Transition

Where are we on the environment? #20

1/5/2022 2 minutes

This month’s global events in five headlines: from the catastrophic floods in eastern South Africa to the microplastics in our lungs.

What's been happening around the world in April in five news items, for those interested in the environment, sustainability and ecological transition.

At least 250 people have died and hundreds are missing as a result of the floods that have affected the Durban, area in eastern South Africa. The government of the KwaZulu-Natal province, where the city is located, talked about «one of the worst storms in the history of the country».

Climate change is what inspired the Google doodle dedicated to Earth Day, which has been celebrated on 22nd April since 1970. In particular, the animation referred to what the company describes as «one of the most urgent matters of our times» to guarantee the safeguarding of the planet and its inhabitants.

9847 — According to the local authorities, the damage caused by the flooding in South Africa amount to the equivalent of a few hundred million Euro (Matheus Triaquim/Pexels.com)

The first Italian sea wind plant was inaugurated in Taranto on 21 April 2022. It is called Beleolico and consists of ten turbines. It has an overall power of 30 megawatts and can produce up to 58 thousand megawatt/hour a year, equal to the annual electricity requirement of approximately 60thousand people. According to estimates, the system will remain operative for at least 25 years and will help save 730 thousand tons of CO2_.

On 21 April, the President of the Veneto region Luca Zaia wrote a letter to the President of the Council Mario Draghi and the head of the Protezione Civile Fabrizio Curcio asking the government to consider granting “water emergency status” and obtain support for the effects of the drought that has been going on for months. In particular, Zaia has asked the government to “define supra-regional ways to manage the water crisis” also with the objective of clarifying what water reserves are available to the Region.

Traces of microplastics have been found for the first time in the lungs of a few patients after others had been found in the past in the respiratory system of a few deceased people subjected to an autopsy. The discovery was made in the United Kingdom and contributed new evidence of the widespread diffusion of the minuscule fragment of plastic in practically all the environments we live in due to pollution.