Offices, Shops Could Hold Answers to South Africa’s Power Woes
South Africa’s commercial property industry has the potential to ease the country’s power crisis, with enough roof space
2023-06-20 18:47
EU Climate Chief Fears Green Deal Risks Hit From ‘Culture Wars’
The European Union’s landmark green deal is at risk of being dragged into the “culture wars,” said the
2023-06-20 17:15
Vanishing Ice on Highest Mountains Threatens Quarter of Humanity
Rapidly melting glaciers in Asia’s Hindu Kush Himalayan region — home to the world’s highest mountains — are
2023-06-20 09:58
Volatile Singapore Power Prices Push It to Finally Embrace Solar
Volatile electricity prices are helping to push Singapore, one of the world’s slowest adopters of solar power, to
2023-06-20 08:25
Global network of sadistic monkey torture exposed by BBC
A year-long investigation uncovers a sadistic abuse network stretching from Indonesia to the US.
2023-06-20 07:51
EU Power-Market Design Talks Fail Amid French Nuclear Rift
European Union energy ministers failed to agree on how to overhaul the bloc’s electricity market, with disagreement over
2023-06-20 03:49
German Greens Are in Crisis Like the Rest of Scholz’s Coalition
Germany’s Greens attacked their highest-ranking cabinet ministers at a party convention near Frankfurt this weekend. Nominally, the subject
2023-06-19 12:52
Coal Trains Bound for Giant Australia Port Halted by Protester
A total of 19 trains carrying coal to Australia’s flagship export hub for the fuel were disrupted after
2023-06-19 11:27
TikTok allowed millions of people to see Canadian ‘helicopter’ wildfire conspiracies before taking down videos
More than 400 wildfires are raging across Canada, and misinformation about the blazes is spreading as well, particularly on TikTok. As Media Matters for America (MMFA) noted in a recent analysis, videos on TikTok claiming the fires were started intentionally by helicopters, arsonists, and “directed energy weapons” have garnered millions of views this month, with the false ideas in these videos then spreading to other social media platforms. Only a few of the most viral false videos have been taken down, the analysis notes. Further scrutiny of such claims provides easy evidence to the contrary, with Canadian officials attributing the fires to a combination of lightning strikes, human accidents, and dry, climate crisis-fueled conditions across the country. “We are already seeing one of the worst wildfire seasons on record,” Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, said in a statement earlier this month. “We must prepare for a long summer.” Other videos about the fires featured clips from a controlled burn by fire officials, as well as what was actually a 2015 wildfire, MMFA found. The Independent has contacted TikTok for comment. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes including large numbers in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia. Hundreds of firefighters have arrived from countries like Australia, New Zealand, the US, South Africa, Chile, Costa Rica and France to assist the exhausted Canadian crews. As The Independent has previously reported, misinformation spreads quickly on TikTok during ongoing disasters, thanks in part to public distrust of government officials and an increasingly anti-science bent in US politics. “Social media can be helpful. It alerts people to a situation. It’s a way for widespread dissemination,” Dr Erin Haynes, professor of preventive medicine and environmental health at the University of Kentucky told The Independent in March in the wake of the Ohio train derailment disaster. “But because of that it allows widespread dissemination of false information, so it can go both ways. You have to be very cautious when using social media. Fact-check, find the source of that information.” Read More Canadian wildfire smoke gives Minnesota city the worst air in the US Satellites capture Canadian wildfire smoke pouring into US Midwest Wildfire smoke from Canada might be a problem ‘all summer’
2023-06-19 06:54
Ancient Amazon Charcoal Seen as Next Big Thing in Carbon Markets
A type of charcoal first used by Amazonian tribes thousands of years ago is becoming a key component
2023-06-19 05:52
Trillion-Dollar Answers to Tackle a Fast Heating World
Each week on the Zero podcast, Bloomberg Green’s Akshat Rathi invites guests working at the forefront of climate
2023-06-18 20:23
Boeing Sees $8 Trillion Jet Market as Climate Reshapes Travel
Boeing Co. predicts airlines around the world will add 42,595 jets valued at about $8 trillion over the
2023-06-18 06:59