Revealed: nearly all new diesel cars exceed official pollution limits Health experts lambast ‘deceitful’ carmakers as data suggests 97% of vehicles fail to meet NOx emissions standards in real-world conditions

Ninety-seven percent of all modern diesel cars emit more toxic nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution on the road than the official limit, according to the most comprehensive set of data yet published, with a quarter producing at least six times more than the limit. Surprisingly, the tiny number of models that did not exceed the standard were mostly […]

Birds on Islands Are Losing the Ability to Fly

Before the arrival of humans—and the rats, cats, and other predators that we brought—New Zealand was an idyllic haven for birds. Without ground-dwelling mammalian hunters to bother them, many of the local species lost the ability to fly. There’s the kakapo, a giant, booming parrot with an owl-like countenance; the takahe, weka, and other flightless relatives of coots […]

Why we shouldn’t confuse climate and weather

We have always been baffled by the weather and have often used strange arguments to explain its unexpected behaviour. More than 2,000 years ago, one hapless Roman citizen was so worried that unusual gales and storms might be due to the impiety of the nation that he asked the gods for guidance via a carved […]

HeartBuds could mark end of stethoscope

Two centuries after its invention, the ubiquitous stethoscope may be on the way out — a smaller device connected through an app to smartphones may replace the old Y-shaped instrument.  The new portable device is named HeartBuds.  “They not only detect sounds inside the body just as well — or better — than traditional stethoscopes, […]

Chernobyl and Other Places Where Animals Thrive Without People

KIEV, Ukraine—War, nuclear accidents, and poverty rarely have a silver lining, but in Chernobyl and a handful of other places around the world, catastrophes for human populations have become a boon for wildlife.  In places plagued by guerrilla warfare, nuclear fallout, and chemical weapons, wild animals have rebounded in great numbers on land we have […]

Carmaker allegedly used software that circumvents emissions testing for certain air pollutants

2015 News Releases EPA, California Notify Volkswagen of Clean Air Act Violations EPA has issued a notice of violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to Volkswagen AG, Audi AG, and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (collectively referred to as Volkswagen). The NOV alleges that four-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars from model years […]

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The World’s Tigers—There Are Only 3,200 Left in the Wild

Tigers may be relegated to zoos in the future if we’re not careful. Only about 3,200 tigers can be found in the wild today—a far cry from the iconic cat’s situation a century ago, when 100,000 tigers roamed vast stretches of the Asian continent. “People don’t realize how dire the situation is for tigers because […]

Green youths demand stop in mercury use in consumer goods

Green youth activists demanded cutting down the widespread use of mercury in consumer products like dental amalgam, skin whitening cosmetics, batteries, thermometers, and fluorescent bulbs in Bangladesh. Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) in association with United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) organized a rally incorporating more than 100 green collar workers at Dhanmondi on Saturday, […]

It’s spreading

Oil from three wagons of a train that plunged into a canal in Boalkhali upazila of Chittagong on Friday afternoon has spread to the adjacent areas and the Karnaphuli river, posing a serious threat to the environment. There was oil all around the spot where the wagons fell. Oil not only spread to around 20 […]