Argentina passed a national Forestry Law to halt the destruction of its native forests in 2007 — but 15 years on an analysis of satellite data shows the destruction has still not stopped. In a special interactive feature, Federico Acosta Rainis uses satellite imagery to explore the scale of illegal deforestation in Argentina. Click on the image above to read on.
Author: Federico Acosta Rainis
In a special interactive feature, Federico Acosta Rainis uses satellite imagery to look at how Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait disrupted shipping traffic on one of the world’s major trade lanes. Click on the image above to read on.
Photo courtesy of Dr Kathryn Wheeler Dr Kathryn Wheeler researches how consumers respond to pressures on them to act sustainably. In an interview with Birmingham Eastside she sheds light on the state of recycling in the UK compared with other countries; explains why it is not so easy to improve household recycling rates; and proposes some ideas to start moving up the ‘waste hierarchy’. Let’s start with the basics. How important is recycling today? “At the time of climate crisis, sustainability is key on most agendas across the world. If you think about the waste hierarchy, from disposal at the bottom…
Find out all about the city’s biggest CO2 emitter Tyseley ERF as seen from the Grand Union Canal — Photo by Federico Acosta Rainis If you head southeast out of Birmingham along the Grand Union Canal, the buildings and noises of the city are quickly left behind and the landscape becomes greener. The remaining industrial structures on the right bank — a timber factory, some old warehouses, an electricity substation — disappear when, shortly after passing under Golden Hillrock Rd, the canal turns first to the left and then to the right, and you reach a densely wooded area. It seems that, at last, the…
Only 22.5% of household waste is recycled and the city is heavily dependent on incineration Litter in public spaces: a common postcard in Birmingham — Photo by Federico Acosta Rainis “There are a lot of things that you can’t recycle here,” says Claire Douglas, sitting on a bench in Birmingham’s Cathedral Square. It’s a sunny afternoon in May and the place is full of people enjoying the spring. “Until five years ago I lived in Hackney and everyone recycles everything there, but when I moved here I noticed that very little is being collected.” Actually, she is not entirely correct. Hackney is no poster…
When it comes to the proportion of patients seen on time, University Hospitals Birmingham Trust ranks second bottom in the country. The average waiting time is 23 weeks — almost twice the national average Photo by Ian Taylor on Unsplash The huge impact of Covid-19 on the NHS is far from over. More than 6.3 million patients are waiting for routine treatment or surgery, according to the latest official data for March 2022. Some 300,000 people have been waiting for more than a year and almost 17,000 for more than two years. This is a record number — 50% higher than before the pandemic — and, according to Sajid…
Nearly 60,000 Ukrainian refugees have already applied for UK visas, but relatives and charities complain of long waiting lists and security flaws in the visa scheme. Vicki Archer spoke to people waiting weeks for a visa and visited the fundraising event Concert for Ukraine in Birmingham to ask the public what they think of the crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR078fxh6_g
More than 1.4 million NHS patients, one in every 50 people, are on waiting lists for some key medical test, according to data released yesterday by the national health body. The figure, updated to the last day of September, is the highest since January 2006, the first year for which statistics are available. In addition, 26.1% of these patients have been waiting for more than six weeks, whereas the operational standard established by the 2004 NHS Improvement Plan states that no more than 1% of patients should wait that long. Patients are waiting for an appointment to undergo one of…
Fifteen Birmingham parks yesterday won the Green Flag Award, an annual award that recognises the best managed parks in the UK and around the world. The award, run by the charity Keep Britain Tidy, has a 25-year history and judges the quality of green public spaces in categories such as safety, cleanliness, environmental management, biodiversity and community involvement. This year there were 2127 winning parks in the UK, of which 126 are in the West Midlands. Birmingham Eastside created an interactive map so you can tour all the winning parks: