urchins, sea stars and kelp. Otters help restore balance;  DOD reduces its carbon footprint to protect its bases;  An urgent question hangs over catastrophic wildfires: What’s in that toxic smoke?;  The Texas freeze set off a methane bomb;  Wetlands can help prevent property damage and save lives during floods;  China’s climate ambitions collide with its coal addiction;  Europe seeks alliance with U.S. to tackle aviation emissions;  During February’s freeze in Texas, refineries and petrochemical plants released almost 4 million pounds of extra pollutants

Study: Air pollution significantly raises risk of infertility

The Guardian: Air pollution significantly raises risk of infertility, study finds. With 30% of infertility unexplained, pollution could be an ‘unignorable’ risk factor, scientists say.

Exposure to air pollution significantly increases the risk of infertility, according to the first study to examine the danger to the general population.

The analysis of 18,000 couples in China found that those living with moderately higher levels of small-particle pollution had a 20% greater risk of infertility, defined as not becoming pregnant within a year of trying.

The study design did not enable the scientists to determine how air pollution might damage fertility, but pollution particles are known to cause inflammation in the body, which could damage egg and sperm production, the scientists said. Another recent study of 600 women attending a US infertility clinic found that increased exposure to air pollution was associated with a lower number of maturing eggs in the ovaries.

The research, published in the journal Environment International, was based on data from interviews and questionnaires from 18,571 couples who were part of the large China Fertility Survey of Married Women.