Discover this week’s must-read nature and climate stories
- This weekly round-up brings you some of the key nature and climate news from the past week.
- Top stories: Major cities experiencing ‘climate whiplash’; just seven countries meet WHO air quality standard; rising temperatures could increase risk of human mycotoxin exposure.
1. Cities ‘suffering from climate whiplash’ as world warms
As global temperatures affect the water cycle, the weather in some of the world’s most densely populated cities is swinging from droughts to floods and back again, according to a new report.
Some 20% of cities, meanwhile, are experiencing dramatic shifts to extreme wet or extreme dry conditions. Cities in Southern Asia are becoming overwhelmingly flood-prone and European cities are exhibiting significant drying trends, it says.
2. Just seven countries meet global standards for air quality
Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia and Iceland made the grade. Chad and Bangladesh were the world’s most polluted countries, with average smog levels more than 15 times higher than guideline levels.
3. News in brief: Other top nature and climate stories this week
Rising temperatures due to climate change are increasing the risk of human exposure to so-called mycotoxins, according to a new briefing from the European Environment Agency. The naturally occurring toxins, which are produced by fungi that can be found in certain foods, feed and crops, are increasing in prevalence in warmer and more humid conditions.
Conservation efforts are “turning the tide” for the Javan slow loris, one of the world’s 25 most endangered primates, the BBC reports. Numbers of the animal have dropped by at least 80% over the past 30 years.
What is the World Economic Forum doing about nature?
Biodiversity loss and climate change are occurring at unprecedented rates, threatening humanity’s very survival. Nature is in crisis, but there is hope. Investing in nature can not only increase our resilience to socioeconomic and environmental shocks, but it can help societies thrive.
There is strong recognition within the Forum that the future must be net-zero and nature-positive. The Nature Action Agenda initiative, within the Centre for Nature and Climate, is an inclusive, multistakeholder movement catalysing economic action to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.
The Nature Action Agenda is enabling business and policy action by:
Building a knowledge base to make a compelling economic and business case for safeguarding nature, showcasing solutions and bolstering research through the publication of the New Nature Economy Reports and impactful communications.
Catalysing leadership for nature-positive transitions through multi-stakeholder communities such as Champions for Nature that takes a leading role in shaping the net-zero, nature-positive agenda on the global stage.
The Italian city of Naples has been shaken by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake, which damaged buildings and disrupted power supplies in part of the city. The country’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said there was “no evidence” of an imminent eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius, the BBC reports.
4. More on the nature and climate crisis from the Forum
With air pollution being a leading cause of death worldwide, artificial intelligence and big data are being used to improve prediction models, detect hidden pollutants and develop wearable tech so people can track their exposure. Read more in this story.
Shrimp farming is inefficient and highly polluting — producing 1kg of shrimp generates around 5kg of CO2 emissions. See how a start-up in Viet Nam is using seaweed to clean it up:
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