Plastic Waste sickens Coral Reefs

Plastic Waste sickens Coral Reefs

As if warming water temperatures were not bad enough for them, the region’s fragile coral reefs are facing an existential threat from another source: plastic waste. Reefs in the Asia-Pacific region have been swamped with billions of pieces of plastic waste, large and small, which has increased the threat of…

Scientists are Growing Hardy new Corals in the Lab

Scientists are Growing Hardy new Corals in the Lab

Corals around the planet are in trouble. They are fragile creatures that are prone to suffer harm even from moderate changes in water temperatures, levels of salinity and degrees of acidity. Yet climate change has been battering the planet’s coral reefs, including those in the Pacific and in Malaysian waters,…

Global CO2 Emissions are on the Rise … Again

Global CO2 Emissions are on the Rise … Again

When it comes to tackling climate change, it seems to be a classic case of “one step forward, two steps back.” Just last year, for instance, scientists reported that at long last global CO2 emissions had flatlined, meaning that we’d stopped pumping more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than before….

This Year will be the Warmest on Record

This Year will be the Warmest on Record

Last year was the hottest on record, according to NASA. The culprit: our massive amount of greenhouse gas emissions that has been changing the planet’s climate inexorably for the worse. Now here comes more bad news: this year is set to become warmer still, according to the World Meteorological Organization…

Corals in the Pacific are in Trouble

Corals in the Pacific are in Trouble

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…

The Alps are Crumbling. The culprit: Climate Change

The Alps are Crumbling. The culprit: Climate Change

The Alps are crumbling. The majestic mountains at the geographical heart of Europe are coming apart in places in full view of alarmed locals and concerned environmentalists. The culprit is the usual suspect. You guessed it: global warming. Rising temperatures in the Alps have been causing glaciers to melt. This…

We have Three Years to save the Planet

We have Three Years to save the Planet

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….

Climate Change will bring more and more Heat Waves

Climate Change will bring more and more Heat Waves

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…

Plants alone can’t Heal the Planet

Plants alone can’t Heal the Planet

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….

Let’s Let our Corals Save Themselves

Let’s Let our Corals Save Themselves

When it comes to corals in tropical waters, good news is hard to come by. Battered by global warming and pollution, these fragile creatures, and their ecosystems, are increasingly under threat of mass bleaching worldwide. Australia’s famed Great Barrier Reef may be doomed, and Malaysia’s own stunningly beautiful reefs, which are…

Sadly, we’ve Reached a new Record in levels of atmospheric CO2: 410ppm

Sadly, we’ve Reached a new Record in levels of atmospheric CO2: 410ppm

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….

Climate Change will worsen Turbulence

Climate Change will worsen Turbulence

Turbulence. Don’t we all hate it? There we are, nice and easy in our seats on a flight, when suddenly the plane starts rattling like it’s going to come apart in midair. All we can do is buckle up, grab the armrests and ride it out. Turbulence is a routine part of…