climate migration impacts honduras

Climate Migration: Honduran couple flee amid storms, threats

The comfortable life Ana Morazan built from years of hard work and sacrifice disappeared in a span of two weeks when she became part of the estimated 1.7 million people displaced by the hurricanes Eta and Iota that pummeled Honduras and Guatemala in November 2020.

Plastics: a health and environmental emergency

Plastics: a health and environmental emergency

Nate Hagens, Leo Trasande, Linda Birnbaum and Christina Dixon take on the plastic pollution crisis: We cannot recycle our way out of this problem.

We toss aside 5.7 million toothpaste tubes, 570,000 cell phones, and 2.3 million pairs of sneakers every hour around the globe. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Plastics production is unsustainable, unhealthy and growing exponentially. Podcaster Nate Hagens brings experts Dr. Leo Trasande, Linda Birnbaum and Christina Dixon together to discuss the impact to our health and environment.

Watch: The Great Simplification video

In short:

  • Recycling is "at best, an energy intensive delay" of plastics disposal in the environment.
  • Plastics contain thousands of largely untested but likely toxic chemicals
  • Those that we know about are associated with nearly all major health problems, from autism and ADHD to infertility and diabetes.
Key quote:
"Climate change – or much of it – may be reversible. I'm not positive we can reverse the contamination of our world ... with the tremendous amounts of plastic that will essentially never go away."
— Linda Birnbaum, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
Why this matters:
An argument could be made that plastic is the primary enabler of environmental challenges related to climate, water, oceans, soils and biodiversity – that the escalation in destruction in recent decades was only possible because of this flexible and firm, cheap and abundant, lightweight, and easily discardable material. If you're looking to better understand the scale of the crisis and discern real solutions from false ones, give this a listen.
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.
Donald Trump giving a campaign speech.

Trump administration cancels $4B in U.S. climate pledges

The U.S. has withdrawn $4 billion in promised funding from the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund, marking an unprecedented reversal of financial commitments to global climate efforts.

Karl Mathiesen reports for POLITICO.

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Facade of the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC

New EPA chief plans cuts, industry hires and a focus on AI

The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency is shifting away from climate concerns, aiming to cut staff, bring in industry lobbyists and prioritize artificial intelligence, energy dominance and auto industry growth.

Oliver Milman and Dharna Noor report for The Guardian.

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Dome of the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in Harrisburg.

Pennsylvania governor's energy plan draws backlash over fossil fuel reliance

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s new energy plan aims to cut costs and boost production, but critics argue it prioritizes fossil fuels over real climate solutions.

Kiley Bense reports for Inside Climate News.

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Graphic of a research ship on the ocean with ocean animals swimming below

NOAA scientists face restrictions on foreign collaboration

Staff at a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been told to halt contact with foreign nationals, raising concerns about the future of international scientific cooperation.

Scott Dance reports for The Washington Post.

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Yellow oil derricks lined up in the middle of a desert.

Republicans push to eliminate EPA’s methane pollution fee

House and Senate Republicans introduced legislation to repeal a federal methane fee designed to curb excessive emissions from oil and gas operations, a move experts say would harm public health and U.S. energy competitiveness.

Phil McKenna reports for Inside Climate News.

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Sun setting in the distance

Global heat keeps breaking records, even with cooling ocean trend

Last month was the hottest January on record, surprising scientists who expected cooler temperatures due to La Niña, a climate pattern that typically lowers global temperatures.

Raymond Zhong reports for The New York Times.

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From our Newsroom
wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

People  sitting in an outdoors table working on a big sign.

Op-ed: Why funding for the environmental justice movement must be anti-racist

We must prioritize minority-serving institutions, BIPOC-led organizations and researchers to lead environmental justice efforts.

joe biden

Biden finalizes long-awaited hydrogen tax credits ahead of Trump presidency

Responses to the new rules have been mixed, and environmental advocates worry that Trump could undermine them.

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Op-ed: Toxic prisons teach us that environmental justice needs abolition

Prisons, jails and detention centers are placed in locations where environmental hazards such as toxic landfills, floods and extreme heat are the norm.

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice logo

LISTEN: Reflections on the first five years of the Agents of Change program

The leadership team talks about what they’ve learned — and what lies ahead.

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