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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=air-pollution&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/air-pollution/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 01 Aug 2026 15:59:26 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Air Pollution</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/air-pollution/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Indonesia shows elevated fire hotspot activity in 2026 as super El Niño threat looms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesia-shows-elevated-fire-hotspot-activity-in-2026-as-super-el-nino-threat-looms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesia-shows-elevated-fire-hotspot-activity-in-2026-as-super-el-nino-threat-looms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Jul 2026 15:06:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas JongIrfan Maulana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/04/05111951/fire-used-for-land-clearing-Sumatra-Indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324772</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Papua, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Disasters, Ecosystems, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forests, Global Environmental Crisis, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Peatlands, Pollution, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia has recorded more fire hotspot activity by late July 2026 than at the same point in any previous year, including during the devastating fire seasons of 2019 and 2023, according to new data. Data from FireWatch, a new satellite monitoring platform developed by the forest monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas, offers the clearest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia has recorded more fire hotspot activity by late July 2026 than at the same point in any previous year, including during the devastating fire seasons of 2019 and 2023, according to new data. Data from FireWatch, a new satellite monitoring platform developed by the forest monitoring platform Nusantara Atlas, offers the clearest picture yet of where the country is burning, say scientists. It has raised fresh concerns as Indonesia heads into the months of the year when wildfires historically intensify. As of July 27, FireWatch detected more than 96,000 fire hotspots across Indonesia — more than at the same point in any previous year monitored by the platform. By comparison, about 88,000 hotspots had been detected by late July 2019 and roughly 58,000 during the same period in 2023. Hotspot comparison between 2026, 2023 and 2019. Image courtesy of FireWatch. Those two years produced Indonesia&#8217;s most destructive fire seasons in the past 10 years, burning more than 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres) and 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres), respectively, according to data from FireWatch. FireWatch estimates that approximately 103,000 hectares (255,000 acres) burned nationwide during the first half of 2026. Burned area comparison between 2026, 2023 and 2019. Image courtesy of FireWatch. While that remains far below the area burned in 2019, Indonesia has yet to enter the period when fire activity historically accelerates. Burning typically increases in August before peaking in September and October. The unusually high hotspot activity in 2026 comes as forecasters&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesia-shows-elevated-fire-hotspot-activity-in-2026-as-super-el-nino-threat-looms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesia-shows-elevated-fire-hotspot-activity-in-2026-as-super-el-nino-threat-looms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324772</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>A Tunisian phosphate plant that sickens children so US, Europe can get fertilizer</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-tunisian-phosphate-plant-that-sickens-children-so-us-europe-can-get-fertilizer/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-tunisian-phosphate-plant-that-sickens-children-so-us-europe-can-get-fertilizer/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Jul 2026 02:00:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Dawn KikelElisângela MendonçaKhadija Ben Salah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Andy Lehren]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/21020526/h-KhadijaBenSalah-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324147</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, North Africa, and Tunisia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agrochemicals, Air Pollution, Business, Chemicals, Community Development, Environment, Fertilizers, Health, Industry, Mongabay investigation, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dalila grew up in the Tunisian coastal city of Gabès and is accustomed to the heavy, acrid smell from the state-owned phosphate processing plant about a 10-minute walk from her home. On days when noxious fumes fill the air, Dalila rushes to tightly shut the windows and tells her children to hurry indoors. She washes [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dalila grew up in the Tunisian coastal city of Gabès and is accustomed to the heavy, acrid smell from the state-owned phosphate processing plant about a 10-minute walk from her home. On days when noxious fumes fill the air, Dalila rushes to tightly shut the windows and tells her children to hurry indoors. She washes them, believing it lessens harmful effects from chemicals. Emissions can last all day. Residents may get little or no advance warning. But one day in September 2025, children were at school when gases spread. Some students fell to the ground, complaining they had difficulty breathing. Others said they felt like they were suffocating. Dalila’s daughter said she felt like she was choking. Dalila rushed her to a government-run hospital. When she asked about test results or the type of substances that may have caused her difficulty breathing, Dalila said she did not get clear answers. The incident sickening the schoolchildren helped spark mass protests in the streets of Gabès, with people waving banners that read “Stop Pollution” and “Move The Plant.” It is not the first time that residents have protested water and air pollution from the factory. Dalila feels that she and others in Gabès are being ignored. They are far from alone. Fishermen report coastal waters were once abundant with fish, but, now, their nets come up empty. Scientific studies provide evidence that environmental damage poses a danger to the health of those living nearby. People take part in a demonstration against pollution&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-tunisian-phosphate-plant-that-sickens-children-so-us-europe-can-get-fertilizer/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/a-tunisian-phosphate-plant-that-sickens-children-so-us-europe-can-get-fertilizer/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324147</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘We couldn’t breathe’: DRC villagers revive protest against Perenco over pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Jul 2026 14:54:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/21135544/WhatsApp-Image-2026-06-11-at-14.51.59-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=324228</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Central Africa, and Democratic Republic Of Congo]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Business, Environment, Environmental Law, Finance, Governance, Health, Law, Oil, Oil Drilling, Oil Spills, Pollution, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“I had diarrhea and dizziness. Food no longer tasted the same. … I wasn’t the only one who noticed it — it was the same for everyone in the village; we couldn’t breathe,” Benoît Packera, secretary of the vigilance committee of Kitombe, told Mongabay. He was recounting what happened in April 2025, when toxic gases [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“I had diarrhea and dizziness. Food no longer tasted the same. … I wasn’t the only one who noticed it — it was the same for everyone in the village; we couldn’t breathe,” Benoît Packera, secretary of the vigilance committee of Kitombe, told Mongabay. He was recounting what happened in April 2025, when toxic gases were released by a Perenco facility in southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The committee raised the alarm about the impacts, which led to a parliamentary commission visiting the area and confirming the existence of pollution in a report. Things went quiet for a while. Perenco continued its flaring operations and the residents claimed they did not receive any treatments or compensation. In May this year, Frustrated residents blocked access roads to Perenco facilities, temporarily disrupting oil operations. Kitombe is a village located in the Muanda territory. Besides being the only territory giving the country access to the ocean, Muanda is also home to oil reserves exploited by Perenco REP (Perenco’s subsidiary in the DRC) since the early 2000s, where it extracts around 4,500 barrels of crude oil per day. However, this exploitation has not come without conflict. The company has repeatedly faced allegations of pollution and adversely impacting agricultural yields, villagers say. But on April 12, 2025, tensions reached a breaking point. “It smelled extremely bad and very strong, like rotten eggs. I coughed a lot and felt like vomiting,” Packera recalled. That day, gas was released into the atmosphere from the tank farm,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/we-couldnt-breathe-drc-villagers-revive-protest-against-perenco-over-pollution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-324228</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indigenous advocates push for rights protections around AI data centers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jul 2026 13:59:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aimee Gabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/07/16134609/emrip-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=323706</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Artificial Intelligence, Data centers, Development, Economics, Energy, Environment, Human Rights, Infrastructure, Technology, Water, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Artificial intelligence is said to be the transformative technology of our time, with the potential to reshape our world on a global scale, according to research. Yet AI&#8217;s potential is underpinned by the need for hyperscale data centers, the large, energy-intensive sites that house servers and IT equipment. As tech companies and governments continue to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Artificial intelligence is said to be the transformative technology of our time, with the potential to reshape our world on a global scale, according to research. Yet AI&#8217;s potential is underpinned by the need for hyperscale data centers, the large, energy-intensive sites that house servers and IT equipment. As tech companies and governments continue to develop this infrastructure at scale, Indigenous peoples from Brazil to Canada affected by the projects have responded in different ways. Some have raised concerns about pressure on water resources and inadequate consultation, while others have embraced the projects for their economic benefits. In July 2026, at a meeting of the U.N. Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), Indigenous leaders, government representatives and experts called for data center projects to comply with the principles of free, prior and informed consent, or FPIC. They also explored whether growing AI infrastructure can be developed in ways that advance Indigenous priorities and rights. During a panel discussion on the second day of the EMRIP meeting, Indigenous delegates said that policies to ensure that AI does not harvest Indigenous knowledge without consent are of equal importance to protections for Indigenous lands and waters. “AI is resource-intensive and requires vast amounts of energy,” said Maren Storslett, a member of the Sámi Parliament in Norway at the meeting. “In Sápmi, we already see how large data centers put [immense] pressure on our territories. This forces a conversation about priorities and limits and we need to be at the table&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indigenous-advocates-push-for-rights-protections-around-ai-data-centers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-323706</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia&#8217;s blackouts reignite debate over coal-dependent energy transition</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesias-blackouts-reignite-debate-over-coal-dependent-energy-transition/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesias-blackouts-reignite-debate-over-coal-dependent-energy-transition/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jul 2026 09:45:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/09/09170445/chimneys-of-Suralaya-coal-power-plant-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322168</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, East Java, Global, Indonesia, Java, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Alternative Energy, Bioenergy, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Coal, Emission Reduction, Energy, Energy Security, Energy Transition, Environmental Policy, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Just Transition, Pollution, Public Health, Renewable Energy, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Calls are mounting for Indonesia to accelerate its energy transition after widespread blackouts struck Java and Sumatra in recent weeks, exposing what analysts say are deep vulnerabilities in a power system that remains highly centralized and heavily dependent on coal. In late May, large parts of Sumatra lost electricity after a transmission line [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Calls are mounting for Indonesia to accelerate its energy transition after widespread blackouts struck Java and Sumatra in recent weeks, exposing what analysts say are deep vulnerabilities in a power system that remains highly centralized and heavily dependent on coal. In late May, large parts of Sumatra lost electricity after a transmission line in Jambi failed. Just days later, a separate outage disrupted power across parts of Java, Indonesia&#8217;s most populous island and economic center. While officials initially pointed to technical problems, state utility PLN later said constrained coal supplies had contributed to the Java outage. For energy analysts, the outages underscore a broader structural problem. &#8220;The dependence on a centralized, coal-dominated electricity system is a threat to energy supply security,&#8221; said Fabby Tumiwa, executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR). To reduce the risk of more widespread outages, analysts at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), a U.S.-based think tank, said Indonesia should accelerate the      deployment of decentralized renewable energy, particularly rooftop solar combined with battery energy storage systems (BESS). &#8220;For Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, rooftop solar combined with battery energy storage systems offers a viable alternative to diesel power, which can be costly and challenging to supply,&#8221; IEEFA researchers Mutya Yustika and Randi Bachtiar wrote in a recent analysis. Unlike fossil fuels, they noted, solar power is not vulnerable to fuel supply disruptions or price volatility. Because rooftop systems can be installed on homes, businesses and industrial&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/indonesias-blackouts-reignite-debate-over-coal-dependent-energy-transition/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322168</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh unveils sweeping EV incentives to cut emissions and pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-unveils-sweeping-ev-incentives-to-cut-emissions-and-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-unveils-sweeping-ev-incentives-to-cut-emissions-and-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jun 2026 06:28:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamran Reza Chowdhury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/30061227/pollution-in-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=322071</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aerosol Pollution, Air Pollution, Cities, Development, Electric Cars, Environment, Environmental Policy, Governance, Law, Pollution, Regulations, and Transportation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In an unprecedented move, Bangladesh has upended its previous policy of heavily taxing electric vehicles (EVs) and promoting fossil-fuel-run transport. While placing the tax and tariff proposals for the next fiscal year starting on July 1, finance minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, in his budget speech in the parliament on June 11, unveiled a set [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In an unprecedented move, Bangladesh has upended its previous policy of heavily taxing electric vehicles (EVs) and promoting fossil-fuel-run transport. While placing the tax and tariff proposals for the next fiscal year starting on July 1, finance minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, in his budget speech in the parliament on June 11, unveiled a set of coordinated tariff structures to promote EVs and solar energy to reduce carbon emissions and combat air pollution. The minister offered zero tariffs for the import of electric buses and trucks, the setting up of vehicle charging stations, and the production of solar energy; hiked tariffs for fossil-fuel-powered transport; reduced registration fees for EVs; and introduced a set of incentives with the target of reducing pollution from the transport sector, which contributes 9% of greenhouse gas emissions. This is the first coordinated government initiative for transitioning Bangladesh’s long-overdue modernization of the transport system, as pollutants from thousands of diesel-run buses and trucks aggravate the air pollution in mega-cities like Dhaka and Chattogram. According to UN estimates, more than 235,000 people die from complications due to air pollution every year in Bangladesh, with hundreds of thousands of people suffering from asthma and other respiratory diseases. Traffic in Dhaka. According to UN estimates, more than 235,000 people die from complications due to air pollution every year in Bangladesh. Image by joiseyshowaa/b k via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). The tax waiver and concession The government has decided to offer a “full exemption (except value-added tax)” on the import&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-unveils-sweeping-ev-incentives-to-cut-emissions-and-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-322071</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Failed promises to clean air in South Africa’s coal belt take toll on public health</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/failed-promises-to-clean-air-in-south-africas-coal-belt-take-toll-on-public-health/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/failed-promises-to-clean-air-in-south-africas-coal-belt-take-toll-on-public-health/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Jun 2026 06:53:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Joe Walsh]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/24064856/Kusile-Power-Station-South-Africas-largest-plant-at-4800MW-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321552</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Clean Energy, Coal, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Governance, Health, Pollution, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[eMALAHLENI, South Africa — Elisabeth Moutloang, 49, lives in the shadows of Duvha Power Station, a 3,600-MW coal-fired power station owned and operated by Eskom, South Africa’s national energy provider. Between it and her community of Masakhane, in the south of eMalahleni, is a coal mine where she used to work twenty years ago as [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[eMALAHLENI, South Africa — Elisabeth Moutloang, 49, lives in the shadows of Duvha Power Station, a 3,600-MW coal-fired power station owned and operated by Eskom, South Africa’s national energy provider. Between it and her community of Masakhane, in the south of eMalahleni, is a coal mine where she used to work twenty years ago as a weighbridge clerk, monitoring the weight of coal-laden vehicles entering and exiting the mine, before it was abandoned. She left the job after seven months but in that time had developed a serious lung problem, which was detected because the mine conducts a health screening before starting employment and when an employee leaves. “When I went to have my exit medical done, I was told that I have a hole on my left lung. That&#8217;s when I started having sinus problems, that&#8217;s when I started having chest problems. At one stage I had bronchitis,” Moutloang says. “I thought I was going to die.” At the time, she had health insurance from her employer and was able to get the right medicine for the condition. Hers is not a unique story for a resident of eMalahleni (which translates to “place of coal”) located in South Africa’s eastern province of Mpumalanga, 130 kilometers (81 miles) east of Johannesburg. The town lies in the heart of the Highveld Priority Area (HPA), spanning 31,100 km encompassing 12 municipalities, which was designated in 2007 as a priority area for tackling air pollution, because the air quality was very poor. A&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/failed-promises-to-clean-air-in-south-africas-coal-belt-take-toll-on-public-health/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/failed-promises-to-clean-air-in-south-africas-coal-belt-take-toll-on-public-health/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321552</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Lawsuit demands accountability for Cerro de Pasco mining pollution in Peru</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/lawsuit-demands-accountability-for-cerro-de-pasco-mining-pollution-in-peru/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/lawsuit-demands-accountability-for-cerro-de-pasco-mining-pollution-in-peru/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Jun 2026 21:14:58 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Maxwell Radwin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandra Popescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/16210447/AP0909151105123-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321332</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Clean Energy, Conservation, Critical Minerals, Environment, Health, Mining, Pollution, Public Health, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A mine that has been operating for decades in the Peruvian Andes continues to contaminate the soil, water and air for thousands of people living nearby, according to a lawsuit filed last month. The contamination has displaced farming and livestock, the lawsuit said, while causing cognitive issues in children, among other public health concerns. Companies [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A mine that has been operating for decades in the Peruvian Andes continues to contaminate the soil, water and air for thousands of people living nearby, according to a lawsuit filed last month. The contamination has displaced farming and livestock, the lawsuit said, while causing cognitive issues in children, among other public health concerns. Companies working at the Cerro de Pasco mine, located in Peru’s central highlands, need to be held responsible for the pollution and public health issues that have affected more than 100,000 people, according to Cerro de Pasco Mayor Julio Rupay Malpartida and public prosecutor Darwin Alejandro Ramón Yalico, who filed the injunction petition on behalf of the municipality. “[The] environmental contamination is on such a scale that it’s present in every corner of the city,” the lawsuit said, “a consequence of the accumulation of heavy metals and toxic substances.” The area has been home to mining activity since at least the 16th century, when the Spanish discovered silver deposits during colonization. More recently, the private company Volcan Compañía Minera took over the mines in 2000 and has overseen underground and open pit operations to extract silver, copper, zinc and lead, among other metals. The lawsuit also lists Volcan subsidiaries Óxidos de Pasco, Empresa Administradora Cerro and Empresa Minera Paragsha as defendants. The Cerro de Pasco mine from above. Image courtesy of SkyTruth/Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Some of the operation is located in the center of the city, with a population of more than 74,000. As a result, particulate&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/lawsuit-demands-accountability-for-cerro-de-pasco-mining-pollution-in-peru/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/lawsuit-demands-accountability-for-cerro-de-pasco-mining-pollution-in-peru/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321332</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh struggles to enforce ‘polluter pays’ principle amid legal delays</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Jun 2026 15:07:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sadiqur Rahman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/04144147/tanneries-pollution-in-bangladesh-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=320594</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aerosol Pollution, Air Pollution, Crime, Environment, Environmental Law, Governance, Industry, Law, Law Enforcement, Nutrient Pollution, Pollution, Social Justice, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The existence of the “polluter pays” principle (PPP) in Bangladesh, at least on paper, dates back to 1992, ever since the country endorsed the Rio Declaration. However, Bangladesh has made little progress in implementing the principle so far. A statement by the incumbent minister for environment, forest and climate change, Abdul Awal Mintoo, saying that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The existence of the “polluter pays” principle (PPP) in Bangladesh, at least on paper, dates back to 1992, ever since the country endorsed the Rio Declaration. However, Bangladesh has made little progress in implementing the principle so far. A statement by the incumbent minister for environment, forest and climate change, Abdul Awal Mintoo, saying that regulatory authorities recovered less than half of the total compensation imposed on polluters over the past 16 years, exposed the structural loopholes in environmental governance behind failures in implementing the principle. The minister pointed out that polluters can delay the compensation recovery by applying their right to appeal against the regulatory authorities’ orders. that Mongabay spoke to said that loopholes in the judicial system, weak evidence and economic analysis on pollution, and polluters’ influence must be addressed if the country really wants to implement the PPP. Environmentalist and Dhaka University’s zoology professor Mohammad Firoj Jaman told Mongabay, “Delays in implementation of laws against polluters aggravate environmental pollution, and the hope of reaping the benefits of environmental justice falls flat.” Shanties stand along the bank of Buriganga River in Hazaribagh, Dhaka district, Bangladesh. The area is known for tanneries, the waste from which fill the surrounding land and water. Image by Abir Abdullah/Asian Development Bank via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). Compensation recovery undermines the PPP The PPP binds polluters to bear the costs of managing and remedying the harm they have done to the environment. The concept of PPP was first mentioned in the recommendations of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/bangladesh-struggles-to-enforce-polluter-pays-principle-amid-legal-delays/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-320594</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia’s nickel boom linked to rising illness and worker harm, reports find</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesias-nickel-boom-linked-to-rising-illness-and-worker-harm-reports-find/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesias-nickel-boom-linked-to-rising-illness-and-worker-harm-reports-find/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 May 2026 07:47:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rabul SawalYulia Adiningsih]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/18163514/PT-IWIP-worker-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319647</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, North Maluku, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Business, Environment, Governance, Health, Human Rights, Industry, Mining, Nikel, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[HALMAHERA, Indonesia — New research examining Indonesia’s vast nickel-processing regions has documented rising rates of ill health and workplace harm linked to a key industry supplying the global energy transition. A report published in April by Indonesia’s human rights commission, known as Komnas HAM, cited Central Sulawesi provincial health data showing respiratory infections reached 305,191 [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[HALMAHERA, Indonesia — New research examining Indonesia’s vast nickel-processing regions has documented rising rates of ill health and workplace harm linked to a key industry supplying the global energy transition. A report published in April by Indonesia’s human rights commission, known as Komnas HAM, cited Central Sulawesi provincial health data showing respiratory infections reached 305,191 diagnoses in 2024, a 26% increase over the 262,160 cases recorded in 2023. In the Central Sulawesi district of Morowali, home to Southeast Asia’s largest nickel processing estate, the PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), the number of respiratory infections diagnosed in 2024 was 57,190. The IWIP industrial area, which has been tied to mercury and arsenic exposure. Image by Garry Latulung. A civil society coalition protests in front of the PT IWIP office in Jakarta. Image by Christ Belseran/Mongabay Indonesia. “Communities living near mining and smelter areas are at higher risk due to exposure to dust and emissions from production processes,” said Uli Parulian Sihombing, a coordinator at Komnas HAM. The rights commission called for greater state intervention to uphold rights in and around Central Sulawesi’s nickel processing estates. “Based on these findings, this study concludes that the state has failed to guarantee protection of human rights in the nickel mining and processing sector,” the Komnas HAM report concluded. The report also noted the increase in deforestation recorded on Central Sulawesi tied to the booming mining sector. “This situation is exacerbated by massive ecological damage that has led to a health crisis for communities&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesias-nickel-boom-linked-to-rising-illness-and-worker-harm-reports-find/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/indonesias-nickel-boom-linked-to-rising-illness-and-worker-harm-reports-find/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319647</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Teen innovators in Kenya turn farm waste into award-winning vehicle exhaust filter</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/teen-innovators-in-kenya-turn-farm-waste-into-award-winning-vehicle-exhaust-filter/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/teen-innovators-in-kenya-turn-farm-waste-into-award-winning-vehicle-exhaust-filter/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 May 2026 04:00:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika VyawahareMary Mwendwa]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/05/11161329/671088-DSC_0355-1-545e44-original-1777544287-1-e1778516030451-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=319145</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Earth Science, Economics, Environment, Governance, Pollution, Solutions, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — Two 17-year-old students from Kiambu county in Kenya were declared winners of the Africa region Earth Prize on May 12, for a low-cost maize- and coconut-based vehicle exhaust filtration system they developed. Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo, students at M-PESA Foundation Academy, developed the system, HewaSafi, meaning “clean air” in Swahili, after [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[NAIROBI — Two 17-year-old students from Kiambu county in Kenya were declared winners of the Africa region Earth Prize on May 12, for a low-cost maize- and coconut-based vehicle exhaust filtration system they developed. Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo, students at M-PESA Foundation Academy, developed the system, HewaSafi, meaning “clean air” in Swahili, after watching friends and family suffer from diseases linked to air pollution. The Switzerland-based Earth Foundation grants the annual Earth Prize, now in its fifth year, to 13-to-19-year-olds working on solutions to environmental challenges. The HewaSafi team is now a contender for the global prize, for which public voting opens on May 18 and closes on May 27. The winner of the international edition will be announced on May 29. “The problem of air pollution was very personal to us, and that is why we started thinking about coming up with a solution,” Kariuki told Mongabay. “It was a passion before it became a project.” An image of the HewaSafi 3D prototype model. Image courtesy of Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo. Kariuki, who grew up in an industrialized area of Nakuru county in Kenya, developed a chronic lung disease at age 10 that still requires him to take medication weekly. Onsarigo, who grew up in western Kenya, witnessed deaths and serious illnesses associated with polluted air. Air pollution causes 4.4 million premature deaths globally each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Vehicular exhaust is a major source of pollution in urban areas. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/05/teen-innovators-in-kenya-turn-farm-waste-into-award-winning-vehicle-exhaust-filter/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-319145</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Open dumping &#038; failed reforms bury Sri Lankan cities in waste problem</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/open-dumping-failed-reforms-bury-sri-lankan-cities-in-waste-problem/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/open-dumping-failed-reforms-bury-sri-lankan-cities-in-waste-problem/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Apr 2026 12:12:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malaka Rodrigo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/23114935/1-Sri-Lanka-Air-Force-pictures-of-Meethotamulla-Garbage-dump-disaster--768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=318011</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Air Pollution, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Policy, Food Waste, Governance, Habitat, Law Enforcement, Pollution, Recycling, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — As Sri Lankans celebrate the traditional New Year on April 14 each year, a period marked by family gatherings and renewal, there are no celebrations at Keerthirathna Perera’s home anymore. In 2017, the Perera family was in celebration mode in their two-level home in Meethotamulla, in western Sri Lanka. But their festive lunch [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — As Sri Lankans celebrate the traditional New Year on April 14 each year, a period marked by family gatherings and renewal, there are no celebrations at Keerthirathna Perera’s home anymore. In 2017, the Perera family was in celebration mode in their two-level home in Meethotamulla, in western Sri Lanka. But their festive lunch was interrupted around 2 p.m. by a faint tremor. Moments later, a neighbor shouted that the stairway was suddenly cracking. Alarmed, the family rushed outside, only seconds before a deafening roar engulfed the area as a massive wave of garbage and earth surged upward. Houses shifted, some collapsed instantly, while others were simply thrust aside. When the noise eventually faded, the neighborhood found itself reduced to a chaotic field of rubble. In this confusion, Keerthirathna searched desperately for his family. He found his wife trapped waist-deep in debris and saw only his granddaughter’s hand nearby, while there was no trace of his daughter and son-in-law. Rescue teams worked through the night, pulling his wife to safety around 10 p.m. and recovering the bodies of his granddaughter and son-in-law. After continuous digging through the unstable waste mound, four days later, his daughter’s lifeless body was finally recovered. The disaster killed at least 32 people, displaced hundreds and destroyed more than 140 homes, leaving more than a thousand homeless. The collapse of the mount at Meethotamulla exposed the catastrophic consequences of unmanaged urban waste accumulation and Sri Lanka’s repeated institutional failure to tackle the solid waste problem.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/open-dumping-failed-reforms-bury-sri-lankan-cities-in-waste-problem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/open-dumping-failed-reforms-bury-sri-lankan-cities-in-waste-problem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-318011</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia braces for possible ‘Godzilla El Niño’ as fire season escalates early</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Apr 2026 04:12:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/10/05111107/student-in-haze-kalimantan-indonesia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317563</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Riau, Southeast Asia, and Sumatra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, El Nino, Fires, Forests, Health, Palm Oil, Peatlands, Plantations, Pollution, Public Health, Rainforests, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is entering the 2026 fire season with early signs of escalation, as burned area surges even before the dry season peak and forecasts raise the possibility of a so-called “Godzilla” El Niño later this year. Burned area reached 32,637 hectares (80,650 acres) by February — about three times the size of Paris, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia is entering the 2026 fire season with early signs of escalation, as burned area surges even before the dry season peak and forecasts raise the possibility of a so-called “Godzilla” El Niño later this year. Burned area reached 32,637 hectares (80,650 acres) by February — about three times the size of Paris, 20 times higher than the same period last year — even before the dry season has fully set in. Scientists say this early surge could signal the start of a more intense fire season, especially as climate forecasts point to the possible return of El Niño. Some global forecasts suggest the event could become one of the strongest in at least a decade, raising the risk of prolonged drought and widespread fires, although significant uncertainty remains over how intense it will ultimately be. A strong El Niño would also likely reshape global weather patterns and could push global temperatures to record levels in 2027, due to the lagged warming effect the phenomenon has on the climate system. El Niño refers to a warming of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean that can disrupt weather patterns worldwide. In Indonesia, it is typically associated with drier conditions and heightened fire risk. Indonesian agencies have at times referred to the potential event as a Godzilla El Niño, a nonscientific term used to describe an unusually strong episode that could significantly intensify drought and fire risk. Indonesia’s meteorological agency, BMKG, says there is a 50-80% chance of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/indonesia-braces-for-possible-godzilla-el-nino-as-fire-season-escalates-early/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317563</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Repeated failures expose gaps in Indonesia’s nickel waste management</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/repeated-failures-expose-gaps-in-indonesias-nickel-waste-management/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/repeated-failures-expose-gaps-in-indonesias-nickel-waste-management/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Apr 2026 05:51:26 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/13034411/imip_landslide_2026-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317395</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, North Maluku, Southeast Asia, and Sulawesi]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Critical Minerals, Disasters, Earthquakes, Electric Cars, Energy, Health, Nikel, Planetary Health, Pollution, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In February 2026, videos circulating on social media showed a mass of mining waste rushing downslope like thick mud, engulfing excavators and bulldozers within seconds as operators scrambled to escape. That landslide of mining waste, or tailings as it’s known in the industry, occurred on Feb. 18 at a storage area in Morowali [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — In February 2026, videos circulating on social media showed a mass of mining waste rushing downslope like thick mud, engulfing excavators and bulldozers within seconds as operators scrambled to escape. That landslide of mining waste, or tailings as it’s known in the industry, occurred on Feb. 18 at a storage area in Morowali industrial area in Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi province, a key hub of the country’s nickel industry. The facility was operated by PT QMB, a tenant of the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), and the incident left an excavator operator dead. Steven Emerman, a hydrogeologist and mining waste expert who reviewed the videos, concluded that they showed the phenomenon of liquefaction — a failure in which partially dried mining waste suddenly behaves like a liquid. “The video clearly shows liquefaction of a filtered tailings stack,” he told Mongabay. Filtered, or “dry stack” tailings are widely promoted as a safer alternative for storing mining waste than the wet sludge held behind conventional tailings dams. The material is filtered to remove its water content and stacked on land as a damp, soil-like mass. But a new report by U.S.-based environmental NGO Earthworks that Emerman contributed to raises concerns about how the technology is being applied in Indonesia. It says some facilities are being built “taller and contain more waste than they can safely hold,” and cites problems with design, drainage and quality control. These risks are compounded by the rapid expansion of Indonesia’s nickel industry, raising concerns about the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/repeated-failures-expose-gaps-in-indonesias-nickel-waste-management/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/repeated-failures-expose-gaps-in-indonesias-nickel-waste-management/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317395</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As Sri Lankans choke on bad air, authorities cite transboundary pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/as-sri-lankans-choke-on-bad-air-authorities-cite-transboundary-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/as-sri-lankans-choke-on-bad-air-authorities-cite-transboundary-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 05:58:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kamanthi Wickramasinghe]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Dilrukshi Handunnetti]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/25053917/banner-edited-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316248</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, South Asia, and Sri Lanka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate Change, Environment, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Pollution, and Research]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — On certain days, Colombo’s skyline is barely visible. This is due to a thick haze that envelops Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, resulting in low air quality conditions. The fouled air is making people tear and cough more without knowing what causes such irritation. Santhanam Mary has been a municipal worker for 13 years. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[COLOMBO — On certain days, Colombo’s skyline is barely visible. This is due to a thick haze that envelops Sri Lanka’s commercial capital, resulting in low air quality conditions. The fouled air is making people tear and cough more without knowing what causes such irritation. Santhanam Mary has been a municipal worker for 13 years. Her daily job is to clean an area near the heart of Colombo. “Even though we physically clean the streets, there’s so much pollution around us,” she told Mongabay. Over the years, Mary recalled falling sick more frequently. “We [municipal workers] get frequent headaches, itchy eyes and cough and cold-like symptoms. We were asked to wear face masks when working, but it is difficult to wear them for a long time,” she said. Meanwhile, the latest real-time air quality monitoring map by the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) shows a reading of 82 micrograms per cubic meter in Badulla, the largest city in Uva province and 52 mcg per m3 in Kotte in Western province. This may answer a question Mary did not ask: the reasons for increasingly falling ill. In issuing warnings, the NBRO has said that Air Quality Index (AQI) fine particulate matter (PM2.5) readings between 101 and 200 are unhealthy for sensitive or at-risk groups. These groups include children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with preexisting heart or lung conditions. Santhanam Mary, a street cleaner, complains of frequent headaches and itchy eyes. Image by Kamanthi Wickramasinghe. According to the index, readings&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/as-sri-lankans-choke-on-bad-air-authorities-cite-transboundary-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/as-sri-lankans-choke-on-bad-air-authorities-cite-transboundary-pollution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316248</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rush to put AI data centers in space poses poorly understood dangers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/rush-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space-poses-poorly-understood-dangers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/rush-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space-poses-poorly-understood-dangers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 19:26:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/11174825/Image_5_NHQ202602130016orig-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315584</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Artificial Intelligence, Chemicals, Climate Change, Conservation, data, Data centers, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Environment, Governance, Ozone Layer, Politics, Pollution, Remote Sensing, Research, Space, and Technology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plans are afoot to launch large mega-constellations of AI data centers into Earth orbit. That ambition, pursued by multiple space industry leaders, coincides with a warning from scientists of potentially “catastrophic outcomes,” as the likelihood of satellite collisions in orbit increases. If all the satellites currently in low Earth orbit were suddenly unable to maneuver [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plans are afoot to launch large mega-constellations of AI data centers into Earth orbit. That ambition, pursued by multiple space industry leaders, coincides with a warning from scientists of potentially “catastrophic outcomes,” as the likelihood of satellite collisions in orbit increases. If all the satellites currently in low Earth orbit were suddenly unable to maneuver to avoid each other — a problem that could be triggered by a massive solar storm — then a potentially catastrophic collision would likely occur in just under four days, researchers say. That’s the latest finding from the CRASH Clock, a tool developed to monitor the timeframe during which a low Earth orbit satellite collision is likely to happen during a major solar event. Such events are difficult to predict and come with limited warning; solar activity peaks roughly every 11 years. The CRASH Clock assesses the sustainability of space operations, explains Sarah Thiele, first author on the paper and a Ph.D. student at Princeton University. “The paper demonstrates how reliant we are on the continuous successful active management of satellites in orbit, and how the margin for error in these operations is decreasing over time,” she writes in an email to Mongabay. In 2018, the CRASH estimate stood at a comfortable 164 days. But that margin of safety shrank rapidly as the proliferation of satellites surged, and was shortened to 5.5 days by June 2025, while a calculation using orbital data from January 2026 cut it to 3.8 days. “This just shows how reliant&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/rush-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space-poses-poorly-understood-dangers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/rush-to-put-ai-data-centers-in-space-poses-poorly-understood-dangers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315584</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Thai data center boom sparks fears of water shortage, air pollution</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Mar 2026 03:54:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/10054228/20251216__DATA-CENTER_THAILAND_ANDY-BALL-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315482</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Artificial Intelligence, Community Development, data, Data centers, Economics, Ecosystems, Energy, Energy Transition, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Planetary Health, Renewable Energy, Resource Conflict, Rivers, Technology, Traditional People, Waste, Water, Water Pollution, and Water Scarcity]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced in collaboration with the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC). Read the ERC’s story on the impacts of data centers globally here. CHONBURI, Thailand — The sun had yet to rise at 6 a.m., but Sarayuth Sonlacksa was already crouched on his wooden jetty, hoisting up plastic crates of crabs from his pond [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This story was produced in collaboration with the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC). Read the ERC’s story on the impacts of data centers globally here. CHONBURI, Thailand — The sun had yet to rise at 6 a.m., but Sarayuth Sonlacksa was already crouched on his wooden jetty, hoisting up plastic crates of crabs from his pond to see if any had reached the size needed to sell to restaurants in Bangkok. He’s able to farm crabs this far inland, said Sarayuth, a former biochemist, thanks to the unique ecosystem provided by the mix of seawater, brackish water and freshwater that flows through the Bang Pakong River into the creeks near his home on the border between Chachoengsao and Chonburi provinces in eastern Thailand. But that delicate balance, he fears, may be upended by a new data center being built in Chonburi’s Khlong Tamru subdistrict, 10 kilometers (6 miles) from his crab farm in Chachoengsao province. The facility is one of at least 19 data centers reportedly planned or under construction in Chonburi and neighboring Rayong province. With the data centers springing up in an already heavily industrialized area that has struggled with water shortages and pollution, local residents say they fear the new sector could make the situation worse. “For me, data centers are better than normal factories,” Sarayuth said. “But for sure they will result in more water conflict, with more competition for resources, and more wastewater.” Sarayuth Sonlacksa inspects his crab farm, some 10 km from the construction site&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/thai-data-center-boom-sparks-fears-of-water-shortage-air-pollution/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-315482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Petrostates stymie effort to rein in Arctic shipping carbon emissions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/petrostates-stymie-effort-to-rein-in-arctic-shipping-carbon-emissions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/petrostates-stymie-effort-to-rein-in-arctic-shipping-carbon-emissions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Feb 2026 15:41:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/22030600/b.-AdobeStock_254252875-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314611</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic and Arctic Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Black Carbon, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Global Warming, Marine, Oceans, Pollution, Sea Ice, Shipping, Transportation, and Water]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[International shipping is on the rise in the Arctic region now that climate change regularly opens up transpolar sea routes in summer. That surge in traffic is leading to higher emissions of black carbon — colloquially known as soot, considered a “super pollutant.” Those emissions are escalating climate change and quickening sea ice and snow [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[International shipping is on the rise in the Arctic region now that climate change regularly opens up transpolar sea routes in summer. That surge in traffic is leading to higher emissions of black carbon — colloquially known as soot, considered a “super pollutant.” Those emissions are escalating climate change and quickening sea ice and snow loss across the Arctic, which is already Earth’s most rapidly warming region. At a recent meeting of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), member states (led by Denmark, and including France, Germany and the Solomon Islands), proposed new regulations to require ships sailing in the Arctic to use fuels that emit low amounts of black carbon. But in February, global petrostates, including Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States, opposed this effort, meant to slow Arctic warming. This delay follows a 2025 postponement of an IMO plan that had been widely expected to succeed, which would have accelerated the decarbonization of global shipping. That plan was blocked by the U.S. along with other oil-producing nations. The just-nixed Arctic proposal would have required ships sailing in the Far North to stop burning residual fuels — responsible for high black carbon emissions — and instead move to less polluting fuels. As spring approaches in the Arctic, an orange horizon backlights a ship&#8217;s stack emissions. The Research Vessel Polarstern embarked on a yearlong expedition to drift in Arctic sea ice called the Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC). Image by Julienne Stroeve/NSIDC via Flickr (CC&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/petrostates-stymie-effort-to-rein-in-arctic-shipping-carbon-emissions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/petrostates-stymie-effort-to-rein-in-arctic-shipping-carbon-emissions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314611</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Thousands of peat fires flare across Indonesia despite rainy season</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/thousands-of-peat-fires-flare-across-indonesia-despite-rainy-season/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/thousands-of-peat-fires-flare-across-indonesia-despite-rainy-season/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Feb 2026 06:40:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/12/28140328/firefighter-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314232</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Aceh, Asia, Indonesia, Kalimantan, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, and West Kalimantan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporations, Ecosystems, Environment, Fires, Forestry, Forests, Health, Peatlands, Planetary Health, Plantations, Pollution, Public Health, Rainforests, Rehabilitation, Restoration, Threats To Rainforests, and Tropical Forests]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Satellite imagery recorded more than 5,000 fire hotspots on peatlands across Indonesia in January, despite the fact that much of the country remains firmly in the grip of the rainy season. Independent watchdog Pantau Gambut identified 5,490 hotspots within peatlands, perennially waterlogged ecosystems that store massive amounts of carbon dioxide. Official monitoring also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Satellite imagery recorded more than 5,000 fire hotspots on peatlands across Indonesia in January, despite the fact that much of the country remains firmly in the grip of the rainy season. Independent watchdog Pantau Gambut identified 5,490 hotspots within peatlands, perennially waterlogged ecosystems that store massive amounts of carbon dioxide. Official monitoring also recorded an increase in fire hotspots, though using a different reporting method. Based on NASA Terra/Aqua satellite data, the Ministry of Forestry reported 110 hotspots nationwide in January 2026, up from 29 in January 2025 and 18 in December 2025. The two figures aren’t directly comparable, as they rely on different spatial filters and detection criteria. Pantau Gambut said the rise it recorded is concerning because it’s occurring during the wet season, which has been so intense this time around that it led to massive flooding in Sumatra in late 2025. The spike suggests fire risk in peat landscapes is no longer confined to the traditional dry season, but increasingly driven by degraded hydrology and land-use pressures, said Pantau Gambut campaigner Putra Saptian. Peat soil, which can be several meters deep, is made up of dead vegetation that, thanks to the waterlogged conditions, is only partially decomposed. In peat-rich areas across Sumatra and Borneo, logging and plantation companies have typically dug canals to drain the peat soil in preparation for cultivation, leaving behind vast swaths of highly flammable organic matter. Pantau Gambut recorded 1,824 hotspots inside the concessions of such companies in January, or a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/thousands-of-peat-fires-flare-across-indonesia-despite-rainy-season/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/thousands-of-peat-fires-flare-across-indonesia-despite-rainy-season/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314232</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Pilot projects aim to break Indonesia’s habit of burning household waste</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/pilot-projects-aim-to-break-indonesias-habit-of-burning-household-waste/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/pilot-projects-aim-to-break-indonesias-habit-of-burning-household-waste/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Feb 2026 12:51:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/12124327/Sampah-plastik-yang-dibakar-di-sebuah-TPS-di-Gresik-foto-Petrus-Riski-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314199</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Jakarta, Southeast Asia, and West Java]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Environment, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — When old mattresses and broken chairs are dumped by the roadside in his neighborhood, Erwinsyah faces a choice: leave them there and risk accidents, or set them on fire. The head of a neighborhood unit, or RT, in the city of Bogor, south of Jakarta, Erwinsyah says residents often discard bulky waste such [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — When old mattresses and broken chairs are dumped by the roadside in his neighborhood, Erwinsyah faces a choice: leave them there and risk accidents, or set them on fire. The head of a neighborhood unit, or RT, in the city of Bogor, south of Jakarta, Erwinsyah says residents often discard bulky waste such as used spring beds and furniture along the street. Left unattended, they become an eyesore — and a hazard. “The mattresses are already dirty, smelly, full of rat droppings. So they just get placed by the roadside. But that’s an area where people pass by, children go to school,” Erwinsyah told Mongabay. “If a child walks past and it falls on them, then I’m the one who’ll get blamed as the head of the neighborhood unit.” To prevent that from happening, he sometimes burns the items in an empty field away from houses, staying to monitor the flames. What Erwinsyah describes isn’t unusual. Across Indonesia, open waste burning remains widespread despite being prohibited under the country’s 2008 Waste Management Law. A 2023 national survey by the Ministry of Health found that 57% of Indonesian households still burn their waste , making it the most common method of waste handling. By comparison, 27.6% hand waste over to collectors or informal waste pickers, 8.7% dump it directly at disposal sites, and just 0.1% reported recycling. Open waste burning in Indonesia in 2023. Image courtesy of Ecoton. Health impacts Open waste burning releases a mix of pollutants, including&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/pilot-projects-aim-to-break-indonesias-habit-of-burning-household-waste/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314199</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Indonesia’s steel expansion risks a surge in greenhouse gas emissions</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesias-steel-expansion-risks-a-surge-in-greenhouse-gas-emissions/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesias-steel-expansion-risks-a-surge-in-greenhouse-gas-emissions/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Feb 2026 04:31:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hans Nicholas Jong]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/11042419/PR-05012026-02-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314073</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Coal, Corporate Environmental Transgressors, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporations, Emission Reduction, Energy, Environment, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Industry, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, and Renewable Energy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s steel industry is becoming one of the country’s fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, even as it receives far less public attention than other carbon-intensive sectors. The industry is already one of the country’s largest industrial emitters, and is set to become far more polluting if current trends continue, according to a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[JAKARTA — Indonesia’s steel industry is becoming one of the country’s fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, even as it receives far less public attention than other carbon-intensive sectors. The industry is already one of the country’s largest industrial emitters, and is set to become far more polluting if current trends continue, according to a report by environmental NGO Action for Ecology and People’s Emancipation (AEER). Global demand for steel is rising, driven by the expansion of electric vehicles, renewable energy and infrastructure projects. Against this backdrop, Indonesia’s crude steel production climbed to around 16.8 million metric tons, making it the world’s 15th-largest steel producer in 2023, according to the World Steel Association. AEER estimates that Indonesia’s steel output could grow twelvefold by 2060, with emissions rising 11.7 times from 2023 level if the industry continues to rely on coal-based production. At that scale, steel alone could account for around 31% of Indonesia’s national greenhouse gas emissions by 2060 if current policies remain unchanged, potentially putting Indonesia’s net-zero target out of reach. Indonesia’s high emissions stem largely from its reliance on coal-based blast furnace steelmaking, which uses coal both as a chemical input and as a source of the extremely high heat required to smelt iron ore. “The steel industry is one of the largest emitters within the industrial sector, making it a top priority for decarbonization. Steelmaking processes require extremely high temperatures, resulting in very high emissions,” said Timotius Rafael, a researcher at AEER, as quoted by local news.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesias-steel-expansion-risks-a-surge-in-greenhouse-gas-emissions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/indonesias-steel-expansion-risks-a-surge-in-greenhouse-gas-emissions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-314073</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plastic household waste burned as fuel on rise in Global South, risking health</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2026 18:34:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/23155841/Image_2-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313269</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Central America, Global, Guatemala, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, Conservation, Developing Countries, Environment, Health, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Toxicology, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Burning plastic waste for household fuel, or to manage household waste, may be far more prevalent in poor urban areas in developing countries than previously thought, raising serious environmental pollution and public health concerns for individuals, families and communities. That’s according to a new global study that surveyed more than 1,000 “key informants,” including researchers, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Burning plastic waste for household fuel, or to manage household waste, may be far more prevalent in poor urban areas in developing countries than previously thought, raising serious environmental pollution and public health concerns for individuals, families and communities. That’s according to a new global study that surveyed more than 1,000 “key informants,” including researchers, government workers and community leaders, from cities in 26 countries across the Global South. The researchers found that one-third of respondents are aware of households that are burning plastic, while 16% stated they’ve burned plastic in their own household. Burning plastic “has been integrated into household energy practices in numerous and diverse ways in many urban communities,” the authors write. Bishal Bharadwaj, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Calgary, says the issue has been largely overlooked, as it is occurring in marginalized and largely out-of-sight neighborhoods within cities. “The practice is more widespread than we thought,” he says. Bharadwaj published a paper in 2025 outlining how this practice is growing in the Global South, but this new paper adds in-depth data. The current research also comes against a backdrop of experts warning that the regular practice of open burning of plastic represents an “urgent global health issue” as communities increasingly resort to burning plastic as a fuel source and to tackle a rapidly growing plastic waste disposal crisis. Plastic and other waste in a cooking stove in Guatemala. Household burning of plastic raises health concerns due to close and prolonged&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313269</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Cameroon cookstove project looks to slow forest loss</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cameroon-cookstove-project-looks-to-slow-forest-loss/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cameroon-cookstove-project-looks-to-slow-forest-loss/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>30 Jan 2026 09:13:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leocadia Bongben]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Ashoka]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/30073019/Pabamis-daughter-in-the-Kitchen-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313523</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Avoided Deforestation, Black Carbon, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Food, Forest Loss, Fuelwood, Research, and Timber]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[GAROUA, Cameroon — One morning during the July monsoon in Bang, a village of 3,000 in North Cameroon, people woke up to heavy rains. The Mayo Tefi, a small river which runs through the village, swelled as the water level rose. Astha Pabami, a mother of 11 in her 50s, could not go out to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[GAROUA, Cameroon — One morning during the July monsoon in Bang, a village of 3,000 in North Cameroon, people woke up to heavy rains. The Mayo Tefi, a small river which runs through the village, swelled as the water level rose. Astha Pabami, a mother of 11 in her 50s, could not go out to fetch firewood, as crossing the river would have meant being swept away. Instead, she used some of the wood stacked behind her hut, lighting a fire to prepare a meal on her new cookstove. The cookstove looks like a traditional oven, with one opening for firewood and another for the pot. But it’s a big improvement over what she used to use: an open three-stone fireside. Pabami is one of about 250 women in Bang who were using these stoves when Mongabay visited the town. They were distributed as part of a project run by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), with support from the European Union. The stoves are meant to burn cleaner and use less wood — saving forests and protecting people’s health in the process. “The open fireside consumes more firewood and dirties our pots, and we inhale smoke. We could use about 8-10 pieces of wood to cook a meal; presently, a maximum of four pieces of wood is enough,” Pabami tells Mongabay. Since the improved stoves need less firewood, she doesn’t have to collect as much during the dry season, and what she puts into storage behind her hut&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cameroon-cookstove-project-looks-to-slow-forest-loss/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/01/cameroon-cookstove-project-looks-to-slow-forest-loss/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313523</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>How are California&#8217;s birds faring amid ever more frequent wildfires?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/how-are-californias-birds-faring-amid-ever-more-frequent-wildfires/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/how-are-californias-birds-faring-amid-ever-more-frequent-wildfires/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>31 Dec 2025 14:33:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gloria Dickie]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/30150019/13-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=312309</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[California, North America, Sierra Nevada, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation, Air Pollution, Animal Behavior, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Conservation, data, Ecology, Ecosystems, Environment, Fires, Forests, Monitoring, Owls, Research, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the forests of the Sierra Nevada, the black-backed woodpecker is without parallel. The bird appears almost born of fire, thriving on the flames that flicker through California’s coniferous forests every few years. Swooping in shortly after a blaze subsides, this woodpecker species, Picoides arcticus, nests in the hollowed-out trees the burn has left behind, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the forests of the Sierra Nevada, the black-backed woodpecker is without parallel. The bird appears almost born of fire, thriving on the flames that flicker through California’s coniferous forests every few years. Swooping in shortly after a blaze subsides, this woodpecker species, Picoides arcticus, nests in the hollowed-out trees the burn has left behind, gorging on an abundance of longhorn and bark beetles. Throughout the forest, a steady whack-whack can be heard from the birds&#8217; bills drilling into charred wood. The relationship between wildlife and wildfire is a complicated one. Many bird species, like the black-backed woodpecker, need the occasional inferno to create new habitat by opening up the forest canopy and increasing available food by kicking off a boom in insect populations. “While it’s ephemeral, it’s a native habitat of California that many species rely on and have evolved with over millions of years,” says ornithologist Morgan Tingley, whose research at the University of California, Los Angeles, focuses on the interplay of fire and bird populations. The black-backed woodpecker thrives on fires that burn through California’s coniferous forests every few years, opening the forest and creating an abundance  of insects they feed on. Image by Morgan Tingley/UCLA. But historically, this dynamic rested on moderate or mixed-severity fire — not the raging “megafires” that now scorch through the American West and leave little behind. In California, fires have burned more than 5.3 million hectares (13 million acres) over the past decade. In 2020 alone, blazes ripped through more than&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/how-are-californias-birds-faring-amid-ever-more-frequent-wildfires/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/how-are-californias-birds-faring-amid-ever-more-frequent-wildfires/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-312309</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>What would this scientist tell Trump? Interview with Robert Watson, former chair of the IPCC</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-would-this-scientist-tell-trump-interview-with-robert-watson-former-chair-of-the-ipcc/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-would-this-scientist-tell-trump-interview-with-robert-watson-former-chair-of-the-ipcc/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Dec 2025 21:23:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[David Akana]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/09212012/54973440165_4d66b618bf_o-1BIS23-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310944</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Circular Economy, Climate Change, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Freshwater, Governance, Green, Oceans, Rainforests, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly in late 2025 and dismissed climate change as a “con job”, the scientific community reacted with alarm. Months earlier, The Guardian had reported that his anti-climate agenda could result in 1.3 million additional deaths globally. Prior to that, in August, CNN documented how scientists [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations General Assembly in late 2025 and dismissed climate change as a “con job”, the scientific community reacted with alarm. Months earlier, The Guardian had reported that his anti-climate agenda could result in 1.3 million additional deaths globally. Prior to that, in August, CNN documented how scientists were coordinating to counter Trump’s attempts to erase credible climate research from the record. The news was emblematic of a wider trend: The rapid spread of climate disinformation, a resurgence of greenwashing and a global political environment increasingly hostile to science — even as emissions rise, biodiversity collapses and pollution reaches lethal levels. Against that backdrop, the U.N. Environment Program launched another report, which it called a flagship environmental assessment — the Global Environment Outlook 7 (GEO-7) — in Nairobi on Tuesday. Authored by 287 scientists from 82 countries, the report paints a stark picture: Greenhouse gas emissions continue climbing, 20-40% of global land is degraded, pollution kills 9 million people a year and 1 million species face extinction if current trends continue. Among the co-chairs of GEO-7 is Sir Robert Watson, one of the world’s most respected environmental scientists and a former chair of the IPCC, the U.N.’s top climate science body. In many ways, he has spent his career trying to ensure science informs political decisions. Watson was in Nairobi this week for the launch of the GEO-7. So, what would he tell a political leader who rejects the science entirely? Mongabay asked&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-would-this-scientist-tell-trump-interview-with-robert-watson-former-chair-of-the-ipcc/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/what-would-this-scientist-tell-trump-interview-with-robert-watson-former-chair-of-the-ipcc/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310944</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Can two Amazons survive? Invisible e-waste is poisoning the world</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/can-two-amazons-survive-invisible-e-waste-is-poisoning-the-world/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/can-two-amazons-survive-invisible-e-waste-is-poisoning-the-world/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Dec 2025 21:18:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerry McGovernSue Branford]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/03083255/10-Abogbloshie-dump-in-Ghana-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310477</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Ghana, Global, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Business, Carbon Emissions, Carbon Footprint, Climate Change, Consumption, E-waste, Emission Reduction, Energy, Environment, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Globalization, Health, Industry, Mining, Overconsumption, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Recycling, Research, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“I live in Accra, Ghana,” says Isaac Dinwe, who works for Closing the Loop, a Dutch company that works with the electronics industry to increase global recycling. “The e-waste problem in my country is so huge we are unable to manage it. Most of our e-waste ends up in city centres. Informal workers extract what [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“I live in Accra, Ghana,” says Isaac Dinwe, who works for Closing the Loop, a Dutch company that works with the electronics industry to increase global recycling. “The e-waste problem in my country is so huge we are unable to manage it. Most of our e-waste ends up in city centres. Informal workers extract what they can sell and burn the rest. It causes a lot of pollution,” Dinwe writes in an email to Mongabay from the group. Dinwe is one of a handful of Ghanaians tackling a public health and environmental crisis brought on by the global consumer economy and a lack of legislation and infrastructure around the globe. Dinwe heads a team trained to properly handle e-waste and travels to repair shops, villages and churches to buy “dead” phones that would otherwise end up landfilled or burned. “We are careful not to pay too much, as we want the phones to be used right up to the end of their life,” explains Closing the Loop CEO Joost de Kluijver. Isaac Dinwe, a Ghanaian, heads a team of 16 people who buy &#8216;dead&#8217; phones cheaply from repair shops and elsewhere in Accra, Ghana, to prevent them from being tossed into landfills. But, despite the team&#8217;s work, a lot of e-waste ends up in waste dumps where scavengers extract salvageable bits, then burn the rest, causing pollution that threatens public health. Image courtesy of Closing the Loop. Closing the Loop has joined with phone makers and sellers in Europe to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/can-two-amazons-survive-invisible-e-waste-is-poisoning-the-world/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/can-two-amazons-survive-invisible-e-waste-is-poisoning-the-world/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310477</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bearing witness to Indonesia’s environmental challenges: Sapariah Saturi</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/bearing-witness-to-indonesias-environmental-challenges-sapariah-saturi/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/bearing-witness-to-indonesias-environmental-challenges-sapariah-saturi/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Nov 2025 20:48:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/21043947/Sapariah-Sorong-Papua-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309882</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conversations with Mongabay leaders]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Borneo, Indonesia, Kalimantan, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Environment, Forests, Green, Interviews, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, and Journalism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s environmental issues often feel too vast to take in at once. A nation said to have more than 17,000 islands, it contains the world’s third-largest tropical rainforest and one of its busiest commodity frontiers. For many Indonesians, the story of modern development is told not in charts but in the air they breathe. Some [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indonesia’s environmental issues often feel too vast to take in at once. A nation said to have more than 17,000 islands, it contains the world’s third-largest tropical rainforest and one of its busiest commodity frontiers. For many Indonesians, the story of modern development is told not in charts but in the air they breathe. Some remember childhoods spent under yellowed skies, the sting of peat-fire smoke seeping through school windows, the sweet-acrid smell that clings to clothes long after the fires fade. Others know the slow rise of the sea by the way the ground squelches underfoot in places where it didn’t use to. Or the way Jakarta’s air tastes metallic on mornings when the pollution monitors glow red. For Sapariah “Arie” Saturi, these scenes are not abstractions. They are a biography. She grew up along the Kapuas River in West Kalimantan, a region shaped by the uneasy coexistence of forest, peatland, and the ambitions of logging firms, palm-oil giants, and mining companies. Fires arrived each dry season in the 1990s, and with them the haze: darkened skies, eyes that burned after a few minutes outdoors, a kind of muffled stillness that settles over the landscape when the smoke grows dense enough to dull sound and color alike. Masks were rare then. Children simply endured. Sapariah Saturi. Photo courtesy of Saturi. Today Arie lives in Jakarta, where the problems are different but no less tangible. The capital sinks a little each year, traffic is a consistent source of frustration, and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/bearing-witness-to-indonesias-environmental-challenges-sapariah-saturi/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/bearing-witness-to-indonesias-environmental-challenges-sapariah-saturi/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309882</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Early-career journalists join the next wave of environmental reporting (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/early-career-journalists-join-the-next-wave-of-environmental-reporting-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/early-career-journalists-join-the-next-wave-of-environmental-reporting-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Nov 2025 15:55:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Shradha Triveni]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Karen Coates]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/06115703/Adobe-Express-file-24-e1762430282780-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308971</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Letters to the Future]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, India, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Journalism, Media, Pollution, and Social Media]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; English poet Thomas Gray famously wrote, “where ignorance is bliss, ‘Tis folly to be wise.” He wasn’t particularly speaking of journalists or of Earth’s precarious future. I believe that ignorance is the enemy of journalism, it is no bliss, but the very thing we are meant to expose. Perhaps ignorance is an ally of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In this series, Our Letters to the Future, the sixth cohort of Mongabay’s Y. Eva Tan Conservation Reporting Fellows share their views on environmental journalism, conservation and the future for their generation, amid multiple planetary crises. Each commentary is a personal reflection, based on individual fellows’ experiences in their home communities and the insights gained through the past six months of the fellowship. The series spans the Global South — Malaysia, India, Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo — showcasing a broad diversity of ideas and the common ground these young environmental journalists share as they embark on their careers. &nbsp; English poet Thomas Gray famously wrote, “where ignorance is bliss, ‘Tis folly to be wise.” He wasn’t particularly speaking of journalists or of Earth’s precarious future. I believe that ignorance is the enemy of journalism, it is no bliss, but the very thing we are meant to expose. Perhaps ignorance is an ally of politics and the greatest of all blisses for capitalists. As I write this, Delhi gasps for breath. How can one ignore that? Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities in the world’s most populous nation, and a mirror to our collective neglect. This is just an isolated example. There’s more to the story of global environmental crises. But the question I’m most often asked by friends and family isn’t, “What will you do about it?” but “Why do you care?” . People do yoga early morning at the Lodhi garden as&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/early-career-journalists-join-the-next-wave-of-environmental-reporting-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308971</doi>				</item>
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					<title>Karen community fighting corn and coal for clean air in northern Thailand</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/karen-community-fighting-corn-and-coal-for-clean-air-in-northern-thailand/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/karen-community-fighting-corn-and-coal-for-clean-air-in-northern-thailand/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Nov 2025 02:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Gerald Flynn]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Philip Jacobson]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Food systems]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/06011059/f9172231-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308913</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Air Pollution, Bioenergy, Coal, Crops, Deforestation, Fires, Flooding, Food Industry, Fossil Fuels, Governance, Indigenous Peoples, Industrial Agriculture, Land Rights, Mining, Public Health, Rivers, Subsistence Agriculture, Sustainable Development, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[MAE CHAM/OMKOI, Thailand — Rain lashed down in the northern Thai village of Nong Krating as Sawattiphon Wongkasettakon described the worsening air pollution that sweeps in through the mountains here each year. “It didn’t used to be so bad, but in the last three years it’s become impossible to ignore,” Sawattiphon, a former deputy chief of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[MAE CHAM/OMKOI, Thailand — Rain lashed down in the northern Thai village of Nong Krating as Sawattiphon Wongkasettakon described the worsening air pollution that sweeps in through the mountains here each year. “It didn’t used to be so bad, but in the last three years it’s become impossible to ignore,” Sawattiphon, a former deputy chief of the village, told Mongabay on the porch of his home in August. “The sky gets dark, it’s uncomfortable when we breathe. It blows in from the maize farms.” Farmers in the region straddling northern Thailand, Myanmar’s Shan state and Laos grow maize to supply Thailand’s booming animal feed industry. Every year before the planting season, they set controlled fires to clear their fields of crop stubble left over from the harvest. The result: surging air pollution that sends the region’s towns and cities shooting up the rankings of the world’s most polluted places every February-April, when the burning peaks. To fix the problem, Thai leaders have tried everything from threatening to cut farmer subsidies and restricting where they can plant maize, to promoting alternative livelihoods and introducing microbial sprays for stubble decomposition. But nothing seems to break the cycle of seasonal haze, which still reaches levels more than 14 times higher than what’s considered safe by the World Health Organization. In Omkoi district, which encompasses Nong Krating village in Chiang Mai province, local officials decided years ago that enough was enough. In 2017, fearing the loss of the forests in which residents forage for herbs&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/karen-community-fighting-corn-and-coal-for-clean-air-in-northern-thailand/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308913</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Drax pellet mill wins appeal to raise pollution limits in small Mississippi town</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/drax-pellet-mill-wins-appeal-to-raise-pollution-limits-in-small-mississippi-town/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/drax-pellet-mill-wins-appeal-to-raise-pollution-limits-in-small-mississippi-town/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 Oct 2025 17:17:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Justin Catanoso]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/28163144/e4c69879-53cc-42ef-beb0-3fd4163cb5d1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308476</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Bioenergy, Business, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Environmental Law, Forests, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Industry, Logging, Politics, Pollution, and Public Health]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In April 2025, the town of Gloster, Mississippi, population 858, won a significant battle against the giant global wood pellet maker Drax, when the permitting board of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sided with the small community and denied the company’s request to increase air pollution limits so it could increase its manufacturing [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In April 2025, the town of Gloster, Mississippi, population 858, won a significant battle against the giant global wood pellet maker Drax, when the permitting board of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) sided with the small community and denied the company’s request to increase air pollution limits so it could increase its manufacturing output. Residents living near the Amite BioEnergy pellet mill breathed a sigh of relief then, thinking they had prevailed in proving their argument that Drax’s emissions were already harming their health and quality of life. The U.K.-based company had been fined three times by DEQ since 2016 for more than $2.75 million for exceeding toxic emissions limits at the plant. Then, on Oct. 15, DEQ reversed its previous decision. It agreed to reclassify Drax from being a minor emitter of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) to being a major emitter, thus technically giving it permission to legally emit more HAPs than in recent years. In reversing its decision, DEQ appears to be betting on Drax’s pledge that recently installed pollution-control technology will reduce emissions overall at the Gloster plant over the long run — even as the facility seeks to produce more wood pellets. Gloster, Mississippi, citizens have long lobbied local and state officials about what they believe are serious health hazards posed by pollution coming from one of the largest wood pellet mills in the world, owned by Drax, a U.K.-headquartered transnational forest biomass and energy company. Image courtesy of Krystal Martin. Regardless of the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/drax-pellet-mill-wins-appeal-to-raise-pollution-limits-in-small-mississippi-town/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308476</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Nepal seeks World Bank loan to fight air pollution despite hefty taxes to do so</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/nepal-seeks-world-bank-loan-to-fight-air-pollution-despite-hefty-taxes-to-do-so/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/nepal-seeks-world-bank-loan-to-fight-air-pollution-despite-hefty-taxes-to-do-so/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Oct 2025 04:50:31 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhaya Raj Joshi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/20081732/feature-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307861</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Nepal, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Finance, Fires, Forests, Health, Industry, Planetary Health, Public Health, Social Justice, and Transportation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal’s government is negotiating terms for millions of dollars in loans and grants from the World Bank to fund a project to fight air pollution, even though it has already raised billions of rupees (millions of dollars) by taxing fossil fuel over the past 16 years. The proposed 9.86 billion rupee ($68 million) [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KATHMANDU — Nepal’s government is negotiating terms for millions of dollars in loans and grants from the World Bank to fund a project to fight air pollution, even though it has already raised billions of rupees (millions of dollars) by taxing fossil fuel over the past 16 years. The proposed 9.86 billion rupee ($68 million) Nepal Clean Air and Prosperity Project aims to help industries reduce emissions, strengthen air pollution control mechanisms, build government capacity and improve emergency response, according to project documents published on the World Bank’s website. “With regard to the loan size, the amount is being finalized with the government based on the cost of the detailed project activities,” said Akash Babu Shrestha, a spokesperson for the World Bank in Nepal. He added that the project will be financed partially through a loan from the International Development Association, the bank’s arm that assists low-income countries, and partially through grant assistance. These fresh loan negotiations come despite repeated reminders from Nepal’s Office of the Auditor General and several court directives that funds collected under the pollution tax should be used specifically for pollution control rather than being absorbed into the central treasury. Buses pass through an under-construction highway in Nepal. Image by Abhaya Raj Joshi. According to the Ministry of Forests and Environment, the government has collected a total of 22.4 billion rupees (around $160 million) in pollution control fees between fiscal year 2008 and 2009 and 2023 and 2024. The government began levying a 0.5 rupee per&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/nepal-seeks-world-bank-loan-to-fight-air-pollution-despite-hefty-taxes-to-do-so/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307861</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Wildfire smoke could kill 71,000 people per year in the US by 2050, study warns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/wildfire-smoke-could-kill-71000-people-per-year-in-the-us-by-2050-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/wildfire-smoke-could-kill-71000-people-per-year-in-the-us-by-2050-study-warns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>08 Oct 2025 20:59:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Liz Kimbrough]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/09162118/wildfire-usa-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307256</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate Change, Conservation, Fires, Forest Destruction, Forests, and Indigenous Peoples]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When wildfire smoke from Canada turned New York City&#8217;s sky an eerie orange in June 2023, millions of Americans who&#8217;d never experienced such pollution got a glimpse of what has become routine for communities across the U.S. West. The smoke blanketed the Eastern Seaboard, closing schools and forcing residents indoors, a warning of what scientists [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[When wildfire smoke from Canada turned New York City&#8217;s sky an eerie orange in June 2023, millions of Americans who&#8217;d never experienced such pollution got a glimpse of what has become routine for communities across the U.S. West. The smoke blanketed the Eastern Seaboard, closing schools and forcing residents indoors, a warning of what scientists now say will become far more deadly in the coming decades. A study published this week in Nature projects that wildfire smoke will cause approximately 71,000 excess deaths each year by 2050 under current emissions trends — an increase of roughly 30,000 deaths over today&#8217;s levels. When researchers calculated the economic toll using federal safety standards, these deaths represent $608 billion in annual damages, more than previous estimates of all other combined climate impacts in the United States, including heat-related deaths, crop losses and hurricane damage. &#8220;Wildfire smoke was not really on people&#8217;s radar before 2018 or 2020, and it was not on Northeastern people&#8217;s radar before 2023 when Canadian wildfire smoke came,&#8221; said Minghao Qiu, lead author and assistant professor at Stony Brook University. The research addresses a significant blind spot in how scientists and policymakers understand the damages caused by climate change. Despite smoke becoming a lived reality for millions, the tools used to assess climate damages and guide federal regulations have not incorporated how rising temperatures fuel more wildfires and the resulting health toll. Smoke from the Canadian wildfires turns New York’s skies orange on June 7, 2023. Image by Anthony Quintano&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/wildfire-smoke-could-kill-71000-people-per-year-in-the-us-by-2050-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307256</doi>				</item>
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