Plastic straws and single-use bags vanish from China as ban kicks in
In China, 2020 was bid farewell with a flurry of fireworks and the scratching off of 200 million metric tonnes of plastic straws from the nation’s pollution inventory.
China
China will open its huge FAST telescope to scientists globally
The “Sky Eye” parabolic dish is the world’s largest Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) used for spotting pulsars and other energetic astronomical targets.
Chinese island province of Hainan bans all disposable plastics
Plastic polymer food containers, forks, drink cups, knives, straws, plastic bags, packaging bags, and other items that are not biodegradable are no longer allowed to be sold at major establishments like supermarkets, hospitals, government and state-owned buildings like schools, and tourist attractions.
Nissan to go 100% electric and hybrid in China by 2025
Nissan is taking active steps to meet China’s recently-announced plans to follow a similar “eco-friendly” vehicle model throughout mainland China as soon as 2035. As part of its response, Nissan will announce 9 all-new or updated electrified cars between now and the 2025 model year, according to Nikkei Asia.
Toxic sulfur dioxide emissions fell across India, Russia, and China last year– dropping 6% globally
In 2019, the levels of anthropogenic SO2 emissions fell worldwide by 6%. In only the second time ever, SO2 emissions fell in all three of the countries most responsible for emitting it: China, India, and Russia.
Population of endangered leopard species rebounds in China
Camera footage installed by Bing Xie, a Ph.D. student at the University of Copenhagen and her fellow research colleagues showed an increase of 25 percent in northern China’s Loess Plateau’s leopard population from 88 in 2016 to 110 in 2017.
Performing acts of kindness can boost both physical health and happiness, study finds
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong performed a meta-analysis of 201 independent studies, comprising 198,213 total participants, that looked at the connection between prosocial behavior and well-being.
World’s largest solar plant goes online in China
Huanghe Hydropower Development has connected a 2.2 GW solar plant to the grid in the desert in China’s remote Qinghai province. The project is backed by 202.8 MW/MWh of storage.
China, top global emitter, aims to go carbon-neutral by 2060
Citing the Paris Agreement that he and former U.S. President Barack Obama helped forge in 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country would raise its emissions reduction targets. “We aim to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060,” he said.
Air pollution falls in China after extensive efforts to reduce emissions
New research published by The Lancet and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the China National Key Research and Development Program has found that annual deaths from air pollution in China are now below 1990 levels, having peaked in 2013.