Latest Pollution News

New York judge rejects state efforts to shutter bitcoin mine over climate concerns

Nov. 22, 2024 15:57 PM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — A cryptocurrency plant in central New York can continue operating after a court rejected the state’s effort to shutter the facility over concerns about its climate impact. The decision was hailed as a victory by Greenidge Generation, a large-scale crypto mine in...

Papuan women's mangrove forest in Indonesia is increasingly threatened by development and pollution

Nov. 21, 2024 06:37 AM EST

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — On the southeastern coast of the city of Jayapura, Petronela Merauje walked from house to house in her floating village inviting women to join her the next morning in the surrounding mangrove forests. Merauje and the women of her village, Enggros,...

Judge puts stop to governor's effort to remove Virginia from greenhouse gas initiative

Nov. 20, 2024 19:17 PM EST

Virginia can't withdraw from a multistate initiative designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions unless the Legislature agrees to it, a judge has ruled, dealing a blow to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's efforts to exit the compact. The ruling, issued Monday by retired Judge C. Randall Lowe in...

Belem, host of next year's climate talks, is Amazonian city plagued with pollution and violence

Nov. 20, 2024 00:09 AM EST

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — For the last few years, climate scientists, environmentalists and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have been talking up the first U.N. climate conference to be held in the Amazon. The largest tropical forest in the world stores huge amounts of planet-warming...

India's capital chokes as air pollution levels hit 50 times the safe limit

Nov. 18, 2024 05:25 AM EST

NEW DELHI (AP) — Authorities in India’s capital shut schools, halted construction and banned non-essential trucks from entering the city on Monday after air pollution shot up to its worst level this season. Residents of New Delhi woke up to thick, toxic smog enveloping the city...

Park regulars in New Delhi's Lodhi Garden say toxic pollution levels won't force them out

Nov. 16, 2024 21:32 PM EST

NEW DELHI (AP) — For many in New Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities, Lodhi Garden is an escape in the heart of India’s capital. Park regulars say they won’t let rising pollution levels deter them — even if they have to tweak their routine because of the smog. ...

An environmental group files intent to sue a salmon farmer for pollution off Maine's coast

Nov. 16, 2024 12:34 PM EST

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — An environmental organization has served a notice of intent to sue one of the world's largest aquaculture companies for violations of the Clean Water Act in Maine — allegations the fish farmer ardently denies. Conservation Law Foundation contends Cooke...

Pakistani province declares health emergency due to smog and locks down two cities

Nov. 15, 2024 14:37 PM EST

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani province declared a health emergency Friday due to smog and imposed a shutdown in two major cities. Smog has choked Punjab for weeks, sickening nearly 2 million people and shrouding vast swathes of the province in a toxic haze. A...

AP PHOTOS: Thick smog shrouds Asian cities

Nov. 14, 2024 08:58 AM EST

NEW DELHI (AP) — Thick smog shrouded New Delhi and other cities around South and Southeast Asia as air pollution levels soared Thursday. Air pollution in the region worsens particularly in winter when the burning of crop residue in agricultural areas coincides with cooler...

Pakistan employs new measures to deal with nearly 70,000 people affected daily by hazardous smog

Nov. 13, 2024 12:40 PM EST

MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities introduced mobile clinics and added more beds in hospitals to treat the nearly 70,000 patients received daily with respiratory-related diseases as hazardous smog continued to shroud the country's east, officials said Wednesday. Punjab,...