Author name: James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy. You can follow his work on Google+.

Pakistan Has Begun Installing Air Quality Monitors, Following Last Month’s High Court Ruling

Last month, a three-member high court panel in Pakistan, composed of some of the country’s top judges, issued a court ruling that ordered the government there to document in detail the efforts being made to curb the growing air pollution problems there. The head of the three-member high court panel in question, Chief Justice Mian

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Silent Spring Was Published Back In 1962 — Flying-Insect & Bird Populations Have Still Fallen Precipitously Since Then

Rachel Carson’s influential book Silent Spring, which documented the effects of the indiscriminate widespread use of pesticides on the environment, was published back in 1962, nearly 60 years ago now. Since that time, the book has often been cited as one of the drivers behind environmental action and regulation of various kinds. Following the release,

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New York City Banning Cars From Central Park For First Time In A Century This Summer

Owing to the aim of reducing air pollution and local auto accidents, cars will be banned this summer from New York City’s Central Park — after more than a century of free use — the city’s mayor Bill de Blasio has announced. So, to say that a different way, New York City’s Central Park will

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Lyft Launching Program To Offset Carbon Emissions Of On-Demand Taxi Service Rides Via “Green” Investments

The on-demand taxi service provider Lyft is launching a new program whereby the carbon emissions footprints of the rides it provides will be offset through investments into various “green” offsets — renewable energy projects, reforestation work, etc. — a company spokesperson has revealed.

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International Maritime Organization Agrees To 50% Carbon Emissions Reductions By 2050 (Compared To 2008 Levels)

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has reached an agreement with constituent countries to put a plan into place to reduce the shipping sector’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2050, as compared to 2008 levels. The deal follows international talks this week in London between reps from relevant countries. Notably, the final deal

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Royal Dutch Shell To Continue With Deepwater Oil & Gas Exploration Off Egypt’s Coast — Implications

Deepwater oil and gas exploration off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast is now slated to be resumed by Royal Dutch Shell after a fairly long pause, the company’s Executive Vice President Sami Iskander was quoted recently as saying at a press conference on the matter. Owing to faltering oil production and rising energy imports, the government of

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Current New Zealand Government Administration Won’t Grant New Offshore Oil & Gas Exploration Permits, Prime Minister Says

In an announcement that mostly just amounts to a milking circumstance for PR purposes, the current administration in New Zealand has announced that it won’t be granting any new offshore oil and gas exploration permits or holding an associated tender process. To explain that a bit more, owing to relatively low global oil prices in

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Saudi Aramco Developing $44 Billion Mega-Refinery & Petrochemicals Complex In India With Local Consortium

An enormous $44 billion combined oil mega-refinery and petrochemicals complex is now in the works for development on the west coast of India. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was just signed between Saudi Aramco and a large consortium of India-based firms. Those involved in the consortium just mentioned — Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL)

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The Trickster & The Trump — The Politics Of America Seen Through The Lens Of Mythology

There are a set number of ways that a deck of cards can be dealt out. As you see the cards being dealt, you’re in fact watching possibilities being destroyed and inevitabilities arising. What exactly those inevitabilities are, depends upon the cards that you have just witnessed being dealt. The deck as a whole could

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H.L. Mencken, The Democratic Republic Of The United States, & Smartphones — Thoughts

We published an article recently that touched on the possible effects that the internet and smartphones seem to be having on the ability to think, or to function effectively as voters in a “democracy.” While I don’t disagree — smartphones are the real-life version of soma, as predicted by Huxley in Brave New World — that

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Trump Administration Decision To Drop Settlement Requirement That Harley-Davidson Spend $3 Million On Air Pollution Mitigation Challenged By 10 States

The Trump Administration decision to rescind the requirement of an earlier settlement that would have seen Harley-Davidson required to spend $3 million on air pollution reduction work — relating to the earlier marketing of illegal after-market devices/tuners — is now being challenged by a coalition of 10 US states and the District of Columbia.

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Hydro Begins Aluminum Production At HAL4e Pilot Facility — 15% Less Energy Use Than World Production Average For Aluminum

Aluminum production has now begun at Hydro’s HAL4e-process pilot facility in Karmøy (Norway). The Hydro-developed HAL4e aluminum production process will reportedly allow for 15% less energy use, and a much lower carbon footprint.

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New York City Files Multibillion-Dollar Lawsuit Against 5 Major Oil Firms

Five of the world’s largest oil companies are now in the process of being sued by New York City for their “contributions to global warming,” Comptroller Scott Stringer has revealed. The companies in question are: Chevron, BP, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, and ConocoPhillips — arguably the 5 top oil firms in the world that

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Ocean Dead Zones Multiplying Rapidly, Threatening Food Source For Hundreds Of Millions

An ocean dead zone is an area where there is not enough oxygen dissolved in the water to allow aquatic creatures to breath. To put it in perspective, imagine a person locked in a sealed chamber in which the level of oxygen is slowly but steadily decreased until they lie gasping for breath until they

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Norwegian Court Rules Against Lawsuit Calling For End To Arctic Oil Exploration — Arctic Oil Development Is A Go

The lawsuit that was filed by environmental groups in response to Norway’s announcement of plans to continue oil exploration in the Arctic has been dismissed by a court in Oslo. What that means is that the court ruled that the argument that such oil exploration was in violation of “people’s right to a healthy environment”

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India Has Spent Under A Quarter Of Funds Available For Ganges River Cleanup Over Last 2 Years, Auditor Finds

A federal audit has found that India’s government has only spent well under a quarter of the funds available to it for cleaning up the Ganges River over the last 2 years – with the audit determining that poor financial management and planning were then primary causes. To provide specifics, the audit — performed by

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Swiss Consumer Protection Group Representing 6,000 VW Diesel Car Owners Seeking Damages For Excess Emissions

A Switzerland-based consumer protection group has filed a new lawsuit against Volkswagen on behalf of 6,000 owners of diesel cars manufactured by the company in relation to the “Dieselgate” emissions scandal. The organization, SKS, isn’t actually just seeking damages from Volkswagen, it should be noted, but also from the Swiss car dealer AMAG, reportedly. Also

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What Do You Do If Your Country Is Facing Water Shortages Exacerbated By Climate Change? Pray, Apparently — Israel’s Agriculture Minister Leads Prayers For Water

Much of the Middle East is now slated to essentially turn to desert over the coming decades and centuries owing to climate change, and exacerbated by poor human judgment and short-sighted activities. It bears remembering that much of what is now the Middle East and the Mediterranean was before the human population expansion of the

What Do You Do If Your Country Is Facing Water Shortages Exacerbated By Climate Change? Pray, Apparently — Israel’s Agriculture Minister Leads Prayers For Water Read More 👉

Fiat Chrysler Holding Settlement Talks With Diesel Vehicle Owners In US In Relation To Allegations Of Excessive Emissions

Fiat Chrysler lawyers are now holding discussions with lawyers representing various owners and owners groups of diesel vehicles in the US that are in the process of suing the prominent auto manufacturer, in relation to allegations of excess emissions in old diesel models. The news — revealed by a court-appointed adviser at a hearing in

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Iran’s Air Pollution Problems Are Growing Fast, As Evidenced By Recent Events

The air pollution problems facing Iran, in particular those facing the country’s populous capital Tehran, seem to be growing rapidly based on recent events. As the result of dangerous levels of air pollution, schools in Tehran and in many other large cities throughout the country as well, were closed last week state media reported at

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Interesting Plastic-Trash-To-Construction-Materials Recycling Program Underway In Coastal Kenya

The coastline of Kenya has been a hotspot for tourism and fishing activities for a quite a while now — with the region also being home to fair numbers of sea turtles. Recent years, though, have made the region home to significant quantities of plastic trash and debris — much of which eventually washes into

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Vanadium Emissions Surged Last 2 Decades — Increasing Use Of Heavy Oils, Tar Sands, Bitumen, Etc.

The growing use of heavy oils, tar sands, bitumen, petroleum coke, etc., by industry since 2000 or so has resulted in rapidly surging levels of vanadium emissions, according to a new study from Duke University. To be more specific, human-related emissions of vanadium now surpass those of natural sources by a factor of 1.7 —

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Study: Micro Plastics Found In Mussels In “Pristine” Arctic Waters (As Well As In UK, China, Canada, Chile, Belgium…)

Micro plastics are now present in large quantity in essentially all of the world’s water. As a result, they are also present in a fast-growing proportion of the world’s drinking water and food as well. To quantify that to some degree — previous studies have found micro plastic pollution in mussels (a type of shellfish)

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UPS Pre-Orders 125 Tesla Semi Trucks, Largest Order Yet (Besting PepsiCo’s Order Of 100 Units)

Originally published on EV Obsession. One of the largest package delivery companies in the world, UPS (United Parcel Service Inc), has placed a pre-order for 125 units of the recently unveiled Tesla Semi Truck, the company has revealed. The new reservations constitute the largest pre-order of the Tesla Semi to date — with the order eclipsing

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Court Official: Uber Should Have Produced Ex-Employee Letter, Keeping It From Court Was Wrong

As we reported recently, an ex-security analyst at Uber had written a letter to the company’s in-house lawyer back in May that spoke of a unit that existed “expressly for the purpose of acquiring trade secrets, codebase, and competitive intelligence,” and also of a separate unit that “frequently engages in fraud and theft.” Uber execs

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Germany’s KBA Forces Recall Of Volkswagen Touareg SUVs Due To Illegal Defeat Devices

A new recall of diesel-powered Volkswagen Touareg SUVs, due to the presence of illegal “defeat devices” intended to defraud regulators, has been ordered by Germany’s auto industry watchdog the KBA reportedly. Apparently 2 separate “illicit emissions control devices” have been discovered in the newest generation of 3-liter diesel Volkswagen Touaregs — with the recall relating

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Chinese Automaker BAIC To Stop Selling Its Non-Electric Cars By 2025

The China-based auto manufacturer BAIC Motor Corp is now aiming to cease sale of its self-developed and self-branded conventionally powered cars by 2025, China Daily has reported. “On the morning of December the 9th, 2017 at the inauguration of the Beijing New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Centre, the president of BAIC Group promised to end the sales

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BMW Denies Accuracy Of DUH Report Which Found Real-World 3-Series NOx Emissions 7 Times Above Legal Limit

The German luxury auto manufacturer BMW has denied allegations from the environmental group DUH that engine management software cut power to a system filtering nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions during real-world road testing of a 3-Series diesel car — thus allowing for NOx emissions some 7 times higher than the legal limit. The German environmental group’s

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Report From US Government Scientists Says Modern Climate Change Is Driven By Human Activity

A new report released by a groups of over 50 US government scientists asserts that the rapid pace at which modern climate change is occurring is almost definitely driven by human activity — making for a blunt contradiction of the stance taken by many members of the current administration of President Donald Trump. In particular,

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US EPA To Bar Certain Scientists From Serving On Independent Advisory Boards

The US Environmental Protection Agency will begin barring select scientists from serving on independent advisory boards — a move possibly intended to clear the path towards the installation of industry-friendly advisors on the panel in question, according to critics. The new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ban-list is focused on scientists who have won agency-awarded grants

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Atmospheric Methane Levels Rose Rapidly In 2016, Scientists Claim To Not Understand Why

Atmospheric methane levels rose fairly rapidly in 2016, as did atmospheric carbon dioxide levels (which saw the yearly average rise up to 403.3 parts per million), according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Image: methane leaks in Boston, via Duke University The scientists involved in the report claim to not know

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+50° Celsius Heatwaves Coming For Australia?

Australia’s largest cities could begin experiencing extreme heatwaves with +50° Celsius temperatures within the relatively near term (within the next ~20 years), even if international climate change and greenhouse gas emissions reductions goals are met, according to a recent study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. To be more specific, the recent study dealt

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