A new report from Marine Conservation Society has determined an 80% decline in the amount of plastic bags found washed up on beaches in the past 10 years. The report links the decline in plastic bag waste to the enacting of fees for single-use plastic bags at large supermarket retailers in 2015.

Marine Conservation Society completes a survey on beach litter every year and has done so for three decades. Last year, its volunteers found 4,684 single-use plastic bags in the UK and Channel Islands. 

As the Centre for Public Impact reported, England first issued a law requiring retailers with 250 or more full-time employees to charge at least 5 pence per each single-use plastic bag. Fees typically range between 5 and 25 pence per bag, The Guardian reported.

“It is brilliant to see policies on single-use plastics such as carrier bag charges working,” Lizzie Price, beachwatch manager at the Marine Conservation Society, said in a press release. “There is no doubt that these policies have been extremely successful in reducing this frequently littered item.”

In 2023, the UK government shared a report that found plastic bag usage at major supermarkets declined by 98% from 2014 to 2023. 

A report from earlier this year found that in the U.S., plastic bag bans have been highly effective, reducing the amount of waste by millions of bags. Bans in just three states and two major cities in the U.S. cut single-use plastic bags by about 6 billion per year. In 2018, a report determined that a plastic bag ban by two major grocery chains in Australia reduced single-use plastic bags by 1.5 billion in just three months of the program.

Although the Marine Conservation Society praised the decline of plastic bags washing up on beaches since the bag fees were initiated, the organization noted that more work is needed to further reduce plastic bag pollution along with other forms of waste. Recent beach surveys from Marine Conservation Society found an increase in drinks-related plastic litter and an overall 1.2% increase in plastic litter across UK beaches, despite the decline in plastic bag litter, The Guardian reported.

In October 2023, the UK enacted a ban on plastic cutlery, polystyrene cups and food containers, balloon sticks, and other single-use plastics. However, as The Conversation reported, the ban did not apply to single-use plastic packaging. 

“Our volunteer surveys show 9 out of 10 beach litter items are made from plastic, and drinks-related litter, like bottles and cans, were found on 97% of UK beaches surveyed last year,” Price said. “We need broader policies that charge or ban more single-use items where possible such as the proposed deposit return schemes for plastic bottles, cans, and glass. We must move quicker towards a society that repairs reuses and recycles.” 

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The London ULEZ, or Ultra Low Emission Zone, expanded in August 2023 to cover all of London’s boroughs in order to reduce emissions and air pollution. The results? A significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions from traffic and improved air quality within the first six months of the expansion, a new report has confirmed.

According to the report, nitrogen oxide emissions from cars in outer London declined 13% with the expansion, and particulate matter emissions, or PM2.5, from cars and vans decreased around 20% in outer London since the expansion.

As The Guardian reported, the overall impact of the 2023 expansion of the ULEZ led to emissions reductions equivalent to taking around 200,000 cars off the roads.

“London’s air quality is improving at a faster rate than the rest of England, and 96% of vehicles are now compliant, with tens of thousands of Londoners benefitting from our scrappage scheme,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan said in a press release. “It’s thanks to our bold policies, including ULEZ, that we are now set to get London’s air to within legal limits by 2025, 184 years earlier than previously projected. But there’s still more to do and I promise to continue taking bold action — including more to clean up out air and rivers — as we build a fairer, greener London for everyone.”

The ULEZ was first implemented in 2019 and applied only to Central London. By 2021, it had been expanded further to the North Circular and South Circular Roads. In August last year, officials stretched the zone to cover greater London in order to promote transition to electric vehicles, the use of public transit, walking and cycling. Ultimately, the goal for the ULEZ is to help reduce emissions and allow the city to reach its target of net-zero emissions by 2030, Intelligent Transport reported.

So how does it work? The ULEZ operates 24/7, year-round, with the exception of December 25. Vehicles must meet the ULEZ requirements based on particular vehicle emissions, or qualify for exemptions. Otherwise, drivers pay £12.50 (about $16.10) per day to drive within the ULEZ limits, which now cover greater London. The money collected from ULEZ fees go toward maintenance and improvements for London’s transportation network. 

Meanwhile, the initiative encourages more people to switch to lower emissions vehicles and/or walk, bike, or take public transit, reducing traffic-related emissions within the city.

According to the recent report, vehicle compliance in the expanded ULEZ area is around 96.2%, while compliance in inner London is around 96.5% and central London is around 96.4%, meaning the vast majority of vehicles meet the low-emissions standards and do not have to pay fines.

“Improving air quality through initiatives like the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London is crucial for protecting public health and reducing the burden of disease,” Dr. Maria Neira, director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. “Cleaner air leads to healthier communities, lower rates of respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, and a better quality of life for all residents. The World Health Organization commends the efforts of cities like London in implementing measures to reduce emissions from vehicles and improve air quality, which ultimately contribute to a healthier and more sustainable urban environment.”

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The daily global average temperature reached a new record high on July 21, 2024, according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

C3S data showed that on Sunday, the global average temperature reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (approximately 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), just barely surpassing the previous record set in July 2023. The new record high was 0.01 degree warmer than July 6, 2023, which reached 17.08 degrees Celsius.

The data reveals that this is the hottest day recorded on Earth since at least 1940, when C3S records began. 

As C3S explained, the record established prior to the ones set on July 21, 2024 and July 6, 2023 was 16.8 degrees Celsius, which broke the record in August 2016. But that record was bested 57 different times since July 2023. Those high temperatures were recorded in July and August 2023 and, so far, in June and July 2024, revealing soaring temperatures coming earlier in the year. 

“On July 21st, C3S recorded a new record for the daily global mean temperature. What is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the last 13 months and the previous temperature records,” Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S, shared in a statement. “We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years.”

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The climate monitoring service analyzed the data and said that the increasing daily global average temperature could be linked to higher temperatures in parts of Antarctica, which is also experiencing low sea ice cover.

While the world just broke the record for the hottest day on record, C3S has predicted that this record may quickly be broken.

“In the coming days, we are expecting the daily global average temperature to further increase and peak around 22 or 23 July 2024 and then go down, but with possible further fluctuations in the coming weeks,” the service explained.

C3S found that in the span of time in records, the hottest decade took place from 2015 to 2024. Over the past 13 months, each month has hit record monthly highs.

As Reuters reported, experts believe 2024 may again break the record for the hottest year ever recorded, which was broken in 2023.

Earlier this month, C3S confirmed that this year is on track to be the hottest on record, following 12 consecutive months of temperatures over the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold compared to pre-industrial averages, as outlined in the Paris Agreement. From June 2023 to May 2024, the global average temperature was 1.63 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial average temperatures.

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After a few weeks of heat advisories and even devastating wildfires, California’s power grid has faced minimal disruptions. Officials are praising the state’s long-term focus on renewable energy infrastructure and battery storage for enhancing grid stability, even in the extreme heat.

“This was a good early test that we passed in very good shape,” said Elliot Mainzer, president and CEO of California Independent System Operator (CAISO), as reported by The Sacramento Bee. “Investments in new clean energy and in dispatchable battery storage played a major role.”

As Dede Subakti, vice president of system operations at CAISO, explained on the company’s website, increasing temperatures can strain power grids. In addition to more households cranking up the heat and using more power, high temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit can also cause power plants to operate less efficiently, the Union of Concerned Scientists explained on its blog.

These issues can cause energy demand to exceed supply, leading to outages that put communities in more danger from the extreme temperatures. Grid operators may also trigger rotating power outages to different communities to reduce the strain on the grid and avoid larger, longer-lasting power disruptions.

But clean energy resources can improve grid resiliency by providing stored energy, and solar power can meet energy demand where it’s needed, alleviating some of the demand on the grid.

California is a leader of renewables in the U.S. As of 2023, about 54% of the state’s electricity generation came from renewables, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). California has set a target to reach 60% renewables by 2030 and 100% renewable energy by 2045.

In recent years, rolling blackouts have been an issue across the state during more frequent and intensifying heat waves. But California’s investments in renewable energy are helping to curb these outages.

“California’s power grid held up against prolonged record temperatures because of new clean energy resources, more battery storage, and enhanced coordination with state government — and the grid was also able to export energy to other states in need during this heat wave,” Subakti said.

^{The California Independent System Operator control room in Folsom, California on Sept. 21, 2022. California ISO / Facebook}

Earlier this year, in May, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced record solar power output, which reached 18,933 megawatts on May 13. This was a 20-fold increase compared to 2012. According to the governor’s office, clean energy exceeded grid demand for a record 34 days at the time.

As ABC7 News reported, officials have warned that extreme weather, like heat waves, will still pose threats to the grid without more actions to address the impacts of climate change.

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The UK has become the first country in Europe to approve lab-grown meat. The authorization will specifically allow the use of cultivated chicken, or meat grown from the cells of an egg sample, in a new pet food made by the London-based startup Meatly.

Formerly known as Good Dog Food, Meatly received regulatory approval from the country’s Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

To make the pet food, Meatly starts by extracting cells from a chicken egg sample. Then, in a lab setting, the Meatly team tends to the cells, giving them the nutrients necessary to develop meat. Meatly described the process as similar to making yogurt or beer, ultimately leading to a non-GMO meat product that requires minimal animal products to make. From there, Meatly collaborates with pet food companies to incorporate its lab-grown chicken into pet food for a more sustainable ingredient.

Pet food has major implications for the environment, since much of pet food is made with meat. As Earth.org reported, pet food is responsible for about 25% to 30% of the environmental impact of meat in the U.S. alone. A 2018 study found that the environmental impact from the diet of each domesticated dog or cat in Japan was nearly equivalent to the dietary environmental impact of one citizen. Yet another study determined that globally, an amount of land around double the size of the UK is used every year to make dry food for pets.

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“Our pets consume huge amounts of meat every day and so this development can play a crucial part in reducing the emissions, resource consumption, and animal suffering caused by traditional meat production,” Jim Mellon, founder of Agronomics, an investor in Meatly, said in a press release.

As The Grocer reported, pet food sales in the UK are taking off, recently exceeding 29 billion euros (around $31.7 billion). The increasing demand can put more pressure on the environment as it takes more land to raise livestock and food for the livestock.

Meatly hopes to help alleviate this pressure with its cultivated meat, which can be made using cells from just one fertilized egg. As The Guardian reported, Meatly is currently operating on an investment of 3.5 million pounds (about $4.55 million) and plans to raise another 5 million pounds (about $6.5 million) in its next round of fundraising.

With these investments, Meatly plans to scale its operations, first by making its cultivated meat available in commercially available pet food in the UK this year. It will continue scaling over the next three years while also working to reduce costs, including by adding vegetables to the cultivated meat, The Guardian reported.

“It is incredibly exciting to see the first ever cans of cultivated pet food fly off the production line,” Owen Ensor, co-founder and CEO of Meatly, said in a press release. “This is a major milestone for cultivated meat globally and shows that we are ready to sell product. As demand continues to grow, with pet food already accounting for 20% of meat produced globally, so too does the industry’s environmental impact. Cultivated meat gives pet parents an easy choice — high quality, tasty, nutritious, and sustainable pet food.”

Meatly noted on its website that it will be at least another year or two before its product comes to North America.

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