Environmental Hazards
Environmental Hazards

The Kingdom of Tonga doesn’t often attract global attention, but a violent eruption of an underwater volcano on January 15 has spread shock waves, quite literally, around half the world. Volcano researchers call this “fuel-coolant interaction” and it is akin to weapons-grade chemical explosions. #tongavolcano

Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate, a key leader of the international youth climate movement, was in Germany on Saturday where she joined opponents of the country’s largest lignite coal mine to denounce its proposed expansion in the face of the ever-growing threat of fossil fuels and planet-heating emissions. #climateactivist #coalmine #Garzweiler

Climate campaigners and energy experts are responding to a recent rise in fossil fuel demand by reiterating the necessity of rapidly transitioning to renewable sources like solar and wind, with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg warning Monday that “we are still speeding in the wrong direction.” #fossilfuel

Just two days after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the world’s largest coal producer would stop funding overseas coal projects, seven countries on Friday pledged they would also cease building new coal power plants—the latest sign one of the world’s dirtiest energy sources is on its way out. #coalisdead #climatechange

A new study released Wednesday by researchers at the University of Chicago showed that air pollution is cutting short the average global citizen’s life by more than two years, with people in parts of the world dying as many as eight years earlier than they would without exposure to pollution. #airpollution