Weekly Environmental Report: Nov. 16-22

Hi, y’all! Welcome to my Weekly Environmental Report!

Reflecting back at the environmental news from this week, the earth is still in dire need of help. While a few people here and there are trying to take the extra step, it will take a revolutionary change my the masses to potentially reverse the damage that has already been done. Read the good news and bad news.

Good news

-Experts say boomers are the UK’s greenest generation. (via the Guardian)

-With a 63% vote in favor, Key West bans ships with capacities larger than 1,300 from docking at all in effort to protect the environment. (via EcoWatch)

-Victoria, Australia, has committed to a $797 million pledge to programs that will cut electric bills and greenhouse gas emissions. (via the Guardian)

-The world’s only known giraffe has been fitted with a tracker to deter poachers. (via BBC)

-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a 10-point green plan with 250,000 jobs. (via the Guardian)

-Unilver has set a target of $1 billion in annual sales of plant-based foods. Products will be released from The Vegetarian Butcher, Ben & Jerry’s, Hellmann’s, Magnum and Wall’s. (via the Guardian)

-Greenpeace USA has released a new “Just Recovery Agenda,” addressing racial injustice, COVID-19 and the climate crisis. (via EcoWatch)

-Flint, Michigan has agreed to pay $20 million to residents as part of a class action settlement seeking exposure to lead-tainted water. (via The Hill)

-Students at Stirling High School have discovered a new colony of penguins through the use of satellite imagery and computer software. (via BBC)

-Blue whales are back in South Georgia for the first time in years. (via BBC)

-Jeff Bezos donated $791 million to 16 environmental groups. (via Sierra Club)

Bad news

-Environmental justice reporters are being killed and threatened. (via EcoWatch)

-Experts say the plan by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ban the sale of new fossil fuels by 2030 will not meet the governmen't’s own legally binding climate targets. Thinktank says the deadline should be 2026 for the government to meet its own carbon budget. (via the Guardian)

-Scientists say Florida reefs have lost 98% of coal, despite most coral reefs in the U.S. being in fair condition. (via the Guardian)

-Category 5 Hurricane Iota has hit Nicaragua, killing at least six and evacuating at least 60,000. (via the Guardian)

-While Denmark has already launched a nationwide cull of its 30,000 farmed mink herd, seven additional countries are reporting coronavirus mutations transferred from minks to humans. (via the Guardian)

-A study reveals glass bottles harm the environment more than plastic bottles. (via EcoWatch)

-Red Cross says global warming is a greater threat than COVID-19. (via the Hill)

-Researchers have found signs of human pollution in animals that live six miles beneath the sea. (via Popular Science)

-The Trump Administration has rolled back environmental protections, allowing the U.S. Forest Service to log or manage 2,800 acres of national forest in the Western U.S. without first conducting an environmental review. (via The Hill)

-A carcinogenic pesticide has poisoned the soil and water in the Caribbean islands Martinique and Guadeloupe. (via BBC)

-A study shows monarch caterpillars get angry when they’re hungry. (via EcoWatch)

-Microplastics have been discovered near the summer out Mount Everest. (via EcoWatch)