Vehicles powered by alternatives to fossil fuel are on the roll. Literally. The Japanese automaker Toyota is rolling out a new line of vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells. A concept version of a long-haul truck with the car manufacturer’s new hydrogen-based engine in it will set out with a…
Canada. Mention the country’s name, and many people can’t help but instantly picture vast stretches of unspoiled natural bounty with scenic mountains and meadows teeming with wildlife. That’s hardly a surprise. Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, with a whopping 9.984 square kilometers of land…
Bacteria. We tend to look at them as harmful pathogens. Yet these microscopic creatures, which are almost as old as life on Earth itself, come in a myriad of forms. And in many of those forms they provide invaluable services to us and to other living beings. And that beneficial…
As global warming continues to take its toll, corals in the Pacific Ocean are dying off en masse. Reefs in several areas have experienced alarming mass bleaching episodes, leaving large swathes of coral dead or near-dead. Corals are tiny creatures that live in colonies and require algae to provide them…
Fun and games and the environment. That’s definitely a welcome combination when it comes to efforts to raise awareness of environmental issues across the country and around the planet. And the Penang Green Council will aim to do just that for two days in mid-September: combine fun and environmentalism. Young…
For many of us, pets are invaluable parts of our lives. Cats and dogs and other beloved animals are members of our families and we treat them accordingly by lavishing attention on them. That’s great, of course. But there’s a drawback. By spoiling our animal companions too much, we risk…
Summer floods in neighboring Thailand have been especially bad this year. The deluge, triggered by heavy seasonal rains, has killed at least 23 people in the country’s north and eastern regions. Flash floods have caused damage in excess of $300 million (RM1.3 billion) and affected rice farming over 1,554 square…
Sixty-six million years ago Planet Earth experienced one of the largest mass extinctions in its entire history. Within what counts as a blink of an eye in geological time the dinosaurs, which had ruled the planet for millions of years, died out en masse. Time to brace yourself: we’re experiencing…
Three years. That’s how much time we have left to save the planet. Unless we permanently lower our greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, we may well reach a threshold on climate change beyond which we will be able to do little to save ourselves and the planet from irreversible harm….
When global warming reaches a fever pitch as temperatures continue to rise worldwide, it won’t just be people who suffer. A variety of animals biologically suited for moderate climates will do so, too. Those animals will include key livestock species like cattle, which are vital for providing people with a…
The heat in Malaysia often feels next to unbearable. For days on end, the sun is scorching and the heat is sweltering. That, of course, isn’t a surprise. Malaysia is a tropical country, after all. But here is bad news: heat waves are set to become ever more common, and…
One way of mitigating the adverse effects of man-made climate change is to plant trees. The more trees there are, the more CO2 they absorb from the atmosphere, thereby alleviating the greenhouse effect because plants build their roots, stems and leaves from the CO2 they suck out of the air….
In a move that shocked environmentalists around the world, President Donald Trump decided to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement, an accord that was adopted by 196 countries worldwide in an effort to moderate their greenhouse gas emissions to keep climate change manageable. The US’s withdrawal has…
The Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s natural wonders, is in terminal decline. And there is little anyone can do about that because of the relentless onslaught of climate change. So say experts tasked with saving the reef from extinction. “Members agreed that in our lifetime and on our watch,…
We’re continuing to break records as a species. Unfortunately, they are the wrong sorts of records. A case in point: our relentless pumping of CO2 into the atmosphere at breakneck speed. Only last September we reached an environmental milestone by having levels of carbon surpass 400 parts per million (ppm) in the atmosphere….
We’re getting better and better at harnessing the power of the sun. In 2015, the Japanese electronics manufacturer Panasonic rolled out the prototype of a rooftop solar panel that set a new world-record of 22.5% for module conversion efficiency with mass-produced solar panels. Before long, a new record was set at 25.6%. Now here comes yet…