Check the top headlines on environment in this edition:
Date: 20/04/2017
2016: second consecutive year of record rise in atmospheric C02
Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased at an unprecedented rate in the last two years, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced in March. An observatory in Hawaii measured CO2 levels in 2016 of 405.1 parts per million (ppm), an increase of 3 ppm. It marks five consecutive years of CO2 increases of at least 2 parts per million, and matches the record 3 ppm increase observed in 2015. Carbon emissions stay in the atmosphere for years, so even if emissions are reduced, the global average level continues to climb. The CO2 traps heat in the atmosphere and oceans, causing sea levels to rise, spurring drought in certain areas and increasing extreme weather events.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/atmospheric-carbon-dioxide-hits-record-levels/
China enacts ivory ban
China has announced a ban on the trade in ivory by the end of 2017. By early April, it closed almost half the country’s government-approved ivory factories and shops. Closing the legal market is expected to hit the much bigger illegal trade in ivory. The rise in demand for ivory in China in recent years has been blamed for the killing of 100 000 elephants in Africa in the past decade. Now, however, the ivory price is plummeting, down two-thirds since 2014. But the ban will not cover antiques, which campaigners fear may provide a loophole. And, Hong Kong, the largest retail market for ivory and a major transit hub for illegal ivory, set a five-year phase-out period for ivory trading in June 2016, which may provide cover for the continued illegal trade.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/world/asia/china-ivory-ban-elephants.html?_r=0
Air pollution mortality often caused by goods and services exported to developed countries
Scientists researching air quality impacts on health have found that many deaths due to pollution in poorer countries are caused by the production of goods for consumption in richer countries. Air pollution cause by fine particulate matter is estimated to cause more than 3 million premature deaths worldwide. According to research published in Nature, while under an eighth of these deaths are caused by pollution transported from other regions by the wind, almost twice as many (22%) are the result of goods and services produced in one country and exported for consumption in another (usually a richer country with stricter environmental standards).
