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Pollution

Air quality levels have been bad in Accra since December as harmattan season kicks in across Ghana. The data coming in shows the situation is not improving.

Hazy skies over Accra: Harsh harmattan season in Ghana leads to health hazards, poor air quality

Climate Change

Severe, dry winds during the harmattan season are not new in Ghana. But experts with the country’s environmental agency say climate change is intensifying these weather conditions, leading to increased respiratory problems and poor air quality in Accra, the country’s capital. 

cars on streets

90% of the cars on Ghana’s roads are imported used cars. Many are polluting or unsafe.

Development
Antonio Trujillo holds a cigarette while resting on a bench, in Pamplona, northern Spain

Big tobacco is forced to pay for cigarette butt pollution in Spain, but smokers may soon be on the hook

Environment
Delegates began to share their concrete visions on what they believe the future plastic treaty could look like at the first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-1).

Negotiators meet in Uruguay to map out global plastics treaty

Environment
Downtown Oaxaca city in southern Mexico. 

Oaxaca trash dump closure wreaks environmental havoc

Environment
Plastic pollution has become a major concern in Ghana.

Ghana’s fishermen are drowning in plastic. The govt is trying to tackle pollution before it’s too late.

Environment

Ghana is one of a handful of countries to launch a national plastic pollution plan backed by the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Development Program. 

The Shell Norco refinery in Norco, Louisiana, Thursday, March 8, 2018.

A new interactive map can help assess carcinogenic emissions risk

Health & Medicine

The nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica recently created an interactive map that highlights the EPA’s failure to account for cumulative cancer risk for Americans who live near several industrial facilities.

Workers prepare to replace older water pipes with a new copper one in Newark, New Jersey, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021.

Scientists link childhood lead exposure to adult mental health problems

Health & Medicine

Lead contamination in drinking water can have serious impacts on growing brains, including cognitive issues in the short term and mental illnesses years after the exposure ends.

The Shell Norco oil refinery along the Mississippi River in Norco, LA.

Hurricane Ida adds misery to ‘Cancer Alley’: Part II

Environment

“The chemical plants are really having a ball with this hurricane,” says Sharon Lavigne, a local activist who has been fighting to stop pollution in a highly toxic area of southern Louisiana.

In this July 27, 2018, photo the Dave Johnson coal-fired power plant is silhouetted against the morning sun.

Fossil fuels cause 1 in 5 premature deaths worldwide, study says

Environment

Ultra-fine particulate matter emitted from fossil fuel combustion is known to cause numerous health issues that disproportionally effect people living in poverty.